The secret passage of the Snow Mountain Merchant Alliance resembled a frozen giant python. The shells of the Snow Armor Beetles embedded in the stone walls cast a deep blue glow under the torchlight. Huwa held up his carving knife, just about to carve a grinning face on the wall, when with a sudden "click," he triggered a hidden mechanism. Ten wooden spikes sprang out from the stone wall, scaring him so badly that he clutched his Wooden Ox model and rolled straight into a snowdrift.
"Behave yourself, you little imp!" Zhang Yifan tapped the Taiji pattern on the stone wall, and his abacus beads clicked into place, snapping into the formation of the "Gate of Life." "The patterns on the Snow Armor Beetle shells are merchant alliance secret codes. They're a lot more reliable than your little goblin faces."
Huwa rubbed his backside as he climbed back up, only to notice that the wooden spikes had crooked, smiling faces carved into them—they were an exact match for his own handiwork!
Chapter 28