Chapter 49: Reunion

　　Section 1: The Water Lift　　I remembered the steep, slippery slope we had come down and worried about how to climb back up. Lin Molly, however, said there was a lift here that led to the hall, and Little White could take me up on it.　　A lift? I was absolutely stunned! Something as advanced as a lift existed inside Namcha Barwa? Was it electric-powered?　　"Hydraulic. Any ancient mechanism designed for long-term operation must be powered by a stable natural force. The most stable and reliable is water power."　　Oh, so it was a "water lift"! Great, learned something new again.　　Little White strutted ahead with an utterly dismissive gait, leading me through a series of turns until we arrived before a jade door. Carved in the center of the door was a large human face, but it wasn't covered with a bronze mask; instead, it was layered with gleaming gold foil. The eyeballs of the gold-foil face protruded long and cylindrical, like two control levers.　　Following Lin Molly's instructions, I pulled both eyeballs upward simultaneously. After a series of clack-clack-clacksounds, the jade door split down the middle and retracted sideways, exactly like the elevator cabins we use daily.　　Stepping inside the water lift, I found nothing fancy—just a boxy structure made of riveted copper plates, looking quite sturdy. The wall by the door had only a single lever for opening and closing the door; there didn't seem to be any function for selecting floors. I guessed this lift probably only shuttled between two fixed points, up and down, with no fancy tricks.　　I pulled the lever. The jade door closed with a sound, but the lift didn't move. I wondered if it was broken from disrepair over the years.　　Lin Molly comforted me, saying the mechanical transmission of this water lift was relatively primitive and had long exceeded its design lifespan, so a longer response time was understandable.　　"Alright then!" Little White and I, one human and one chicken, stood anxiously in the tall, narrow water lift, waiting.　　Another dozen or so seconds passed. Then, enormous noises suddenly erupted all around—mechanical drives, metal sliding... various sounds layered on top of each other, making me dizzy and my ears ring. At that moment, the water lift finally began to rise slowly, carrying Little White and me away from the depths.　　"Sister Molly, Chi Xin Wang is still up there! What do we do if we encoun