Chapter 16
Duwei picked up a candle, thought for a moment then took a weapon from the wall. Though considering the little body he currently had, he chose a short sword. Then he took a few new candles and put them in his pocket.
Duwei stepped into this hidden room. The faint candlelight could only light up two to three steps of s.p.a.ce. Luckily Duwei’s higher spirit power allowed him to be better aware of the surrounding.
This was a secret path inside the wall, both sides were stone walls. The whole path was covered in dust. Even though tried his best to move softly, he couldn’t help but stir up the dust.
He would oca.s.sionally step on some small rocks. Duwei moved forward cautiously under the flickering candlelight.
Luckily this place seemed to be ventilated. Even though the candle was flickering, it didn’t go out due to a lack of oxygen.
After a while, he reached a set of stairs. Narrow spiral stairs leading down. They were also made of stones and appeared crude, but at least they felt solid enough. Following the path down, Duwei reached a small door after thirty steps.
The metalic door was rusted. Duwei tried to turn the handle but found out the door was locked. He sighed then remembered that line from the book shelf.
"The drinking gourd is the key..."
Duwei thought for a moment, then looked around with the candle. Finally he found a picture on the ceiling. The picture was carved into the ceiling. He could barely made out that was a sky map. Although he was not well versed in stars, he still found what appeared to be the Big Dipper.
The ceiling was a bit too tall for him to reach. He started studying this map witht he candlelight. As a candle was burning out and he was about to light up another one, he suddenly thought of an important question.
Key? What a joke! If this secret path are to be discovered, then even if that person doesn’t have a key, couldn’t he just get some tools to brute force open the door? If so then the key wouldn’t be too important. Yet that hint specifically indicated key. There must be a different meaning.
In other words, it wasn’t possible to open the door without the key. This key probably wasn’t a literal key.
Duwei sat down to think for a while. When he stood up again, he jumped and hit the ceiling with his short sword.
Bang!
Duwei’s eyes lit up! This sound was a little airy.
He bent down and found a crack on the ground. Then stuck his sword in the crack and stood on top the sword. His hands could barely reach the ceiling now.
The ceiling was covered in a thick layer of dust. He groped for a while and could feel the Big Dipper felt different from the other places. He tried some methods like knock, twist, turn, etc.
Finally he turned some place and one of the star moved. Along with a crackling sound, the floor on the corner sank. A path appeared on the ground leading downward.
Duwei jumped down from the short sword with a smile. Just as he thought, it was all a trick. Duwei was sure his speculation was correct. The rusted door on the side was just a disguise. The real secret was not on this door. If whoever came here didn’t know the hint of the Big Dipper, then he wouldn’t be able to find the real secret.
Duwei was sure the real secret lied in that new path. He walked over to the path. The entrance was very narror, it could barely let a person in. The inside was dark, Duwei lit a candle and threw it inside. He could see the stairs weren’t deep, it’s just about two to three meters tall. This was probably a secret room.
He waited by the entrance for a