Is the world crazy?
The handprint on his back is shocking. Even if someone pushed him, how could there be such a handprint on his back, unless...
Chen Tao swallowed tremblingly. His brain could no longer think, and an unprecedented suffocation enveloped his body.
The self in the mirror looked pale, weak, and strangely like a dead person.
He was trembling all over and retreated step by step. Suddenly he tripped on the bed and fell straight backwards.
The moment he fell, everything around him seemed to slow down. Chen Tao's head shook violently, and his eyes became hot and painful. The things in front of me began to become blurry and chaotic, like a broken TV set during a thunderstorm, with images from various channels overlapping and separated randomly.
Everything around him returned to what it was like after the fire, and became intact again. Chen Tao felt that the air around him was getting thinner and thinner, and his lungs were suffocating as if there was a piece of ice stuffed inside him.
His eyes became increasingly hot and painful, making him almost faint. If Chen Tao could see his own eyes at this moment, he would definitely faint from fear.
His eyes turned red at this time, and the bloodshot threads were squirming like insects, strange and penetrating.
But Chen Tao wouldn't have a chance. His consciousness became increasingly blurred, and in just a short moment, he completely lost consciousness.
...
Somewhere in the ancient city, a group of people were standing in an old-fashioned study room. One of them was carrying a young man on his back.
The leader of the old man raised his hand and turned a certain ornament on the table. There was only a sound of the computer amplifier rattling. Two large bookcases filled with books and other objects slowly separated, revealing a large bookcase at the back. block wall.
The old man led a group of people to the wall, stretched out his hand and touched the wall. With a rumbling sound, the wall began to rotate, and the group of people moved behind the wall. There was another clicking sound, the bookcase was reset, and everything returned to its original appearance, as if no one had ever been here.
Bang bang bang, the lights in the dark passage lit up, illuminating the road ahead.
If Chen Tao wakes up now, his jaw will drop with shock.
The old man at the head was none other than Mr. Li, followed by Uncle Long, his parents, uncle, third uncle, and fourth uncle.
What on earth are these people doing here?
After passing through a short passage, everyone came to a spacious secret room.
The secret room is very clean. There is a huge stone seat in the middle. On the seat is a Bagua-shaped stone platform. Various patterns are carved on the platform, which are complex and intertwined, just like a map.
Among the interlaced lines, there are nine human-shaped depressions. In addition, there is a large groove in the center of the entire stone platform, which looks like a part is missing. All the lines are broken when they reach that groove.
"Quickly, put Taotao down!" Third uncle Chen Hongyi pulled over two long wooden tables and swept the books and debris on them to the ground with one arm.
"Second daughter-in-law, take a look!" Uncle Chen Hongshan shouted towards Chen Tao's mother.
"It's the phantom poisonous grass!" Chen Tao's mother looked at Chen Tao, whose clothes were in tatters and unconscious, with distress.
"The poison was clearly detoxified last time, why did you get infected again?" Fourth uncle Chen Hongzhou was a little worried.
"When he came to see me this morning, there was nothing wrong with him. Why did he get poisoned not long after he went out?" Uncle Long said.
"No... I'm afraid Taotao is being tricked!" His father, Chen Hongwen, seemed to have suddenly thought of something and clenched his fists suddenly.
"What! Could it be..." Everyone's expressions changed drastically.
"How dare those damned beasts attack Tao Tao! I'll fight them!" The third uncle punched the table hard, and the echo vibrated in the secret room.
"Fight? What are you trying to do? Don't forget the current situation of the Chen family!" Fourth uncle said with a sullen face.
"It takes at least half an hour from poisoning to hallucination. What do they want to do with this chronic poisonous weed on Tao Tao?" Chen Tao's mother frowned.
"Could it be that...the news that Taotao received the bronze man was leaked?" Uncle Long looked serious.
"TND, this is declaring war on us! Although our father is no longer here, if we really do it, the Chen family may not be afraid of them!"
"Third uncle, don't be so reckless all the time. You are already a father, so be careful." The uncle patted the third uncle on the shoulder and said.
"Things like phantom poisonous grass are not fatal, but they are hallucinogenic. In the final analysis, they are all deceptive tricks. But where did Tao Yazi get those things?" Mr. Li shook his head and looked at the unconscious Chen Tao, "But They don’t seem to have killed Tao Yaozi, which is really beyond my expectation!”
Uncle Long took out the bronze figure and placed it on the stone table, and several people gathered around it.
"No matter what, they have already set their sights on Tao Yaozi." Mr. Li picked up the bronze man and looked at it, "These people have really spent a lot of money!"
"Taotao is still an outsider in this matter, can he? After all, we are not facing ordinary people..." The uncle said solemnly.
"Are these people born in the year of the dog? They have very good noses!" The fourth uncle's eyes flashed coldly.
"If they dare to touch half of Taotao's hair, I will fight with them. It's better to tear our faces apart than to stay frozen now." The third uncle clenched his fists.
"Third brother, now is not the time to break up with them." Mr. Li coughed, "Don't forget the alliance leader's plan."
"I believe in my father, and I believe that he has his reasons for arranging this." Chen Tao's father raised his head and glanced at everyone.
"What are your next plans?" Mr. Li asked Uncle Xiang Long.
"Contacted the Northeast Wang family and asked them to bring that person over." Uncle Long said.
"You mean..."
"Well, that's him!"
The secret room suddenly became quiet.
"If it's that person, if he is willing to take action, Tao Yazi will be fine." Mr. Li nodded.
"But you two..." Chen Tao's father was a little worried.
Mr. Li shook his head, "Those are all the grievances of the older generation, not to mention the affairs of the Patriarch and the others. It is not a good thing for us younger generations to bear those grievances."
After a pause, Mr. Li continued: "Today, the Spiritual Alliance is no longer the same Spiritual Alliance as before. As soon as the leader leaves, they will come out to bite people. Special times require special treatment. Remember, there are no eternal enemies, only Forever benefit.”
The secret room fell into silence. After a while, Uncle Long said, "Taotao, he must have felt something."
"We can't tell him yet. He is the key to father's plan and we must not be careless." The uncle put out the cigarette butt in his hand.
"No..." Mr. Li shook his head, "Things are beyond our control, and the secrets about him can't be hidden for long. Although we don't know what he will be like in the future, the alliance leader has been teaching us carefully, and he will definitely It won’t become like them!”
"One more thing." Uncle Long took out a cup filled with water. "Taotao, he read the information on the tree man!"
"What!" The others gasped.
Taking the bronze figure from Old Li's hand, Uncle Long threw it into the cup and followed Chen Tao's example before, using a flashlight and a magnifying glass to project the two patterns on a stone wall.
"This kid!" Chen Tao's father smiled.
"What's wrong with this kid? This kid can do it!" Third Uncle agreed.
"What we have been studying for so many years without making any progress was actually read by this kid! Father's choice was indeed right!" The uncle looked very excited.
"No, it's not all the information, just a small part."
Mr. Li stared at the patterns on the wall, "It's not just a few pictures, what's hidden above is far more complicated than this."
"Second brother, put the bronze man in your hand and try it!" Fourth uncle was impatient and eager to try.
Chen Tao's father took out a simple wooden box. The wooden box is square, carved with two unknown giant beasts. The beasts have gold and silver threads on their bodies, and are inlaid with large and small five-color jade stones. It is very exquisite.
"Exquisite Thousand Locks! Mr. Li, this..." the uncle said in surprise.
"The things the leader left behind are more important than my life."
Mr. Li picked up the small wooden box and rubbed it with a nostalgic look on his face.
"Now, you are the only one who can open this box." Uncle Long said.
"And that person." An indescribable look flashed in Mr. Li's eyes. "If we can cooperate with them, the chance of winning will be 10% better."
"It's difficult..." Uncle Long sighed.
While speaking, Mr. Li pressed the beast's eye, and then quickly groped under the box with two fingers.
The so-called "Exquisite Thousand Locks" is just like its name. There are thousands of mechanisms hidden in the small wooden box, which are interlocked and can move the whole body.
At the bottom of the box, there are neat rows of dark gold rivets, only the size of mung beans. If you count them carefully, there are exactly one thousand pieces, no more, no less. Each rivet involves the mechanism inside the box. As long as the sequence of pressing is wrong and the protection mechanism is triggered, the person who opens the lock will instantly be pricked by a poisonous needle and turn into a hedgehog.
If it is forcibly opened and the mechanism is destroyed, the poison needle will be ejected instantly, and the contents in the box will be destroyed. There are two beast eyes, one is a lock-opening safety, and the other is a self-destruct switch. Once pressed, the person will die and the box will be destroyed, and both the jade and the stone will be destroyed.
Mr. Li is holding the wooden box with one hand and the other hand is under the box. No one could see the movements of Mr. Li's fingers under the wooden box. They could only see the tendons on the back of his old hands beating with the movement of his fingers.
There was a clear click, and the lid of the box suddenly lifted a crack. Mr. Li put down the wooden box and took out something from inside. If Chen Tao saw it, he would be shocked.
Inside the box, there is another bronze man!
There is no difference in appearance between this copper and the one collected by Chen Tao. The only difference is the texture on the back.
The fourth uncle carefully took out the copper figure and threw it into the water glass with a clang.
To everyone's disappointment, this time, the walls were covered in spots and nothing showed up.
"Is this... really a coincidence?" Uncle Long asked doubtfully.
"Yes, and no." Mr. Li chuckled and shook his head.
"Mr. Li, what on earth is going on!" Fourth uncle asked hurriedly.
"According to the jade tablets that the alliance leader took out from the strange Sui tomb on the stone wall, if you want to read the information on the tree people, you need a specific artifact." Mr. Li looked at the large empty slot in the center of the stone table. road,
"We have been searching for thousands of years, but there is still no trace of the most critical part. The Sui Dynasty alchemist holding the bronze man in his hand must have been looking for the artifact that could read the tree man's information before his death, but the thing has not been found. Just die."
"The jade said that when reading the bronze figure's information, 'Xihe stands, the jade plate appears, and the nine sons are in the same heart.' Xihe is the mother of the sun in ancient mythology, which should mean the sun. The jade plate may refer to the moon. I guess that the thing that can read the tree people's information may have something to do with light." Uncle Long looked at the spots on the wall and said.
"If what Tao Yazi has figured out is correct, the thing that can read information must use the refraction and reflection of light to create images." Mr. Li straightened his body and looked at everyone.
"How could such technology be possible in that era?" The uncle wondered.
"Don't underestimate the wisdom of our ancestors!" Mr. Li's voice became serious. "You should understand that to them, even us now are not much different from monkeys."
"What are your plans next?" The uncle looked at Uncle Long and asked.
"Take Tao Tao directly to Heizigou. Since they are all watching him, let's use the trick."
"Brother Long, you are confused. What if Tao Tao has three advantages and two disadvantages?" said the third uncle, patting the table.
The others said nothing and looked at Chen Tao's father.
"Go ahead, I believe in Yilong."
"Second brother..." Third uncle wanted to say something more, but was interrupted by Chen Tao's father.
"He is my son, and he is also our Chen family. There is no choice in this road..."
"well……"
Uncle Long didn't say anything. He picked up the bronze figure from the cup, wiped it clean, and embedded it in a human-shaped depression on the stone platform.
Mr. Li coughed and groped with the two fingers of his right hand along the lines on the stone platform. When he came to a certain human-shaped depression, he pressed the bronze figure collected by Chen Tao into it.
Snapped……
In the silent chamber, the sound echoed for a long time.
...
