PS: First update asking for monthly tickets, please support us greatly. The courtyard was utterly silent; as everyone stepped inside, they instinctively slowed their pace.

After a moment, they passed through a shaded path, and a wide entrance appeared before them.

Seeing this, Wang Guan and the others knew this was where Elder Hou conducted his research on mechanisms.

In that instant, they felt a measure of excitement, walking up the steps with greater deliberation, delving deeper with each footfall.

Once past the main door, they found themselves in a long corridor.

Since lighting was installed every few meters, visibility was excellent, yet on either side of the passage were rooms with tightly shut doors.

Elder Hou, however, showed no sign of stopping, leading them further inside. Not long after, they suddenly saw the view open up, revealing a vast space.

It was a hall nearly the size of half a football field, with an exceptionally high ceiling; looking up, they could see the sky through the glass roof.

The sunlight was bright; even without turning on the lights, everyone had enough illumination to clearly survey the hall's contents.

But with just one glance, they froze, followed immediately by an uncontrollable surge of excitement and elation.

For within that enormous space, numerous objects were arranged in a thoughtful, scattered pattern.

These items varied greatly in size and dimension, yet every single one was a type of machinery.

"This is more like it; just as I imagined."

At this moment, Yu Feibai was flushed with excitement. If Elder Hou hadn't been leading the way, he likely would have sprinted directly into the hall.

"Then let's quicken our steps a bit..." Elder Hou, fully understanding their mood, smiled faintly and quickened his pace, drawing them into the main hall.

Immersed in the setting, the group saw everything with greater clarity, feeling momentarily dazzled.

They looked here, then there.

They wanted to examine every item closely, yet dreaded missing out on something else, making them wish they had several more pairs of eyes to take it all in.

"What a colossal machine."

Simultaneously, Yu Feibai stood beneath one object, looking up and gesturing with his hand, realizing the thing was at least two or three times his height, approaching the height of two full stories.

Most notably, it was quite broad, constructed around several large wooden pillars, with wheels at the base and something resembling a canopy or platform on top.

"What is this? What is its purpose?" Never one to hesitate asking when uninformed, Yu Feibai immediately turned to Elder Hou for an explanation.

"This is a Louche (Tower Cart), also known as a Chao Che (Nest Cart)."

Elder Hou explained, "This was an ancient watchtower vehicle specifically used for observing enemy positions. It has wheels fitted to the base, allowing it to be pushed. The overhead frame is the observation deck. It was often covered with raw oxhide to defend against damage from enemy arrows. Two people could fit inside, allowing them to survey enemy movements from a commanding height."

"Oh, I've heard of them, but this is the first time I’ve seen the real thing."

The others had a moment of realization and gathered around to examine it as well.

"This is a mid-to-small scale Louche, used for observing smaller fortifications," Elder Hou remarked with a smile. "According to historical records, during the late Western Han dynasty, Wang Mang constructed a massive Chao Che over ten Zhang high, intended to monitor the movements of defenders within a city. Because it was so tall, it could almost brush the clouds, earning it the name Cloud Cart (Yun Che)."

"Look here, there are rotating axles underneath. When necessary, it could pivot to survey the surrounding area, offering a far wider field of vision. If any movement was spotted, conditions could be reported above using simple flag signals..." After pointing out its features, Elder Hou sighed slightly, "This was an ancient instrument of war. Later, based on the construction of the Louche, it was modified into siege ladders, serving as an assault tool."

"Of course, when speaking of siege weaponry, one cannot omit the catapult..." Under Elder Hou's guidance, they began to appreciate the true forms of ancient warfare implements. They weren't as frail as depicted in television dramas, but nor were they as exaggerated as in some films.

Besides the Louche and the catapult, there were also earth-filling carts (Tian Hao Che), battering rams (Chong Che), covered fighting vehicles (Fen Ge Che), mobile shelters (Chong Zhuang Che), covered assault vehicles (E Gu Che), dust-raising vehicles (Yang Chen Che), and so on.

In short, if you couldn't think of it, the ancients couldn't build it. These tools, whether simple or complex, were all common sights in ancient warfare. They proved useful whether conquering territory or establishing fortified camps.

In some TV shows, one often sees hordes of men rushing a city wall armed only with swords, bows, and even riding horses. That isn't siege warfare; that is courting death. Conversely, some films show massive armies pushing towering, multi-story complex machinery to attack cities, which is a slight exaggeration. Particularly the so-called bed crossbows—capable of piercing thick steel gates from hundreds of meters away—that is definitely cinematic effect and impossible in reality.

Observing one thing after another, they sighed, and before they realized it, they had toured the entire hall.

Just then, Yu Feibai frowned. "Wait. Something is wrong."

"What seems wrong?" Elder Hou inquired with a smile.

"Elder Hou, I think you’ve misled us." Yu Feibai hesitated, "We came to see the marvelous mechanisms you mentioned, not to observe ancient war tools."

"Aren't these tools mechanisms?" Elder Hou countered.

"Uh!" Yu Feibai was speechless. To agree meant feeling cheated; to disagree felt wrong, as these war machines were, indeed, tangible mechanisms. Strictly speaking, Elder Hou hadn't lied; these war-related devices could indeed be classified as rather marvelous mechanisms.

"They are mechanisms, certainly, but these are props intended for visitors," Yu Feibai said frankly after glancing around. "Elder Hou, these things are likely here to be a diversion, right? The secret mechanisms and hidden weapons that truly require confidentiality and should not be public knowledge must not be in this room."

Upon hearing this, Wang Guan and Fang Mingsheng, standing nearby, nodded in agreement. They weren't foolish; they had also realized the discrepancy as Yu Feibai voiced his doubts. Although the war tools in this hall counted as mechanisms, they were vastly inferior to the marvelous ones Elder Hou had previously described—even less intricate than a simple puzzle box. Furthermore, the arrangement of the objects suggested that Yu Feibai might be correct: this room functioned essentially as a museum or exhibition hall for ancient siege equipment, perhaps hosting students or tourists periodically, which somewhat contradicted Elder Hou's need for secrecy.

"Haha, you only noticed now?" Elder Hou didn't deny it, merely chuckling. "I have already brought you in, but you haven't found the way forward. You can't blame me for that."

"The way forward?" Yu Feibai immediately became alert. "Elder Hou, you aren't going to make us find some hidden door mechanism again, are you?"

"More or less," Elder Hou laughed. "Bringing you here to tour this area is no issue, but going further in involves confidentiality clauses. I can vouch for your discretion, but to gain the trust of others and be permitted free access, you will need to demonstrate some capability."

"I can give you a hint," Elder Hou said, gesturing toward a side wall of the hall with a smile. "The door is there. It doesn't require a fingerprint or a password; just find the switch, press it, and the entrance will open naturally..."

"How can you do this? This is clearly deliberately making things difficult!" Despite his words, Yu Feibai was the first to rush to the wall, muttering his complaints while running his hands over the surface, searching for seams or traces of a mechanism. His search brought disappointment; the entire wall was a uniform, stark white, coated in plaster and cement, showing no sign of seams or cracks whatsoever.

Seeing this, Yu Feibai frowned, then immediately turned to call out, "Hey, you two, don't just stand there watching! Hurry over and help me look!"

"I think..." Fang Mingsheng approached, his eyes gleaming with shrewdness. "The entrance is here, but the activation mechanism might not be on the wall."

"That makes some sense," Yu Feibai mused. He backed away a few steps and began assessing the surroundings with a broader view, paying special attention to the nearby machinery. Perhaps the mechanism to open the door was cleverly hidden inside one of the devices.

"You people always like to overcomplicate things," Wang Guan remarked. Unwilling to waste time dawdling, he chose to take a shortcut, approaching with confidence, knowing the secret. However, he didn't walk toward the wall but stopped about three or four meters away from it, then looked down at the floor.

The hall floor was meticulously crafted, paved with smooth, lacquered wooden planks that were frequently cleaned and polished, making them sparkling and spotless.

"Wait a moment..." Yu Feibai suddenly understood, a spark igniting in his mind. "Are you saying the door isn't in the wall, but in the floor?"

"Naturally," Wang Guan replied with the air of someone holding all the cards. "Think about it: a uniformly white wall, with no decorations hanging and no counters placed against it. If a mechanism were present, how could there be absolutely no trace? More importantly, Elder Hou only said there was a doorway here; he never specified that the doorway wasn't in the floor."

"That actually makes sense," Yu Feibai conceded. He glanced back and instantly caught a flicker of surprise in Elder Hou's eyes. In that moment, Yu Feibai was certain, and he burst into laughter. "Wang Guan, you’ve done it..."

Having confirmed the location of the doorway, the next step was much simpler. Wang Guan didn't need to intervene further; Yu Feibai bent down and examined the floor closely. Before long, he noticed that two wooden planks showed signs of being different from the rest. Compared to the surrounding boards, these two were slightly shinier and displayed minor wear marks.

"Heh heh!" At this instant, Yu Feibai wore a triumphant smile. Without hesitation, he spread his legs and stood, one foot on each of the two boards, then stomped down simultaneously with both feet.

"Whoosh!" Instantly, a large section of the wooden floor retracted into the wall, revealing a spacious entrance and a flight of steps leading underground.

The dark, dim environment brought a mix of joy and surprise to Wang Guan and the others; their heartbeats quickened, filled with an inexplicable thrill... (To be continued...)RT