boyutpedia Chapter 15 The platform at the end of the stone bridge, the temple begins to appear!
Chapter 15 The platform at the end of the stone bridge, the temple begins to appear!
On the opposite bank of the stone bridge is a huge circular platform paved with black rocks.
When the last person in the team safely stepped onto the solid ground, everyone collapsed to the ground as if all their strength had been drained, panting heavily.
The relief of surviving the ordeal and the fear of the unknown future were intertwined on everyone's faces.
Professor Zhou leaned against a protruding rock, took off his reading glasses, and wiped the dust off the lenses with trembling hands.
He counted the number of people—Lin Mu, Su Nianwei, Ye Zhi Qiu, Chen Wen Tao, himself, student Fang Ting, security captain Wang Meng and three team members, and technician Xiao Zhao—no more, no less, twelve people, all of whom had arrived safely.
"Take stock of the supplies and see how much is left."
Professor Zhou's voice was a little hoarse.
Security captain Wang Meng immediately began checking the equipment.
Technician Xiao Zhao opened the heavy-duty, military-green antimagnetic relay backpack, looked at the frantically flashing red lights, and reported to his supervisor with a distressed expression: "Professor, the backpack is overheating too badly. I just forced a restart. The live stream signal is intermittent now, and the picture quality is probably already very blurry, but... but it should still be able to hold up."
Chen Wentao sat alone in the farthest corner, holding his head and not saying a word.
He hadn't yet recovered from the hallucination and cognitive collapse he had just experienced.
Ye Zhi Qiu clung to Su Nian Wei's arm, sobbing softly, clearly quite frightened as well.
Lin Mu stood alone at the edge of the platform, his back to the others, quietly looking at the stone bridge he had come from and the bottomless darkness below.
The wound on his left palm, inflicted by the entrenching tool, had stopped bleeding.
Under the influence of the Qilin blood, the wound is healing at a speed far exceeding that of ordinary people. The exposed flesh has begun to close up, leaving only a hideous red scar.
Su Nianwei looked at that aloof and cold figure, then at his left hand casually hanging at his side, and felt as if something had stabbed her heart.
She gently bit her lip, a struggle flashing in her beautiful eyes, but in the end, that struggle was replaced by an indescribable determination.
She released Ye Zhi Qiu, took out a delicate waterproof first aid kit from her tactical backpack, stood up, and walked towards Lin Mu.
"Sister Su, you..."
Ye Zhi Qiu looked at her with a puzzled expression.
Su Nianwei didn't turn around, but said softly, "His hands need to be treated to prevent infection."
Amidst the complex gazes of nearly ten million viewers in the live stream and everyone present, this top-tier actress, who has always been aloof and kept her distance from all male celebrities, took the initiative to approach a man for the first time.
Lin Mu heard footsteps behind him, but he didn't turn around.
Until that familiar scent, faintly fragrant with jasmine, stopped beside him.
"Lin Mu".
Su Nianwei's voice was very soft, carrying a hint of concern that she herself was unaware of.
Lin Mu turned his head slightly to look at her.
Su Nianwei didn't look at his face, but stared intently at his left hand, which was covered with a thin layer of scabs, her eyes slightly red.
"Your hand... needs some treatment."
She crouched down, opened the first-aid kit, took out alcohol swabs, gauze, and bandages, then looked up at Lin Mu with an extremely serious expression.
Lin Mu's gaze met hers for three seconds.
He wanted to say "no need," as this kind of injury was nothing to him.
But when he saw Su Nianwei's reddened eyes, filled with persistence and heartache, he couldn't bring himself to say the words of refusal.
He paused for two seconds, and finally, slowly extended his left hand.
Su Nianwei's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly lowered her head to hide the blush on her face.
She carefully used tweezers to pick up a cotton ball soaked in alcohol and gently wiped the blood around the wound.
The cold alcohol stung the wound upon contact.
Lin Mu's body stiffened slightly, but his face remained expressionless.
Su Nianwei's movements were extremely gentle, and neither of them spoke.
On the narrow platform, the only sounds were the faint rustling of alcohol swabs wiping wounds and the intertwined breaths of the two people so close together.
Watching this scene from a distance, Ye Zhi Qiu couldn't help but nudge Fang Ting, a graduate student beside her, and whispered gossip, "Fang Ting, look, Sister Su Su seems to care a lot about Lin Mu."
Fang Ting, a somewhat introverted girl wearing black-rimmed glasses, adjusted her glasses and looked at Lin Mu and Su Nianwei's backs as she answered softly, "I think... it's normal. Lin Mu... saved all of our lives."
The chat room was completely in an uproar.
[Ahhh! My favorite couple is giving us some sweet moments! Su Su is bandaging Lin Shen's wound!]
[This scene is so beautiful! A cool and aloof actress, a mysterious and powerful figure—a perfect match!]
Look at Lin Shen's expression! He didn't refuse!
The wound was treated quickly.
Su Nianwei covered the wound with clean gauze, then carefully wrapped it with bandages, and finally tied it into a pretty bow.
"alright."
Su Nianwei breathed a sigh of relief, looked up, and met Lin Mu's deep eyes.
Their eyes met, and Su Nianwei blushed again. She hurriedly looked away and began packing the first-aid kit.
"Thanks."
Lin Mu looked at his neatly bandaged left hand and said something indifferently.
Su Nianwei paused slightly as she packed her things, and a very subtle smile involuntarily appeared on her lips.
Just then.
"Professors! Look!"
A security guard on guard suddenly pointed into the darkness deep inside the platform and exclaimed in surprise.
Everyone immediately stood up and looked in the direction he was pointing.
In the darkness deep within the platform, a huge architectural outline, emitting a faint light, appeared out of nowhere.
The light was extremely faint, appearing and disappearing in the darkness, as if it were some kind of huge metal object reflecting the light from their flashlights.
"What...what is that?"
Ye Zhi Qiu asked nervously.
Professor Zhou raised his binoculars and stared intently at the light, his breathing becoming rapid.
"A temple...it's a temple!"
Professor Zhou's voice was hoarse with extreme excitement: "I saw it... stone pillars! Sixteen enormous black stone pillars! And... and the gold on the dome! My God! We found it! We found the core sacrificial temple of the Jingjue Kingdom!"
"The temple...we've found the core sacrificial temple of the Jingjue Kingdom!"
Professor Zhou's voice became hoarse with extreme excitement. He gripped the binoculars tightly, as if he wanted to etch the building in the darkness into his soul.