In the room with the hanging paintings, Gu Luolin raised her head with pride, crossed her arms, and looked at Ye Zichen and Gou Monan with smug expectation.
She thought herself incredibly intelligent. The two of them had been working so hard in search of clues, only to come up empty.
Only she had picked up on the hint. She really wanted to praise her own intellect.
“What did you guess?” Ye Zichen glanced at her, his expression a bit surprised.
He was well aware that only he and Gou Monan had put any time into hunting for clues. Gu Luolin had just been wandering around the room, as if none of this had anything to do with her. She certainly hadn’t been looking for clues.
Yet now she was saying she’d discovered something? Just how had she done it?
Ye Zichen didn’t doubt that she was telling the truth. Although he and Gou Monan had spent longer hunting for clues, it was possible that they’d both made a fundamental error.
“I can tell you!” The corners of Gu Luolin’s lips arched up in delight. “But you have to beg me. If you beg me, I might very well tell you. I…”
She shook her head repeatedly in obvious delight.
But then, Ye ZIchen suddenly clamped his hand around her mouth. Gu Luolin struggled and tried to speak, only for Ye Zichen to put his finger to her lips to indicate that she should be silent.
Thud thud.
More people had come!
It seemed that by this time, the majority had made it into the palace. Not long after the first wave, yet another group appeared outside the room.
They’d only just relaxed, but now, their hearts were on tenterhooks once more.
The three of them held their breath and stuck close to the wall. They could hear people talking outside. “How about we go through this door?”
The speaker had clearly already reached their door, and based on the voice, it wasn’t someone Ye Zichen knew.
“Let’s go in order. If I’m not mistaken, you have to choose the correct door five times in a row. Let’s proceed in an orderly fashion and take our time.”
Right!
At times like this, it was best to do things in the proper order!
Ye Zichen only had one hand, and it was currently covering Gu Luolin’s mouth. He could only gnash his teeth as if hoping that the first speaker would follow the second’s advice and go to a different room.
“I just get the sense that this is the right room, and furthermore, that there are people. inside.”
“Stop it already. How many times have you said that by now? Let’s just go in order!”
“Fine.”
The footsteps gradually faded away as the pair went into the room beside theirs.
“It seems everyone has made it here.” Ye Zichen narrowed his eyes, then gazed solemnly at Gu Luolin and Gou Monan.
Just now, they’d come this close. That imperial king outside had actually discovered that there were people in the room!
“Gu Luolin!”
Gou Monan and Ye Zichen had found no clues to speak of. Only Gu Luolin said she’d found the key, so Ye Zichen directly called out to her. His tone made her instinctively recall her uncles; they sounded like that when they were mad at her.
“What are you doing? I said you had to beg me!” she said, sounding a little aggrieved.
“Stop that nonsense. Can’t you hear that more and more people are coming?” Ye Zichen stared at her. She looked deeply aggrieved, as if she were on the verge of bursting into tears. “Little princess, if you discovered something, just tell us, okay?”
“That’s about right!” Gu Luolin’s mood took a turn for the better. “Do you remember the gates we saw when we first entered the palace?”
“The gates? Was there something noteworthy about them?” said Gou Monan.
“There were five gates when we entered, and the following rooms all had five doors too. We had to pass through five rooms,” said Gu Luolin, counting on her fingers. “The number is key: five!”
“Now take another look at the paintings! Five have images. It’s still five!”
“The only thing you can associate five with is the Grand Dao of the Five Elements. Now, look at the five paintings’ backgrounds. Based on the children’s expressions, it’s clear that the paintings correspond to the five elements.”
“Now what about the last, blank scroll? If I’m not mistaken, you have to, in accordance with the order of the five paintings, put your hand on it and call upon the five elements. That should be the solution.”
Ye Zichen and Gou Monan stared at her in shock; neither of them had ever considered the possibility she’d just suggested.
But they could tell that this really was a likely solution.
Ye ZIchen dashed right up to the paintings. Only then did he notice that their backgrounds were different; earlier, he’d been too fixated on two of the five children’s strange expressions, so he’d completely overlooked the rest.
“Gu Luolin, you’re absolutely brilliant!” Ye Zichen hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. He absolutely had no untoward thoughts; he was just overly delighted.
“Hey! I still want to get married!” Gu Luolin wiped her face clean.
“But based on your hypothesis, we need someone proficient in the Grand Dao of the Five Elements to proceed,” said Gou Monan. Ever since the Five Elements Great Emperor disappeared, and ever since the Five Elements Dao Heart shattered, it’s been rare for anyone to even attempt to walk that path!”
“You might not know this, but this guy standing right in front of you is proficient in the Grand Dao of the Five Elements. Furthermore, he’s reached full mastery of four of the five elements,” said Gu Luolin, pointing at Ye Zichen.
“Brother Ye, you actually…”
“No need to say all that. Time is short. We can’t possibly get so lucky every time; not everyone else will choose a different door. Gu Luolin’s solution isn’t entirely implausible, but we still need to test it out.” With that, Ye Zichen took a deep breath, then stood before the blank scroll. “Gu Luolin, tell me which order to call upon the elements in!”
“Call me Little Princess!” Gu Luolin scrunched up her little face, but she still obediently examined the paintings and called out, “Fire!”
Whoosh!
Ye Zichen’s palm instantly turned completely red, but no flames appeared. He needed to call upon the five elements while pressing against the scroll; he didn’t need to actually release their power.
When he called upon fire and placed his hand upon the blank scroll, a crisp sound suddenly rang out.
“Brother Ye!” Gou Monan’s eyes lit up. The sound most likely originated from the room’s hidden door.
It seemed Gu Luolin’s method really was the solution. Ye Zichen’s spirits soared, and he waited for Gu Luolin to list the next element.
“Wind!”
However, just as Ye Zichen changed which type of elemental power he held in his fist, they heard footsteps outside once more.
“Brother Ye, someone’s here!” Gou Monan, who was guarding the door, suddenly said solemnly, “You focus on solving this riddle. I’ll stand guard here. Until you solve it, I won’t let anyone take so much as half a step into the room.”
WIth that, Gou Monan started to create barriers over the doorway.
The sound of footsteps drew closer, until someone pushed hard on the door. “Someone’s inside!”
