Qi Yu remained motionless in her original posture, completely stunned. She never expected that a casual step would trigger a mechanism.
"This actually leads to an underground palace," Sui You, who was bolder, said after stepping inside. She gently tapped the stone door before her and looked around.
The stone door before them looked no different from ordinary roadside stones, likely crafted from a nondescript piece of common rock.
Because the quality of the stone was very ordinary, no patterns could be carved on it. This resulted in a smooth surface with no indentations or handles.
"I wonder if this thing is meant to be pulled inward or pushed outward," Yue Zhiyin said, walking to the side and tapping it lightly.
Qi Nian pressed her ear against the outside of the door, listening intently. She faintly heard the sound of dripping water.
"Come on, everyone, let's push it inward together," Ming Lou rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward. He placed his hands on both sides of the door panels and pushed forward with all his might.
They had expected the door to be very difficult to push, so everyone had exerted their full strength.
However, to their utter surprise, as soon as they pushed the door inward, it seemed to sense a mechanism and crashed down with a rumbling sound.
The door caught everyone off guard. Qi Yu and Si Qing, who had exerted the most force and were standing furthest back, were caught off guard.
As a result, Ming Lou and the others in front, having lunged forward and missed, tumbled to the ground. Qi Yu and Si Qing then fell on top of them due to inertia.
"Ow, I..." Ming Lou, at the very bottom, let out a piteous wail. He tremblingly raised a hand, "Why are you still lying on me? Get up quickly, you're crushing me."
Yue Zhiyin also wanted to get up, but with others pressing down from behind, she couldn't move.
Once everyone had managed to get up, Ming Lou sat on the two large stone doors and grumbled, "Which son of a bitch set up this trap? If the stone doors are meant to fall with a push, there should at least be a warning! It just crashed down with a rumble, trying to scare us to death!"
Yue Zhiyin picked up the complaining Ming Lou from the ground. "Stop cursing for now. There's the sound of dripping water inside this stone door. I don't know if it's seawater or freshwater. Let's go in and see. This place doesn't seem to be on the treasure map notice."
Ming Lou grunted and laboriously got to his feet.
Qi Yu took out candles from her storage pouch and distributed one to each person. She held hers and walked slowly forward.
Si Qing, walking behind Qi Yu, observed their surroundings. "Have you noticed how incredibly cold and damp this place is? I think if possible, this place isn't very suitable for spirit beasts or spiritual herbs to survive. It's more suited for bats."
It was both cold and damp, and the hygiene didn't seem particularly good. As they entered the stone chamber, a strong smell of dampness wafted out.
And there seemed to be a rotten odor as well.
The further Qi Yu walked, the more she couldn't stand the smell. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, she wanted to find another route to explore elsewhere. Coincidentally, she bumped into Si Qing, who was standing nearby in deep thought.
The candles in their hands fell to the ground with a crisp *bang*.
Ming Lou, who had been intently observing their surroundings, was startled by the sudden noise.
Qi Yu was about to bend down to pick up the fallen candle when she suddenly heard Si Qing shout, "Duck, cover your eyes and run!"
Immediately after, she was yanked by the arm by Si Qing and they sprinted outwards.
Qi Yu was in a daze throughout the entire ordeal and had no time to react. By the time she managed to keep up with Si Qing's speed and looked back,
She saw many creatures with sharp fangs and bluish wings, resembling butterflies but three to four times larger. They were swarming towards them, letting out sharp roars as they attacked.