Qing Ming and Mei Ying worked together to find the clue after some careful calculations, and said: "Left one, retreat three, right two, advance four. If you move forward at this pace, you may be able to find a way out."
After several confirmations, he finally no longer hesitated and led everyone along the floor tiles step by step.
After walking around in circles for a while, he suddenly saw a forest shadow passing in front of his eyes. The shadow of Qingming's palm floated and struck the forest shadow diagonally.
There was a sudden loud noise, and the corridor space suddenly became blurred. A large corner of the dark forest was opened, and then collapsed suddenly.
Du Ruozhou said happily: "It's done!"
Qing Ming shook his head and said, "It's not that simple." Before he finished speaking, the scenery in front of him suddenly changed, replaced by a desolate grassland.
Looking around, it is a dark courtyard, with a gate in the southeast, northwest, and four directions. The gravel-paved paths are intricately criss-crossed and lead to another courtyard.
This place is like a larger maze. The scenery in each courtyard is the same, and even a dead grass, a piece of dust, and a stubborn stone are the same.
Everyone walked across three courtyards without knowing the direction. Yan Ci was dumbfounded and muttered: "The ghost is beating the wall!"
Han Bing asked in confusion: "What is a ghost beating the wall?"
Yan Ci shrank down and said, "It's just that when you encounter a little ghost when you are walking at night, you will just be wandering in the same place and never be able to get out."
Han Bing's bright eyes were slightly angry, and she complained: "You know everything about things that are not true."
Seeing that she didn't believe it, Yan Ci began to tell the story with great interest, saying: "Laoyin Mountain outside Yingge City is a mass grave with overgrown weeds. It has always been a deserted place where few people dare to go. My uncle likes hunting. , once I tracked an elk for dozens of miles, but the elk didn’t chase me, but it got into the mountains in a daze.”
"It was cold and freezing at that time, and there was a hairy moon hanging on the mass grave, and it was freezing everywhere. There was a big locust tree on the hillock, and there were densely packed graves under the tree roots. There was also a new grave with pale and pale soul-calling inscriptions hanging on it. Flags. A few faint green will-o'-wisps would pop up in the cemetery, and there would also be the cries of strange birds on the trees. My uncle said that if he hadn't had a few sips of Futou wine, he would have almost peed his pants in fear." Yan Ci said. Here, self-care comes out.
Du Ruozhou became more interested and asked curiously: "What next?"
Yan Ci said: "My uncle noticed that something was wrong, turned around and ran away, but he always felt that something was following him. It is said that there are three fires on the shoulders and head of the human body. If you look back rashly while walking at night, the fire will go out. , it is easy to attract evil spirits, so my uncle has been holding back and not daring to look back. Before he ran a few steps, he suddenly felt someone breathing on his neck, which was warm and chilly at the same time. The weird feeling made his spine go straight. The itch reached the tail bone, and my uncle was so frightened that he subconsciously turned his head and glanced behind him."
Han Bing and Qu Yuyi tightened their fingers and asked nervously: "What's behind you?"
Yan Ci patted his chest as if he was frightened, and said seriously: "There is nothing, not even a bird feather."
Han Bing and Qu Yuyi's eyes widened, and their teeth were almost broken with anger.
Du Ruozhou glared and said, "This guy deserves a beating!"
Yan Ci said leisurely: "There is nothing behind me, but there are many things in front of me."
Du Ruozhou asked casually: "What?"
Yan Ci said: "Not only in front of me, but also in the surrounding area, a large locust tree appeared extremely unexpectedly. On the tomb, there were summoning flags, ghosts, fire, monsters, and birds."
Du Ruozhou lost his voice and said, "A ghost beating the wall?"
Yan Ci said: "Yes, my uncle was so confused that he broke out in a cold sweat. He climbed and rolled and ran for a while, but he still couldn't get out of the strange circle surrounded by the locust trees. But just when he was getting more and more panicked, the locust tree next to him There were several chopping sounds. The moon was cold and the stars were cold. Someone was actually cutting down trees in a mass grave in the middle of the night. I wouldn’t believe it if they said it was a ghost."
"My uncle almost suspected that he had heard it wrong, but the big locust tree was still dropping leaves. He was frightened and said that he felt light all over, as if his soul was dragging him up to the sky. . He muttered a few mantras to drive away ghosts, huddled in the grass nest and waited in fear for a while. The sound of felling suddenly stopped. It was late at night, and my uncle had the courage to ask softly: "Who is cutting down the trees?" "Bang bang", the sound of cutting down the tree suddenly sounded twice more, "Don't chop it!" "Bang bang bang" "The turtle grandson is still cutting it!" "Bang bang bang bang bang..." My uncle's scalp was numb. , but since he couldn't get out of the ghost formation, he gritted his teeth and trembled with his hunting knife as he groped behind the locust tree."
Yan Ci trembled a little as he spoke, but he couldn't help but continue: "Two shadows with fine white hair squatted behind the tree and whispered. One held a sharp ax and covered his mouth and snickered. The other had red cheeks and pouted. The mouths were clearly a daredevil and a stingy one. Seeing my uncle wandering around and touching it, the two ghost figures were also startled and threw themselves into the locust tree with a whoosh. The gray-brown bark was densely covered with cracks, and several Ten slash marks were dripping with blood. My uncle's buttocks were loosened and he could no longer hold the urine in his crotch. The two ghost figures were looking between the branches of the trees high up, stingy. Staring with small eyes, he slowly put down the white hemp rope and put it around my uncle's neck..."
Qu Yuyi suddenly shrank back. This iceberg beauty, who had always been taciturn, now said in a trembling voice: "What happened next?" Her voice was as sweet as the cry of an oriole but with a hint of fear, making it unforgettable.
Yan Ci grinned and said, "There was a Taoist priest who accidentally rescued my uncle by passing by the cemetery. Now, why do you like to listen to ghost stories so much? Now you are talking about ghosts breaking walls."
Han Bing felt a chill all over his body, and he forced a smile and said: "It's ridiculous. Two martial uncles are here, and those little devils can't avoid them. How dare they cause trouble?"
Yan Ci said: "Don't be afraid if you don't believe it. Maybe there are evil ghosts here." Before he finished speaking, a courtyard wall collapsed with a rumble. Yan Ci shivered and jumped behind Han Bing to hide.
Qing Ming strolled over and said: "The layout of the courtyard still follows the Qimen Dunjia Technique, and the formation can be broken in a similar way." She glanced at Yan Ci strangely and asked: "I just knocked down a courtyard wall, how could you be Are you so scared?"
Han Bing laughed and said, "He tells ghost stories to scare himself."
Du Ruozhou also burst out laughing when he heard this, and Qu Yuyi said sweetly: "Senior Brother Yan really responded to what he said, 'A child with a yellow mouth cannot hear the sound of thunder; a sick woodcutter cannot hear the roar of tigers and leopards.'" His words were clear and sweet, Hearing that Du Ruozhou's bones were soft and tender, he secretly sighed that this girl is really a beauty!
Yan Ci said mockingly: "Hey, this place is full of weirdness. Whoever stays here for a long time will encounter ghosts."
Du Ruozhou said: "It's better to bump into ghosts than to watch others deliberately make ghosts."
Mei Ying stood nearby, frowning and said: "There is a spiritual pattern in the hidden corner of the wall. It is similar to the Yun Yu pattern but more mysterious. Does Senior Sister know its origin?"
Qing Ming came closer to identify it carefully and said doubtfully: "It's a little blurry, but it seems to be a chilong pattern. This type of pattern was popular in the Xuanyuan period, and its dharma image was used to suppress evil things. There are only a handful of people who can recognize it today, and I have been there for several years. I just heard the garden master mention it before."
Mei Ying secretly wondered, and frowned: "Mrs. Hongwei is just a casual cultivator. If you say that she can recognize and apply this pattern, no one will believe it."
Qing Ming said: "What she is good at is nothing more than pretending to be a ghost. The reason why she has such a great reputation is because there are very few techniques in the world of cultivation that can restrain Yin spirits and ghosts. Moreover, this woman is full of tricks and will be punished, and few people are willing to offend her. .”
She grabbed a handful of soil and twirled it, sniffed it, and said softly with her beautiful eyes: "Stone Smoke City was only built a hundred years ago, but this courtyard is filled with the aura of prehistoric times. According to my guess, this courtyard should have been built in ancient times. of things beneath the earth.”
Mei Ying nodded lightly and said: "So, Mrs. Hongwei may not know that there is a boundary here in Shiyan City?"
Qing Ming said: "It is still unknown. There is no need to make too many guesses for the time being. There must be a reason for such drastic changes in Shiyan City. I am worried that both senior brothers Lin and Chu will be in trouble, so it is better to go out early."
Mei Ying nodded and cooperated with Qing Ming again to calculate.
※
In the Ghost Dance Village, Yu Lu, Nightingale, and others tried their best to drive away all the ghosts, ghosts, and snakes in the courtyard.
The ghostly shadows turned into black smoke and floated into the air, making the light in the village courtyard darker and darker.
The paper figurines whose sparks had not yet been extinguished were thrown all over the floor. Lin Hao gently extinguished the flames at his fingertips and said smugly: "I had known that Wood Spirit Lihuo could restrain ghosts, so why bother? Fortunately, my senior brother had the foresight to seal it away. A ray of spiritual fire is in the cloud water bowl."
Yu Lumuyun said with a smile: "Wood Spirit Lihuo is the fire of the Sun, how can you miss it at will? It's a pity that there are too few fires and too many ghosts, and it will burn endlessly in eagerness."
Nightingale raised her foot and kicked the tattered paper frame beside her far away. She gritted her teeth and said, "Hong Wei, this heartless old witch, has imprisoned so many evil spirits! What a sin!"
Susha Qingying sighed: "The temptress used evil methods to deal with intruders with paper figures possessed by evil spirits. There are few such weird and bizarre things in the world." She was still frightened, and then frankly said that if Yu Lu hadn't been the mastermind, Things are extremely difficult to do well today.
Yu Lu avoided everyone's admiring looks, thinking that only the devil knew how many cold sweats he had made.
The fierce fighting in the small courtyard was quite loud, but Chu Shangu and Hua Xi had not returned yet. Yu Lu was worried and suggested to go and have a look.
No one had any objections. After a little tidying up, they headed towards the village to hide themselves. After crossing seven or eight roof ridges, a strange and ancient palace came into view. There was no trace of anyone in the palace, which was dimly lit.
Just when they were puzzled, two figures suddenly appeared in the corner of the palace ridge. The appearance of the figures was extremely sudden, and everyone trembled in fright.
Chushan Gu saw Yu Lu and others standing on the ridge of the roof, pointing, and asked from a distance: "Why don't you wait over there?"
Yu Lu breathed a sigh of relief and pretended to be nonchalant and wrote: "This place is very haunted. I'm here to do my bidding."
"Haunted?" Chu Shangu said slightly surprised, "There are some abnormalities in Wuliang Hall, but no ghosts were seen."
The group of cultivators floated into the hall, and Yu Lu sighed and said, "No wonder this junior feels awkward. It turns out it's because of the Wuliang Hall."
Nightingale looked at the architectural layout and asked, "This palace is worthy of its name. What's so special about it?"
Hua Xi said: "The yang house supports people, and the yin house brings out people. If the yang house has no beams to serve as the keel, it will become a place of extreme yin. Therefore, the Guiwu village uses the beamless hall as the eye of the yin gathering array. If there are ghosts in the village, this hall will definitely be the hardest hit area. .”
Nightingale's heart clenched again when she heard this, but when she looked around, the palace was empty, except for an open secret room. The secret room had been eroded by the years, and the walls were covered with moss.
Hua Xi clapped her hands on the edge of the wall a few times, then pushed open a secret door again, only to see a narrow bluestone corridor leading directly to the ground.
Hua Xi said: "The corridor is good for gathering yin energy. It seems that the ban was broken not long ago. There is a secret underground river underground. Do you want to go and find out?"
The corridor was dark and cool, and there was a fishy smell floating around. The cultivators' hearts were beating slightly, and it was difficult to make a decision for a moment.
