305 Stein Chamber (2/2)

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That same afternoon, a dark carriage drove into the underground square and stopped before the gate of the Jianlan Underground Palace.

Ye Qingxuan stood in front of the huge dusty door, still dressed in the camouflage he wore in downtown. Behind him, Dominic's figure seemed to melt into the darkness.

There seemed to be something wrong. Two minutes later, the princess in a white dress pushed the door and descended from the cart. She cleared her throat and lowered her head in greeting. ”You must have waited a long time, Mr. Holmes”

”No, I just arrived,” Ye Qingxuan replied quietly. For some reason, the cold princess did not even look at him this time. Did he leave a bad impression? No, after all, he once helped her remove the curse! She should at least be friendly. He did not expect any 'respect', but it should not be ‘coldness’ at least!

But thinking of how he had once experimented upon her Highness, Ye Qingxuan could not help but feel somewhat regretful. Fortunately, the feeling was not ‘hatred.’ Otherwise, he would be done for.

After a short silence, Mary coughed and walked ahead. ”Come with me, please.” She passed over Ye Qingxuan and gave Dominic an old key. Taking a glance, Dominic nodded and turned to insert the key into the door. It opened with the sharp sound of friction.

Dominic did not lead the way as usual. Instead, he handed over a lantern and glanced at Ye Qingxuan. ”What a lucky kid.”

In the distant darkness behind the door, the princess clad in white held the lantern and looked back at him. The dazed Ye Qingxuan snapped out of his thoughts and hurried over. The gate rumbled and closed behind them.

In the silence, he heard Mary's footsteps ahead. The maiden lifted the lantern, illuminating the winding steps below. The spiral staircase seemed to extend endlessly.

Every time Ye Qingxuan entered a door, he saw something completely different and surprising every time. He looked around at the cracks in the wall as well as the broken ornaments. It felt like he was in an abandoned castle.

He took a deep breath but could not smell the dust and decay. There was no wind and no other smells. He could only smell the perfume that drifted in front of him.

Well, your taste is quite good, your Highness, Ye Qingxuan quietly praised in his mind.

Mary, walking ahead, seemed to be unaccustomed to such a long silence. She coughed lightly and said, ”Mr. Holmes, you don’t seem surprised. Have you ever been to such a place?”

More than just ‘been to; I work here every day. I come here much more frequently than you do. But he could not say that aloud, of course, so Ye Qingxuan just nodded. ”To tell the truth, I feel puzzled. Some small places feel different from the outside world. Some feel like black zones, but they are more stable.”

Mary smiled softly and said, ”The Jianlan Underground Palace is a place where the physical world and aetheric world overlap, so there are so many things that don't quite make sense.

”Because of its special nature, it was transformed hundreds of years ago into what it looks like now, just in case. This is the best vault and seal. You can say it is a natural 'field'.

”Unauthorized personnel can only see two walls behind the door. Only people with a medium and a key can walk into it, but what they see are quite different.”

”I see.” Ye Qingxuan nodded slightly. The key Mary had handed Dominic was like his librarian's certificate—they were all keys to the path. There was one key for one path, but everyone walked through the same door.

He was bewildered by this distorted spatial relationship, but it actually appeared in many places. The laws of physics that man perceived were often subverted in front of the fickle world, but it all happened for a reason. This had much to do with the music theory of the School of Abstinence which studied aether itself, including the phenomena caused by aetheric interference.

With Ye Qingxuan's current attainment, he could not understand the occurrence of this kind of situation. He could only keep it in mind and ponder slowly.

”Where we are heading now is the Stein Chamber, the core of the Royal Museum,” Mary said. ”It contains the collections of emperors and precious objects from all over the world. There are even movements that had been rated as natural catastrophes, as well as rare ancient flutes and harps.”

She paused and looked back. She looked very solemn. ”Therefore, please keep what you hear and see as a secret, Mr. Holmes, or the royal family will be disturbed.”

Ye Qingxuan nodded. ”I understand.”

Mary averted her gaze quickly, as if unwilling to look at him for one more second.

Ye Qingxuan's face twitched a little. His face had been disguised but it was not that ugly, right?

”Due to Mr. Holmes’s outstanding performance yesterday and great contribution to Anglo, I shall answer to Mr. Maxwell’s request. We shall open the Stein Chamber for you to choose any item.”