Chapter 13: The Deer Transformation

  In the center of this large hall, there is a platform over three feet high, on which Prince Taizi has placed a large black lacquer bell. From time to time, without any wind, it automatically emits a "ding-dong" sound. Listening carefully, the bell's sound seems to change as it spreads through the air. Meng Qiu and Wang Haibing looked at each other, then turned their gaze towards the big bell: "Was that enchanting and haunting melody just coming from here?"

  Meng Qiu walked a few steps forward and came to the front of the large bell, but didn't dare to step onto the platform. Places like this usually have either visible or hidden mechanisms, and as soon as you set foot on it, you'll trigger the mechanism and activate the swarm of flying insects, directly turning people into sieves.

  Meng Qiu was not good at mechanism arrays, so he didn't dare to make any rash moves. However, both he and Wang Haibing were no ordinary people, with extraordinary eyesight. They gazed intently into the distance, observing every detail. Suddenly, they discovered that inside the large bell, a pendulum was still hanging, swaying along with the bell's gentle movements. Underneath the pendulum hung a six-sided hammerhead, densely covered in talismans. With a slight swing, eerie sounds emerged, blending with the bell's chime to produce an inexplicable sound wave.

  Ethereal and distant, even when standing close by, the sound seems to be transmitted from a faraway place.

  "This should be a magical artifact!" Meng Qiu was uncertain and asked Wang Haibing.

  "It doesn't look good." Wang Haibing also shook his head: "This big bell really looks suspicious, but it's not quite like a magical artifact either."

  Meng Qiu and Wang Haibing were both outsiders, they looked around for half a day but couldn't figure out the situation, so they had to put it aside temporarily and start discussing their next plan.

  "Now the two of us are trapped here, and it's impossible to go back the original way. We can only find another exit, otherwise we'll be trapped to death." Meng Qiu said calmly, turning his head to glance at the stone gate again, still able to hear the sound of those human-faced blood insects crashing against it from outside.

  "Now it's come to this." Wang Haibing nodded and said, "Damn it! We've been hunting geese all day, but this time the goose has pecked our eyes out. That musk deer must have deliberately led us here, maybe there's someone behind the scenes manipulating things."

  They conferred for a moment and then began searching around to see if there were any other exits from this place.

  The area of this cave is not large, including the main hall and the left and right ear rooms and a back hall, it's only two or three hundred square meters. After searching quickly, they didn't find the back door. At this time, Meng Qiu and Wang Haibing's faces returned to the main hall again, next to the big clock, the two met again, Wang Haibing asked with a worried face: "What to do? There is no way out."

  Meng Qiu's brow was also furrowed, and he didn't rush to speak. Instead, he walked over to the wall and suddenly punched it with a loud crash.

  In an instant, a loud crash, a solid Tiger Overlord Fist hit the stone wall, but suddenly triggered a light screen, rippling like water waves, and actually took all of Meng Qiu's fist strength, Meng Qiu used his full force but didn't even break off a single piece of stone debris.

  "What a powerful seal!" Meng Qiu took in a breath of cold air: "It seems that even escaping by digging through the mountain wall is impossible."

  Now they no longer think about coveting the musk deer, but rather how to leave this place.

  "Let's keep searching, as the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Generally, a cave can't have only one exit, there will always be a reserved back door for emergencies." Meng Qiu said calmly, just at this moment, suddenly a clear "click" sound came from the table.

  "Huh?" Meng Qiu and Wang Haibing both heard it, and suddenly turned their heads to look over, only to see that the large black bell on the platform was actually turning sideways.

  "There's a secret passage!" Meng Qiu's eyes lit up, almost shouting out loud, but he immediately calmed down. The secret passage suddenly opened, and someone must be coming out. What was the other party's background, what was their cultivation level, and what was their character? Before figuring it out, it was best not to act rashly. What if a Condensed Spirit stage expert came out, and he and Wang Haibing wouldn't even be enough to deliver food.

  Meng Qiu hastily pulled Wang Haibing and quickly flashed to the side of a ear room, and waited for another moment. From that secret passage, a shadow slowly drilled out. Meng Qiu and Wang Haibing looked closely, and the thing that came out was not a person, but the musk deer that led them in. However, as soon as the musk deer came out, it shook its body, and a white light flashed by, and it actually stood up on two legs, transforming into a thin Taoist priest wearing deerskin.

  This Taoist priest looked extremely sinister, only about four feet tall, short and thin, with a pair of whiskers, two eyes rolling around, revealing a sly and cunning spirit. From the entrance under the big bell, he came in with a smile on his face, as if he had succeeded in his scheme, and was about to walk towards the entrance of the cave, but after walking only a few steps, he suddenly exclaimed, seeing that the two extremely thick stone doors were closed.

  The Taoist, clad in deerskin, was taken aback for a moment, and a sense of foreboding arose in his heart. He hastily cried out "Not good!" and turned to run back, only to find that Meng Qiu and Wang Haibing were already blocking his way.

  "You... how did you guys not die?" The man was so scared that his words were unclear, staring at Meng Qiu and Wang Haibing, pointing with his hand, his body trembling.

  "Hmph! You think I'll die easily?!" Wang Haibing sneered, taking a step forward, his expression growing more sinister. Meng Qiu didn't move, but her face was also twisted in malice, staring fixedly at the Taoist. As soon as this Taoist transformed into human form, he had already revealed his true nature and been seen through by Meng Qiu - it was just a late-stage Qi-refining cultivation, who knew what kind of transformation technique he had learned, actually turning into a musk deer to lure outsiders in and using the demonic beasts and man-faced blood worms in the cave to harm people.

  As for this cave, the original owners of those monsters and human-faced blood worms are unlikely to be this despicable Taoist priest. They should have been left behind by his predecessor and later discovered by him, taking advantage of the situation to pretend to be a god and harm people for wealth. I believe that before, many disciples of Yun Tou Shan who fell into this place were absolutely not few.

  "You old thing, are you still making us use our hands at this point? Just surrender quietly and spare yourself some physical suffering." Wang Haibing shouted with his eyes wide open.

  "You! You two don't have to be so arrogant, I am also a cultivator of the later stage of Qi Refining. You two are just in the middle stage of Qi Refining, even if you join forces, what do I have to fear?" The Taoist priest let out a shrill cry, but his face was pale and he didn't have any confidence. Earlier, Meng Qiu had killed the Blood Patterned Python and the Giant Lizard with one punch, and he had seen it all from the shadows, knowing that he was no match for him.

  "Hmph! Practicing Qi in the later stages?" Meng Qiu sneered, too lazy to waste words. Previously, he had been chased by those Blood-faced Worms and had fled in disarray, with a surge of evil fire pent up in his heart that had nowhere to vent. Now it was just right to unleash it on this Daoist. Before the words had even fallen, his figure suddenly flashed, and a punch thundered out, shaking the air with the sound of a dragon's roar and a tiger's howl.

  That man shouted and was caught off guard, despite being prepared. He was punched by Meng Qiu like a sandbag and flew out, spitting out a mouthful of blood, fainting on the spot, exhaling more than inhaling.