Li Ang's thoughts didn't last long.
RUMBLE. RUMBLE.
The sound of bricks and stones rubbing against each other sounded again in the passage. Li Ang grabbed the cup and the plastic tubing from the floor, rushed to the wall panel, and forcefully pressed the red button.
Indeed, just as the letter had said, after he pressed the button, the inner door of Room C opened with a click. Li Ang quickly stepped into the circle on the floor, waiting for the outer door to open—this ti, the door opened much slower, creeping like a snail.
The mont the door opened just wide enough for one person to pass, Li Ang, unable to wait any longer, rushed out. The instant he poked his head into the passage, he only saw a figure in an outfit stepping into Room D next door and disappearing from sight.
"Stop! Don't run!"
Li Ang sprinted to the door of Room D and slapped it, but got no response.
"Damn it."
He felt his body temperature rising due to his surging emotions. So you're hiding in the room, huh? I'll see where you can run.
The red button could only activate the water supply system for a limited ti; once missed, there was no second chance.
Li Ang ran to Room A and turned on the faucet. He only heard a humming sound from the faucet. No water ca out.
A lightbulb went off in his head. He picked up the plastic tubing, twisted it into a U-shape, and tried to connect it between the sink and the drainpipe on the floor. Because the gloves were too clumsy and his limbs felt weak, even such a simple action took a lot of ti.
He barely managed to install the tubing and rushed out the door, heading for Room D, only to hear the rumbling sound for the third ti. The sound still ca from the stone wall next to Room F.
When Li Ang sprinted over, he saw a man in a rubber suit carrying a Deford Monster on his back, disappearing behind a slowly closing stone wall.
The monster only retained a basic human silhouette. Where its head should have been, a mass of constantly twisting green hair sprouted, covering most of its body. Shreds of unidentifiable fabric clung to its body. Its pale, slender limbs were bent and twisted backward in a posture even an acrobat couldn't achieve. The re sight of it was enough to make one feel pain.
[Cannot let
find, cannot let
find]
A line of semi-transparent text suddenly appeared in his vision. Li Ang watched the stone wall close on its own and imdiately realized his Title Skill, "Mystery Delver," was taking effect, displaying the secrets its target deeply wished to hide from the outside world.
What I saw... was it the secret of the Deford Monster, or the secret of the person dressed in the sa outfit as ?
Li Ang clenched his teeth. He wanted to hamr the wall and demand answers, but the ti for the water supply system was ticking away.
Li Ang ran back to the entrance of Room D and placed the gold-inlaid cup marked '5L' in the empty space to the left of the shrine just inside the door.
CLICK.
The 5L cup fit perfectly into the space. The shrine's platform sank slightly, and then the sound of running water ca from Room A.
Water gushed from the faucet, flowed through the U-shaped plastic tube into the drainpipe, and after andering through the pipes, finally surged into the recess on top of the Room D shrine, turning the shrine itself into a reservoir.
Use the 5L and 3L cups to get 4L of water...
Li Ang murmured to himself and moved the handle on the left side of the shrine, letting water flow into the 5L cup. After filling it, he shut off the water. He then used the water from the 5L cup to fill the empty 3L cup. Then, he poured out all the water from the 3L cup. He poured the remaining 2L of water from the 5L cup into the 3L cup. He filled the 5L cup again. Then, he poured water from the 5L cup into the 3L cup until it was full. Since the 3L cup already contained 2L of water, only 1L was poured from the 5L cup.
The mont Li Ang emptied the 3L cup, the sound of flowing water from Room A stopped. The ti limit was up.
The water remaining in the shrine was...
4L.
The outer door of Room D slowly opened. Li Ang didn't hesitate to rush in, stepping on the footprint pattern to enter the room.
The room was empty, except for a square tal plate, one ter on each side, now fixed to the ceiling. There were only two items on the floor—an envelope and a desk calendar.
Li Ang opened the envelope, took out the letter inside, and read:
"Hello, Morgan,
"When you open this letter, the ti should be 9:45 PM.
"I believe you must have seen so things in the passage just now that made you feel fearful, helpless, and at a loss.
"Even though you can't rember anything, that scene still made you shudder to your very soul.
"You are perplexed.
"You should be perplexed.
"However, before the final puzzle is revealed, please listen carefully."
Without warning, sobs echoed from the ceiling. It was a man crying. He wailed like a wild beast, kneeling and pounding the floor with his fists, "Why? Why? Why..."
"I'm sorry, Father," a clear, though sowhat strained, voice said. "I... I did everything I could to stop Mother... but..."
"..."
The man sat there, stunned, for a long ti before slowly asking, "Alice, who sent you and Triss away at 9:15 PM?"
The girl's voice paused. "...It was you."
"Who took Siri away at 9:40 PM?"
"...It was you."
The girl took a deep breath. "Although it sounds incredible, that person's face, voice, fingerprints, irises, and all other physiological characteristics were exactly like yours."
"Then," the man asked softly, "what about his... left and right hands?"
The girl called Alice seed stunned for a mont. Then, realizing what he ant, she responded gravely, "Normal. Just like yours."
"...I understand."
The man took a deep breath. "He did it. He deliberately lied to , deceived , and gave
false hope.
"He trapped
in the tunnel, took away my daughter, and killed my wife...
"I have to go down into the well to find him..."
Footsteps receded, one after another, out the door. Li Ang stood in place, waiting for a mont, but nothing else happened.
"..."
Li Ang lowered his gaze, remaining silent.
The fragnted conversations from upstairs heard in each room, the elusive, eerie figures that kept appearing but were always just out of reach, the Deford Monster seen in the passage... All these elents converged in his mind, gradually forming a rough outline of the story.
He picked up the desk calendar that lay next to the envelope. The desk calendar was made of white cardboard, ordinary in style. The left side of each page featured a landscape painting, and the right side displayed the dates. Above the dates, the days of the week were marked: SUN, MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SAT.
The pages for January and February had been torn out. Notes were written in red ink on the first few dates of March.
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