"Lotus? Lotus... formation?" Su Qiqi and Zheng Miao looked at where Qin Chuan was pointing and couldn't believe their eyes. There is the transition area between the front hall and the backyard of the inn. In addition to a rockery made of stones, there are also several huge water tanks, each with a lotus in it. The color of the lotus is rare, like jade, and the stamens emit a strange light like a fluorescent stick.
"What kind of rare breed is this? I've never seen it before. It would be valuable if you could bring it back to our world..." Zheng Miao said with a look of fascination.
"You little money addict, stop daydreaming, let's go down and take a look..." Su Qiqi interrupted Zheng Miao and urged her to go down together to find out.
The two of them looked around in the corridor. The waiter was greeting a customer who looked like a knight-errant, with his back to them. What a God-given opportunity, Su Qiqi and Zheng Miao quickly walked down the stairs, pushed open the ajar door at the back of the hall, and sneaked into the backyard.
Qin Chuan still took the unusual route and jumped directly from the window to the rockery below, then squatted by the water tank and watched carefully. By the time Su Qiqi and Zheng Miao walked to the water tank, Qin Chuan had already picked up a lotus flower from the water tank, pulled off a piece of stamen, and put it in the palm of his hand to study.
"Hey, are you too bold? Aren't you afraid that the owner of the inn will come to settle the score with you?" Su Qiqi looked at Qin Chuan's actions in disbelief, and then carefully looked around. Fortunately, no one was passing by here. No one has noticed their move yet.
Zheng Miao also felt palpitated by her brother's reckless behavior. Not to mention whether someone would discover it, if there was any mechanism hidden in the lotus or the water tank, wouldn't it be too risky for her brother to do this?
Thinking of this, she quickly stepped forward to persuade Qin Chuan to put the lotus back into the vat. Qin Chuan didn't pay attention to the caution of the two sisters. He had been observing for a long time and tested it with a willow leaf dart. There was no sign of triggering the mechanism, so he continued to play with the lotus in his hand with peace of mind.
Seeing this, Su Qiqi stopped talking and went to check other water tanks and lotus flowers alone. She walked around all the water tanks and secretly calculated the number and location. It was exactly the same as the layout of the Big Dipper. What's happening here? Is it a formation? Or is it purely artistic modeling? She was a little confused.
With questions in her mind, Su Qiqi silently walked around the water tank again. He muttered silently: "Shaking light...kaiyang...tian...quan..." Before he could finish reciting, there was a sudden loud bang, and several water jars started to rotate on their own. Before the three of them could react, they only heard a few clicking sounds. The roots of the lotus in the water tank suddenly grew wildly, and the stamens turned into countless slender tentacles, which tied the three of them tightly.
Just when the three of them were stunned, the original inconspicuous waiter suddenly appeared in front of the three of them, looking at them with a sinister smile on his face. Next to him stood a slightly fat middle-aged man with a greasy expression and dressed like a shopkeeper. He looked gloomily at Su Qiqi and the others who were tied up with lotus flowers.
His gaze made people shudder. Qin Chuan seemed to have thought of something and hurriedly shouted to his two sisters: "Close your eyes quickly, he can telepathize..."
Su Qiqi and Zheng Miao closed their eyes tightly in response and only used their ears to capture the movement around them.
One second, two seconds, about a quarter of an hour passed.
There was still silence in her ears, but Su Qiqi felt like she had a splitting headache and her whole body was sore. She was rolled up by the alienated stamens of the lotus and thrown into the water tank. She was so frightened that she fainted.
She didn't know how much time passed, but when she woke up again, it was already late at night. She supported her weak body and looked around.
It's like a cave here. In addition to the pile of firewood she was lying on just now, there were several empty bottles next to them, which contained unknown liquids. There was still a little scarlet juice remaining on the walls of the bottles. Apart from that, there are only four blank earthen walls, and not even a mosquito is anywhere to be seen.
She's alone in a cave? She sat up with some fear and staggered to find the exit of the cave. However, the cave was like a maze, with all kinds of forked roads crisscrossing it. She couldn't tell the direction at all and could only scurry around like a headless fly.
After walking blindly for a while, she gradually calmed down.
How did I get here? Is this a secret room connected to the water tank with the mutated lotus? Do all the water tanks lead here, or is each one different? Where did Qin Chuan and Zheng Miao go? Will they be in danger?
Her heart was filled with anxiety and panic. She tentatively called Qin Chuan and Zheng Miao a few times, but there was no response. She decided to check out a few nearby side roads, maybe she could meet them.
Before leaving, she used a few thin sticks mixed with a pile of firewood to carve some marks on the earthen wall where she had been lying just now. She believed that Zheng Miao would understand her intention if he saw it. After doing this, she felt relieved to find an escape route.
She groped for a long time in the semi-darkness of the cave, and finally heard faint voices. When she approached the source of the sound, she realized that it was not the Qin Chuan and Zheng Miao she was looking for, but a man covered in black robes and an old man with a haggard appearance.
The man in black robe seemed to be persuading the old man to hand over a star gathering map passed down from ancient times, but the old man seemed indifferent and just sat cross-legged in silence without moving his eyelids.
The man in black robe seemed a little impatient, and his tone was urgent and fierce. The old man still ignored him. Su Qiqi had a gut feeling that the man in black robe was not a kind person, and she felt a little worried about the old man. But she also understands that with her current skills, self-protection may be a problem.
How to do it? Is there any way to help the elderly out of trouble without putting themselves in a desperate situation? Her mind was working rapidly. Suddenly, an idea struck her, and she remembered the silver whistle Qin Chuan had given him at the inn. Qin Chuan once said that only he and his master could hear the sound waves emitted by this whistle. Then why don't you try summoning Qin Chuan?
Thinking of this, she quietly walked around to a nearby fork in the road. This fork in the road was a bit special. There were some stone statues with strange postures on the left and right of the fork in the road. She looked around for a while, found a stone statue that looked fatter, and hid behind the stone statue and blew. Silver whistle.
The silver whistle made no sound, but there was a stream of air that spread from Su Qiqi's lips. It rose slowly upward at first, forming an abstract symbol, and then gradually condensed into a mist and flew out of the branch.
Time passed by second by second, and when Su Qiqi silently counted to 10, soft footsteps appeared near the fork in the road.
Could it be Qin Chuan? Su Qiqi looked at the fork in the road with some fear and expectation.
