Iron Bull taucht wieder auf

Kapitel 248

"Miss Gu, please get out of the car. I'll go scout ahead myself. If everything's alright, I'll come back and let you know." The metal box was in my pocket; I had to prove its value.

Gu Qingcheng quietly shook her head: "No need, the two of us will go together. Everyone who comes today is an expert, and everyone can take care of themselves. No one needs to rely on anyone else."

The little devil whistled and grinned at Gu Qingcheng: "Hmm, things are really urgent, and you two still have the leisure to stand here and pretend to be friendly, confessing your feelings to each other. How utterly inappropriate! Sigh, the romantic scenes in art films are utter garbage compared to you two—"

The excessive jeering and joking proves that the little red devil is at least a little nervous inside, but he just doesn't want others to see it.

Without saying a word, I stepped on the gas, maintaining a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, and was prepared to turn around and retreat at any time.

The closer they got to the platform, the more intense the commotion of the snakes became. When the jeep drove onto the platform and faced the snake formation filled with venomous snakes, Gu Qingcheng suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "They're escaping—Mr. Feng, the snake formation is about to disperse. Could it be that metal box is working?"

The snake formation had descended to a height of more than half a person. Regardless of size or thickness, all the green snakes were scrambling to leave. Although the mountain wall was smooth and steep, most of the snakes were able to move steadily on it and skillfully slip into all sorts of rock crevices.

I took out the metal box and placed it on the dashboard. It didn't seem to have changed at all; it neither glowed nor made a sound. The only thing that distinguished it from other metal objects was that it wasn't scratched at all. Even when Little Red Devil hit it hard with the handle of his knife last night, it didn't suffer any damage.

The snake formation disappeared, and the crevice in the rock returned to calm, winding its way into the distance.

Uncle Wei's car caught up, but the road ahead was impassable, so everyone had to carry a bag on their backs and walk forward.

"Everyone, give it your all! We'll see that round stone house in just two hours. Feng, didn't you say there was a golden egg there? If we five divide it equally, everyone can get several hundred kilograms of gold. Doesn't that sound great?" Tiger led the way, having long since abandoned his heavy and cumbersome hand grenades.

The stone walls on both sides were impossibly high. At first, Red Devil looked around worried that snakes might fall from certain spots. But later, once he was certain that all the venomous snakes had left, he immediately leaned over and said, "Feng, lend me that box. I suspect it's an ultrasonic transmitter that can generate high-frequency waves to repel snakes and insects. The principle behind such electronic products is extremely simple. I want to take it apart and see if I can replicate one, hehehehe..."

He's never one to be lonely; he always wants to stir things up, so naturally, I rejected him.

The journey wasn't as easy as the tiger had described. It took three hours for the road to open up slightly. After another half hour, a large open space suddenly appeared ahead.

"Everyone be careful, the man with the golden mask is nearby. The last battle took place here." He took a submachine gun out of his backpack, checked the magazine, and then clicked it into the magazine.

Each person held a gun in their right hand and advanced in a segmented, guarded manner, emerging from the crevice and approaching the edge of the cliff.

I had been keeping an eye on the other side, my gaze first falling on the upright object about ten steps from the cliff. It wasn't a golden egg at all; it looked more like a rusty life pod, standing there dark and inconspicuous. If it weren't for the prior indication on the drawing, I wouldn't have noticed it either.

Behind that thing was a large, round, pointed-roof stone house, estimated to be between twelve and fifteen meters in diameter, entirely constructed of stone blocks.

I finally saw what I had imagined: a blue metal door on the front of the stone house. Such products are often used in the functional compartments of spacecraft, with super strong sealing properties, and are resistant to thermal expansion and contraction, as well as acid and alkali corrosion. The material is a high-strength aluminum alloy product with dozens of metal catalysts added.

Gu Qingcheng stood beside me the whole time and whispered in my ear, "Why didn't we see the stone tablet marked 'Heavenly Ladder'? Let's go to the other side and search what's in that stone house. I really wonder if everything today was a dream."

The two sides of the cliff are connected by four iron chains, two high and two low. The iron chains, as thick as duck eggs, are fixed to the rocks by huge anchor piles, making them look very stable.

I was the first to cross the cliff, heading straight for the imagined golden egg. Its surface was indeed covered with weathered rock fragments and moss; after peeling away this disguise, I had to regretfully halt my frenzied efforts. This metal object didn't belong to the Qin Dynasty, nor was it the enormous golden egg I had imagined; it was merely an ordinary metal casting.

“Besides the stone house, there is only this on the cliff. It is undoubtedly the golden egg described by the Li family ancestors, but now, it is clearly—” Gu Qingcheng stood on the other side of it, looking slightly frustrated.

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. She was spurred on by my "golden egg theory," but her enthusiasm was extinguished by a bucket of cold water.

"Ha, there's a password door in this desolate cave! Isn't this just a test of my decoding skills? Everyone, step aside and watch me—" Red Devil laughed again. Gu Qingcheng and I abandoned the metal egg and rushed to the stone house.

On the upper right of that door was a black eleven-ring metal cipher disc.

Gu Qingcheng frowned and sighed, "Mr. Feng, even if you insist now that it's not a product of Earth, no one will believe you."

The combination lock is clearly marked with Arabic numerals, from zero to nine, without missing a single one. Every person on Earth will come into contact with this kind of mechanism more or less in their life. Even the cheapest travel bags are equipped with a three-ring combination lock. However, the decorative effect of such things is far greater than their practicality.

It was an eleven-digit combination lock. The little red devil stared at it for a few seconds, then reached out and turned all the dials to zero. He then pressed all ten fingers on the dials at the same time, and with a few random turns, the door slid open to the left with a "beep".

Red Ghost shrugged. Decoding was a hacker's forte, and for him, passwords without difficulty were as boring as drinking plain water.

Tiger strode in. Everyone here was a well-known figure in the martial arts world, and it wouldn't look good to always follow behind others. That's why he took the lead, just to scout ahead. However, he wasn't prepared to remain calm even if a mountain collapsed before him. The moment his front foot landed, he cried out "Ah!" and immediately froze, dumbfounded.

Uncle Wei and Little Red Ghost peeked inside, and almost simultaneously screamed and jumped back.

The room was furnished almost exactly like the painting on the jade plaque. More than forty screens were hung on the three walls, and below the screens was a huge circular control panel. In the very center was a real seven-wheeled swivel chair. Even more absurdly, a dark suit of armor was draped over the back of the swivel chair.

Gu Qingcheng whispered, "That's the leather armor of an ancient general. How could it be left in this kind of environment? Did a modern person enter the ancient world, or did an ancient person intrude into the modern world?"

In front of these things that resemble ancient costume props but are not props, anyone would have the illusion of "what day is this?"

The monitors were all off, which was a clear difference from the pictures on the jade pendant. Perhaps I shouldn't keep believing that "people who travel through time will have superpowers." Without enough power, even the most advanced equipment is just a pile of useless junk.

"My God, what is this? Where are we?"

The tiger took a step forward as if in a daze, leaning against the control panel on one side. It was covered with colorful touch buttons, and he spread his hands and gestured above the buttons with all ten fingers, a horrified grin on his face.

I whispered a warning to him: "Tiger, don't touch those buttons."

The room resembled the control cockpit of some kind of aircraft, but it appeared unusually rudimentary, as no aircraft is constructed from stacked stone slabs. I can only describe it as if someone had moved parts of an aircraft control cockpit here and rearranged it to its original state, but it lacked any flight functionality. Even the sliding door was merely a decorative element, only slightly better sealed than a regular door.

"All the facilities here require electrical power. Without generators or power cables, how can we possibly generate electricity out of thin air? Good heavens, who is so bored as to play such a huge joke on us?"

The little red devil clung to the door frame, peering inside with his head held high.

Indeed, behind the five-pointed star array filled with poisonous insects, there was a strange, empty house hidden behind, which looked like a farce in the making.

"Mr. Feng, Miss, listen, what's that sound?" Uncle Wei, who had been following at the very back, suddenly covered his ears with his hands and listened intently.

Occasionally, a gust of wind blew across the cliff, but there was no other sound. The tiger had already retreated awkwardly, rubbing his hands together, his face already red before he could even speak.

Uncle Wei retreated towards the cliff, then suddenly turned around and pointed down: "Right there, I heard someone singing, a girl singing, listen—"

Red Imp was intently staring at the buttons when Uncle Wei's shout interrupted him. He yelled impatiently, "There's no sound unless a ghost is singing!"

Without me even realizing it, Gu Qingcheng and I were holding hands tightly, our bodies very close together, as if only in this way could we stand firmly side by side and face any danger that might come our way.

“Uncle Wei wouldn’t be suspicious for no reason. Shall we go and take a look?” Gu Qingcheng’s voice carried an unusual gentleness.

I nodded. The area on the cliff was very narrow; you could see the edge at a glance, and the surrounding rock walls were steep and straight, making it difficult to climb. If anything unusual were to happen, it should be below the cliff.

"Feng, I want to go in and touch these buttons, is that okay?" Red Devil started rubbing his hands together, eager to try. Anyone who can become a super hacker is a genius in mechanical manipulation; seeing these buttons they've never touched before, they're bound to be itching to get started.

Gu Qingcheng squeezed my fingers hard and nodded slightly, clearly indicating that she agreed to Hong Xiaogui's request.

Without electricity, any computer-controlled power system would be powerless, rendering it a lifeless, inanimate object. Once this was realized, everyone's fear of the strange devices in the stone house vanished.

I smiled and nodded: "Okay, it's best if nothing goes wrong, otherwise we'll have nowhere to retreat."

The little red devil shouted excitedly and jumped into the house with a whoosh, like a glutton who has been granted permission to feast to his heart's content at a grand banquet.

Gu Qingcheng and I walked to the edge of the cliff. Uncle Wei had already squatted down, staring at the billowing white mist below, listening silently.

The environment here is still enclosed. More than 20 meters above our heads are the white-glowing rocks. If all the rocks weren't glowing, we would probably be in an endless darkness.

“Miss, I did hear a girl singing. She just sang ‘Auld Lang Syne,’ and now she’s singing— ‘What a beautiful jasmine flower, what a beautiful jasmine flower,’ listen!” He imitated the girl’s singing in a high-pitched voice, and surprisingly, it was quite convincing, and the voice wasn’t too bad.

Tiger followed, leaving Red Devil alone in the stone house. He stood beside Uncle Wei, peering down, his brow furrowing, and suddenly shouted, "I heard it too! I heard it too! It's Xiaoxin's voice! Xiaoxin, Xiaoxin—"

After being troubled by love, the tiger's composure, intelligence, and endurance plummeted. Even when things were still far from settled, he would still rashly roar.

Red Devil yelled, "What are you yelling about? I'm closing the door, it's so noisy!"

The metal door slammed shut, separating the two worlds inside from the outside.

“Miss, perhaps I can go down and take a look.” Uncle Wei stood up and took out a bundle of white nylon rope from his bag. Since they had come this far, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and continue down; they couldn’t give up halfway and return empty-handed. With his skills, climbing the cliff with the help of ropes wouldn’t be too difficult.

Gu Qingcheng frowned in thought, remaining noncommittal.

I let go of her hand and looked around, but couldn't find a single stone to throw down to test the way. From our position, we had no way of knowing whether the white mist was poisonous miasma from the mountains. Going down rashly would be extremely dangerous, especially since we didn't have any oxygen equipment with us.

“Miss, for the sake of this peerless ancient zither, I must try my best even if it means my death. I hope to obtain your permission.” Uncle Wei slowly untied the rope, tied one end to the anchor post of the iron chain, made three knots in succession, and finally locked it completely with a “sailor’s buckle.”

Gu Qingcheng's real purpose in going into the mountains was to play the guqin, and it seems that Uncle Wei is loyal enough to risk his life.

Gu Qingcheng shook her head: "Uncle Wei, it's not wise to go down now, but there's no better way. Let me think about it some more—" She grabbed the hair draped over her chest, tied it into a knot and then let it come loose, tied it into a knot again and let it come loose again, hesitating.

Now that we've come to these mountains, any achievement must be obtained through taking risks; there's no such thing as a free lunch.

I was estimating the drop of the cliff. The rope was nearly a hundred meters long, which should be enough to get down to the bottom of the cliff.

Suddenly, I heard a faint singing voice, and I immediately recognized it: "That's Suren's voice, it's definitely hers!"

She was singing an Egyptian folk song, the gist of which was about a girl left alone at home who missed her lover who had gone to fight on the front lines, expressing her self-pity and deep affection. It was her favorite song in Cairo, and she would order the same saxophone piece every time she went to a music restaurant.

Is it really her? Or is it just a hallucination caused by excessive longing? Even the sharpest gaze cannot penetrate the white mist. When the folk song was sung for the second time, I turned to Gu Qingcheng: "Miss Gu, don't be troubled. I'll go down and take a look because I heard Su Lun's voice."

Without hesitation, I made my decision immediately. After being so busy for so long, I finally had the opportunity to get close to Suren, and I wouldn't let it slip by.

Gu Qingcheng frowned again, a hint of hurt flashing in her eyes: "Really? Are you sure?"

I put the pistol in my trouser pocket, packed some fresh water and food into a small bag and put it in my other pocket, while reaching out to Gu Qingcheng: "Give me some more medicine, maybe I'll need it."

The "Disintegration Technique" combined with her stimulants can enhance my combat effectiveness at crucial moments, and may help me overcome difficulties in unpredictable and dangerous environments.

Gu Qingcheng was still hesitating when Uncle Wei had already taken a small white bottle out of his pocket and handed it to me: "The capsules are inside. Take six each time, be careful."

I didn't want to be a hero in the eyes of Gu Qingcheng, Uncle Wei, or Tiger, but the vortex of fate once again pushed me to the forefront, forcing me to risk my life.

"Please wait a moment, I want to try calling Su Lun." Gu Qingcheng took out her phone, her fingers trembling as she dialed a number. There was no ringback tone, and after a long while, she heard the warning message "The other party's signal cannot be connected."

“If you can hear the other person’s singing, how could you not be able to make a phone call? Have you thought about that? Maybe it’s just a hallucination. It’s not wise for you to rush down like this. At the very least, we need to rest for a few hours, clear our minds, and then make a plan—” she tried to persuade me.

As I tied the rope around my waist, I leaned down to look around, no longer able to hear her words. Opportunities and hopes are always earned through struggle; once missed, the loss could be Suren's life and my lifelong, painful regret. Now, at least I still have a chance to try, unlike before I got the metal box, when I wanted to fight but had no tears to shed and no way to do so.

"Thank you, but I've made up my mind." I smiled and declined her offer. Standing on the edge of the cliff, I took seven or eight deep breaths before slowly sliding down the cliff edge, beginning yet another life-threatening adventure.

Volume Five: The Millennium Labyrinth

Part 1: Deep Underground

— Chapter 1 - The Golden Egg Opens —

Deep in my heart, I would give up all fame and fortune for Suren, and even give my life. Perhaps it was the misunderstanding between us in the previous period that made me feel a sense of guilt that I couldn't explain.

Below the cliff, the misty fog was slowly changing shape, and strange noises kept reaching my ears.

"Will Suren really be down there?" I took a deep breath, leaned down, and spotted a foothold five meters away, preparing to slide down quickly. Inside the mountain, besides the poisonous insects and monstrous snakes in the five-pointed star-shaped passages, danger could appear at any moment. I really didn't have much time to waste.

The cliff face was covered with dark, inky moss. Half a meter away, dew condensed into large droplets, falling towards the bottom of the cliff every two seconds. In the mysterious and unpredictable heart of the mountains, one feels as insignificant as a dewdrop. I only hoped that Suren would be safe and sound until my rescue.

The thought of Su Lun's gaunt jaw when we parted for the last time deepened my sense of guilt.

"Mr. Feng, how are you feeling?" Uncle Wei stood guard at the edge of the cliff, bending down to look down.

The tiger paced anxiously, like a lost ant. Only Gu Qingcheng remained absolutely calm, standing with her arms crossed in front of the enormous metal egg.

"Wind, wait a moment—" she suddenly called out, but she didn't turn around to look at me. Instead, she quickly took out a small knife from her pocket, squatted down, and vigorously scraped the moss off the metal egg.

I had fallen more than a meter off the cliff, and my line of sight was now level with where the knife had grazed. Under the sharp blade's slicing, the extremely thick layer of black vegetation covering the egg fell away, revealing a bluish-black metallic texture.

Suddenly, a sharp shriek came from inside the round stone house, as if the little red devil had made some major discovery. I instinctively gripped the rope tighter, temporarily suppressing the urge to immediately go down to the bottom of the valley to explore.

The singing had long since stopped in the thick fog, as if the singer had been startled by our group of uninvited guests and fled immediately.

That was definitely Suren's voice! I'm 100% sure. The only thing to worry about is that in some complex rocky terrain, the sound can be refracted in unimaginable ways, and the origin of the sound source may be far from our judgment.

"Uncle Wei, I'd like to trouble you to call out Su Lun's name repeatedly with the force of the 'Buddhist Lion's Roar' and see if there's any response?"

My mind gradually calmed down. In this situation, what the team needed was not a brave vanguard, but a commander as steady as a mountain. Only by stabilizing morale could we rationally and cautiously explore the path forward step by step.