Chase Game

"This is the Abyss..."

Meng Dong stood at the edge of the abyss, stretching half of his upper body out to look down.

Zhang Qiang, who had just finished enjoying the cooling blue light sphere and felt refreshed, echoed Meng Dong's words:

"When Lingyi and I first came here, it took us a lot of effort to get down."

"And then a molten lava bird came to ambush us!"

Zhang Qiang raised his fist, a flash of anger in his eyes.

He said bitterly, "If Ding Guifang were still down there, I would definitely drag him out of his turtle shell and give him a good beating!"

Ling Yi, however, did not think much of his idea.

Taking Zhang Qiang as an example, in order to maintain balance in the game, his activity range is restricted to the Meng Mansion.

However, there are some special methods that can allow him to leave temporarily.

Ding Guifang is probably in the same boat.

Furthermore, given her fanatical devotion, as long as the [Fire Transformation into Feathers Diagram] is not in the courtyard, she will likely fulfill her self-appointed duty as a divine messenger, namely, to search for the divine object.

Of course, there's not much point in speculating here; we'll find out for ourselves once we go down and see for ourselves.

Anyway, this time, with the two powerful items [Burning Hand] and [Ember Step], I'm sure I'll be much more at ease.

Ling Yi stood up, dusted himself off, and said, "Now that we've rested, let's set off."

Zhang Qiang agreed, "Yes, let's go down and take a look!"

Meng Dong withdrew his gaze from the abyss and followed behind the two.

On their second visit, they were much faster and soon reached the bottom of the abyss.

While on the cliff face, Zhang Qiang, who was on guard against the firebirds and ready to show off his skills, did not get his wish.

"Huh? They didn't launch a sneak attack. Could they really not be in the Abyss anymore?"

Zhang Qiang scratched the back of his head in confusion.

No one responded to him, so he continued walking.

Soon, they arrived at the barrier outside the courtyard.

When Zhang Qiang was forced back by the rune restriction once again, Shen Nianqing inside the courtyard also noticed that someone had come from outside.

Her analysis did not lift the restrictions; it merely added herself and her two kittens to the whitelist of those who triggered the restrictions.

The restrictions outside the house still exist and remain effective for everyone except her.

"Triggering the restriction means the person who came doesn't have the key either, that's good, I still have time..."

This can be considered a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

After a slight sigh of relief, Shen Nianqing's brows furrowed again, because she had turned the entire courtyard upside down, but she found nothing, not even the original source, let alone anything that looked even slightly special.

"That shouldn't be the case... There are restrictions and constraints; even if there's no origin, there should be something else..."

Shen Nianqing pondered carefully, trying to figure out what she had overlooked.

The two kittens looked at each other and shook their heads helplessly; there was nothing they could do to help at this point.

When the chosen ones are performing B-rank or lower dungeons, they will generally be directly guided to the location of the source.

In A-rank and above dungeons, the source will not be directly guided. The chosen ones will need to find clues, but some hints will be given.

Think about what hints you received—

"Meng Mansion, Underground Palace, Dongshan Village, Making Fire, Burning Eyes..."

Burning Eyes?

Shen Nianqing's eyes lit up.

【Burning Eyes】is a pupil technique skill. Is it possible that one must use this skill to "see" things that are normally invisible?

Thinking of this, Shen Nianqing activated the pupil technique skill [Burning Pupil], which she obtained from the special storyline "Fire Retrieval".

Then, the scene in her eyes began to change.

The courtyard house began to burn, and the fire quickly became uncontrollable and spread very rapidly.

Boom!

A roof beam collapsed in front of Shen Nianqing with a loud crash.

The three-colored dumpling cried anxiously, "My lady, hurry! This place is about to collapse!"

Shen Nianqing was taken aback. It turned out that it was not an illusion, but a real scene change.

The main house she was in was already on the verge of collapse, so she quickly ran to the courtyard outside.

The design of the courtyard house does have one advantage: in the event of a fire, at least the central courtyard will not be affected.

The sounds of roof beams falling to the ground and wood breaking could be heard continuously, and the surrounding flames created an unbearable burning sensation.

Shen Nianqing took out a small bottle and put a drop on herself and the two kittens. The hot wind that was blowing in her face turned into a cool autumn breeze.

In less than three minutes, the main house could no longer withstand the pressure and collapsed first.

Next came the west wing, then the east wing, and finally only the bare walls remained.

The fire was like a summer night's downpour, coming and going suddenly.

When the last spark dissipated, revealing a vast expanse of ruins, Shen Nianqing saw an ancient stone box among the ruins.

The box has a groove that looks exactly like the gate of a traditional courtyard house, so it obviously requires a key to open.

Shen Nianqing quickly went forward to check, but in the end, she shook her head helplessly.

Ma Tuan asked, puzzled, "Master, can't we analyze this stone box like we analyze a restriction?"

Sancai Tuanzi also looked at her curiously.

Shen Nianqing nodded slightly and said, "The 'Ruyi Suixin' technique only fools the triggering mechanism of the restriction, which is equivalent to forging a fingerprint to unlock a fingerprint lock."

"However, this stone box is a simple mechanical lock, and it cannot be opened without a matching key."

The tricolor dumpling suddenly realized, "I see... Then we still need to find the key first!"

Ma Tuan glanced at Shen Nianqing, who looked somewhat worried, then at the stone box, and thought for a moment before saying:

"Why don't we take this stone box with us? That way, we won't have to worry about someone else getting it before us!"

Shen Nianqing actually thought it was a good idea, but unfortunately, when she tried to move the stone box, it wouldn't budge.

She gave a wry smile and said, "It seems there's no other way. We'll just have to go out and find the key first."

Ma Tuan also felt it was a pity, but then he continued to think, "There are other players outside now. If we want to avoid revealing our identities, going through the main entrance is definitely not an option."

Shen Nianqing then took out the Ruyi Suixin Brush and said, "It's alright, we can just go back the way we came!"

She plucked two hairs, one that allowed them to ride the wind, and the other that granted them invisibility.

Soon, Shen Nianqing rode a gust of wind and truly "returned the way she came".

Interestingly, it was only when she was flying in the air that she realized that it was Ling Yi and the others who had triggered the restriction!

She exhaled, thinking to herself: Thank goodness for the [Ruyi Suixin Brush].

Ling Yi, still blocked outside by the restrictions, did not notice that the "culprit" that caused the courtyard to be burned down had sprouted wings and flown away right before his eyes.

Zhang Qiang stared at the courtyard house, now reduced to ruins, his mouth agape enough to swallow a whole goose egg!

"No way, all I did was step on the restriction..."

He thought he was responsible for the courtyard house being burned down.

Ling Yi and Meng Dong frowned. They didn't think it was because Zhang Qiang had triggered the restriction; they just felt that something was wrong.

Soon, Meng Dong discovered something unusual.

"The gate to the courtyard house was not closed."

"Huh? What does that prove?"

Zhang Qiang asked with some doubt.

Ling Yi provided the answer for Meng Dong: "It means that someone may have been coming in and out."

When the topic turned to someone, Ding Guifang immediately came to Zhang Qiang's mind.

Could it be her doing?

I wish I could go in and take a look...

Thinking of this, he glanced again at the rune-like restrictions beneath his feet and sighed:

"Ugh, this restriction is disgusting, and the worst part is we don't even know how to remove it."

After observing and thinking for a moment, Meng Dong said, "If I'm not mistaken, the groove on the door looks like a key or something similar."

Ling Yi turned her head to look at Meng Dong: "You mean, as long as you have the key, the restrictions here can be lifted?"

"That should be it..."

"So what exactly is the key?"

When asked this question, Meng Dong didn't answer. He carefully observed the groove on the door and felt that it was unusually familiar.

He hadn't seen it with his own eyes, but it seemed to have appeared in his character's memories.

What exactly is it?

"Does your Meng family have any traditions passed down through generations?"

Ling asked aloud.

He was also thinking of trying his luck, since the whole incident was inextricably linked to the Meng family, so the search for the key to this special place must start with the Meng family.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Meng Dong, after recalling his role, suddenly realized the truth.

"A jade pendant! It's the patriarch's jade pendant!"

"This is something passed down through generations of the Meng family patriarchs; its size and the groove fit perfectly."

Ling Yi and Zhang Qiang were overjoyed; knowing what the key was made things much easier.

"Where is the patriarch's jade pendant? Do you have it on you?"

Zhang Qiang asked expectantly, but the answer he received disappointed him.

Meng Dong shook his head and said, "No, I wasn't in the Meng family when the old patriarch died."

"However, this jade pendant should be in the hands of Wang Yun, the acting head of the family!"