What should be done?
Facing the predicament before him, Ye Tiancheng truly had no idea.
If the talismans were useless, where should they go now, and how could they break free from this situation?
Continuing to climb the stairs seemed like the most meaningless action for now, as before understanding the situation, Ye Tiancheng and the others had no way of knowing if these endless stairs had an end, or how long it would take to leave.
Blindly climbing the stairs would only be a futile expenditure of their physical strength, which was very irrational.
So, where should they go?
Ye Tiancheng pondered with his head down. The little fox dared not disturb him and also tried hard to think about where the key to breaking the deadlock lay.
After thinking for a long time, Ye Tiancheng finally had some ideas. He stood up and called out to the little fox, "Let's go, I have some thoughts."
The little fox also stood up and followed, "Where are we going, Big Brother?"
Ye Tiancheng said to the little fox, "I've been thinking for a long time about when we were confused. Now that I think about it, we should probably start investigating from the very beginning."
The little fox said hesitantly, "Big Brother, do you mean our room?"
Ye Tiancheng nodded and explained to the little fox, "When a problem cannot be solved, when you have a complex knot that cannot be untangled, the best way is to find the starting thread and see where it is."
"Since everything started from there, the knot should naturally be untangled from there."
"Thinking about it carefully now, I think the time we were confused should be much earlier than we imagined. At the very least, I think it should be after we left our room."
He paused, analyzing with the little fox while continuing to think, "At that time, we were standing in the corridor and found nothing unusual. The corridor was clean, which itself meant there was a problem."
"We knew there was a problem at that time, but we didn't know what it was. However, we were likely confused from there, or perhaps even earlier."
The little fox understood most of it, but upon hearing Ye Tiancheng's final conclusion, he still asked with some confusion, "Earlier? When was that?"
Ye Tiancheng explained to the little fox, "It's also possible that it was when we saw illusions in the room."
The little fox was slightly stunned and began to recall the scene carefully.
Facing the illusion outside the window at that time, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox did not take it too seriously because they felt it posed no threat. Due to their previous experiences, specifically the incident where the little fox almost jumped off the building, they had a preconceived notion about the illusion outside the window.
That is, it was just a trick to confuse them. As long as they remained clear-headed and did not go over, it would be useless whether it was there or not.
But was it really useless?
If doing so was meaningless, there would be no reason for the illusion to appear. If it appeared, then it was more likely to be useful.
The current outcome proved its significant effect. Neither Ye Tiancheng nor the little fox realized that they were not truly clear-headed at that time. In fact, by ignoring its true purpose, they had walked into their current predicament.
Thinking about it now, perhaps they should not have left the room at all. The key to breaking the deadlock should still be within their room.
The little fox immediately and excitedly shared his thoughts with Ye Tiancheng.
After listening, Ye Tiancheng nodded slightly, "I have a similar idea. We were actually confused at that time, and because of our previous experiences, we overlooked the true purpose of that illusion."
Now that there was a clue, the little fox felt a slight sense of relief, but quickly realized, "But now, we still can't tell if we are going up or down."
"We don't know which floor we are on. Is going upstairs really going up, and is going downstairs really going down."
Ye Tiancheng said to the little fox, "No matter what, we will know which floor we are on if we go and see."
"Thinking optimistically, if the room numbers can be used as a reference and follow a pattern, perhaps we can find our real floor, find our room, and then break free and leave. Thinking pessimistically, these rooms are probably just illusions, and even if there are people inside, they are likely not real people."
"But just because we know there's a pit, does that mean we shouldn't jump?"
Ye Tiancheng said this to the little fox.
The logic was quite clear. Even if there were traps, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox had to go. Because having reached this point, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox were actually out of options. Even if it was a dragon's pool or a tiger's den, they could only charge in.
After understanding, the little fox's spirits lifted slightly, "Then let's go. I don't believe we can be trapped here forever."
Ye Tiancheng gave him a helpless look and covered his mouth, "Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey, don't jinx it, okay?"
The little fox also reacted and spat twice.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! I speak without thinking. Innocent words, innocent words!"
Ye Tiancheng became even more helpless. If the former little fox had said this, it would have seemed more normal. But now the little fox had the body of an adult, the adult version of the little fox. To say innocent words again...
It could only be said that he was a giant baby.
Because they were also in a hurry, especially at this critical juncture. Nie Chongyang and the others should also be on their way, preparing to join forces with them to deal with the "Mountain God" Black Snake. Ye Tiancheng and the little fox could not delay and had to escape the predicament as soon as possible.
The two of them then acted together, leaving the stairs and heading towards the corridor.
Upon entering the corridor, the abnormality could be felt more clearly.
The inference about the mirrors was true, because after walking into the corridor, what Ye Tiancheng and the others saw was already a mirrored space.
The corridor here was completely reversed from the real corridor.
The little fox sighed and said, "This evil spirit is really insidious. Everything is reversed now. We are in a mirrored space. Even if we find our real room, will it really be useful?"
Ye Tiancheng reached out and rubbed the little fox's head, saying, "Useful or not, we still have to keep looking. If finding the room is useless, then we'll look for mirrors. It's also possible that the trick is in the corridor. We don't have enough evidence yet to determine our true situation."
The little fox nodded, feeling a bit dejected.
He remembered a detail, "But Big Brother, when we went from the stairs to the corridor, wasn't there no mirror hanging on the corridor wall opposite the stairwell?"
What was originally a question, but because it was undoubtedly a fact, the little fox used it not as a question, but as a statement.
Ye Tiancheng looked at the little fox's lifeless, fish-like eyes. Despite the harsh reality, he had to tell the truth, "There is indeed no mirror."
Very good. This meant that any of their suspicions had a high probability of being correct.
If they had only insisted on one approach and later found out it was another possibility, they would realize they had wasted a lot of time. Even if that were the case, if they stayed in this space for too long, there would be more serious consequences, which would be even worse.
Ye Tiancheng led the way, and the little fox followed him. As they walked, the little fox suddenly felt something was wrong.
The little fox asked Ye Tiancheng, "Big Brother, where are you going? Aren't we looking for our room? You seem to be going the wrong way..."
Ye Tiancheng shook his head and said to the little fox, "It doesn't matter. The structure of the building is not wrong. No matter how we walk, as long as we don't go to the stairs, we can return to the original position. We also need to look at other rooms, and in this space, the room numbers may not represent anything."
The little fox was stunned for a moment, then reacted.
"Then what are we looking at now?"
Ye Tiancheng told the little fox, "Let's just pick a room to look at first, and also check the room number of the fat guy's room. Although the floors displayed here are not our floor."
He looked at the room numbers. In this space, even the numbers on the room numbers were reversed, mirrored. But it did not affect Ye Tiancheng's identification. According to the room numbers displayed, regardless of whether they were real or fake, the floors displayed by the room numbers were actually the third floor.
This was because all the rooms on this corridor started with the number three.
The little fox said, "Then just pick any room, right? What are you looking for?"
Ye Tiancheng said, "Pick one that looks pleasing to the eye, and... and this room."
As Ye Tiancheng spoke to the little fox, his steps suddenly stopped in front of a room. The little fox looked up at the room number, which was marked as three three four.
"...This one?"
Anyone among them could tell that there was likely something wrong with this room.
Because among the rooms they had passed, only the door of this room was not tightly closed, but the lock was open, and the door was slightly ajar.
The gap in the door was very small, and the situation inside the room could not be seen clearly. Only darkness was visible inside. No one knew what the situation behind the door would be, or what awaited them.
The little fox also felt creepy, "Are you sure you want to go into this one? It looks problematic. Is this a trap?"
Ye Tiancheng stared at the door, his expression inscrutable, "And how do you know it's not inviting a wolf into the house?"
"Ah?" Before the little fox could react, he saw Ye Tiancheng walk to the door and reach out to push it open.
Since Ye Tiancheng had already gone, the little fox had no choice but to follow him closely, to see what was inside this room.
With a creak, the room door opened in front of Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, revealing the dark room before them.
There was no light in the room at all. It was unclear if the curtains were not opened, or if every room in this space had no external light source. Moreover, since the lights were not turned on, it was naturally pitch black, and only vague outlines could be seen, which was already very difficult.
Fortunately, this was not a modern homestay or hotel building where rooms required swiping a room card, and electricity would only be supplied after inserting the card. In every room, electricity could be used directly after opening the door.
Ye Tiancheng took out his mobile phone. Although the phone had no signal, it could still be used for other purposes.
He turned on the flashlight function of his phone to use it for illumination.
Because the layout of these rooms was similar, Ye Tiancheng easily found the light switch based on the room he had stayed in before. He did not hesitate and flicked it on.