Multiple Personalities

"We did it!" Lin Yue exclaimed excitedly.

Shen Jingqi also breathed a sigh of relief. He walked over to Lin Yue's side, looked at the motionless mechanical guardians, and said, "Thanks to you, we were able to get through this stage."

The door slowly opened, and a mysterious atmosphere rushed in. That air was cold and damp, as if hiding countless secrets. Shen Jingqi and Lin Yue exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with caution. They knew the dangers in the tower had only just begun.

"Finally, we're in," Shen Jingqi said, but his eyes did not relax; instead, they became even more vigilant. His hands tightly gripped his weapon, ready to deal with any possible danger.

Lin Yue took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Be careful, there are definitely more dangers here."

They walked into the tower, where the light was dim, and only a few faint oil lamps emitted a yellowish glow. The walls flickered with eerie lights, like the eyes of ghosts peering at them. The uneven ground beneath their feet seemed to hide countless traps.

"Be careful, there are definitely more dangers here," Lin Yue reminded them, her voice echoing in the empty tower with a hint of tremor.

They climbed the stairs cautiously, each step taken with extreme care. The stairs were constructed from rough stone blocks, covered in moss, making them somewhat slippery. Shen Jingqi clutched the staircase handrail tightly, feeling the cold and roughness beneath his palm.

Suddenly, the stairs began to shake violently, as if something below was pulling at them. The trembling intensified, making them feel like they could fall at any moment. Lin Yue gasped, "What's happening?" Her body swayed with the shaking of the stairs, her hands waving wildly in the air, trying to find balance.

Shen Jingqi tightly held onto the railing, shouting loudly, "Don't panic, it might be a trap that's been triggered. Try to stay balanced." Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his eyes were filled with tension.

The stairs shook more and more fiercely, and even the surrounding walls seemed to shake along with them, sending dust falling down. Shen Jingqi tried to calm himself, searching around in hopes of finding a way to deactivate the mechanism.

Just then, Shen Jingqi noticed a protruding button on the wall. The button was hidden behind a jutting stone, completely undetectable if not looked at carefully. Without hesitation, he pressed the button, and with a "click," the shaking stopped at last.

"That was close," Lin Yue sighed in relief, her legs still trembling slightly, nearly collapsing onto the ground.

They continued upward, arriving at a spacious hall. The hall was filled with various strange instruments and statues, as if it was a mysterious laboratory. The instruments flickered with lights of various colors, emitting a buzzing electric current sound. The statues were oddly shaped, some resembling twisted humanoid figures, others strange animals, sending chills down their spines.

In the center of the hall stood a gigantic stone tablet, engraved with patterns and text. Those patterns and text seemed like ancient codes, waiting for them to decipher.

"Could these patterns and texts be related to the secret?" Lin Yue asked, her eyes filled with curiosity and anticipation.

Shen Jingqi approached the stone tablet, observing it closely. His brows were furrowed, revealing his focus. The patterns and text were incredibly obscure and difficult to understand, some looking like mysterious symbols, others like ancient totems. After much study, he only had a superficial understanding.

"It seems this secret is much more complex than we imagined," Shen Jingqi said, with a hint of helplessness in his voice.

Just then, a deep rumbling sound echoed around the hall. It sounded like it came from deep underground, carrying a sense of oppressive power. The ground began to vibrate, and cracks appeared on the walls as if a giant beast was struggling beneath.

"This isn't good, there might be even greater dangers," Lin Yue shouted, her eyes filled with fear.

They quickly searched for an exit, only to find all sides of the hall sealed off. Huge stones rolled down from the walls, raising a cloud of dust. Lin Yue screamed in terror, "We're trapped!"

Shen Jingqi looked around, a trace of urgency in his eyes. Just as they were feeling desperate, Shen Jingqi discovered a hidden passageway behind the stone tablet. It was covered by a slab, completely undetectable unless looked at carefully.

"Over here!" Shen Jingqi shouted, his voice filled with joy. He pushed the slab with force and pulled Lin Yue into the passageway.

The passage was filled with a pungent odor, like some kind of chemical scent. The lights flickered irregularly, sometimes bright, sometimes dim, as if they could extinguish at any moment. They moved forward along the passage, unsure of what else awaited them ahead.

"Could there be more traps in this passage?" Lin Yue whispered, her voice tinged with worry.

Shen Jingqi held Lin Yue's hand tightly and said, "No matter what, we can't retreat. To uncover the secret, we must press on."

They walked cautiously, each step taken with extra care. Suddenly, a huge pit appeared in the ground ahead. The pit was so deep it seemed bottomless, emanating eerie sounds that were like the howling wind or the roar of wild beasts.

"What do we do? We can't get past it," Lin Yue said anxiously.

Shen Jingqi observed the surroundings and noticed some protruding stones next to the pit. He said, "We can step on these stones to get across, but we must be careful."

They carefully stepped on the stones, moving toward the other side one step at a time. Each step caused the stones to creak ominously, as if they could break at any moment. Lin Yue's heart was in her throat, tightly holding onto Shen Jingqi's hand, afraid of falling with the slightest misstep.

Finally, they successfully got past the pit. However, before they could breathe a sigh of relief, a group of eyes emitting a ghostly glow appeared ahead. Those eyes flickered in the darkness like ghostly flames.

"What on earth is that?" Lin Yue asked in horror.

Shen Jingqi grasped his weapon tightly and said, "Whatever it is, we have to face it. Don't be scared, I'm here."

In the dark passage, there was a pervasive atmosphere of decay and mystery. Shen Jingqi and Lin Yue moved cautiously, each step light as if fearing to wake some unknown force slumbering in the darkness. Their heartbeat sounded unusually loud in the silent space, pounding like a hammer on their tense nerves.

Suddenly, a subtle yet sharp sound came from the depths of the passage. The sound was like metal scraping against metal or a creature's low growl, piercing in the quiet environment. Shen Jingqi and Lin Yue exchanged a glance, reading alertness and tension in each other's eyes. They stopped and gripped their weapons tightly, listening carefully as the noise drew closer.

As the sound approached, their eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, finally glimpsing the chilling sight ahead—a swarm of mechanical bats! These mechanical bats were huge, each the size of an adult, with wings spanning over a meter. Their bodies were made of cold metal, flickering with ghostly light, looking particularly eerie in the dark. Their eyes glowed a fiery red, like burning ghostly flames, staring directly at Shen Jingqi and Lin Yue as if they were peering into their souls.