Siheyuan: The Temptation of the Mountains

As we went deeper into the forest, the road became more rugged. Suddenly, the woman in white stopped and pointed to a cave and said, "There may be clues to leave the forest there."

Lin Ze approached the cave cautiously, and as soon as he stepped in, he felt a strong suction force.

Everyone was sucked into the cave, which turned out to be a maze-like space. The woman in white disappeared.

When Lin Ze found out that he had been deceived, a rage instantly rose from the bottom of his heart, burning his reason. However, he knew that anger would be useless at this moment, and he had to find a way to get out of this strange predicament as soon as possible.

They were groping their way forward cautiously in the intricate maze that was like a spider web. Suddenly, someone exclaimed - they saw that the surrounding walls were densely engraved with strange and incomprehensible mysterious runes! These runes seemed to have some kind of magic power, and people couldn't help but feel cold at a glance.

Lin Ze suppressed his fear and irritability and studied the runes carefully. After some hard thinking, he was pleasantly surprised to find that as long as he gently touched some of the specific runes, the originally closed passage would undergo a miraculous change, thus opening up a new path. Just when everyone was excited about this, a melodious and familiar flute sound suddenly rang in their ears. At the same time, the eerie laughter came again, like a ghost demanding life, which was creepy.

Everyone looked at each other, their faces pale. Lin Ze took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He realized that the seemingly weak and harmless woman in white was actually the real guardian of this forest, and everything he had experienced before was just a carefully designed test. And now, the real huge crisis has arrived!

At this critical moment, Lin Ze showed extraordinary calmness and decisiveness. He quickly directed the rest of the people to move forward steadily according to the rune route he had just deciphered. Although there were still dangers along the way, fortunately there was no danger.

Finally, their efforts paid off and they successfully found the source of the flute sound. The woman in white was standing not far away, with an expression of disbelief and surprise on her face. Lin Ze's eyes widened with anger, and he shouted at her: "Don't even think about your conspiracy succeeding! Today is your doom!" Before he finished speaking, he pounced on the woman in white like an arrow from a bow.

The two sides then launched a thrilling life-and-death struggle. For a moment, the flashes of swords and the shouts of killing were intertwined. After several rounds of fierce competition, Lin Ze gradually figured out the opponent's moves and routines, and keenly noticed her fatal weakness - the crystal clear jade flute that she held tightly in her hand!

Seeing the right moment, Lin Ze rushed forward with all his strength, snatched the jade flute from the woman in white, and broke it without hesitation. A crisp breaking sound resounded throughout the space, and the woman in white immediately let out a shrill scream, and the whole person seemed to have her soul sucked out, and she collapsed to the ground, unable to move at all.

As the woman in white fell, the mysterious maze began to tremble violently, and then slowly dissipated into nothingness at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Lin Ze wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh.

Afterwards, he led his companions successfully out of the foggy forest and embarked on a long journey full of unknowns and challenges again.

Soon after Lin Ze and his companions continued on their way, they came across a small town. The people in the town seemed peaceful, but Lin Ze always felt vaguely uneasy. After resting in the town for a night, the next morning, they found that all the townspeople had disappeared, and a thick fog filled the surroundings.

Some figures gradually emerged from the mist, just like the runes in the maze. Lin Ze knew that things were not over yet. Those rune creatures attacked them, and Lin Ze led his companions to resist.

The fierce battle was in full swing, Lin Ze brandished the sword in his hand and fought desperately with those hideous rune creatures. Suddenly, he keenly noticed a key detail - these rune creatures seemed to have a deep fear of sunlight.

This discovery gave Lin Ze an idea. He quickly took out a bronze mirror from his waist, adjusted the angle, and cleverly refracted the sunlight onto the rune creatures. In an instant, the dazzling light was like a blazing torrent, fiercely impacting the rune creatures, forcing them to retreat again and again.

Taking advantage of the brief interval when the rune creatures were temporarily forced to retreat, Lin Ze and his companions did not dare to delay for even a moment, and immediately dispersed, nervously searching for the reason why the townspeople disappeared. As time passed, everyone became extremely anxious, but they still found nothing.

Just when everyone was about to fall into despair, Lin Ze suddenly noticed something strange about an old house not far away. After walking closer and taking a closer look, he was surprised to find a hidden door under the corner of the house that was not easy to detect!

Lin Ze carefully pushed open the secret door, and the scene in front of him shocked him: a group of frightened and haggard townspeople were imprisoned here. What was even more unexpected was that the mysterious woman in white was not alone, she had some vicious accomplices! Obviously, the reason they acted like this was to avenge Lin Ze for destroying their carefully planned conspiracy.

A strong sense of justice surged in Lin Ze's heart. He cut the chains without hesitation, rescued the trapped townspeople, and led them to join the battle against the rune creatures.

After a tough battle, Lin Ze finally found the core array that controlled the rune creatures in a hidden corner. He took a deep breath, gathered all his strength on the sword, and then struck the core array with all his strength. With a loud "bang", the core array instantly collapsed and shattered, turning into countless flashing points of light that dissipated in the air.

As the core magic circle was destroyed, the originally ferocious rune creatures seemed to have lost their support, and they collapsed to the ground one after another, gradually turning into nothingness. Seeing this, the townspeople cheered and their excitement was beyond words.

After successfully rescuing the townspeople, Lin Ze and his companions declined their requests to stay, waved goodbye to them, and then packed their bags again to continue their long journey full of unknowns and challenges. What kind of adventures await them ahead? No one knows, but Lin Ze and his companions are not afraid, and they take firm steps, moving farther and farther towards the distant horizon.