I walk sideways in the game world

Chapter 138: Fighting the Magic Circle with Wisdom and Winning in Adversity

The magic circle's light grew brighter and brighter, almost illuminating the entire cave. Ren Xiaoyao protected Xia Lin behind him, watching the gradually solidifying figure with vigilance.

"What the hell is this?" Pharmacist Li's voice trembled. He had never seen such a strange sight.

"If I'm not mistaken, this should be a sealing magic circle from ancient times." Master Mo's face was solemn, and there was a hint of uncertainty in his tone. "Legend has it that this magic circle has powerful power and can seal all living things."

"Sealing magic circle?" Ren Xiaoyao's heart sank. If this was true, wouldn't they be in great danger?

"Xiaoyao, I feel very uncomfortable..." Xia Lin's face was pale and her body was trembling slightly.

"Hold on, I will protect you." Ren Xiaoyao held Xia Lin's hand tightly. A warm power came from his palm, making Xia Lin feel a little more at ease.

"Roar!"

A deafening roar echoed from the center of the magic circle, and the vague figure finally solidified into a gigantic magical beast! Its body was ablaze with flames, its eyes were bloodshot, and it exuded a suffocating pressure.

"Oh no! It's the Fire Qilin!" Master Mo exclaimed. "Legend has it that the Fire Qilin is the incarnation of the God of Fire, possessing the power to destroy heaven and earth!"

"What should we do? What should we do?" Pharmacist Li was completely panicked and asked incoherently.

"Calm down!" Ren Xiaoyao shouted, his eyes sweeping over everyone. "We must unite to have a chance of escaping!"

He turned to look at Master Mo and asked, "Master Mo, how much do you know about this magic circle? Is there any way to break it?"

Master Mo pondered for a moment and said slowly: "As far as I know, this kind of sealing magic circle usually requires a specific sacrifice to be lifted."

"Sacrifice?" Ren Xiaoyao frowned. "What sacrifice?"

"I don't know exactly what the offerings are, but based on my speculation, it's likely related to the sacrificial rituals of ancient civilizations." Master Mo pointed to the patterns around the magic circle and said, "Look at these patterns. Do they look like some kind of ritual?"

Ren Xiaoyao looked in the direction of Master Mo's finger, and saw that the magic circle was surrounded by all kinds of strange patterns. He seemed to have seen some of these patterns in ancient books, but he had no idea what they meant.

"It seems that we have to find clues related to these patterns." Ren Xiaoyao took a deep breath and said with a firm look.

"But where can we find clues?" Pharmacist Li asked anxiously.

"It's in these ruins." Master Mo pointed at the surrounding walls and said, "These walls must be hiding secrets that we don't know about."

"Okay, then let's split up and find a way to break the magic circle as quickly as possible!" Ren Xiaoyao made a quick decision and assigned tasks. "Master Mo, you'll be responsible for studying the structure and patterns of the magic circle. Pharmacist Li, you'll assist Master Mo. Xia Lin, come with me, and we'll go find the sacrifice."

"No, it's too dangerous. I can't let you take the risk alone!" Xia Lin held Ren Xiaoyao's hand tightly and refused to let go.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Ren Xiaoyao gently patted the back of Xia Lin's hand and said softly, "If you follow me, it will distract me."

Xia Lin wanted to say something else, but was stopped by Ren Xiaoyao's eyes. She knew that no one could change what Ren Xiaoyao decided.

"Well, you must be careful," Charlene said worriedly.

"Yes, I will." Ren Xiaoyao nodded, then turned to look at Pharmacist Li, "Pharmacist Li, I'll leave this to you."

"Don't worry, Mr. Ren, I will do my best." Pharmacist Li nodded solemnly.

Ren Xiaoyao no longer hesitated, took Xia Lin's hand, and walked towards a wall. He knew that time was running out, and they had to find a way to break the magic circle as soon as possible, otherwise...

"Wait, look over there!" Suddenly, Pharmacist Li pointed to a corner and exclaimed, "What's that?"

Ren Xiaoyao looked in the direction of Pharmacist Li's finger and saw a pile of dilapidated stones in the corner. There were some strange patterns engraved on the stones, which looked particularly mysterious in the dim light.

"These patterns..." Ren Xiaoyao walked closer to examine them carefully, frowning slightly, "I seem to have seen them somewhere."

"Could it be related to the sacrifice?" Xia Lin also came over and observed the patterns carefully.

"It's possible." Ren Xiaoyao pondered for a moment. "Pharmacist Li, you are familiar with ancient characters and symbols. Come and see what these patterns represent."

Pharmacist Li stepped forward and carefully examined the patterns on the stone. He muttered to himself as he looked, "Strange! These patterns seem familiar, yet somehow strange..."

"How is it? Can you see anything?" Ren Xiaoyao asked.

Pharmacist Li shook his head, frowning. "These patterns appear to be ancient writing, but I've never seen this kind of writing before, so I can't decipher its meaning."

"Could it be some lost civilization?" Xia Lin guessed.

"It's possible." Ren Xiaoyao nodded. "It seems we have to find a way to crack the secret of these patterns."

Just when they were at a loss, they suddenly heard a low roar coming from the depths of the ruins, the voice full of threats and warnings.

"Oh no, something's wrong!" Ren Xiaoyao's face changed. "Xia Lin, follow me closely. Pharmacist Li, protect yourself!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a huge black shadow was seen slowly walking out from the depths of the ruins. The shadow was getting closer and closer, and everyone finally saw its true face - a huge gargoyle!

The gargoyle is made of rock, its eyes flash with a faint green light, its sharp claws shine coldly, and it exudes a terrifying aura.

"It's a guardian beast!" Pharmacist Li exclaimed. "Legend has it that ancient civilizations would place guardian beasts in important ruins to prevent outsiders from invading!"

The gargoyle roared and rushed towards Ren Xiaoyao and others, waving his huge fist.

"I'll deal with it, you guys find a chance to continue looking for sacrifices!" Ren Xiaoyao protected Xia Lin behind him and rushed towards the gargoyle.

"Xiaoyao, be careful!" Xia Lin shouted worriedly.

Ren Xiaoyao didn't look back, but just waved his hand, signaling Xia Lin not to worry.

Facing the aggressive gargoyle, Ren Xiaoyao did not dare to be careless. He mobilized the true energy in his body and punched out. The golden fist shadow, with a sharp gust of wind, hit the gargoyle's chest hard.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, the gargoyle was knocked back several steps by Ren Xiaoyao's punch, but it did not suffer any substantial damage. Its body made of rock was like a solid wall of iron and steel, indestructible.

"What a strong defense!" Ren Xiaoyao was shocked. The gargoyle's defense was even stronger than he had imagined.

The gargoyle roared again and waved his fists to attack Ren Xiaoyao even more fiercely.

Ren Xiaoyao didn't dare to take it head-on, so he could only keep dodging while looking for the gargoyle's weakness.

"Xiaoyao, be careful!" Xia Lin reminded from the side.

"I know!" Ren Xiaoyao responded, his eyes closely fixed on the gargoyle's every move.

Suddenly, Ren Xiaoyao noticed that the gargoyle's eyes seemed to flicker. He was moved. Could it be that...

"Pharmacist Li, the gargoyle's eyes!" Ren Xiaoyao shouted.

Upon hearing this, Pharmacist Li immediately looked towards the gargoyle's eyes, only to see a faint light flash in them.

"Sure enough!" Pharmacist Li's eyes lit up. "Legend has it that gargoyles' eyes are their weakness!"

"Do you know how to deal with it?" Ren Xiaoyao asked.

"If I'm not mistaken, the gargoyle's eyes should be some kind of energy core. As long as we can destroy its energy core, we can defeat it!" said Pharmacist Li.

"Okay, I know what to do!" Ren Xiaoyao took a deep breath and his eyes became sharp.

He rushed towards the gargoyle again, and this time, his target was the gargoyle's eyes!

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Ren Xiaoyao said, then he gathered his true energy at his fingertips, transforming it into a sharp sword energy, and stabbed it towards the gargoyle's eyes...

Pharmacist Li and Xia Lin held their breath and watched the scene intently. They knew that success or failure depended on this one move!

The sharp sword energy cut through the air, aiming straight at the gargoyle's eyes. The gargoyle seemed to sense the threat, twisting its body frantically, trying to dodge Ren Xiaoyao's attack. But Ren Xiaoyao was prepared. He swung around to the side of the gargoyle, and the sword energy pierced the gargoyle's eyes squarely.

"Roar!" The gargoyle let out a shrill scream, and its huge body fell to the ground with a bang, turning into a pile of rubble.

"Success!" Charlene jumped up excitedly.

"That's great!" Pharmacist Li also breathed a sigh of relief.

Ren Xiaoyao put away his sword energy and walked to the pile of rubble that the gargoyle had transformed into, searching carefully. Soon, he found a glittering stone among the rubble.

"This is the gargoyle's energy core." Pharmacist Li walked over, picked up the stone, and examined it. "Legend has it that this stone contains powerful energy and can be used to create all sorts of magical items."

Ren Xiaoyao nodded, put the stone away, and said to Xia Lin and Pharmacist Li, "Let's keep moving forward and try to find all the offerings as soon as possible."

The three continued to go deeper into the ruins, encountering many traps along the way, but they were all resolved one by one. Finally, they came to the deepest part of the ruins, a spacious stone chamber.

In the center of the stone chamber, there is a circular altar, which is engraved with ancient runes and exudes a mysterious atmosphere.

"This is where the sacrifices are placed." Pharmacist Li said, pointing to the altar.

Ren Xiaoyao walked forward and carefully observed the runes on the altar. He had never seen these runes before, but for some reason, he always felt that they were familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere.

"Xiaoyao, what's wrong with you?" Xia Lin asked when she saw that Ren Xiaoyao looked strange.

"I'm fine." Ren Xiaoyao shook his head, "I just think these runes are a little strange."

"Strange? What's strange?" asked Pharmacist Li.

"I can't really put my finger on it." Ren Xiaoyao frowned in thought, "I feel like I've seen these runes somewhere before, but I just can't place it."

"Maybe you've seen it in the game?" Xia Lin guessed.

"It's possible." Ren Xiaoyao nodded. "When I was playing games, I often came across various runes. Maybe I saw them back then."

"Then do you remember what these runes represent?" asked Pharmacist Li.

"Not yet." Ren Xiaoyao shook his head, "But I feel it has something to do with the order in which the offerings are placed."

"What order should the offerings be placed in?" Xia Lin and Pharmacist Li looked at each other and saw the confusion in each other's eyes.

Ren Xiaoyao ignored their doubts and began to search his mind for information related to these runes. Finally, he remembered that he had seen similar runes when playing a game, and he also knew the meaning of these runes.

"I know!" Ren Xiaoyao raised his head suddenly, a gleam in his eyes, "I know what these runes represent!"

"Really? That's great!" Charlene said excitedly. "Tell us, what do these runes represent?"

Ren Xiaoyao pointed at the runes on the altar and said, "These runes represent the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams. What we need to do is place the offerings in the corresponding positions according to the order of the Five Elements."

"The five elements are mutually generated?" Xia Lin and Pharmacist Li were both confused. They knew nothing about the five elements and the eight trigrams.

"To put it simply, water gives birth to water, water gives birth to wood, wood gives birth to fire, fire gives birth to earth, and earth gives birth to metal." Ren Xiaoyao explained, "We just need to place the offerings in the corresponding directions according to this order."

"So that's how it is." Xia Lin and Pharmacist Li suddenly understood.

"Then let's start now." Ren Xiaoyao said, and took out the offerings they had collected along the way from his backpack.

There are five offerings in total: a golden sword, a blue water bag, a green wood carving, a red flint, and a yellow earthenware jar.

According to the order of the five elements, Ren Xiaoyao placed the golden sword in the west, the blue water bag in the north, the green wood carving in the east, the red flint in the south, and the yellow earthen jar in the center.

When all five offerings were placed, the runes on the altar suddenly lit up, emitting a dazzling light...

The dazzling light gradually dissipated, and the altar returned to calm, but the sealed stone chamber began to vibrate. Rumbling sounds came from all directions, as if a sleeping giant beast was awakening.

"What happened?" Xia Lin exclaimed. She grabbed Ren Xiaoyao's arm tightly, her eyes full of anxiety.

"Don't be afraid, this is a normal phenomenon when the magic circle is lifted." Ren Xiaoyao comforted Xia Lin, while vigilantly scanning the changes around him. He knew that the real challenge might have just begun.

Pharmacist Li excitedly observed the changes in the runes on the surrounding stone walls and said excitedly, "It seems we've succeeded. This stone chamber should be a teleportation array, and it's activating now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a massive magic circle emerged from the ground in the center of the stone chamber. A dazzling golden light shot up into the sky, illuminating the entire stone chamber like daylight. At the same time, a powerful energy wave emanated from the magic circle, enveloping Ren Xiaoyao and the others.

"Hurry to the center of the magic circle!" Ren Xiaoyao realized that this was the key to leaving the ruins, and immediately called Xia Lin and Pharmacist Li.

The three of them didn't dare to delay and quickly ran to the center of the magic circle. The next moment, the magic circle activated, and the golden light completely engulfed them before disappearing.

……

When Ren Xiaoyao opened his eyes again, he found himself in a dense forest. Warm sunlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, the sound of birdsong filled his ears, and the air was filled with the fragrance of earth and grass.

"We're out?" Charlene's joyful voice rang in her ears. She looked around excitedly, her face filled with the joy of surviving the disaster.

"It seems we succeeded." Pharmacist Li also breathed a sigh of relief. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with emotion: "This time it was really thrilling. Thanks to Brother Ren, otherwise we might have..."

"Yes, this time it's all thanks to Xiaoyao." Xia Lin looked at Ren Xiaoyao, her beautiful eyes flashing with gratitude.

Ren Xiaoyao smiled and waved his hand, saying, "We're a team, and everyone has contributed." He looked around, his heart filled with emotion. Although this expedition was full of dangers, they ultimately overcame the difficulties and successfully exited the ruins. This experience also further sublimated their friendship and team spirit.

However, before they could celebrate properly, a powerful aura suddenly came from a distance, with obvious hostility, making the surrounding air seem to freeze.

"What's going on?" Xia Lin's face changed and she asked anxiously.

Ren Xiaoyao frowned, looked in the direction where the breath came from, and said in a deep voice: "Be careful, something's happening..."

Before he could finish his words, a rough voice suddenly rang out from the depths of the dense forest: "Hand over everything you found in the ruins, and I will spare your life!"