freenovelworld Chapter 68 Each Goes Their Own Way
Chapter 68 Each Goes Their Own Way
Hearing Longquan's words, Lin Zhifeng patted the treasure-hunting rat on its left shoulder and said, "Baby, the time has come to show your value. Go and open everyone's eyes!"
The treasure-hunting mouse was full of confidence: "Watch me!" After saying that, it quickly jumped off Lin Zhifeng's shoulder and ran towards the door in a flash.
The treasure-hunting mouse paused for a moment in front of each door, shaking the small ball on its nose and sniffing carefully for a while before running to the next door. It did the same thing at the next door, until it had sniffed all three doors thoroughly, before darting back onto Lin Zhifeng's shoulder.
Lin Zhifeng looked at its little feet, which were dirty from the dust in the tower, and then at the little footprints on his own body that ran from his collar to his left shoulder, and fell into deep thought.
Fortunately, Lin Zhifeng wasn't a germaphobe. Since he needed the "rat's" help at the moment, he cast a small cleaning spell on himself and the treasure-hunting rat, and then asked kindly, "Baby, did you find anything? Which door should we go through?"
The treasure-hunting rat said, "What that person is looking for isn't on this floor. If you want to go to the next floor, you can go through any door; they will all lead to the stairs to the second floor of the tower."
No one expected this outcome: Was it really that casual?
However, upon further reflection, everyone realized: "That makes sense. Since it's a sacred artifact left behind by the dragon clan to help their descendants awaken their bloodline, the process of obtaining it should naturally focus on trials, with difficulties as a secondary element. We can't let our descendants perish here and cause this bloodline to become extinct."
Once they understood this, everyone couldn't help but admire Lin Zhifeng's previous prediction—he had actually guessed correctly.
Since either door was fine, Longquan asked Ding and Lin for their opinions.
Ding Mo replied with the same answer: "Anything is fine."
The implication is: I have no opinion, I'll just click "follow," and you, as the leaders, can make the final decision.
Lin Zhifeng turned to the treasure-hunting mouse and asked, "Baby, which door leads to the most treasures?"
The treasure-hunting mouse thought for a moment and said, "It's about the same, there's nothing really good. This floor is just small junk like coral and pearls, which didn't interest me."
Lin Zhifeng, however, did not mind the quality of the items. He boldly suggested, "Brother Long, how about this? These three doors all lead to the second-floor staircase, and there is no fatal danger. Why don't we split into three groups and collect the treasures along the way?"
Longquan had overheard his conversation with the Treasure-Seeking Rat. According to him, business was more important, and a swift resolution was best. However, considering the contract they had signed and the fact that keeping Lin Zhifeng happy would motivate the Treasure-Seeking Rat to work even harder to find the sacred artifact, Longquan hesitated briefly before agreeing.
So they really split into three groups: Longquan led his men through the middle door (his men naturally had to stay close to their crown prince); Ding Mo went through the left door; and Lin Zhifeng led the treasure-hunting rat through the right door.
Everyone agreed to meet at the top of the stairs leading to the second floor, and then they each went through their own doors.
Lin Zhifeng, with the treasure-hunting rat in tow, opened the right-hand gate and cautiously entered.
There was actually just one room outside the door.
The room's decor is somewhat reminiscent of a small island nation in Lin Zhifeng's world.
The furniture in the room was all made of wood, the floor was made of wooden tatami mats, the walls of the room were made of wood... even the door leading to the next room looked like silk cloth pasted on a wooden frame.
Lin Zhifeng looked at the tatami floor beneath his feet and, just to be cautious, asked the treasure-hunting mouse on his shoulder, "Baby, do you know if there are any traps or mechanisms in this house? Where is the treasure hidden?"
The treasure-hunting mouse said, "There's a pearl in the cabinet on the west side, in a small wooden box."
Lin Zhifeng laughed and said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get it back for Dad!"
Caught off guard by the sudden loss of a generation, the treasure-hunting rat said aggrievedly, "I'm older than you, you should call me ancestor."
Lin Zhifeng recalled that in his world, the image of the Treasure-Seeking Rat was first drawn by someone in the early 19th century. So regardless of whether the Treasure-Seeking Rat's original world was Earth, it could certainly be considered his ancestor in terms of age.
However, the thought of recognizing a rat as an ancestor was something Lin Zhifeng couldn't bring himself to do.
So he could only apologize softly: "It's my fault, I made such a silly joke. From now on I'll call you baby, and you can call me master."
The treasure-hunting mouse was a good boy. Seeing that he had apologized, it didn't hold a grudge. Instead, it kindly retrieved the small wooden box containing the pearl that the mouse had mentioned and handed it to Lin Zhifeng with both hands.
Lin Zhifeng took the wooden box and opened it: a fist-sized black pearl lay in the box, which was covered with gold silk, emitting a soft, dim light.
"!"
Lin Zhifeng was overjoyed. Such a large pearl was actually called "little junk" by the treasure-hunting rats. Are all the treasure-hunting rats so picky?
He happily put the wooden box into his storage ring, patted the treasure-hunting mouse's little shoulder, and praised, "Baby, you're amazing! With you, our treasure hunt is going to be so smooth! We'll probably be the first to reach the end of this level."
Having retrieved the treasure, Lin Zhifeng planned to pass through the room to the next floor. He wondered if there were any traps beneath the spotless tatami mats.
Lin Zhifeng, the clever one, had a sudden inspiration: "I'll fly over on my sword and avoid stepping on your ground, that should be enough to avoid it, right?"
Having come up with an idea, he jumped onto the crane's cry, intending to fly towards the next door.
Suddenly, something unexpected happened. No one knew which mechanism his actions had triggered, but countless arrows suddenly shot down from the roof.
Fortunately, Lin Zhifeng dodged in time, otherwise he might have been pricked like a hedgehog.
The treasure-hunting mouse was fine when it brought back the wooden box containing the pearls, so why can't I?
Feeling annoyed, Lin Zhifeng jumped back to the entrance of the room.
The next second, all the arrows that had been stuck in the tatami mats on the floor of the room disappeared.
The ground returned to its previous state.
Lin Zhifeng asked the treasure-hunting mouse with a worried expression, "Baby, do you think there are height and weight requirements to pass this test? I can't possibly become like you!"
The treasure-hunting mouse said, "It shouldn't be that; it's probably just that you can't fly over there. I don't see any traps on the ground. Why don't you try walking over?"
Lin Zhifeng thought what he said made a lot of sense and decided to try walking there. However, looking at the newly refreshed tatami mats, he decided to take off his dirty shoes and walk there barefoot in his socks!
Lin Zhifeng was on tenterhooks, but he still paid attention to his image. So, even though he was carrying the shoes and had the treasure-hunting rat on his shoulder, he still walked over with an air of elegance.
This time, he was lucky enough to guess correctly and actually made it to the next door safely.
"Could the secret to passing the level be paying attention to hygiene?" Lin Zhifeng whispered to the treasure-hunting rat.