I walk sideways in the game world

Chapter 275: Entering the Castle and Surprising the Secrets

The heavy stone door slowly swung open, emitting a grinding sound that made one's teeth ache, like a low roar from an ancient era. A foul odor filled his face, and Ren Xiaoyao instinctively held his breath. Before him lay a bottomless darkness, with only faint phosphorescent lights flickering on the walls, illuminating bizarre patterns that resembled demons from hell, a terrifying sight.

"Be careful!" Ren Xiaoyao's low voice echoed in the empty hall. He took out a night pearl from his backpack. The soft light dispelled some of the darkness, but also made the scene in front of him even more weird.

The ground was covered in thick dust, clearly no one had been here for a long time. Ancient designs were carved into the walls, depicting ferocious monsters and various humanoids, each armed with a variety of bizarre weapons, seemingly engaged in a fierce battle.

"This place... seems to be an ancient battlefield." Master Li's voice trembled slightly. He had been dealing with ancient tombs and mechanisms for many years and was particularly sensitive to such eerie and strange environments. "Everyone, be careful where you step. There might be traps here."

Ren Xiaoyao nodded, signaling everyone to follow him closely. He walked forward cautiously, taking every step with extreme caution. Xia Lin followed closely behind him, her beautiful eyes scanning the surroundings vigilantly. The white fox followed quietly at the end, seemingly indifferent to everything around them.

"Crack!"

A slight sound broke the silence in the hall. Ren Xiaoyao's heart was alarmed. Before he could react, he saw countless sharp arrows shooting out from the wall, attacking everyone like a rain of pear blossoms.

"Be careful! It's a trap!" Master Li shouted and nimbly hid behind a stone pillar. Others also looked for cover to hide.

Ren Xiaoyao reacted quickly, grabbing a nearby stone pillar and launching himself into the air, narrowly avoiding the first wave of arrows. However, the number of sharp arrows was too great, overwhelming, and impossible to dodge them all.

"what!"

A scream was heard, and Ren Xiaoyao's heart tightened. He turned his head and saw that Xia Lin was accidentally tripped by a stone while dodging, and was about to be hit by the oncoming sharp arrow... At the critical moment, Ren Xiaoyao turned around without thinking, rushed towards Xia Lin, knocked her to the ground, and protected her with his body.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Several sharp arrows shot past Ren Xiaoyao's back, piercing deep into the ground. Ren Xiaoyao felt a burning pain in his back, but he couldn't care less. He rolled over and protected Xia Lin under him, anxiously asking, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." Xia Lin was still in shock, her pretty face pale. But when she saw Ren Xiaoyao disregarding his own safety to save her, a warm feeling surged in her heart, "Brother Xiaoyao, you're hurt!"

"It's just a minor injury, nothing serious." Ren Xiaoyao shook his head, signaling her not to worry.

The sharp arrow mechanism stopped firing, but before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, they heard a rustling sound coming from under their feet.

"Oh no! It's quicksand!" Master Li's face changed drastically and he exclaimed, pointing at the ground under everyone's feet.

Everyone looked down and saw that the originally hard ground had turned into soft quicksand at some point, emitting a strange red light, like an abyss that was ready to devour anyone.

Pharmacist Chen was unable to dodge and stepped into the quicksand, his body immediately starting to sink.

"Hurry up and grab me!" Pharmacist Chen shouted in panic, grabbing his hands randomly, trying to grab something.

Ren Xiaoyao was quick-witted and quick-handed, grabbing Pharmacist Chen's arm. Xia Lin and Bai Hu also took action at the same time, and together they pulled Pharmacist Chen out of the quicksand.

Pharmacist Chen slumped to the ground, gasping for breath, still in shock. He looked down at his sand-soaked shoes, filled with fear.

"Thank you all for saving my life!" Pharmacist Chen stood up and bowed deeply to everyone. "You saved my life!"

Ren Xiaoyao patted his shoulder, signaling him to be polite. He knew that this was just the beginning, and there were many more unknown dangers hidden in this underground castle.

The group continued to explore forward, taking every step with extreme caution. The air was filled with a suffocating smell of decay.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, a huge stone gate suddenly appeared in front of them, stretching out before them. Carved into the stone gate were intricate patterns that resembled some kind of ancient writing, emitting an unsettling aura.

Master Li walked forward and carefully examined the pattern on the stone door. His brows knitted tightly as he muttered to himself, "What kind of writing is this?"

"This symbol is unheard of, unseen..." Master Li repeatedly stroked his beard, his brows furrowed in the shape of the Chinese character "川". He studied it for a long time, but still couldn't find any clues, and beads of sweat oozed from his forehead.

"Are we trapped here?" Pharmacist Chen paced anxiously, a hint of despair in his tone. This underground castle was filled with strangeness, and no one knew what would happen next.

"Don't worry, let Master Li think of a solution." Ren Xiaoyao whispered soothingly, his eyes scanning the surroundings warily. This castle was full of strange things, and he had a feeling that something was hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

"Whoosh!"

As soon as the words fell, a black shadow flashed from overhead and rushed towards Xia Lin.

"careful!"

Ren Xiaoyao was quick-witted and quick-handed. He pulled Xia Lin behind him and at the same time drew the long sword from his waist and slashed at the black shadow.

“clang!”

The sound of metal clashing echoed in the empty passage, sparks flying everywhere. Ren Xiaoyao looked closely and saw a pitch-black, leopard-like monster glaring at him with its teeth bared. Its sharp claws left several deep scratches on the stone slabs.

"What the hell is this thing?!" Pharmacist Chen exclaimed and hurriedly hid behind the white fox.

"Be careful, this thing is very fast and its claws are extremely sharp!" Ren Xiaoyao warned, while waving his sword and fighting with the black panther.

The black panther's movements were incredibly agile, darting back and forth through the narrow passage, making it difficult to defend against. Ren Xiaoyao, despite his martial arts prowess, was unable to take it down for the time being.

"Brother Xiaoyao, let me help you!" Seeing this, Xia Lin quickly took out a few silver needles from her waist and shot them at the black panther.

The silver needles made a sharp sound as they accurately struck several acupuncture points on the black panther. The black panther froze in its tracks and let out a painful roar.

Ren Xiaoyao seized the opportunity, swung his sword, and directly cut off the black panther's head.

The black panther's body fell to the ground and dissipated into a cloud of black mist. However, before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, several more black shadows pounced from all directions.

The crowd stood back to back, forming a circle, and fought hard to resist the monsters' attacks. However, these monsters seemed endless, and after killing one group, another group came, and the crowd gradually felt exhausted.

At this moment, Master Li suddenly shouted excitedly: "I know! I know what this rune means!"

Everyone was cheered up when they heard this. Ren Xiaoyao seized the opportunity and asked loudly, "Master Li, what have you thought of?"

Master Li didn't answer. He just pointed at the runes on the stone door and said excitedly: "These runes... these runes are not words, but a kind of... a formation!"

He took a deep breath, his eyes becoming incredibly determined: "I know how to open this door!" He then rushed to the stone door recklessly and began fiddling with it according to the clues he had discovered...