With a whooshing sound, Lao Duan slashed at Zhao Feng, and it looked like the blade was about to strike the back of his head.

Zhao Feng's body twisted and split in two like liquid, becoming two identical, smaller Zhao Fengs, which just dodged Zhang Shi's sneak attack.

"Hehehe, you're so cruel, you can even hurt your own partner."

The two Zhao Fengs, each smaller than the other, retreated rapidly, their bodies merging together and becoming one.

Wu Qing and Ge Dalong had already sensed that something was wrong, and they each used their own methods as soon as they entered the secret room.

Wu Qing's ancestral staff flickered, activating the fighting spirit totem and greatly increasing the strength and magic of her allies. She then used a protective barrier to envelop everyone within it.

Ge Dalong's ice spikes were originally only the thickness of two thumbs, but after being enhanced, they became the size of an arm, shooting towards the strange creature that had transformed into Zhao Feng like icy spikes.

The strange creature is extremely agile and has a variety of forms. It can often react in advance to the attacks of the crowd and dodge them. When faced with an attack that cannot be avoided, it can also respond by changing its form.

For a time, the three of them were at a loss as to what to do with the monster.

"Hehehe, I'm very curious, how did you figure it out?"

The eerie monster's face was distorted, its appearance transformed into Zhang Shi's, its mouth split open, and its body contorted in an exaggerated way, shrinking into a corner of the secret room.

While it was speaking, Zhang Shi swung his sword down again, but as expected, it dodged it.

Seeing that he couldn't defeat the monster in a short time, Zhang Shi calmed himself down and tried to communicate with it, hoping to get some useful information out of it.

Zhang Shi pointed to himself.

“Brother Feng hasn’t called me by my full name in seven or eight years.”

"Tell me honestly, where are my friends now?"

The eerie monster's appearance changed again, transforming into Zhao Feng's likeness. Its body writhed like a worm, clinging to the ceiling of the secret chamber, and it grinned sinisterly.

"You mean that big, dumb guy? I've already eaten him."

Zhang Shi was about to lash out when Ge Dalong stopped him.

"We have no intention of disturbing you. Release our friend and we will leave immediately."

"Leave? Are you kidding me?"

The bizarre monster laughed maniacally, flicking a few drops of strange liquid from its body onto the ground. The liquid instantly turned into a puddle of mud, within which unidentified creatures wriggled. A few seconds later, three faceless, black creatures, each about half a person's height, appeared before Zhang Shi.

This black creature was covered in a black, sludge-like unidentified liquid, somewhat resembling a slime.

"Eat them!"

At the strange monster's command, three mud monsters charged towards Zhang Shi.

The stone chamber was cramped, and the monster and Zhang Shi were almost face to face.

Before the mud monsters could move, Zhang Shi had already taken the initiative. His sword, the Old Duan, emitted a white light and slashed through the mud monsters at the front, cutting them in half.

However, the mud monster that had been cut in two turned into a pool of sewage, quickly coalesced into a lump, and after a moment, it returned to its original shape, its head turning into a sharp spike that stabbed towards Zhang Shi.

Ge Dalong's ice spikes came to the rescue in time, defeating the mud monster. As the magic attribute strengthened, the slowing effect turned into layers of frost, freezing the mud monster solid.

Zhang Shi reacted quickly, kicking the object as if it were a piece of glass.

The mud monster shattered into pieces of shiny black crystals and fell silent.

"Ding, team kill"

[Melting Monster (White) x1: A magical creature with some resistance to sharp weapon attacks.]

Gained 15 experience points.

Zhang Shi noticed the amount of experience points gained and had many thoughts running through his mind.

Frost seemed to be the bane of these melting monsters, and the three of them easily dealt with the other two melting monsters in no time.

The eerie creature remained aloof on the ceiling, watching coldly as the dissolving monsters were all dealt with, then began to chuckle again.

"Hehe, I'm not playing with you guys anymore."

The bizarre monster suddenly dissolved, turning into a pool of liquid that seeped into the ground and disappeared.

Seeing that the danger had passed, Ge Dalong stepped forward and asked Zhang Shi for his opinion.

"Zhao Feng's condition is normal. Why don't we just abandon the dungeon before any danger occurs?"

Zhang Shi nodded, believing that everyone's safety was more important than the dungeon rewards.

With no objections from the three, Ge Dalong initiated the evacuation application.

However, there was no response from Zhao Feng for a long time, and the vote on withdrawing the ballot showed that 3/4 of the voters agreed.

Ge Dalong frowned, worried that if they stayed too long, the three of them would be forcibly teleported away, and Zhao Feng might get lost here. He immediately canceled the evacuation application.

"Damn it, there's no response from Zhao Feng."

Zhang Shi's emotions were in turmoil. He had a vague feeling that something was wrong, and even regretted going deep into this cave.

Wu Qing stepped forward, patted the two on the shoulders, and comforted them.

"Stay calm. The dungeon scroll warned us that this dungeon is mainly a puzzle-solving game. If we succeed, we might be able to rescue Brother Feng."

Zhang Shi nodded, turned his head, and noticed the glowing treasure chest.

Dingzhen still couldn't identify the specific information about the treasure chest. Zhang Shi silently calculated that if he could return safely this time, he should upgrade Dingzhen.

Ge Dalong stepped forward, examined the treasure chest, and whispered.

"There shouldn't be any danger, but it's unclear why that strange monster left this treasure chest and then left."

"I can't worry about that now. I'm not afraid of being bitten by a lot of lice. Let's open it up first."

Ge Dalong cast a light screen over the location of the three people, and Zhang Shi took the initiative to step forward and open the treasure chest, not forgetting to activate the VIP double privilege.

Ding! Successfully opened the dungeon-exclusive treasure chest (no grade), triggering VIP privileges. Items are doubled. Obtained:

[Soul-Binding Bell (Purple) x2: A rare item. Can dispel the mist and break through illusions.]

The extra bell went directly into Zhang Shi's backpack without being noticed by Wu Qing and Ge Dalong.

The three of them gathered around and began to examine the bell.

Zhang Shi held the bell and shook it gently. The bell made a series of crisp sounds, which made the three of them feel a sense of clarity in their minds. Other than that, it had no special effect.

"It might only be effective when encountering illusions and fog."

Wu Qing guessed.

"The mission has been updated. This should be the item Black Tiger mentioned."

Ge Dalong kept a close eye on the team panel and offered reminders.

Zhang Shi opened the team panel and, sure enough, the mission had changed to the third stage, and a short text message had appeared.

Hidden Quest Three: Choose to return the quest item to Black Tiger, or choose to keep it for yourself.

The three exchanged a glance and decided to return the items to Black Tiger.

This option might be a way to advance the mission, and it was related to Zhao Feng's safety. The three of them unanimously decided to return to the ancestral hall first to hand in the mission and then act according to the situation.

Zhang Shi glanced at the other bell in his backpack, but had no intention of revealing the secret for the time being.