In the firelight, you can clearly see that the exposed rocks are jagged and jagged. It is obvious that someone has carefully piled them up, and the gaps have been filled with soil. Over time, it is not easy to detect the moss that has covered them.
Gu Shengchao put Ding Ying down, found a few thick branches, smeared the blackbird's body oil on them, and used them as torches to climb up. The soil between the rocks piled at the entrance of the cave is loose, and it will fall inward with a slight push, revealing a deep tunnel. The tunnel is as tall as one person, and two people can walk side by side. Gu Shengchao was cautious, holding a torch in one hand and a dagger in the other. He walked more than ten steps inside. The flame on the torch flickered a few times and suddenly went out. He also felt difficulty breathing and felt a little dizzy and nauseated.
not good!
Gu Shengchao quickly retreated to the entrance of the cave, sticking his head out and breathing heavily.
Ding Ying anxiously stood by the fire with crutches, holding a soft whip in one hand and said: "How is it? Is there any danger inside?"
Gu Shengchao waved his hand: "There is miasma inside. You can't go in now." He threw away the torch, climbed down along the original path with his head and feet, and explained: "There must be no other passages inside, so there is miasma. Now the cave entrance is open , I will go up and check again tomorrow after the miasma dissipates."
Ding Ying finally felt relieved, and Gu Shengchao helped her sit next to the fire. After resting for a while, Gu Shengchao prepared to climb out of the hole below and observe what was going on outside. He pushed aside the grass, clearly knowing that it was afternoon, but it was pitch black, with flocks of black birds covering the entire sky. The rapidly flying blackbirds were so dense that from time to time some blackbirds had no time to change their direction and hit the cliff directly and rolled down from the top.
Gu Shengchao had no choice but to return and tell Ding Ying about the situation outside. The two had no choice but to sit around the fire, chatting about homely things out of boredom. With nothing to do, Gu Shengchao picked out clean and soft branches and laid out a mattress for Ding Ying to lie on. Ding Ying was grateful and helped lay the mattress for Gu Shengchao. She had limited mobility and couldn't pick it as carefully as Gu Shengchao, but it was laid flat, which was better than the hard rock.
The two fell asleep one after another. When the ancient sage woke up, it was dark again in the cave, the fire had burned out, and only a few sparks brought a little light. Gu Shengchao stood up, found some broken wood and blew on it gently, causing the green smoke to rise and the flames to jump again. The light of the fire woke up the goat lying nearby and retreated to a corner for shelter.
Ding Ying woke up when she heard the noise and asked Gu Shengchao what time it was. Gu Shengchao climbed out, but it was still dark outside the cave, and the chirping of black birds in flight could be heard throughout the valley.
Both of them were helpless, so they warmed up around the fire because they couldn't sleep. After a long time, the ewe went out tentatively, calling "baa baa" to summon the lamb to follow.
The Ancient Sage was overjoyed, "Looks like we can go out now."
He climbed out slowly, and sure enough, it was already bright, and there were more blackbirds than yesterday. However, most of them were hovering at high altitudes instead of swooping down. Gu Shengchao dragged Ding Ying out to rest against the entrance of the cave. The two roasted blackbird meat to satisfy their hunger. Gu Shengchao also piled a large amount of dry firewood into the cave, picked up many dead blackbirds and threw them into the cave. When he went to the stream to collect water, he found a few vines and pulled some vines back. Gu Shengchao wanted to weave rattan into a rope, but he was clumsy and always failed.
Ding Ying smiled and said: "Give it to me. Our Qixing Cliff is full of cliffs and requires a lot of ropes. We have been making up ropes since we were young."
The ancient sage was overjoyed and hurriedly handed it over to Ding Ying. Ding Ying was really dexterous, twisting the rattan back and forth in her palm, and a strong rope slowly lengthened. She was about to finish weaving a rope when the sky darkened. The ewe grazing not far away seemed to have a premonition and led the lamb into the cave and never came out.
The two of them were wondering, it was still early at noon, how could the weather change. Looking up, I saw many blackbirds crowded together, as if they had received some kind of instructions, and the spiral shape continued to decrease, as if the bottom of the black pot was pressing down. Countless vortices formed on the empty surface and rolled up, throwing up sand and dust that hit the face painfully.
Gu Shengchao did not dare to neglect and quickly dragged Ding Ying into the cave.
"Alas, the time for these black birds to gather is getting earlier and earlier every day." Gu Shengchao sighed.
Ding Ying sat next to the fire and continued the unfinished knitting in her hands, "I heard the master tell me at Qixing Cliff that when there are most blackbirds in Luoya Bay, there is no light and moon all day long, which is no different from a cloudy and rainy day in the middle of the night. I thought it was telling a story, Only after personal experience did I realize it was more terrifying than what Master said. According to Master’s experience, the climax may be the day after tomorrow, and it will all dissipate in the next three to five days.”
Gu Shengchao was not idle either. He made a torch and looked at the hole above and said, "I'll go up and have a look."
Ding Ying warned: "Don't show off, come down as soon as you find something wrong."
Gu Shengchao nodded, climbed up, held the torch and walked into the tunnel. He did not dare to be careless and walked forward slowly. After about twenty steps, the front suddenly opened up, and a hall four or five feet square appeared in front of him.
In the innermost part, close to the cliff, was a high platform. He stepped forward cautiously. In the middle of the platform was a coffin without a lid, with a white skeleton lying inside. The lid of the coffin was tilted on the side. Gu Shengchao trembled in fright and almost lost his hand with the torch. He pulled out his dagger to protect himself, fearing that he would be in danger. He turned around and found that there was nothing in the hall except these, and he felt relieved.
There are words and figures engraved on the cliff, which are clearly the moves and methods of practicing martial arts.
Gu Shengchao became interested, and he carefully identified it from the beginning. At the beginning were the four characters "Feng Wu Sword Technique". His heart skipped a beat after seeing it. You must know that Fengwu Qiuhuang Sword Technique is recognized by the world as the ultimate martial arts. It is said that if you master it, you will be invincible in the world. Who wouldn't be excited to see it?
Next comes the moves and formulas, and finally the origin of this set of swordsmanship.
It turns out that this white skeleton is called Gongsun Ran, the 20th generation successor of Fengwu swordsmanship. This place was originally called Fengming Mountain. There are palaces and ancestral halls on the mountain, called Fengming Villa. At first, the villa had a prosperous population and a prosperous scene. Later, it gradually declined. When it came to Gongsun Ran, only a few old servants were left guarding the empty sect. The house leaked and it rained continuously. The palace of Fengming Villa was in disrepair for a long time. After several rooms collapsed, a fire broke out inexplicably. During the process of putting out the fire, Gongsun Ran and several old servants were injured strangely, as if they were injured by the broken purlins of the roof. The beam hit, and it seemed that someone took advantage of the chaos and deliberately dropped it. In the end, even the Fengwu sword was lost. Gongsun ran young and survived, but the old servants died one after another in shock. Gongsun Ran was alone and had no heirs. He was disheartened and sealed himself in this cave. He carved the phoenix dance sword skills and lay in the coffin to wait for death. He only asked the people who came here to help him cover the coffin lid so that he could die. Peace of mind.
Gu Shengchao knelt in front of the table and bowed several times. "Junior Gu Shengchao has disturbed my seniors. If I have offended you, please forgive me. I will help you close the coffin lid." The coffin lid looked heavy, and Gu Shengchao stretched out his hand to touch it. It turned into powder and rotted away long ago. He bowed his hands and said, "Senior, please forgive me. I have tried my best and cannot comply with the request."
He carefully identified it and slowly found luck as shown in the picture. His Dantian was violently agitated and the pain almost caused him to faint, so he had to give up practicing Qi. He remembered that Ding Ying was an official disciple of the sect and should be well-informed, unlike him who wandered around and learned only a smattering of kung fu, so he returned to tell Ding Ying the truth.
Both of them were martial arts practitioners, so they were naturally obsessed with kung fu. Ding Ying couldn't wait to climb up after hearing this, but her ankle bone was broken and had not healed, so she couldn't climb on her own. Gu Shengchao put a braided rope around her body and pulled her up. Ding Ying used crutches and Gu Shengchao supported her, and the two walked slowly to the grotto.
Ding Ying was leaning on crutches and couldn't use a torch to light the fire. Gu Shengchao helped her sit aside and went back down to grab a lot of firewood to light. In the blazing fire, Ding Ying leaned on crutches and stepped forward to watch carefully.
Gu Shengchao was not idle either. He picked a straight branch as a sword and practiced the moves on the cliff. Although the moves are not as shocking as imagined, they are still extremely subtle, and many of them are things I have never seen before. The more he practiced, the more interested he became, and he slowly understood the secrets involved. Gu Shengchao's right shoulder was injured by a blackbird two days ago. The injury caused some pain when he moved slightly, so he had to switch to his left hand for gestures. He practiced it with his left hand and found that every move was still smooth and there was no awkward feeling. Obviously, the figure depicted on the cliff also holds a sword in his right hand, but he can use the sword with his left hand without any hindrance. Ancient Sage Chao was secretly amazed.
Ding Ying was unable to practice the moves, so she silently recited the mantra to slowly let the true energy circulate in the meridians. About an hour later, the true energy flowed through the meridians for a cycle and returned to the Dantian. Then she took a deep breath and felt the changes in her body.
"How is it? Is there anything special about this set of exercises?" Gu Sheng was very curious and asked impatiently.
Ding Ying slowly shook her head and said: "Perhaps I'm slow and didn't realize the true meaning. Except for the hotness in my Dantian, I didn't feel anything strange. Anyway, I can't get out, so why not think carefully here? Maybe I can gain something."
Gu Shengchao nodded in agreement: "That's right. If the kung fu is really exquisite, how can it be easily understood by ordinary people like us. The Fengwu Qiuhuang Sword Technique is known as the best in the world, and it must have its uniqueness. Let's carefully figure it out here. .”
The two of them were silent, concentrating on pondering the moves carved on the cliff. They also memorized all the formulas marked on them word for word, for fear of missing any detail. There was no daylight in the cave, and they didn't know the time at all. When they were hungry, they roasted some blackbird meat to satisfy their hunger. The capacity of the water bladder was limited. When they were thirsty, they took a sip. When they were tired, they lay down on the mats laid out by the branches to rest. I don't know how long it took, but both of them were able to recite the formula fluently. There were fifteen sword moves in total, and they were able to follow the moves from beginning to end. Only then were they willing to relax and exchange their experiences.
The moves are relatively easy to understand, but the formulas are much more difficult to understand. Ding Ying still couldn't figure it out. She shook her head and sighed: "I'm really stupid. I can only wait until I get back to Qixingya Mountain to ask my teacher."
The ancient sage was very envious: "You sect disciples are still blessed. Master is taking good care of me."
Ding Ying picked up the water bag and wanted to take a sip of water. She shook it hard but couldn't get a drop of water out. Gu Shengchao took the water bag and said, "I'll go to the ditch to get some water and take a look at the situation outside."
