Great, it's just a lackey, we're saved!

Chapter 242 The White Jade Stairs at the Mountain Gate!

Zhou Wei hissed and looked at the eldest princess, who looked puzzled.

"Mr. Tan, didn't those students already go down the mountain yesterday?"

Tan Lin rubbed his face, clearly puzzled as well.

"My thoughts were exactly the same as the princess's at the time. Everyone turned around and stared at me without moving. The scene was too strange. Without thinking, I asked my senior brother to dispel the discomfort in my heart."

Ignoring the rule that no noise was allowed in the Mingzheng Hall, Tan Lin questioned his senior brother, asking why the person who had gone down the mountain yesterday had reappeared today.

Unexpectedly, Tan Lin's question seemed to be the key that unlocked a certain atmosphere.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone who had been looking at him turned their heads away at the same time.

The once quiet Mingzheng Hall was instantly plunged into a cacophony of noise.

It's as if none of this has ever happened!

"When the headmaster saw that I was still standing, he scolded me and told me to go back to my seat so as not to be late for the morning class."

"I sat down with my senior brother, and after sitting down in a daze, I couldn't help but ask him, 'Wasn't the mountain gate locked? Why haven't the students left?'"

"My senior brother looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked if I was sick or feeling unwell. The abbot has never given an order to lock the mountain gate, nor has he ever asked to drive away the students of the blessed land."

When Tan Lin's senior brother spoke to him, his eyes were concerned and his expression was sincere, not at all like he was faking it.

This gave Tan Lin a sense of inexplicable fear!

He even began to wonder if he was really sick.

Was everything that happened yesterday a hallucination he experienced after falling ill?

Upon hearing this, the eldest princess immediately pointed out the inconsistencies in the explanation.

“Mr. Tan, if everything that happened yesterday was an illusion, there is only one way to verify it: just take any student out of the mountain gate and have them take a look.”

The princess's solution was simple and direct, but Tan Lin sighed upon hearing it, clearly indicating that he had already tried it.

“I have also thought of the method Your Highness mentioned. After a long morning, during the lunch break, I found one of my closest students, named Ji Zhengyao, who comes from the Tianji Pavilion.”

“I lied and said I wanted to go down the mountain to buy something, which would only take an hour to go back and forth. I asked Ji Zhengyao to accompany me. I thought he would refuse, but to my surprise, he agreed without any hesitation.”

The eldest princess and Zhou Wei frowned as they listened.

This student from Tianji Pavilion was closest to Tan Lin and was willing to accompany him down the mountain during his lunch break.

If the two of them had truly succeeded in leaving the mountain gate, then Tan Lin wouldn't have said that he was the only one to have left the mountain gate in the past ten years.

Something must have happened behind this!

"I was nervous, but Ji Zhengyao was very excited, and his face showed no abnormality. I followed behind him and slowly headed towards the mountain gate."

"We met other fellow disciples on the way and greeted them. When they heard that the two of us were going down the mountain, some of them came up to us and asked us to help carry some things."

"The atmosphere was harmonious and normal, as if everything was telling me that what happened yesterday was just my illusion."

"Until Ji Zhengyao and I arrived at the mountain gate..."

As Tan Lin spoke, he calmed himself down, as if all those years had passed and the events of that day were still vivid in his mind.

The gate of Zhengshan Academy is quite unique. In front of the wooden archway is a white jade staircase that seems to stretch as far as the eye can see.

When the gate of Zhengshan Academy is open, this white jade staircase is visible to everyone.

If the mountain gate is closed, the white jade steps will also disappear!

Standing on the archway and looking out, it feels as if you are on a mountaintop amidst a sea of ​​clouds, and one step would plunge you into an abyss.

"When we arrived at the archway, the sight before us filled me with dread. The area outside the archway was shrouded in mist, and we couldn't see anything at all. The white jade steps were nowhere to be seen either."

"The entire academy was surrounded by mist, as if it existed in another world, floating in the heavens!"

"Upon seeing this, I immediately realized that everything that happened yesterday was not a fantasy, but that the academy's gates were truly locked."

“Ji Zhengyao, I personally escorted him to the archway yesterday, and I also watched him step up the steps and walk down the mountain.”

"But now he's standing right next to me. Thinking of this, I broke out in a cold sweat and didn't dare turn around to look at him."

Tan Lin's narration is straightforward, yet it possesses a unique magic.

The story sent chills down the spines of anyone who heard it!

Zhou Wei even felt a slight chill on her neck. Like Tan Lin, she didn't dare to turn her head to look, and could only glance to the side.

Then I saw a panda head lurking suspiciously by the window!

Abao opened his mouth and blew air towards Zhou Wei through the window, implying that it was time to give her a bowl of milk.

boom--

Zhou Wei reached out the window and slapped A Bao on the head, and the guy immediately became obedient.

She gave a listless hum and turned to go to the courtyard to find Ziyu.

“Excuse me, Mr. Tan, Abao is too naughty. Please continue.” Zhou Wei gestured for Tan Lin to continue.

Ah Bao's interruption also pulled everyone out of their terrified state.

Tan Lin's complexion improved considerably, and he continued, "Later, I mustered up the courage to look at Ji Zhengyao and found him smiling broadly as he stepped into the mist."

"I didn't even have time to call out to him before he disappeared. In the mist, Ji Zhengyao was calling my name again and again."

Ji Zhengyao called out to Tan Lin in the mist, but Tan Lin, looking at the thick white fog outside the archway, still did not have the courage to step inside.

He shouted for Ji Zhengyao to come back, but Ji Zhengyao's voice grew fainter and fainter until it disappeared.

"When I saw Ji Zhengyao disappear, I was terrified and ran back to the academy like a madman, wanting to ask my senior brother for help."

"And then we saw that Ji Zhengyao, who had just disappeared into the mist, was now laughing and joking with everyone under the eaves."

"I was so shocked I couldn't speak, but Ji Zhengyao acted as if nothing had happened, and asked me with a smile where I had gone after lunch?"

Tan Lin's eyes became confused, and Zhou Wei sighed as well, somewhat understanding him.

These laughing students had just watched him and Ji Zhengyao head towards the mountain gate, saying they were going down the mountain to buy things.

Some people even asked Tan Lin to bring some back for them, but now everyone is acting like they've lost their memory, asking where Tan Lin went.

Anyone would go crazy in this situation!

Fortunately, although Tan Lin was shocked, he did not lose his composure. He simply said that he had gone to the library to read books, thus smoothing things over.

Zhou Wei then asked, "Ji Zhengyao went to the mountain gate with you, that's how it is. Did you try it with anyone else?"

Tan Lin nodded: "Of course. In the following days, I asked different fellow disciples to go to the mountain gate, but the result was the same as Ji Zhengyao's. As long as they stepped into the mist and disappeared, and I returned to the academy, no one remembered this incident."

Zhou Wei pondered: "So, this mountain gate archway is the spawn point for this instance. Once you get here, the NPCs in the instance will enter the mist and refresh the instance."

The princess and Tan Lin looked at Zhou Wei with complete bewilderment, not understanding what she was talking about.

Zhou Wei patted her head and explained with a smile, "What I mean is that the mountain gate archway is a key point. This point cannot be touched. Once it is touched, everything inside the mountain gate will be reset."

Zhou Wei still couldn't figure out why Zhengshan Academy had a recurring copy.

But in her opinion, this was extremely interesting!

Tan Lin's bewildered expression clearly indicates that he hasn't cleared this dungeon yet; otherwise, he wouldn't have shown up to find the Princess.

His purpose was probably to get the eldest princess to go to Zhengshan Academy with him to solve this mystery.

Of course, the imperial decree for Princess Chang to go to the blessed land only arrived today; Tan Lin's supernatural powers wouldn't be so great.

Therefore, certain events at Zhengshan Academy must be related to the Eldest Princess, which is why Tan Lin went to great lengths to get in touch with her.

The exact connection remains to be seen; we'll have to wait for Tan Lin to explain.

However, what Zhou Wei was most curious about was how Tan Lin got out of the dungeon.