Oops, the princess is surrounded by the male protagonists

Chapter 525: Bloodline connected, the cave opens

Looking around, all that was left of Yingxiong Village was a sprawling expanse of ruins.

Charred wooden beams protruded abruptly from the collapsed walls, and broken rubble piled up like mountains.

Wild grass grew wildly in every crevice, almost completely devouring the ruins.

On several sections of the high wall that were barely standing, there were still dark brown traces of burnt fire. When the breeze blew, the air seemed to still be filled with a lingering burnt smell.

The afterglow of the setting sun slanted down on the ruins, bringing no warmth at all but adding a sense of sadness as things had changed and people had changed.

Shen Xingmian staggered, but fortunately, Luosha beside him quickly caught him.

She looked at everything in front of her in disbelief, and her eyes were instantly covered with a layer of mist.

"I remember this was once the gathering hall of Yingxiong Manor... Brother Wuzheng sat in the main seat, and he could decide matters in the martial arts world while chatting and laughing..."

Her words were filled with sighs and sorrow, and tears rolled down her eyes.

"How could the once glorious Hero Village...how could it have ended up like this?"

No one could answer her question. Only the mountain wind whistled through the broken walls, making a whimpering sound.

Zhuang Xiaoye clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turned white from the force, and the joints were clearly visible.

His tall back stood in front of the ruins, like a silent stone statue, only his eye sockets were quietly red at an angle where no one could see, forcibly suppressing the surging pain and unwillingness in his heart.

Luosha took a few quick steps and came to Zhuang Xiaoye's side, snuggling gently beside him, her voice gentle.

"Xiaoye, don't be too sad. No matter what happens, I will always be with you."

"Yes, Xiaoye."

Shen Xingmian also came to his senses, wiped away his tears, and went forward to comfort her.

"The rise and fall of forces within the Wulin Alliance is inevitable. If Brother Wu Zheng hadn't passed away too early due to illness, Yingxiong Manor wouldn't have been leaderless and ended up in this state."

Zhuang Xiaoye nodded heavily, suppressed all his emotions, then took a deep breath, turned and walked towards the back mountain.

"The forbidden area is at the back. I'll take you there."

The group followed him in silence, their footsteps stepping over knee-high weeds and sharp gravel.

The deeper you go into the mountains, the steeper the terrain becomes, and the more shocking the traces of battle around you become.

The stone wall was covered with deep sword marks and palm prints, some of which were even several inches deep.

Finally, they stopped in front of a cave half-hidden by vines.

The entrance to the cave was extremely wide, but was tightly blocked by a huge rock that seemed to have been formed by nature.

The surface of the boulder was covered with moss and still had spots of blood that had long since dried and turned black. On the ground around the cave entrance, countless skeletons remained in the postures they had used in their previous fights, which made people shudder.

"This is it."

Zhuang Xiaoye's voice was low and hoarse. He walked slowly forward and reached out to touch the cold and hard boulder.

Everyone immediately looked around, trying to find a way to open the stone door.

Hua Muan had sharp eyes and suddenly pointed to the relatively flat stone wall next to the boulder, his voice filled with surprise.

"Master, look there!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw several lines of vigorous and domineering words engraved on the stone wall. The characters were sharp and exuded a sense of intimidation.

"If you are not from our tribe, you will die if you enter."

"It seems this is a warning set up by Yingxiong Manor to prevent outsiders from casually entering the restricted area."

Bai Yue looked at the eight big words and couldn't help but sigh.

"But the problem is, this huge rock is blocking the way. Even if I want to go in and die, I can't get in!"

Just at this moment, Lingxuzi's gaze fell on the bottom of the stone wall. He pointed at a line of inconspicuous small characters and a palm-shaped concave mechanism next to it, and spoke.

"Master, look, there are words here!"

Bai Yue leaned over to take a look and saw the small words written there.

"When the blood is connected, the cave will open."

"Could it be that only by dripping the blood of a direct descendant of the Zhuang family into the groove of this palm print can the mechanism be activated and the boulder opened?"

Bai Yue immediately came to a conclusion based on the previous warnings.

This speculation was reasonable and everyone nodded.

But then, Luosha frowned and muttered to himself.

"But Xiaoye said that the Zhuang family... was completely wiped out back then. The only survivor, Zhuang Xiaohan, is far away in Xuelin Country. Where can we find the Zhuang family bloodline now?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere suddenly became tense. Zhuang Xiaoye stared at the palm print groove for a while, then turned to look at Bai Yue with a guilty tone.

"Young Master, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I didn't realize that the Zhuang bloodline is needed to open the forbidden area. I made you come here in vain!"

Just when the other party looked embarrassed, Bai Yue started a heated discussion with Xiao 1 in her mind.

"Xiao 1, can you scan how much this big rock weighs? Just give me the data, and I can calculate how many kilograms of explosives it will take to blow it up!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a sweaty expression flashed before her eyes.

"Dear player, how come you are still so bold!"

Xiao 1's voice was filled with helplessness.

"But unfortunately, I have to inform you that the boulder is closely connected to the mountain structure. If we forcibly blast it, there is a high probability that the internal structure of the forbidden area will collapse. By then, don't even think about finding the sword manual. We will all be buried inside!"

"Collapse? Does that mean there's no other way except to bleed?"

After hearing this, Bai Yue continued to ask, and then a "check mark" expression appeared in front of her eyes.

"Player, you're absolutely right. This is the only way right now!"

"Xiao 1, are you deliberately trying to trick me? I only have the last set of my six sword techniques left, and you're actually setting me up like this..."

Bai Yue was just suspecting that the system was deliberately making things difficult for her, but Shen Xingmian beside her seemed to have made up his mind and suddenly spoke.

"Xiaoyue! Go and try dripping your blood into the mechanism!"

"My blood?"

Before she could react, Zhuang Xiaoye suddenly turned his head to look at Shen Xingmian, his eyes full of surprise and confusion.

"Madam, what you are saying is..."

"Silence!"

Shen Xingmian interrupted him in a rare and harsh voice, and then continued to urge Bai Yue.

"Listen to me! Xiaoyue, go quickly!"

"good!"

The moment Bai Yue's eyes met Shen Xingmian's, a vague guess suddenly became clear.

So she no longer hesitated, and suddenly pulled out the dagger from her waist with her right hand. With a flash of cold light, she neatly drew a bloody mark on the palm of her left hand!

"Owner!"

Hua Muan and Lingxuzi exclaimed at the same time, their eyes full of heartache.

Bright red blood instantly gushed out from the wound, appearing particularly glaring in Bai Yue's white palm.

She took a step forward and without hesitation placed her bleeding palm on the groove in the stone wall that required "blood connection"!

The blood flowed slowly along the palm lines and into the mechanical patterns, as if injecting life into the cold stone wall.