Reincarnation of the Strongest Healer

Chapter 356: Puzzles

After getting scammed— convinced to join the Vanguard Guild, Xu Feng clapped his hands.

”Glad to have you in the guild, Crimson Heart.” He exclaimed. ”Now weʼre really in the same group, so hereʼs the guild team invitation.”

Crimson Heart knitted her brows upon seeing the system prompt.

ʼNo wonder these two recovered mana and health faster than me.ʼ Crimson Heart thought to herself, having realized the guildʼs benefit and the guild invitation team.

Since she had rarely cared about the guild system. Added to the fact that every other guild was struggling to increase their overall level, the benefit she witnessed was one-of-a-kind.

To increase a guild level, aside from the reputation points required, one also needed a certain amount of gold coins and approval of the Adventure Association recognition level.

And naturally, with Xu Fengʼs current influence and coziness with the Star Falls City Adventure Association, increasing his guild level to 2 was rather easy.

It was also precisely because they were currently the only guild that was level 2 that made the other originally unwilling players remain in the guild.

”Your wealth is quite vast.” Crimson Heart commented.

One GMP was equivalent to the value of one bronze coin, albeit a little more over. So to offer up 300 GMP for her as long as she completed this exploration with him meant that he was paying her a minimum of 3 silver coins.

She doubted the other guild leaders would be this generous, given that 3 silver coins in the Exchange Center were still being bought rapidly at a price of 300-1000 dollars.

”Heh, I donʼt earn much, to be honest.” Xu Feng shook his head and denied the claim. ”Itʼs just that other rich people are giving me their money for my services.”

”Oh, so like a pimp?” Crimson Heart shot back, clearly taking revenge.

”Yes, a pimp who is thinking about where to sell you off to.” Not losing in the verbal fight, Xu Feng managed to counter it rather quickly.

”Pfft,” Carmen, who heard everything from the sideline, made a snicker.

”I canʼt believe how a tense situation is turned into a comedy session from you two.” She added, her previous tension and nervousness had eased up quite a lot.

”Thatʼs a good thing,” Xu Feng smiled lightly. ”In a tense situation, the more relaxed and calm a person is, the better they can resolve the situation. Panicking and being afraid wonʼt help at all.”

Nodding in agreement, Crimson Heart also believed calmness was the way to go. As for her previous anger, that was an exception.

Sometime later, having adjusted their emotions, the trio calmly proceeded to venture the passageway.

”Hmm, aside from the gloomy and creepy atmosphere. I donʼt sense any enemies nearby.” Crimson Heart analyzed their surroundings and reported.

As an Assassin, awareness was better than Xu Feng and Carmen. Thus, her report most likely meant there werenʼt any monsters around.

Despite this, Xu Feng refrained from relaxing as he explained, ”The monsters are most likely in a frozen state.”

”Frozen state?” Alarmed, both Carmen and Crimson Heart wondered if Xu Feng merely wanted to spook them.

”Donʼt tell me itʼs one of those cringe and cliche mechanisms where once the puzzle is solved, monsters would appear.” Crimson Heart questioned.

Nodding, Xu Feng responded, ”Yup, itʼs indeed one of those mechanism scenarios.”

Shortly after that revelation, the trio continued their walk and ended up in a somewhat spacious area. Symbols were etched into the walls, forming intricate patterns that seemed to hold some hidden meaning. A pile of stones lay scattered across the ground, each carved with similar symbols.

”A jigsaw kind of puzzle eh…” Xu Feng murmured, finding this type of puzzle to be quite troublesome.

First, they need to identify the pile of stones with their symbol that actually correlated with the ones on the wall. Additionally, they needed to rotate the symbols on the walls to create a depiction.

As for what the depiction was, they would need to investigate that themselves with the clues scattered in the spacious room.

”Iʼm at a loss.” Carmen attempted to decipher a few of the stones with symbols but gave up after a few seconds. For some reason, she felt her head aching whenever she tried to focus on the drawing of the symbol.

It was as if the symbols had some sort of mystic power that corroded oneʼs vision and mind when exposed to it for a while.

”Same here!” Crimson Heart said, rubbing her temples as she felt somewhat hazy.

Upon noticing their abnormal condition, Xu Feng squinted his eyes. He glanced at their status but didnʼt spot any ailment being in effect.

ʼNot a status ailment?ʼ He rubbed his chin softly.

”The two of you, take a rest by the side first and just glance at the symbols on the wall instead.” He quickly instructed.

”Okay…” the two women didnʼt disagree and went to check on the walls on their symbols.

Once they were distanced from the piles of stones, their condition visibly improved.

ʼAre the stones poison or something?ʼ Xu Feng wondered silently, picking up a few stones and inspecting them.

However, even after a few minutes, he didnʼt feel anything. Other than the mysterious symbols engraved in the stone, there was nothing special.

”If not poison, then could the symbols have something else?” With that in mind, Xu Feng began touching the symbol and detecting its properties.

A few seconds later, using his Profession as a Herbalist, he gained some new information.

The symbols were engraved with a hint of Mana-Bane Thistle and Veilroot Essence.

Mana-Bane Thistle was a rare herb known for its ability to interfere with magical senses, creating a subtle distortion in oneʼs perception. When exposed to its unique mana, people often reported feeling lightheaded or seeing faint shadows at the edge of their vision.

Veilroot Essence, on the other hand, had properties that could cloud the mind, making it difficult to concentrate on any single thought for too long. Used in small doses, it induced a mild, dreamlike state — harmless on its own, but disorienting when coupled with other effects.

ʼIs there a sentient being lurking here?ʼ Xu Feng narrowed his eyes.