The matter proceeded with unexpected smoothness.
Although they didn't quite understand the underlying principles, nor did they find many other mechanisms or activation methods, once Ye Tiancheng and the others finished piecing together the wall bricks and reassembling them, the stone door that had been tightly shut on the wall behind the puzzle slowly opened before their eyes.
The little fox immediately became somewhat emotional.
He excitedly said, "It's open, it's open! The door is finally open! Let's hurry and see what's inside!"
Ye Tiancheng, however, was much calmer.
He said to the little fox, "Don't get too worked up. This isn't the exit door. Let's be cautious. What if there are other mechanisms here?"
Upon hearing Ye Tiancheng's words, the little fox immediately became much more obedient and composed.
The little fox nodded obediently and said, "Oh, okay."
They cautiously probed the area around the stone door to ensure there were no immediate dangers before deciding to explore the space behind it.
However, before entering, Ye Tiancheng paused, took a heavy object from his storage space, and wedged it in front of the door.
Liang Ping remarked, "That's quite thoughtful. We don't have to worry about the door closing. Even if it does, if we want to come back, this should give us enough time to return."
The little fox also nodded in agreement.
Ye Tiancheng sighed and said, "This is a lesson learned from too many bad experiences. And if there are other traps inside, even blocking the door won't be of any use."
At this, the little fox felt a pang of recognition and nodded even more vigorously.
He said, "We've encountered worse situations before. As soon as we entered a door, the space changed, or illusions appeared. If that's the case, jamming the door probably won't help."
Liang Ping also recalled some past experiences.
He could only say that if it were something bizarre, then indeed, it wouldn't be of much use.
Liang Ping then said, "It's better than nothing. We might not be that unlucky, right?"
The three of them, for a moment, were all reminded of their past fears of being dominated by strange events, and they became even more vigilant, preparing to enter the space behind the stone door together to see what lay beyond.
Upon entering through the stone door, they discovered that the space behind it was no longer a tomb chamber; at least, there were no coffins inside. However, it was still a stone room.
But it was much better furnished than the initial rudimentary tomb chamber.
The little fox observed the interior curiously before saying, "Looking at the situation inside, it seems like someone lived here? Like someone actually resided here?"
The stone room behind the stone door had a bed, tables, and chairs, along with more domestic furnishings. In short, it truly resembled an ordinary room.
If this stone chamber room weren't in such a location, next to a tomb chamber with coffins inside.
The little fox rubbed his arms, somewhat puzzled, and said, "What kind of person would live in a place like this? Wouldn't they feel creeped out? It's right next to a tomb chamber, and there are coffins in the tomb chamber!"
He found it very incomprehensible.
Ye Tiancheng felt it was rather acceptable. To be precise, he had experienced quite harsh conditions himself, but comparatively, he wasn't so unparticular as to go and live inside a tomb chamber.
Ye Tiancheng said to the little fox, "Although there are coffins nearby, there are no corpses inside. Moreover, since we've already guessed that someone would enter and move around here, it's not that strange for them to set up a room here for temporary rest."
The little fox shook his head.
He said, "They would still feel somewhat unaccustomed and uncomfortable, wouldn't they? Their minds must be too big. Could they be some kind of pervert?"
Liang Ping walked up to the table and picked up the brush and book lying on it. The brush was a normal brush, but the book looked very ancient. However, the pages inside were blank.
It was unclear whether the content recorded in the book was hidden due to the use of special ink materials or if it was simply an empty book that hadn't had anything transcribed into it yet, hence the blank pages.
As Liang Ping examined the book and brush, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox naturally crowded around.
Regarding this phenomenon, both Ye Tiancheng and the little fox believed.
This book was likely blank from the start.
Did they not see an inkstone and ink blocks here? These were normal implements. They hadn't seen any special materials. Otherwise, if the other party needed to use special materials for writing, they wouldn't have placed ink here.
Liang Ping thought about it and felt that this possibility was indeed greater.
If they had truly used some special materials, and by chance forgot about it one day, and the book was placed in this location, and then someone picked it up and wrote on it with ink, wouldn't the information be destroyed?
The little fox also picked up the book with blank pages and examined it, touching it and even smelling it.
Finally, the little fox reached a conclusion.
The little fox said to Ye Tiancheng and Liang Ping, "It can be basically confirmed that no special materials were used to write anything on these pages. Most of those materials are not colorless and odorless, and it's even less likely that they would leave no trace."
"However, the material of this paper seems very suitable for drawing talismans and writing inscriptions."
Upon hearing the little fox's words, Ye Tiancheng glanced at the book with blank pages, his expression thoughtful.
He said, "Then let's keep it for now. It might be useful."
The little fox had always been receptive to these materials. His practice consumed a lot of materials, and sometimes, even normal use wasn't enough. Therefore, for him, the more materials, the better.
The little fox put away his new findings once again.
Behind the stone door that Ye Tiancheng and the other two had opened, there wasn't just a single stone chamber room that resembled a living space. The stone chamber room could also lead to other rooms.
And in a way, it was quite fortunate that these other entrances had no mechanisms, so Ye Tiancheng and the other two didn't have to find another way to proceed.
Being able to save trouble was, of course, a happy thing.
However, after proceeding, Ye Tiancheng and the other two were quite surprised.
The little fox felt very cold and damp here, which made him uncomfortable, and his expression became even more puzzled.
He said, "What's the purpose of digging a pool to raise fish in a place like this?"
"This place is already underground, which is cold enough, and the humidity would naturally be higher. By creating a pool here, the moisture couldn't dissipate underground and would all gather here, making it even more humid."
"Logically speaking, things in a tomb chamber require preservation. Damp moisture is an absolute enemy of preservation work."
"Even if we don't consider it from this perspective, there's a room next door that looks like someone would live and sleep here. Having such a cold and damp room next to it, how uncomfortable would it be for someone living here?"
Ye Tiancheng looked at the pool and pondered for a moment before judging, "Could this be related to feng shui? Like feng shui fish? I remember that feng shui also has the saying of raising feng shui fish, right?"
The little fox was somewhat speechless.
He said, "Feng shui fish do exist, but I've never heard of digging a pool like this to raise feng shui fish. What would be the purpose of that? This isn't a good way to practice feng shui either."
"...Could it be some kind of unorthodox method?"
Liang Ping said, "It's possible. This isn't a normal place to begin with. Even if it's an unorthodox method, it's not worth being particularly surprised. Moreover, unless the person who built this tomb was going to be buried here themselves, they wouldn't necessarily need good feng shui."
"What if they had other intentions, malicious ones?"
The little fox could only nod, agreeing with this possibility.
He said, "If that's the case, then it's indeed possible. I just don't know what the purpose of putting it here is. I haven't seen anything like it, nor have I seen similar content in books. Hiss..."
Ye Tiancheng comforted the little fox, saying, "Don't rush. Think slowly. In these matters, you have more talent than many people. As long as you understand the basic principles, even unorthodox methods might not be impossible to deduce something from."
Under Ye Tiancheng's comfort and encouragement, the little fox's confidence slightly grew, and he fell into contemplation.
However, this puzzle was destined to remain unsolved for the time being.
Ye Tiancheng and his companions would not be stuck in one place. Even when studying, students should have heard teachers' advice to prioritize doing the problems they know how to solve first, and leave the difficult ones for later, returning to them after completing the easier ones.
This is the most efficient and best approach.
The same logic applied here.
Therefore, they temporarily noted this point and set it aside to search for other clues. They didn't find any mechanisms to open at the moment, but they did find some items that might be useful elsewhere, so they took them all with them.
In any case, they would pick up anything that seemed useful first, and when they encountered the corresponding item, they would naturally know how to use it.
The little fox collected a plate of golden melon seeds and a plate of golden peanuts from a shelf. These didn't seem like simple burial objects. Primarily, if they were burial objects, most would be placed near the person being buried.
In this location, it didn't seem like it.
Mainly because the little fox saw some patterns, some things that seemed like clues or hints.
Due to past experiences, he had been trained.
When seeing similar things, it was always right to hold onto them. They might be useful at some point, and certainly, they couldn't be easily overlooked.
Seeing the little fox collect the golden peanuts and golden melon seeds, Ye Tiancheng suddenly had a recollection.
He said to the little fox, "I remember in the stone chamber room we came from, there was a wooden cabinet with several empty plates on it. I think some content was written on them before, related to the five elements, and something like gold, wood, earth."
"Do you think these items might be used there?"
Upon hearing Ye Tiancheng's words, the little fox felt that this was indeed very likely.
See, he hadn't made a mistake.
Wouldn't these be usable now?
So, Ye Tiancheng and his four companions turned back to the previous stone chamber room and found the wooden cabinet Ye Tiancheng mentioned. Indeed, there were four empty white porcelain plates on it.
Besides that, on the side of the porcelain plates, on top of the wooden cabinet, there were carved marks. Several lines of small text were inscribed, naturally talking about things like the five elements, yin and yang, and other metaphysical concepts.
This was completely outside the expertise of Ye Tiancheng and Liang Ping.