Chapter 237 New clues

With the arrest of Lin Shaotian and Li Hao, the tense atmosphere in the college finally eased a little. Vice President Feng Jian strengthened the college's security measures. Patrolling guards can be seen everywhere in the college, and all people entering and leaving the college must undergo strict inspections.

"I can finally breathe a sigh of relief." Chu Tian said while eating breakfast, "These past few days have been really stressful."

"It's a pity that my clothes are all stained by paint." Zhang Meng looked at the clothes he had taken off with a look of heartache and couldn't help complaining.

"Hey, you still think of clothes?" Ye Li said with a smile, "At least we are safe now, this is the most important thing."

"But..." Qin Feng put down his chopsticks and said thoughtfully, "Although Lin Shaotian and Li Hao have been arrested, I always feel that things are far from over."

"Are you talking about the Lord of Shadow?" Ye Li immediately understood what Qin Feng meant.

Qin Feng nodded: "Lin Shaotian is just a small character. We still don't know what the real purpose of the Shadow Lord is. And what Lin Shaotian said before he left really concerns me."

"He said that the power of the Shadow Lord is beyond our imagination." Chu Tian recalled, "That sounds a bit scary."

"Yes, so we can't let our guard down." Qin Feng looked at everyone, a hint of determination flashed in his eyes, "I always feel that Lin Shaotian's plan is just the tip of the iceberg, and the Lord of Shadow has a bigger conspiracy."

"So what should we do next?" Zhang Meng asked.

"We need to find out more information about the Lord of Shadows." Qin Feng replied, "Maybe there are some clues hidden in the whereabouts of Lin Shaotian and Li Hao. We can go check their dormitories."

"That's a good idea." Ye Li nodded in agreement, "Maybe we can find something useful."

In order not to attract attention, Qin Feng and his partners chose to conduct the search at night. They quietly came to Lin Shaotian's dormitory, and the door had been locked by the guards of the college, but this did not bother Qin Feng and his friends.

"Let me do it." Ye Li said softly, took out a few thin metal strips from her pocket, fiddled with the door lock a few times, the lock made a light "click" sound, and the door opened.

"You can also unlock the door?" Chu Tian asked in surprise.

"Hehe, it's nothing." Ye Li smiled proudly, "I learned it when I was a child, it's not worth mentioning."

Entering the dormitory, Qin Feng and the others carefully checked every corner. Lin Shaotian's room was very tidy, leaving no obvious clues.

"There's a box here." Zhang Meng found a small iron box under the bed.

"Take it out and let us see it." Qin Feng said.

Zhang Meng dragged the iron box out with great effort and found it was locked. Ye Li took action again and pried the lock open in a few moves. Qin Feng opened the box and found only an old book and a few yellowed papers inside.

"What is this?" Chu Tian picked up the book and flipped through it. He found that the pages were covered with dense symbols and he couldn't understand the content.

"These symbols seem to be some kind of ancient writing." Ye Li looked at them carefully and said thoughtfully, "It may be related to the power of the Lord of Shadows."

Qin Feng picked up a few pieces of paper and found some patterns drawn on them, which looked like part of a map.

"This is a map." Qin Feng frowned and said, "Unfortunately, only part of it is available. I don't know where the rest of it has gone."

"Map?" Zhang Meng scratched his head. "Are you saying that this map may point to the location of the Lord of Shadows?"

"It's possible." Qin Feng nodded, "but we need more information to confirm it."

The next morning, Qin Feng brought the books and map fragments to the college library, found the old curator, and asked him to help identify these symbols and maps.

"These symbols are very ancient, a long-lost language." The old curator looked at the symbols on the page carefully and said slowly, "It is said that they were used by the Shadow Cult to record some mysterious rituals and spells."

"The Shadow Sect?" Qin Feng asked in surprise, "What does this have to do with the Lord of Shadow?"

"The Shadow Lord is the leader of the Shadow Cult." The old curator explained, "Hundreds of years ago, the Shadow Cult tried to summon dark forces through rituals to control the entire continent. Fortunately, a powerful soul master defeated the Shadow Lord at that time, and the sect was disintegrated. But the remaining forces have been operating in secret, trying to revive the power of the Shadow Lord."

"What about this map?" Qin Feng took out the map fragment, "Do you know where this map points to?"

The old curator picked up the fragment of the map, examined it carefully for a while, and frowned: "This looks like a map leading to some ruins. It is likely a place where the Shadow Cult uses to hide their secrets."

"Ruins?" Ye Li asked curiously, "Do you know where these ruins are?"

"It's hard to determine the exact location based on these fragments." The old curator shook his head, "But there may be some clues in the ancient books of the academy. You can go check it out."

"Thank you, Director." Qin Feng said gratefully, "We will continue to investigate."

Qin Feng and his companions read a large number of ancient books in the library and finally found some useful information in an old geography book. The book mentioned that in the mountains north of the academy, there was a forgotten ancient altar, which was said to be an important stronghold of the Shadow Cult.

"It seems we have to go to that mountain and take a look." Qin Feng closed the book with a determined look.

"Yes, but we have to be careful." Ye Li reminded, "Since Lin Shaotian mentioned the power of the Lord of Shadows, it means there must be some secret hidden there."

"Let's talk to the vice president." Chu Tian suggested, "With his support, our actions will go more smoothly."

Qin Feng nodded: "That's right. Let's go find Vice President Feng and tell him about it."

The group packed up their books and materials, left the library, and headed straight to the vice president's office. They told Feng Jian about their discovery of the maps and ancient books.

After listening to this, Feng Jian pondered for a moment and said, "You did a great job. It seems that there is indeed something wrong with this relic. We can't take it lightly."

"Vice President, we want to go there to investigate." Qin Feng requested, "If we can uncover the secret of the Lord of Shadows, we can completely eliminate these potential threats."

Feng Jian nodded: "I agree that you can investigate, but you have to be careful. I will send a few elite guards to accompany you to ensure your safety."

"Thank you, Vice President." Qin Feng nodded, "We will be careful."

The next morning, Qin Feng, Chu Tian, ​​Zhang Meng and Ye Li gathered at the entrance of the academy. Several elite guards were ready to go, and Vice President Feng Jian personally saw them off.

"Remember, no matter what you find, you must stay calm," Feng Jian warned. "If you encounter danger, retreat immediately and don't fight hard."

"Understood!" Qin Feng and his companions answered in unison.

The team set off quickly, following the path north of the academy into the mountains. Along the way, everyone was alert and paid close attention to the surrounding movements.

"What do you think is in this relic?" Zhang Meng asked as they walked.

"Who knows?" Chu Tian shrugged, "But one thing is certain, it won't be a good thing."

"Since the Shadow Lord hid the secret there, it must be something important." Ye Li said, "We must be careful."

"Yes." Qin Feng nodded, "We must be careful not to alert the enemy."

After several hours of trekking, the team finally came to an open space deep in the mountains. In the middle of the open space stood an ancient altar covered by vines, which looked very old.

"It's here." Qin Feng said in a low voice, "Everyone be careful, check the surroundings first."

The guards quickly dispersed and checked the surroundings. Qin Feng and his companions approached the altar and found that it was engraved with ancient symbols, which were exactly the symbols they had seen in the book before.

"These symbols are indeed related to the Shadow Cult." Ye Li observed the symbols carefully, "There may be clues we need in them."

"Look, there is an entrance here!" Zhang Meng pointed to a corner of the altar where there was a stone slab, which seemed to be a passage leading underground.

"Everyone be careful." Qin Feng warned, "Let's go in and take a look, but don't act rashly."

They pushed aside the stone slab, revealing a dark underground passage. Qin Feng lit a torch and led the way in. The air in the passage was damp and stuffy, and some ancient murals could be vaguely seen on the walls.

"These murals seem to depict some kind of ceremony." Ye Li said, pointing at the patterns on the wall.

"Yes, it looks like a summoning ritual." Qin Feng nodded, "We have to find clues quickly and can't stay here for long."

At the end of the passage, they came to a spacious underground hall. In the center of the hall was a huge stone tablet, which was engraved with complex symbols. Around the stone tablet, there were several stone pillars, each of which was engraved with symbols, which seemed to depict some ancient rituals.

"What is recorded on this stone tablet?" Chu Tian asked curiously.

Ye Li carefully observed the symbols on the stone tablet, trying to decipher its contents. Suddenly, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.

"What is recorded on this stone tablet is... the resurrection ceremony of the Lord of Shadows!" Ye Li exclaimed, "These symbols record how to resurrect the Lord of Shadows through the altar."

"What?!" Qin Feng was shocked. "Resurrect the Lord of Shadow? That must be what Lin Shaotian and his accomplices are doing!"

"It seems that we have found the key clue." Ye Li said seriously, "We must go back immediately and tell Vice President Feng the news so that he can take precautions."

Qin Feng nodded: "Yes, I'll go back right away."

Just as they were about to leave, suddenly, the entire hall began to shake, and the symbols on the stone tablet flashed red, as if responding to some kind of call.

"No! Let's go!" Qin Feng shouted.

They quickly ran towards the entrance, but the vibration became more and more intense, and rocks fell from the ceiling. Qin Feng looked back and found that the ground in the center of the hall began to crack, and a black breath poured out from the cracks.

"Hurry! Get out quickly!" Qin Feng quickened his pace and rushed out of the passage with his companions.

They rushed out of the altar and quickly put the stone slab back in place. The vibration of the altar gradually subsided, and the black gas dissipated.

"We did it." Zhang Meng said breathlessly.

"I almost couldn't get out." Chu Tian patted his chest, obviously frightened by the scene just now.

"We have to go back quickly." Qin Feng said with a sullen face, "Lin Shaotian's plan is earlier than we thought. We must prevent the Shadow Lord from resurrecting."

Everyone nodded, quickly packed up their equipment, and rushed back to the academy. They knew that the clues they found this time were extremely important and related to the safety of the entire academy.

On the way back, Qin Feng's heart was filled with a sense of urgency. He knew that the conspiracy of the Lord of Shadows was approaching step by step, and they must do everything in their power to prevent the disaster from coming.