Plague Doctor - Chapter 88
Chapter 88: Behind the Keyhole
The assault unit of six sidled up to both sides of the red door. They guarded the sides of the door, ready to storm through it. Lou Xiaoning took the station on the left. She tipped her head up to study the two oil lamps. She observed carefully, “No discovery of any foreign characters. They are just normal oil lamps. Their fuel is around two thirds full. The wicks are still long. They appear to have been topped up less than an hour ago.”
That caused the rest of the team who waited on the stone steps to feel apprehensive, but who wouldn’t be? The stone path travelled one way only. While they moved downward, they had not encountered anything other than the gale of wind. If something or someone had changed the wick or added fuel, then it had to be something or someone behind the red door.
“There is no discovery of foreign language on the red door, and there are no gaps. The door appears to be embedded inside the stone wall.” Lou Xiaoning continued to report various details. She wore gloves on both hands. Currently, she held the gun in her right hand while started a countdown with her left hand.
Three, two, one… Her left hand pushed strongly against the edge of the red door. The team members on both sides of the door held their breath as they trained their focus. Once the red door gave way, they would launch into the room. But the red door did not even budge.
“This won’t work. The door is not even moving.” Lou Xiaoning sighed. “The door is too thick, or it is directly attached to the walls.”
“Get three people to push it at the same time,” Xue Ba ordered.
Zhou Yi and Gao Mingpeng moved to oblige. They helped Lou Xiaoning to push the door, but the door still did not budge. At the same time, Gu Jun was still trying to sense this red door, but he could only perceive sickness and distortion. It felt like a ball of chaos.
“Try the keyhole,” Xue Ba suggested. “Do not look through it though. Be careful. That might be a trap! The black wind probably came out from it earlier.”
That was a logical conclusion that he drew from his understanding of the world. If the black gale did not appear from thin air, then it could have streamed out from the keyhole. But it was still quite hard to believe that such a strong wind could come out from such a small hole.
“That sure is one hell of a cursed door,” Uncle Dan said jokingly, but no one was laughing because his joke might strike a bit too close to the truth.
Lou Xiaoning first used the barrel of her gun to poke at the hole before using the flashlight to shine at it. Then she used other tools to poke at it. None of that got any response. The team did not carry any tools like an endoscope with them, but even if they did, they might not even dare use it. Lou Xiaoning cut out an electrical wire from a device and poked it through the hole. Slowly, she pushed the wire that was about one meter long completely through.
“It is empty behind the door. The space is at least one meter wide.” She pulled the wire back out. She studied it; the wire had not changed at all, not even polluted by a drop of dust. Until now, Lou Xiaoning did not personally look through the keyhole and did not expose herself before it. Demon Hunters were not newbies. They understood how dangerous that might be. After all, no one could tell what kind of threat could be hiding behind the door.
“Ah Jun, still nothing?” Xue Ba turned back to ask Gu Jun, but seeing the sweat that poured down Gu Jun’s face, Xue Ba already knew the answer.
“I believe… this door will only open via a spell,” Gu Jun said hoarsely. “But I have no idea what kind of spell it is.”
“Assault team, I need you to retreat for now.” Xue Ba waved and then told Gu Jun, “Why don’t you try the Mad Arab’s couplet and see?”
“Okay.” That was what Gu Jun was thinking too. After Lou Xiaoning’s team returned, he turned to look at the door. He recited in the foreign language, “That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons, even death may die.”
When the group heard this mysterious and cryptic language again, their hair stood on end, but the red door still did not respond.
“It’s not that.” Gu Jun took a deep breath. Even though he did not succeed, there was an exhaustive feeling that overwhelmed his mind. If he was using human language, that would not happen, but since he had recited the words in the foreign language, they carried a different meaning, both in their function and their consumption of the speaker. He shook his head and tried a few other phrases.
“Open!
“Son of Steel, Freud Landon!”
He even chanted the ominous statement, “The fruits of darkness sprouts, shrouded by the darkness of the Abyss. The parasites of death will live with the Heavens and Earth forever.”
By then Gu Jun was already swaying on his feet, and his face was so pale that he looked like he could faint at any moment. He could feel his surrounding spinning and blurring out…
“Ah Jun, stop trying! Enough, do you hear me? Do you want to die‽” Xue Ba immediately called him to stop, but Gu Jun did not appear to hear him; he was still mumbling under his breath. Xue Ba had no choice but to reach out his muscular arm to drag Gu Jun away. This finally stopped the young man. Xue Ba then dropped Gu Jun with Uncle Dan and Zhang Huohuo to be taken care of. Everyone could see that Gu Jun had indeed given it his all. They looked at each other and started to softly discuss their few remaining options.
One was to turn around, another was to blow up the door, and the last option was to send someone to look through the keyhole and actively trigger the possible trap. The second choice was a choice of no return. If this red door was like the big banyan tree or the dead tree, then it would lead to another space after it was opened. That would lose its power should the door was broken down. Since they lacked information, blowing things up was the worst possible solution. And the third choice was extremely dangerous, but it also carried the least risk in the sense that it would only affect one team member. Of course, they had considered sending Gu Jun because he might trigger something when he was close to the red door, but Gu Jun was too important. He was the only member who understood the foreign language and knew how to activate the spell. The risk was too big for him to take. In fact, anyone in the team could be sacrificed except for Gu Jun.
Ultimately, someone had to take the first step even knowing it might be a trap. Triggering the trap to see what kind of trap it was—that was a type of information gathering too. And currently, the Demon Hunters needed more information. On the first day they joined Special Mobile Force for training, their lecturers had kept stressing one thing. “All of you have to be prepared to be sacrificed at any time, not for the public but for your teammates! You die to protect your teammates, and your teammates die to protect you. This is the Special Mobile Force.”
“Motherf*cker, someone still needs to go and take a look.” Without waiting for anyone to say anything, Lou Xiaoning sighed. She placed her gun and the rocket launcher by the wall. She addressed the rest of the team openly. “If I turn hostile, have the decency to give me a quick death, so aim for the head.”
Lou Xiaoning had always been the bravest of the Demon Hunters. She had doubted Gu Jun earlier not because she was afraid but because it was her responsibility to do so.
“Understood.” Xue Ba nodded. He did not stop her; his face was devoid of feeling. “We’ll use a big caliber. The death will be painless.”
The group was rendered silent. This was a necessary evil. They knew they could not persuade Lou Xiaoning otherwise.
“Miss Lou, you are one hell of a hero.” Uncle Dan sighed. He turned around to have Zhang Huohuo prepare for an emergency rescue. Gu Jun was still resting against the wall. His brain was a pile of mush, so he had nothing to contribute.
After the snipers and medic were ready, Lou Xiaoning strode down the last ten steps and stopped before the red door again. This time, she did not move away from the keyhole but leaned closer to it. There was no nervousness on her face. If anything, it shone with bravery. The keyhole was very small, just the size of an adult thumb. A white light was coming out from it. Under the careful scrutiny of everyone behind her, Lou Xiaoning lowered her right eye to the hole and looked through it.
