Chapter 106

Zhao Jianguo stood at the mouth of the alley, that slip of paper in his palm slowly changed color, from ink black turning to dark red, as if it had been burned by something. He didn't dare look longer, casually slipped it into his trouser pocket, turned and walked toward the Siheyuan. The night wind ran along the wall base, making the electric wire hum, distant streetlights flickered on and off, as if someone were blinking.

Courtyard gate, Dong Xu, and a coal stove lid (not in the glossary) are not needed.

Zhao Jianguo (already listed), Yi Zhonghai, and the exclamation "Jianguo! Jianguo!" (same as before).

Zhao Jianguo stepped back half a step, brow furrowed. This wasn't the time to be drunk and acting crazy; he had just gotten out of a meal ticket gathering where even his own people were indistinguishable real from fake, his mind still tense.

"Stay clear-headed." He lowered his voice, "What is it?"

Dong Xu trembled as he pulled out a rust-speckled metal sheet from his pocket, the edges dented and pitted like something scraped from a scrap heap. He shoved it into Zhao Jianguo's hands: "Look! This is it! He said it's been hidden for thirty years, can't be shown to outsiders, only handed to you!"

Zhao Jianguo and the check-in system (not in the glossary) are not needed.

"Scan Start" is not a named entity.

Screen and data stream.

Material match degree: 100% (not applicable).

Blood stain element comparison: 99.8% (not applicable).

Energy residue type: homologous fragments (not applicable).

Zhao Jianguo's pupils constricted. This thing is exactly the same as the piece he picked up in the laboratory.

He lifted his head and stared at Dong Xu: "When did Yi Zhonghai give this to you?"

"Last night……no, the day before!" Dong Xu stammered, "He called me to the backyard, all mysterious, saying 'If something happens to me, give this to Zhao Jianguo'… I thought he was just senile, but… but this morning he was gone!"

Zhao Jianguo's heart skipped a beat. Yi Zhonghai died? How did he hear nothing about it?

Zhao Jianguo, the system (possibly unnecessary), but the surface etching information has been parsed—latitude and longitude coordinates: 39.9042° N, 116.3978° E; 'system' is not in the glossary (we have system terminal and terminal), not needed.

Map is not needed.

Red dot is not needed.

Central Siheyuan, though we already have Siheyuan.

"These coordinates…" Zhao Jianguo whispered, "They're under our courtyard."

Dong Xu, Siheyuan, possibly gold ingot and Soviet spy's radio (not needed).

"Don't make noise." Zhao Jianguo grabbed him and pulled him inside, closing the door behind him, "Your head isn't clear right now, but the thing is real. I need to find out."

"Then let me help you dig!" Dong Xu thumped his chest, "I may have drunk a lot, but my strength hasn't diminished! Besides, this concerns Yi Zhonghai—I can't ignore it!"

Zhao Jianguo glanced at him and didn't refuse. For now, no one else could be trusted; Chen Jianguo hadn't replied yet, and he didn't dare act rashly. Since the clue had come to them, they'd follow it.

Zhao Jianguo, Dong Xu, the courtyard, and the old locust tree are not needed.

One shovel down, the clod of earth turned over. Second shovel, it hit something hard.

"There's something!" Dong Xu perked up, crouched and dug with his hands.

Zhao Jianguo also knelt to help. After digging less than half a meter deeper, his fingertips touched a flat stone slab, its surface etched with a circle of strange patterns, like some kind of latch.

He was about to examine it closely when the system suddenly vibrated.

【Warning: Spacetime frequency resonance detected; advise immediate cessation of operation】

Before the words finished, Dong Xu snapped his head up: "Did you hear that?"

Zhao Jianguo.

: none.

Then, an extremely low sound came from underground, like a chain dragging, like Gear Set meshing, intermittent but drawing nearer.

"Something's wrong." Zhao Jianguo grabbed Dong Xu's arm, "Stop."

But Dong Xu wouldn't listen, he hoisted the iron shovel to pry the stone slab: "We've come this far, we can't turn back; besides, the thing Yi Zhonghai risked his life to leave behind is surely important!"

"If you move again, we might not be able to get back." Zhao Jianguo's voice turned cold.

Dong Xu froze, his hand suspended in midair.

At that moment, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard gate.

Not a tentative probe, but three decisive steps, landing firmly at the doorway.

The door hadn't opened, yet the person was already standing there.

Chen Jianguo.

He wore an old jacket, his face expressionless, his gaze landing directly on the stone slab.

"Don't pry." He said, "This isn't a treasure map, it's an admission ticket."

Zhao Jianguo and the system terminal.

"How do you know we're digging here?"

"I don't know." Chen Jianguo looked at him, "But I can guess. You got a new fragment, worked out the coordinates, your first reaction was to verify. And the most suspicious coordinates in the whole city are right under your courtyard."

Dong Xu went dumb: "You… you already knew each other? And you're speaking in code?"

: none.

Zhao Jianguo stared at Chen Jianguo: "You said it's an admission ticket? What do you mean?"

"What I mean is," Chen Jianguo stepped forward half a pace, staying outside the threshold without entering the courtyard, "Down there isn't a box, it's a passage. Without a Spacetime Stabilizer, whoever opens it dies—mildly, memory loss; severely, instant vaporization."

"Bullshit!" Dong Xu jumped up, "Who are you trying to scare? If such a thing really existed, the state would know about it! How could we be out here digging?"

Chen Jianguo didn't look at him, only speaking to Zhao Jianguo: "Does your system have the word 'stabilizer'? Have you checked the logs? Isn't there a delay each time you use a function? That delay is the energy being siphoned off. Someone is remotely borrowing your output power."

Zhao Jianguo.

Zhao Jianguo

But before he could speak, a dull thud suddenly came from inside the house.

: none.

As if something inside was vibrating.

Both turned their heads at the same time.

The sound came from the West Wing Room—the house where the deaf old lady used to live.

The old camphor wood box she left stood against the wall, having been quiet for years, but now a faint blue light seeped from its cracks, flickering in rhythm exactly matching the underground sound.

"That…" Jia Dongxu's voice hollow, "the old lady's box? How… could it be making a sound?"

Zhao Jianguo hurried over and reached out to touch the box's surface.

The wood was warm.

The System Prompt popped up again:

【Detected matching signal source, coming from inside the box】

【Matched fragment ID: #X-7】

【Activation status: synchronized countdown started】

He suddenly turned to look at Chen Jianguo: "Do you know what this is?"

Chen Jianguo's face changed: "It shouldn't be sounding now. Unless… your earlier prying of the stone slab triggered a linkage mechanism."

"A countdown?" Zhao Jianguo pressed, "How much time is left?"

"I don't know." Chen Jianguo shook his head, "but I know one thing—this box and the door below are one system. When one activates, the other must respond. You have two choices: either seal the earth now to cut off the signal, or ready a stabilizer and prepare to open the door."

Jia Dongxu looked bewildered: "Wait, the stabilizer you're talking about… where exactly is it?"

Zhao Jianguo didn't answer.

He lowered his gaze to the fragment in his hand, then to the stone slab on the ground, and finally to the box flashing blue light.

The three lines all point to the same answer.

But the question is, who set up the game?

Was Yi Zhonghai's dying entrustment a coincidence, or an arrangement?

Jia Dongxu stumbled in drunk—was he truly unaware, or was he pushed here by someone?

And Chen Jianguo—why does he always show up at the critical moment? Is everything he says a warning, or is he leading them deeper into a trap?

The house's vibration sounded again.

The blue light flashed once, brighter than before.

Zhao Jianguo clenched the fragment, his knuckles whitening.

He was about to speak when Chen Jianguo suddenly raised a hand to stop him.

"Don't speak." He stared at the box, "It's… reading the environment."