Chapter 483: Artifact Techniques
Chen Junnan and Cui Shisi walked out of the room holding the artifacts. The route they had chosen was "Five," "Six," "Seven," "Eight." When they reached the easternmost part of the building in a straight line, they would then turn south through "Twelve" to reach "Sixteen." In total, this would take five rounds.
Now, the two were standing in Room "Six," about to head to Room "Seven."
When they opened the door to Room "Seven" with some trepidation, they were once again puzzled.
The room was completely empty. There was no small table in the center, nor any artifacts. It looked like an ordinary room. The walls were stained with dried, blackened blood, and the floor barely showed traces of blue-green reflective paint.
"There's nothing here?" Chen Junnan looked around and confirmed it was indeed a normal room. "Could that tuft of black hair have been a red herring?"
"Captain, we shouldn't think that way." Cui Shisi shook his head. "Including the 'starting point,' we've only entered four rooms so far. There are still more than half of the rooms we haven't visited."
"True." Chen Junnan nodded. The two waited for the round to end, then moved forward.
Meanwhile, a few rooms away, Ditu, who was still at the starting point, was getting restless.
He had opened the door twice in a row, only to see Jiang Shi's drowsy eyes staring back at him each time.
"Not... are you crazy?" Ditu asked irritably. "Who taught you to play the game like this?"
"What's wrong?" Jiang Shi clasped his hands together, squatting on the floor as he lazily looked at Ditu. "Can't I... ahh... lock the door?"
"Not... if you keep locking the door, how are you going to get out in the end?!" Ditu's voice gradually rose. "Isn't that just asking for death?"
"I'm not going anywhere." Jiang Shi answered honestly. "I'm the 'Gate-Keeper Disciple.' It's my job to guard the gate."
"You...?" Ditu was momentarily speechless. "No way? Is this the tactic you guys agreed on?"
"Yeah." Jiang Shi nodded. "Not good?"
"Foolish kid, you've been tricked!" Ditu looked into Jiang Shi's eyes. "They want you to die. If you stay here, you'll die!"
"Die then." Jiang Shi wiped away his tears. "I seek death."
"You...!" Ditu sighed. "Alright, alright. Not afraid of death, huh? I'm done with you. I'll go to the other side."
Another round passed. Ditu opened the door to the east of the starting point, which led to Room "Two." What he found there made him extremely exasperated—there was another person staring at him.
"What now?!" Ditu's accent slipped out uncontrollably from anger. "What are you guys doing? Not letting me pass?"
Song Qi nodded. "Sorry, my captain told me I'm the 'Gate-Keeper Disciple,' responsible for guarding the gate."
"Not... do you all have some kind of sickness?!" Ditu pointed at Song Qi. "If you keep guarding the gate, what are you two going to do?! You'll both end up dying here!"
"For my teammates to survive, I am willing to die." Song Qi smiled faintly. "Sorry for the inconvenience."
Ditu looked completely out of options. He stepped back a few paces and returned to the center of the room.
"Sigh..." Ditu shook his head and raised his voice. "You two are really too foolish."
"How so?" Song Qi looked at Ditu through the open doorway. "Because we willingly chose to die, we're too foolish?"
"That's not it." Ditu shook his head, his expression turning deeper. "I just want to say... what if the situation is completely different from what you think... what would you do?"
"Different situation?" Song Qi frowned at those words. "Forgive my dullness—what do you mean by 'different situation'?"
"I can't say that." Ditu gave a cold laugh. "We're opponents. Why would I tell you anything?"
"Then can I take that as you bluffing?" Song Qi had dealt with many people and wasn't easily fooled by Ditu's words. "Could it be that you lied in the rules? That the corner room can't be used to escape?"
"Oh, you're overthinking it." Ditu pushed off his knees with both hands and squatted down on the spot. "We all came in from that room together. How could that room not lead outside?"
Then he pointed to the wall, where Chen Junnan had drawn a map.
"Room 'Sixteen' drawn here is indeed the exit," Ditu said. "But the situation will be a bit different."
"Huh." Song Qi nodded. "Since Room 'Sixteen' is the exit, that's enough. As long as my teammates reach the exit, I don't care about anything else."
"Is that so?" Ditu's face gradually turned cold and stern, as if all his earlier panic had been an act. "Then guess... will there come a moment when you'll voluntarily open the door and let me out?"
"Will there?" Song Qi asked back ambiguously. "If necessary."
Ditu slowly closed his bloodshot eyes and then fell silent.
Chen Junnan and Cui Shisi opened the door to Room "Eight." As expected, there was another table inside.
On the table sat a lotus flower.
"What the hell?!" Chen Junnan stepped forward and touched it. He found it wasn't a fake flower—it was a real lotus with water droplets on it, as if freshly picked from a pond not long ago.
In this godforsaken place, there were no ponds, not even any living plants. How did this lotus appear?
Cui Shisi stepped forward, flipping through the lotus petals, and sure enough, on the innermost side near the stamen, he found two tiny characters carved in advance.
"Technique."
"Captain..." Cui Shisi scratched his head awkwardly. "If you say that tuft of black hair was the Great Sage's hair, then this lotus..."
"Third Prince Lotus." Chen Junnan said without hesitation. "Doesn't that support my theory? This lotus is Nezha, that black hair is Sun Wukong... later we might find a Three-Pointed Two-Edged Blade or a Giant Spirit God's hammer in other rooms..."
"Really?" Cui Shisi was a bit speechless. "Is this... the Havoc in Heaven?"
"Hiss..." Chen Junnan also felt his train of thought was a bit too wild, but what kind of magic could a lotus have?
"Should we bring the lotus too?" Cui Shisi asked tentatively.
"We're already carrying the hair, might as well take the lotus too..." Chen Junnan replied uncertainly. "More skills don't weigh you down, and extra artifacts aren't a burden."
Each holding one item—one the black hair, the other the lotus—they waited for the round to begin, then opened the southern door of the room, entering Room "Twelve." But as soon as they looked inside, both wore expressions of speechlessness.
"Crap..." Chen Junnan looked at Room "Twelve." There was another table.
In the center of the table lay an object they had never seen before. It was flat like a wooden chip, jade-like throughout, and covered in indecipherable writing. The only thing they could read was two small characters at the bottom right corner of the jade piece.
"Technique."