System: Infinite Evolution into Qilin Bloodline

"call……"

After everyone arrived, they all breathed a sigh of relief and slumped on the ground to rest for a long time before getting up to head to Gutongjing.

"follow me!"

Zhang Hao has already located the passage to Gutongjing using echolocation.

Ten minutes later, he led everyone through several crevices to the edge of a cliff, pointed to the darkness ahead, and said, "Below is the ancient city of Gutongjing!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Tianzhen, Fatty, and the others shone their flashlights forward.

Several beams of light illuminated a large area in front of them, making it as bright as day, but the area outside the light remained pitch black, with nothing in sight—no trace of the ancient city of Tongjing.

"Brother Zhang Hao, you said the ancient city of Gutongjing is down there, but I haven't seen it!"

"Yes, Uncle, it was pitch black ahead, how did you figure out that Gutongjing was down there?"

"You'll know if you fire a flashbang."

"Brother Zhang Hao is right!"

The fat man responded and pulled out a flashbang from his backpack, then fired it towards the edge of the cliff.

With a loud "bang," a flash of white light illuminated half the sky.

Under the white light, a massive ancient city appeared before everyone's eyes.

The ancient city is surrounded by towering walls on all four sides, each wall being at least four or five hundred meters long. At the center of the wall is a huge city gate, and outside the gate is a moat.

The ancient city is even more bustling, with various buildings arranged neatly according to certain rules.

At the very center is a street where two wide avenues intersect to form a cross.

"My goodness! Who would have thought that there was such a magnificent ancient city hidden beneath the yellow sand!"

"Legend has it that the ancient city of Tongjing was once very prosperous, but it disappeared overnight. What caused it to be buried under the desert?"

"Uncle, you're amazing! I have a feeling this isn't your first time in Gutongjing. You seem to know everything here very well?"

……

Just then, the flashbang went out, and the cave was plunged into darkness once again.

"The ancient city of Gutongjing is right below. Let's go down the cliff first!"

Zhang Hao gave a signal, and Xie Xiaohua took out a climbing rope from her backpack and secured it to the cliff. Then, everyone slid down the rope.

Once they reached the bottom of the cliff, the fat man remarked, "Thanks to the archaeological team for their comprehensive equipment, which we were able to use in the end, it wasn't a complete waste."

Zhang Hao smiled; this outcome was also unexpected.

He originally just wanted to hitch a ride with a guide to take them deep into the desert, but who would have thought that the entire archaeological team would be wiped out shortly after entering the desert.

They brought the rest of their equipment to Gutongjing.

Without this equipment, they would have encountered a lot of trouble along the way.

Below the cliff, there are many broken branches and logs, making it difficult to walk through.

Fatty and Xie Xiaohua, each carrying a long knife, led the way, while Zhang Qilin brought up the rear to ensure the safety of the group. The others walked in the middle of the group, constantly observing the surroundings.

"Brother Zhang Hao, there are no wild animals or similar creatures in this desert. Is it really necessary to be so cautious?"

"This is where the Wang family operates, so it's best to be careful."

"I understand."

The fat man responded and became serious.

Suddenly he exclaimed, "Look! What's that over there!"

Following the direction the fat man pointed, everyone looked and saw a patch of eerie green, with countless fist-sized green fluorescent clouds floating in the air.

"wildfire!"

Will-o'-the-wisps, also known as phosphorescent lights, are usually found in cemeteries or mass graves. The presence of will-o'-the-wisps in such places indicates the presence of many corpses.

"Fatty, go check out the situation."

"okay."

The fat man responded and jogged over. A moment later, he called out, "This place is full of corpses, and they're all children's!"

"Child?"

When Zhang Hao heard this word, the first thing that came to mind was the Wang family's secret experiments. Every year, they would search for gifted teenagers from all over the country and transport them to Gutongjing for experiments.

Since there are so many corpses of teenagers piled up here, it means that the place where the Wang family conducted their experiments is not too far from here.

In the ancient city of Gutongjing, where no outsiders entered, they didn't need to waste too much effort dealing with the corpses.

Zhang Hao walked to the fat man's side and looked ahead. He saw a large pit with layers of bones inside. The bodies at the bottom were already skeletons, while some of the bodies at the top were still fresh. As soon as he got close, a strong stench of decay hit him.

Why are there so many teenagers' corpses here?

"Judging from their expressions, they all died in great pain."

"They are all products of the Wang family's experiments."

"They're absolutely inhuman!"

……

While others were discussing it, Zhang Hao emitted sound waves in all directions, and soon the situation within a radius of several hundred meters appeared in his mind.

To his surprise, there was no entrance to the Wang family base near the mass grave.

"Alright, let's go into the ancient city and look for clues!"

After searching around the mass grave for a while without finding any useful clues, the group decided to go into the ancient city to look for clues.

Half an hour later, Zhang Hao and his group arrived at the north gate of the ancient city.

The city gate is seven or eight meters high and more than ten meters wide. It is slightly open, revealing a gap large enough for a person to pass through sideways. Above it hangs a stone-carved plaque that reads "Huicheng".

"π, Insect City? Is the ancient city full of insects?"

"Fatty, everyone says you should read more books. That's Huicheng, which means Snake City."

"Gutongjing is a snake city. Does that mean the city is full of snakes?"

"It should be black-haired snakes. I saw a lot of black-haired snakes swimming in the moat when I was crossing it earlier."

Wu Tianzhen's guess was correct; the reason why Gutongjing was called Snake City was because of the black-haired snake.

There has been a legend since ancient times that snakes can transform into dragons. After 500 years, a snake becomes a hui, after 500 years, a hui becomes a jiao, and after 500 years, a jiao becomes a dragon.

The inscription on the city gate reads "Hui City," indicating that there was a hui (a mythical creature) inside the city back then. Ancient Tongjing disappeared more than a thousand years ago, and if that hui were still there, it would have transformed into a dragon long ago.

Dragons are legendary mythical beasts, possessing immense power. The extent to which one could fuse with a dragon would boost one's strength is unimaginable.

"Let's go into the city!"

Zhang Hao urged him on, and the fat man stepped forward, pushed open the city gate, and went inside.

The ancient city is already dilapidated, many buildings have collapsed, and many places have been covered by yellow sand, but even so, one can still see the heyday of Gutongjing in its heyday.

After entering the city, the group headed straight for the most central building in the ancient city center.

That was the tallest building in the entire city, a nine-story spire.

A dozen minutes later, Zhang Hao and his group arrived at the foot of the tower. Fatty took the lead and pushed open the door to enter.

The next second, a scream came from inside the tower: "Holy crap, there really is a dragon!"