Arriving at the bottom, Yihshyong and Shinnshiow greeted them happily. While sitting on the stone bench, the two men took turns telling stories. Shannchyuan and Yinqyueh listened to their stories while occasionally asking something. After that, Shannchyuan checked the carvings that Shinnshiow and Yihshyong had found.
Shannchyuan kneeled down. He groped the stone benches. The bench was rectangular, each side measuring fifty centimeters. He asked Yinqyueh to help shine a flashlight on the areas he was examining. They had inspected the entire surface of the stone bench. The part that hadn't been checked was the underside of the stone benches.
"Shall we try to move this stool a little bit?" Shannchyuan pointed to the stool containing the "heaven" engraving.
"This rock must be very heavy." Yinqyueh stared at the stone.
Shannchyuan patted Yinqyueh's shoulder. "You don't have to move this rock. You just stand on the table holding a flashlight and shining a light on this bench."
Yinqyueh nodded. He used the stone bench as a foothold to climb onto the table. Without a second thought, the girl actually did exactly as Shannchyuan said. He stood upright on the table.
Shannchyuan and his two friends tried to move the stool away from the table. It turned out that the bench was very heavy.
"Should we call Jenqyih here?" Yihshyong took a deep breath.
"No need. There must be at least two people upstairs." Shannchyuan answered firmly. "I think we can move this rock. It might take a little longer, but I'm sure we can."
They then tried again. Indeed, Shannchyuan and his friends managed to move the stone bench inch by inch. After shifting about twenty centimeters, they should rest. Shannchyuan felt his back slightly uncomfortable. He guessed that his hands and back would be sore a few hours later.
After resting for about ten minutes, they began to shift the bench again. This time, they could shift about fifteen centimeters. Shannchyuan immediately used his flashlight to illuminate the floor previously covered by the stone bench. In the section that had been right in the middle of the rectangle at the bottom of the bench, there was a small rectangular section. The rectangular surface was still covered by a small wooden plank. Shannchyuan guessed that there was a hollow behind the small wooden plank. He straight away kneeled down to scrape the wooden plank. He wished he could pry open the board to see what was in the hollow.
Yihshyong and Shinnshiow were also very excited. They also kneeled beside Shannchyuan to help him pry the plank out. Yinqyueh, who had gotten off the table, then joined them. Finally, they made it. Shannchyuan and his two friends shouted with joy. Behind the small board, there was indeed a hollow. And in that hollow was a box. The wooden box fitted perfectly into the hollow in the floor, so they had a hard time picking it up.
"Let me try," Yinqyueh said. With her tiny and slender fingers, Yinqyueh tried to pry the wooden box out. She failed. Just like the three men there, the girl also couldn't get the wooden box out of the hollow.
"How about we just punch a hole in this wooden box?" Yihshyong said.
"Don't do that!" Shinnshiow shook his head quickly. "We don't know what's in it. Don't let our actions ruin the contents of this box."
"What if we slightly wet the sides of this wooden box, so that the surface of the sides becomes a bit slippery? Maybe after that, it's easier for us to pry it out." Yinqyueh pointed at the box.
"I don't think water is enough. Maybe we need water with a little soap," Yihshyong said.
"Or maybe we need some oil. Something we smear with oil usually gets slicker. It's much slicker than just soaking it in water." Shinnshiow let out those words while nodding.
"But we have to go up first if we want to get those things," Yihshyong said.
"We don't have to go up, we can just ask Yihge or Renge to get the things. They'll just have to lower them down with a rope," said Shinnshiow.
"Your backpacks over there." Yinqyueh pointed at the two backpacks sitting in the corner where they had come from. "Is there nothing inside it anymore?"
"Inside the backpack, there was drinking water, but no soap or oil," Shannchyuan said. "But let's try it with the water first."
"We have drunk the water." There was a hint of regret in Yihshyong's voice.
"You spent it all?" Shannchyuan asked.
"Each backpack only has one bottle of water. So we both drank one each," said Shinnshiow.
"Well then, we'll ask Jenqyih to get her some water, soap and some cooking oil," said Shannchyuan.
"Shall we try it with the oil first?" Yinqyueh asked.
"We'll have to wait for Yihge or Renge to get some oil up there," said Shinnshiow.
"Can we use medicated oil as a lubricant?" Yinqyueh held out a bottle of hammer stamped medicated oil towards Shannchyuan. It turned out that the girl had a small bottle of medicated oil in her pocket. Shannchyuan checked the mini bottle. The medicated oil brand was trendy. The image of a hammer was the symbol of that brand.
"Actually, medicated oil is not really made of oil. Most of the composition is actually water. But let's try it first." Shannchyuan smiled. "Thank You."