In Sumeru, pretend to be a scholar!

Chapter 98 The Secret Passage Opens

Dolly's share of the profits did not cause much of a stir in the ruins.

Fiona and Elhesen simply asked about the amount and offered their congratulations before moving on.

In the following days, everyone's focus remained on the ruins of the Flower Goddess.

One afternoon in mid-January.

The research has finally yielded a breakthrough.

Kavi let out a short, excited gasp, drawing everyone's attention.

He laid the drawing paper flat on a relatively flat surface and weighed down the four corners with a few small stones.

On the drawings, radiating lines from the center of the main hall clearly indicate the distribution of different floral reliefs.

The crowd gathered around.

"Look here!" Kavi pointed to a densely marked area on the west side of the drawing, where the "All the Lily of the Valley in the Sand" pattern converged on two axes: one starting from the third pillar in the northwest corner, extending south along the west wall to the southwest corner; the other starting slightly west of the middle section of the north wall, diagonally passing through the central area of ​​the palace, and finally connecting with somewhere on the south wall.

More importantly, near the ends of both lily-of-the-valley paths, the same combination appears! Following the lily-of-the-valley are small groups of "Red Sand Rose" and "Starry Night Twilight Flower." Did Albiruuni mention this combination in his book?

As Kavi spoke, he looked at Wang Yan.

Wang Yan immediately lowered his head to flip through the pages, then looked up, a flash of understanding in his eyes: "Yes! The book records that the 'Red Sand Rose' symbolizes deeply buried sacrifice and silent waiting, while the 'Starry Night Twilight Flower' represents the end of the long night and the first glimmer of light."

"According to the combination of their flower meanings, these three flowers appear in sequence, forming a fixed image called the 'Order of Watchfulness,' which is usually used to mark—'the beginning or end of the path to a hidden place!'"

This imagery almost certainly confirms that there is indeed a secret passage here.

"Starting point or ending point—" Farusan walked to the blueprints. "One is on the north wall, where the wall meets the ground. The structure is solid. If there is a secret passage, the entrance design here would require complex support and would not be easy to hide large-scale mechanisms."

"Another one—" Her gaze shifted to a spot on the south wall that the diagonal line in the middle of the north wall pointed towards, "Here, I remember there was a relief on the south wall that was severely damaged, but the base was intact."

The relief is badly damaged, but don't ask why it's damaged. Killing a Sacred Relic Scorpion always comes at a price.

Al-Hysen nodded slightly: "Based on spatial logic and common ritualistic flow, the starting point is more likely to be placed in a more formal or prominent location as the beginning of the sequence."

"The middle section of the north wall is located slightly west of the central axis of the main hall entrance, which is in line with the etiquette of being the starting point."

"And the endpoint," he pointed to the south wall, "is located in a relatively secluded place or requires a turn to reach, fitting the implication of a hidden location. I suggested we focus our investigation on the starting point area, the north wall."

The opinions were quickly reached into a consensus.

The four immediately moved to the middle section of the north wall, where the reliefs were relatively well preserved, and the wall was made of huge square stone bricks with tight joints.

Kavi stepped forward and carefully tapped the bricks with his fingers, listening intently to the echo.

The remaining three also carefully observed the details of the relief sculpture near the starting point.

"This is it!" Kavi suddenly stopped knocking, his voice filled with suppressed excitement. "In this area, around four bricks in diameter, the sound is slightly different from the surrounding area! And look at the seams between the bricks—"

Wang Yan looked closer and, sure enough, there were several lightly engraved lines where the vines of the "Red Sand Rose" and the "Starry Night Twilight Flower" intertwined.

He traced the seemingly natural lines with his fingertips; the direction of these patterns was subtly inconsistent with the surrounding genuine relief textures.

At first glance, it's not noticeable, but the more you look at it, the more obvious it becomes, like the kind of disguise used to cover up seams.

"It seems this is where the mechanism is located." Farusan smiled, her eyes filled with encouragement as she looked at Wang Yan. "Think about it, what's the final clue?"

Kavi and Elhesen also stepped back, giving the center position to Wang Yan.

This was Wang Yan's first assessment, and they were willing to give him a good start.

After giving his mentor and two friends a grateful look, Wang Yan became serious and no longer needed to look through the literature. He had already memorized the entire book in the past few days.

Upon seeing the location of this mechanism, he already had an idea in mind.

"Touching the thorns of sacrifice and waiting, until the twilight stars illuminate the way home, the lily of the valley whispers, and the door gently opens."

This is Albiruni's annotation for the flower imagery of "The Order of Watch".

Wang Yan initially thought it was some kind of poem, but now it seems to point to the way to open the door.

"Touch and wait—illuminating the way home—" Wang Yan murmured, his gaze wandering over the relief.

Soon, he noticed a small protrusion at the center of the "Red Sand Rose" flower, resembling a stamen.

Could the "sacrificial thorns" refer to this?

After all, roses are thorny plants and can be considered a type of bramble.

On some petals of the Starry Night Twilight Flower, there are very shallow indentations, seemingly deliberately polished to create a reflective surface. If a light source were to shine on them—

Wang Yan pondered for a moment, concluding that this should be the way to activate it.

"Mentor, Elhesen, Kavi! Look here, and here too!" Wang Yan pointed out his discovery to the three of them.

Farussan's eyes lit up: "Try triggering it in the order of the poem. Wang Yan, first touch the protrusion in the center of the rose, gently, and feel if there is a mechanism in motion."

Wang Yan took a deep breath, extended his index finger, and gently pressed it against the dark stamen. He felt a cool touch on his fingertip. With a slight force, he heard an almost imperceptible "click" sound, and the protrusion sank down halfway, becoming level with the surrounding stone surface.

"There's a response!" Wang Yan exclaimed softly. "Continue, provide light."

Farusian had already taken out her lantern, adjusted the light to a soft incandescent tone, and aimed it at the shallow indentations on the petals of the "Starry Night Twilight Flower".

As the light shines down, the specially polished stone surface reflects the light, creating several hazy spots of light in the air in front of the petals, resembling starlight, which are projected onto the lily of the valley flower relief hanging in the sand below.

Just as the light spots settled, a low, continuous clattering sound came from inside the wall carved with lilies of the valley, as if ancient gears were beginning to turn.

Then, under the tense gaze of the four, the ground that Kavi had previously identified as problematic slowly sank inward, revealing a dark, square hole.

A slightly stale yet strangely fragrant breeze, mixed with a faint floral scent, quietly wafted out from inside the cave.

The hidden passage of the temple finally opened a door for them.

The four exchanged glances, each seeing an irrepressible curiosity in the other's eyes.

However, no one rushed in. Kavi pulled out a strip of cloth from somewhere, lit it, and then slowly put it into the cave entrance.

The fire did not go out, and it also illuminated the environment below.

This passage, which is taller than a person and has a slope of about 45 degrees, extends all the way down, and the firelight from the strips of cloth cannot reach the bottom.

"There's oxygen, but we don't know if there's any poison gas yet. Senior Farusan, it would be best to ventilate the room," Kavi said.

Farusan nodded, reached out and beckoned, and the multifaceted He Yao flew into the passage, followed by gusts of fierce wind.

Some obviously decaying flowers were blown out and fell to the ground.

After waiting a while longer, Farusan waved her hand and said, "You can go in now."

Kavi instinctively walked in front, while Elhesen lagged behind, the two of them protecting Wang Yan and Farusan in the middle.