The wood of the plank road is getting deeper, and it is very humid here, it has begun to rot, and some places are covered with vines, which is very slippery, but fortunately there is a railing on the side, which is quite safe.

After walking for a while, the trial disciples couldn't help but start talking in a whisper, and the Taoist priest who led the way kept shouting softly.

The cave is high above, and the rock walls turn along the winding dark river.

The river in front of it narrowed, the terrain continued to fall, and the current became turbulent.

Finally, I saw the light ahead, and the river branch here, and there were obvious traces of artificial excavation on one side, which was the source of the light.

Liu Yuanjing said to Guo Hong: "Continue to walk along the dark river is the tomb of the ancestors of the past dynasties, there is no road here, only people with extremely high martial arts can rely on tools to climb over the rock wall."

"On the other side is Sima Patriarch used Kanyu to determine the direction, my Hengshan faction spent three generations of effort to dig a canal, we call it Qinglong Canal, this canal has been leading to a deserted valley, now it is a forbidden place for my faction, outsiders don't understand my Hengshan formation, can't walk in at all."

Guo Hong listened and asked in a low voice, "Master, then why can the people of the Nine Truths Temple also come in?" ”

Liu Yuanjing smiled and said: "Jiuzhenguan is also a lineage of Hengshan, but the current abbot Li Ling Zhizhi is faint and wants to seize the master's power, this is my faction's internal fighting." ”

As they spoke, they had already walked out of the cave along the canal and into a valley.

The sky is full of stars, the valley is quiet, and the darkness is foggy, which makes people feel faintly uneasy.

Today is the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and the full moon is high in the sky, and although it is a valley, the ground is also high, so the moon appears to be very large.

There were many stone pillars and bronze lamps on the side of the road, and the four Taoist priests who led the way lit them in turn with torches in their hands, and the valley suddenly became much brighter, and the fog dispersed a little.

There was a rumbling sound of water ahead, and they came to a cliff, where the Qinglong Canal ended, and then fell straight down, forming a waterfall, and below it was a deep pool in the forbidden land.

"The road here is densely wooded, everyone stay away, walk as close to the railing as possible, and beware of poisonous snakes and beasts!" The Taoist priest in front said loudly.

Liu Yuanjing said to Guo Hong: "You follow closely as a teacher, there are stone pillars on the side of the woods here, and copper lamps have been lit, and generally nocturnal beasts are afraid of fire, you just need to be careful to hide the poisonous snakes on the side of the road!" ”

Guo Hong clutched his master's sleeve tightly and followed suit.

After all, he is only twelve years old, and he is still very afraid of poisonous snakes, and the last time he was with Lu Zhizhen's medicine, it was also disgusting enough.

Don't look at the appearance of pretending to be a little adult in front of Senior Brother Cao, it is just the self-protection of a proud child, in fact, he still wants his parents to take care of him very much.

He doesn't remember what his father looks like, but he always dreams unconsciously that the image is like a phantom, and he can't see his face clearly, and now Liu Yuanjing has gradually replaced that vague shadow.

They descended the stone steps by the cliff to the edge of the pool below the waterfall, where there was a large open space with huge stones and two inches of grass growing in the gaps.

"This is the forbidden atrium (square), and in front of it is the mountain hall dedicated to the spiritual seat of the ancestors of our sect and the shrine dedicated to the Yuan Shi Tianzun." Liu Yuanjing said as he walked.

The Shangqing faction is mainly dedicated to the Yuan Shi Tianzun.

Guo Hong looked back at the ancestral hall and the temple in front of him, it was pitch black, the huge palace was built on the rock wall, and the stone pillars were towering, revealing a desolate and clumsy atmosphere.

Everyone gathered in front of the ancestral mountain hall, the five chief priests walked to the steps, Liu Yuanjing said to the following: "In previous years, we old guys were busy all day and would not stay up all night to come here, but this year someone tried to secretly frame the same door, and I already knew about it, so I decided to come here to see what kind of ghost and ghost want to do it!" ”

He waved his hand and motioned to the four leading Taoists below.

The four men led the boys and girls who were going to participate in the trial to the edge of the pool, where there were traps that had been dug before, and each of them found his place and put in the bait.

Wang Daoyuan trembled down from the plank road, trembling in both hands, holding on to the rock and sitting on the ground panting.

At this time, several moving "reefs" suddenly surged into the pool.

"The dragon is here!"

One of the teenagers at the front exclaimed in surprise and hurriedly retreated.

With only their backs exposed to the surface of the water and long ripples behind them, the dragons swam extremely fast and soon approached the shore.

"Be careful, this is a trial, don't get distracted!" A Taoist priest who led the team shouted.

A dragon smelled the smell and rushed to shore, flicking its tail and running forward, suddenly falling into a trap.

These traps were not deep, and there were no arrangements such as bamboo thorns, and the dragon ate the bait in them and staggered out.

When the other dragons saw that their companions were safe and sound, they stepped forward to eat.

After a while, the shore was crawling with sleeping dragons.

"That's it." A Taoist priest who led the team waved his hand.

Only then did the disciples of the trial take out their weapons and ropes from their bags.

Few people are willing to domesticate dragons because they are slow to move and too restrictive when they leave the water.

But you can't kill it here, otherwise the smell of blood will attract more beasts.

They tied the dragon's beak with rope, tied it tightly with a rope net, and dragged it to the square.

Except for He Qiong, everyone else has gained.

"Yo, sister, what's wrong, I didn't catch the prey, and when the bell rings again, you'll lose!" He Guizhen said with a smile.

Cao Shouzhen was a little anxious, but he knew that he couldn't give the prey he caught to He Qiong, which was not in accordance with the rules, and it was impossible for the Taoist priest supervising him to agree.

He hid aside and learned Wang Yancheng's voice: "Cousin, for my brother's heart, please others, you and I have no fate!" ”

He Guizhen was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then his face was flushed with anger, ashamed and annoyed, and scolded: "Cao Monkey, you dare to play this girl!" ”

Seeing this scene, everyone still didn't know what to do, and a group of young men and women laughed.

He Qiong couldn't help laughing, and then said in the previous words: "Sister, don't worry, just wait and see!" ”

In fact, she was a little anxious before, her eyes were staring at Tanzhong, her fists were clenched tightly, and she was gaged by Cao Shouzhen for a while, but she relaxed.

After a while, the Taoist priest who led the team began to form a team, and they would go to the dense forest to domesticate the beasts in the mountains.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Look, what's that?!" ”

Everyone looked intently, and saw ripples like the wings of geese parting on the water, rapidly approaching.

"It's Bai Jiao!"

A large white snake three zhang (nine meters) long came ashore and slowly swam towards He Qiong's bait!

The crowd held their breath and no one made an uproar.

The serpent glanced at this side vigilantly, but was quickly attracted by the scent, and after a moment's hesitation, he slowly approached.

"It's a snake, it has no horns and no claws."

Guo Hong asked Master in a low voice.

"Have you ever seen a snake this big? The famous Taoist ancestor Chongzhi of the Xuanmen of the Southern Dynasty said in the "Narrative of Differences": Yu turned into a dragon in five hundred years, Jiao turned into a dragon in a thousand years, a dragon in five hundred years as a horned dragon, and a thousand years as a dragon. This is the Woo! ”

There are many records in the Taoist books, and the legend is that it is a poisonous snake that often lives in water, and when it grows up, it will become a Jiao, and finally turn into a dragon.

The white snake swam closer, and Guo Hong saw its appearance clearly.

Its head is the size of a human head, with two thin ends and a thick middle, and most of its body is thicker than an adult's waist!

I'm afraid this guy is heavier than six or seven people combined!

The serpent swam to the bait, formed a circle vigilantly, raised its head, and spat out the snake hyacinth.

This letter is even longer than a human forearm, the front is forked, and the expansion and contraction are very terrifying.

ps: There was no square in ancient China, and the vast space with the same function was called the courtyard, which means the courtyard, and the others were fields and streets, and the streets of the Tang Dynasty metropolis were very wide, larger than the squares in the West.