Siheyuan: The Temptation of the Mountains

However, just when they thought the mission was accomplished, the sacred tree suddenly trembled violently.

Black cracks spread across the tree trunk. It seemed that the source of the darkness had not been completely sealed. Instead, it began to counterattack frantically as if stimulated.

Lin Ze's face showed extreme fear, his heart seemed to be jumping out of his throat, he was frantically trying to increase the power output of the artifact. The little girl standing next to him was even more panicked, she clasped her hands together and closed her eyes tightly, she kept muttering something, as if she was praying to the sky nervously.

At this moment, a low roar was heard from the roots of the sacred tree, followed by a surge of black mucus gushing out like a flood. The black mucus quickly condensed into hideous and distorted monsters in the air, and they pounced towards Lin Ze and the little girl with their fangs and claws.

Seeing this, Lin Ze grabbed the little girl's hand without hesitation, and the two stumbled back while anxiously thinking about how to deal with it. At this moment, Lin Ze had a flash of inspiration in his mind: since this artifact can lead him to this place, it may have some unknown magical functions!

So, Lin Ze took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, then slowly closed his eyes and concentrated all his energy to feel the power fluctuations inside the artifact. After careful exploration, he finally noticed an unusually active energy node.

Without any hesitation, Lin Ze immediately mobilized all the strength in his body and carefully injected it into the energy node. In an instant, the artifact seemed to be ignited, and suddenly burst out a dazzling light. This strong light instantly turned into a huge light shield, like an indestructible fortress, firmly protecting Lin Ze and the little girl.

However, Lin Ze did not stop there. He suddenly opened his eyes, with a determined light flashing in his eyes, and rushed towards the holy tree without hesitation with the artifact in hand. When approaching the holy tree, the artifact seemed to have life and began to absorb the surrounding dark power crazily.

Lin Ze gritted his teeth, veins popped out on his forehead, and beads of sweat rolled down. The pain caused by the dark power entering his body was like a thousand ants gnawing at his heart, which was unbearable. But he still endured the pain, and with his tenacious willpower, he forced the dark power into the artifact bit by bit.

Time passed by minute by minute. In this thrilling contest, Lin Ze never gave up. Finally, as the last trace of dark power was successfully absorbed into the artifact, the originally violently shaking holy tree gradually regained its calm. At the same time, the source of the endless dark power seemed to be completely sealed, and it could no longer cause trouble.

The whole world returned to a peaceful and tranquil state. The sun shone through the clouds, and the breeze gently caressed the earth. Everything seemed so beautiful. Lin Ze and the little girl, who had experienced this life-and-death test, became eternal legendary heroes in people's minds. Their heroic deeds were passed down from generation to generation.

Many years later, Lin Ze had become a respected elder. One day, he came alone to the place where the sacred tree once stood. It was already lush and green, full of life. As Lin Ze was feeling deeply moved, he suddenly discovered a faint dark aura next to the sacred tree. He was startled and alert.

Just as he was about to explore, the little girl who had grown up appeared behind him. She said that she had been dreaming that there was something strange here recently. Lin Ze decided to take her with him to explore. They dug along the faint smell and found a crystal emitting a dark light. As soon as Lin Ze picked up the crystal, the surrounding scene suddenly changed and they were in a dark space.

It turns out that this crystal is the core of the dark power that remained in the past. After being sealed for many years, the power weakened and then leaked out. At this time, the phantoms of the terrifying monsters in the past kept emerging in the dark space to attack them. Lin Ze held the artifact tightly and fought back to back with the girl. Lin Ze used his experience to skillfully guide the power of the artifact and resolve the attacks again and again. Finally, Lin Ze found the weak point of the dark core and smashed it with a full-strength blow. The dark space disappeared, and they returned to the holy tree and smiled at each other.

After this battle, Lin Ze knew that although this land seemed peaceful, it might still hide unknown dangers. He decided to stay for a while to protect the area around the sacred tree. The little girl also expressed her willingness to help, after all, this was also where she cared about.

In the following days, they built a simple residence. During the day, Lin Ze taught the little girl more skills on how to use the artifact and how to deal with the dark forces; at night, they took turns to keep watch, alert to any possible dark movements that might appear again.

On a silent night, the sky was shrouded in inky black, with only a few stars twinkling faintly. Lin Ze was alone on night watch, vigilantly watching the movements around him. Suddenly, he noticed something strange - the legendary sacred tree, between its lush branches and leaves, was actually glowing faintly!

Lin Ze rubbed his eyes, thinking he was hallucinating, but when he looked again, he found that the faint lights had gradually gathered together to form a clear and visible mysterious map. This map seemed to have an invisible magic that attracted Lin Ze's attention.

Lin Ze was shocked and realized that this might be an important discovery. He quickly woke up the sleeping little girl and brought her to the holy tree. The little girl looked at the strange scene in front of her with sleepy eyes and was so surprised that she couldn't close her mouth.

"What is this?" the little girl asked curiously.

Lin Ze frowned, pondered for a moment, and then replied: "I guess this may be a clue to lead us to a certain place, and this place is likely to be related to the dark power."

A trace of fear flashed across the little girl's eyes, but was quickly replaced by determination. "Then we must go and take a look! Maybe we can find a way to fight against the dark forces."

So, the two of them packed their bags without hesitation and prepared to embark on this unknown journey. They knew that the road ahead was full of difficulties and obstacles, but their inner courage and belief in justice made them have no intention of retreating.

The first rays of sunlight in the morning shone on the earth. Lin Ze and the little girl carried simple packages on their backs, held their respective artifacts, and resolutely moved forward along the direction indicated on the map. Along the way, they passed through dense forests, climbed over steep mountains, and waded through turbulent rivers... Every step was extremely difficult.

However, no matter what difficulties they encounter, they always support each other and never leave each other. Because they understand that as long as they stay by each other's side, and with the help of the magic weapon in their hands, they will be able to overcome many difficulties, uncover the truth hidden behind the darkness, and continue to write their own legendary story.