Chapter 773: Forgotten Trials and Strange Challenges

When Qin Feng and the others stepped out of the maze, the world in front of them suddenly became bright. Zhang Meng took a deep breath and stretched his limbs exaggeratedly, as if he had just escaped from a nightmare: "Finally! I knew that the haunted maze would drive me crazy."

Chu Tian shrugged and teased with a smile: "It's a miracle that you haven't gone crazy yet. If you ask me, we are now walking from one puzzle to the next. The building in front doesn't look like a good place to be quiet."

Qin Feng squinted his eyes and looked at the towering building in the distance, and said calmly: "No matter what this place is, it is obviously our final destination. We have gone through so many traps and trials, and we are finally approaching the end."

"Don't be too optimistic." Ye Li looked around, with a bit of alertness in her tone, "These places seem too quiet, so quiet that something is wrong."

Qin Feng nodded: "Yes, the closer we are to the end, the more careful we must be. According to our previous experience, the quieter the place, the greater the danger that may be hidden behind it."

Zhang Meng waved his hand and acted nonchalantly: "It's dangerous! We've come all this way, isn't it just a few mechanisms and traps? Come on, what am I, Zhang Meng, afraid of?"

Ye Li smiled helplessly: "You have never been afraid, but you are always the one who suffers the most."

"This is called bravery!" Zhang Meng patted his chest, looking righteous.

Chu Tian smiled and patted Zhang Meng on the shoulder: "There's a difference between being brave and being reckless, brother."

Qin Feng stopped joking and turned to walk towards the towering building. The team followed him and carefully crossed the empty flat land.

When they approached the building, they found that it was even larger than it looked from a distance, like an ancient castle that had been silent for a thousand years. The outer walls of the building were covered with dense vines, but the ancient symbols and carvings on the walls could still be vaguely seen, which seemed to be traces left by some ancient civilization.

"This place looks like it once had a glorious history." Ye Li looked up at the tall stone gate and murmured.

"Glorious? Now it's desolate." Chu Tian touched the marks on the stone wall and frowned. "These symbols are the same as those we saw before. They are all full of mysterious power."

"Then here comes the question," Zhang Meng put his hand on the stone door, "how do we get in?"

Qin Feng stood in front of the stone door and studied it carefully for a while. He found that there was indeed a keyhole on the stone door that matched the shape of the key he had seen before. He took out the ancient key and inserted it into the keyhole.

"Guess what will happen next?" Zhang Meng looked expectant.

"If we follow the previous routine," Ye Li said calmly, "either the door will open, or there will be a bunch of traps."

Qin Feng smiled bitterly: "No matter which one it is, the key is in, we can only keep going."

As he turned the key, the stone door made a low rumbling sound and then slowly opened to both sides. Behind the door was not the luxurious treasure or ruins of ancient civilization that they expected, but a dim hall with an old smell in the air.

"Another hall." Zhang Meng curled his lips in disappointment. "I thought I could finally see something different."

"Stop complaining and go in and take a look." Qin Feng said, and stepped into the hall first.

Ancient oil paintings and sculptures were hung on the walls around the hall. In the center was a huge circular platform with a seemingly complicated device standing on it. A glowing crystal ball was hung on the top of the device, emitting a faint light.

"It seems like no one has been here for a long time." Ye Li looked around, "But why is that crystal ball still glowing?"

"This crystal ball must be some kind of energy core." Qin Feng walked to the platform and carefully observed the crystal ball and the device. "It is somewhat similar to the mechanism we saw before, but it is obviously more complicated."

"It's the same thing every time." Zhang Meng was completely numb. He stared at the crystal ball and shook his head: "I guess this is another mystery for us to solve?"

Ye Li sneered: "You are quite self-aware now."

Chu Tian couldn't help but laugh and said, "Yeah, Zhang Meng, every time you see a mechanism, you either want to smash it or run away. It seems that you have made some progress this time."

Zhang Meng curled his lips: "I was just forced. Stop talking, let's get started quickly, or you'll be fooled by this damn place again."

Qin Feng nodded, walked forward and began to carefully study the device on the platform. He found that the device was composed of multiple rotating gears and metal rings engraved with symbols, which was obviously an extremely complex puzzle mechanism.

"It seems that we have to unlock this device this time." Qin Feng turned his head to look at everyone and said in a deep voice, "But this time it is more complicated than before, everyone needs to cooperate well."

"I'm good at this!" Zhang Meng was eager to try, "Let me turn those gears this time! I have the strength!"

"Okay, but you have to follow instructions." Qin Feng nodded and said, "This mechanism requires multiple people to operate at the same time. If you are not careful, the trap may be triggered."

So, under Qin Feng's command, Zhang Meng and Chu Tian were responsible for rotating the gears, while Ye Li carefully observed the changes in the device and reported the situation at any time. As the gears turned, the metal rings on the platform began to emit a low humming sound, as if the entire device was slowly starting.

"Slow down!" Qin Feng suddenly shouted, "The symbol in this place is changing, don't be impatient!"

Zhang Meng immediately stopped what he was doing, looking puzzled: "What do these symbols mean? They give me a headache every time they appear."

Qin Feng frowned and looked at the constantly changing symbols: "These symbols seem to be giving us hints... They are guiding us how to turn the gears correctly."

Ye Li observed carefully for a while, and suddenly her eyes lit up: "I understand! The order in which these symbols are arranged is the key to unlocking the mechanism. We need to turn the corresponding gears in sequence!"

"Okay, then I'll follow your pace." Zhang Meng grabbed the gear, ready to follow instructions at any time.

Qin Feng began to analyze the arrangement of the symbols step by step, and gradually found a way to crack the mechanism. He instructed Zhang Meng and Chu Tian to turn the gears according to the order of the symbols, and the metal rings turned more and more smoothly.

Just when they were about to unlock the last gear, the platform suddenly emitted a low roar, and then the light on the crystal ball suddenly became brighter, illuminating the entire hall.

"Did it succeed?" Zhang Meng shouted excitedly.

However, before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the entire hall began to shake violently, the sculptures and paintings on the walls fell down, and the ground began to crack.

"Oh no! What's going on?" Ye Li screamed.

Qin Feng reacted quickly: "This is the mechanism triggering some kind of self-protection mechanism. The whole building may collapse! Everyone, run!"

“It’s the same thing again!” Zhang Meng yelled as he rushed to the exit. “Every time we get something done, we end up running for our lives!”

Chu Tian couldn't help laughing as he ran: "How about you stay this time and experience the fun of collapse?"

"You're crazy to stay here!" Zhang Meng shouted without turning his head, "I don't want to be buried alive!"

They rushed to the exit desperately, rocks kept falling behind them, and the cracks in the ground became larger and larger, as if the whole building was going to swallow them. However, just as they rushed to the door, the whole hall suddenly stopped, and all the vibrations stopped abruptly.

"Uh...what's going on?" Zhang Meng stopped and looked around in confusion, "Did we escape this disaster?"

Ye Li also frowned and looked at Qin Feng: "What do you think is going on?"

Qin Feng slowly turned around and looked at the hall that had returned to calm, muttering, "This is an illusion. The collapse just now... is just part of the trial."

Chu Tian was surprised and said, "What? The shaking and collapse just now were all fake?"

"That's right." Qin Feng nodded, "This trial not only tests our wisdom, but also our reaction and courage. It is testing whether we can remain calm in extreme situations."

Zhang Meng was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened: "So we just ran for nothing?!"

"It wasn't a wasted trip," Qin Feng smiled, "At least we passed the test, proving that we are calm enough."

Ye Li shrugged: "If you were calm, you wouldn't have run the fastest just now."

Zhang Meng was speechless: "Okay, okay, I admit that I ran too fast this time."

As they were talking, the crystal ball on the platform emitted a faint light, and then a door slowly rose from the center of the hall, leading to a new area.

"It seems that the real end is just ahead." Qin Feng said in a deep voice.

Zhang Meng looked at the new door and sighed, "I knew it wasn't over yet."

"Don't worry," Ye Li said with a smile, "This may really be the last level."

"I hope so." Zhang Meng smiled bitterly.

As the door slowly opened, Qin Feng and the others took a deep breath and moved towards the next unknown step. What awaited them was the ultimate challenge of this adventure.