Realizing that endless discussion was useless, Fatty and Nie Chongyang reached a consensus and decided to go and experience it for themselves. Only by experiencing it would they know what had happened.
Even if they stayed in the corridor, it didn't mean they were safe. After all, the entire space had changed. If they had to be precise, they were already in danger. As long as there was no fatal crisis, they could try walking around. It was fine to try as long as their lives were guaranteed.
Fatty explained to Nie Chongyang and the others how they had seen through the illusion and discovered that they were in another space. Based on this, Nie Chongyang and the others made some judgments.
The reason they were able to discover the anomaly in time, expose it, and break through the illusion was because Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping's professions were special, and they were too sensitive to this aspect, which allowed them to detect something was wrong in time.
However, Ye Tiancheng and the others might not have been so lucky.
Nie Chongyang and the others were prepared, yet they still fell into a predicament. Ye Tiancheng and the others, however, might not have had any precautions at all. At first, they might have thought everything was normal, so they wouldn't have easily noticed anything unusual. Therefore, at the beginning, they should have acted according to the normal logical trajectory.
Based on this logic, if Ye Tiancheng and the others didn't notice anything unusual, they must have gone downstairs directly.
It was also likely that after going downstairs, they encountered the ghost wall phenomenon in the stairwell, and only then did they discover something was wrong, causing their actions to deviate and make other changes.
Since Nie Chongyang and the others wanted to track down Ye Tiancheng and the others, they naturally had to follow Ye Tiancheng and the others' trajectory to track them.
Therefore, the three of them decided to go downstairs and try to see what the result would be.
They walked towards the first floor. As they went down, they discussed the current situation, looking for any loopholes, and made some speculations to help them with deeper reasoning.
Liang Ping said as he walked, "I heard that when people are caught in a ghost wall, their perception becomes problematic, so they don't realize if they are going upstairs or downstairs. So, are we really walking downstairs now?"
Fatty thought for a moment and replied to Liang Ping, "I can't guarantee it. If this place can even confuse my Brother Ye and the others, affecting their perception, then I really can't be sure that what we see and realize now is real."
To confirm the situation more clearly, Nie Chongyang and the others also started making marks in the stairwell, on the railings and corners, to see if they could figure anything out.
After making the marks, Nie Chongyang heard the conversation between Liang Ping and Fatty and chimed in, "Fatty, didn't you say before that the illusions we experienced in the corridor could be broken by exposing them, and we could see the real situation? Isn't a ghost wall also a type of illusion? Can this method also be used?"
Although Fatty didn't have much knowledge about metaphysics, he knew quite a bit because of Little Fox, so he could answer.
He replied to Nie Chongyang, "I don't think so. Exposing and revealing it should not be useful for all ghost walls, at least for those related to the supernatural. Otherwise, people trapped in a ghost wall should realize this very quickly. Why has no one been able to escape from a ghost wall using this method?"
When Fatty said this, Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping understood it very clearly.
It made sense. If ghost walls could be broken by exposing them, they wouldn't be scary at all. How could they become a well-known folk horror legend?
They also wore talismans to guide them. After descending five floors, they could basically confirm that it was indeed a ghost wall, and they couldn't get out. Even using talismans didn't help. It was probably more difficult than an ordinary ghost wall.
As for the markings, they were still somewhat useful. After all, after walking down another floor, Nie Chongyang and the others could naturally see the marks they had made earlier.
It was unclear why, but there were no marks made by Ye Tiancheng and the others in the stairwell, only footprints left behind. It seemed they hadn't used the method of making marks. The footprints in the stairwell had more in some places and fewer in others, which couldn't definitively determine how many times Ye Tiancheng and the others had walked or where they were cycling.
After confirming that the ghost wall could not be escaped through normal means, they stopped and decided to discuss it before deciding what to do next.
Liang Ping suggested, "I have an idea. I think we should climb the stairs a few more times, walk a few more times, and make marks. I want to find a pattern. If the ghost wall phenomenon here changes according to a pattern, then we might be able to find the real way out through logical reasoning."
This was indeed a method. Since normal means could not break the predicament, this was the best method available at the moment.
Nie Chongyang and Fatty both agreed to Liang Ping's suggestion.
They patiently walked in the stairwell for a while longer. To collect more data and control variables, they also used different modes of action, walked down the stairs a few times, and then tried going up several times in a row before finally stopping to rest.
They recorded the changes in the marks they had made along the way.
They had made different marks on different floors. Although they could no longer determine which floor they were on due to the ghost wall phenomenon, at least one thing was certain: they could determine whether each floor they reached was the same or different, and how many times it had repeated.
By analogy, they had indeed reached some conclusions.
It had to be said that specialization was key. Nie Chongyang and the others had only gone around the stairwell a few times to reach the conclusions that Ye Tiancheng and Little Fox had spent a long time searching for the secret passage in the room, reaching the stone chamber, and spending a lot of time to arrive at.
After Liang Ping finished organizing all the information, he reached a conclusion, "I've figured out what's going on. Although the pattern is still difficult to grasp, I've figured out some things."
Nie Chongyang also saw some of it and nodded slightly.
Fatty said, "You guys are better at this, so it's up to you. Tell us."
Liang Ping said, "Now, it's basically certain that the reason this ghost wall is so difficult to get out of is not only because our perception is distorted, making us unable to judge whether we are going upstairs or downstairs, but also for other reasons."
Due to their professions, Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping both carried portable notebooks and pens, which were convenient for them to record things at any time. Liang Ping also recorded all the information and clues they had collected in his notebook for easy reference, speculation, and reasoning.
He took out what he had organized and showed it to Nie Chongyang and Fatty.
"Look at this information, the patterns we've discovered from these few trips down, have you noticed something?" He pointed to his notes and showed them bit by bit, "We usually walk down several flights of stairs consecutively, and during this time, the order of the stairs does not overlap with the marks, meaning no floors are repeated."
"However, it's not very obvious after we've walked about four floors. Perhaps it's because we were still investigating traces, so we were walking down too slowly, and this pattern was difficult to discern."
"But after we started conducting experiments, our forward speed became more uniform. After climbing about three or four floors, the marks would start to repeat, and then different mark orders would appear."
Liang Ping explained very clearly to them, "And another point is that Mr. Ye's room is not on the top floor. This means we are walking from the fourth floor to the first floor. We made four marks, and these four marks did not repeat, but this guesthouse has five floors."
Fatty reacted immediately and said, "This means that we are not only cycling, but also that there is no first floor in our cycle. Are we constantly cycling between the second and fifth floors?"
Liang Ping nodded and continued to explain, "Therefore, the reason we can't get out can be mainly attributed to the following points."
"On the one hand, our perception is problematic, and we can't judge whether we are going upstairs or downstairs. On the other hand, the space here is constantly shifting. This time should be between two to four minutes. If we don't move forward quickly, it's only enough for us to walk three to four floors, and then the entire space will shift again."
"Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to reach the first floor at a normal speed."
Liang Ping said, and then touched his chin, "However, there is one more thing we can be sure of: the entire space here has become a mirror image. This means that no matter which floor we reach, we are in an abnormal space. Even if we reach the first floor, can we really escape?"
This was indeed a very thought-provoking question.
After Nie Chongyang listened, he pondered for a long time. While they were discussing, they sat on the stairs. Then, due to the spatial displacement, they personally witnessed the process of the space changing. The moment of change felt very subtle.
This feeling was difficult to describe, but it was only a brief moment, a blink of an eye, and the entire space had completed its displacement.
They personally saw that the stairwell they were in had suddenly transformed into a stairwell with different marks.
Nie Chongyang suddenly said, "I have an idea."
Liang Ping and Fatty immediately looked at him.
Nie Chongyang continued, "What if, if we move forward at extreme speed, using our fastest speed, regardless of how many floors we climb, setting the time within two minutes, and not caring whether we are going upstairs or downstairs."
"Could trying this full-speed sprint find the first floor?"
Liang Ping was a little speechless, but he still carefully considered the possibility and finally had to say, "Captain, good idea. Whether it's useful or not, we'll know by trying."
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping both looked at Fatty. Fatty was also rendered speechless by Nie Chongyang's idea, but facing their gaze, he finally said, "Anyway, I don't understand these things. My deductions are not as good as yours. I'll listen to you all. I'll just be a bodyguard. Thinking is not suitable for me."
That made it three votes in favor.
Nie Chongyang immediately rubbed his hands together. The three of them prepared themselves and stood up.
Nie Chongyang said, "Then let's try it. I'll count to three, and then we'll rush down with all our might and see what happens. Ready! Three, two, one! Go!"
The three of them rushed down the stairs like arrows released from a bow.