Secret Room and Falling into the Water

Lin Yu admitted that there was an element of gambling in his decision to take down Chen Yongde.

But in hindsight, I guess I made the right bet.

At least attacking the villagers of Chen Family Fortress won't cause any Chain Reaction —these villagers are unimportant to the mastermind behind it all.

If they were important enough, the mastermind wouldn't have made Chen Yongde endure the Noon heat, practically dying from the heat, to chat with them.

But...

Although defeating Chen Yongde did not trigger any anomalies, it does not mean they can rest easy.

"Let's go. The fact that this old man is here means that the mastermind behind this has noticed our actions."

"Furthermore... he doesn't seem to want us to enter this room, which also suggests that we might have come to the right place."

After saying that, Lin Yu left Chen Yongde where he was and walked to the door of the house.

The door to the room was bolted from the inside, and Lin Yu pushed it from the outside, but it wouldn't open.

Lin Yu frowned slightly.

That's strange...

If this house has been uninhabited for a long time, why is it bolted from the inside?

"Oh, it's a door bolt. Then, Heroine, use my sword to pry it open through the crack."

Yue Zhenqiao seemed to have misunderstood Lin Yu's frown, and quickly spoke, then handed over his sword.

Lin Yu shook his head.

"No need."

He then took a step back and delivered a spinning side kick that slammed into the door.

"Bang!"

"Snap!"

The latch snapped, and Lin Yu kicked the door open, revealing the scene inside the stone house.

Then, Lin Yu strode inside.

Let's go.

He said calmly.

Yue Zhenqiao watched this scene from behind and gave a wry smile, unsurprised.

"That's right... This Heroine was able to subdue the Mountain Demon Leader with a single move, so opening a door is nothing; she wouldn't need my help."

Wu San and Liu Chengyang, who were behind him, were once again intimidated by Lin Yu's strength and hurriedly caught up.

The four entered the room, and Lin Yu looked around at the furnishings.

The stone bed, stone table, and wooden cabinet are simply furnished, making it seem as if no one has lived here for a long time.

However, Lin Yu quickly realized something was wrong.

He walked to the bedside and lifted the straw mat on the stone bed—although he only lifted a corner at random, the straw mat began to bend along a specific crease.

These are marks left from being folded repeatedly from here.

After Lin Yu lifted the straw mat, the surface of the stone bed was revealed—it was not a single stone bed, but rather composed of several strip-shaped stones.

Lin Yu gently ran his fingers over the strip-shaped stones and quickly found a few that were different.

If you place your finger on it, you can feel a faint airflow coming from the thin gaps—this proves that there is a ventilated space below.

"Come here for a moment."

Lin Yu beckoned to the three bodyguards, who, puzzled, came over.

"Heroine, is there something strange about this bed?"

Wu San asked, puzzled.

"There should be a hidden passage beneath this stone slab, leading to some secret chamber," Lin Yu explained. "So, we need to get this thing out of there."

"Do any of you know anything about mechanisms or similar things?"

Lin Yu asked.

Since it's a locked room, there might be some self-destruct or Protection Mechanism, so it can't be as simple and crude as kicking the door down before.

Therefore, Lin Yu naturally wanted to hear the opinions of these Native.

After all, he didn't know much about the mechanisms and schemes of the Prison Mountain Realm.

All three bodyguards shook their heads.

But after shaking his head, Yue Zhenqiao spoke again, "Heroine, although I don't understand mechanisms, these hidden chambers are for human use, so there's always a concealed switch on the outside..."

Upon hearing Yue Zhenqiao, Lin Yu interrupted him, "Of course I know that... I asked you because I'm not very familiar with the different schools of mechanical arts in the Fire Hell. I do have some knowledge of these things."

Lin Yu said, then shook Old Zheng.

"Find me a switch."

Old Zheng said helplessly, "Boss, Dead Thing isn't my area of expertise..."

"It's alright, search as much as you can. I'll have Hannah help you with that."

As Lin Yu spoke, he released Hannah after a long absence.

After relaying the instructions to Hannah, the Little Octopus disguised itself and slipped into the cracks in the stone slabs.

After Old Zheng and Hannah started searching at the same time, Lin Yu also began searching everywhere.

However, everyone has their own expertise, and Lin Yu's search was less efficient than that of Old Zheng and Hannah —moreover, he also had to appear very professional while searching.

Fortunately, Hannah is reliable enough.

"Quack! I found it, Director!"

"Following the Mechanical Transmission Structure in the gap, I found a lever in a hidden compartment behind the cabinet. Pulling the lever would open the Secret room entrance."

"Well done, Hannah, you've worked hard, you can rest now."

After praising Hannah, Lin Yu put Hannah back in the house—after all, although the temperature inside the stone house was not as high as outside, and forty degrees Celsius could almost be considered cool, it was still a bit hot and dry by Hannah's standards.

Following Hannah's report, Lin Yu walked calmly to the cabinet.

After opening the cabinet door, removing the shelf, and finding the hidden compartment, a pull rod appeared before Lin Yu.

This is it.

As Lin Yu spoke, he pulled down the lever.

"Click..."

A heavy thud came from the direction of the stone bed. Lin Yu turned his head and saw that the three stones under the straw mat had retracted into the wall, revealing a downward passage.

"There really are mechanisms and passageways!"

Liu Chengyang said in surprise.

"Of course there is! Would Heroine like you lie to us?"

As Yue Zhenqiao spoke, he stepped forward and said, "Heroine, let me, Yue, go down and scout ahead first."

After saying that, Yue Zhenqiao rummaged through his bag and found a hemp rope, a tinderbox, and a box of Talismans. He then walked up to Wu San and Liu Chengyang.

"Wu San, tie the rope securely. We'll follow the rules for cave exploration."

"Liu Chengyang, help me affix some Talismans for protection and disaster avoidance, then give me your signal arrow."

Wu San and Liu Chengyang nodded and were about to secure the rope and affix the Talismans.

But in that short time, Lin Yu had already stood by the bedside.

"No need for that. My skills are better than all of yours combined... Naturally, the strongest should go to scout ahead."

"Besides... I don't need that much preparation."

As Lin Yu spoke, he took out the Fear Torch and suddenly lit it.

The pale flames illuminated every corner of the room.

"You don't even need to go down. Just stay up here and keep watch. If I need you to come down... I'll call you then!"

As Lin Yu spoke, Torch and jumped straight down.

Before Yue Zhenqiao and the others could stop him, they saw Lin Yu's figure disappear.

A moment later, a "plop" sound came from below.

"There's water, it's safe!"

Lin Yu's calm voice drifted from below.

But a moment later, his voice turned into angry curses.

"No, this is fucking unsafe—why the fuck is boiling water?!"