Chapter 181: 181
The hidden cave entrance wasn’t large, only about one ter wide and two ters tall; yet once inside, it revealed a completely different world. The walls around were clearly artificially carved, even bearing the marks of sculpting. And the further they walked, the more spacious it beca. From the initial ter wide and two ters high doorway, they soon reached a width of two ters and a height of three ters. The entire passage felt like it was winding downwards, yet it wasn’t stuffy at all—it was evident there were air vents.
Having walked over a thousand ters, suddenly, the space ahead dramatically widened, and they had entered a large underground hall.
“Look quick!” Bai Yaning exclaid, “There’s a huge door ahead!”
Everyone shone their flashlights in that direction, and with that illumination, they were all stunned.
“What a massive door!” They all gasped.
It was a giant iron door, four ters wide and six ters tall, dark and imposing, standing in this open cave, looking terribly forbidding, as if opening it would lead directly to hell itself!
“How could we possibly open such a big door?” Fang Wenbin nearly despaired. Such a massive door, not to ntion just them, even with ten tis their number it might not budge!
“Don’t panic, let take a look first,” Wang Hao stepped forward, shining the flashlight bit by bit over the door. He soon noticed sothing unusual—there was no lock on the door. Instead, right in front of him, there were five delicate objects scattered and embedded on the door, and among these five objects was a circle with a five-pointed star in the center!
“Brother Hao, what is this?” Zhao Zhenhao asked quietly, “It looks like so sort of chanism?”
“You’re right, it is indeed a chanism,” Wang Hao nodded, “If I’m not mistaken, this should be the Five Elents Lock!”
“The Five Elents Lock?!” Everyone exclaid.
“As Tomb Raider Captains, we must understand the Five Elents and the Bagua,” Wang Hao didn’t let everyone down and began to show off decisively: “The Five Elents generate each other: tal generates Water, Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, and Earth generates tal. The Five Elents also overco each other: tal overcos Wood, Wood overcos Earth, Earth overcos Water, Water overcos Fire, and Fire overcos tal. Therefore, whenever you encounter sothing related to the Five Elents in a tomb, you mustn’t get it wrong. It’s very dangerous!”
Everyone nodded in agreent. Zhao Zhenhao was deeply impressed by Wang Hao’s knowledge and asked, “Brother Hao, I’ve heard of the generating and overcoming aspects of the Five Elents, but why they generate and why they overco, I don’t understand. Could you explain?”
Wang Hao asked, “Explain?”
Everyone nodded again, “Explain!”
“These Five Elents, oh there’s a lot to say,” Wang Hao started, “Wood generates Fire because wood has a warm nature, with fire hiding within it. By drilling wood one can start a fire, hence Wood generates Fire. Fire generates Earth because fire is so hot it can burn wood, and the burnt wood becos ashes, ashes is Earth, therefore Fire generates Earth. Earth generates tal because tal needs to reside in stone, relying on mountains, moistened to form. Soil gathers to form mountains, and where there is a mountain, there must be stone, hence Earth generates tal. tal generates Water because the nature of tal is moist and flowing, tal cos to life through water, and slted tal can also be turned into water, hence tal generates Water. Water generates Wood because water moistens and allows trees to grow, therefore Water generates Wood. Now you all understand, right?”
At this mont, everyone was utterly in awe of Wang Hao. He was simply invincible!
“What about the overcoming aspect?” Bai Yaning, who always enjoyed Wang Hao’s eloquent speeches, asked with a smile, “Can you explain that too?”
“Sure,” Wang Hao continued to boast, “Because the nature of heaven and earth is that abundance overcos scarcity, hence Water overcos Fire. Essence overcos solidity, hence Fire overcos tal. Rigidity overcos flexibility, hence tal overcos Wood. Focus overcos dispersion, hence Wood overcos Earth. Substance overcos emptiness, hence Earth overcos Water.”
—Can you actually understand any of that?
Seeing the expressions of the crowd, Wang Hao knew they hadn’t understood and explained, “Fire overcos tal because the indestructible gold lts drop by drop under intense fire, hence Fire overcos tal. tal overcos Wood because tal can be made into swords, axes, and other tools that can chop down trees, hence tal overcos Wood. Wood overcos Earth because when trees grow, their roots extend endlessly through soil and stone, clinging to the earth and absorbing moisture to their fullest ability, hence Wood overcos Earth. Earth overcos Water since earth can be used to build walls or embanknts that act as barriers against water flow, this is the so-called ‘when water arrives, earth covers it,’ hence Earth overcos Water. Water overcos Fire, and this principle is quite straightforward; any blaze, any spark, can be reduced or even extinguished when water is poured on it, hence Water overcos Fire.”
With that explanation, everyone suddenly understood and nodded together, “Amazing!”
Having listened to Wang Hao explain the principles of the Five Elents generating and overcoming, Zhao Zhenhao promptly asked, “Brother Hao, can you open it?”
“It should be possible,” Wang Hao couldn’t know for sure if this was actually the Five Elents Lock, but looking at the pattern and the colors of those five little objects, it seed likely enough—or at least, he was feeling lucky that day, so why not give it a try?!
“Everyone be careful, there could be danger when opening the door,” Wang Hao said, “You all step back, spread out to the sides, I’ll try to unlock it.” As he spoke, he put on a homade gas mask, covering his eyes as well, leaving not a bit of his skin exposed. Then he manipulated the five small devices with his hand. These five objects were made in the colors red, yellow, blue, green, and white. Using the principles of the Five Elents generating and overcoming, Wang Hao rearranged them—a blue representing Water on top, green for Wood to the right, red for Fire at the bottom right, yellow for Earth at the bottom left. Once he placed the white representing tal on the left side, a series of springs and gears sounded, and to their astonishnt, the door really opened!
“Clang—” Perhaps due to the extre age, opening the door stirred up a cloud of dust!
Bai Yaning: “…”
Zhao Zhenhao: “…”
Fang Wenbin: “…”
Others: “…”
Holy shit, it actually worked!
Everyone cheered together: “Brother Hao is mighty!”
Hahaha! Today my luck really is unbeatable, hit the nail on the head!
The passageway behind the door was noticeably wider, and the floor began to be paved with stone slabs. As everyone walked and observed, suddenly Fang Wenbin pointed ahead and called out, “Brother Hao, what is that?”
Everyone looked and saw sothing that appeared to be a liquid not far ahead; when the light shone over, the liquid was clearly silver-white…
“It’s rcury!” Wang Hao exclaid urgently, “Everyone, put on your masks and goggles!”
Damn, this stuff is really here. Lucky I ca fully prepared, or we’d all be dead this ti!
After everyone donned masks and goggles, they continued inside. Not much further, they entered another large space, completely different from the previous ones, with nothing in it except for six holes arrayed side by side on the wall!
Everyone was completely baffled!
Six holes, which one should we enter?
“Brother Hao…” They didn’t know how many tis they had called for Brother Hao along the way; there was no harm in calling…
“Don’t panic,” Wang Hao looked around, then took out the Compass and started muttering, “Seek the dragon, divide the gold, observe the winding mountains, each twist is a barrier…” While he was chanting, he thought to himself, “Six holes, which one should we enter…”
He didn’t know anything about Gold Division and Positioning, he kept muttering while fondling the dice in his pocket, thinking to himself, “Dice, show a clear path…”
The luck dice actually responded, trembling once!
Hahaha! Now that makes things easier!
Wang Hao began using the Compass to asure against each door, and at that mont, he was a complete charlatan: “If a door has a thousand locks, surely princes dwell within.”
Soon, when he aligned the Compass with the second hole from the left, the luck dice clearly trembled again, and Wang Hao imdiately pointed, “This is the one!”
Everyone was like drowning people clutching at their final lifesaver. They thanked him in unison: “We kneel before Brother Hao!”
Now that Wang Hao had chosen a hole, everyone was getting ready to depart. Duan Yunyun asked, “Brother Hao, are we going to enter this hole next?”
“Pretty much,” Wang Hao replied, “But rember, don’t rush anything. There could be many forks in these mountains, and it’s easy to take a wrong turn and never find your way out if you hurry, so listen to my command. Tie yourselves with ropes and don’t get separated!”
This wasn’t a ga—getting separated could an death.
Everyone’s expression turned serious. They took rope and tied it around their arms, linking one to another with Wang Hao leading and Fang Wenbin bringing up the rear, they entered the hole to begin their expedition.
———————————-
End of the month double points, one ticket counts as two, two counts as four! Clear out your monthly tickets!
Also, I rely on this for my livelihood now, please subscribe!
Reviews
All reviews (0)