Chu Feng and Xia Xingchen passed through the barrier gate and entered an underground palace.
These underground palaces were all more or less the same, but Chu Feng noticed that the power of the barrier here seemed to be nearing exhaustion.
Even so, this place was not to be underestimated.
Chu Feng could also tell that this place had once been extraordinary, but its power had greatly diminished.
He was very eager to find out the reason behind the decline.
"What are you looking at?"
Hua Hua's voice rang out.
She had originally gone deep inside, but seeing that Chu Feng and Xia Xingchen hadn't caught up, she had circled back.
She too had noticed that the reason they hadn't caught up was that Chu Feng was carefully observing their surroundings.
This had greatly slowed the two of them down.
"I'm sorry, Senior. It's just a habit of mine."
"Whenever I arrive at a ruin, I like to take a careful look around," Chu Feng said.
"No need to apologize. I don't think your habit is a bad one," Hua Hua said.
When she said that, Xia Xingchen looked at Hua Hua with a surprised expression.
Hua Hua noticed and couldn't help asking, "Sister Xingchen, why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"
"No, it's nothing."
Xia Xingchen shook her head with a smile, but the truth was she had noticed that Hua Hua's attitude toward Chu Feng had changed.
It had become more reasonable, more tolerant.
"So... did you observe anything?" Hua Hua turned to Chu Feng.
"Not yet," Chu Feng said.
"It's fine, no rush. We have plenty of time after all," Hua Hua said.
Hearing this, Xia Xingchen's expression grew even more complicated.
After that, Hua Hua followed Chu Feng's lead as they moved forward, and Chu Feng observed everything very carefully along the way.
In truth, Chu Feng didn't do this every time.
He would adjust his level of observation depending on the situation.
He would look more carefully when there were clues to be found.
What was strange was that there were clues everywhere here, yet Chu Feng couldn't piece together any concrete information.
This place was very complex.
It fully proved that the master of this place was no ordinary figure.
It seemed as though they had deliberately set out to confuse the observer's judgment.
And as they walked along, they didn't encounter any traps — until a barrier gate blocked their path ahead.
This barrier gate was quite peculiar. It was open, yet they couldn't simply step through.
It had seven colors, and within them, colors were rapidly rotating to form a lock.
To break this lock, one had to decipher it.
Chu Feng, Hua Hua, and Xia Xingchen all observed it intently.
But Xia Xingchen quickly gave up: "I can't make sense of it. I'll leave it to you two. Just let me know when you've figured out a way."
"I'm afraid I can't help you with this one, Senior," Chu Feng said.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Xia Xingchen asked, confused.
"This lock opens in stages."
"After the first layer is opened, you need to step through before you can open the second layer. Whether there's a third or fourth layer is unknown, but I believe there are — possibly more than four."
"But what's certain is that everything inside this gate is constantly shifting," Chu Feng said.
"So what you're saying is, whether or not I can get in depends entirely on my own ability. You two can't help me?" Xia Xingchen asked.
"Correct," Chu Feng nodded.
Xia Xingchen wasn't quite ready to give up, so she turned to Hua Hua.
She hoped to get a different conclusion from Hua Hua.
But Hua Hua shook her head: "Chu Feng is right."
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Xia Xingchen said.
"Just wait for us here," Hua Hua said.
"Chu Feng, then you need to make sure you protect Senior Hua Hua," Xia Xingchen looked at Chu Feng.
"Shouldn't it be the other way around? I should be the one protecting him," Hua Hua said.