Zhuo Cai led a group of people directly to the tall tower. She happily knocked on the black door several times, and the door made several dull sounds.
She shouted to the inside: "Grandpa, I'm back!"
Following his words, the door of the black tower opened quickly, and an old man with a messy white beard stood inside. His face became excited when he saw Zhuo Cai.
The old man's clothes were no different from ordinary villagers, but he was leaning on a black wooden crutch with a dark black bead inlaid on it, which showed that he was a priest who was different from ordinary people.
The old man had gray hair and wrinkles covering his face. He was already very old and his eyesight was not very good. He tried hard to open his cloudy old eyes and saw clearly several people standing behind Zhuocai.
He pointed at Xu Huaigu and his group and said something to Zhuo Cai. His voice was unclear. Xu Huaigu wanted to listen, but found that he could not hear clearly at all.
Seeing Xu Huaigu's confusion, Zhuo Cai explained: "My grandfather is old, so his speech is a bit vague. He is usually very quiet and doesn't talk much. You just need to get used to it."
Then Zhuo Cai said something to the white-haired old man, and then the old man showed a welcoming smile to Xu Huaigu and his group, raised his crutch, and greeted them to enter the black tower.
Xu Huaigu entered the black tower under the guidance of the old man, and saw that although the black tower was a closed space, it was very well designed. Among them, black stone pillars and beams are intertwined, and the structure is very unique. It is completely different from the outside buildings. Otherwise, it would not be able to support this abnormally high tower, which increases in area as it goes higher.
The material of the Black Tower is also very strange. Although it cannot be seen from the outside, from the inside, the outside scenery is unobstructed, and the sunlight can penetrate through, making the inside very bright.
The first floor of the tower was not large, and there were no objects placed there. It was almost finished in a few glances. The white-haired old man did not intend to let them stay here, so he took them upstairs.
Zhuo Cai said with a smile: "The second floor of the tower is where my grandfather lives on weekdays. It is warm in winter and cool in summer. It is very comfortable. If you want to try something new, you can also live in this tower these days. "
As Zhuo Cai said, there are several rooms on the second floor, and without exception there is only a small wooden bed in the room. Although the layout is relatively simple, the warm winter sun shines directly in, making it really warm.
"The third floor is the Library Pavilion. Although our village is remote, there are quite a lot of things in the Library Pavilion. However, some of the words in it are very strange. They seem to be in a very ancient language. I can't understand many of them. I am the only one. Grandpa can understand it. If you are interested, you can feel free to take a look. If you don’t understand, you can ask my grandpa."
Zhuo Cai looked at the white-haired old man and said, "He is just too idle. If you have any questions to ask him while reading, he will be very happy."
After the old man took the group to the second floor, he sat aside and closed his eyes to rest. .
Xu Huaigu nodded and said, "Okay."
Zhuo Cai was about to leave. Xu Huaigu quickly stopped her and asked, "Zhuo Cai, where are you going?"
Zhuo Cai smiled and said: "I don't want to stay in this high tower. There are only three floors in this high tower that can be played. Above that is the forbidden area that has been blocked. It cannot be opened on weekdays. I don't want to stay in this high tower. You know how many times you’ve been in here, you’re already tired of it, the fun is outside.”
Yu Qin warned: "Be careful, don't get lost alone again."
Zhuo Cai said repeatedly: "Okay!"
Zhuo Cai walked downstairs, and Zuo Qiuxun followed him, preparing to go downstairs.
Xu Huaigu was about to ask Zuo Qiuxun where he was going, but he thought for a moment and shut up.
Zuo Qiuxun didn't know what feelings he had for that sea of flowers, and he didn't dare to ask, but it was definitely a bad memory. In this case, it is better not to ask too many questions.
Xu Huaigu wanted to go to the third floor mentioned by Zhuo Cai to read the ancient books. When he turned around, he saw that Yu Qin had taken off the white robe she was wearing, yawned lazily in the sun, and walked into a room. I walked away with no intention of going up to the third floor. And Huang Shan had already run to the white-haired old priest and loudly asked the old man if there was any country wine he could drink. The old man was obviously deaf and was looking at Huang Shan doubtfully, not knowing what he was talking about. .
Xu Huaigu walked to the third floor alone.
The third floor is much larger than the second floor, but the place where books are stored is completely contrary to Xu Huaigu's idea of orderliness. The third floor of the tower is simply a mess. There are quite a few ancient books, but most of them are piled haphazardly on the ground, covered with a thick layer of dust. It looks like no one has read them for a long time.
Xu Huaigu read some books when he was in Qingling. He still remembers that he didn't like reading at all at that time. In class, he was either thinking about unrealistic daydreams or really daydreaming. At this time, Xu Huaigu was thinking I feel a little ashamed just thinking about it.
Now he felt that books were really a wonderful thing, and he should at least respect them no matter what, so he sighed at the tragic fate of these books.
He picked up a book casually, and the dust fell, flying under the sunlight.
He brushed off the dust from the cover of the book and saw "Chen Family Tree" written on it. He knew that this should be the family tree of a certain family in the small village. However, Xu Huaigu still felt that the solemn family tree was thrown here so casually. inappropriate.
He was not interested in other people's family trees, so he put the family tree back to its original place without opening it. Then he looked through some other books, only to find that they were not family trees of various ethnic groups, but some ordinary books in small villages. There was nothing interesting about the trivial matters, and he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
No wonder Zhuo Cai doesn't want to stay here, it's really boring.
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a dark booklet under a large pile of scattered books, with only a small corner exposed. He suddenly felt a little interested, so he pulled out the booklet with the mentality of not giving it a try. .
Only then did he realize that there was only half of the booklet in his hand. When he looked at the cover again, he only saw a blank piece of yellowed paper with no title.
He gently opened the first page and saw a strange bird and beast with its fangs and claws dancing, its feathers bright red like flames, and its long and slender beak as if it was really going to pierce the page and fly out, it was so lifelike.
Xu Huaigu secretly admired the wonderful painting skills and turned to the second page.
On the second page, there is a big snow-white fox with nine very long tails behind him, standing proudly on a cliff, with the moonlight shining brightly, and it is extremely cold. When Xu Huaigu took a closer look at the fox, he looked at it and was shocked. His eyes flickered, revealing real emotions, as if he were a living creature.
Xu Huaigu felt a chill in his heart and hesitantly turned to the third page.
The third page shows a golden phoenix soaring with its wings spread out, its tail feathers colorful and gorgeous. Its whole body seemed to be bathed in holy light, it was majestic and majestic, and among the colorful clouds under this phoenix, countless birds and beasts were singing at it, which was very much like a pilgrim.
Xu Huaigu was deeply attracted by the beauty of this phoenix and unconsciously lost track of time.
Suddenly, a hand rested on his shoulder.
Xu Huaigu was startled, immediately closed the page of the book, and looked behind him in panic, only to see the white-haired old man standing behind Xu Huaigu, looking at him with interest.
Xu Huaigu felt a little flustered for no reason, as if he had become a thief.
He said a little apologetically: "Old man, I just came here to read the books. I have no intention of offending. If you do something wrong, please don't blame me."
The white-haired old man smiled slightly, but his speech was still unclear, but as he got closer, Xu Huaigu could understand it a little.
"It's okay, it's great to come here and read. Young people these days just don't like reading anymore. Like the Cao family's child in our village, his talent is excellent. Originally, I wanted him to take over my class. But the child couldn't settle down and couldn't read much, so he had no choice but to give up. I won't live much longer with my old bones. When I die, the ancient customs in our village will disappear."
At this point, the old man sighed and said to Xu Huaigu: "The booklet in your hand is a drawing of some holy beasts of the demon clan. There should have been a whole book, but then only half of it was left. It's a pity. A good book.”
Xu Huaigu didn't know how to answer the old man.
The old man saw Xu Huaigu's embarrassment, so he continued talking alone: "Look at so many books. Most of them are useless books. The really useful books have almost been forgotten."
The old man took the black book from Xu Huaigu's hand, looked at the phoenix on the third page, and sighed: "There are originally six phoenixes in this world, one good, one evil, one black, one white, one water and one fire. Only one. But back then, they followed that dragon from the Demon Realm to the Central Realm, but one of them was lost in the Central Realm, and the other one decided to stay in the Central Realm, and I don’t know where it is now.”
The old man looked at the painting fondly and said, "How beautiful it is. What a pity."
He turned to look at Xu Huaigu: "Little guy, don't you understand what I'm saying?"
Xu Huaigu asked tentatively: "The old man is talking about the ink dragon that invaded the Central Territory five hundred years ago?"
The white-haired old man suddenly became energetic and said in surprise: "You actually know about that thing? It seems that you have a lot of books at home. Did you know about that thing from the books? No wonder you said that the invasion The words must have been read from books."
The old man said: "Actually, it's hard to say whether the whole thing is familiar or serious. It's just that it is too harsh to simply use the word invasion to evaluate it."
Xu Huaigu asked doubtfully: "Didn't the demon tribe come to invade the Central Territory? Is there something hidden in it?"
The old man did not answer him, but asked: "Do you think demons are born evil?"
Xu Huaigu thought for a moment and then answered without hesitation: "Of course not. I once knew a demon, but she was the best person to me and she was also very kind."
The old man appreciated it and said: "Okay, it's interesting. I have seen many people from outside these years in the village, but you are the first to say this. In this world, both humans and monsters are the same. The people of God should be equal, but as the human race is strong, good and evil are decided by them, and few people will view the demon race this way."
"So, old man, you have different views on the demon clan?"
The white-haired old man became excited: "More than that, speaking of it, our small village was able to survive the catastrophe five hundred years ago because of the phoenix that was damaged in the Central Region!"
Xu Huaigu became interested and said curiously: "Old man, what's the story in this? Can you tell me?"
The old man smiled, stroked his beard, and said, "Of course, just listen to me slowly."
