The third stone chamber was the same size as the last, but it was completely empty.
"Well, this is pretty clear..." Uncle Waste said, sweeping the room with his flashlight. "Not only is there nothing here, but there's not even a door to the next level..."
"Could this be a dead end?" Tianma Xingkong wondered.
Atobe replied, "I think it's possible..." He paused. "When we were on the surface, didn't we see several spires? Maybe only one or a few of them lead to the bottom of the temple, and the others are all dead ends."
"Hmm, that makes sense." Uncle Waste nodded in agreement. "That's very likely..." He thought for a moment. "We were too hasty when we entered the temple. We didn't have time to scout, we just picked a spire at random... so getting lost is normal."
"Agreed." Honghu also chimed in. "I suspect there's some kind of clue outside the temple to indicate which spire, or spires, are the correct route." He sighed. "Luckily, we only went three levels down before realizing this spire is a dead end. We can still turn back. Let's hurry back to the surface and carefully investigate those spires and the area around them..."
"I say..." At this moment, Feng Bujue interrupted their conversation.
He stared with dead fish eyes, pointed upward, and said weakly, "The entrance we came down from... it's gone."
"Huh?" Everyone was shocked and looked up in unison.
In that instant, their fear levels spiked.
"Sorry, I didn't see the actual disappearance." Feng Bujue continued in a calm tone. "After coming down, my attention was diverted elsewhere. It wasn't until you mentioned 'turning back' that I instinctively glanced upward, and found... there's nothing on the ceiling anymore."
"Er... to remove the door so silently, tracelessly, in such a short time." Honghu wiped the cold sweat from his temples with a subtle movement. "We really can't let our guard down for a moment..."
"No, I don't think it has anything to do with being careful or not. This kind of rogue setting, commonly used in nightmare scripts, can be summed up in four words: 'impossible to guard against.'" Feng Bujue replied. "Take the current situation as an example... this stone chamber itself has no light source. We have to rely on our own lighting equipment to illuminate it..." As he spoke, he scanned the room with the searchlight on his slingshot. "Our line of sight will naturally follow these beams of light." He paused. "As for the relatively dark areas, they are easily overlooked." At this point, he shone the light on the ceiling. "The ceiling here is quite high. Generally speaking, no one would specifically look up and stare at it. Therefore, there will always be a period of time... when all five of us are not looking at that door. And during that time, anything can happen..." He smiled. "Heh... in fact, even in just a moment, n possibilities could occur. The disappearance of the entrance is just one of them..."
"Stop! I bet you're going to start scaring us again." Atobe quickly interrupted. "Even though I know you're probably just exaggerating, I still think I'll pee my pants, so please shut up as soon as possible."
"Imagination is the root of fear, your greatest enemy." Feng Bujue said. "It's better to let me say it and analyze it in the open..."
"How about this... I'll fire a Meteor Fist at the ceiling or the ground." Tianma Xingkong interjected at this moment. "Then there will be a way out, and you guys won't have to overthink things."
"Ah... to be honest..." Feng Bujue shook his head. "I think... if you use Meteor Fist here, there's a 50% chance it won't break the wall, a 30% chance it will cause the building to collapse, a 10% chance it will trigger a rebound or some other fatal consequence, and a 10% chance... it will succeed."
"Okay! I'll try it." Tianma Xingkong lowered his head and started swinging his arms.
"Hey! Do you even understand Chinese? There's a 90% chance it will fail!" Feng Bujue shouted.
"Don't worry, a hero is a man who can turn the impossible into the possible!" Little Ma replied with a chuuni (delusional) tone, and was about to act.
"Hold on." Uncle Waste suddenly shouted at this moment.
"Don't stop me, I've already made up my mind..." Little Ma said, swinging his arm, "Tiaaan... maa... meteor..."
Pa—
Tianma Xingkong's voice stopped abruptly.
Because... a strong hand was grabbing his neck, stopping his movement.
"Didn't you hear me when I told you to stop?" Uncle Waste lifted Tianma Xingkong with one arm.
This scene shocked Atobe and Honghu beyond words, while Feng Bujue just raised an eyebrow and said "Oh?" softly.
In the next second, Uncle Waste stepped forward, darting out like a fierce tiger. He clamped onto Tianma Xingkong's neck and lunged forward. Three steps later, with a "bang"... Tianma Xingkong's back slammed into the wall on one side of the stone chamber.
"Who... are... you?" Uncle Waste stared at the "Tianma Xingkong" in front of him and asked, word by word.
"Help... help..." The expression of this "Tianma Xingkong" became twisted. He could only stand on tiptoes to barely keep himself upright, otherwise it would be difficult to even breathe, but he still tried his best to shout with a voice that was about to die, "He's crazy... he's been controlled by a monster... kill him!"
The other three looked at each other, and were silent for a few seconds. Then, the three of them surrounded him, each striking a very casual pose, observing this "Tianma Xingkong," and asking, one after another: "Hurry up and tell us, who are you? Where is the real Little Ma?"
"I... am..." The imposter still wanted to make a final struggle.
"You have three flaws." But Feng Bujue directly interrupted his words, and raised three fingers. "First, your disguise is too contrived. The real Little Ma is not as stupid and cute as you are, he's just a passionate idiot." He put down one finger, and continued, "Second, in most cases, we (players) cannot attack our teammates, but Uncle Waste successfully attacked you. This shows that... you are not Little Ma at all, and Uncle Waste has recognized you in some way." He put down another finger. "Third..."
"Third... and also the most important point." Honghu next to him took over, and said coldly: "Tianma Xingkong, would never make that kind of expression, begging others to save him."
After a brief silence...
The guy who was being restrained by Uncle Waste finally put away his painful expression, and instead revealed a sneer.
"Hmph... all ridiculous reasons." It said. "In my opinion, not persuasive at all..." Even so, it gave up its disguise and revealed its true form.
Its clothing and body gradually merged into one, becoming a black humanoid creature. Judging from the shape of its body, it was difficult to distinguish whether it was male or female. Its hairstyle seemed to be a bald head, with normal human ears on both sides of its head; its face also had clear black and white eyes, a nose bridge, and a mouth.
"Hmm... could you be..." Feng Bujue's expression turned serious.
"Hmph... that's right, I am..." The other party replied halfway with a rather smug tone.
But Feng Bujue continued: "...assisting Conan in sending hundreds of innocent people to prison... petty theft, murder, doing all kinds of evil—'Criminal'!"
"Criminal your unCLe ah!" Atobe roared, "Is now the time to complain!"
"Atobe is right." Honghu said: "In my opinion, quickly using torture to dispel the other party's arrogance and ask about Little Ma's whereabouts in one fell swoop is the top priority right now."
"Don't be nervous, just kidding..." Feng Bujue responded with a seemingly relaxed tone, but in reality... this untimely joke was also a test. He mainly wanted to see the reactions of the other three teammates to confirm whether there were any other fakes mixed in.
"I can guess who it is." Feng Bujue continued naturally from the previous sentence, and looked at the imposter, "Right? Soul of Imitation."