These three types of mechanisms, if encountered individually, each had a way to be dismantled. After all, mechanisms were static while people were dynamic, and no matter how sophisticated a mechanism was, after so much time, it couldn’t function exactly as it was originally designed.
The problem was that these three mechanisms intersected to form an almost perfect closed loop. Disabling one would still leave the others operational. Such a triple mechanism design could only be bypassed through sacrifice or brute force; for ordinary people, there was no quick way through. This kind of design was the only thing that could stop the archaeological expert team.
Leo had already deciphered from the characters in the text message that Chloe had tried her best to draw the mechanism diagram clearly and in detail, providing Leo with more references. Since discovering the secret of the dagger, Chloe’s trust in Leo had significantly increased. At least in terms of ancient arts like geomancy, she valued his opinion.
Leo replied to Chloe with a “wait a moment” message. He asked Sakura to bring paper and pen, and quickly began drawing based on the character diagrams Chloe had sent. The mechanism design Chloe sent seemed not purely mechanical but also included some geomancy array diagrams. At least the gaps in the Earth and Heaven sectors looked very much like the “life” and “death” gates.
Additionally, the other Four Doors were arranged in the layout. However, the ‘Danger’ and ‘Rest’ doors had not yet been revealed.
Leo sent a message: “Is there a pair of crossbow ports in the southeast?”
“How did you know? There are two hidden crossbows, but they are out of order, so I didn’t draw them.”
As expected! Leo added two strokes to the southeast section. An Eight Gates Earth-Walking Formation appeared before Leo’s eyes. No wonder these three mechanisms interlocked perfectly, inside and out. It turned out they were based on the design of the Eight Gates Earth-Walking Formation, with only the life and death gates as the sole passages. Moreover, these gates shifted according to the time of day.
“First, walk along the hidden crossbow corridor to the corner, turn right, wait ten minutes, then proceed straight into the quicksand trap area. After that, take three steps forward and one small step to the right until you hit a wall, then repeat.” Leo sent his suggestion.
However, he still felt uneasy. After all, he wasn’t on-site; if he missed something and someone stepped wrong, it could cost a life! Leo added another line: “This is just my suggestion; be very careful.”
Chloe didn’t reply for a long time, likely discussing Leo’s suggestion with the expert team. Leo waited with his phone in hand, leaving all medical consultations to Shiloh and Willow.
More than two hours later, Leo’s phone finally rang again. “They said it’s too risky and disagreed.”
Somehow, seeing this message made Leo relax; after all, this was a matter of life and death. The phone rang again. Chloe sent another message. Leo glanced at it and suddenly shouted, “No way!”
The message read: “I’m going in alone! Leo, I trust you.”
Only three words echoed in Leo’s mind: “I trust you.” He quickly replied: “Absolutely not! This is just my hypothesis; you don’t know what might happen if you go in alone!”
“The treasure can be excavated slowly; there’s no rush! Do you understand? Do not go in alone!!”
This time, Leo didn’t receive any messages from Chloe until four in the afternoon. This made him increasingly uneasy. Although opening the treasure vault would be great news for Spirit Moon Antiques, Chloe went in because she trusted him. If something happened to her, Leo would feel guilty for life.
Leo couldn’t help but send another message: “Chloe, do not go in alone; do not take risks. Reply as soon as you get this!”
After a long while, there was still no reply. Leo had no choice but to call Chloe’s phone. The receiver said: “The user is out of service area; please try again later.”
Finally, at five o’clock, just as Leo was hesitating whether to fly to Black Tiger Mountain himself, his phone buzzed with incoming messages.
The messages were from Chloe.
The first one read: Iron Hawk Warrior, Foot Soldier Figurine, Ox-Head Ocarina, Water Dropper, Plain Earthenware, White-Glazed Porcelain Vase…
The second one read: Ox-Sacrificing Dagger, Sunken Winterwood, Stone Chimera Head, Glazed Chimera Tail, Stone Dog…
The third one read: Stone Horse, Lychee Pattern Gold Ornament, Double Dragon Knob Bagua Bronze Bell, Rosewood Writing Tablet, Sandalwood Buddhist Sutra…
The fourth… The fifth…
The last one read: “I made it inside! Haha, aren’t I amazing!”
The message was followed by a string of excited emojis, showing how thrilled Chloe was upon entering the treasure vault.
“Be careful on your way out; there might still be mechanisms.” Leo quickly replied.
“I’ve already come out, dummy!” Chloe responded swiftly this time.
Only then did Leo let out a sigh of relief.
On his way to Henley’s Corp., Leo sent a Messenger message to David, informing him that the Western Xia treasure vault had been discovered and forwarded Chloe’s messages to him, instructing him to prepare goods according to the list.
Shortly after sending the message, David called.
“Brother! Are these items really from the Western Xia treasure vault?”
“Of course they are,” Leo answered without hesitation.
“Iron Hawk Warrior and Foot Soldier Figurine are typical Western Xia artifacts; nothing surprising there. But this Sunken Winterwood…”
Leo didn’t know the details either but trusted Chloe enough to make a decision.
“Mr. Ball, just follow this list. If there’s any problem, I’ll take responsibility. But we must cover everything on this list to gain an advantage during our first wave of publicity.”
“Alright,” David agreed. Leo’s confidence reassured him considerably.
Another day passed. In the morning at the clinic, an elderly man with a lean face arrived.
When Leo saw him, he couldn’t help but smile. “Mr. Holland, what brings you to my humble clinic?”
This elderly man was none other than Brennen, a leading figure in traditional Atrarian medicine and head of Atraria’s Traditional Medicine Research Department, known as a “divine healer.”
“Dr. Leo, I apologize for coming uninvited,” Brennen said politely.
Leo smiled and said, “Mr. Holland is too polite. Sakura, serve tea!”
In the reception room, they sat facing each other.
After Sakura served tea, Brennen suddenly stood up and bowed to Leo.
“Mr. Holland, what are you doing?” Leo was startled and quickly reached out to support him.
“Dr. Leo, at the conference, you upheld the dignity of traditional Atrarian medicine. As head of the Traditional Medicine Research Department, I must pay my respects.”