The corpse witch placed her hand on the handprint-shaped groove on the Bagua diagram, and soon the scene I had seen before appeared. The entire stone platform sank slightly, and then the stone box slowly rose up. This stone box was about twice the size of the Rubik's Cube we usually played with. It had strange spiral patterns on its surface, and up close, they indeed seemed rotatable.
The corpse witch lifted the stone box and then said in that disjointed and hoarse voice, "Open, let you go. Can't open, die..."
Wasn't this a scam? I cursed inside, but didn't say it out loud. I received the stone box from the corpse witch, and when it fell into my hands, it felt lighter than I had imagined. I tapped it lightly and it felt hollow. I raised it to the firelight above my head, but because there were no seams on the stone box, there was no place for the light to shine through. The spiral patterns carved on the surface of the stone box were disjointed, but to me, it seemed that they could be connected. I tried to rotate the stone box, thinking it would work like a Rubik's cube, that is, the different parts could rotate independently. But unexpectedly, while the stone box could be rotated, it seemed that it could not be turned at will. Some sides could turn, but some could not. After a few attempts, I found that it had to be turned according to the extension of the spiral patterns. However, after manipulating it for a while, if I completely followed the spiral patterns to turn it, the stone box still wouldn't open. It was strange, as it could turn when following the patterns, but couldn't open. And when not following the patterns, it couldn't even turn.
What was going on with this thing?
Frowning, I felt somewhat frustrated. The corpse witch kept watching me, but its patience was slowly wearing thin with time. When it saw me fooling around for a while and unable to open it, it finally couldn't bear it anymore, grabbed my wrist and snatched the stone box from me, then began to roar, while the surrounding pale-faced monsters immediately gathered around and grabbed me.
"Wait!"
I shouted desperately to the corpse witch.
"I need time, please be patient and give me a day, I may be able to unlock the secret of this stone box."
This was still a delaying tactic. The corpse witch glanced at me, gave a cold snort, and let the monsters around me release me. As soon as I landed, I breathed a sigh of relief. The corpse witch carefully handed the stone box to me, then coldly said, "One day, otherwise, death..."
In fact, from my analysis, there was a difference between what happened to Luo Yong and Shen Mentian after they fell into the hands of the pale-faced monsters. Before, I had always believed that both Shen Mentian and Luo Yong would end up turned into pale-faced monsters or eaten after being captured. But after today's incident, I discovered a discrepancy. Perhaps Luo Yong being captured by the pale-faced monsters would ultimately result in him becoming another pale-faced monster. But Shen Mentian wouldn't. If I wasn't mistaken, the corpse witch let the pale-faced monsters capture Shen Mentian with the purpose of having her unlock the secret of this stone box. Shen Mentian seemed smarter than Shanliwa from outward appearances, so after she was captured, she was only confined in a stone coffin, rather than being knocked unconscious and dragged away.
But now, Shen Mentian had been rescued, and the responsibility of opening the box had fallen on me. From another perspective, Shen Mentian seemed to have saved my life!
I have never been very good at solving Rubik's cube, or similar puzzles. I had a few puzzles at home when I was a child. I was initially quite interested in them, but unfortunately, I couldn't solve them even after trying for half the night. Later, I asked the kid who always came first in class to try. He solved it in just one break time. At that moment, I had to admit that there is really a difference in intelligence.
I'm not good at unlocking, so I definitely couldn't open that stone box no matter how much I fiddled with it, but delaying for a day was also fine. Looking at the Bagua diagram on the stone platform, I didn't know which dynasty it was from, but overall, it seemed fairly well preserved. I circled the stone platform, tried pressing a few places, but the symbols on the Bagua diagram were not triggers and couldn't be pressed.
The corpse witch kept staring at me, its eyes like venomous snakes, making me very uncomfortable. After being stared at for a long time, I couldn't help but shout, "Can you stop staring at me, damn it, I can't run away anyway."
The corpse witch gave a cold snort, and the pale-faced monster next to it immediately started howling at me. I quickly shrank my neck and shouted, "Alright, you are all gentlemen, I apologize!"
After looking at the Bagua diagram for a long time, it seemed that there was some connection between the Bagua diagram and the stone box in my hand. The box was originally taken from the stone platform. Perhaps there was indeed some common point between the two, but I really didn't understand this aspect.
Since I couldn't understand, I didn't think about opening the stone box, so I started thinking about how to escape. At the moment, there was only one exit visible in the secret room. The pale-faced monster and the corpse witch also came in through that exit. Obviously, there should be no other way here. How could I try to rush out? If the number of pale-faced monsters was reduced by half, maybe I could try, but now I was at a great disadvantage. It's hard to fight against multiple opponents!
Because I didn't have a watch, I estimated that it had been about two or three hours.
If something unexpected happened, perhaps there would be a chance to escape. I thought so, and didn't expect something to really happen!
"Boom!"
A huge noise came from the top of the secret room, and then the entire ceiling started shaking. I felt a slight movement in my heart. Was this caused by an explosion? It was very likely. Judging from the power, it wasn't too strong, so Dai An and Gu Yu might be in trouble.
"Boom!"
Another loud noise, this time I was more certain. I turned to the corpse witch and said, "It seems like you guys are in trouble."
The corpse witch looked at me with cold eyes and made a threatening low growl. I shrugged and didn't speak again. Then the corpse witch turned and growled, and the leading pale-faced monsters, along with four others, left the secret room. The number of pale-faced monsters in the entire secret room was reduced by half!
This was my only chance!
From here to the door, it was probably about thirty meters, or even longer. If I ran at full speed without any accidents, it might take three to four seconds. In other words, if I could dash to the door unexpectedly, I could gain four seconds to run out of the secret room!
Pretending to study the stone box, I took a few steps back, and the corpse witch remained vigilant. Everything seemed calm on the surface, but my heart was beating violently. I moved my ankles slightly. I wasn't a slow runner, maybe I really could make it.
Counting down in my mind, five. Four, three, two, one!
I suddenly turned and dashed towards the big door, and didn't dare to look back. Four seconds, so short but so precious for me now. I was breathing heavily, feeling like my heart was about to burst out of my chest. The big door seemed to be right in front of me, and I felt like I could see the light of escape.
I had reached the big stone door, and just as I was about to run out, a roar suddenly came from behind. Then a pale-faced monster from behind pounced on me, its strength so strong that it knocked me down directly. After I landed, I rolled several times in a row, and then stabbed the pale-faced monster with a beast bone knife that had come at me. It was pierced through the heart, and blood spilled out. But because of the delay in falling down, my escape plan was thwarted, and another pale-faced monster pounced on me from behind.
"Damn it, I'm going to fight you!"
I pushed away the dead pale-faced monster, but then two more monsters rushed at me from both sides, and my resistance seemed much weaker under their formidable strength. I was thrown onto the ground, one of them bit my thigh, and the pain made me scream.
"Let go!"
I stabbed the pale-faced monster's neck with the beast bone knife, but it stubbornly bit onto my thigh. It was so painful, but after stabbing it several times, it finally fell to the ground. However, there were three more pale-faced monsters pouncing on me from behind.
Two of them bit my arms, while the other opened its bloody mouth wide and was about to bite my head.
"Ahh!"
The roar was like a thunder in my ears, its sharp teeth biting onto my head, and with just a little more force, those fangs might have pierced through my skull. It was at this moment that something incredible happened.
A strange and invisible force flung the pale-faced monster that had bitten my head away, much like the last time when Ling Qian attempted to kill me. The pale-faced monster was thrown back about ten meters, and when it hit the ground, it was already lifeless!