It was clear that everyone wanted to pry more information from the old woman, but she sat silently on a stone pillar not far away, without saying a word.

It was precisely her silence, or rather, a kind of rejection, that made everyone hesitant to pressure her too much.

Everyone wanted information from her, but no one wanted to be the villain who forced her, because that might invite the woman's revenge.

If what she said was true, then the woman had a much higher chance of surviving than the others.

She was a second-timer.

"What do we do now?" someone asked.

Silence fell over the scene.

Everyone knew that there was likely a secret hidden behind the door, and since they couldn't find a mechanism to open it, their only option was to force it open.

But the problem was… who would be the one to break down the door?

Sometimes, too many smart people together is a bad thing; everyone is so busy with their own agenda that efficiency is extremely low.

If it were a few hotheads, they probably would have found out whether there were monsters or not by now.

Of course, they might have also been wiped out immediately after discovering the monsters.

A gust of cold wind blew from somewhere, scattering some of the dust on the stone door, making the alien creatures blurrier.

This was good; without the alien creatures staring at them from the door, the psychological pressure on everyone was lessened.

The stone door was more fragile than expected. Four men barely managed to lift a suitably sized stone pillar and, mimicking a battering ram, broke the door open with two hits.

The stone door didn't open like a normal door, but instead fell backward like a domino.

With a "boom," it slammed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The four men immediately retreated as the stone door fell, until the dust settled, revealing the scene behind the door.

It was a row of stone steps.

From their angle, they could only see the steps curving upwards, gradually disappearing into the darkness.

Jiang Cheng raised his head and looked up. It seemed there was more space above the dome of this building.

The young master waved away the dust floating in front of him, turned to look at the women, and nodded. "It's your turn."

This was an agreement they had reached before breaking down the door.

The men would be responsible for breaking down the door, and after the door was open, the women would be the first to go in and scout the way.

Everyone is equal in a nightmare; neither male chauvinism nor feminism matters.

When your life is on the line, who cares about face?

The three women reluctantly gathered together, clearly each with their own agenda.

No one knew what lay at the end of the spiraling stairs; the unknown hidden in the darkness was the most terrifying.

The tall man partnered with the loli inched closer to her, as if wanting to accompany her, but when she noticed, she glared at him fiercely.

The two-meter-tall man actually didn't dare to move, and even looked very aggrieved.

The fatty was completely dumbfounded.

Just as everyone's attention was focused on the darkness behind the stone door, a figure entered their line of sight.

The old woman had walked over at some point and then walked straight into the stone door.

The others followed quickly after realizing what was happening.

Walking on the stone steps, the texture underfoot was an indescribable涩感 (se gan, hard to describe sensation), as if they were walking not on ordinary steps, but on a piece of history buried in the long river of time.

This history was likely not recorded in any historical records; it was forgotten time.

Whether intentionally or due to the erosion of time, the steps were often damaged, and there were even some relatively regular collapses.

Looking down from the collapsed areas, their eyes couldn't find a focal point; all they saw was darkness.

Looking at it for a little longer, it felt like their whole body was about to fall in.

They stayed close to the wall, taking each step cautiously.

Jiang Cheng slowly stroked the wall with his fingers. The wall was also engraved with obscure and difficult-to-understand patterns, possibly the strange creatures on the stone door, or something else.

Finally… they reached the end of the stairs.

There was another stone door there, but unlike the previous one, this door was open.

Although not fully open, the huge gap was enough for an adult man to squeeze through sideways.

The old woman walked straight into the stone door.

Jiang Cheng watched the woman's disappearing figure, a strange look flashing in his eyes.

The young master took the lead and followed the woman as the second to enter the stone door.

Of all of them, only the fatty was in trouble. The young master pulled him from inside, and Jiang Cheng pushed from outside, finally squeezing the fatty in.

The fatty knew that he was holding them back, and promised Jiang Cheng that he would lose weight when they got back.

He swore he'd be an orphan if he didn't lose 20 jin (10kg) in a month.

"Tsk," Jiang Cheng, who had just squeezed in, glanced at him, feeling like there was more to his words.

Inside the stone door was a space of about a few dozen square meters, with an overall arc shape.

Based on their observations from outside the building, this should be at the top of the building's spire.

The walls were no longer made of ordinary stone, but of a flaky crystalline structure similar to mica.

At first glance, they had the texture of frosted glass.

They should be quite thick, because the room was relatively quiet.

There was almost no sound of wind.

The walls had different lusters in different places. Although not obvious, it was indeed the case. Jiang Cheng glanced at them a few times but couldn't see any pattern for the time being.

In the center of the room was a shelf about half a person's height.

The shelf was snow-white, and the touch was very special after touching it. It had good thermal conductivity, and didn't feel like stone or metal.

On the shelf was a vessel larger than a washbasin, and after wiping away the thin layer of dust on it, the vessel was filled with milky white solids.

The young master reached out and rubbed a little, then rubbed it between two fingers, brought it to his nose and sniffed it lightly, and said affirmatively, "It's grease."

Jiang Cheng generously reached in and messed around, finally grabbing a rope of strange material covered in grease and pulling it up.

The rope was covered in burnt grease, and Jiang Cheng pulled it out without hesitation.

The others gave him a look of respect.

The top of the building, translucent walls, a vessel filled with grease in the center of the room, a black rope in the vessel…

Combining these things together, the function of this room became clearer.

This was a lighthouse.

Used to guide ships that were coming and going, or returning to port.

"This building is a lighthouse?" The fatty had obviously thought of this, and that set of equipment in the middle was just a super-sized candle.

The young master smiled, "Fatty is right, but not accurate. This room is a lighthouse, but this building is not."

"Who would build such a big lighthouse for no reason?" Jiang Cheng said in a measured tone, "They're just backward, not stupid."

The fatty suddenly felt a little embarrassed, and then a little sad.

Even the young master, an outsider, was gentler to him than the doctor.