The retired man went into the wrong book, and his beautiful husband loved him

Ice cream cones are incredibly useful as a means of transportation! In the blink of an eye, they quickly brought the two of them back to the stone chamber halfway up the mountain where the Taoist temple was located.

However, the scene before them was jaw-dropping - the Taoist temple that was once bustling with activity and had a lot of incense was now empty, as if it had experienced a terrible catastrophe.

All the furnishings within the temple lay scattered across the ground. The exquisite furniture had already been shattered, and the solemn and majestic statues enshrined there were also not spared, all violently overturned. The entire Taoist temple was in shambles, as if it had been completely and thoroughly looted.

Lin Qiqi and Yun Qing stood cautiously at the door of the stone chamber, not rushing in. After carefully observing their surroundings for a moment, Lin Qiqi turned to the ice cream cone beside her and said, "Ice cream cone, go check if there are any other secret rooms hidden inside."

After receiving the order, Ice Cream Cone immediately took action and began to search carefully up and down.

Not long after, Tiantong excitedly reported to Lin Qiqi: "Master, I found that there is a secret room under this stone chamber! However, the area of ​​this secret room is much smaller than the one above. Moreover, there seems to be a complicated formation set up inside." Hearing this, Lin Qiqi and Yun Qing looked at each other, with a hint of surprise in their eyes.

Then, Ice Cream continued, "I've completed the scan of the interior of the chamber. Fortunately, no deadly substances were found inside. It seems that this is just an ordinary magic circle. We can go in directly without any worries."

Lin Qiqi had never been one to follow the rules, and she had no interest in the tedious task of searching for a mechanism. So, she made a quick decision, fully utilizing her control over the power of space and diving directly below.

As his body gradually descended, he soon reached the secret chamber at the bottom. This chamber was only about half the size of the stone chamber above. However, in stark contrast to the perpetually dim and dark environment above, the walls here were densely inlaid with numerous night-shining pearls.

These night pearls emit bright and soft light, like shining stars fallen to the earth, instantly illuminating the originally small and cramped space as bright and transparent as daylight.

As Yun Qing stepped into the secret room, an indescribable feeling of discomfort washed over him. He subconsciously raised his head and peered intently, only to see an intricate and mysterious totem meticulously carved on the ceiling. The totem was a vibrant red, its lines winding and intertwining.

Looking around again, the four walls were also covered with densely packed talismans, and the contents of the talismans carved on each wall were different. Some were shaped like flying dragons and dancing phoenixes, and some were shaped like strange characters, which were dazzling and overwhelming.

In the very center of the chamber stood a stone pillar, roughly half a man's height. Its shape was simple and elegant, its surface polished to a mirror-smooth finish. The most striking feature was the palm-sized jade lotus perched atop the pillar. The lotus was so lifelike, its petals layered and meticulously detailed, that it seemed poised to burst forth in the breeze, releasing its fragrance.

"This place gives me a really bad feeling..." Yun Qing couldn't help but mutter to himself. He felt as if every muscle in his body was being tightly bound by an invisible force. It began to grow stiffer and stiffer, and he even felt a faint pain coming from it.

Seeing this, Lin Qiqi quickly reached out and gently patted the back of Yun Qing's hand a few times, saying softly, "Don't be afraid. These things will put a certain amount of pressure on your soul. Your soul hasn't fully recovered yet, so some discomfort is inevitable."

"It turns out that this secret room is the key place where Madam Xu is imprisoned!" Lin Qiqi couldn't help but exclaimed.

She gazed at everything around her with a burning gaze and slowly spoke, "If my guess is correct, even though the soul exchange has been successful, the soul of the person in the palace lacks sufficient luck to bless it. Even if it forcibly takes over the Queen Mother's body, it will probably not be easy to achieve a perfect fusion."

As she spoke, Lin Qiqi shifted her gaze to the mysterious and ancient totem on the ceiling of the secret room and continued to explain: "Look at this totem on the top. Its purpose is to suppress the Queen Mother's own phoenix fate. And these densely packed and deeply engraved talismans around it are used to absorb the luck and purple energy in the Queen Mother's soul, and gradually pass it on to the imposter in the palace." As she spoke, Lin Qiqi reached out and gently stroked the talismans on the wall that were twisted like ghosts.

"To absorb the luck of a fate as precious as the Phoenix, the two must never be too far apart. This is precisely why this chamber within a chamber was specially constructed. And this is precisely why Madam Xu's life has been preserved for so many years. The Phoenix's soul can be controlled even after leaving the body once, but if it leaves the body twice in a short period of time, it will quickly become uncontrollable. Therefore, they can only constantly use various means to weaken Madam Xu's body in order to suppress the noble aura within her soul."

Lin Qiqi narrowed her eyes slightly and looked carefully at the mysterious and ancient talisman on the wall.

"Judging from the newness of this talisman, it was probably engraved here before Cang Qing replaced the National Master. This man is very scheming and patient, taking every step carefully. If there were both a phoenix and a real dragon in this palace all the time, it would be extremely difficult for him to even get close to this place." Lin Qiqi muttered to herself, feeling a little more wary of Cang Qing's wisdom.

Yun Qing stood quietly by the side, but as time went on, he became increasingly uncomfortable. His tense muscles gradually stiffened, and pain surged into his heart like a tide, causing him to curl up involuntarily.

Seeing this, Lin Qiqi was extremely anxious and quickly reached out to pull Yun Qing into the space she was carrying. After entering the space, she waved her delicate hands without hesitation, and powerful spiritual power instantly gushed out, like a surging torrent, rushing straight towards the formation and talismans in the secret room.

There was a crackling sound, and those originally indestructible formations and talismans collapsed and turned into nothing in an instant under her attack.

However, to Lin Qiqi's surprise, despite successfully destroying the barrier in the chamber, Yun Qing's condition didn't improve much. Instead, his face grew increasingly pale, bloodless. His body began to twitch uncontrollably, and beads of sweat, the size of beans, streamed down his forehead like crystal-clear pearls falling to the ground.

Lin Qiqi's heart clenched in anxiety. She quickly took out the spiritual dew and carefully poured three drops into Yun Qing's mouth. The spiritual dew melted in his mouth, transforming into a cool, sweet, warm current that flowed down Yun Qing's throat, nourishing his damaged soul.

Time passed minute by minute, and after a quarter of an hour, Yun Qing finally stopped twitching and his body gradually relaxed. However, his eyes were still tightly closed, his face was pale, and he looked very weak.

Lin Qiqi frowned, gazing at Yun Qing worriedly, muttering to herself, "Could I have misjudged you? Your condition doesn't seem like your soul being affected by the magic circle. Ah Qing, do you think you're being affected by the totem inside, or by this strange spell? I can't quite make out what's going on..."

Yun Qing shook his head slightly and said softly, "That's not the case. Actually, the problem lies with the golden pigment used to depict these talismans. It always emits a faint smell of rust, and it is this strange smell that causes my body to react abnormally. I began to spasm and twitch uncontrollably."

Lin Qiqi slapped her thigh in frustration and said regretfully, "Oh no! This is bad! We acted too early and have already destroyed them all."

Then, she turned her gaze to the ice cream cone, her face showing embarrassment. She raised her hand and touched the tip of her nose, and asked with a hint of hope: "Ice cream cone, can you help me analyze the specific composition of this pigment?"

After receiving the order, Tiantong immediately started the testing without hesitation. Not long after, the test results came out.

Ice Cream reported to Lin Qiqi, "Master, after careful testing, we've discovered that this pigment contains an extremely rare radioactive substance and inhibitory ingredients. Don't worry, despite this, it won't cause direct harm to the human body. However, it can affect the magnetic field here, causing it to become chaotic and thus blocking the use of most spells."

Hearing this, Lin Qiqi couldn't help but widen her eyes and asked curiously: "So, could it be that the technical means used here and the proportion of high-tech products actually exceed traditional mystical arts?" This unexpected discovery instantly ignited her strong interest.

Ice Cream nodded: "You can understand it that way. There is a formation, but it is actually high technology that blocks the detection of mysterious arts."