His pupils suddenly shrank and his hands trembled slightly. The mysterious old man in front of him was actually so vivid in his memory that the moment he saw his face, he immediately blurted out the familiar title:
"Yes...yes, Great Elder!!"
Excited and surprised, Long Tao never imagined that this old man would be the elder he was most familiar with and kind to, let alone that the two of them would meet hastily in such a way.
Seeing his shocked look, the old man took a step back. He immediately realized that at such an angle, Long Tao could clearly see his face, which was an oversight on his part.
Long Tao has experienced so many things, and he wants to tell the great elder about each one of them. He had buried a lot of emotions in his heart for so long that when he saw the great elder, he actually mumbled and couldn't say a word.
The deep longing made Long Tao's eyes turn red, and he kept holding back the hot and bulging tears, refusing to shed.
Seeing that he had learned the truth, the great elder stopped hiding it. He raised his hand and took off his hat, revealing the kind face that Long Tao remembered.
"Great Elder... you, you are finally back..." Long Tao wiped his tears with his wrist and smiled sincerely, "Dragon Halberd disciple Long Tao, welcome the return of Great Elder!"
However, the great elder just smiled bitterly.
Only then did Long Tao suddenly notice that the Great Elder looked older than before. Her completely white hair was messily piled on top of her head, and her face had many ridges, making her look decadent and weak.
"Haha..." The great elder's withered eye sockets still had the kind and kind expression of the past. He looked at Long Tao and said leisurely: "The boy back then has grown into the young man today who can bring glory to the sect."
"...Yes." Long Tao lowered his head and said, his eyes still glancing back and forth on the great elder's face.
"Great Elder... I don't know whether I should ask." Long Tao thought for a moment and decided to ask, "Is your retreat and cultivation now... considered complete?"
The great elder's eyes were a little loose. He looked at his most beloved disciple, thought for a moment, and then said slowly: "Long Tao, you have always been very smart."
Long Tao raised his head uneasily. Although he had been praying in his heart that it would not be what he thought, he felt more and more strongly that his premonition was about to be confirmed.
The great elder took a deep breath. As if he was afraid of hurting Long Tao's soul, he pondered for a while before finally speaking frankly:
"My practice has completely failed."
…………
At the same time, inside the jade-faced Rakshasa Halberd, Subiezhi followed the white pigeon's whereabouts and found the most secret place in the sect.
It was the most inconspicuous and dilapidated side hall among the jade-faced Rakshasa Halberd auxiliary halls. The outside looked like it had not been repaired for many years and was already covered with cobwebs and dust. If Subiezhi hadn't followed Bai Ge here, he wouldn't have guessed that this was their core secret place.
He carefully stood behind the wall, stretched his neck and watched the white dove fly into the broken window. There was no light inside, so there was probably some secret passage or secret door hidden inside.
"It's so meticulous, I'm afraid someone will see it." Subiezhi whispered to himself, "I won't let you in, but I still want to go in and find out."
After that, he looked around to see that no one was there, and immediately jumped out from behind the wall. When he saw the large window, he jumped in lightly and nimbly, and landed quietly on the ground.
He knelt on the ground and wiped the ground. Sure enough, there was no thick dust on the ground inside, which meant that people often entered, so there must be a lot of mystery in it.
The white pigeon disappeared after flying in. Subiezhi looked around and saw no sign of the white pigeon. In the dark room, you can't see your fingers, and it's hard to find the traps and secret passages.
He still remembered that the ghost leader was the holder of the mysterious emblem. If he used coercive detection here, he would definitely be able to detect it. Therefore, after much thought, Subiezhi had to regretfully give up this simple method.
He refused to give up and groped around the room with his hands, trying to find some discovery.
Subiezhi clung to the wall, looking for clues inch by inch like a gecko. However, there was a broken table in the innermost corner of the room. Subiezhi didn't notice it for a moment, and his knees pushed up against it, making him grimace in pain.
"Damn, who put this depressing broken table..." He covered his knees with one hand and held the table with the other hand to straighten his legs and stand firm, but as soon as his palms were placed on the table, they immediately got a little wet. Wet stuff.
"What's this?"
He was about to shake his hands away, but suddenly his mind was attracted by the thing in his palm. Since this thing is moist, it means that it was produced just recently.
He put his hand to his nose and smelled carefully. A little sniff...
"*, bird shit!" he yelled in a low voice.
But he immediately thought of the white pigeon just now, and his thoughts instantly collided with each other. Suddenly, he stared at the bird droppings in his palms with enlightenment, and he understood.
Subiezhi immediately lay down on the table and observed carefully. He touched all the way to the bottom edge of the table, and sure enough, he found that the table was connected to the ground.
This shows that under the table is the secret passage they took great pains to hide. He was indeed very attentive, but he still asked Subiezhi to find it.
