The Legend of the Princess' Counterattack

After the system told Yun Yao that she had to improve her strength by completing tasks in order to survive in this world, her eyes revealed determination and resoluteness. The first task issued by the system - to find a hidden ancient book in the palace, this ancient book is like a ray of light in the darkness, which is of great significance to Yun Yao and is an important beginning for her to embark on the road of cultivation.

Yun Yao knew that although the palace was large, her range of activities was extremely limited. The remote courtyard where she lived was the first stop for her exploration. The courtyard was dilapidated, with mosses all over the walls and old items piled up in the corners. The sunlight could only barely penetrate through the few small and dusty windows, making the courtyard filled with a depressing darkness.

Yun Yao carefully searched every corner, not missing any clues. She started from the small room where she lived. The floor of the room was paved with rough stones, some of which had cracks. Yun Yao lay on the ground, staring at the ground, and felt the stones one by one with her hands to see if there were any loose or unusual places. The bed was made of simple wooden boards. She lifted the bedding on the bed and carefully checked under the bed board, probing with her fingers in the gaps between the bed boards, hoping to find some mechanism or secret compartment.

In the corner of the room, there was an old wardrobe. The door was a little crooked and made a creaking sound when it was opened. Yun Yao opened the wardrobe and found nothing special except a few old clothes that smelled musty. But she was still worried and took out the clothes one by one, carefully checking the inner wall of the wardrobe to see if there was any hidden layer.

After searching the house, Yun Yao came to the courtyard. There was a stone table and several stone benches in the yard. The stone table was covered with dust and some unknown stains. Yun Yao first walked around the stone table several times, carefully observing every detail of the stone table, and then shook the stone table vigorously to see if there would be any reaction. The stone bench was checked in the same way, and she even lay on the ground to check the bottom of the stone bench.

There were a few unknown weeds growing by the wall of the courtyard. Yun Yao squatted down, pushed away the weeds with her hands, and checked the situation by the wall. She found that a floor tile in the corner seemed to be a little loose, which made her think it might be a clue. Compared with the surrounding floor tiles, the edge of this floor tile was slightly raised, and the gap seemed to be wider than other places. Yun Yao grabbed the edge of the floor tile with her fingers and tried to pry it up, but the floor tile did not move at all. She increased her strength, but the floor tile only shook slightly, but still could not be pried up.

Yun Yao frowned and began to think of other ways. She looked around and saw a wooden stick in the yard. She picked up the stick, inserted one end of the stick into the gap between the floor tiles, and then pried it hard. However, because the floor tiles were embedded firmly and Yun Yao's strength was limited, even though she had used all her strength, the floor tiles were only pried up a little bit.

Yun Yao did not give up. She adjusted her posture and tried again. Her hands tightly grasped the wooden stick. The veins on her arms bulged and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. She gritted her teeth, stared at the floor tiles, and encouraged herself in her heart. Just when she felt that she was about to give up, the floor tiles finally moved a little. She continued to push hard, prying up the floor tiles bit by bit until the floor tiles were completely removed.

There was a layer of damp soil under the floor tiles. Yun Yao used her hands to dig away the soil and found a small box underneath. The small box looked a little old. There were some simple patterns on the box, but they were a little blurred due to the soil covering it. Yun Yao carefully took the box out. The texture of the box seemed to be a kind of wood, but it was harder than ordinary wood.

Yun Yao gently brushed off the dirt on the box and looked at it carefully. She found a complicated lock on the box. The lock was made up of several small metal parts and looked like an ancient mechanical lock. The lock was shaped like a small Bagua diagram with some strange symbols and patterns engraved on it. Yun Yao tried to open the lock with her hands, but the lock did not move at all. She realized that this lock might require a special key to open.

Yun Yao sat on a stone bench in the yard, holding the mysterious little box in her hand, staring at the lock on the box, and began to think about what to do next. She knew that the box might contain the ancient book that was of great importance to her, but the lock in front of her became her biggest obstacle. Various possible solutions kept emerging in her mind: should she continue to look for the key, or try to crack the lock?

Yun Yao carefully observed the lock buckle again, and she found that the symbols and patterns on the lock buckle seemed to have some kind of pattern. She remembered that when she was in modern times, she had read some books about ancient mechanical techniques, which mentioned some similar symbols and methods of breaking the mechanism. Although this lock buckle was not exactly the same as what she saw in the book, she decided to give it a try.

She gently touched the symbol on the lock with her finger, and tried to turn one of the small parts according to her guess. However, when she turned the part, she heard a slight "click" sound, and then something seemed to be stuck inside the lock. Yun Yao was startled, she knew she might have made a mistake. She tried to turn the part back, but found that it could not be turned.

Yun Yao was a little annoyed, but she quickly adjusted her mentality. She realized that her knowledge of this ancient mechanical lock was limited after all, and it was not easy to crack it. Moreover, according to what Xiao Cui said before, this lock may require a special key to open, so finding the key should be a more reliable method.

So, Yun Yao decided to keep the box in a safe place first, and then go look for the key. She returned to the house, found a clean cloth, wrapped the box, put it under her bed, and began to think about where the key might be. She remembered that Xiao Cui said that the key might be with the housekeeper, but the housekeeper's attitude was arrogant, and it would definitely not be easy to get the key from him. But no matter how difficult it was, Yun Yao decided to give it a try.

Yun Yao silently encouraged herself in her heart. She knew that this was a crucial step in her journey of cultivation. No matter how many difficulties and obstacles there were ahead, she could not back down. She stood up, took a deep breath, walked out of the courtyard, and walked towards the housekeeper's residence, her eyes full of determination.

Dear readers, are you moved by Yun Yao’s tenacity and wisdom in difficult situations?

Every exploration of detail and every overcoming of difficulties is like a thrilling adventure.

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