Soon, the ground was churned up by Jiang Fan and the others, with many floor tiles pried loose.
The experts watched with great distress, hoping Jiang Fan wouldn't damage these precious historical materials.
Not all of them, only a few floor tiles had hidden compartments beneath.
Some were empty, some contained stone tablets similar to the one in the panda's hand, and some held strange, jumbled items.
Jiang Fan found a black metal ball underground. Upon seeing it, the onlookers suddenly buzzed like flies, swarming around.
It seemed this metal ball was what had excited all the onlookers, causing them to fly around.
However, the onlookers dared not approach the metal ball, only daring to circle around its periphery.
Jiang Fan cautiously put it away and then tried other found items.
Indeed, some remarkable things were stored in Chi You's treasury. For instance, Jiang Fan found a set of mahjong tiles made of bone.
They now had four people and a panda, exactly enough for a table, with substitutes.
Additionally, a modern hydraulic plier was discovered.
These items were all collected by Jiang Fan, but they seemed of no help in finding a way out.
Perhaps the exit was written on the stone tablets. With this thought, Jiang Fan immediately used his magnifying glass to examine other stone tablets.
The experts in the livestream room were exceptionally excited to see the stone tablets.
The previous stone tablets mostly recounted the history of the Battle of Zhuolu.
But that was just a small piece. With so many more stone tablets, it was possible to detail the ancient civilization and deeds of the Yanhuang and Chi You era one by one.
The result greatly disappointed the experts. No matter how Jiang Fan manipulated the magnifying glass, the characters on the stone tablets refused to flow into his mind as information, unlike before.
"Looks like the QR code has expired."
Jiang Fan was also disappointed. He casually tossed the stone tablet aside and began to examine the next one.
The professors in the livestream room exploded.
"My heavens, those are precious cultural relics! Handle them gently!"
"Even if the information can't be read, they still have research value!"
"Perhaps a higher-powered microscope could decipher them."
"Ah... he threw another one... it broke..."
"Wuwuwu, my heart is broken too..."
Soon, Jiang Fan finished examining the remaining dozen or so stone tablets. Either no information could be read, or the inscriptions were so worn that they were illegible, rendering them worthless.
Even though the other found items might have value, they seemed unable to help them escape.
Disappointed, Jiang Fan tossed all the stone tablets onto the ground, only to hear Zhou Niannian suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hehehehehehehe!"
Zhou Niannian was holding a black cockroach and laughing heartily.
It turned out that Zhou Niannian, unwilling to give up, had gone back to search all the hidden compartments again.
As a result, in the corner of one of the compartments, she found a dead cockroach.
She felt that this object must hold immense significance.
"Finally, this lucky queen found it! This is the key to getting out!"
"Are you out of your mind? That's a black cockroach! Put it down quickly."
Jiang Fan sighed, even worrying that Zhou Niannian had a breakdown due to the combined pressure of hunger and being unable to find an exit.
"Hmph, you underestimate me. I searched these compartments several times to find this, it must be very useful."
Zhou Niannian waved the black cockroach in her hand.
"If this were a cockroach, would I dare to hold it? I'm terrified of cockroaches."
Jiang Fan was speechless. It seemed Zhou Niannian wasn't mentally unstable, but rather had poor eyesight because her glasses lenses had been made into a magnifying glass by him.
It was just a slightly larger black cockroach, completely dried out.
Jiang Fan had discovered this cockroach during the first search.
He certainly wasn't foolish enough to pick up a cockroach as a treasure; ignoring it was the right thing to do.
Back then, afraid of misjudging, Jiang Fan had even checked it several times with his magnifying glass, confirming it was just a common cockroach.
It wasn't made of metal, nor did it have any chips inside.
As for how a cockroach got in, anything with a crack can be drilled into by a cockroach; what's so strange about that.
Jiang Fan thought, not taking responsibility, that Zhou Niannian would surely scream in fright when she realized it was just a cockroach.
"Alright, even if this is the key, how do you plan to use it to open the door?"
"Let's drink some water and calm down. Otherwise, you might as well lick a roller."
Dai Xiaomei also came over to persuade her. Everyone unanimously agreed that Zhou Niannian's mental state was unstable.
There was no keyhole or indentation on the wall that this cockroach could be inserted into.
"Hmph, hmph, you think I'm crazy, right? This is the key to getting out."
Zhou Niannian stated resolutely.
"Absolutely impossible!"
Jiang Fan and the other two shouted in unison.
The audience in the livestream room also burst into laughter, finding the idea incredible.
"That wall is smooth, where's the keyhole? There isn't even any wall decoration."
"Yeah, does she mean if she slaps the cockroach on the wall, the wall will open?"
"Even Master Jiang couldn't find an exit, but she can..."
"Who knows? She's the famous lucky queen, her luck is off the charts!"
"Can luck even count for something?"
In the secret room, Zhou Niannian held the black cockroach and muttered to herself.
"Three circles to the left, three circles to the right, no life preserver on the belly."
"The direction I stop is the direction we go."
Zhou Niannian closed her eyes, held the black cockroach like a cross, chanted, and began to spin.
She initially said to spin three times, but lost count of how many circles she actually spun, probably forgetting herself.
"Ah! I spun too much. No, it must be an integer of three!"
It seemed Zhou Niannian had an extraordinary obsession with the number three.
With a plop, Zhou Niannian, dizzy and disoriented, fell to the ground, and the black cockroach in her hand flew out.
By sheer coincidence, it landed precisely on the panda's head.
The panda scratched its head, caught the cockroach in its palm.
Suddenly, its panda eyes widened.
"Aww! A cockroach! It's a cockroach!"
The panda suddenly flapped its arms, tossing Jiang Fan beside it high into the air, then hid in a corner covering its head and trembling.
Jiang Fan, spinning in the air, landed safely and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Good heavens, a panda that was ridden by the God of War Chi You is actually afraid of a mere cockroach.
However, after landing, Jiang Fan's expression changed.
He exhaled a long breath and walked towards Zhou Niannian.
"Zhou Niannian, I have to say, you are truly possessed by the Lucky Queen!"
Jiang Fan knelt down and disassembled the magnifying glass back into lenses, reassembled the glasses, and put them on Zhou Niannian's nose.
Then, Jiang Fan flapped his arms, tossing Zhou Niannian high into the air.
"Wh-what are you doing!"
Zhou Niannian shrieked, then her scream abruptly stopped.
Jiang Fan knew that Zhou Niannian was seeing the same thing he was.
Looking down at the ground from the air, the overturned hidden compartments turned into black dots.
These black dots formed two numbers in Zhou Niannian's vision.
"9, 13!"