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墨書 Inktalez
Now was the time for brainstorming, yet the atmosphere was somewhat silent. I turned to my junior and asked, "What's wrong? You were just the loudest a moment ago, and now when it comes to serious matters, you’ve gone mute?"
My junior replied, " Senior Brother, do you think we haven't thought about it? We've already considered every possible solution and tried everything we could. None of it worked; this is simply unsolvable! Now we have two options in front of us: one, we use explosives and blow it up—flatten it out completely, clear as day! Two, we just sit here and wait for death, and while we still have the strength, we might as well write our wills. If Old Qiao finds us, at least we'll have something to leave behind."
I knew my junior well; he was typically carefree, treating even collapsed situations lightly. His unusually pessimistic reaction this time was indeed out of character. Perhaps it was true what he said—during the time I was unconscious, he and A Li had already exhausted every idea they could think of, and nothing worked. They had truly reached a dead end.
I glanced at A Li; her mood was equally low. The expression on her face was one of exhaustion to the limit—a blankness that only those who have truly experienced despair would unconsciously reveal.
We couldn’t continue like this. If one surrendered mentally, they were completely defeated. I needed to boost morale: "As the old saying goes, as long as our spirit doesn't wane, there are always more solutions than difficulties! We can't be the ones to deny ourselves first. A Li, I believe that in this world, there’s nothing that can’t be solved. Every phenomenon or result has a cause behind it; we just need to find that cause and overcome it to change the final outcome and reach our ideal state. Just like when we opened the coffin in Qinling Shaft—there were so many challenges, each stranger than the last. Especially when opening the second coffin—do you remember those Nine Luminous Pearls? At first, we had no clue what to do and were completely lost. But we dared to think boldly, speculate, then deduce and verify. When something didn’t work, we improved upon it. And what happened? Didn’t we manage to handle all nine wandering planets?"
My junior seemed touched by my words; his eyes gradually regained their spark. Seizing the moment, I continued: "Of course, the main credit goes to you because why? Because you dare to think outside the box! When we were all trapped in fixed mindsets, only you had the courage to break conventions and see what others couldn’t see—think of points others hadn’t considered! Ultimately, you are the spiritual leader of our team!"
My junior puffed up with pride from my praise, completely shedding his earlier negativity. He waved his hand modestly and said, "Oh come on! I'm just doing what I can! Actually, just now it seemed like I was being negative when really I was deep in thought and finally came up with a question." With renewed energy, he gestured animatedly and continued, "Look here! This mountain is a mountain; this cave is a cave. How could such strange changes happen for no reason? If His Grandmother isn’t some kind of spirit now, then our worldview must be wrong—mountains can move like people do; caves can breed like pigs! But clearly, none of us are crazy; this world isn’t crazy either. Yet these impossible things have become possible right before our eyes. In other words, these bizarre occurrences we’re facing shouldn’t happen under normal circumstances. So if we think about it inversely, these strange events can only occur under abnormal conditions. Do you understand?"
A Li looked at my junior and then at me before shaking her head. My junior sighed in frustration and was about to explain further: "What I mean is..." I interrupted him: "I get it; you mean that we might still be in an illusion?"
His statement was indeed a bit chaotic, but I understood him too well; even if he stumbled over his words, I knew what he meant. Besides, given his literary level, reaching this point was quite an achievement. We shouldn’t hold him to perfection; understanding is key.
My junior nodded vigorously: "Exactly! My explanation is so straightforward that there’s no way you wouldn’t understand! A Li, were you sleepwalking just now or are you deliberately being difficult?"
A Li rolled her eyes: "Whatever! Not interested."
I quickly intervened when I saw the two of them about to argue again, saying, "Actually, I've had this thought for a while now. Back in the Illusionary Realm, if it weren't for encountering the Dead Loop situation multiple times, we might never have discovered the problem and would have thought everything was genuinely happening. This shows just how powerful this Illusionist has become, capable of creating illusions so convincing that they can trap people in a dream for a lifetime without anyone noticing. He is exactly the kind of top-tier Illusionist that Master spoke of. However, after thinking it over, I realized that everyone has certain purposes behind their actions. The smarter someone is, the clearer their intentions are. They definitely wouldn't waste time on trivial matters, like simply toying with us. So after he gave us a warning, he sent out 'Master' directly to the Bronze box inside the Red-Clothed Female Demon. Although I don't know what he wants with that box, his purpose is very clear: once he gets what he wants, the illusion will be lifted. Therefore, I’ve been hesitant to determine whether this is an illusion or not because I can't figure out what the Illusionist's goal is."
At that moment, my junior suddenly muttered, "No way, it can't be that supernatural!" His face turned somewhat unnatural as one hand unconsciously moved to his waistband.
A Li and I exchanged glances and both stared at his waistband until his face turned red. "Alright, alright! I'll take it out!" He said, reaching into his waistband and surprisingly pulling out a familiar Bronze box.
I took it from him and exclaimed, "Wow! Isn’t this the one that Cold Bench tricked us out of in the illusion?" I asked. "How did you manage to get it back? Did you see that Illusionist?"
My junior replied, "Not at all! Senior Brother, take a closer look; this box is different from the previous one."
I examined it carefully and noticed he was right; there were indeed some differences. This box appeared much cleaner than the one Qinling brought back—at least there weren't as many bloodstains and dirt on its surface. Aside from some wear and corrosion on part of the Bronze, all six sides were mostly discernible.
On top was an arched groove with a flat bottom; nothing seemed amiss on the surface regarding mechanisms, which was quite similar to the previous box. The four sides were carved together into the shape of an animal. At first glance, it resembled a chicken but with a much longer tail and unusually wide wings. From this perspective, it also looked somewhat like a peacock with its feathers closed. However, it had a comb on its head and a short curved beak. Its eyes were intricately carved and seemed to glow with two fiery flames within them, giving it an appearance reminiscent of a chicken once more.
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