Crossing the wilderness to survive, starting with a broken kitchen knife.

Seeing that Zhang Shi and the other three had decided to descend into the crypt, Master An returned to the Soul-Binding Bell and radiated the light from his body. The bell shone like a golden lamp, radiant even in daylight.

"Alright, stay within the range of my light, and I'll protect you from being disturbed by the possessed spirits."

Zhang Shi hung the bell on his chest and said to everyone.

"Everyone, get ready for battle. Huo Xiuxiu should have escaped by now. If you want to go back, you'll have to fight her."

Everyone took out their weapons, gathered around Zhang Shi, and entered the dungeon again.

The dim tunnel was illuminated extremely brightly by the light from the bell. Zhao Feng became bolder and muttered as he walked.

"This place is really weird. I didn't get anything good from it and almost lost my life. If I were to come again, I wouldn't come."

Ge Dalong was the organizer of this expedition, and he felt a little guilty when he heard this.

"This exploration is all my fault. I didn't correctly judge the dungeon and monster strength, which put everyone in danger."

Zhao Feng felt that he had said something wrong and quickly put his arm around Ge Dalong's shoulders.

"Hey, Lao Ge, don't worry. I don't blame you. It's all because of this crappy dungeon. It's so poor and difficult. If you really feel bad about it, next time there's a similar scroll, just call me."

Ge Dalong patted Zhao Feng's hand and nodded with a smile.

"Silence!"

Master An's voice came from the bell, and the four of them immediately grasped their weapons and became alert.

Zhang Shi walked in front, activated Dingzhen, looked forward, and found two mud monsters wandering aimlessly in the passage, apparently on patrol.

Zhang Shi gave a wink to a few people, and everyone understood what he meant. They each used their own methods to easily deal with the two mud monsters.

"Once this monster is dead, Huo Linjian should know we are coming. Everyone, be careful and don't get ambushed by it."

"It doesn't matter. With me here, no one can do anything under my nose."

Mr. An is quite confident in his own abilities, but Zhang Shi does not trust this strange old man very much.

The four continued to move forward and soon arrived at the altar.

Zhang Shi glanced at the relics scattered on the ground, on which were Zhao Feng's fingerprints.

"Hey, I lost consciousness here before. I was digging for gold when suddenly everything went black and I knew nothing."

Zhao Feng pointed at the area and described it vividly.

Zhang Shi felt a tightness in his heart when he looked at the clean ground, but he did not show it on his face. He called everyone to go to the secret room.

The four of them groped their way in carefully, but found that there was no one inside. It seemed that Huo Xiuxiu and the other two had already left.

"What's going on, Master An, take a look and see if there's anything wrong."

"Nothing unusual, Xiuxiu should have left."

Master An made his judgment with great certainty.

Zhang Shi heard this and led everyone away. Passing by the altar, he casually glanced over, confirming that the spot where Zhao Feng had disappeared was clean. Suddenly, he remembered the instructions for the dungeon scroll and searched through the team chat logs.

After a moment, Zhang Shi suddenly understood.

……

The four of them returned to the ground. Zhao Feng yawned, glanced at the time, and found that it was already two o'clock in the afternoon.

"Hey, I don't know what's going on, but I feel so tired. It might be because of that possessed spirit. My body has become weak."

Zhang Shi took off the soul-binding bell, held Lao Duan in his other hand, and looked at everyone with a smile.

"It's normal to feel tired. Isn't everyone tired?"

Wu Qing and Ge Dalong looked at each other and nodded.

"That's right. Actually, it's been 15 hours since we opened the dungeon."

Ge Dalong looked at Zhang Shi suspiciously and asked puzzledly.

"Zhang Shi, you were pulled into the 'past' and have spent twice as much time as us. But we only exist in this time and space and haven't experienced any changes."

Zhang Shi shook his head and pointed at the soul-binding bell.

"You'll have to ask Master An about all this. Even now, the four of us are in an illusion he created."

Mr. An remained silent and said nothing. Seeing this, Zhang Shi continued to talk to himself.

"After Zhao Feng disappeared, I left a mark at the spot. This happened before I met you, so you weren't aware of it. That's why when you passed the altar just now, the ground was clean and you didn't see the mark I left."

Wu Qing activated the Staff of Ancestors and asked.

"But isn't he going to leave this village with us? What's the point of creating an illusion to deceive us?"

Zhang Shi gently shook the soul-binding bell and continued.

"Of course they don't dare let us meet Huo Xiuxiu. If we meet her, all the bad things Master An has done will be exposed."

Ge Dalong interrupted.

"That's still not right. Even so, there's no point in dragging Master An on. If we can't get the Soul-Restoring Bell, he'll be trapped with us and can't leave."

Zhang Shi raised his arm and shook the watch on his wrist.

"Have you forgotten that when we used the scroll, we were reminded that this dungeon has a time limit? I think, even if we do nothing, we will be forcibly teleported back to the wilderness world in an hour."

Ge Dalong suddenly realized, then raised his wand and stared at the soul-binding bell.

"So, Master An already knew we would be teleported back, and he created the illusion to buy time."

Zhang Shi nodded and added.

"In fact, we had already unknowingly fallen into an illusion and even ignored the speed of time. But our bodies will not be deceived. After such a long period of high-intensity action, we will more or less feel a little tired."

Master An was silent for a long time, then he took the initiative to transform himself, clapped his hands, and spoke to Zhang Shi with great appreciation.

"You guessed most of it right, but the thing that really exposed my weakness was your kitchen knife. It's quite extraordinary."

Zhang Shi placed Lao Duan across the bell and said coldly.

"Now that you've been exposed, stop pretending."

Master An waved his hand in a very cooperative gesture, and the scene before the four people shattered like shards of glass. The originally gloomy sky suddenly became even darker, and only the golden light emitted by Master An illuminated the surroundings.

After coming out of the illusion, Zhao Feng pointed at Master An and cursed him angrily.

"You, Lao Deng, are so shameless that you dare to plot against us in secret. You will stay in this village for the rest of your life."

Master An shook his head and said with a solemn oath.

"I'm not the only one targeting you. Compared to them, my purpose is simpler. At a critical moment, I can even protect you. You won't lose anything by taking me away."

Zhao Feng wanted to argue with Master An, but was stopped by Zhang Shi.

"What do you mean? Who else is targeting us? Speak clearly."

Grandpa An also spoke without hesitation and pointed in the direction of the ancestral hall.

"That black tiger has guarded the ancestral hall for countless years. Over the years, no soul has dared to approach the ancestral hall. What do you think it relies on?"

"I was supposed to be staying in the ancestral hall's underground palace, but I inexplicably appeared in the crypt beneath Huo Youming's tomb and was used as a magical weapon to suppress Huo Xiuxiu. Who do you think did this?"

"Now that Huo Xiuxiu has escaped, having been trapped in the underground palace for years, she's determined to seek revenge. Without my protection, how can you four survive in their hands? Humph, wishful thinking!"