Translator: Cinder Translations
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It was clear that everyone wanted to extract more information from the older woman, but at this moment, she silently sat on a stone pillar not far behind them, not saying a word.
It was her silence, or perhaps her sense of rejection, that made everyone hesitant to press her too hard.
Everyone wanted to get information from her, but no one wanted to be the one to force her, as it was likely to provoke her revenge.
If what she said was true, her chances of survival would be much higher than anyone else's.
She was here on a "second round."
"What do we do now?" someone asked.
A silence fell over the group.
Everyone knew that behind this door was likely a secret, but since they couldn't find the mechanism to open it, the only option left was to break down the door with brute force.
But the real question was, who would be the one to do it?
Sometimes, too many clever people in one place is a bad thing, as everyone has their own hidden agenda, leading to inefficiency.
If a few hot-headed youngsters were here, they probably would have already tested whether there were monsters behind the door or not.
Of course, there was also the possibility of immediate group annihilation if monsters were involved.
A gust of cold wind blew from somewhere, scattering the dust on the stone door, making the strange creatures blurry.
That was better, as with fewer creatures staring at them from the door, everyone felt less psychological pressure.
The stone door turned out to be more fragile than expected. Four men struggled to lift a medium-sized stone pillar and, using it as a battering ram, broke open the door with two hits.
Instead of swinging open like a normal door, the stone door collapsed backward like a domino.
With a crash, it hit the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.
As the stone door fell, the four men quickly retreated, waiting for the dust to settle and reveal what lay beyond.
It was a row of stone stairs.
From their vantage point, they could only see the steps curving upward, gradually disappearing into the darkness.
Jiang Cheng looked up, noticing that there seemed to be space above the building's dome.
The young master waved his hand to disperse the dust floating in front of him, then tilted his head and nodded toward the women. "It's your turn."
This had been the agreement before they rammed the door.
The men were responsible for breaking the door, and once it was opened, the women would go ahead and scout the path.
In nightmares, everyone was equal—gender roles didn't matter.
When life was at stake, no one cared about face.
The three women, clearly reluctant, gathered together, each with their own thoughts.
No one knew what lay at the top of the spiraling stairs; the unknown hidden in the darkness was the most terrifying.
The tall man partnered with the young girl took small, cautious steps toward her, as though to accompany her, but when the girl noticed, she gave him a sharp look.
The tall man, over two meters tall, actually stopped moving, his face showing a pitiful expression.
The fatty was left bewildered by the interaction.
Just as everyone's attention was focused on the darkness behind the stone door, an unexpected figure entered their line of sight.
The older woman, who no one had noticed move, walked toward the door and went straight in.
Everyone quickly followed.
Walking on the stone steps, the sensation underfoot was strange, almost a rough feeling, as if they were walking on steps not made of ordinary stone, but rather a history buried in the river of time.
This history had likely never been recorded in any historical text—forgotten moments in time.
Whether it was intentional or caused by the erosion of time, the stairs were often broken, with some sections even collapsing in a more regular pattern.
Looking down at the collapsed sections, their eyes couldn't focus, only darkness meeting them.
After staring for a while, it felt as if they might fall into the abyss.
They stuck close to the wall, each step taken cautiously.
Jiang Cheng gently ran his fingers over the wall, which was covered in intricate, hard-to-understand carvings. They could be the same strange creatures seen on the stone door, or perhaps something else entirely.
Finally, they reached the top of the stairs.
There was another stone door, but unlike the previous one, this one was slightly ajar.
Although not fully opened, the gap was wide enough for an adult man to slip through sideways.
The older woman walked right in.
Jiang Cheng looked at her disappearing figure, his eyes flashing with something strange.
The young master quickly followed, stepping through the door right after her.
The only one who had difficulty was the fatty, as the young master pulled him from inside the room while Jiang Cheng pushed from outside, finally managing to get him through.
The fatty knew he was the one holding everyone back and promised Jiang Cheng he would lose weight.
"If I don't lose 20 pounds in a month, I'll be an orphan."
"Tch," Jiang Cheng glanced sideways at him, feeling that there was more to his words than met the eye.
Inside the stone door was a space of about several dozen square meters, with an overall curved shape.
From their observations of the exterior, this room seemed to be at the very top of the building.
The walls were no longer ordinary stone but made of a material resembling mica, with a crystalline structure that appeared somewhat frosted.
The thickness seemed substantial, as the room was very quiet.
There was no wind sound.
The walls glimmered with various light reflections, not very obvious, but still present. Jiang Cheng glanced around a few times, but couldn't discern any clear pattern.
In the center of the room stood a white shelf, about half a person's height.
The shelf had a very unique texture when touched, with excellent heat conductivity, unlike anything made of stone or metal.
On the shelf sat a large basin-like vessel, larger than a wash basin. After brushing away the thin layer of dust on top, it was filled with a creamy white solid substance.
The young master reached out and wiped a bit, pinched it between his fingers, and then sniffed it lightly, confirming, "It's grease."
Jiang Cheng, generously, reached in and began to work with it, finally pulling up a strange material-covered rope with his greasy hands.
The rope was covered in melted grease, which Jiang Cheng pried off.
The others looked at him with respectful eyes.
At the top of the building, with its semi-transparent walls, the grease-filled vessel in the center, and the black rope inside, the purpose of this room became much clearer.
This was a lighthouse.
A beacon to guide ships traveling to and from port.
"This building is a lighthouse?" The fatty clearly figured it out too, noting that the large device in the center was essentially a giant candle.
The young master smiled. "Fat brother is right, but not entirely—this room is a lighthouse, but this entire building is not."
"Who would build such a big lighthouse for no reason?" Jiang Cheng said in a rhetorical tone. "They were just behind the times, not foolish."
(End of the Chapter)
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