Chapter 274: Dead End

Walking down the long corridor to the end, in front of Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe was a T-shaped intersection; the left side led to the deeper parts of the clock tower, and the right side led to the stables outside the building.

Bai Zhi took out a flashlight and compared it with the map to determine their current location, whispering, "There is a vertical shaft at the end of the right side of the aisle, connecting to the castle's rainwater collection drainage pipes. Swimming out from the reservoir along the pipes, the outside is the stables."

It seems like it hasn't rained in this area where Vanishing Castle is located for a long time; there shouldn't be much water in the reservoir.

"As for the left side, it connects to the castle's heating system; the pipes are full of dust."

Bai Zhi compared the map in her hand and continued:

"There is a boiler room on the first basement level of the castle. It works 24 hours a day in winter. The heat from burning coal is heated through the pipes extending in all directions to the entire castle. All guest rooms and banquet halls are connected to this heating system, except for the castle lord's bedroom, so only her room has a fireplace lit."

"Information left by other players repeatedly mentions a secret basement. Their messages emphasize multiple times that only by reaching that basement is the only way to escape this castle." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe covered the corpse oil lamp, and only the cold white light from the small flashlight in Bai Zhi's hand remained in the narrow aisle.

Turning around, he continued, "These messages are scattered all over the castle, and the handwriting is different, clearly from the hands of different players. They reached the same conclusion... why?"

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe rolled up his sleeves, took off a lady's wristwatch from Aurore's wrist, and handed it to Bai Zhi: "I'm setting off now, from the heating pipe at the end of the left side of the corridor, down to the boiler room on the first basement level. After staying for a period of time, I will return. You wait for me here, and confirm the time after I return."

At a glance, look at '

"That is...?"

The higher the floor, the lower the ambient temperature in that area, and the flow of time in the area will become slower accordingly.

"Yes, because the basement is underground." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe nodded.

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe frowned, took a lighter out of his pocket, and clicked it. An orange flame danced in the darkness, and a line of text clearly carved with a sharp tool appeared on the wall beside the heating pipe, as if it had been waiting for him for a long time.

The further forward, the narrower the secret passage became. Walking to the end, only a solid stone wall remained. Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe lifted the leather cover on the lamp shade. Under the light, the wall in front of him became broken and mottled, with wet stone brick fragments scattered on the ground, exposing the heating pipes embedded in the wall.

"Are you afraid?"

It is also known that the flow of time on the ground floor is basically the same as in the real world outside the dream.

The pipe diameter is about 50 centimeters, and the material is iron. The surface of the iron pipe is covered with dark red rust, which is the trace left when the Old Vanishing Castle was destroyed by heavy rain and floods.

"How to test?" Bai Zhi asked softly.

"Not sure yet..." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe shook his head, not making a rash conclusion: "Whether this speculation is right or wrong, I'll know after testing it myself."

Why did these early players all unanimously conclude that only reaching that basement is the only way to escape Vanishing Castle?

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe pulled his legs out of the pipe, covered the corpse oil lamp with the leather cover, and placed it on the ground, thinking about how to protect the corpse oil lamp while climbing down later, so as not to spill the lamp oil in the base.

In that flood, along with the damage to the building, the heating pipes buried in the walls also appeared significantly bent. The iron rings clamping the pipes were also snapped, and the pipes that lost their fixation broke directly into two sections at the elbow connection.

"If the flow of time in the underground area is indeed faster than in reality, you will be able to notice it immediately after you return." Bai Zhi gripped the wristwatch in her hand, her expression serious: "Then I'll wait for you here?" Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe had no objections: "You decide."

The T-shaped intersection where they are currently located is on the first floor of the castle, where the flow of time is basically the same as in the real world.

"I'll try my best." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe said nonchalantly: "I will roughly estimate the time I go down according to my biological clock. If you haven't waited for me to return within 40 minutes here, just leave, because I have a high probability of having died below." "... Then will you come back?" Bai Zhi said nervously: "Just like before, change your identity and come back?"

"In other words, the flow of time in the underground area will be faster than in the real world?" Bai Zhi's eyes lit up, clearly having figured something out.

"I suppose so?" Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe thought for a moment and said.

But the moment he covered the oil lamp, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe's peripheral vision suddenly captured a line of text.

It is known that in Vanishing Castle, the flow of time in different areas is different.

Bai Zhi thought seriously for a few seconds, put her lips to Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe's ear and whispered a secret that only the two of them could hear, then released his hand with peace of mind, watching his back disappear into the darkness of the corridor.

"... A little, a little bit afraid." Bai Zhi said two words of bravado against her heart, then continued: "So you have to come back early."

Bai Zhi was relieved, and a bright smile bloomed like a flower. She held Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe's wrist with both hands and said softly: "Then we must agree on a secret code, so even if you change your appearance again, as long as you say the secret code, I will be able to recognize that it is you."

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe compared his shoulder width, took off the cashmere coat he was wearing, and then tentatively stretched his two legs into the pipe.

Perhaps because it hadn't been cleaned for a long time, a thick layer of dust had accumulated on the narrow and long ground. Every step stirred up a mist-like dust in the narrow space. Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe hung the corpse oil lamp on his waist and continued to walk forward.

The hands of the wristwatch ticked gently. Bai Zhi sat down against the wall, hugging her knees with both hands, obediently waiting for him to return.

The shoulder width of an adult male is generally between 40-55 centimeters, and for a female, it is slightly narrower. Taking off the heavy coat is just right.

Bai Zhi thought for a moment and said: "Because the basement is underground?"

This is not the first time Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe has found messages from other players in the castle. He has found hints written in lipstick in wardrobes and felt folded notes in the pockets of corpses, but this time the information he found is different from any previous time, because the words carved on the wall are...

They are Chinese characters.

Lowering his head, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe looked at the corpse oil lamp that had been covered beside him and the flame dancing on the lighter, his pupils shrinking slightly.

The wall illuminated by the lighter was not damp. Deep grooves were carved on the gray-white stone bricks. It could be seen that the tool used by the person who carved the words on the stone was not very sharp, and it was very laborious to carve, so the sentences were very short, with only 6 characters and 1 period: 【Below is a dead end.】

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 275 =====