Autumn comes and goes, and the winter solstice has not yet arrived. The full fruit of the peach tree on the mountain has long been gone, and the red glow is all over the peak.

The crossbow man stood on the last step of the first level of the flying ladder, raising his eyes to look at the blood-stained Hongxia in front of him, the Dao wounds on his body looked particularly hideous against the background of the Hongxia, and the cyan Dao robe was even more tattered.

He didn't know how many days he had been in front of this last step, he was emaciated, but not as tired as he had been, and he had grown much taller, a head taller than when he had first ascended.

He had reached the point of madness on the ladder, and when he was tired, he would lie on the steps and sleep, and when he was thirsty, he would pick a cloud and put it in his mouth, and the brothers would occasionally bring him food and persuade him to go back to rest, and he would bring it with a smile.

Seeing that he was about to step on the last step, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous, clenched his fists tightly, and finally took this last step, and his body followed closely up, and his two feet landed firmly on the steps.

Standing on the last step, feeling the familiar coercion around him, he closed his eyes and exhaled a breath that had been suppressed for a long time, and the whole person was extremely comfortable.

After a pause, he pushed aside the clouds and mist that covered the steps, looked at the familiar hand, and silently thought in his heart: Half a year, a whole half a year.

It took him half a year to get back here, and only he knew the hardships and pains.

Taking a deep breath, seeing that the task assigned by the master was about to be completed by himself in the next moment, a smile appeared on his face that he had not seen for a long time.

And just as he was about to jump up, the steps under his feet suddenly emptied, and then his upward body lost his help, and his legs trembled, and he fell down with the hole in the steps.

The moment he fell, the steps just closed, he intuitively felt that it was dark in front of him, struggled twice, and then sat on a mass of unknown things, a muffled snort came from under his buttocks, he was suddenly frightened to jump, touched his chest, and felt his heart jump out.

The whole space only echoed with the sound of his heart, and the muffled snort just now disappeared into the darkness.

Calming down, the crossbow man began to observe the surroundings, only to see that the surroundings were still so dark that people's scalp was numb, and the air was filled with a stench of people who did not take a bath all year round, he sniffed with his nose, and his stomach turned over and over, and after swallowing a few mouthfuls of spit, he remembered that he seemed to have been sitting on something just now, and that thing had made a sound, he touched the place just now, ready to find out.

As soon as the figure moved, a thick black and blue iron chain was thrown out of the darkness, and the iron chain wrapped around his calf, and a huge force came from the other end of the chain, and his body was unstable and dragged by the chain.

In less than a few seconds, his body stopped, the chain retracted from his calf, and the unknown crossbowman wanted to cry without tears, pinched the leg and neck that were strangled red by the chain with his hand, gritted his teeth and got up from the ground, he looked in the direction where the chain had just stretched.

Suddenly, several points of light lit up in the darkness, which were several lampstands on the cyan walls on both sides of the dark space, and then the entire space revealed its outline in the light of the fire.

I saw that the space was long and narrow, and the walls on both sides were covered with the rattans that I had seen outside, and in the middle of it was staring straight at him, and as soon as he turned his head to meet that gaze, the whole person was intuitively creepy, and his body unconsciously took a few steps back.

"Ahem... Ahem..."

A cough came, and the figure blinked the eyes that could only be seen on its face. The figure was dressed in an old Taoist robe, covered with dust, and from time to time a few small insects crawled by, a messy but shiny black hair fell behind his back, his face was full of beard, and the thick iron chain was tied under his feet.

"What kind of youkai are you?" The crossbowman asked timidly.

"Hahaha..."

The figure suddenly laughed wildly, his voice a little hoarse, and his laughter was full of ecstasy and a little lost.

The crossbowman didn't understand why.

"Are you a human or a ghost?" He asked again.

...

The laughter stopped abruptly, and a young-sounding voice sounded.

"They didn't tell you that Lao Tzu is the eighth disciple of Meng Ran, and Tai Er Zhenren is also."

"Frightened, haha..."

The crossbow man remembered that the fifth senior brother said that his eighth senior brother was locked up in the demon, could it be this person?

"It turned out to be the eighth senior brother, I am the little junior brother you have never met." The crossbowman cautiously tentatively asked.

"Little junior brother, um..."

"Aren't the little junior brother of Lao Tzu two little ghosts who can't tell the difference?" Senior Brother Eight's tone was a little puzzled.

"Hahaha..."

"Lao Tzu has a little junior brother, Lao Tzu has a little junior brother..."

The eighth senior brother laughed and muttered to himself.

"Little junior brother, hurry up and let Lao Tzu... Belch... Let me take a look, brother. ”

The crossbowman hesitated.

"Why, senior brother, a big living person, you're afraid of a yarn here." The eighth senior brother, who claimed to be Lao Tzu, saw his hesitation and was a little displeased.

The crossbowman walked slowly and leaned over. When he walked in, he found that the eighth senior brother was fixed.

I saw that the eighth senior brother's eyes swept over him, as if he was looking at someone's yellow flower girl and her obscenity. Looking at it, I couldn't stop swallowing my saliva.

The crossbowman felt a little uncomfortable.

"What are you shy, and you're not a little girl."

"Look at how many times you can drop a piece of flesh on your body,**"

The Taoist angrily burst into a foul mouth, and his tone was full of disdain.

The crossbow man was said to be embarrassed, his face was flushed, but he didn't dare to complain, who knows if this senior brother Lao Tzu has any quirks.

"Boy, why are there so many wounds on his body, who has beaten him so miserably, the third senior brother or the master?"

The eighth senior brother looked at the Dao wounds all over his body and smashed his tongue.

"Tell Lao Tzu that when Lao Tzu goes out, he will definitely beat him with a blue nose and swollen face."

"There is Lao Tzu covering you, don't be afraid, just say it."

...

The eighth senior brother chattered endlessly, but the speaker had intention, and the listener had no intention, although the crossbow man kept nodding, but he just wanted to end these boring conversations quickly.

The eighth senior brother who called himself Lao Tzu babbled a lot, and the crossbowman stood so numb that his eyelids began to fight, but he didn't see that the eighth senior brother had the intention of stopping.

I don't know how long it took, maybe he was tired, or he noticed something, the eighth senior brother pulled the corner of his clothes with one hand, and the crossbowman was startled before he came back to his senses, he resisted the urge to yawn, and showed a row of big white teeth at him.

"Cut..."

Senior Brother Eighth gave him a look of contempt.

"Boy, I've been here for almost ten years, except for the skylight steps where you fell, there will be people passing by, there is not even a hair in the whole cave, how long have you been here, so uncomfortable." As he spoke, Senior Brother Eighth still had a look of disdain.

"Eighth Senior Brother, Little Senior Brother, I was arranged by the master... That's what it looks like. ”

Listening to what his little junior brother said, the eighth senior brother looked at this thin young man who was much younger than himself, and felt a little emotional.

The crossbowman told his experience completely, without a long sigh in between.

"Little junior brother, don't blame Master..."

The eighth senior brother wanted to say something, but a pair of hands suddenly pushed the crossbowman, and the crossbowman was still immersed in his own complaints, and was suddenly pushed by this, and flew straight out of the distance before sitting on the ground. He didn't know what was wrong with his eighth senior brother, he was fine just now, why was he suddenly...

"Little junior brother, hurry up, hurry up, they're coming, they're coming..."Senior Brother Eighth yelled at him

The crossbowman ignored the pain in his buttocks, turned and ran in the opposite direction.

"The junior brother is not in the devil, the senior brother is locked here voluntarily, and the senior brother also has a mission... Ahh

"The next time junior brother passes by the steps, remember to bring a pot of wine to senior brother, and put it on that step..."

"Little junior brother, don't come to see me in the future, I don't want to... They will come at any time... Ahh

"Little junior brother, tell the master that the disciple misses him..."

…

"Come, have a good time with Lao Tzu..."

......

The voice of the Eighth Senior Brother came intermittently from behind, accompanied by bursts of tragic shouting and scolding and violent shaking in the cave, he didn't know what the Eighth Senior Brother was experiencing at this moment, all he felt was these words from the bottom of his heart.

He kept running, and running, and the light in front of him was long gone, but he didn't dare to stop, and there were no more sounds behind him, and the surroundings became dark and silent.

After a long time, he only felt that his feet were empty, as if he had fallen into some abyss, and before he had time to grasp anything, he lost consciousness in his mind.

A moment later, the crossbowman woke up from the intersection of the master's branch and the flying ladder, he felt a sore sensation in his body, thinking about what he had just experienced, and his heart was full of mixed feelings, and finally he decided not to talk about it to anyone.

He walked slowly along the path of the branches towards the master's thatched house, and when he reached the door of the thatched house, he knocked lightly on the door, and found that there was no response from inside, and he did not get a reply when he called out to the master.

Didn't Master say that I would be able to see him again after the first floor, but what about people? He thought to himself.

Just as he was about to return, he saw a note and an unopened letter on the stone table in front of the thatched house.

He walked over to the stone table and picked up the note and envelope. There are a few lines of vigorous words on the note:

Crossbow boy, the teacher knows that you are coming, congratulations on passing the test of the first layer of the flying ladder, and the teacher is very pleased.

Climbing the ladder can only exercise your perseverance and resistance, you can't forget other things, your brothers and sisters have their own skills, you have to follow them to learn hard, and you must not slack off.

The Master will be waiting for you at the end of the second flight ladder, and I wish you to complete the task as soon as possible.

Remember, the kid is arrogant and dry, and the test will only be more difficult in the future, so don't let the teacher down.

The crossbow man silently read what was written on the note, and then looked at the letter in his hand, which read: My son Xia Er opened it personally. The handwriting is beautiful and neat.

The envelope was opened, and inside were two sheets of somewhat yellowed letter paper that read:

Xia'er, isn't it disappointing that it took so long to write to you, don't blame your father for being ruthless.....

Ah Niang has returned to the capital with your father, remember your father's words, when you return from school, he will welcome you with wine at the gate of Yanli Capital...

Daddy and mom are all right, don't worry about it...

After reading the letter, he was a little distracted, remembering the cold and warmth of Ah Niang in the letter, he felt a burst of warmth in his heart, and he looked into the depths of the clouds, where there seemed to be two familiar figures, nodding and smiling at him.

....

In the tree hole, a middle-aged Taoist with a blessed face, looked at the eighth senior brother who was chained, at this moment the eighth senior brother's whole face was extremely white, blood flowed down from the corners of his mouth from time to time, dyed the beard on his face red, he noticed the middle-aged Taoist's gaze, slowly raised his head, and smiled miserably at the middle-aged Taoist, he wanted to say something, but he didn't have the slightest strength.

The middle-aged Taoist waved his hand, his chest hurt inexplicably, he looked at the face full of miserable laughter, resolutely turned around, and quietly left...