“Move this piece to the left and it's done!”
The sliding puzzle mechanism in the secret passage was relatively simple, and Lin Yuan completed it without much effort.
As he moved the final wooden block, all the oil lamps lining the secret passage lit up.
The dim, yellowish light illuminated the dark passage. While still dim, it was at least enough to see the way.
It was a long corridor in a classical European style. At the end of the corridor lay a Sphinx, imposing and majestic, but its eyes were dim and lifeless, appearing like two black holes from afar.
Candlesticks were mounted on the adjacent walls.
To make the corridor brighter, Lin Yuan unscrewed a candle and began lighting the remaining ones.
"Click."
Suddenly, his left foot felt like it had stepped on nothing and sunk. Looking down, he saw a flagstone had been pressed down by his foot.
"I'll..."
Before he could finish the curse, a gust of wind blew from his left.
"Buzz."
The sound of a blade cutting through the air exploded in Lin Yuan's ears.
He only had time to roll forward once before narrowly dodging a giant axe that swept past his head.
"Damn it..." Looking at the giant axe that almost split him in two, Lin Yuan's eyes widened like a bull's. He was truly frightened this time. He pushed himself up from the ground and retreated a few steps. Before he could catch his breath, his hand sank.
His heart sank halfway.
How could he have triggered another trap!
"Click, click, click." The sound of machinery turning came from above.
Lin Yuan looked back and saw five crossbows extending from the ceiling, aimed at him.
The dark crossbow bolts clearly had something added to them. If he jumped back, he might be killed by a series of traps. In this critical moment, Lin Yuan saw the giant axe in front of him and had an idea.
He leaped behind the axe. The volley of arrows followed immediately, but they struck the axe with a series of clanging sounds.
It lasted for ten seconds before stopping. Lin Yuan, curled up behind the axe, breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he had triggered the axe first, giving him a place to hide. Otherwise, he would have been shot full of holes.
Getting up again, Lin Yuan looked at the classical corridor with a changed gaze. This was no longer a charming little corridor with classical flair; it was clearly a deadly secret passage filled with traps.
Since there were traps, there must be corresponding ways to disarm them, just like the sliding puzzle earlier. It required puzzle-solving.
This was not Ivormona anymore, where he could simply use brute force to break through. It would require some time.
"This painting?"
As expected, after a thorough search within the safe zone, he discovered a painting that was frequently taken down.
The painting depicted a common scene: a golden wheat field with people working. The meaning was clear, celebrating the harvest.
The dust around the painting was barely visible, and there were some subtle scuff marks on the lower left corner, indicating that someone had long held the lower left corner of the painting to remove it.
He reached out and took down the painting. On the back of the frame, written in artistic English, was a sentence.
"The sluggard envies and receives nothing, but the diligent will be rich."
— Elsa
Interesting.
Was this a form of mockery towards the Eternal Life Cult?
On the wall hidden by the painting, there was a retractable platform, placed in a cavity behind the painting. On the platform was a rotatable mirror.
Combining this with the unlit candlesticks nearby, Lin Yuan realized that the mechanism needed to be triggered by the reflection of the mirror.
The retractable mechanism could only extend to a certain point before stopping.
Lin Yuan tried to rotate the mirror. The reflected candlelight hit an eagle statue on the opposite wall, but it wasn't enough to activate it.
Helpless, Lin Yuan had to use his flashlight to add more light. Only then did the beam become strong enough. He placed the flashlight in the cavity, maintaining the light.
The sound of machinery turning echoed again.
The eagle's eyes seemed to be inlaid with some gems, and the beam was refracted again, shooting deeper.
A series of traps were triggered by the beam of light, finally stopping at a rising statue. The traps did not trigger again.
"Why did it stop?"
Lin Yuan knew that the point where the beam stopped was still a certain distance from the final Sphinx.
Unwilling to give up, he continued to search for any other traps within the safe zone. Unfortunately, apart from the sliding puzzle and the painting which he had already passed, there were no other traps.
With the situation as it was, there was no other way but to force his way through.
Taking a deep breath, Lin Yuan charged forward like a leopard. The area triggered by the beam was safe, but the moment his foot stepped into the area shrouded in darkness.
He was instantly knocked flying by something.
Ignoring the pain in his arms, Lin Yuan quickly got up from the ground, trying to see what had attacked him.
In the dim candlelight, he saw a square stone pillar extending from the left side of the Sphinx, slowly retracting.
Was that what attacked me just now?
The speed of this thing was not slow at all. Lin Yuan only had time to block his chest with his arms before being sent flying.
Fortunately, the combat suit provided cushioning, and his strong physical fitness prevented his arms from suffering a comminuted fracture.
He only had a slight bone crack, which would heal within five minutes given his recovery speed.
However, this last short stretch of road was as insurmountable as a chasm. He wasn't the Red Hulk (an X-Men villain) who could just charge through.
He returned to the statue where the light beam had not been refracted and observed it carefully, trying to find the reason.
After a long time, Lin Yuan found a clue. The statue depicted an Egyptian Pharaoh cat, with a silver-white coating, the most precious color for this breed.
The statue's left eye was empty. The light had hit this spot and was not refracted. The light that reached the Sphinx behind was already very faint.
This spot should have had a gem, but it was gone for some reason.
Where was he supposed to find a gem now?!
Frustrated, Lin Yuan leaned against the statue, trying to reach for a cigarette but finding nothing.
"I left my cigarettes in Ivormona... Wait?"
Sensing something was wrong, Lin Yuan patted himself down.
"Where are my two amulets?!"
He didn't find them on himself. He looked over and saw two small cloth pouches lying not far away. The bumps along the way, plus the impact from being knocked flying by the stone pillar, had caused these amulets to fall out of his bag.
"Phew, you scared me," Lin Yuan said, picking them up and checking if anything was missing.
The amulets made by everyone for him contained not only Angelica but also a small piece of paper filled with blessings, and a bullet casing given to him by Sun Qin.
Looking at these items, Lin Yuan's nose felt a little sore.
He wondered what they were doing and if they were all well.
But now was not the time to cry. If his mental state broke down, everything would collapse.
Wiping his nose, Lin Yuan put away one amulet and picked up the other one from the ground.
This one was given to him by Carol Anna. Lin Yuan had rushed out at the time and hadn't had a chance to look closely, only knowing it contained Angelica.
However, he now discovered a chain at the opening of this small cloth bag.
"Huh??"
The chain gleamed with a golden light, reminding him of the ruby necklace Carol Anna often wore.
"Could it really be...?"
He gently pulled out the chain, and the ruby's light flashed before his eyes.
Attached to the chain he pulled out was also a note.
"My dearest Lin Yuan:
Consider this necklace my amulet. If you encounter any situations requiring monetary transactions in the Federal States of America, this necklace might help you.
P.S.: This thing is very expensive!!! <(｀^´)> Don't be foolish and give it away for a few dollars. Also, bring Wu Tian and my godson back safely.
— Carol Anna"
How did this kid recognize so many godmothers when he was barely born?!
He rubbed his nose unnaturally and folded the note, placing it back into the small cloth bag.
He held the necklace up and compared it.
It was about the right size.
He took out the gem and placed it in the cat's eye. He rotated it slightly, and the beam of light instantly converged, shooting directly into the right eye of the Sphinx.
Although the left eye also appeared empty, the wall behind the statue still parted to the sides, revealing a short passage, just a little longer than the stone pillar that had attacked Lin Yuan.
This passage was carved with many things, mostly holy reliefs and murals typically seen in churches.
But Lin Yuan paid no attention to any of this. His gaze was completely captivated by the room behind the passage.
It was a room decorated like a bedroom, with a bed and a very luxurious baby carriage.
With Lin Yuan's eyesight, he recognized the child sleeping in the baby carriage at a glance.
It was his longed-for son.
The joy of finally finding him after so much hardship made him temporarily overlook the woman sitting on the large bed next to the baby carriage. She was staring at Lin Yuan's back with extreme terror.
She kept gesturing for Lin Yuan to pay attention to his back.
Lin Yuan, after his moment of ecstasy, also noticed the trembling woman, who had been subtly signaling him.
"You, hmph..."
He had only spoken one word when a sweet, fishy taste surged in his throat, and blood uncontrollably sprayed from the corner of his mouth.
He lowered his head, looking in disbelief at the sharp spike protruding from his chest and abdomen.
His entire body felt drained, and he couldn't muster any strength. He couldn't even turn his head.
He could only watch as he was lifted into the air and flown out of the bedroom window.
"Die, you bug!" Amidst the furious roar, the sound of breaking glass could be heard. He tried to get a clear look at his attacker, but his vision blurred.
He really wanted to sleep.
"Son... son, Dad... I'm sorry."
This was the closest he had ever been to Lin Junhui, but before they could reunite, it was over. He weakly stretched out his hand, trying to grasp something.
Finally, it fell powerlessly.
"Bang!"
Lin Yuan crashed onto a protruding stone platform on a cliff, creating a large pit in the thick snow.
Only the whistling wind remained.
Mixed with the sound of flapping wings.
"How... is it you?"