Chapter 1155 - 544: Feather Sculpture
After walking for a while, Mao Feiyang suddenly said, "Hey, looks like we’ve arrived!"
In the distance, there appeared a door, that rusty, stairwell-exit door.
This was the very path he took when he left.
Mao Feiyang walked up to the door and tried to push it, but it wouldn’t budge.
"You just need to pull it inward," Lin Yi reminded him.
"I know I have to pull it inward now," Mao Feiyang said. "Next time, remind me earlier."
"Wasn’t I worried about the time paradox?"
"A door that’s been here for hundreds of years; whether you push it forward or pull it back to open it, what’s that got to do with a time paradox?" Mao Feiyang was speechless.
But Mao Feiyang’s words suddenly seemed to spark some inspiration in Lin Yi’s mind, tracing an arc in his thoughts...
Time...
Hundreds of years right here...
What’s the connection...
Unaffected by time...
Lin Yi felt a slight itch in his mind, sensing some insight about to emerge. This insight had nothing to do with the door itself, but rather some "flavor" in Mao Feiyang’s words that gave him a "feeling," leading to some comprehension about "time."
Yet this realization was frustratingly vague; he wanted to grasp it, but it slipped through like sand through his fingers.
"Creak—"
Mao Feiyang pulled open the heavy iron door, and the sharp, teeth-gritting metallic screech pulled Lin Yi’s thoughts back.
Mao Feiyang pulled the door shut after passing through and glanced at the iron plate on the door that echoed "clang clang" as it shook.
On the iron plate, an inscription from the "Iron Law of the Night Watchman" was strikingly emblazoned in mottled script:
"Tower of No Bell, resplendent Netherworld Light, the sound resonates far across nine seas, eight wildernesses."
Looking at this iron plate, Mao Feiyang frowned slightly and sighed softly.
"Did something occur to you?" Lin Yi asked softly.
"Why do you ask everything?" Mao Feiyang responded impatiently.
Lin Yi pressed, "I’m just curious; otherwise, why would you sigh?"
"I’m sighing about my lack of knowledge, can’t even understand the gibberish on that iron plate," Mao Feiyang muttered, "Should’ve studied some archaeology, could at least read a bit..."
"I know what it means, do you want to know?"
"I don’t want to know now," Mao Feiyang shook his head, "Besides, knowing won’t help... better save my brainpower to find a bedroom."
"Have you decided to first go to the little girl’s bedroom... uh, rather than the Observatory?" Lin Yi suddenly realized that Maozi seemed uninterested in visiting the Observatory.
Mao Feiyang said, "Come on, I have to at least pretend to fulfill the ’agreement,’ right?"
"In the agreement, we’re supposed to help ’02’ find some extraordinary creation. If I head straight to the Observatory with a clear purpose, he’ll know I’m not complying sincerely, and when you collect the final payment, there might be trouble."
"Uh... your reasoning is sound," Lin Yi wiped his brow, though he thought coming here wasn’t easy... especially ascending those steps, while forging the Bone Golden Body.
"Do you have a direction?" he asked.
"Yes." Mao Feiyang nodded.
Just as he was about to continue, suddenly, the entire Art Building trembled violently as if struck by some powerful force.
"Boom... rumble..."
The corridor floor beneath Mao Feiyang shook intensely, and he instinctively steadied himself against the wall.
"What is this?!" Lin Yi was shocked, and suddenly, a deep and resonant bell sound echoed out from the direction of the Bell Tower, vibrating in all directions!
"Duang~~~!!"
"Night Watchman-02 sounded the ’Holy Hall’!"
Mao Feiyang nodded, "Yes, ’02’ has rung the ’Doomsday Bell’... which means today’s ’Grey Mist Invasion’ has begun."
He stuffed a black wooden box into his pocket, then took out the feather sculpture and held it in his hand.
"But none of this has anything to do with me."
"I’m just a ’messenger’..."
"’Two armies on opposing fields shall not harm the envoy.’"
As Mao Feiyang said this, he slowly walked toward the end of the corridor.
The closer he got to the exit door, the more the air was filled with a damp chill, an ominous aura lingering at the corridor’s exit, growing thicker.
Mao Feiyang took a deep breath, placed both hands on the door, and paused for a long time.
Lin Yi seemed to sense something was off, and hurriedly asked, "What’s wrong?"
"I’m thinking whether to pull or push..." Mao Feiyang paused, "Say something."
"Huh? Say what?" Lin Yi was taken aback, "Uh... ’Open sesame’?"
"I’m Alibaba your Baba..." Mao Feiyang was speechless for a moment, "I’m asking whether to push or pull. There’s definitely something foul outside, I need to be ready."
"Didn’t you just say you’d say it in advance? How did you forget it yourself?"
"Oh, fine... just pull it inward," Lin Yi said.
Mao Feiyang then opened the door a crack, and as soon as it was ajar, countless nocturnal species swarmed from the outer wall, jostling to squeeze through the door gap.
Unhurriedly, Mao Feiyang took out the feather sculpture, holding it in front of him like a transformation ritual.
Strangely enough, once the feather sculpture appeared, the nocturnal species, which were previously pressing in darkly, retreated in panic as if they encountered something lethal, screeching as they scattered away.
Around Mao Feiyang, it was as if an invisible field enveloped him, the source of which was the feather sculpture in his hand.
"This thing’s effect... is like a light bulb," Lin Yi marveled.