"boom!"
Xu Yuehuai stretched out her finger and pressed it gently. A rumbling sound rang out, as if a sleeping giant beast had been awakened, and the stone door began to open slowly.
As the stone door opened, a pitch-black cave entrance appeared before them. The entrance seemed bottomless, as if leading to another world.
A chilling aura emanated from the cave entrance, sending shivers down one's spine.
The three of them examined it carefully and tested its safety with a stone. After several attempts, they found that there was no danger.
“Let’s go in.” Xu Yuehuai took the lead and stepped into the cave entrance.
The Ghost Doctor and Yan Qing followed closely behind, the three of them walking side by side.
The cave was dark and mysterious, surrounded by towering cliffs. The cliffs were covered with strange plants and animals, some shimmering with an eerie light, others emitting bizarre cries. A heavy stench of blood and decay filled the air, making it feel suffocating.
They proceeded cautiously, each step filled with vigilance. Suddenly, a gust of cold wind swept across the cliff, raising a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, a gigantic stone golem was seen charging down from the cliff. Its eyes glowed red, and it exuded a chilling aura that sent shivers down their spines.
"Watch out!" Xu Yuehua shouted a warning. The three of them immediately drew their swords, preparing to meet the sudden attack on the stone golem.
"What is this thing?" the Ghost Doctor exclaimed, his voice filled with terror.
“This must be the guardian of Thousand Hands Valley,” Yan Qing said in a deep voice. “We must defeat it to continue our journey.”
The three attacked simultaneously, their swords flashing as they engaged the stone golem in a fierce battle. The stone golem possessed astonishing strength, each attack seemingly carrying the force of a thousand pounds. However, the three coordinated perfectly, constantly searching for weaknesses in the stone golem's defenses.
After observing for a long time, Xu Yuehuai suddenly shouted, "Its eyes are its weak point!" She flashed forward, thrusting her sword straight at the stone golem's eyes. The Ghost Doctor and Yan Qing also reacted immediately, launching attacks on the stone golem's eyes as well.
Under the relentless assault of the three, the stone golem finally succumbed. With a deafening roar, it collapsed, crumbling into a pile of rubble.
"Xu Yuehuai cheered, "We have successfully passed the first test of Thousand Hands Valley!"
Ghost Doctor and Yan Qing also showed relieved smiles, and they high-fived each other to celebrate this moment of victory.
But this is only the first of many trials in Thousand Hands Valley!
They have taken a big step toward success, but there are still many more challenges ahead.
Xu Yuehuai, Yan Qing, and the Ghost Doctor walked along a jungle path leading deep into Thousand Hands Valley. Sunlight dappled their faces, but could not dispel the chill rising from their hearts.
The dense, towering trees in the jungle act as a natural barrier, isolating them from the outside world.
The three remained silent throughout the journey, each filled with a mixture of fear and curiosity about the unknown.
Xu Yuehuai kept scanning his surroundings, trying to catch a hint of danger in the silence.
Yan Qing followed closely behind Xu Yuehuai, his eyes revealing determination and trust, as if nothing could stop them from moving forward as long as Xu Yuehuai was there.
The Ghost Doctor, on the other hand, looked quite relaxed. He carried his medicine chest and occasionally picked herbs from the roadside, as if this jungle was just an ordinary place to him.
Finally, they arrived at a wide clearing. The clearing was empty except for a flat grassy area, which contrasted sharply with the surrounding jungle.
However, just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief, the ground suddenly began to shake.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
Countless enormous vines emerged from the ground, their surfaces covered with sharp thorns, resembling giant tentacles, tightly enveloping the three people in the center.
"I never expected there to be so many terrifying vines in Thousand Hands Valley, like a thousand hands. No wonder it's called Thousand Hands Valley." Xu Yuehuai gripped his longsword tightly, his eyes solemn.
“Perhaps I can use my poison to drive them away,” the Ghost Doctor said, taking a bottle of poison from his medicine box and preparing to spray it onto the vines.
However, when he sprayed the poison onto the vines, he discovered that they seemed to come alive and began to absorb the poison. Soon, the vines became even greener, and their thorns became even sharper.
"It seems these vines are immune to poison." The Ghost Doctor frowned, clearly not expecting his poison to have no effect on these vines.
"Let's temporarily halt our attack; the more we attack, the more of these things will appear," Xu Yuehuai calmly analyzed the situation. She knew that in this predicament, she had to remain calm to find a way out.
The three stopped attacking and began to carefully observe the vines. They discovered that the vines did not grow randomly, but moved in a certain order and rhythm.
Sometimes they would gather together to form a wall, completely enclosing the three people inside; other times they would separate into several tentacles, attempting to attack the three people from all directions.
“These vines seem to possess intelligence,” Yan Qing said softly, her voice filled with surprise and unease.
“That’s right, these vines do possess a certain degree of intelligence.” The Ghost Doctor nodded, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “Perhaps we can use this to find a way to escape.”
As he spoke, the Ghost Doctor took out some herbs from his medicine box and began to prepare them. A moment later, a bottle of medicine emitting a faint fragrance appeared in his hand.
"This is a specially made hallucinogenic potion that can briefly throw these vines into a state of confusion," the Ghost Doctor said, sprinkling the potion onto the vines.
As expected, the vines immediately became chaotic after coming into contact with the potion. They no longer moved in the original order and rhythm, but began to wave their tentacles wildly.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xu Yuehuai and Yan Qing immediately launched an attack. They brandished their weapons, relentlessly slashing at the tendrils of the vines. With their combined efforts, many vines were soon cut down and fell to the ground.
However, just when they thought they were about to escape, the severed vines began to regrow. They grew new tentacles at an astonishing rate, becoming even thicker and stronger.
"These vines can actually repair themselves!" Xu Yuehuai exclaimed, a sense of despair welling up in her heart.
"It seems we must find the fatal weakness of these vines," the Ghost Doctor said in a deep voice, "otherwise we simply cannot defeat them."
As they spoke, the three of them fell into deep thought once again.
As the three fell into deep thought in silence, the surrounding vines seemed to sense their inner turmoil, and they began to become unusually active.
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