Boone was squatting outside the tunnel, counting heads.
When he counted to the twelfth, Mira placed the iron plate in front of him.
With a thud, half of the sign sank into the frozen ground.
Do you recognize it?
Boone looked down at her, then looked up at her again. "You dug up the tombstones from the mountains?"
"On the machine."
"That's good."
He wiped the rust off with his sleeve and beckoned the two old workers closer. Lin Yuan squatted down beside them, drew six metal pillars and the jammed gate with pebbles, and briefly explained the method they had just tried.
Boone's beard twitched when he heard the call being disconnected.
Mira asked first, "What's with that wire?"
"Thin tubing delivers speed, thick tubing delivers the magic. If the control wire is broken, the old-fashioned machine will run at maximum opening."
Why not design it to stop?
"You'll have to ask the man who built it," Boone tapped the metal plaque. "Look at this rust; we'll have to dig up his grave first."
Lin Yuan lowered his head, his shoulders twitching slightly.
Mira stepped on the pebble he was drawing with the tip of her boot.
"Continue."
An elderly worker used a knife to scrape clean the right corner of the sign, revealing two arrows. One pointed towards the circle, and the other towards the square, with a short line of text engraved next to it.
"Recirculation well, bypass maintenance."
Boone immediately unfolded the map and pointed to the back of the mountain.
"There was a stone building next to the old quarry, with thick pipes running down its walls. I always thought it was a pump house."
Lin Yuan compared the location with the remote node he sensed and nodded.
"That's it."
"There should be a reversing wheel inside. Only by redirecting the return flow to a bypass can the gate inside the mountain be lowered."
Where does the bypass lead?
Boone pointed to the square frame on the metal plate. "Pressure relief tank. It's been abandoned for so long, we need to check if it's blocked. If it's blocked, don't try to open it, the pipe will explode."
Mira had already walked to the other side of the map and noted the location of the stone house.
"I'll fly there."
Lin Yuan handed her a piece of charcoal and drew the direction and destination of the reversing wheel on the back of the iron plate.
"Check everything before you move. Don't touch that thick pipe leading into the mountains; I need it to assess the changes on your end."
"The wheels will turn, and then you'll wait to turn off the machine?"
"Yes. If it won't turn, step back first."
She took the metal plate and tucked it under her arm. "Don't worry, this time I brought the instruction manual."
Dark red magic unfolded, Mira swept over the top of the slope, quickly disappearing behind the ridge.
Boone rolled up the map. "I'll take some men to get the support frame; once we stop, we can get in."
"Get ready outside first," Lin Yuan pointed to the new crack at the top of the tunnel, "I'll come out to meet you."
He turned and entered the tunnel, rechecking the markings along the way. The gaps that he could previously cross were now wide enough to swallow an entire foot. He circled around to the solid rock wall, changed his landing point twice, and then returned to the central cavity.
The last pointer has touched the red line.
Lin Yuan reached out and pressed his hand against the ground, finding the thick line that returned the magic power. As the next wave of yellow ripples surged along the line, black and silver creases appeared from the side, rising and falling with it.
He didn't cut it off; he just waited for the ripples to change direction.
On the other side of the mountain, Mira kicked open the wooden door of the stone house.
There was no floor inside, only a well covered with iron bars. A thick pipe ran through the edge of the well and connected to a disc about half a person's height, with a rusted reversing wheel leaning against the wall.
She first went around to the back of the house.
A stone trough stretched into the waste dump, its exit mostly buried by crushed ore. Mira lifted the old iron bucket that was pressing down on it, and used the edge of the bucket to shovel away the rubble until the bottom of the trough revealed the blackened brick surface.
She exited the slot, went back into the house, and grasped the reversing wheel.
The magic in the well illuminated the iron grate, causing it to vibrate against the soles of her shoes. Mira leaned the iron plate against the wall, carefully comparing it to the arrow on the disc, before moving it to the side of the thick pipe. In case the pipe couldn't withstand the pressure, at least she wouldn't be directly facing the nozzle, and there was a way to retreat to the door behind her.
The iron wheel only turned a little before it got stuck.
Mira didn't try to force it any further. She let go, squatted down, and looked at the axle. A locking pin ran across the bracket, with a broken zipper still hanging at the end.
"Found you."
She pulled out the lock and turned the iron wheel again.
A muffled thud came from underground.
Yellow light shot into the stone trough behind the house, pushing the gravel outwards. Mira stood to the side, watching the engraved lines on the rim gradually approach the endpoint marked by the charcoal.
Inside the mountain, the ripples under Lin Yuan's palm suddenly weakened.
He looked up at the gate.
The iron shaft stuck in the bracket finally stopped turning back, and half of the gear slowly retracted, revealing the taut connecting rod behind it.
Right now.
Lin Yuan separated the returning patterns, and with his other hand, he aimed at the lower edge of the gate and shortened the distance between it and the base.
The heavy gate collapsed with a crash.
The six drill bits stopped in sequence, but the central crystal remained bright. The gate was only two fingers' width away from the base, and a curved support was firmly wedged into the gap.
Lin Yuan looked along the connecting rod towards the base of the support.
The gear has disengaged, and the section that was jamming the gate has finally disengaged from the shaft.
He raised his right fist, and black and silver magic gathered at the knuckles.
"Now we can dismantle it."