Chapter 357: First exploration of the border, unexpected events

Qin Feng and his companions received an order from Vice President Feng Jian to go to the border to investigate the traces of the dark soul master. After a short preparation, they were fully equipped, carrying the necessary supplies and weapons, and embarked on a new adventure.

At daybreak, Qin Feng and his group were already standing at the main entrance of the academy. The air was a little chilly in the early morning, with a crescent moon hanging in the sky, and the light of the morning sun had not yet completely spread over the earth. Everyone's expression was filled with excitement and nervousness.

"Remember the last time we went on a border mission?" Chu Tian broke the silence, "That time I was almost chased by a group of soul beasts and lost half my life!"

“Don’t mention it!” Zhang Meng grinned, “If Wang Yue’s Bright Deer hadn’t run fast last time, we might have been eaten by the soul beast as breakfast.”

"We have to be extra careful this time. Dark soul masters are much more cunning than soul beasts." Wang Yue reminded, with a hint of worry in her tone.

Qin Feng nodded: "That's right, everyone cheer up, we are not going on vacation."

Several people smiled at each other, got ready and prepared to set off. Suddenly, Ye Li took out a map from her backpack and spread it out in front of everyone.

"If we take this path, we can avoid several checkpoints on the border and go directly into the area where the dark soul masters are rumored to be active." She said, pointing to a winding path on the map.

"Smart! This way, we won't be discovered by too many people and can avoid some unnecessary trouble." Qin Feng nodded approvingly.

They set out along the path Ye Li had pointed out, passing through a dense forest. The forest was filled with mist, the shadows of the trees were dancing, and the surroundings were filled with an uneasy silence. The few of them walked carefully, trying not to make any noise.

After walking for about an hour, they came to an open space and suddenly heard a rapid sound coming from the front, like some animal struggling.

"What's that sound?" Chu Tian asked in a low voice.

"It sounds like an animal is trapped." Ye Li frowned.

"Let's go and take a look." Qin Feng decided to find out what was going on, and they quickly walked towards the direction of the sound.

After pushing aside a bush, they saw a strange creature struggling in a large net. The creature looked like a mixture of a fox and a rabbit, with fluffy hair all over its body and big, round eyes, which made it look very cute.

"What is this?" Wang Yue asked in surprise.

"I think this might be a spirit beast." Ye Li guessed, "It looks like it's trapped."

"Save it." Qin Feng looked at the spirit beast, its eyes were full of fear and helplessness, "Maybe it can help us find the trace of the dark soul master."

Zhang Meng immediately stepped forward and pulled the big net open. As soon as the spirit beast was free, it jumped to the side and looked at them warily, with doubts in its eyes.

"Hey, little guy, we won't hurt you." Chu Tian said with a smile, "We are just passing by and want to help you."

The spirit beast seemed to understand Chu Tian's words, and slowly relaxed. It jumped over to them and sniffed their hands, as if to confirm their goodwill.

"It seems to be a little interested in us." Wang Yue smiled, "What a cute little guy."

"Maybe it can take us to its nest, or... somewhere else." Ye Li suggested.

At this moment, the spirit beast suddenly raised its head, its ears stood up, and then quickly jumped in one direction. It stopped and looked back at Qin Feng and the others, as if signaling them to follow.

"It looks like it's taking us somewhere." Qin Feng said, "Follow it!"

The spirit beast led them through the dense forest, going deeper and deeper, and finally came to the entrance of a cave covered by dense vines. The spirit beast jumped into the cave lightly, and Qin Feng and his party followed closely behind.

The cave was pitch black, but Qin Feng used the Dragon Shadow Sword to release a glimmer of light, illuminating their way forward. The cave was not big, but there was a small cave deep inside, surrounded by a variety of fruits and flowers, which looked like the lair of a spirit beast.

"This is a really nice place." Chu Tian looked around, "It's much more cozy than I thought."

"You don't want to live here, do you?" Zhang Meng joked.

The spirit beast jumped to the center of the cave, gently touched the ground with its nose, then picked up a stone that looked somewhat special and handed it to Qin Feng.

"Is this for me?" Qin Feng took the stone with some surprise.

"It seems to want us to see this." Ye Li came closer and observed the stone. "There seems to be some traces on this stone."

Qin Feng took a closer look and found some strange symbols engraved on the stone, which seemed to be some kind of ancient writing.

"Could this be a clue left by the dark soul master?" Wang Yue guessed.

"It's very likely." Qin Feng nodded, "It seems that this spirit beast is indeed special. It may know more things that we don't know."

Just as they were studying the symbols on the stone, suddenly a low sound of footsteps came from outside the cave, getting closer and closer.

"Something is coming!" Chu Tian said vigilantly, and everyone immediately went into alert.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer, and Qin Feng signaled everyone to keep quiet. After a while, a group of black shadows appeared at the entrance of the cave. It was vaguely seen that they were several figures, wearing black cloaks and with hideous faces.

"Dark Soul Master!" Ye Li whispered, tightening the staff in her hand.

"How do they know we are here?" Zhang Meng asked in a low voice.

"Maybe it was the scent of the spirit beast that exposed our whereabouts." Wang Yue guessed.

"They don't know we are here yet. Don't move yet and wait and see what they are going to do." Qin Feng commanded in a low voice.

The dark soul masters stopped at the entrance of the cave and talked in low voices for a few words. Then a man who seemed to be the leader took out a small bottle from his arms, poured out some black powder, and sprinkled it into the cave.

"This is not a good thing!" Ye Li exclaimed, "It might be poisonous smoke!"

Before he finished speaking, black powder quickly spread out and a pungent smell filled the air.

"Hurry, get out!" Qin Feng gave an order and everyone rushed out of the cave immediately.

As soon as they rushed out of the cave, the dark soul masters discovered them and immediately launched an attack.

"This is a trap!" Chu Tian shouted, "They lured us out here on purpose!"

Qin Feng wielded the Dragon Shadow Sword, and the sword energy flashed like lightning, forcing back several dark soul masters who rushed up. Ye Li used frost magic to set up an ice wall at the entrance of the cave to block the opponent's attack.

"We can't stay here for long, we have to retreat quickly!" Wang Yue used the magic of the Light Deer to create a curtain of light, blocking the dark soul master's sight.

"Follow me and retreat into the woods!" Qin Feng commanded everyone to evacuate quickly.

They ran all the way, avoiding the pursuit of the dark soul masters. The terrain in the woods was complicated, and the dark soul masters were not familiar with the terrain in this area, so Qin Feng and his team successfully got rid of the pursuers.

After running for a while, they finally stopped by a stream and breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone checked each other for injuries, and fortunately, no one was seriously injured.

"Those guys are really haunting us." Chu Tian wiped the sweat from his forehead. "What on earth do they want to do?"

"It seems that they knew we were coming." Ye Li said, "Also, they clearly had a plan when they scattered the black powder."

"Yes, something is wrong." Qin Feng frowned, "But why did the spirit beast take us to its lair? Does it know something?"

At this moment, the spirit beast unexpectedly appeared again, standing on the other side of the stream. It seemed to know Qin Feng and the others' confusion, lowered its head, and gently patted the water surface with its claws.

"It seems like it wants to show us something." Wang Yue said, and everyone walked towards the direction of the spirit beast.

When he got closer, Qin Feng was surprised to find a stone carving at the bottom of the stream with several lines of ancient text engraved on it, which were very similar to the symbols on the stone they had found in the cave before.

"These symbols... are exactly the same as those on the stone!" Ye Li said excitedly.

"Could it be a map, or some kind of guidance?" Zhang Meng guessed.

"Maybe we can find more clues about dark soul masters from here." Qin Feng nodded, "In any case, this is an important discovery."

They carefully studied the symbols on the stone carvings beside the stream, trying to interpret their meaning. Suddenly, the spirit beast touched Qin Feng's legs with its head, signaling them to go upstream.

"It seems like it wants to take us upstream to have a look." Chu Tian said.

"Then follow it, maybe it knows more things we don't know." Qin Feng decided to continue following the spirit beast.

After walking along the stream for about half an hour, they came to a rocky area. The spirit beast stopped in front of a huge rock and gently dug the ground with its claws.

"What is it doing?" Wang Yue asked curiously.

"Maybe there is something underneath." Ye Li guessed.

Zhang Meng walked forward and helped the spirit beast dig up the ground. Not long after, they found a stone slab embedded in the ground. When the stone slab was lifted up, a bottomless hole was revealed, and there was a faint light inside.

"An underground passage?" Qin Feng was very surprised. "Where does this lead to?"

"Could it be the secret base of the dark soul masters?" Chu Tian guessed.

"No matter where it is, we must go in and take a look." Qin Feng made up his mind, "Everyone get ready and follow me in."

They jumped into the cave one by one and slowly descended a steep staircase. As they went deeper, the light became brighter and brighter, and finally they came to a spacious underground hall.

The walls of the hall were covered with ancient murals depicting wars and rituals, which seemed to be the history of dark soul masters.

"These paintings look very old." Ye Li observed the wall, "This may be an ancient temple."

"Look over there!" Zhang Meng pointed to the other side of the hall, where a huge magic circle was engraved on the ground.

"This must be one of the secret bases of the dark soul masters." Qin Feng said, "They may be planning some conspiracy here."

Suddenly, footsteps were heard from the other end of the hall, and several dark soul masters appeared in front of them, obviously startled by their intrusion.

"Invaders! Catch them!" shouted the leading dark soul master.

Qin Feng drew out the Dragon Shadow Sword, and everyone immediately entered combat mode.

"Prepare for battle! We must not let them succeed this time!" Qin Feng shouted firmly.

The battle broke out again, the light and sword shadows in the underground hall intertwined, and Qin Feng and his companions ushered in a new challenge. They knew that this battle would determine whether they could uncover the true conspiracy of the dark soul master.