Strange Manor

Without interference, given the squad's combat power, dealing with the blade spiders was only a matter of time.

Long Ao simply withdrew from the battlefield, found a place to sit and recover, while Su Yuehe stood guard for him.

A few minutes later, the last blade spider was cleaved in two by An Changqing's sword.

The surroundings returned to silence, with only the faint blue mist flowing slowly and the now-dimmed remnants of the alchemy array on the ground.

The crisis was temporarily resolved.

Everyone was somewhat exhausted, finding places to sit and catch their breath, tend to their wounds, and take recovery pills. Long Ao, who had rested first, had already treated his wounds and recovered most of his spiritual energy; he stood up to take over sentry duty for the group.

Li Yuqing walked over to Huo Qixing and patted him hard on the shoulder, almost knocking the weak Huo Qixing off balance. She laughed heartily, Huo Qixing, beautifully done! You've made a great contribution this time!

My honor... boss...

Huo Qixing, who had switched back to his mage form, smiled awkwardly. His current frail physique couldn't withstand a couple of slaps from Li Yuqing, whose strength was far above his.

An Changqing also walked over. He looked at Li Yuqing, Senior, the trap is broken, and the blade spiders are cleared. Next...

Li Yuqing looked at Huo Qixing and Liu Xiao, both of whom nodded slightly to indicate it was safe.

We keep moving forward. Li Yuqing rallied her spirits. The fact that this trap was triggered means we found the right place. Not many people have been here yet. The true core area of the Mist Villa shouldn't be far ahead. Everyone be careful, take a moment to recover, and we set off in five minutes.

After a brief rest, the seven of them hit the road again.

Passing through the area littered with traps and the remains of blade spiders, the mist ahead seemed to thin out a bit. They could vaguely see the outline of a relatively well-preserved three-story building constructed from grayish-white boulders, standing quietly deep within the mist.

The architectural style was ancient, with narrow windows and a low porch. The walls were covered with even more complex and incomprehensible alchemical symbols and long-dried dark red stains.

As the distance closed, everyone could clearly feel the aura of resentment emanating from inside the building.

It felt like someone had been driven mad by their research.

Look alive, everyone. Li Yuqing put away her usual hearty smile and gripped her sword hilt with a solemn expression. The feeling I'm getting from inside is very bad. Huo Qixing, Junior Su, have you found anything?

Huo Qixing once again took out the metal disk and injected spiritual energy into it. The pointer on the disk trembled violently, pointing towards the building's main door, but it twitched erratically.

The readings are extremely chaotic, overlapping with multiple properties. There's a faint life signature, as well as a strong residue of mental pollution. The detection is severely jammed.

The answer Su Yuehe gave was largely the same.

Liu Xiao stared intently at the dark red stains and alchemical symbols on the wall, his brows tightly furrowed. These symbols aren't entirely standard ancient alchemical language. Some are variants, and some look like they've merged with things from other systems.

A life signature? Chen Guan looked at the mansion ahead. It didn't look like anyone had been here. This place was only open to a select few, and those who came were basically students from major universities. To avoid making a wasted trip, they would usually share information with each other.

An Changqing said in a deep voice, No matter what is inside, since we're here, we must investigate it thoroughly. But be extra careful. If there's any anomaly, retreat immediately.

Everyone nodded, adjusted their conditions, maintained a high level of vigilance, and slowly walked towards the three-story building's only entrance, a heavy grayish-black wooden door.

The wooden door was ajar, cracked open just enough to let a person through. It was pitch black inside, with only the pale, dismal light filtering through the mist from the narrow windows high above barely outlining the interior space.

Li Yuqing stepped forward first and gently pushed the door open with the tip of her sword.

Creak.

The teeth-setting friction sound was exceptionally jarring in the silence.

Inside the door was a narrow corridor, its floor paved with heavily worn stone slabs, and the walls similarly covered with symbols and marks.

The air was even more turbid, permeated with a sickeningly foul stench mixed with mold and stale metal.

I'll lead the way. Li Yuqing, bold and highly skilled, stepped in first. An Changqing followed closely behind, a golden light faintly appearing in his palm to illuminate the few meters ahead. Huo Qixing, Liu Xiao, and Su Yuehe stayed in the middle, while Long Ao and Chen Guan brought up the rear.

The corridor wasn't long, and its end connected to a spacious first-floor hall. The center of the hall was completely empty, save for a few thick pillars supporting the vaulted ceiling.

However, the surrounding walls were covered with a scalp-numbing sight.

Recessed stone niches, resembling a honeycomb, were densely arranged. Most of the niches were empty and covered in dust.

But in a few of the niches, some things surprisingly remained, twisted and deformed remains that seemed to have fused with the stone walls. Shrivelled and pitch-black, one could faintly make out the scorch marks of human figures.

Around these stone niches, there were also dark red stains and twisted alchemical runes.

Liu Xiao's voice was dry. Live alchemy experiments were indeed conducted here... and judging by the situation, quite a few of them.

Su Yuehe's face turned pale. Such a scene would inevitably cause panic, not to mention she belonged to the knowledge faction and had highly developed spiritual senses. She gripped her staff tightly and unconsciously leaned a bit closer to An Changqing.

Don't touch anything, and don't stare at those runes for too long, Huo Qixing reminded them. The residual mental pollution is very strong and can easily cause hallucinations.

Forcing down their discomfort, the group quickly crossed the hair-raising hall and found the stone stairs leading to the second floor. The stairs were similarly narrow and steep, covered in dust and cobwebs, shedding a flurry of dust when stepped upon.

The second floor seemed to be an experimental area. It was divided into several rooms of varying sizes, and most of the doors had rotted and collapsed.

Inside, they could see scattered rusted utensils, broken glass containers, as well as some bizarrely shaped metal stands and debris.

The floors of some rooms still bore stains of various colors, though they had long since dried up.

Huo Qixing's detection disk was almost completely useless here; its pointer spun wildly.

The spiritual energy field is too chaotic, and... it feels like something is watching us, he whispered, cold sweat seeping from his forehead. His parents loved telling him ghost stories since he was little, which made Huo Qixing, a grown man, especially terrified of such things.

Liu Xiao also felt waves of palpitations. The ice crystal short staff in his hand emitted a faint cold light, attempting to dispel the invisible mental pressure around them.

Alchemy blueprints... I want to go to a place like a control room first to see if there are any guides. Liu Xiao forced himself to stay calm, his gaze sweeping around. According to the conventional layout of this kind of building, the control room might be on the top floor, or underground.

Let's check the third floor first, Li Yuqing decided promptly.

The situation on the third floor was slightly better than the second. It seemed to be primarily a residential and storage area, but two rooms had also been converted into small observation rooms.