The ancient return was exposed by his sister's live stream.

The two sides were arguing fiercely in the comments section, and neither side could convince the other.

Chen Siyao didn't read the comments. She squatted in front of the array plate, staring at the two small black and white flags for a long time, then looked up and asked Chen Hao, "Brother, is there really some kind of Yin-Yang Coiling Dragon Eight Trigrams Array here?"

Chen Hao nodded: "Yes."

"Then..." Chen Siyao hesitated for a moment, "Should we still go and see? That Master Zhuoting said not to tamper with the array's core."

Chen Hao looked at her, a slight smile playing on his lips. He reached out and gently touched the flag of the small black flag, which trembled slightly at his fingertips.

"Don't worry," he said calmly. "That dragon isn't very powerful. Besides, so many years have passed; it has grown stronger, but the formation hasn't changed. It can come out whenever it wants."

The women gasped simultaneously.

Yang Wanqing hugged Yuehen tightly: "You can come out anytime? Then why doesn't it come out?"

Chen Hao withdrew his hand and looked at the two small flags on the array plate: "It's because it doesn't want to come out; there's something below that can help it cultivate."

Chen Siyao subconsciously moved closer to Chen Hao.

Chen Hao placed his hand on the edge of the stone platform and gently pushed it back.

The stone platform remained unmoved.

He pushed again, this time with a bit more force. The stone platform made a dull "thud," as if something had been opened. The ground behind the altar began to sink, revealing a set of dark steps leading downwards, their destination unknown.

Chen Siyao shone her phone into the cave entrance, but the light was swallowed by the darkness, and she couldn't see the bottom.

"Brother..." Her voice trembled slightly, "Do we really have to go down?"

Chen Hao glanced at her: "Scared?"

"I'm not afraid," Chen Siyao puffed out her chest. "It's just a little cold."

Chen Hao didn't expose her, and took the lead in stepping down the stairs: "Stay close to me, don't get separated."

Chen Siyao took a deep breath and followed. Yang Wanqing carried Yuehen behind, with Cai Jingwen and Li Li bringing up the rear. The girls all turned on their phone flashlights, and beams of light flickered in the darkness, illuminating the moss and dampness on the steps.

The steps were narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time. The walls on both sides were damp and cold to the touch. There was a musty, rotten smell in the air, mixed with a faint earthy odor.

Yuehen peeked out from Yang Wanqing's arms, straining her ears to listen to the sounds in the darkness, her nostrils flaring.

After climbing about thirty or forty steps, the stone path under our feet suddenly changed. The blue brick steps disappeared, replaced by an uneven rock wall that hurt our feet when we stepped on it.

"Brother, the road has changed." Chen Siyao's voice rang out from ahead.

"This is a natural cave," Chen Hao's voice came from ahead. "The temple is built above the entrance to the underground river."

Chen Siyao shone her flashlight into the distance—the cave was huge, much bigger than she had imagined. Above her were jagged stalactites hanging down like rows of teeth. In the distance, she could hear the sound of flowing water, its rushing echoing through the cave.

The further you go in, the more spacious the cave becomes. Some luminous stones, pale green and pale blue, are embedded in the stalactites above your head, glowing softly like stars that have fallen from the sky into the earth.

"Fluorite." Tsai Ching-wen looked up at the glowing stones. "People used to call this kind of stone 'luminous pearl'."

Yang Wanqing reached out to touch the stalactite hanging from above, but couldn't reach it. She jumped, but still couldn't reach it. Yuehen, nestled in her arms, tilted her head back and looked up as well.

"Watch your step," Chen Hao's voice came from ahead.

Chen Siyao looked down and saw a huge spider web at her feet, stretching from the rock wall all the way to the stone pillar opposite, like an open gauze curtain.

The spider silk was very thick, more than ten times thicker than ordinary spider silk, and it shimmered with a silvery-white light under the fluorite's glow.

"It's so big!" She squatted down and took a close-up photo with her phone camera.

Curious, Yang Wanqing reached out and tugged at the spider silk. The silk was very resilient; she pulled several times but it didn't break, instead getting tangled in her fingers. She gave it a hard tug, and the silk snapped back, making a "buzzing" sound against the rock wall.

"It really doesn't break." She shook her hand, removing the strands that were wrapped around her fingers.

In the live stream, the number of comments started to decrease—not because no one was talking, but because everyone was afraid to speak loudly. The cave was too dark, the spider webs were too large, and the atmosphere was too terrifying.

[Youyou]: This place... why does it look like a horror movie set?

【Yaoyao's Little Red Riding Hood】: I got goosebumps.

[Lanxin]: Look at the top of your head, don't those stalactites look like people hanging upside down?

[I don't eat beef]: Don't even mention it! I'm too scared to sleep tonight!

But some are not afraid:

【I am Ying Zheng】: This is more interesting! Much more exciting than those well-developed tourist attractions!

[New User 001]: This is from the trending topics. What kind of live stream is this? Cave exploration?

[New User 002]: I heard there's a dragon? Is it true?

Chen Siyao didn't read the comments. She held up her phone, following behind Chen Hao, the beam of her flashlight sweeping across the cave. The other girls followed closely behind Chen Hao, Cai Jingwen almost pressed against his back.

After turning a corner around a rock face, a light suddenly appeared ahead. It wasn't the light from a flashlight; it was shining down from above.

A large expanse of fluorite is embedded in the rock ceiling, like a luminous galaxy. The light spills onto the ground, illuminating the entire cave in a hazy glow.

An underground river flows past the left side of the cave. The water is crystal clear, and you can see the white stones at the bottom. There are fish in the river, very large, probably weighing over ten kilograms, pure white with no scales, swimming around in the light of the fluorite.

"What a big fish!" Yang Wanqing went closer to the riverbank and tried to reach out and touch it.

"Don't touch it," Chen Hao's voice came from the front. "That fish eats meat."

Yang Wanqing withdrew her hand.

Moonhide peeked out from her arms, staring at the white fish in the river, letting out a low whimper. Its tail stopped wagging, its ears stood straight up, and its whole body was taut like a bow.

Chen Siyao noticed Yuehen's unusual behavior and was about to say something.

"ah--!"

Yang Wanqing suddenly screamed and bounced backward, crashing into Cai Jingwen. Cai Jingwen stumbled to the side from the impact, and Li Li quickly steadied her.

"What's wrong?" Chen Siyao shone her flashlight over.

Yang Wanqing's face turned pale. Pointing tremblingly at the top of the cave, she said, "There...there are giant spiders up there!"

The women all looked up at the same time.

Above the cave, among the stalactites, hung a huge spider web. It was several times larger than the ones we had seen earlier, like a spread-out net covering almost the entire cave ceiling.

In the center of the spiderweb lay a spider. The spider was as big as a sow, completely black, with eight legs covered in fine hairs, and its joints gleaming with a dark red light.

Its belly was bulging and it was expelling silk. The silvery-white silk hung down from its belly and shimmered in the light of the fluorite.

The most terrifying thing was its eyes. Not two, but several, lined up in two rows, glowing a dark red light in the darkness.

Cai Jingwen gasped and instinctively took a step back. Li Li immediately covered her mouth, almost screaming.