CHAPTER 1456: CHAPTER 1457: THE LONG MYSTERY

"It seems we’re moving pretty slowly."

Glancing at the food in Dou Yanlan’s hand, Veronia said softly. As the last two portions were placed down, a pale golden liquid continuously gushed out from the jar’s mouth. Soon, the liquid flowed through the patterns on the ground into a shallow pit. Watching the shallow pit in the soil, Feng Yuan shrugged and said,

"Looks like we have to grow the vine to head to the next region. Really, not a bit of surprise."

As Feng Yuan expected, a sturdy vine quickly sprouted from the soil and extended towards a nearby platform. Just when Feng Yuan was thinking of climbing onto the vine, he was blocked by an air wall.

"Tsk! So stingy, won’t even let us take a shortcut."

Watching the vine continuously extend, Feng Yuan said discontentedly. He had been thinking of directly grabbing onto the front part of the vine to quickly reach the other side. After a while, the vine stopped growing, and unsurprisingly, the air wall had completely disappeared.

"Let’s go. I wonder what puzzles await us over there."

Twisting the parasol in her hand, Veronia said to Feng Yuan as she led the way onto the vine-formed bridge. Feng Yuan looked at the blue sky below and said,

"I wonder what would happen if we accidentally fell."

"Probably return to the starting point. Look, isn’t that sign exactly it?"

Agunas pointed to the nearby Alliance’s emergency center sign, showing a peculiar smile. Feng Yuan said,

"Didn’t expect there to be a respawn point. It’s really quite game-like."

"Is this level perhaps a jigsaw puzzle? But, where’s the puzzle? Well, Xiao Ji, leave that part to you. Big Cat, go help it."

Seeing the pile of debris nearby, Feng Yuan knew what those items were without needing to get closer. However, there should be other elements besides that area.

"Hmm, targets? Is it a shooting challenge, then?"

At this moment, Feng Yuan noticed a mocking-looking target erected on a pillar not far away. Although there was a sniper rifle below that big tree, Feng Yuan was more inclined to see if he could pass using other means. Borrowing power from Xiao Ji, small shields formed into a longbow. Aiming at the target, Feng Yuan’s arrow accurately hit the bullseye. After an explosion of fireworks, Feng Yuan saw nothing appear.

"Could that just be an Easter egg?"

Scratching his head, Feng Yuan was a bit puzzled. Meanwhile, Qi Chen and the others split up to look for clues elsewhere. After a while, the target returned to its original state amid a cloud of smoke. Seeing this scene, Feng Yuan furrowed his brows slightly. What’s up with this thing? Wait, could it be...

Having thought of something, Feng Yuan looked around. If he was not mistaken, there were likely more than one target. After searching carefully for a while, Feng Yuan realized his conjecture was correct. Several targets were situated around, including on the pillars surrounding the initial target and hidden within the big tree’s canopy.

Scratching his head, Feng Yuan felt somewhat reluctant to follow the rules. Agunas, thinking he might be stumped, flicked his tail and looked up at him, asking,

"What, is there a problem with this thing? Is it about breaking them in sequence, time limits, or only destroying certain targets?"

"Should be a time limit. If there were target-specific hits, there’d definitely be hints. However, there’s nothing similar here. Speaking of sequence, it’s even less likely. Not to mention, I don’t believe I’d be lucky enough to hit target number one on my first shot. Even if I did, it shouldn’t reset after a timeframe."

Stroking his chin, Feng Yuan looked at the target and said. After all, the puzzles here wouldn’t be made too difficult; otherwise, there’d be complaints. While he and Dou Yanlan could handle it, he wasn’t sure if Qi Chen would be the same if he played alone.

But, have I really not seen Qi Chen get angry before? Hehe, maybe this is a good chance? After pondering for a moment, Feng Yuan decided against this idea. After all, he didn’t know what might happen if he angered Qi Chen.

"Then what are you thinking?"

Agunas asked perplexedly, not quite understanding why Feng Yuan, knowing what the puzzle was, didn’t act. Pulling the longbow in his hand, Feng Yuan shook his head and said,

"I just don’t want to follow the rules. Seeing that thing, I can tell this area was designed with it as the weapon. However, earlier, I used a bow and arrow to destroy it, which makes me suspect these puzzles aren’t actually that restricted."

Showing a peculiar smile, Feng Yuan spoke with an enigmatic expression. After checking the positions of those targets, Feng Yuan pulled the black longbow to its full extent, placing nine black arrows upon it. Agunas, seeing this scene, was stunned and said in surprise,

"What are you planning to do?"

"Arcane Art - Endless Rain of Arrows~"

Shouting out a strange name, Feng Yuan released his hand. Nine arrows flew into the air and suddenly exploded, sending a rain of black arrows downwards. The targets were instantly hit and shattered, exploding amidst the arrow rain. At the same time, the sniper rifle on the ground also transformed into points of light and dissipated. Feng Yuan wasn’t surprised, as even in the Omeilia Region, those things were restricted weapons.

Providing a replica for Treasure Hunters to experience is quite generous, but wanting to take it to other areas is obviously impossible. Not to mention, such props might affect the solution of subsequent puzzles. Although he could create a bow and arrow substitute, others may not have such means.

Under the big tree, a square piece of mural appeared in the place of the sniper rifle. Fortunately, by the time the mural piece appeared, the arrow rain had already stopped. Otherwise, Feng Yuan really wondered whether it would have been destroyed by it, possibly blocking progress.

"The first puzzle piece acquired~"

Holding the fragment, Feng Yuan struck a pose and smugly said to Agunas. Kong Qing hissed as if noticing something. Placing the fragment in the puzzle area, Feng Yuan ran over to Kong Qing’s side, seeing the entrance to a black pipe and glimpses of a sewer. Feng Yuan scratched his head and said,

"What’s this place for?"

"There seems to be something there."

Agunas looked to the side and found a cylindrical column with a circular platform on top. Climbing onto the platform, he saw a white mouse quietly lying there. Feng Yuan walked over, looked at the spherical groove on the circular platform, and said,

"I see, using this platform to control the mouse to push the ball inside the sewer. But we probably don’t need to go through all that trouble. Kong Qing, can you do it?"

Seeing Feng Yuan look at him, Kong Qing nodded. As Kong Qing burrowed into the sewer, Feng Yuan could see his moving silhouette through the grates and cracks. After a while, upon Feng Yuan’s cue, Kong Qing found the golden sphere and pushed it out.

"This really is... It feels like things will get increasingly troublesome."

Putting the golden sphere into the groove, and seeing the condensed mural fragment, Feng Yuan said somewhat wearily. The number of puzzles here is clearly more than before. If it continues with this trend, he’s not sure if he can keep from breaking the rules.

"Hopefully not, unless they didn’t plan well."

Agunas said after pondering. After all, this is a treasure hunt, not a puzzle-solving event. It’s unlikely they’d arrange for a vast amount of puzzles. Besides, looking at the murals, Agunas suspects these puzzles are just a way to promote Tiraya City, given that the first round of food was Tiraya City’s specialty, although they weren’t welcomed much by tourists because the taste wasn’t great.

As for now, the mural seems to depict an ancient Tiraya City. However, based merely on two mural fragments, Agunas couldn’t definitively ascertain the facts. Yet the mural content certainly seemed to be about Tiraya City.

The mural was divided into nine pieces. Feng Yuan and the others took quite a bit of time to sort out those puzzles. Looking at the newly appearing vine bridge, Feng Yuan said wearily,

"Will there be even more puzzles later?"

"Perhaps not. I think the puzzles may stop here."

Looking at the platform with special light bands ahead, Dou Yanlan said enigmatically, taking another glance at Ah Mu beside Qi Chen, Dou Yanlan said,

"Wonder if Ah Mu can keep up with our pace."