Chapter 16: Masterful Craftsmen

Another door has appeared—just how many doors are there in this underground palace! Wang Yuepan sized up the stone door before them, then angrily kicked it and complained in frustration.

After finishing, Wang Yuepan seemed to suddenly recall something, turning to Hong Zhaohai and calling out, "Zhaozi, you're the expert at tunneling and breaking through mountains! Next up, it's all on you!"

Hong Zhaohai's face remained expressionless as he replied coldly, "Yuezi, I'm sorry, but this time I might disappoint you."

Wang Yuepan frowned, his mouth stretched wide, and retorted, "Zhaozi, what's going on? What do you mean by that?"

Hong Zhaohai’s face was still impassive, not a ripple of emotion visible as he explained, "This stone door is forged from refined steel rock. There’s only one way to deal with refined steel rock—using powerful explosives to blast it open! Otherwise, not just me—even if the King of Heaven himself came, he’d be left staring helplessly at this door."

Seeing Xueya and Wang Yuepan's faces marked by skepticism, I added, "Zhaohai is right. This refined steel rock is impossibly hard—no human strength can break it."

At my words, Wang Yuepan’s small eyes bulged like two enormous grapes, as if they might burst from their sockets. "Master Jiang, what are we going to do then? Are we just going to let this succulent prize slip through our fingers?"

I pondered for a moment, then replied to Wang Yuepan, "Nothing in this world is absolute. If we want to enter the underground palace, there are always other ways. If brute force won’t work, we can use our wits."

Wang Yuepan grinned, his lips curling into a smile as he pressed me, "Use our wits? Master Jiang, I bet you’ve already thought of a way into this stone door!"

"The methods I can offer right now are two," I said, pausing to look at Xueya and Wang Yuepan.

Wang Yuepan, impatient as ever, urged me on, "Come on, Master Jiang, we're all friends here—no need for secrets. If you’ve got a plan, spit it out!"

Beside him, Xueya, her large, shining eyes fixed on me, could barely contain her curiosity. She echoed, "Yuepan’s right. Jiang Yuan, if you have a good idea, tell us now!"

I spoke slowly, "As I said, there are two ways. It's actually quite simple. Since ancient times, every designer and builder of an underground palace has followed an unwritten rule—or rather, a tacit secret: always leave themselves a way out."

"Leave themselves a way out? Master Jiang, explain it clearly—don’t leave us hanging!" Wang Yuepan looked utterly confused as he pressed me for answers.

"From the site selection to the construction, the tombs and underground palaces of emperors and nobles have always been top secret. Everyone involved was strictly managed and supervised. When the palace was finished, it usually spelled the end for those participants," I said, drawing my hand across my throat in a gesture of execution.

"Master Jiang, you mean once the underground palace was built, all its builders would be ruthlessly killed?" Wang Yuepan asked, shocked.

"There were many builders—killing them all at once would be impossible, unless an army was mobilized. But if you kill all the skilled craftsmen with the army, how can you ensure those soldiers keep the secret forever?"

"Master Jiang, I think I understand what you’re getting at now," Wang Yuepan scratched his head, deep in thought.

"As the saying goes, ‘for every policy, there’s a countermeasure.’ The builders of these palaces didn’t want to die without cause..."

[The rest of the text devolves into fragments and nonsense, lacking coherent narrative or dialogue, so it cannot be rendered meaningfully in English. The translation above covers all discernible content with literary tone and natural expression.]