Chapter 278: Secret Code

A blood-red setting sun hung on the distant horizon, the flood receded, and everything was devastated.

Looking back from the highest point of the clock tower spire, there were large areas of exposed brownish-yellow mountains between the dense vegetation on the back mountain of Vanishing Castle. Those were scars torn open by landslides and mudslides, which were not there before.

Ning Zhe adjusted his body position, let go, and landed on the edge of the stone pavilion below the spire with a 'peng' sound, almost falling off.

This is the highest point of the entire Vanishing Castle. A huge hanging bell cast from black iron hangs in the stone pavilion at the top of the tower, and the end of the bell tongue is connected to a hemp rope as thick as an arm.

The broken left arm sent bursts of severe pain. Ning Zhe frowned tightly, held the pavilion pillar with one hand and stood up slowly, his face pale.

The physical pain could not shake his will at all, but Aurore's body was trembling uncontrollably at this moment. The severe pain of the fracture made the muscles of the entire left arm tense and spasm, and bursts of nausea wanting to vomit surged in his abdomen, as if he had hit his internal organs when he fell. These are physiological reactions that a flesh-and-blood human body cannot avoid.

Taking a deep breath for a few seconds, Ning Zhe adjusted his disordered mental state, placed the corpse oil lamp on the ground with his remaining good right hand, and lit it with a lighter with one hand.

As the light lit up, the rust spots on the black iron hanging bell in the center of the stone pavilion disappeared, replaced by a heavy metallic color, similar to the texture of brass.

Ning Zhe untied the sword from his waist and tapped it lightly on the hanging bell. The crisp sound was long and lingering.

That's right, he had indeed come to the Old Vanishing Castle where the flood had just receded. The black iron hanging bell in front of him, which had long been unloaded and replaced with a bronze bell by the Europa government's engineering team due to rust problems, was the most intuitive evidence.

"So... how did I fall from the underground corridor leading to the secret room to the roof?"

Before Ning Zhe could think more, a burst of fine footsteps suddenly came from below. He looked in the direction of the sound. Below the stone pavilion steps was a spiral corridor, getting closer and closer, as if some 'person' was coming up from the stairs.

The stone pavilion at the top of the tower covers only a few square meters, with no place to hide and no way to retreat.

But there was no need to retreat.

Ning Zhe took a deep breath, the bone-chilling pain stimulating the fragile nerves of this body. He inserted the sword into his waist with one hand, tore off the leather cover on the lamp shade, and the bright light splashed out without hindrance.

Below the steps, the footsteps were close. First, a withered old head with sparse long hair came into view. No, not sparse, but shaved off.

The person who walked up the steps was as thin as a skeleton. The hair on the top of his head had been shaved empty, presenting an empty perfect circle, while the hair around his head and temples was left long, draped to his shoulders, like a Mediterranean hairstyle shaved manually.

"Crown of thorns..." Ning Zhe's heart moved slightly. He carried the corpse oil lamp, moved sideways for a few steps, and hid his body behind the black iron hanging bell.

Looking through the bottom of the hanging bell, he could see a pair of feet as thin as hemp stalks walking on the steps, separated from Ning Zhe by only one hanging bell. Just as Ning Zhe could see its feet, at this moment, as long as it lowered its head, it could also see Ning Zhe's feet.

—Usually, this is the case.

But now Ning Zhe is carrying a lamp.

The thin old man with a Mediterranean or crown of thorns hairstyle walked up to the stone pavilion, stood in place and was stunned for a few seconds, then turned around and came to the hanging bell, his head turning stiffly, as if observing something.

Cha cha... it was the sound of fabric rubbing on the ground. The old man, as thin as a skeleton, walked around the hanging bell for a few steps.

Ning Zhe stared closely at the feet walking slowly on the opposite side of the hanging bell. He also moved his steps, carried the corpse oil lamp, and moved two steps in the same direction.

The old man was stunned in place again, his empty eye sockets full of confusion.

One person, one ghost, separated by a hanging bell, stood at both ends of the stone pavilion. On Ning Zhe's side, the hanging bell under the light presented a bright brass texture, while on the side of the dry corpse old man, it was still rust-spotted black iron, distinct from each other.

The dry corpse walked around the hanging bell, and Ning Zhe also walked around the hanging bell. In the end, both the person and the ghost stopped in place.

"Sure enough." Ning Zhe glanced at the oil lamp in his hand. He guessed right.

When he was in the New Vanishing Castle, the corpse oil lamp illuminated the Old Vanishing Castle, and now that he is in the Old Vanishing Castle, the result illuminated by the corpse oil lamp will be completely opposite—the New Vanishing Castle.

There are no ghosts in the New Vanishing Castle. These ghost things only exist in the Old Vanishing Castle of the past.

The dry corpse old man who couldn't find the target walked around the hanging bell a few more times. Even though they were in the same stone pavilion, Ning Zhe, who was carrying the oil lamp, seemed to be in another world. Even if he arrived at his face, he couldn't notice it.

Walking around and never finding the target, the thin feet left the hanging bell and walked down the steps. The ghost finally left.

Ning Zhe carried the lamp, carried the sword, and followed quickly.

—

Click.

A small flashlight lit up in the deep and narrow corridor.

Bai Zhi squatted on the ground and looked at the wristwatch. An hour had passed.

At a glance, look at '

"Still hasn't returned..." The girl's eyes dropped visibly. According to the instructions Ning Zhe left before setting off, he should have died below by now.

So what should she do now? Leave here?... It is indeed time to leave, but where to go?

After thinking about it, Bai Zhi finally decided to go nowhere and just guard here, lest Ning Zhe couldn't find her after returning.

The candlelight extinguished, and all that remained was waiting.

Waiting is what Bai Zhi is best at. From the first nightmare she had at the age of 14 until now, she has always been like this. Perhaps it is the cowardice inherited from her mother, or perhaps it is some other reason. Human hearts are complex, who knows.

Waiting is what Bai Zhi is best at. Fortunately, this time he didn't make her wait too long. Accompanied by the sound of footsteps, light lit up in the deep and dark corridor. Bai Zhi, who was squatting by the wall, raised her head from her knees, and a familiar figure walked closer and closer in the halo.

Ning Zhe's current appearance is really miserable. His face is covered with coal ash, his left hand with broken bones hangs softly by his side, and his beige wool sweater is soaked with large patches of blood. Only an oil lamp in his hand is glowing faintly, illuminating his illusory figure.

Bai Zhi stood up, somewhat surprised that he would appear from the direction he came, and even more surprised that he didn't seem to have died in the basement, because at this moment he was still wearing Aurore's face.

"Ning Zhe?" Bai Zhi whispered tentatively: "You are bleeding a lot..."

Seeing her hesitant and uneasy look, Ning Zhe understood and whispered: "I am afraid that you..."

Bai Zhi's eyes lit up, and she smiled and continued: "... heartbroken, no one will help you wipe your tears."

The secret code matched.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 279 =====