Lord of Mysteries: Yao Guang

Esther faced the heavy coffin and didn't move for a long time.

The coffin is made of heavy stone, but the color of the cover and the bottom are slightly different. It is obvious that they do not match each other. There is nothing on the outside of the coffin.

This basement is very quiet, with only the occasional grinding sound coming from the black algae that is constantly squirming and avoiding light.

She waved the torch in her hand again, but there was no movement from the coffin. Esther cast her gaze around and saw a ladder standing behind the coffin, leading to a location covered by algae on the ceiling.

When Esther ignored the coffin, used the firelight to scatter more shadows, and slowly approached the ladder, the roses on the coffin suddenly began to wither, and soon turned into crumbs.

Esther held the torch in one hand and opened the other hand, ready to grab or take out the "Pale Bone Nail".

But there was still no movement in the coffin.

After waiting for a few minutes, Esther made up her mind, closed her palms, and stole her own weight. It shows that with a sudden movement, her body was already hanging on the top of the ladder, almost touching those weird plants.

Because the fire suddenly approached, the black algae on the ceiling twisted even more crazily, like a large group of entangled black snakes trying to escape, and soon exposed the hole farther away from the ladder.

As Esther suddenly moved away, there was a slight friction sound in the coffin, and Esther clearly heard two knocks from below, neither urgent nor slow.

When the algae above her head completely gave way to the entrance of the cave, Esther held the torch with one hand and climbed upwards, letting her unusually light body keep rising, increasing the distance between herself and the coffin below.

At the top of the hole was a trap door. Esther stuck her arm holding the torch between the ladders to stabilize her body's balance.

She fumbled with the trap door twice, but there was no handle that could be moved. So Esther punched it decisively, and bursts of dust fell from the top of her head and landed on her head.

The trap door opened upwards, revealing another room with light, and there was another sound from the coffin below:

"Knock, knock, knock."

The tapping sound was even faster than before.

This made Esther put aside her hesitation in an instant. She followed her intuition and jumped to the top of the ladder, falling into the bright room. Esther closed the trap door with a "bang" with her backhand, regardless of the Whatever it was, she didn't want to meet and greet him.

Such a violent movement stirred up another burst of dust, which slowly fell in the air. Through the heavy trap door, no sound could be heard again. Or maybe it was because the strange movements in the coffin had subsided?

Esther put aside any chance and quickly looked around, looking for anything available.

This place looks like some kind of storage warehouse, but the bottles and cans are empty, broken glass is scattered everywhere, the collapsed cabinets are covered with cobwebs, and there are several deformed iron cages piled up in the corners. Each is half a man tall.

The cage door was open, and the contents inside were long gone, but it was still quite heavy, so the iron cage suited Esther's liking. Considering that her "stealing" behavior might be regarded as hostility, Esther did not steal these iron cages, but simply dragged them over with her strength, pressed them against the trap door leading to the underground, and stacked them until Together.

At least when the thing below comes up, it will be hindered a lot. If the iron cage collapses, Esther can hear the sound.

This place is different from the banquet hall full of "vitality". Everything is in line with what an abandoned castle should have. Everything is dilapidated and maintained at the boundaries where the original appearance can be recognized. Things like books are extremely Fragile, with bite marks on it.

Esther dusted off the thin dust on her shoulders and felt her nose itching slightly, but the fishy-sweet smell that was so strong that it made her nauseous became much lighter, which made her feel relieved.

No matter what purpose this small storage room was originally used for, it is now empty. An entire wall is blocked by rubble. Esther cannot see the scene on the other side through the gap. She can only see the traces of the door frame. It is speculated that this was originally a passage to the next room.

Fortunately, there was another wooden door in the house, and it had been hacked open with an axe. The remaining wood chips are covered with a layer of whitish mycelium, making it obvious that this castle belongs to a plant paradise.

Thinking about it, so far, not even a mouse or flying insect has been seen, and there are no spiders waiting for prey on those spider webs.

It seems that only the plants are being nourished by the castle, or have become part of it? Or is it that when the red moon appears, all life in reality will be swallowed up?

Esther walked towards the wooden door that was smashed into pieces and briefly looked outside the door frame. She realized that this was actually a rooftop.

The crimson moonlight fell directly on the flat rooftop, which was very high and could already overlook most of the castle.

Esther felt that the space in that corridor might have been distorted. Her body sense had been moving forward in parallel, but now she just climbed up a ladder and reached the rooftop directly. In terms of spatial distance, how could it be possible? None of it is normal.

Esther left the room and stepped onto the platform. The surroundings suddenly became brighter, and there was not even a breath of wind on the rooftop. It was so quiet that it made people feel relaxed.

You can't even hear the music in the front hall here. Esther remembers that when she and Benjamin were far away from the castle, they heard the rhythm that made people dance. But now they are within the scope of this castle, high up. The sound disappeared instead?

She walked to the edge of the rooftop, stepped on the gravel, and stood at a huge gap, overlooking the valley below with dense vegetation and heavy tree shadows.

There weren't even many plants near the tower, and the door leading to the other side was blocked by rubble. This rooftop was independent - which also meant that Esther's exploration of the castle was temporarily on a dead end.

She looked around her surroundings, trying to find other entrances to the interior of the castle.

It was just past one o'clock, and she had been walking in that corridor for nearly forty minutes. According to her agreement with Benjamin, she still had about four hours of exploration time.

The surroundings were so peaceful that Esther found it incredible that there weren't even many places covered by plants on this platform.

"He said he wanted to use me as bait, but he didn't end up becoming the bait..." Esther muttered softly.

Finally, she noticed a hole in the wall outside a steeple tower. The hole was facing the rooftop. As long as she climbed up along the outer wall, she could re-enter the castle.

Esther decided to wait there for another two minutes. If there was no abnormality in the hole, she would climb up directly.

Just as she was thinking about this, a black shadow appeared near the entrance of the cave. It was not much bigger than a magpie. It fell to the platform in a parabolic trajectory, tumbling and tumbling in the air.

Esther did not rush to catch the thing. Instead, she took two steps back and remained alert.

Finally, the thing flapped its wings twice and fell weakly to the ground, making a painful and weak "squeak" sound.

At first Esther thought it was a mouse, but now that it spread its wings, it was probably a gray-black bat.

Esther saw that the black figure had been cowering on the ground, its wings slanted on the ground were constantly trembling, so she approached it cautiously. This was new to her because the bat was the first animal she saw after entering the castle, not a plant.

Then she saw the hole on the bat's right wing. There was no blood there, only a faint black air escaping.

When the bat heard footsteps approaching, even though it was trembling all over, it immediately raised its fox-like little head vigilantly. The tip of its nose kept shaking in the air, as if it was trying to smell some kind of smell.

Esther immediately stopped and bent down to look at the bat, but she also understood that given the size difference between humans and bats, no matter how gentle she appeared, she still looked very threatening.

The bat's small black eyes were full of confusion, and it no longer even made a mouse-like cry, but stared blankly at Esther, who was approaching.

When Esther took another step forward, the bat screamed loudly again, trying to hold up its punctured wings and move farther away. This kind of struggle regardless of the injury made its voice sound louder. A layer of piercing pain.

Esther no longer approached, but took two steps back. Her action of keeping distance made the bat stop again, and just looked at her blankly.

Just when Esther decided to stay away from the bat and climb up to the tower to take a look, half of her body leaned out of the hole in the tower. Even from a long distance, Esther could clearly see the man's appearance. His golden brown hair hung down by his ears, and he looked down with a frown.

When he saw Esther standing on the platform below, a smile appeared on that gentle face, and his green eyes narrowed slightly.

After nodding to Esther, the figure grabbed the entrance of the cave, jumped down from a height of nearly five meters, and landed on the ground not far from the bat.

Esther was a little surprised to see Benjamin here: "Have you found your goal?"

Benjamin shook his head helplessly: "At least so far, I haven't gained anything. It's just..."

His eyes turned and fell on the fragile bat. The pair of round glasses disappeared: "There are some trivial troubles, I will take care of them."

A vague sense of disobedience arose in Esther's heart. Although the other party did not lie, Benjamin's tone made her confused: "Then let's find a passage to re-enter the castle?"

Benjamin shook his head: "The situation in the castle is very complicated. Leaving before dawn will also bring danger. Giving up the search is the wisest choice."

Esther shrugged: "Well, since you said it, I have no objection."

"Then you want to come with me? Let's go find a secluded place and spend the night peacefully?"

Benjamin smiled and extended his right hand to Esther, waiting for her response.

This is an invitation.