Me? I was transported into a book? And I became a vicious villain?

The night was getting darker. Xiao Yichen and Chu Mengmeng led the team members to stand in front of the entrance of the basement. Everyone's heart was moved by the warning in the black envelope. The twin boys held each other's hands tightly, trying to find some comfort in each other's eyes.

"Everyone, be careful. There may be some traps in the basement," Li Yunfei broke the silence, "stay alert."

The old wooden door creaked open, and an old and decayed smell came to my face, which was the breath that had been dormant for a long time and had not been touched. Xiao Yichen was the first to step into the darkness, followed by Chu Mengmeng, and the twins and other members followed carefully.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the basement, and the dim light stones on the surrounding walls emitted a faint light, barely illuminating the road ahead. Xiao Yichen took out a flashlight and swept the beam of light in front of him. On the ground, there were some broken pages of books and tools similar to those used for casting spells.

"These things... look like the remains of a magic circle," Chu Mengmeng picked up a page of the book and looked at it carefully, her brows furrowed.

As they continued to go deeper, the atmosphere in the basement became more and more strange, and a huge magic circle appeared in front of them. The magic circle emitted a strange light, as if some kind of ritual was being performed. Red lines like blood were intertwined and flowing in the circle, and the whole scene was full of ominous meaning.

“What is this…?” Chu Mengmeng murmured, her fingers gently stroking the edge of the formation, and a strong and strange energy spread throughout her body.

Xiao Yichen gestured to her, signaling her to step back. He carefully approached the center of the magic circle and found that a crystal that seemed to be controlling the formation was slowly rotating and releasing faint energy fluctuations.

"The crystal has been activated. It seems that they once performed some important ritual here." Xiao Yichen analyzed, his finger hovering above the control crystal, hesitating whether to try to touch it further.

"Don't move!" Li Yunfei suddenly stopped him, "We don't know its purpose yet. Any rash action may trigger unpredictable consequences."

At this moment, the twin Xiao Xiao was rummaging through the bookshelf nearby, and suddenly shouted in surprise: "Brother, there is a diary here!"

Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to it. Xiao Yao also came over, and the brother and sister carefully took the diary from the bookshelf. It looked very old, and there was even some dust on the cover. Xiao Yichen took the diary and slowly opened it. It recorded the history and purpose of the new force in detail.

"No matter what they have done here, this diary should be able to give us some clues." Xiao Yichen's voice was firm and full of determination.

At this moment, Chu Mengmeng suddenly felt a chill coming over her. Her eyes were fixed on a statue in the corner next to the magic circle. The statue's eyes were flickering slightly, as if watching their every move. At this moment, Xiao Yichen turned around with a serious expression, "It seems that we haven't discovered the real secret of this place yet."

The atmosphere in the basement became more and more solemn, as if there were more secrets hidden in the darkness waiting for them to reveal. Time seemed to stop at this moment, and everyone's clenched hearts were looking forward to the next discovery and answer. Xiao Yichen carefully opened the diary, and a musty smell came to his nose. On the yellowed pages, the beautiful handwriting came into view. The owner of the diary recorded in detail the origin of the new force: an ancient organization called "Shadow Abyss", dedicated to bringing the world back to the era of "magic and technology coexisting". Their purpose is not simply destruction, but the desire to reshape the world order and establish a new era where magic controls everything.

"So this is their real purpose..." Xiao Yichen whispered, his eyes filled with shock and a hint of barely perceptible fear. Chu Mengmeng came closer, and the two of them discussed the contents of the diary in a low voice, trying to find more clues about the new forces' plans.

The twins were curiously flipping through the illustrations in the diary. The images of magic rituals and strange creatures left a deep impression on their young minds. Xiao Xiao pointed to an illustration of a huge magic circle and asked excitedly, "Brother, look, is this magic circle exactly the same as the one we just saw?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yichen and Chu Mengmeng immediately realized the seriousness of the problem. They hurried to the magic circle and carefully compared the illustrations in the diary with the formation in front of them, trying to find the connection between the two. However, at the moment when Xiao Yichen accidentally touched the control crystal, the entire basement suddenly shook violently!

"Oh no! We seem to have triggered some mechanism!" Chu Mengmeng exclaimed, her face suddenly turning pale.

Dust fell from the ceiling, cracks began to appear on the walls, and the entire basement seemed to be collapsing. Li Yunfei made a prompt decision and shouted, "Quick! Everyone, retreat!"

Everyone didn't dare to delay and ran towards the entrance they came from. However, just as they were about to escape from the basement, the originally open entrance was blocked by a stone wall that suddenly appeared!

"How could this happen?!" Xiao Yao shouted in horror, with a hint of tears in her voice.

"Don't be afraid, I'll find a way!" Xiao Yichen comforted his sister, while anxiously looking for other exits. However, the structure of the basement was complicated, and there was no other way out except the entrance when they came in.

A feeling of despair spread in everyone's hearts, and at this moment, a cold laugh came from behind them, accompanied by the sound of magic wands rubbing against each other.

"It seems that tonight's prey has come to us..." A hoarse voice echoed in the darkness. The cold laughter echoed in the empty basement, like the whisper of a ghost, which was creepy. Xiao Yichen turned around suddenly and saw a group of people in black robes slowly walking out of the shadows. Their faces were hidden under the hoods, holding magic wands that flashed with dim light in their hands, and a disgusting smell of corruption filled the air.

"Who are you?" Xiao Yichen protected Chu Mengmeng and the children behind him, with a tone of vigilance and a hint of fear.

"Haha, a group of ignorant ants, you actually dare to break into our holy land, you are really courting death!" The leading man in black laughed hoarsely. He slowly raised the magic wand in his hand, and the gem on the end of the wand flashed a heart-pounding red light.

"Run!" Xiao Yichen realized that the situation was not good, and shouted, while activating the defensive spell in his arms. The golden light instantly enveloped them, forming a solid barrier.

"A mere trifle!" The man in black sneered and waved his magic wand. Black lightning shot towards the golden barrier like poisonous snakes, making a sharp explosion sound.

The barrier trembled violently, and the golden light gradually dimmed. It was obvious that it could not withstand such a fierce attack for a long time. At this critical moment, two figures rushed into the basement like lightning, and the dazzling magic light instantly illuminated the entire space.

"You evildoer! Stop being so arrogant!"

The people who came were Xiao Yichen's parents. Father Xiao held an ancient long sword, the blade exuded a biting cold air, and every swing brought a sharp sword energy, cutting off the attacking black lightning one by one. Mother Xiao held an eight-diagram mirror, the mirror surface was full of light, and all the dark magic attacking them was bounced back.

"It's you! You are still alive?!" the leading man in black exclaimed, his tone full of disbelief and a hint of fear.

"Hmph! Just relying on you jumping clowns, you think you can get involved in my Xiao family?!" Xiao's father snorted coldly, swung the sword in his hand, and a huge sword energy swept out, forcing back several men in black.

"We have remembered what happened today. We will come again if we meet again!" Seeing that the situation was not good, the leading man in black left a cruel word and fled in panic with his men.

Father Xiao was about to chase after him, but was stopped by Mother Xiao. "Don't chase after a desperate enemy. Take the children away from here first!"

Xiao Yichen and Chu Mengmeng took the children and quickly evacuated the basement under the protection of Xiao's father and mother. However, just as they were about to step out of the basement, Xiao Yichen suddenly felt a cold gaze falling on him. He turned back suddenly, but only saw the empty darkness...

"What's wrong?" Chu Mengmeng noticed that something was wrong with him and asked softly.

Xiao Yichen shook his head and said nothing. He just held her hand tightly, his eyes filled with unprecedented solemnity. He knew that this was just the beginning, and a bigger crisis was still to come...

In the dim basement passage, Chu Mengmeng and her group hurried along in the dim light. Father and Mother Xiao led the way, and Li Yunfei stayed behind, protecting Chu Mengmeng, Xiao Yichen, and the two children in the middle.

"Mengmeng, are you okay?" Xiao Yichen looked at Chu Mengmeng worriedly. Her face was a little pale and beads of sweat were oozing from her forehead.

"I'm fine," Chu Mengmeng forced a smile, but the hand holding Xiao Yichen was shaking slightly, "It's just... just now I tried to use teleportation to take everyone away, but I found that I couldn't mobilize any magic power..."

Xiao Yichen's heart suddenly sank. He remembered that just now in the basement, Chu Mengmeng was unable to summon her defensive magic circle. Could it be that...

"Don't worry." As if she saw through his thoughts, Chu Mengmeng held his hand in return, pretending to be relaxed, "It may be because there are some special restrictions left in the basement that affect my magic. It will be fine once we get out."

Although Chu Mengmeng said this, her heart was filled with uneasiness. This feeling of being unable to control her own power made her feel unprecedented fear.

The group finally escaped from the basement and returned to the surface. The warm sunlight shone on them, dispelling the cold and dampness underground. However, no one felt relaxed, and everyone's face was full of solemnity.

"Dad, Mom, who are those people in black? Why are they here?" Xiao Yichen asked hurriedly.

Father Xiao pondered for a moment and said slowly: "If I'm not mistaken, they should be from the 'Shadow Church'."

"Shadow Church?" Xiao Yichen and Chu Mengmeng said in unison. They saw shock in each other's eyes.

The "Shadow Church" is a mysterious and evil organization. According to legend, they worship dark forces and attempt to subvert the entire world. But all along, they have only existed in legends, and no one has ever really seen their traces.

"It seems that we have really stirred up a hornet's nest this time," Li Yunfei smiled bitterly and shook his head, "The Shadow Church is not so easy to mess with."

"No matter what, we must protect ourselves and our families," Xiao Yichen said with a firm look in his eyes, "I will never let them hurt you."

However, once the gears of fate start turning, they cannot be stopped.

That night, Chu Mengmeng and Xiao Yichen returned home, and an inexplicable uneasiness enveloped them. Chu Mengmeng tried to gather her magic power, but found...

"My magic... is gone..."