6 "Weapons"; "Ice Sculpture"; Locked room

The spacious, dark room was no different from the one I had searched before, but the thing in the center of the room made it difficult to look away. A group gathered around and took a closer look at it: a half-man-high stone round platform with a cube-shaped mechanical device made of metal, judging by the reflected light of the torches; Except for the face directly below the cube that is connected to the round table, there are three to five joysticks on the other five faces that are also made of metal, most of the joysticks can only be adjusted in a forward-backward, up-and-down, or horizontal and vertical way from the interface point of view, and two of the joysticks on the cube seem to be joysticks that can be rotated in all directions, and each joystick has small letters written on it.

"Is this also the ancient character on the Saknusem Manuscript?" Erin asked curiously.

"Hmm." Nightfinch just nodded in response, she was speechless by the delicate device in front of her, staring at it incessantly, observing every detail of it.

Others, too, stared intently at the device, falling into a state of self-forgetfulness. After a long time, Kelan said, "Please light another torch, I want to see more clearly." ”

"Kelan, have you ever seen anything like this?" Night Sparrow asked before Koran could indulge in observing the device again.

Koran touched his forehead with his finger and said, "Well, I've seen hydro lifts in some of the big cities of Aube and Dragon, and they use joysticks or levers to control the height or floor to be reached, but this one ...... It's obviously a bit more complicated. ”

"The text on those levers doesn't tell you what they're used for?" Milo guessed.

"Well, that's right." Kelan continued, "There are a few words I can understand, there are: 'strength', 'harm', 'quantity', 'speed'...... The above two freely rotating joysticks are written 'Range Setting' and 'Orientation Setting'......"

Hearing the last two words, everyone present seemed to understand something-"Wouldn't this be the thing that controls sand spirits and sand dust?" That's what almost everyone thinks in their hearts. The shadow of fear caused by the "Sand Spirit Crisis" still lingered in everyone's minds, and the unstoppable expansion of Sand Dust and the unscathed spirit of Sand Spirit continued to torment them for three months, and they even planned to give up Fengxing Town...... The faces of the guards were a mixture of shock, fear, and despair. Now, the device that once caused so much panic was right in front of me, exuding a cold, heart-chilling metallic sheen......

"That's it." Kelan said, as if in response to the suspicions in everyone's hearts. Erin, who was beside her, stared at the delicate device in fascination, and involuntarily reached out to touch the joystick.

"Don't touch it!" Klan suddenly shouted a loud warning, causing Erin to retract her hand.

"I'm sorry, I ...... I'm not ......" Erin was so nervous that she slurred her words, and the people around her also turned reproachful glances at her.

"Don't be sorry, I'd love to touch it too," Koran reassured, "but keep your curiosity under control now, we don't know what the results of a move will be, and there are our companions out there." ”

"What about destroying it?" A guard soldier asked.

Kelan shook his head, and many people followed suit: "It's the best choice not to touch it at the moment." The crowd took turns observing the device for a long time, as if it had come from another world, forgetting the passage of time.

"There's no lettering in this room." Milo's focus was no longer on the device.

"You don't have to engrave every room." Nightsparrow gives her opinion.

"Well, though, this room may not serve the same purpose as the two rooms just now, and the people who live in them will not be the same......" Kran added, as she began to move to the next room.

There are also three rooms on the second floor, all of which are empty, with inscriptions on the walls, which Kelan interprets as "survival of the fittest", "survival of the weak", and "success and defeat". The six houses on the second floor had been searched, and there were still a few guards looking at the "weapon" as if they wanted to see it through with their eyes.

"Please be careful not to touch it." Klan reminded again, holding the torch down the stairs, and asked Milo and Erin beside him as he went: "You have also seen the writing on the wall, try to deduce what this place used to be." ”

"It's a barracks or a mercenary camp." Erin blurted out, "Those words are all encouraging people here to win battles, and with the existence of that 'weapon', there must be a warrior or strategist here." ”

"Well, Erin is very smart and has very reasonable inferences." Kelan said approvingly, "What about you, Milo, what do you think?" ”

Milo didn't think about it, and said directly: "I think Irene's right thing to say, there is indeed a training of qualified strategists here." But ......"

"But what?"

"I think it's not just about training people who can fight, it's also about training the rulers of the country."

"Well, it does make sense." Erin hurriedly said.

"Well, Milo is indeed more thoughtful." Kelan's praise was also a reminder, "It's a lot like a school, not only cultivating the aspects you two talked about, but even teaching magic. ”

"Magic?!" The two exclaimed in unison.

"Hey, magic." Kelan said, already on the first floor, and then the light of the torches walked to the nearest room, "The words engraved on the wall are the words from the Saknusem Manuscript, even if they were ancient seven or eight hundred years ago, then most of them are engraved here because people are familiar with these ancient words-" Kelan's words suddenly stopped, she paused at the door of the room, as if she was hesitating to go in, but her face was full of surprise, as if frozen. Milo and Erin noticed something was wrong and poked their heads into the room, while Nightfinch remained silent, she knew what was inside—

It was a room of candles, scattered on the ground, and in the center of the house, surrounded by candles, was an "ice sculpture".

Although he already knew what he would see here, the sadness still came to everyone's hearts, especially Milo, Erin, and Nightfinch. "Are you ready?" Kelan asked the three of them, and this "preparation" was naturally psychological and emotional. Without waiting for an answer, Kelan slowly took the first step, and the three of them followed, they stood solemnly in front of the "ice sculpture", their eyes solemn, and their expressions solemn-

"Wind chimes, here we come." As if greeting an old friend he hadn't seen for a long time, Milo spoke. Irene burst into tears, and Nightfinch's face was full of sadness, the person who had saved them in a life-and-death situation was now in this "ice sculpture". Is she dead? Previously, Klan had explained that the ice was not death, but no one knew about the spell to lift the ice. Does she know that someone has come to see her? Perhaps, it is said that when the ice is frozen, it is like sleeping and dreaming, and the consciousness falls into another realm. What does it feel like for her to be inside? It should be happy, because being with her beloved, it is likely to be eternal......

More torches were sent into the house, and the "ice sculptures" were crystal clear and warm like jade under the rising sun of the firelight. Although the appearance of the characters inside cannot be seen through the overall outline, the two graceful and beautiful girls embracing each other can be vaguely reflected by the light of the fire, showing their determination to never separate to those who appreciate it carefully.

"It's strange that the torches are so close that the ice doesn't melt?" The guards soldier asked in surprise.

"It's not ice, it's a solid crystal, crystal clear like crystal." Koran whispered. She motioned for the guards next to her to leave the torches behind, and then left the room with her, leaving only the three people who had been helped by the wind chimes to continue to remember her. Before going out, Kelan saw the words engraved on the wall - "discarding the meal and leaving the essence".

……

"She knows we're coming, right?" Erin wiped away her tears and said, stroking the "ice sculpture" with her hand - it was not cold, but there was no temperature.

"I don't know...... But ......," said Mello, choked up, "yes...... She should have known we were coming......" replied incoherently, sadness disturbing his thoughts.

"Don't be too sad," Nightfinch comforted the two, in fact, sadness also shrouded her heart, "She is happy now, and she can be with her beloved......"

"I didn't expect it to be this ending......"

"At least not a bad ending......"

……

Outside the room, Kolan motioned for the guards to search the other rooms on the first floor, and she herself just leaned against the wall and thought quietly. After a while, the guards finished searching, but they all had dejected expressions, obviously there was nothing worth paying attention to in the remaining rooms, and of course there was no so-called treasure.

"Looks like someone has emptied things here...... "Koran thought to herself, and she reviewed the time the group had spent exploring, it should be almost the middle of the night. She suggested that the guards go to the top floor to rest first, and that she lit a few oil lamps and stayed where they were, plus Milo, Erin, and Nightfinch in the room, and there were only four of them on the first floor.

In the dim light, a stone door in the hallway caught Kolan's attention—unlike the wooden doors used in other rooms, the stone door meant that the room had a unique status or function. As Nightsparrow said, the stone door was locked, and it could not be opened by pushing or pulling, nor could it be moved sideways, and Koran began to look for the keyhole to open the door, but could not find it.

"Maybe it's not with a key." Kelan muttered to herself, her eyes fell on the wall next to the stone gate, and she suddenly gasped unconsciously, "This is!! ”

- There is a diamond-shaped groove there.

Familiar shapes, even familiar sizes, Kelan was completely stunned, and with her trembling hands, she pinched out the wooden diamond-shaped pendant she cherished like life from her pocket, "No...... This is it......" She stretched out her trembling hand and compared the charm in front of the groove—it fit perfectly, and even the inscribed circle within the diamond perfectly wrapped around the circular protrusion in the groove.

Kelan immediately removed the rope from the ornament, and once again compared the ornament in front of the groove, she half-squatted down, carefully embedded the ornament along the groove, and smoothed it with her hand—

"Bang-" The ornament was completely attached to the innermost groove wall, leaving no gap.

"Key—" Koran whispered nervously, "you left me a key...... as if talking to someone.

The stone door, which had been immovable, slid to the side with only a slight rumbling sound......

The locked room was opened in this way.