199: Hidden treasures, a mysterious and enigmatic realm

Yang Mi asked anxiously, "Ye Bai, will this work?"

Ye Bai turned his head slightly and said briefly, "It will have some effect."

Meng Ziyi groped her way closer to Ye Bai. "Then what do we do now? We can't just wait here forever for the smoke to dissipate."

Ye Bai observed the surroundings while thinking of a strategy. Suddenly, he heard a faint "whooshing" sound, like something was flowing. He whispered, "Everyone be quiet, listen."

Everyone held their breath and listened carefully. Zhang Dada said doubtfully, "What is that sound? It seems to be coming from the left."

Relying on his memory of the room's layout, Ye Bai slowly moved toward the left. He reached out his hand to feel the way ahead, preventing himself from hitting anything and triggering a mechanism. The others followed closely behind him.

As they walked, Ye Bai's hand touched a cold wall. He continued forward along the wall and found a spot where there seemed to be a slight breeze blowing. His heart stirred—could there be a vent here?

"Come over here, there might be a way out," Ye Bai said.

Yang Mi and the others groped their way over. Zhang Dada reached out and touched the wall. "God Ye, this is just an ordinary wall, how do we get out?"

Ye Bai didn't speak and continued feeling along the wall.

Suddenly, he found a slightly protruding stone in a corner.

He tried pressing it down, and with a "click," a small opening appeared in the wall, just large enough for one person to pass through.

"Don't be in a hurry to go in." Ye Bai stopped Zhang Dada, who wanted to crawl in immediately. He picked up a small pebble from the ground and threw it into the hole. After a while, he didn't hear any unusual sounds.

"I'll check it out first." Ye Bai lay down at the opening and cautiously observed the situation inside. He saw a narrow Passage filled with faint smoke, but it was much thinner than outside.

Ye Bai stood up and said to the group, "I'll go in first, you guys follow behind. If there's any danger, retreat immediately."

After saying that, he bent down and crawled into the Passage. The others followed in order. The Passage was very narrow, and they could only advance by crawling. Zhang Dada grumbled from behind, "This place is too narrow; I feel like I'm being buried alive."

Yang Mi whispered, "Stop talking and be careful."

As Ye Bai was crawling, he suddenly stopped. There seemed to be light ahead. He turned his head and saw Zhang Dada lying on his back. Ye Bai frowned and said, "Get off quickly, be careful not to crush me."

"God Ye, why did you make me go last? What if there's danger? I don't care. Anyway, this place is so narrow; if you don't let me go in front, then you go by yourself."

Ye Bai knew Zhang Dada was intentionally making things difficult for him. At a time like this, he absolutely could not compromise, or the consequences would be unpredictable. He took a deep breath and tried to keep his tone level. "Zhang Dada, if you don't get off now, believe it or not, I'll leave you here to wait for death alone."

"God Ye, how can you treat me like this!"

Ye Bai ignored him. He continued crawling forward and soon reached the end of the Passage.

"I've reached the end, why aren't you guys coming down yet?" he turned and urged.

Zhang Dada complained dissatisfiedly, "Ye Bai, this is my room!"

Ye Bai ignored him again and left directly.

The group crawled up one after another. Ye Bai pulled Zhang Dada to his side and said, "Let's not let our guard down for now. Since there's a Secret Chamber here, there must be mechanisms. We must carefully investigate every corner."

They climbed up the stairs level by level. Finally, they reached the top. When Ye Bai saw it clearly, his eyes widened in shock, and he was speechless for a long time. Seeing his expression, the others were also very surprised and couldn't help but follow his gaze, their mouths hanging open in equal shock.

Before them was a massive gate, carved with exquisite patterns. At this moment, black smoke was seeping out from the gap between the two doors. That black mist was very peculiar; it wasn't condensed from water vapor but was more like clumps of black gas floating in mid-air.

"My god!" Zhang Dada exclaimed. "There really is treasure hidden here!"

"Shh!" Ye Bai quickly stopped him. "Don't talk, and don't make any noise."

"Why?"

Ye Bai said, "This place is eerie and filled with ghostly energy. This black mist must be some kind of evil spirit."

Zhang Dada shut his mouth in fear. Everyone carefully avoided the drifting black mist, for fear that it would entangle them and drag them into the abyss.

Ye Bai looked at the gate that towered into the clouds, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "There couldn't possibly be such a magnificent palace in this world! This must be an Illusionary Realm!"

Yang Mi said worriedly, "But this is clearly ancient architecture."

Ye Bai said, "It's indeed impossible for ancient architecture to have such grand and atmospheric decorations, unless—"

Yang Mi pressed, "Unless what?"

Ye Bai narrowed his eyes and said, "It's a secret."

Yang Mi curled her lip. "Hmph~~"

Ye Bai said, "I'll go in first, you guys stay safe." After saying that, he stepped onto the stairs.

"Hey!" Zhang Dada hurriedly called out, "Don't forget, there are three of us. How can you just leave one person outside?"

"Don't worry, although this Illusionary Realm is powerful, it can't kill me."

"You—"

Ye Bai walked up to the gate and reached out to push the heavy Bronze Gate, but was bounced back. He tried a few more times, but still couldn't open it.

"What do we do..." Zhang Dada lowered his head dejectedly. "Are we going to be trapped here?"

Ye Bai looked around and suddenly saw a round Bead in a corner of the hall. His eyes lit up, and he quickly ran over and picked up the round pearl.

It was a precious jewel. Holding the pearl, he shouted to Zhang Dada, "There's not just a Secret Chamber here, but also jewelry."

Zhang Dada got excited and said, "I knew I wasn't wrong. God Ye is brilliant and strategic. I said there must be some secret hidden here."

Yang Mi looked at the pearl. "This pearl doesn't look simple. Ye Bai, do you recognize it?"

Ye Bai shook his head. "I don't know. I guess it should be related to what we've encountered. Everyone put on your bracers; I'm going to take you in."

Zhang Dada said, "Alright, I'll go first."

After Zhang Dada put on his bracers, he pushed open the Bronze Gate with force. As the heavy gate creaked, Ye Bai gripped the pearl in his hand and was the first to rush in.

A cold wind blew, and Ye Bai couldn't help but shiver, but he ignored the cold and quickly passed through the dark corridor. After walking through a long corridor, he finally reached the end.

A magnificent golden gate appeared before his eyes.

He raised his hand and slammed into the gate with force, and the door instantly rumbled. However, this gate was as solid as iron and didn't budge at all.