107: Chapter 108 Don't Touch the Axis

That sliver of red light seeped out from the crack in the stone door, like blood diluted in Grey Fire—extremely dim, yet it stung the eyes.

Lu Jin pressed his sleeve; the Old Fire in his palm was jumping violently, resonating with the red light seeping from the door crack, as if, separated by many years, two burning coals had met once again. He took half a step forward, and the Half-Door Anchor on the broken end of the Lock Bridge immediately emitted a taut, string-like sound, warning him that anything further ahead was an unexplored area.

Instructor Han Tiecheng said in a deep voice from outside the door: "The red light is not clear, do not enter."

Lu Jin stopped, but he did not retreat. He looked at Wu Fu: "Can the Work Rats reach that door?"

Wu Fu stared at the very bottom of that inverted workshop layer, her claws unconsciously rubbing against the edge of the Worker Nest Egg Tray: "The copper beams are blocking the way. It's two zhang from the rail gap to the stone door, and there are no hanging points in between. The Work Rats can climb it, but if the Well Wind comes again, they won't be able to return."

"Have the Night Wing deliver the line," Ning Yanqiu said suddenly.

Wu Fu immediately frowned: "The wing bone was just burned—"

"Not flying, hanging." Ning Yanqiu raised her hand, and the Cold Mirror Auxiliary Seal split into a line of cold light, shining into the gap between the copper beams. "Master Crow will suppress the air, and the Night Wing will slide along the bottom of the beams, carrying the work wire on its claws. It won't bear any weight; it's just building a bridge."

Wu Fu pursed her lips and looked at the Night Wing in the bracket, whose back bone was wrapped in a grey shell. The little one's eyes were still bright; it seemed to understand, and its claws weakly grasped at the air.

"...Just building a bridge," Wu Fu said finally. She took the Night Wing out and wrapped two loops of grey copper work wire around its claws. "Hook it as soon as you arrive, and come back as soon as you're done. If you dare to stay even one breath longer, I'll dismantle all your fire-stealing plates."

The Night Wing let out a low cry, as if agreeing.

Master Crow spread its wings, and the Cold Mirror Auxiliary Seal suppressed the gear shadows above. The Night Wing took the opportunity to slide out from under Qiao Ye's shield, gliding forward while pressed against the bottom of the copper beams. Its wingtips almost brushed against the well wall, and the grey shell scraped against the copper beams, making a faint, fine sound like a leaf falling into water. It slid the two-zhang distance in four breaths. During those four breaths, the Well Wind beneath the bridge shifted three times, each time brushing past its wing bones, but it did not form a back-suction.

Wu Fu's claws were clenched tight. Only when the Night Wing's claws hooked onto the old hook on the side of the stone door, and the work wire pulled taut, did she let out a heavy breath.

"The line is here."

Lu Jin looked at Wen Zhao: "Can you map it?"

Wen Zhao shook his head: "The distance is too far; the Line-Marking Nail can't reach. We can only have the Work Rats climb across the work wire, but no one knows what's behind that stone door."

"I know," Lu Jin said suddenly.

Several people looked at him.

Lu Jin pointed at the half-concealed stone door. The red light in the door crack flickered on and off, as if breathing: "That is furnace light. It's not Sacrificial Fire, and it's not Well Wind; it's the ruptured furnace of the old workshop. The Ding Gu Workshop relied on the Ruptured Furnace Seat to nurture axles back in the day."

Grey Pupil paused his cane: "The Ruptured Furnace Seat is behind the Half-Line behind the door. If this stone door leads to the ruptured furnace, it means the workshop below the well wall and the deep area behind the door are connected."

"Not just connected," Lu Jin's voice was deep, "they were on the same map to begin with. Wang Tingxiu built this workshop below the well wall specifically to supply the Fire Well from below. The Lock Bridge above where people walk is the facade, while the old rails and ruptured furnace below where materials are transported are the substance."

Instructor Han Tiecheng's expression sank completely. If Lu Jin was right, then the Half-Door Anchors they had nailed down and the broken ends of the Lock Bridge they had stabilized were merely touching the edge of this map. The real Ding Gu Workshop was hidden deep within the well wall of the Grey Fire Well's outer ring, hidden at the end of the ruptured furnace and the old rails.

The Work Rat climbed toward the stone door along the work wire set up by the Night Wing. The moment the first one reached the door, a blast of hot wind suddenly blew out from the crack, scalding it so badly it shrieked and nearly lost its grip on the bone hook. Wu Fu hurriedly retracted the line, pulling it back, only to see that the fur on the Work Rat's back had been scorched.

"The furnace temperature is still there!" Wu Fu was both shocked and delighted. "The ruptured furnace hasn't gone out!"

Grey Pupil, however, frowned: "The ruptured furnace hasn't gone out, which means someone has been stoking the fire."

This sentence was like a piece of ice thrown into a fire. Everyone went silent for a moment. This workshop had been abandoned for many years; if the ruptured furnace was still burning, who was keeping it going? Those rail bugs? Or...

A second Work Rat was sent out. This time, it was carrying grey shell material, not to scout the path, but to provide insulation. It climbed to the door and stuffed the grey shell material into the crack. The hot wind was blocked for a moment, and in that fleeting gap, it poked its head in to take a look.

Then, it froze.

The Work Rat's eyes were inlaid with crystals, capable of transmitting the images it saw back to the Worker Nest Egg Tray. Wu Fu stared at the grey shadows on the surface of the egg tray, her pupils suddenly constricting.

Behind the stone door was not the ruptured furnace.

It was a smaller inner workshop.

In the center of the workshop stood an old cart frame, much smaller than the empty bone cart frame behind the Nest King Platform. Only a skeleton remained, with two wheel grooves tilted and an axle snapped in the middle. But that broken axle was wrapped in dense layers of old copper wire, as if someone had once tried to reattach it, trying many times, but never succeeding.

And next to the cart frame, a shadow was crouching.

The shadow was very small, about the same height as a Rat-folk craftsman, but thinner, like a piece of firewood dried by fire. It had its back to the door, holding a short hammer in its hand, and was tapping the cross-section of the cart's broken axle.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

It was exactly the same as the tapping sound coming from the copper rails.

Qiao Ye's shield clattered onto the bridge deck, and he didn't even bother to pick it up: "What is that thing?!"

"It's not a thing," The Old Craftsman of the Old Rat-folk said suddenly, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "It is... it is the Workshop Keeper."

Wu Fu turned her head sharply: "Workshop Keeper?"

"It was written in the ancestral ledgers. The craftsmen at the lowest level of the Ding Gu Workshop never leave the workshop in their whole lives. When the bridge breaks, they repair the bridge; when the furnace goes out, they stoke the fire; when the axle breaks, they reattach the axle. They don't die on the bridge, nor do they die in the furnace; they die in..." The Old Craftsman paused, as if those two words were too hot for his mouth, "...they die on the axle."

Lu Jin looked at that withered back inside the stone door crack.

The shadow seemed to have heard the movement outside, and the tapping of the hammer stopped for a moment, but it did not turn back. It only raised one hand—a hand like a chicken claw—clutching the broken axle of the cart frame, and then emitted an extremely dry, raspy sound, like a copper file scraping against bad bone:

"Don't touch the axle."

The voice was urgent and disdainful, carrying a kind of annoyance at being offended.

"If you break it, you can't afford to pay for it."

Wu Fu's claws were still suspended in mid-air; she had indeed wanted to rush over to take that old cart frame just a moment ago. Now, she froze there, neither advancing nor retreating.

Grey Pupil whispered: "It can still speak."

"Not just speak," Lu Jin stared at the back, "it knows we are outside. It has been tapping all along; it's signaling the path, and it's also a warning."

Wen Zhao's face turned pale: "Warning of what?"

Lu Jin did not answer. He looked at the broken axle of the old cart frame. The cross-section was abnormally smooth; it didn't look like it had broken from age, but rather like it had been cleanly cut by something. And beneath the broken axle, deep within the well wall, a very faint rolling sound could be vaguely heard, as if countless tiny wheels were sliding along the old rails, approaching this stone door from a very far distance.

Instructor Han Tiecheng's iron fire order suddenly emitted a sharp cry, its surface automatically flipping pages. A new line of Military Court fire seals emerged from the patterns—not written by Instructor Han Tiecheng, but pressed down directly from a higher level—

"Deep in the outer ring of the Grey Fire Well, movement of a live axle detected. All vanguard lines, retreat behind the Half-Door Anchor immediately."

Live axle movement.

Not a cart frame, not rail bugs, but an axle. Someone was transporting something on the old rails, or rather, something was being transported along the old rails, from the depths of the ruptured furnace toward them.

Lu Jin looked at that withered back inside the stone door crack. The Workshop Keeper slowly stood up. It did not turn back; it only used that hand like a chicken claw to grasp a longer copper hammer beside the broken axle. Two small characters were carved into the hammer handle, flashing past in the furnace light—

Nail Bone.

Wu Fu's voice was tight: "It's preparing for battle."

"Not preparing for battle," Lu Jin said slowly, "it's telling us—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the rolling sound from deep within the old rails suddenly drew near. The red light in the stone door crack flared brightly, as if something had finally rushed to the front. The Workshop Keeper raised the copper hammer and smashed it onto the cart frame's broken axle, emitting a deafening, thunderous sound!

BOOM!

The entire Lock Bridge trembled violently, and the fire lines of the Half-Door Anchor flickered frantically. Qiao Ye grabbed the shield handle, Wen Zhao's three old spikes simultaneously emitted a wail as they verged on shattering, and the Old Fire in Lu Jin's sleeve burned so intensely in that instant that it nearly scorched through his skin.

The Workshop Keeper's dry, raspy voice pierced through the roar, like a spike driven into everyone's ears:

"Retreat!"

"The axle is coming!"