Free Web NovelChapter 1109: Chapter 108: My Love (13)
The metal safe hidden in the compartment behind the oil painting looked square and extremely heavy and solid. It wasn’t powered, only fitted with a straight-shaped keyhole at the center of the front.
"Need a key?"
Li Ang glanced at the shape of the keyhole, understanding instantly. He took out the padlock clasped on his wrist from his suit pocket.
The shape of this keyhole corresponds to only the lower half of padlock key C.
But previously, when unlocking the padlock, the lower half of key C was inserted into the keyhole and hasn’t been retrieved yet.
Li Ang took out the padlock,
The body of this padlock automatically detached its silver-white shackle (that silver-white U-shaped steel) after unlocking.
Li Ang shook the padlock, key C inside didn’t shake out, but a faint jingling sound could be heard,
It seemed possible to retrieve it.
"Do we need a magnet?"
Li Ang pondered, he had checked earlier in the utility room, whether the padlock body, shackle, or keys AB or the steel pipe in the utility room, none had magnetism, couldn’t pull key C out from the keyhole.
What about this safe?
Li Ang brought the lock body closer to the safe but didn’t feel any magnetic attraction.
"Do I need to modify an electromagnetic coil using the house’s wiring?"
Li Ang muttered to himself, "No, that’s unlikely, time won’t be enough.
And if it really needed an electromagnetic coil, there would surely be some hint given somewhere..."
He pondered, picking up the lock body under the flashlight’s ray, squinting while observing under the strobe light,
Discovered light could pass through the spot where the shackle detached, following the keyhole to another side.
Which meant the keyhole wasn’t completely blocked.
"Can use some sharp object through the other side of the keyhole to push out the broken key C inside the lock cylinder."
Li Ang had a bright idea and immediately scanned the surroundings searching for sharp objects.
"To pass through the keyhole, it must be something thin and sharp like a needle and thread..."
Li Ang quickly searched the study, unfortunately, Steven was an American,
Didn’t have the tradition of always keeping needles and threads at home like the Easterners,
Additionally, Steven’s family didn’t seem to indulge in hobbies like cross-stitching,
Searched around but couldn’t find any needles or threads.
"Can’t find any..."
Li Ang closed the piano lid, took a deep breath, deciding to take another approach, speaking to the lock body: "Why are you so ordinary yet so confident?
You’re just a mere padlock,
Unlike a fingerprint lock that’s high-end and sophisticated, nor a password lock that’s sturdy and dependable.
Instead of continuing to be mediocre,
Why don’t you learn from other foreign locks, try to enhance yourself to become a better lock?"
Li Ang waited for three seconds after speaking,
Yet, the lock cylinder wasn’t pried open despite his sharp words.
"So, it’s not working."
Li Ang shook his head in disappointment, having to think of another method.
He held the flashlight, pushed the wooden doll towards the children’s bedroom, took an automatic pencil from the desk, expertly disassembled the automatic pencil, and retrieved a 0.5 automatic pencil lead,
Sitting on a stool, he pushed the pencil lead into the back of the keyhole.
Li Ang’s hand was steady and precise, using the pencil lead to push against the broken key and slowly maneuvered it out.
The whole process took a full half minute. The moment the broken key’s end emerged from the keyhole, Li Ang immediately stopped and pinched the broken key with his fingernail, pulling it out.
"Phew..."
Li Ang held the key, exhaled with relief, wiped the nonexistent cold sweat on his forehead, "Luckily, hadn’t lost the traditional craft."
He picked up the broken key, quickly ran back to the study, inserted key C into the straight-shaped keyhole of the safe, and gently turned it.
Click.
The safe’s door opened in response, under the flashlight’s ray,
Li Ang saw the safe was divided into two layers, the upper layer had six brass bullets with round heads, and the lower layer was a square piece of paper, with a bunch of letters and numbers written on it.
AB=2111 3512
ABB=2111 35223
18215, 3712, 2113, 2514, 3616, 1317
"This is..."
Li Ang took out the bullets and paper from the safe, the bullets were intact, in a ready-to-fire condition,
The writing on the paper was somewhat frivolous and flamboyant,
Different from the font seen on Li Ang’s arm, the hint given by the elderly lady outside the Spirit Realm.
"Bullets and paper kept in the safe..."
Li Ang mused, "The gun in the house should be bought by Steven himself, later used by his wife Mavis for suicide, although it didn’t succeed.
The bullets and this piece of paper in the safe ought to be left by Steven..."
While he was pondering, the wooden doll behind emitted a "click click" activity sound again.
Following the sealing time pattern shortening by half each time,
First time the flashlight could seal it for 20 minutes, second time 10 minutes, third time 5 minutes,
Then afterward, it became two and a half minutes, one minute and more or even shorter.
Also, after each sealing, the time needed to "freeze" the doll next time became longer.
Li Ang had to act quickly.
He didn’t have time to think more, quickly checked the safe,
Confirmed there were no hidden compartments in or outside the safe, no engraved password on the back bottom, etc.,
Immediately ran out of the study, dashed into the corridor.
When he arrived at the corridor, he discovered the last unexplored place in the house — the master bedroom,
Was continuously emitting thick black gas,
Quickly accumulating at the corridor floor, already piled up to the height of the calf,
Even though these gases did not have substance.
Walking in it gave a strong sensation of stasis and blockage, like stepping into mud, hard to walk further.
Also, cold to the bone, making limbs numb and face pale blue,
Li Ang took a step, immediately retracted his legs, turned back to the study, moved out three chairs, and threw them into the corridor with all his might.
Using chairs as steppingstones, he hopped three times, reaching the master bedroom door.
Squeak——
More black mist seeped out from the upper and lower, and all around the gaps of the bedroom door, Li Ang used the flashlight’s rays to sweep back and forth, barely clearing a space, allowing him to see the original shape of the bedroom door.
Li Ang pushed open the electronic password lock’s dial plate, underneath revealed a keyboard similar to a computer keyboard with 26 English letter keys.
In such a situation, the electronic password lock installed on the bedroom door was surprisingly still powered,
The liquid crystal panel displayed seven "_" symbols.
"Need a seven-digit password?"
Li Ang covered his mouth and nose with his suit tie, preventing himself from inhaling the gas causing adverse reactions, his mind rapidly pondered, "The keyboard is 26 English letters, no numbers, no symbols.
This means it requires a seven-letter or even shorter password.
Seven letters...
He pressed the keyboard keys and entered Steven’s name Stevin.
No response.
The names Maevis, Robin, Rin, even Steven’s parents, and Barbara didn’t work either.
Click, click.
The sound of bones rattling came from the other side of the corridor,
The black cat of unknown fate was slowly moving its stiff body, seemingly ready to escape at any moment.
Li Ang turned the flashlight direction without hesitation, using strobe strong light to freeze the black cat once more.
"As expected, this black cat is much stronger than the wooden doll, the first seal only lasted less than ten minutes,
If the black cat is an extension of Maevis’s power, then just how powerful would Maevis herself be..."
Li Ang gently exhaled a breath of turbid air and calmed himself to think.
"A seven-character English letter password.
Previously outside the Spirit Realm, the spirit medium Barbara mentioned that the houses in the Spirit Realm are constructed based on the real world and also integrate some false, fictional things within Maevis’s mind.
Maevis and her husband Steven both liked cryptography,
So that’s why the room has so many elements related to passwords and puzzles.
For example, the lock that tied my hands and feet at the beginning, the astronomical hidden box in the Chevrolet SUV, and the piano password in the study.
In the real world outside the Spirit Realm, Steven and Maevis’s room definitely wouldn’t have such overly complex and inconvenient password locks.
In other words, this lock belongs to Maevis’s imagination.
Moreover, the bedroom on the second floor of the Spirit Realm house is where Maevis closes herself off, and the bedroom door’s password must also have some symbolic meaning."
Li Ang’s brain functioned as he slowly took out the note he found in the safe.
AB=2111 3512
ABB=2111 35223
18215, 3712, 2113, 2514, 3616, 1317
"A riddle? A hint? If the line of numbers under ABB is the final password, then it only has six numbers,
which doesn’t match the seven-character password.
Furthermore, the line of numbers below only has the first, 18215, as a five-digit number, the rest are only four digits.
Also, among these numbers and letters, there’s no number 9, or number 0...
What does this represent?"
Li Ang frowned in thought for a moment, his eyes unintentionally glanced at the input keyboard of the password lock, and suddenly understood.
"Wait, that’s what it means..."
He inhaled through his tie and pressed seven keys on the keyboard, entering seven English letters.
Beep——
The liquid crystal panel lit up with a green light, the password lock silently unlocked.
"..."
Li Ang squatted on the stool and watched the black mist gushing ceaselessly from the door gap, paused, and then pushed the door open without hesitation.
The moment the door was pushed open, the black mist in the room surged out wildly,
Li Ang swung the flashlight in his hand, like wielding a light sword, to slice through the mist.
Once the black mist gradually dissipated and the concentration reduced, Li Ang was able to see the scenery inside the bedroom clearly.
Contrary to imagination,
Champagne-colored wallpaper, cross-shaped sliding windows, grey-white curtains, a double bed, covered with a white blanket, silk duvet cover, bedside tables and lamps on both sides of the double bed,
On the bedside table on the left, there’s a mechanical alarm clock and ashtray,
On the bedside table on the right, there’s lipstick.
On the wall above the double bed, there are two paintings, one of butterflies and one of peacocks.
At the end of the double bed, there’s a TV cabinet, with a liquid crystal TV on top, the TV is on, looping the news Li Ang had heard in the living room earlier,
It’s about a severe accident in Carmel Town, a Chevrolet SUV collided severely with a motorcycle.
Next to the TV cabinet, is the dressing table,
Mirror, cosmetics, stool all complete,
Judging by the setup, it should be where the hostess uses it for makeup every morning after waking up.
A very ordinary double bedroom,
Except for the remaining traces of black mist in the room’s corner, and the motionless figure standing outside the double bed.
It’s a moderately tall woman, with long black hair reaching her waist, wearing a grey dress,
The face obscured by black hair, making it impossible to see the features clearly, but judging by the facial contour visible through the hair gaps, and the pale (or ghostly white) skin, she should be considered pretty. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
She wore a grey dress, with burn marks on the dress’s edges,
The black mist perpetually surged out from the dress’s cuffs and hem.
"..."
Li Ang squatted on the stool, under the protection of the flashlight’s strong light, glanced into the room,
The woman, suspected to be Maevis, slowly turned her head and glanced at Li Ang.
Boom—Boom!
Just one glance, Li Ang’s heart thumped violently again, making him think it was going to burst through the chest on the spot.
Without any hesitation, Li Ang’s fingers adjusted the flashlight’s direction, enveloping the black-haired woman.
The flashlight’s strong light flickered, illuminating, and the black mist melted away like snow under the scorching sun, the woman’s head-turning motion also slowed down and stiffened.
Effective!
The strong flashlight once again proved itself, Li Ang kept the flashlight aimed at the black-haired woman,
His other hand holding the top of the stool backrest, stepping on the chair surface, adjusting body gravity,
to control the stool’s four legs to leave the ground sequentially, swaying forward in the mist-filled room.
Li Ang maneuvered the stool slowly into the bedroom, when at an appropriate distance, Li Ang stepped hard onto the stool’s surface, leapt forward, and landed on the double bed.
"...Today, a serious accident occurred in Carmel Town, a Chevrolet SUV lost control while driving and collided with a motorcycle, the injured have been sent to the hospital and are currently being rescued..."
The television was still broadcasting the local channel news program,
The black-haired woman was still affected by the flashlight’s glow, neither attacking nor moving.
However, when the flashlight illuminated her, it clearly felt somewhat weak,
The light visibly dimmed slowly,
As if the power was being depleted greatly.
A sharp pain surged through Li Ang’s arm, a new tattoo emerged [The gun is in the drawer of the left bedside table!]
A hint from Barbara outside.
Li Ang narrowed his eyes, stepped on the bed, rushed to the left bedside table, pulled open both drawers, and finally saw a gun in the second drawer.
Disassembled the magazine, indeed it was empty, capable of holding six bullets.
[Quick! Steven, quickly destroy her! I can hardly hold on!]
Barbara once again sent a tattoo reminder, the handwriting messy and sloppy, seemingly in great pain.
"..."
Li Ang glanced at the tattoo on his hand, and then at the television looping playback, leisurely loaded the gun, and leapt onto the stool, facing the black-haired woman head-on.
