Discuss with you

Chapter 350 Dungeon
"What are you all busy with?" Lu Yan asked, looking at the small pond that had been emptied.

However, no one had time to pay attention to his question at the moment, because Rune had already found a raised ring-shaped object at the bottom of the pond on the side closest to the rockery. That area was not covered by flowers and leaves, so it was clearly visible that the ring was connected to a stone slab.

So Fuwen carefully brushed away the silt on top, grabbed the hole in the pull ring with his finger, and pulled hard. The hole was also full of silt, which was smelly and slippery, and he couldn't hold on to it at all. His finger slipped out immediately. If Fulu hadn't been there to help hold him up, Fuwen probably would have fallen hard to the side.

Fu Lu didn't care about anything else. He grabbed the collar of his clean clothes that he had just changed into and carefully wiped the pull ring several times with a cloth. Only then did he finally manage to clean off the slippery, smelly mud and moss.

The rune hooked onto the pull ring again, straddled the stone slab with both legs, focused his energy in his dantian, exerted force in his shoulders, and the muscles in his arms bulged out instantly.

The heavy stone slab finally loosened, and he slowly pulled it open, revealing a dark hole.

"It really is hollow down there, there's a secret passage!" Fu Lu helped prop up the stone slab, looked down, and then freed one hand to wave to Yan Daoxin beside him, "Divine Doctor, may I borrow your torch?"

Yan Daoxin walked around and handed him all the torches in his hands. He took the talisman, bent down, and handed the torches down little by little. Then he gently let go, and the torches fell to the ground below.

The torch rolled on the ground and stopped. The flames danced a few times on the hemp rope coated with pine resin, then burned steadily again. The firelight illuminated a small area around it. It looked like the tunnel below was less than a person's height, but the surrounding area was paved with clean stone slabs.

"Master, I'll go down and take a look!" Fu Lu looked up at Lu Qing and asked for his opinion in a low voice.

Lu Qing thought for a moment, then glanced at Zhu Yu beside him. Zhu Yu was also looking at him, and from her expression, it was clear that she wanted to go down and see what was going on.

Lu Qing looked at the others and instructed, "Yan Daoxin, Fu Wen, you and the others stay here and keep an eye on the surroundings. If anything seems amiss, act accordingly, but remember to keep the cave entrance open and be ready to provide support at any time."

"Yes!" Fu Wen immediately responded, nodding solemnly. "Please rest assured, Master, I will definitely guard this cave entrance well."

Fu Lu was even more pleased. Once he was sure the runes could fully support the stone slab, he let go and nimbly slid into the hole. While the torch below was still burning, he picked it up and held it in his hand. He crouched down and stood on one side of the hole to provide light for Lu Qing and Zhu Yu above, so they could see the height below.

Lu Qing and Zhu Yu went down into the small pond. Lu Qing jumped in first and then reached out to catch Zhu Yu behind him. The moment she jumped down, Lu Qing reached out to support her waist so that Zhu Yu could land firmly on the ground.

After a brief reorganization, the three of them, with talismans leading the way and Lu Qing bringing up the rear, carefully moved forward along the only passageway in front of them.

Zhu Yu was fine; she was only of average height, so she could walk normally by simply hunching her neck a little. Lu Qing and Fu Lu, on the other hand, had to hunch over.

The three of them walked a short distance forward. Zhu Yu sniffed, turned to Lu Qing and whispered, "I think I smell blood. It's not strong, but I'm pretty sure there is."

Lu Qing sniffed carefully. The smell inside the tunnel was a mixture of earthy, dampness, and a very faint, yet distinct, pungent odor of blood. If Zhu Yu hadn't had an exceptionally keen sense of smell, he might not have been able to notice and distinguish it so carefully at first glance.

"Be vigilant and handle things carefully." He then spoke, quietly instructing the talisman in front of him, and also said to Zhu Yu, "Remember to use the self-defense techniques Yan Daoxin gave you if necessary."

Zhu Yu nodded, touched his waist, and continued walking forward following the talisman.

The three of them groped their way forward in the darkness, using the faint light of the torches to guide them. They felt they were quite far from the cave entrance, and the air in the tunnel was getting thinner, causing the torchlight to dim considerably.

"Master, Second Master, there's a relatively open area ahead. I'll go check it out first." Fu Lu suddenly paused, turned to Lu Qing and Zhu Yu, signaling them to stop for now, and then quietly took a few steps forward with his torch in hand.

As he approached, Zhu Yu saw that the stone wall on his right-hand side indeed extended forward for about ten feet before disappearing, replaced by darkness.

Clearly, there was a fairly open area there, but it was unclear what its purpose was.

At this moment, Zhu Yu also felt that with each breath, the smell of blood in his nasal cavity was stronger than when he had just come down. However, it was not the kind of pungent smell that you would find at a murder scene with rivers of blood, but rather a faint, almost imperceptible odor.

Fu Lu moved forward a few steps and carefully moved to the wall. He held a torch in his hand, but he couldn't spy on the situation without making a sound. So he simply jumped over the wall with the torch in his hand and stretched the torch into the darkness in front of him to illuminate the situation there.

Immediately, his expression changed slightly. He opened his mouth in surprise and then frowned.

Perhaps because of his momentary surprise, he forgot his surroundings. Fu Lu took a half step back, and his back bumped directly into the stone wall behind him.

"What's wrong?" Lu Qing asked.

"Master... there are dead bodies here." The talisman, jolted back to his senses by the impact, quickly replied, "Not just one, there are several!"

Zhu Yu was taken aback, and quickly took a few steps forward to the cave entrance. Fu Lu helped her hold the torch as she entered the dungeon-like space to ensure she could see the situation there.

Inside the "dungeon," which was only a little over ten feet wide and deep, several corpses were locked to the stone walls with iron handcuffs and shackles. At a glance, there were five people in total. They were all standing, their hands and feet fixed so they couldn't fall down, and their heads were drooping at an angle that no living person would ever have.

The clothes on those people were mostly intact, except for one person who seemed to have been tortured, with several bloodstains on his clothes. The others were completely naked.