The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 273 This is…

Illuminated by torches and flashlights, Qin Lang quickly found a feather-shaped groove on the gate of the ancient ruins.

He took out the silver feather token from his backpack and compared it with the groove; the two fit together almost perfectly.

“As expected.” Zoge stroked his chin. “This place is both the ruins of the Leaping Fish and the ruins of the Silver Oriole.”

“Those ancient patterns on the doors that don’t belong to the Leaping Fish are the patterns of the Silver Oriole.”

“The Leaping Fish?” Fatima looked thoughtful upon hearing this. “In the legends of the Silver Oriole in the Feli region, there is indeed mention of another legendary creature, but the descriptions are very brief.”

"I never expected that this trip to the Dongyun region would not only lead to the discovery of the ancient ruins of the Azure Silver Nightingale, but also to the discovery of another legendary creature."

“But one feather is useless.” Cao Dongdong pointed to the groove on the other side of the gate to the ruins, which corresponded to the feather. “To open this gate, we need two tokens, and it seems we only have one.”

“No.” Zhao Qian carefully examined the outline of another groove, then suddenly spoke, “Don’t you think this groove looks familiar?”

“You mean…” Cao Dongdong paused for a moment, then suddenly realized something and looked sharply at Zuo Ge beside him.

“Luckily, I had a suspicion, so I took it with me when I disembarked.” Zoge took out a beautiful, colorful scale from his backpack. “But let me make it clear beforehand, I really didn’t know it was a token.”

"Click——"

With a crisp sound, the scales of the leaping fish fit perfectly into the groove.

Then, amidst a series of sounds, the gates of the ancient ruins, sealed for countless years, slowly opened.

"Perfect!"

Zog snapped his fingers and, seeing Fatima rushing in impatiently, quickened his pace to catch up.

"Hey! Wait a minute..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zuo Ge's voice abruptly stopped, and he stared in disbelief at the stone walls inside the ruins.

The surface was covered with some kind of ancient and mysterious patterns, as if a dusty past was being slowly unveiled before him.

"This...this is..."

Zuo Ge's body trembled uncontrollably, his voice filled with surprise.

"A groundbreaking discovery in the legendary research!!!"

He frantically rushed to the stone wall and began to decipher the patterns and symbols one by one, but soon Zuo Ge's expression turned painful.

"Damn it, what does this symbol mean?"

"What is this?"

Why does the symbol change at every crucial point?

“Together.” Fatima had appeared beside Zog at some point, quickly adjusting her glasses and speaking, her eyes filled with the same fervor.

"I know all those people you don't know."

Seeing the two legendary scholars who had just entered and were already engrossed in their research, Qin Lang and the other two exchanged glances and shrugged helplessly.

"How about we go inside and take a look?" Cao Dongdong suggested. "We can't all be crammed in at the entrance of the ruins, can we?"

“That makes sense.” Qin Lang nodded and looked at Zuo Ge and the other two. “Let’s go in and take a look around first. You two keep up the good work.”

"Just don't break anything." Zoge waved his hand casually, seemingly having deciphered some information that surprised him, his expression one of fervor.

"Let's go in." Cao Dongdong stretched and swaggered into the ruins.

After passing through the entrance passage, they soon arrived at a spacious hall. In the center of the hall stood a huge stone sculpture, one half of which was a giant bird with long tail feathers. Even though no color could be seen, its stunning beauty was evident from its shape.

"This is the Silver Oriole," Zhao Qian exclaimed. "Now I'm starting to believe that the story of the bird and the fish wasn't entirely made up by Zuo Ge."

"Yes." Qin Lang nodded, looking at another giant fish beside him whose fins had transformed into large wings, dancing with the Azure Silver Oriole. Clearly, this was the Leaping Fish.

For some reason, even though he had never seen the Leaping Fish before, he felt a vague sense of familiarity when he saw it.

Before Qin Lang could figure out the source of this familiarity, Cao Dongdong suddenly exclaimed, "Quick, come here!!!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Lang and Zhao Qian quickly walked towards Cao Dongdong's direction.

Cao Dongdong stared in disbelief at a relief carving on the wall of the main hall, his voice filled with astonishment, "Look over there..."

Following Cao Dongdong's gaze, Qin Lang and the other looked toward the relief sculpture.

On the relief, they saw surging waves and a small fish swimming in them, its appearance so familiar.

"This is…"

"Xiao Cai?!"
-
"No. 12, Hidden Street, Fish Mouth..."

"found it!"

After disguising themselves, Luo Mi and Liu Chuang looked at the dilapidated hotel in front of them, which looked like it was about to go out of business, and exchanged a glance.

"We've reached the rendezvous point. Did you bring everything?" Lomi confirmed.

"Don't worry." Liu Chuang raised his left and right hands.

In his two hands were a small fish tank and a freezer.

The former contained Xiao Cai, who was in a somewhat listless state, while the latter contained the rare ingredients they had stolen from Qin Lang.

“Okay.” Lomi nodded and carefully entered the hotel, but after searching for a while, she didn’t see anyone.

"Where's the person we agreed on as our contact?" Liu Chuang couldn't help but ask. "We didn't get the time and place wrong, did we?"

"There's no mistake." A voice drifted over.

The two of them jolted and looked behind them in astonishment.

An elderly man with white hair, wearing a white coat, appeared silently behind them. His gaunt figure and sunken eyes were quite frightening.

“Elite cadre, Luo Pei,” the old man said calmly.

"Where is the thing?"

"Here, here!" Liu Chuang held up the things he was carrying in both hands. "Lord Luo Pei, please inspect the goods."

“Okay.” Luo Pei didn’t even glance at the freezer; her eyes were fixed on the little rainbow fish in the other tank. “Very good.”

"You two, come with me."

As he spoke, Luo Pei turned around, and a secret passage suddenly opened up from underground.

Liu Chuang and Luo Mi exchanged a glance and cautiously followed. Liu Chuang deliberately lagged behind and asked Luo Mi in lip-reading, "What's going on?"

According to the normal handover process, the other party should have let them leave after inspecting the goods. Why did they have to stay with them?
Lomi was also unaware of the situation and simply shook her head slightly.

Luo Pei, who was walking in front, seemed to have guessed what the two were thinking and calmly said, "My research has reached the most critical moment. I'm a bit short-staffed lately. Since you two are here, you can come and help me out for now."

"This is one of the organization's most important secret research bases. It is an honor for both of you to be able to enter here."

Upon hearing this, the two immediately fell silent.

The other party were elite cadres who needed to be temporarily requisitioned for work. They had no right to refuse and could only obediently follow along.

(End of this chapter)