A magical journey of a sharp-tongued woman and a goofy man

As the two stepped into the passage, a stench of decay hit them, and the air was thick with the smell of dust, making them instinctively hold their breath.

The walls on both sides of the passage are carved with bizarre patterns, which look particularly eerie in the dim light.

"Goodness, this atmosphere is totally like something out of The Lost Tomb!" Jiang Ye shrank back, instinctively clenching his fists. "What if a zombie suddenly jumps out?"

Ye Shuli rolled her eyes at him: "Zongzi? Do you think this is a buffet? If there were zongzi, I'd be taking you with me first!"

Jiang Ye touched his nose with a pitiful expression and muttered softly, "I don't have much meat, so I don't taste good..."

The two had only taken a few steps when they suddenly heard a "crack" sound under their feet.

Before Jiang Ye could react, the ground suddenly collapsed, and a huge pit appeared in front of the two of them. The bottom of the pit was covered with sharp spikes that gleamed coldly in the dim light, like a monster ready to devour its prey.

"Holy crap!" Jiang Ye exclaimed in surprise, instinctively reaching out to pull Ye Shuli.

However, at that moment, the entrance to the passage behind them also slammed shut with a loud bang, and a thick stone wall completely blocked their escape route.

"Holy crap! What's going on? Are they serious?!" Jiang Ye couldn't help but curse as he looked at the predicament of being caught in the middle. "Is this what they call having nowhere to turn?"

Ye Shuli didn't speak. She squatted down and carefully examined the thorny objects at the bottom of the pit...

"This thing..." Jiang Ye leaned closer for a look, then gasped, "It looks kind of familiar..."

Ye Shuli remained calm. She crouched down to carefully examine the thorny objects at the bottom of the pit, her slender fingers gently brushing the ground, a hint of seriousness showing between her brows.

These spikes are not arranged randomly, but rather present a peculiar geometric shape, like some kind of ancient totem.

Instead of rushing to find a way to cross the pit, she picked up a small stone from the side and threw it into a seemingly inconspicuous corner at the bottom of the pit.

"What are you doing?" Jiang Ye asked, puzzled. "Won't this trigger some kind of mechanism?"

Before the words were finished, a soft "crack" sounded, and the corner of the pit suddenly sank. Immediately afterwards, countless sharp arrows shot out from the wall, as dense as a rain of pear blossoms, flying towards the two of them.

"Holy crap! You jinx!" Jiang Ye exclaimed, suddenly shielding Ye Shuli behind him and channeling his spiritual power to form a light blue shield around himself.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" The arrow struck the shield, making a crisp sound and splashing sparks.

Jiang Ye felt a tremendous impact hit him, and his shield trembled violently, as if it would shatter at any moment.

"Hold on!" Ye Shuli's voice came from behind, calm and firm.

Arrows kept flying in, and Jiang Ye felt his spiritual energy being rapidly depleted, with fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

Just when he was about to give up, the rain of arrows suddenly stopped.

Both of them breathed a sigh of relief. Jiang Ye removed the shield and turned to look at Ye Shuli: "Thank goodness, my spiritual energy shield is pretty reliable, it's just a bit costly..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly noticed that Ye Shuli's expression was a little strange.

She was staring at the bottom of the pit, her eyes gleaming, a meaningful smile playing on her lips.

"What did you find?" Jiang Ye asked curiously.

Ye Shuli did not answer, but instead took out a small dagger from her waist and lightly scratched the stone wall at the bottom of the pit, leaving a few shallow marks.

"What is this...?" Jiang Ye became increasingly puzzled.

Ye Shuli looked up at him and smiled mysteriously: "Did you learn geometry in elementary school?"

Jiang Ye: "Huh?"

Ye Shuli pointed to the marks at the bottom of the pit and explained, "Look, the shooting angles and distribution of these arrows actually conform to some kind of geometric law. As long as we find the key point, we can crack this mechanism." She paused and pointed to a small protrusion on the wall that was almost hidden in the pattern, "There it is."

Jiang Ye looked in the direction she was pointing, looking completely bewildered: "That's it? I don't see anything?"

Ye Shuli rolled her eyes in annoyance: "Your observation skills are questionable, kid. This is called a hidden mechanism, understand?" She drew her dagger and precisely stabbed at the small protrusion.

With a "click," the mechanism started, and a rumbling sound came from the bottom of the pit.

Jiang Ye stared intently at the deep pit, where a stone bridge slowly rose from the bottom, connecting to the other side.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Jiang Ye couldn't help but exclaim. "Sister Li, how did you get such a brain? You're practically a human GPS navigator and a cheat code!"

Ye Shuli raised her eyebrows smugly: "Basic stuff, don't praise me." She stepped onto the stone bridge first, then looked back at Jiang Ye, who was still standing there dumbfounded, "What are you still standing there for? Waiting for the stone bridge to shrink back?"

Jiang Ye followed along eagerly, exclaiming as he went, "Sister Li, your modern knowledge is just too amazing! From now on, I'll stick close to you and live a good life!"

Ye Shuli chuckled and flicked his forehead: "Dream on! I can take you along, but don't even think about taking advantage of me!"

The two easily crossed the stone bridge and continued deeper into the ruins.

Jiang Ye looked at Ye Shuli with admiration in his eyes.

He gently patted Ye Shuli's head and said in a tender tone, "You're always so smart."

Ye Shuli smiled playfully, and the atmosphere between the two became warm.

They stopped after walking a few steps.

"This..." Jiang Ye swallowed hard, looking at the scene before him.

A huge stone gate blocked their way.

The two stood before the massive stone gate, an ancient and mysterious aura emanating from them.

The stone gate soared into the clouds, seemingly connecting heaven and earth. It was covered with intricate runes, which writhed like tadpoles and emitted a faint golden light.

Surrounding it were some strangely shaped statues, each with a different shape and a ferocious expression, as if they were guarding this mysterious gate.

"Goodness, how heavy is this door?!" Jiang Ye looked up at the stone door, speechless. "How much explosives would it take to blow this open?"

Ye Shuli rolled her eyes at him: "Explosives? Do you think this is a demolition site? This is an ancient ruin, maybe it holds some earth-shattering secret. What if you blow it up and destroy all the treasures?"

Jiang Ye chuckled and scratched his head: "I was just saying. Such precious cultural relics definitely need to be protected carefully." As he spoke, he circulated his spiritual power, placed his palms against the stone door, and pushed hard.

"Oh!"

A powerful force came from the stone gate, and Jiang Ye was thrown back. He staggered a few steps before regaining his balance, feeling a tingling numbness in his arms and a dull pain in the tiger's mouth.

"Holy crap! This door's become sentient?" Jiang Ye shook his hand, looking shocked. "This power is too strong! I feel like my spiritual energy is about to be drained!"

Ye Shuli ignored his complaints and walked to the stone gate, carefully observing the runes on it.

These runes look ancient and mysterious, seemingly containing some kind of powerful force.

She reached out and gently touched the rune. A strange energy fluctuation instantly spread throughout her body, making her feel a tingling sensation.

“These runes…” Ye Shuli murmured to herself, “seem to be somewhat related to the runes we saw at the entrance of the ruins before.”

She closed her eyes, trying to recall the runes she had seen before, attempting to find the connection between them.

Jiang Ye watched from the side, not daring to disturb her, and simply guarded her silently.

He knew that Ye Shuli was much smarter than him, and it was better to leave these kinds of mental tasks to her.

After a moment, Ye Shuli opened her eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.

“I think I understand now…” she pointed to a specific rune on the stone door, “This rune should be the key to opening the stone door!”

Jiang Ye leaned closer to take a look, completely bewildered: "That's it? I can't see anything there?"

Ye Shuli rolled her eyes in annoyance: "Of course you can't see it. It takes profound knowledge and keen observation to discover that!"

As she spoke, she stretched out her finger and gently touched the rune.

"Om-"

The stone gate emitted a low hum, and the surrounding statues began to tremble slightly, as if they had come to life.

"It's about to open! It's about to open!" Jiang Ye rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Sister Li, you're amazing!"

However, just as the stone gate was about to open, a sudden change occurred!

Suddenly, the surrounding statues emitted piercing screams, their eyes flashing red light, and they lunged at the two of them.

"Holy crap! What's going on?!" Jiang Ye was shocked and quickly drew his weapon, ready to fight.

Ye Shuli's face darkened, and she said in a deep voice, "Be careful! There's something wrong with these statues!"

Before she could finish speaking, one of the statues lunged at her, its sharp claws reaching for her throat.

Ye Shuli dodged the attack by sidestepping, and then struck the statue's chest with a backhand.

"boom!"

The statue was knocked back a few steps, but quickly pounced again, its attack becoming even more ferocious.

"These statues... seem to be controlled by some kind of force!" Ye Shuli said while fending off the statues' attacks. "We need to deal with these statues first before we can open the stone door!"

Jiang Ye also sensed the strangeness of these statues. Their power far exceeded that of ordinary stone statues, and they were fearless and tireless.

"Sister Li, cover me, I'll go try to destroy those statues!" Jiang Ye said, and in a flash, he rushed towards one of the statues.

Ye Shuli stared at the runes on the stone door, her brows furrowed...