"Qingyi, come over here quickly! There seems to be a line of small characters here, but I can't recognize them," Xu Linghe called out.
Feng Qingyi walked over. Xu Linghe pointed to the bottom of the stone door, and Feng Qingyi crouched down to take a look.
It was just the four characters for "Open sesame," but what did it mean? Surely shouting "Open sesame" here wouldn't actually open the door, would it?
Xu Linghe asked, "Qingyi, do you recognize it?"
"Yes, I do," Feng Qingyi nodded.
Xu Linghe inquired, "What does it say?"
"Open sesame."
As soon as Feng Qingyi finished speaking, the mountain suddenly began to shake. Qian Jue, sensing the disturbance, moved closer to where the three were standing.
The stone door opened instantly, and a whirlwind swept the four of them inside. Then, the stone door sank into the ground, and everything around returned to normal.
The people who came up the mountain later looked around at the summit but couldn't find any trace.
"When we came yesterday, the stone door was still here. How did it suddenly disappear today?"
"Did you feel the mountain shaking just now?"
"Indeed, I felt it. So did the stone door vanish suddenly just now?"
"Let's all search around. Maybe the stone door has moved somewhere else. We've tried everything these past few days but couldn't open it. Surely no one could have beaten us to it."
"When we were coming up the mountain earlier, we didn't see any carriages at the foot. Everyone, let's quickly look around."
"..."
The four people who had been swept into the stone door landed on a vast grassland.
Feng Qingyi looked around the place, "Where are we now?"
Qian Jue got up from the ground, "This grass is a bit strange. All the patterns are exactly the same, it doesn't seem real."
After hearing Qian Jue's words, Feng Qingyi plucked two blades of grass and examined them. Indeed, it was as he said.
"Could this be an illusion?"
Qian Jue replied, "It's certainly possible. This grassland is endless. Everyone, let's observe and figure out how to get out of here."
Xu Linghe lay on the ground, showing no intention of getting up.
"This place is really nice! If only we had horses, we could go riding!"
Qian Jue retorted, "You girl, your imagination is quite vivid!"
What Qian Jue didn't expect was that as soon as Xu Linghe finished speaking, four white horses appeared out of thin air not far away.
Qian Jue rubbed his eyes, "You girl, you're not the creator of this illusion, are you? Whatever you want just appears!"
Feng Qingyi asked Qian Jue, "Do you really not know any clues about the spatial stone? We can't just wander around here aimlessly!"
"Guang'an only said it was inside the stone door. As for where exactly it is in here, he didn't know, and I know even less. We can only look around for now," Qian Jue said.
Xu Linghe ran forward and chose a horse, "Since we now have horses, let's ride and search around."
No one objected to this, and they all mounted their horses. Feng Qingyi had only learned from Xu Linghe for two days and wasn't very skilled yet.
Watching them gallop ahead quickly, Feng Qingyi sighed, "If only we had a car, that would be faster than these horses!"
Feng Qingyi didn't expect that as soon as she said it, a car appeared in front of them.
Just now when Linghe said she wanted horses, they immediately appeared. When she said she wanted a car, it appeared too. So in this place, did you only need to express a need to have it fulfilled?
Feng Qingyi called out to the three riding ahead, "Come back, I have a car we can ride in!"
Hearing her voice, the three rode their horses back.
Qian Jue looked at the car in front of them, "How did this get here?"
Feng Qingyi explained, "I just said it would be nice to have a car, and then this car appeared."
Qian Jue looked at Zhao Yiqing, "Xiao Zhao, you try too. Say you want something and see if it appears."
Zhao Yiqing nodded, "I want a writing brush."
"...What do you need a writing brush for at a time like this? You're not Ma Liang!" Qian Jue quipped.
Just as Qian Jue finished his sarcastic remark, an exquisite writing brush descended from the sky and landed in Zhao Yiqing's hand.
Seeing this, Qian Jue said, "I want to get the spatial stone right now!"
After Qian Jue spoke, nothing happened around them. Forget about the spatial stone, not even a leaf appeared.
"How come it works for all of you but not for me!"
Feng Qingyi responded, "We came here specifically to find the spatial stone. If it just appeared because you casually mentioned it, what kind of treasure would that be?"
Qian Jue decided to try something else, "Then how about an airplane!"
Feng Qingyi glanced at him and shook her head helplessly, "Linghe, Zhao Yiqing, let's get in the car!"
Feng Qingyi opened the back door of the car, letting the two of them sit inside, while she took the driver's seat.
Seeing that the airplane didn't appear either, Qian Jue could only sit in the front passenger seat. It seemed that not everything one wished for would come true here.
"Do you want to try again and see if you can make anything else appear?" Qian Jue asked.
Xu Linghe thought for a moment, "I want a bag of potato chips."
Silence fell around them, and nothing appeared.
Feng Qingyi fastened her seatbelt, "Alright, don't be greedy. I'm about to start driving. I should warn you in advance, although I've passed my driving test, my skills aren't particularly good. Hold on tight."
The vehicle started, and Xu Linghe and Zhao Yiqing sat nervously in the back, not daring to move.
Qian Jue looked at the vast grassland ahead, "Where are you planning to drive to?"
Feng Qingyi shook her head, "I don't know either! It's endless in all directions, I have no sense of direction. I'm just driving randomly."
"Aren't you worried about running out of gas?" Qian Jue sighed.
Xu Linghe complained, "Qingyi, I feel so dizzy. What should I do?"
Feng Qingyi opened all the car windows, "Get some fresh air, it should help you feel better."
With the windows open, Xu Linghe looked outside, "Qingyi, look over there. It seems like there's an ancient tower."
Feng Qingyi looked to the side and indeed, as Xu Linghe said, there was an ancient tower floating in the air, with faint, suspended staircases around it.
"The spatial stone should be there. Drive towards that direction," Qian Jue said.
They had been driving for who knows how long. The ancient tower that seemed to be right in front of them somehow remained unreachable.
Feng Qingyi was puzzled, "Could it be that we're supposed to walk there? I feel like I've been driving for ages, but it's still so far away!"
Xu Linghe suggested, "Then let's walk there."
Feng Qingyi stopped the car, and the four of them got out one by one, heading together towards the ancient tower.
"It seems we really were meant to walk. We've only taken a few steps, and we're already here," Feng Qingyi remarked.
The four arrived at the base of the ancient tower. Since the tower was floating in the air, they needed to step onto the suspended staircase to ascend.
The suspended staircase flickered in and out of existence, appearing and disappearing intermittently.
Feng Qingyi observed these stairs, trying to discern a pattern.
Xu Linghe, without much thought, stepped onto the first step as soon as it appeared.
She stood on it for about thirty seconds, then the first step vanished, and she fell from the stairs.
Zhao Yiqing, quick to react, caught her. "Linghe, are you alright?"
"It's not that high, I'm fine," Xu Linghe assured.
Qian Jue asked, "Girl, have you figured out any pattern?"
"You're the one who wants the spatial stone, not me. Why don't you help look too?" Feng Qingyi retorted.
Qian Jue replied, "If I could figure it out, why would I need you?"
Feng Qingyi rolled her eyes, "Just stand by, I'll look at the rest."
The first step took thirty seconds from appearance to disappearance, while the second step appeared ten seconds after the first step vanished. The same was true for the subsequent thirty steps.
Although ten seconds wasn't long, for an ordinary person to suspend in the air for ten seconds was impossible unless they could overcome gravity.
However, two of them knew lightness skills, so they could try to ascend.
"Qian Jue, don't you know lightness skills? Try flying up!" Feng Qingyi suggested.
Qian Jue looked at the stairs, "Even with lightness skills, I still need something to push off from."
Feng Qingyi explained, "I've calculated it. You only need to leap into the air one second before the first step disappears, stay airborne for ten seconds, and then you'll be able to land on the next step. If you keep doing this, you can make it up."
"Once you're up there, look for some rope or something to pull us up."
Qian Jue looked at Xu Linghe, "Little Xu, this task is for you. I'm an old man with poor stamina, you go first."
Xu Linghe nodded, "Alright then."
Feng Qingyi said, "Be careful. I'll count for you. Jump when I tell you to."
Following this pattern, Xu Linghe successfully ascended the ancient tower.
After Xu Linghe went up, Qian Jue followed shortly after. Only Feng Qingyi and Zhao Yiqing remained below, waiting.
Soon, those above dropped down a rope made from curtains, and pulled the two up one by one.
Upon entering the ancient tower, the four of them saw a dazzling, iridescent stone in the center.
Xu Linghe exclaimed, "Is this the legendary treasure? We found it so easily!"
"I feel it can't be this simple," Feng Qingyi said.
Qian Jue attempted to take the stone but was pushed back by an unknown force.
The others experienced the same. Feng Qingyi spoke up, "There are five pillars surrounding this stone. It must be protected by these pillars in the center. I think we should start with these five pillars."
Qian Jue touched one of the pillars, and it immediately lit up. Golden characters appeared floating in the air, written in traditional Chinese.
Once all the characters were displayed, the pillar darkened again.
Xu Linghe asked, "Qingyi, what does it say?"
"Please find the four hidden treasures in this tower," Feng Qingyi read out the message she saw.
Xu Linghe complained, "We have to find treasures too? This is too troublesome."
Feng Qingyi walked to another pillar and touched it, expecting it to light up, but there was no response.
Qian Jue suggested, "We probably need to complete the task to light up this pillar before we can move on to the tasks on the other pillars."
"Then let's split up and search for the treasures. We'll meet back here in two hours," Feng Qingyi said.
From the outside, the tower didn't look large, but once inside, they discovered the ancient tower was surprisingly spacious.
Apart from the main hall where the spatial stone was placed, there were more than a dozen rooms surrounding it on each of the three floors, all following the same layout.
The ancient tower was filled with countless gold, silver, and precious jewels. No one knew what the true treasures were.
