I am using external force! Didn’t I try to twist the key with my hands? But it didn’t move! It’s impossible to even press it down. What kind of external force do I need?
“What external force? Do you want me to find a hammer and hammer it?”
Wei Na was startled. Doing so would only destroy the box.
“Why don’t you try something else? I see a pattern on the key. Maybe you didn’t insert the key according to its pattern?”
“Yes, I thought so too.” An Jiuyue nodded.
She reached out and was about to remove the key and insert it differently to see if she could turn it.
However, before she could touch the key, she heard a click. The keyhole swallowed the blade of the key, leaving only the head.
An Jiuyue was extremely shocked. This implied that the box could only be opened with the key’s weight.
Applying any additional force would not work. That explained why it was useless when she pressed hard on the key.
It was an ingenious mechanism! She could not create something as exquisite as that.
When only the head of the key was left, the keyhole slowly began to rotate with the key. After turning 45 degrees, a section of the key was pushed out.
The key started rotating again after a short pause. It sank again after turning 90 degrees.
An Jiuyue heard a faint clicking sound from the box. It was the sound of gears turning at high speed. After a few turns, the keyhole finally stopped moving.
There was another click before a two-finger-wide metal bar popped out from the side of the box. Then, there was no more movement.
“What’s going on? Do I have to pull this metal bar out?”
An Jiuyue took action as she spoke, pulling out the metal bar immediately. She managed to pull it out easily.
The keyhole on the box started spinning again. The key moved up and down before another metal bar popped out.
An Jiuyue took it out again.
She repeated this 24 times, drawing out eight metal bars from the top, middle, and bottom layers. The keyhole finally stopped moving.
After waiting for a while, An Jiuyue felt she should be able to open the box. She held the lid with both hands and opened it.
“Hm, what an exquisite box.”
“That’s right. This box alone is worth over 10,000 taels of silver.” Wei Na echoed in the space.
An Jiuyue was speechless.
What is this greedy soul following me? I’m marveling at the craftsmanship of this box, but Wei Na is thinking about how much money it’s worth. Trust Wei Na to do this!
“Can you say something normal?”
“Ahem.” Wei Na coughed lightly and quickly became serious. “Master, I think someone who can own such a good box is definitely no ordinary person. You should look at what your father left for you!”