Chapter 305: Challenges and unexpected discoveries in the temple ruins

The morning sun had just penetrated the clouds, and Qin Feng and his team were already standing at the entrance of the ruins of the ancient temple. The ruins in front of them were covered with vines and weeds, and broken stone pillars and statues were scattered everywhere, as if telling the former glory of this temple.

"It looks so desolate here." Chu Tian looked around and said softly.

"Desolate?" Lin Xiao curled his lips. "This is called mysterious! Who knows what treasures are hidden behind these broken stone pillars!"

"Or a trap." Ye Li joked, "Remember, this place may be full of dangers, everyone be careful."

Qin Feng nodded in agreement: "Yes, we must act carefully and try not to disperse. This place used to be the stronghold of a mysterious sect. Who knows what they left behind."

The old man patted his prop bag and said with a smug smile: "Don't worry, with a know-it-all like me here, you can go ahead boldly! If there is any accident, my props will definitely come in handy!"

"I hope so." Zhang Meng smiled, "I don't want to be blown away by some weird mechanism again."

Everyone walked into the ruins carefully. It was strangely quiet, with only the rustling of vines and the occasional bird song in the distance. The air was filled with a rotten smell that made people feel a little uncomfortable.

The team had only walked a few steps when Lin Xiao suddenly stopped and pointed to the ground ahead and said, "Wait, there's something there."

Everyone looked in the direction she pointed, and saw a few bricks on the ground that looked different from the surrounding ones. Qin Feng squatted down and took a closer look, and said softly: "This looks like a mechanism to trigger a trap."

"I'm glad you figured it out." Lin Xiao smiled mischievously, "But we've seen this kind of trap many times. Anyone who steps on it would be a fool."

The old man quickly took out a long stick from his bag, stretched it out to the stone bricks and pressed them gently. Sure enough, the stone bricks sank immediately, and several poisonous arrows shot out from the secret compartments of the stone wall and penetrated the opposite wall.

"Luckily I didn't step on it." Chu Tian wiped the sweat from his forehead, "It seems there are really a lot of traps here."

"Don't worry." The old man waved his stick proudly, "With me here, these traps are no problem!"

The team continued to move forward, and from time to time they saw some similar traps. Lin Xiao and the old man dismantled the traps as they walked, as if it had become a game.

"Look, there's another one here!" Lin Xiao pointed at a protrusion on the wall, "If you press this stone, a big net will probably fall down."

The old man sneered: "It's a piece of cake, watch me!" As he said that, he took out a hook and gently hooked it, and the protruding stone was pulled down. Sure enough, a large net fell from the sky and spread out close to the ground.

"Haha, you guessed it right!" Lin Xiao clapped his hands happily.

"You two, do you really think this is an amusement park?" Ye Li shook her head helplessly, "But it is precisely because of this that we didn't fall into the trap."

"This is called defeating the enemy with wisdom." Lin Xiao said with a smile, "Besides, we are exploring unknown areas, this is fun!"

Just as they carefully bypassed several traps, Qin Feng suddenly stopped. His intuition told him that something was wrong here. The air around him seemed to become more solemn, and a low humming sound could be heard faintly.

"Wait, did you hear any sound?" Qin Feng asked vigilantly.

"What's that sound?" Zhang Meng listened carefully, but heard nothing.

"It's that kind of... buzzing sound." Qin Feng frowned, "I think there's something hidden in here."

The old man quickly took out a cylindrical prop, spun it in the air, and then said with wide eyes: "Oh, my God! There is a huge energy field here!"

"Energy field?" Ye Li asked in surprise, "What is that?"

"It's something that can make all of you fly!" The old man answered mysteriously.

Before anyone could react, the ground suddenly began to shake slightly. Then, a strong blue light rose from the ground and surrounded Qin Feng and his team.

"Ah! What's going on?" Chu Tian screamed.

"Everyone be careful!" Qin Feng shouted, "This is a teleportation device!"

As expected, a flash of blue light appeared, and the scene before their eyes changed immediately. They were transported to a huge underground hall, surrounded by towering stone walls and countless reliefs, with a huge stone platform in the center, on which was placed an ancient stone box.

"We were teleported!" Ye Li said in surprise.

"It seems that this is the entrance to the ancient tower they mentioned." Qin Feng analyzed calmly.

Lin Xiao immediately ran to the stone platform and said excitedly: "Hey, look, there is a box here!"

"Don't move! Be careful of the trap!" Qin Feng reminded.

"Don't worry!" Lin Xiao smiled and carefully used a dagger to open the lid of the stone box.

Surprisingly, there was no dangerous mechanism in the stone box, but an ancient key shining with gold.

"This is the key!" Chu Tian said in surprise.

"It seems that we have found the right place." Ye Li nodded.

Lin Xiao carefully took out the key and held it up to his eyes: "Well, it looks real."

"We have to take it away from here quickly." Qin Feng said, "We don't know what other dangers there are in this place."

The old man suddenly raised his hand and said, "Wait, I think there might be something else here!"

"Other things?" Zhang Meng asked doubtfully, "Are you talking about treasure?"

"Who knows?" The old man said with a smile, "But since we are here, why not look for it?"

Everyone looked at each other. Although they were eager to leave, the old man's words made them curious.

"Okay, now that we're here, let's take a look around." Qin Feng nodded in agreement.

They carefully searched around the hall and indeed found some interesting things. The reliefs on the wall seemed to depict some kind of ancient ritual, there were some strange stone carvings placed around the stone platform, and there were several entrances that looked like secret rooms.

"These reliefs look like some kind of sacrificial activity." Ye Li observed.

"Maybe these people use this ritual to protect the 'Dragon Soul'." Qin Feng guessed.

Just then, Lin Xiao found some stone slabs in the corner. She curiously flipped through a few of them and suddenly shouted, "Hey, come and see! There are words on these stone slabs!"

Everyone came closer and saw some ancient words engraved on the stone slab. Although most of them were blurred, they could still make out a few key words.

"'Dragon Soul'... 'Control'... 'Seal'..." Chu Tian read, "What do these words mean?"

The old man squinted his eyes for a while, and suddenly said seriously: "I don't think this is a seal, but more like... manufacturing?"

"Manufacture? What does that mean?" Qin Feng asked.

"I suspect that these people are not only protecting the 'Dragon Soul', they may also be trying to create more 'Dragon Souls'!" said the old man in surprise.

Everyone fell silent. Qin Feng frowned and said, "If this is true, then the power of the 'Dragon Soul' may be far more dangerous than we thought."

"We have to leave here quickly and tell the deputy city lord this information." Ye Li suggested.

"Yes, this place makes me feel very uneasy." Chu Tian agreed.

Everyone quickly packed up and prepared to leave. Qin Feng checked the key again, put it away carefully, and led the team back in the direction they came from.

"I hope I can get back to the ground safely." Lin Xiao muttered softly.

"Don't worry, I'm here." The old man patted his chest and assured.

They walked to the other end of the hall and found a passage leading to the ground. Although there were some mechanisms and traps along the way, with the help of the old man, they successfully avoided all dangers.

"It's all thanks to you this time." Zhang Meng said to the old man.

"Of course, I'm a professional." The old man said with a proud smile.

Finally, they saw the sun again. Walking out of the passage, everyone took a deep breath of fresh air.

"What an unusual place." Ye Li exclaimed.

"However, our mission is not over yet." Qin Feng said, "We still have to go back to Tiebi City and tell them about our discovery."

Everyone nodded, quickly packed up their equipment, and headed towards the Iron Wall City. They knew that the real challenge was still waiting for them.