"What's missing isn't just the bronze cauldron, but also the entrance," Boss Wu said, turning his head to look behind us.

I turned back too, recalling that when I last saw the bronze cauldron, I could still make out the faint light of the opening. Now, looking back, there was only absolute blackness.

"It seems we're trapped here," I murmured.

Boss Wu nodded. "Indeed. This isn't the first time I've encountered something like this, so there's no need to rush. The more anxious you are at a time like this, the harder it will be to leave."

I nodded in agreement. "That's true. I've experienced it myself."

Boss Wu looked at me, a strange glint flashing in his eyes for a moment before he spoke after two seconds, "Looking at your physique, I suspect you've been through even more than I have."

I glanced down at my appearance—a beggar once again, and one whose right hand was infected with some kind of virus at that. I couldn't help but let out a wry smile.

Boss Wu sighed, found a relatively flat stone, sat down, and took a couple of sips from his water flask.

Seeing how utterly unconcerned he seemed, I started to feel uneasy. "You really aren't worried?" I asked.

Boss Wu shrugged. "I told you, being worried is useless. If you're tired from walking, you should rest. Otherwise, how will you have the energy to think your way out of this labyrinth?"

Feeling somewhat helpless, I sat down next to him.

After taking a drink, Boss Wu rested for a few seconds before addressing me. "Actually, I don't think this maze is difficult at all; it's child's play, really."

I froze, then asked, "How do you figure?"

Boss Wu picked up two small pebbles from the ground and placed them before us. "We currently face, roughly speaking, two problems: where did the cauldron go, and where is the entrance/exit, correct?"

I shook my head. "Incorrect. The problem we face now is that we are going in circles; we simply cannot get out."

Boss Wu also shook his head. "Why is your comprehension so poor? Suppose we were continuously circling back to this exact spot, seeing the exact same scenery every time—that might be a genuine problem. But now, even though we seem to have returned to the same location, the scene has changed, hasn't it?"

I thought for a moment, unsure what Boss Wu was trying to convey, but I still nodded. "That's true, it certainly is. But what does that imply?"

Boss Wu sighed. "Let's use an analogy. Suppose someone wants to trick you out of your money by pretending to be your maternal grandfather, so they use disguise to appear before you. But their disguise is poor; they fail to cover a mole on their face, even though your actual grandfather never had one. Would you say that deception is elementary?"

I nodded. "Yes, absolutely."

Boss Wu smiled faintly and continued, "If you notice something strange about that mole, you can immediately confirm this person is not your grandfather, and then you'll start wondering who else you've seen with that mole. It's the same here. We noticed the bronze cauldron is gone, and the cave entrance is gone too. Therefore, we must start by examining these two changes to find the truth of the matter."

A spark of realization lit up in my mind. I thought that Boss Wu’s way of thinking was indeed different from others. Most people, faced with this situation, would first wonder why they retraced their steps, and then wonder why they arrived at the same place, yet certain elements were different.

This would create a puzzle stacked upon a puzzle, escalating the difficulty.

However, Boss Wu believed that the change in scenery was precisely the gap that solved the difficult problem—it turned a problem plus a hint, making the issue far simpler. This aspect was truly admirable.

At this point, Boss Wu picked up one of the pebbles. "Alright, let's say these two stones represent the two clues we currently see. First, let's analyze the first question: why did the bronze cauldron disappear? Then, let's list all the possibilities. A friend taught me this method. You go first; just say anything."

I pondered for a moment. "I think one possibility is that the bronze censer moved on its own. Since whatever is inside was powerful enough to dent the bronze wall, pushing the bronze cauldron shouldn't be difficult. Besides, the cauldron has so many scratches on its surface; perhaps it was moved before, too."

Boss Wu nodded. "I didn't expect we'd think along the same lines. That possibility is indeed quite high. However, I already checked earlier. A censer that heavy, if pushed, would definitely leave marks on the ground. But the floor is perfectly flat; there are no indentations suggesting it was crushed by a heavy object."

I rubbed my chin, realizing Boss Wu had a valid point, and my brow furrowed in confusion.

"Now it's my turn," Boss Wu said, tossing the small pebble in his hand. "I think one possibility is that the space where the bronze cauldron was located moved."

I knew what Boss Wu meant. He was suggesting that the bronze cauldron was actually placed in an elevator, disguised as a section of the cave. After we left, the elevator containing the cauldron moved, and when we walked back, a different section of the tunnel, one without the large cauldron, replaced the original section.

If Boss Wu truly believed this, I would have to refute him. Not only for the immense power required to move such a massive section of the tunnel, but because constructing such a complex elevator setup would be pointless. Ancient people weren't foolish; why expend such colossal manpower just to play a trick on us?

Boss Wu clearly considered this as well, continuing, "Of course, this is just a hypothesis, and the probability is low."

I nodded. "There's another possibility: spatial distortion, sucking the cauldron into another dimension. Or perhaps, the place we arrived at is not the original location at all, and this apple core residue was deliberately dropped here."

Boss Wu chuckled. "Spatial distortion?"

Since I didn't know what mechanism I triggered to arrive in the current time and space, the concept of spacetime distortion immediately came to mind.

But for an ordinary person, mentioning such a concept was indeed laughable, so I could understand why Boss Wu smiled.

However, Boss Wu smiled, then sighed. "I once had a thought similar to yours, so I smiled. Don't take offense. But spatial warping, that sort of thing, still exists only in theory. Almost no one encounters it in reality, so we'll set it aside for now."

He paused, then added, "As for your suggestion that we aren't in the same place, I don't think that holds up either, because look here."

I followed where Boss Wu pointed: a fissure in the stone beneath our feet.