The Mansion of Trials and Trials

A Secret Passageway

On the third floor, moonlight sneaked from the windows, enlarging the shades. The number of shadows on the wall increased again, if you excluded the Shadowpeople. The corridor was quiet.

"Arrr. Arrr." My eyes stopped blinking. It was that sound again. Behind, a light brown fox stood in the center of the corridor. A moment ago, the corridor was empty. How did the fox get there?

The fox stared at me in the eyes. It licked its paw, shook its head and turned around, walking to the opposite side.

Is it telling me to follow him? But Knock warned me I shouldn't.

"Arrr!" The fox bounced up suddenly and ran, disappearing behind the corner.

"Wait!" I cried and chased him immediately. It darted towards the right corridor. Our distance widened. It jumped on an accent cabinet nearby and hopped back down. How does the fox run so fast?

My heart beated. I grasped for air and lent against the wall. Odor stuck to my clothes. I had enough for running today. Perhaps I should listen to the warning.

I gazed at the empty path. Just in front, one of the wooden cabinet doors slowly creaked open. I stared at it closely. The hinges were nor scuffed or scratched, yet, sparkling in brand new silver gold. No wind blew in. The windows, of course, were closed. Is the cabinet not well locked?

Staring, the cabinet somehow attracted me. Curiosity killed the cat but never me. I reached out and pulled the door. The shades busted out. All of the Shadowpeople hurried away immediately. The cabinet was empty. This is all very weird.

I pressed the back panel. It slightly moved. Oddly, it was not attached to the cabinet. I slipped my fingers through the gaps and took the panel.

On the other side, was a deep hole on the wall, just enough for a man to fit in.

A secret passage.

Why didn't I think of that?

As the wind blew, darkness spread. I ducked down and squeezed my legs through the narrow tunnel. The wooden walls touched my skin, lucky for me, I was not fat and chunky.

Through the end of light, I crawled out from a wooden cupboard and entered the room. Swords, axes and knives were hung on the walls with vintage shelves packed with bottles of alcohol, pesticides and poison. Buckets of ropes and chains were put next to bows and arrows. On top of the floating ledges, cosplay and respirators masks were placed neatly one by one.

"A hidden weapon room....?" I exclaimed with fear. As I looked around, my eyes stopped at a large storage box on the right. The metal lock on the door was smashed open. I opened the box. It was full of forks, spades and shovels....all sorts of gardening tools, with a watering can and gigantic garden shears lying on the bottom.

Those shears. They are the same as the ones C used. Like me, that man must have discovered this room and took the shears.

My heart raced. Streams of blood went up my head. I hurried and snatched the bottles on the shelves nearby. Datura, barbiturates, diazepam and kerosene. The labels on the bottles were words I never heard off. Among the poison and pills, one of the bottles had a pure, bloody red liquid inside with a label printed the words.

POISON FOR GARDEN BEASTS

Skeldos & Cannibal Flowers only

Instantly, my hands trembled. The bottle slipped through my fingers and fell on the floor. I covered my eyes. The clues and threads linked back together at once.

This is it!

This is the way to escape from the Mansion.

All the clues to solve the trials are inside this room.