Chapter 1 The Heat

Even with a calm mood and no feeling of tension, the heat generated by the shadowless lamps powered by a large pile of fish oil and whale fat quickly caused Suo Yong and Ye Tao to sweat profusely. To ensure the smooth progress of their work, even the people arranged to wipe their sweat were specially chosen talents: Liu Yong and Jin Ze.

Jin Ze, who had served as the head guard for Her Highness Princess Xiu for many years, excelled because he was in his prime, with all his kung fu skills at their peak. His original sect was known for its distinctive light body techniques, gentle and upright movements, and lack of flamboyance. Although it might seem like overkill to have him wipe Suo Yong's sweat, he had no complaints. After all, they were currently tackling the Cang Long Box (Hidden Dragon Box), and being allowed to stay in this hall was a great sign of trust in itself. Liu Yong, on the other hand, wouldn't say anything. Being around Ye Tao seemed to automatically bring about all sorts of novel and fun things, never causing him to feel bored.

Suo Yong gently manipulated the rings of varying heights in the second layer of the lock core with his probes, judging their relationships based on the different friction sounds between the lock teeth to deduce the structure of the lock core. In his mind, the structure of the entire lock became increasingly clear. Eleven probes had already been inserted into the first layer of the lock core. Inserting the probes into the keyhole, manipulating them, feeling the subtle feedback, and verifying the information with what he heard, was an extremely arduous task. Ye Tao also watched Suo Yong's operation with great intensity, carefully observing Suo Yong's expressions and movements. If anything seemed amiss, he would immediately take emergency measures.

Time passed slowly. After more than two hours, Suo Yong stopped moving. He first withdrew the probes inserted into the second layer of the lock core, and then looked at Ye Tao. Seeing Suo Yong shake his hand and stretch, Ye Tao knew that Suo Yong was making good progress and would soon be officially starting the decryption.

"Shixiong (Senior martial brother), are you confident?" Ye Tao asked with a smile.

"Of course!" Suo Yong took a breath and stood up. His legs were a little numb, and he almost fell to the ground. After all, he was not young anymore, and his qi and blood circulation was not as swift as a young person's. "...Yo ho... speaking of which, the problem lies in the thing itself. Although the parts can still operate smoothly, two of the lock teeth in the inner lock core are slightly loose... However, I suspect that these lock teeth have been loose since the day this Cang Long Box was assembled. Otherwise, this level of manufacturing precision is simply outrageous."

Ye Tao shrugged noncommittally and said, "It's not surprising. The fact that this material can be processed to this level of precision is already a miracle. Based on this workmanship alone, the Cang Long Box would be a legend, but only craftsmen can understand this kind of legend. As for the people who use the Cang Long Box... hehe, there's no way they would know."

After resting for a while, Suo Yong adjusted his body to its best condition and sat back in front of the Cang Long Box. The entire performance hall immediately returned to silence, with only extremely faint sounds of metal scraping and breathing.

Suo Yong repeatedly imagined in his mind the situation he had just gleaned with the probes and his ears, accumulating these extremely subtle changes into a complete structural diagram in his head. Now, his deduction of the Cang Long Box in his mind might not be accurate to every detail of the box, but it was very close. Suo Yong was different from Ye Tao's other shixiong. Da Shixiong (The eldest martial brother) Guan Haishan came from a family of shipwrights. On the contrary, switching from carpentry to becoming one of the leading architects of the time could be considered unprofessional. Lao San (Third brother) Zhao Dazhu was a stubborn guy, but he learned skills very quickly. When it came to solid technical skills, no one could compare to him. Lao Si (Fourth brother), although his technical skills were not particularly outstanding, his sensitivity to processes and efficiency in workshop management was enough to allow him to break out of the mold of a pure craftsman and become a technical manager. As for Suo Yong, he was not lacking in talent, but he lacked a certain specialty and a certain amount of courage. He didn't dare to simply become a professional architect like Guan Haishan, and he couldn't be as obsessed with technology as Zhao Dazhu. Although he was also strong in management, he didn't dare to simply ignore the quality of his work like Qian Shun. He didn't even have the courage of his younger brother... His younger brother, Suo Zheng, was already a major figure in the Yunzhou military that no one dared to offend, relying on his overall control and detailed execution capabilities in logistics management and deployment. As the first person in history to become a general entirely because of logistics, Suo Zheng would inevitably be remembered in history. But Suo Yong, also one of the shixiong in Ye's Workshop, also a disciple of Ye Laogeng, could he only remain "mediocre"?

Finally, this time, he found an opportunity. He didn't expect that he would actually have a special talent for cracking this kind of thing.

After simulating it several times in his mind, Suo Yong finally began to act. He continuously inserted the probes into the inner keyholes, fixing them in the appropriate positions. Unlike before, now he was clear about where to put each probe, how to put it, the order in which to put them, and how to fix the end of the probe. After he installed all the probes, he lit a tallow candle, heated the ends of the probes, and then inserted the ends of the probes into a special block of sealing wax. After the probes cooled down again, they would be firmly fixed on the sealing wax block. Then, as long as he gently turned the sealing wax block, he could reveal whether all his methods, all his ideas, and all the situations he had simulated in his mind were correct.

Suo Yong carefully checked the position and degree of fixation of the probes he had placed. When his two fingers gently pinched the sealing wax block, his heart tightened. Sometimes, things were so strange. He found that when he completed the entire unlocking process, when it came to the final reveal, he was a little apprehensive, completely lacking the composure he had had just now.

"What's wrong?" Ye Tao took off the stethoscope earbuds and asked.

"Here, Ye Tao, you turn it the last bit." Suo Yong stood up. After sketching out the entire process in his mind, the process of placing all the probes did not take much time. Only half an hour had passed since the last break.

Ye Tao scratched his head and said, "Shixiong, don't do that. This is your job, and this is your responsibility. I don't care about this."

Suo Yong frowned and hesitated for a long time. Ye Tao was right. At this moment, he could indeed hand over this responsibility to Ye Tao. If he succeeded, Ye Tao would not take away the glory he deserved; but if he failed, Ye Tao would definitely take on all the responsibility for him. Was he going to stay like this forever?

Suo Yong didn't think too much and gently turned the sealing wax block in his hand. The key formed by the combination of many probes made a completely different sound than before. It was no longer the superficial sound of metal friction and the sound of parts moving and returning to their positions, but the crisp sound of parts turning, one spring after another being unscrewed, accurately falling into place, and then, with a "clang"... the lid popped open.

Suo Yong let out a long breath. Then, he released the hand holding the sealing wax block and took a few steps back. Suo Yong looked at the Cang Long Box, then looked at the people standing around, and said easily, "Okay, right? I really can't handle the rest."

"Shixiong, we'll be done here in a little while. Shall we go to Zheng Garden for a drink tonight?" Ye Tao also seemed very happy.

Suo Yong nodded and said, "Okay." Then he turned and walked towards the door, his footsteps seemed extremely light. Then he forcefully pushed open the soundproof doors, and walked straight out...

Jin Ze also followed him out, while Liu Yong approached Ye Tao, extremely curious about what was hidden in the Cang Long Box.

Liu Yong was not reckless, but it was true that he should know these things. In fact, regardless of his subjective intentions, he would definitely know these things. Ye Tao gently opened the box. Inside was a bundle wrapped in red silk. Ye Tao took out the contents, placed them on the workbench, and gently unfolded them.

As Chen Kai had said, there were indeed two maps wrapped inside. Both maps were drawn on whole sheets of paper, and then carefully folded. Perhaps because they had rarely been opened after being folded, and even the air that the maps in the box came into contact with was very limited, the paper had not even yellowed. Or perhaps, the maps had not been stored long enough for the paper to yellow. Ye Tao glanced over the two maps. Before he had time to look at the dense writing annotated on the edge of the maps, to see where the treasure and documents were stored, he noticed the structural explanation diagram located in the main part of the map. Whether it was the treasure cave or the place where the documents were stored, it was clear that it had been carefully considered and some mechanisms needed to be cracked.

This was not surprising. What surprised him was that the so-called treasure cave was actually a burial structure that was very popular in this time and space, in this era. The vast underground building complex would require enormous manpower and material resources to build. If it was built in that era of war and chaos, the chain reactions it would cause and the difficulties encountered during construction would be even greater. It shouldn't be possible for no one to know about it. But until now, no one has described the construction behavior of that year. Ye Tao didn't guess too much, because the map was already in his hand, and there would be plenty of opportunities to verify what was going on in the future.

What Ye Tao found even more amusing was that this treasure cave, that is, the underground palace tomb, used almost all forms of mechanisms from the entrance to the main building. Moreover, the underground palace contained stone simplified versions of various architectural styles that were popular at the time. It could be said that the person who designed this underground palace had a very comprehensive and thorough understanding of architecture and mechanics. Moreover, this guy must have a strong desire to display and flaunt his knowledge, which is why he put all kinds of designs in it. He must have a strong planning ability to make so many different things look harmonious, at least in the current diagram. He must also have a strong persuasive ability to get people to allow him to carry out the construction according to this plan... Naturally, there must also be a very powerful construction team to fully implement these designs. But why could such a large project be completely concealed? But overall, Ye Tao felt that this underground building complex should be a bit interesting.