Yihshyong and his friends waited for a while until they were sure that the wall had completely stopped moving. They advanced to the end of the hall. To the left of the now hollow, there was another room. From inside, they could see that in front of them was an old dressing table made of wood.
"Jenqyih and I will enter the room in front of us. You keep watching here." Shannchyuan patted Yihshyong on the shoulder. After saying that, he stepped into the room. Jenqyih immediately followed what Shannchyuan was doing. Yihshyong was standing right at the end of the hall. Even though his left foot had already half stepped into the newly opened room, he didn't move forward. Shannchyuan's words were obvious.
From the outside, Shannchyuan gazed at the entrance of the passage. He was now standing opposite Yihshyong. Shannchyuan looked thoughtful for a moment. He then went back inside.
"You wait here a moment," Shannchyuan said to Jenqyih before he went back into the passage.
Once inside, he poked Yihshyong to follow him back toward the candleholder. After the two of them were in front of that thing, Shannchyuan straightened the candleholder that he had tilted to open the secret door. There was a smooth rumbling sound like before. The wall of the niche then moved forward, and the niche disappeared. Shannchyuan pulled the candleholder to the side again so that it was tilted like before. There was a slow rumbling sound followed by the wall going in and forming an alcove.
"Now we are sure that this candleholder can function properly," said Shannchyuan.
"There must be a similar mechanism in the next room," Yihshyong said.
"You are right. There must be a way to open this door from the outside. But our time is very limited. It's not enough to investigate that. So, for the time being, let's use this method first." Shannchyuan pointed to the candleholder.
Shannchyuan stopped talking. He shone his flashlight at the hall ceiling. He tried to see if there were objects hanging or attached to the top. There was nothing there.
"We don't know how long this door will be open. Maybe after a few minutes, this door suddenly closed itself. So I'm asking you to stand guard right next to this chandelier. If later, suddenly, the door closes itself. You just push the candleholder to the side, just like I did."
"Okay."
After that, Shannchyuan came out again, joining Jenqyih.
Yihshyong couldn't see what his two friends were doing. But he could still hear their voices. They seemed to have forgotten that they have to keep their volume not so loud.
"This dressing table and stool look clean." Jenqyih's voice sounded so sure. "So it's plausible that someone touched it relatively often."
"I agree. This dressing table and stool must have something to do with how to open this side aisle." Shannchyuan's voice also sounded sure.
"Shall we check these tables and stools now?"
"Later. Now we have to find another way out of this room." Shannchyuan's voice was firm.
After that, Yihshyong couldn't hear any sound. They seemed to have moved away from where they had been standing. Yihshyong was waiting in silence for a long time until suddenly he heard approaching footsteps. In an instant, Jenqyih had appeared in front of him.
"Now it's Shyongge's turn," Jenqyih said.
"What turn?" Yihshyong didn't understand what Jenqyih meant.
"Dahge asked Shyongge to go there."
"Where is Dahge now?"
"Shyongge saw a dressing table in the next room, right? Well, it's a rectangular room. The dressing table is in one corner. Currently, Dahge is standing in the corner diagonally opposite the corner where the dressing table is."
"Ah! Dahge wants me to take your place with Dahge there?"
Jenqyih nodded. "Be careful where you walk. Stuff is scattered everywhere. There are narrow passages where there are no piles of stuff. Shyongge can use it as a walkway."
After hearing Jenqyih's explanation, Yihshyong immediately walked away from Jenqyih. After exiting the alcove, Yihshyong walked carefully down the narrow path. Since the room wasn't huge, in no time, he was beside Shannchyuan.
Shannchyuan pointed down at the towering wall in front of them. There was a dog door which was quite large. Even a large dog would easily pass through that door, likewise with children or adults who were small. However, maybe not all adults could pass the door.
<
Yihshyong shook his head while holding back a laugh.
The two of them crouched in front of the dog's door. Shannchyuan touched the plate that was the door leaf of the dog door. It was effortless to open the dog door. He just pushed it, the plate opened outwards at once.
<
"I'll try to get in through this dog door. You stay here," said Shannchyuan.
<
Shannchyuan put his flashlight on the floor. He then lay face down. Pushing the dog's door open, it moved forward in a slithering manner. Little by little, his body passed through the dog door until finally, his whole body made it into the door.
"Give me my flashlight, please," Shannchyuan asked Yihshyong when he reached the room behind the dog door.
Yihshyong quickly handed the flashlight through the dog door, which was still open. "Can I come in now?"
"Wait a minute. It's so cramped in here. I'll check this room first," said Shannchyuan. "Besides, we don't know how to open this dog door from this side. I'll try to find out about it. It might take some time, so I want you to wait there patiently. If within twenty-five minutes I can't open this dog door from here, please open the door from there."
The dog door closed again. Just like earlier, Yihshyong had to wait for a while. In fact, he had to wait a lot longer. It seemed that Shannchyuan was examining the adjoining room attentively. Yihshyong was restless. Minutes passed. The dog door wasn't open yet. Finally, Yihshyong could breathe a sigh of relief. Twenty minutes later, the dog door opened from the next room.
"I've found a way to open this dog door from over here." Shannchyuan laughed.
"Is the method so complicated that it took Dahge more than twenty minutes?"
Shannchyuan laughed again. "Actually, from the start, I could have guessed about how to open this door from here. But there is something I have to make sure of first. If my guess turns out to be wrong, I don't want both of us to be trapped here."
Yihshyong nodded. ""What should I do now?"
"Now you come here," said Shannchyuan, "but first, you put in the kerosene lamp."
Yihshyong promptly laid the lamp down and pushed it through the dog door. After that, Yihshyong imitated the way Shannchyuan entered the door. Shannchyuan helped by pulling Yihshyong's hand. That way, Yihshyong could get into the closet faster than when Shannchyuan had done it before.