I discovered a world bug.

Chapter 102 Strange Phenomena

"So how exactly did you meet Lin Shu?"

Xie Yuchi looked at Xiao Lengfeng with a scrutinizing gaze—somewhat like a mother-in-law looking at her daughter-in-law, but with an added, indescribable undertone.

Sour?

Why haven't I heard of you having so many girls around you before?

Speaking of rituals, Xiao Lengfeng probably knew about them before I did, right?

How could this be!

I was here first...

Xiao Lengfeng looked at Xie Yuchi, his eyes darting around.

"Oh...I understand."

She clicked her tongue twice.

"An immoral relationship between an older woman and a younger man! They're possessive of each other!"

"Food-guarding my foot!"

Xie Yuchi raised his hand as if to slap her, but Xiao Lingfeng dodged it with a grin.

"It was just work-related contact... He asked me about the pronunciation of some characters in ancient Chinese before, and now that I think about it, it must have been the incantations needed in the ritual."

"Some ritual incantations must be pronounced with a specific pronunciation to be effective—you understand that, right?"

'

"understand."

Xie Yuchi nodded.

That's reasonable—no, what does it matter if it's reasonable or not?

Why should I care about this?

With a formidable enemy at hand, we can't even get the important matters done, why bother with all this sentimental stuff?

For me, the most important thing right now is to complete the assessment, choose my future work direction, and officially join this new world of "ritual"!

However, this is not a decision that can be made easily.

What direction do you plan to take next?

Xie Yuchi asked, "Frontline support, or platform support?"

"I guess I can only do platform support work now — what I've learned is only useful from the back end."

Xiao Lengfeng got up from the ground, spread his hands and said, "I don't want to go to the front line either. The current front-line operations are too dangerous and there are too many unknown factors. I just can't handle it."

"And in reality, the authorities would never allow it."

"The work on the front lines is incredibly complex and multifaceted. Many important decisions are made directly by frontline staff on-site. Those who can participate are the elite of the elite."

"A newbie like me—and you too—has absolutely no chance of being approved for a frontline position."

"That's not necessarily true."

Xie Yuchi blinked.

"With everything in need of rebuilding now, the selection criteria will likely be lowered. What if there's a chance?"

"No matter where you are, those who rush to the front are the most sought-after and receive the greatest rewards."

"If you don't join now, when will you?"

Everyone has their own ambitions.

Xiao Lengfeng pursed his lips.

"Of course, the older sister wants to show off her skills! Fighting alongside her childhood friend and younger brother—doesn't that sound amazing?"

"Unlike me, I just want to stay in the background and take care of logistics, be a good wife and such..."

"6

'

...I'll tear your mouth apart!

Xie Yuchi pretended to pinch Xiao Lingfeng's face, and the latter laughed and fell down, seemingly very satisfied with Xie Yuchi's reaction.

The two were rolling around and playfully wrestling when Xiao Lengfeng suddenly spoke up: "Hey, hey, my brother messaged me..."

'

"Still acting, huh?"

Xie Yuchi waited for Xiao Lengfeng, but the unrestrained smile on Xiao Lengfeng's face slowly faded.

"No, this time it's for real."

Xiao Lengfeng broke free from Xie Yuchi and sat up. On his phone, the picture Lin Shu had sent had already been opened.

It was a strange stone inscription, seemingly carved into a rock face.

The blinding white light swept across the rock wall from the side, which ironically made the engraved characters appear exceptionally clear.

Below the picture, Lin Shu sent a message.

"Lingfeng, can you help me figure out what these words mean?"

On the other side, behind the old village of Huawu.

After seeing Bansongbumo off, following the clues she left behind, Lin Shu led her team to the "cave" she had mentioned.

.

According to her, the strange "life" or "connection" gestating in this cave is the root cause of a series of tragic murders that occurred in her village when she was young.

Once those "life forms" inside were destroyed, the anomalies in the village also came to an end.

From Bansongbumo's description, Lin Shu could easily guess that there might have been some kind of "array" in this cave.

Whether this formation was set up by humans or was just a coincidence, a creation of nature, it is strongly related to the anomalies in Huawu Village.

Furthermore, it is also strongly related to the possible "method of avoiding disaster".

I have to go and see for myself—even if I don't find anything directly, finding some clues would be very useful to the analysts at the rear base.

After overcoming numerous obstacles, Lin Shu finally located the cave, only to find that the entrance had long been covered by thick vines and loose soil.

The group grabbed their entrenching tools and stepped forward, splitting and clearing away the vines to reveal a cave that hadn't been visited for decades.

After Jin Yue completed a simple reconnaissance mission using the drone and confirmed that there was no danger inside the cave, he asked Lin Shu, "Shall we go in?"

"This hole is very shallow, and there doesn't seem to be anything special inside."

"Then let's go in and take a look."

Lin Shu stepped into the cave. The ground was littered with rubble, pottery shards, unidentified metal fragments, and bones of unknown origin. He carefully walked around them, Chen Zhu following closely behind. Suddenly, out of the blue, Chen Zhu said, "Ah, what a pity, not enough time..."

'

"What do you mean there's not enough time?"

Lin Shu turned around in horror—for a moment, he even thought that Chen Zhu was being controlled by something.

However, that's not actually the case.

Chen Zhu simply entered the "profile" state once again.

"I said, there's not enough time; we don't have time to decorate it any better."

"These things were definitely done by human hands... Although there are signs of fire, the overall structure was not damaged."

As he spoke, Chen Zhu squatted down.

"Look, these stones have all been hammered and polished."

"They weren't just placed here randomly; they were selected."

"These ores... copper, iron, crystal... what is this? It looks like coal, but why isn't it burning?"

After a slight pause, she continued, "These ores must have been brought from elsewhere by the person who built this cave. He must have searched for and transported them many times."

"At first, he was very selective."

"For example, these copper ores, even disregarding their mineral value, are very pure and have a beautiful appearance."

"But when it comes to crystal, things start to become perfunctory."

"And these iron slag and coal ash... by this point, he had already given up on pursuing perfection. He probably just grabbed them from some blacksmith shop."

"He's running out of time, it's urgent... but what could be so urgent?"

Chen Zhu clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"This is the extent of our deduction."

I don't know the answer to that question either.

"It's okay."

Lin Shu gave her a thumbs up.

"It's already quite good that we've been able to deduce this far. If you weren't here, we probably would have needed even more time."

"Um."

Chen Zhu nodded silently and stood quietly to the side, seemingly still deep in thought.

Lin Shu began to walk back and forth throughout the cave—compared to Chen Zhu, who was focused on the "event" itself, he was more concerned with the basic form of this artificially constructed "array system".

His brain raced, trying to connect the "arrangement" he saw with the "array" he had memorized, but to no avail.

Since the information we have is limited, we can only ask for help from the rear.

"Jin Yue, use the sonar to draw a complete map of this cave, then send it back to the rear so they can help us make a judgment."

"Bansommo said that when she left, she only set a fire and did not damage any of the internal structures."

"That's very likely. From that day until we opened the cave entrance, no one came here again, and the layout inside remained unchanged, preserving its original state."

"Send the image back and see if we can get any results from the comparison."

"clear."

Jin Yue responded immediately—the drone, equipped with a sonar mapping module, quickly took off and entered the cave.

Under the detection of the precise echo mapping system, every detail inside the cave was revealed.

but...

"team leader!"

Jin Yue looked at Lin Shu—after being saved again, he had become incredibly accustomed to calling him "Captain."

"There's a problem!"

"What's the problem?"

Lin Shu walked quickly toward him and glanced at the screen.

At that moment, Jin Yue's finger was pointing to the center of the screen.

"This area is empty."

"There's another layer beneath the floor of this cave!"

A few minutes later, the group found the entrance to the "underground level" of the cave.

The thick layer of soil on the ground had been cleared away, and beneath it lay several heavy bluestones.

It's obvious that what's pressing down under these bluestones is the real secret of this cave!

Bansombomo may have indeed destroyed the "surface decorations" of the cave with a fire, but it is highly likely that it truly...

Its "core" has not been destroyed!

This is absolutely a major discovery.

Lin Shu was already looking forward to finding something down there.

"Open it."

At a command, the special forces soldiers rushed forward and lifted the bluestone.

Lin Shu instinctively covered his mouth and nose—he had originally thought that the lower levels of space would be filled with the stench of death.

But no, it didn't.

Fresh air rose from underground, carrying with it an indescribable, faint fragrance.

What is down there?

Lin Shu couldn't wait to jump down from the hole, but Jin Yue stopped him and then cautiously launched the drone for reconnaissance first.

A moment later, the live footage captured by the drone was presented to everyone.

After just one glance, everyone froze on the spot.

Below that...

is a person.

A person sitting cross-legged, dressed in Taoist robes.

He appeared to be dead; in the thermal fusion night vision footage, his body emitted not a trace of heat, completely blending into the ambient temperature.

but...

He doesn't seem like a dead person.

His skin was rosy and plump, and his hair was soft and smooth.

On the stone wall beside him, there is a long string of symbols.

But Lin Shu couldn't understand any of those symbols.

Lin Shu took a screenshot and sent it to Leng Feng, adding, "Could you help me figure out what these words mean?"

0

And just as he finished sending the message and looked up...

From the drone's perspective, the person, the "corpse," has changed.

he...

I opened my eyes!