Chapter 331 168: Mechanism (Part 3)

But now, it seemed there was nothing wrong with the lamp oil either.

With that, Jiang Ran walked over to the bed to inspect it.

The beds in this posthouse weren't all the same.

The bed in Jiang Ran's room was a simple wooden plank bed, but the one in Ruan Yuqing's room was a canopy bed.

It had posts at its four corners and a frame on top. Although it didn't look new, when compared to the other furniture in the room, it was clearly not purchased at the same time.

Jiang Ran sat down on the bed, his gaze traveling up the posts.

Suddenly, his brow furrowed.

'There are carvings here… Are these beast heads? Why are they on the inside?'

Usually, such carvings would be on the outside for a better appearance.

Who carves beast heads to face inward?

Hearing this, Ruan Yuqing came and sat beside Jiang Ran. Sure enough, she saw beast-head carvings on the inner side of all four bedposts.

Looking closely, they could also see that the beast heads were hollow, with a tiny hole in each.

The two of them exchanged a look, and understanding dawned on them instantly.

"Could the intoxicating smoke have come from here? When was this bed replaced?"

As he spoke, Jiang Ran reached for the beast-head carving. His highly trained sense of touch immediately told him it was movable.

He instinctively gave it a gentle twist, and with a sharp CLICK, the bedboard beneath them collapsed. Jiang Ran and Ruan Yuqing, who had been sitting on the bed, tumbled onto a slope.

The slope was extremely smooth. Caught off guard, the two of them slid for a ways before Jiang Ran managed to control his descent using the Hidden Shadow Enchanting God Step.

His Hidden Shadow Enchanting God Step incorporated the abilities of the Gecko Wall-Climbing Skill, allowing him to cling to any surface by pressing his limbs against it.

Looking up, he heard another CLICK as the bedboard snapped shut above them.

With one arm around Ruan Yuqing, Jiang Ran glanced up at the sealed bedboard. After a moment of thought, he decided to relax.

"Let's go down and see."

"Okay."

Ruan Yuqing nodded.

As long as she was with Jiang Ran, she didn't feel like she was in any danger.

So, the two of them relaxed and let themselves slide.

Jiang Ran, however, was thinking, 'How could a posthouse have such a strange feature?'

'Was the mechanism built into it from the very beginning?'

'Or was it modified by someone later on?'

He hadn't considered it in detail before, but now that he thought about it, the posthouse was built in a square layout around a central courtyard. Aside from the straight hallway on the entrance side, the other three sides formed a U-shape lined with rooms.

By that calculation, if one side could fit three rooms, a single floor should have nine rooms in total. Even accounting for space for the staircase, there should have been at least eight.

But in reality, there were only six.

'The extra space was likely sacrificed for the secret passages in the rooms.'

'Otherwise, falling from the second floor would just land you in a room on the first floor, not somewhere else entirely.'

With these thoughts in mind, Jiang Ran controlled their speed as they continued to slide.

He had to be cautious in case there was another trap at the end of the mechanism.

After sliding for a while longer, they finally saw the exit.

Jiang Ran's eyes narrowed. At the exit, the cold glint of a blade shone in the darkness.

It was a blade embedded at the end of the secret passage.

Jiang Ran snorted coldly, bringing them to a halt just before the blade.

Seeing the blade that was now nearly at her feet, Ruan Yuqing's face paled slightly.

"How vicious."

"If someone were to fall down here in their sleep, they wouldn't notice anything was wrong at first. By the time they reached the end, they'd likely be decapitated or sliced in two."

"Ning Jiuyuan mentioned rumors of a headless ghost around this posthouse. I'm afraid this is the source."

Jiang Ran's brow was tightly furrowed. "But why go to such lengths?"

"Posthouses are established by the Court, not some robber's den… What is the purpose of setting things up like this?"

As he spoke, he reached out and lifted Ruan Yuqing over.

He guided her down through the gap beside the blade.

As her feet touched the ground, there was a CLATTER.

Jiang Ran then dropped down himself. Looking around, he saw several skeletons scattered about.

"Are these all travelers who stayed here and met an unfortunate end?"

Ruan Yuqing's expression darkened. "That hunchbacked old man... even a thousand deaths would be too good for him!"

Jiang Ran, however, raised an eyebrow. "They must have been the clever ones. Otherwise, they wouldn't have noticed the details on the bedposts and triggered the mechanism."

"But it seems the reason there are so many legends with no actual proof…"

"...is most likely because they all died here."

"Either they died in this trap, or they were killed by the intoxicating smoke somewhere else."

"If that old man is really behind this, he wouldn't have operated this place for so many years just for the fun of killing… What is he really after?"

Jiang Ran blew on the tinder stick that had just gone out, reigniting it to illuminate their surroundings.

He saw that they were in a stone chamber. Based on the twists, turns, and the distance they had descended, they had to be underground, beneath the posthouse.

"At a glance, there are no doors in this room. But it can't be completely sealed off… otherwise, how could they have set up so much down here? Miss Ruan, let's look around and see if we can find any clues."

"Alright."

The two of them got to work at once, beginning their search of the chamber.

Meanwhile, Tang Huayi, who had climbed out of Jiang Ran's room, had already used the Heavenly Mechanism Star Shifting Great Transformation Skill to revert to her "Li Tianxin" appearance.

She went to the rooms of Li Tianyu and the others, waking them one by one.

Once the group was gathered together, their sense of security grew immensely.

Scholar Jingtan glanced at Tang Huayi.

"Young Hero Li, what in the world is going on?"

Tang Huayi was about to explain what had happened, though of course she would have to alter the story.

She couldn't let anyone know she had learned all this by sneaking into Jiang Ran's room.

But before she could speak, a cry of alarm came from outside the posthouse.

Startled, the group immediately rushed out to investigate.

In moments, they were inside the courtyard walls, where a headless corpse lay in a pool of blood.

Judging by the clothes, it was an escort from the Celestial Yang Escort Agency.