The chains creaked, and he looked down at it all, the wet moss clinging to the chains that passed through his elbow joints, and it was closed like a deep hole dug in the darkness, and in addition to the darkness, there was a cold that was eating away at his flesh all the time.

It was a long dragon-like shackle that crisscrossed him with the links of his hands and feet, the chains passing through his arms and then connecting to his wrists, which were also a lone iron nail that was hard to support, and chiseled into the high wall behind him. And then his collarbones, his chest, his waist, his thighs, his knees, his ankles, all of them were so fiercely chiseled into the wall with crimson nails.

As if, he could still escape, the iron ring that fixed his neck would tighten tightly as long as his head moved, and he would only let it go when he knew that there was no breath flowing in his neck, but he still did not stop struggling, the crunch of the chains, first a dull rattling sound, resounding in this small space, deafening, and then, the explosion of the impact, the raging mad bull pulling the chains, those rattling, impossible to break free of the chains, like a crackling thunder, and finally silence, like a silent ...... Dead.

There is no light here......

Here, of course, there will be no light......

Principality, June 18, 2023, Bailing Mountain

"Tan Mingqiu left his post without permission, the Holy Lord remembered that you are an important minister of a country, and you will be immediately demoted to a commoner, and you must not step into Bailing Mountain for half a step in this life! Chin this! A man in a red official uniform rolled up the holy edict and waited for someone to pick it up.

That person was naturally Tan Mingqiu with a blank face, he looked at Xiao Qingshan, who was also kneeling down next to him to listen to the edict, Xiao Qingshan held back a smile, a little embarrassed to look at him, that kind of schadenfreude had already overflowed.

"You...... A handful of old ...... Also ......" Tan Mingqiu sighed, shook his head, touched his beard and pointed at Xiao Qingshan, wanted to speak again and again, and finally had to reluctantly take the edict.

"Hahaha......" Xiao Qingshan finally laughed presumptuously, his beard trembled with laughter, and he also stood up and began to pat this depressed old friend who couldn't be depressed anymore as if comfortingly.

"Senior Tan......" The man in the official uniform also hurriedly bowed to express his apology: "The saint is only dismissed, and it is already the kindness of the saint if he is not dismissed and investigated, and you have been wronged......

"Oops...... You say I...... A handful of old ...... I played a game of chess with an old friend, and that's it...... It's hard...... The ups and downs of life...... I can't think of it...... I can also feel it at my age......" Tan Mingqiu touched his waist, as if he was really old, in fact, his waist was straight, and it was even as energetic as a young man.

He looked relaxed, but he squinted at Xiao Qingshan with his whole face, sighing like a resentful woman.

"Hahaha, it's okay...... Speaking of which, your chess game really stinks! Hahaha......" Xiao Qingshan touched his mustache, and when the feather fan shook gently, a gentle breeze blew his temples: "It's really difficult...... If you play better...... It's not going to lose my wife and lose my soldiers, ahhahahaha, right? Tomorrow autumn? ”

"Senior Tan, Prime Minister Xiao, although I don't know what happened, but the will of the Holy Lord is enough, there is still room for it......" The official stood aside very respectfully, and it was not easy to say anything, but he still said such a sentence.

"Right...... Is it a common man...... Isn't that what you've always dreamed of? Tomorrow autumn? Now that you've got your wish, you should be happy...... Haha, but, Chen Huan, you're still a little late, our young master of Bailing Mountain has already retreated and cultivated...... It's over before you come...... It's really not good...... Next time, as soon as you hear the wind and grass, quickly send troops to surround the entire Bailing Mountain. Don't let the thieves run away, you know? Xiao Qingshan began to get serious, and looked at Tan Mingqiu next to him, who was observing the edict over and over again, with interest: "Mingqiu, you don't need to be so sad...... It's already a commoner...... Why do you care about so many rules in the saints? There is no punishment written on it, if the saint does not check, you will live in the room next to me, and if the saint comes to check, you will live in my room, play chess with me, drink tea, why not? ”

"You're so good, it's really so casual......" Tan Mingqiu sighed and stuffed the edict into his arms.

"In order to celebrate Mr. Tan's demotion to a commoner and his wish to become a tea farmer, I decided to cook lightly and fry a good dish for you!" Xiao Qingshan pushed Tan Mingqiu's shoulder and motioned for him to go up.

These thousand-foot steps, in Tan Mingqiu's eyes, may be long...... It's the kind of long one that once you get on it, you can't get down...... Long......

What a fuck...... Xiao Qingshan.

"Let's go! Chen Huan, it's not the first time you've come to Bailing Mountain...... I'll prepare wine and food for you, and wash the dust for you! Xiao Qingshan's feather fan gently patted Chen Huan's waist and motioned for him to go up as well.

"So, is there any other arrangement? Do you want to hand over the token of the Sycamore Division? Chen Huan, what rank of minister are you now? I always remember you as a little boy...... He also studied martial arts with your father. Tan Mingqiu felt a little better, not so sullen, and followed behind Xiao Qingshan.

"Senior Tan, Chen Huan is already twenty and sixteen...... It's not a little boy anymore......" Chen Huan and Tan Mingqiu side by side, some, nodded at Tan Mingqiu very seriously: "Chen Huan is already a fourth-order spirit bird, and he is a fourth-order minister."

"Okay, young and promising! The empire is promising! Xiao Qingshan was overjoyed.

"I remember that when I came out of Bailing Mountain, I was just a flying fish first-order, and I was really young and promising......" Tan Mingqiu also touched his beard, not knowing what he was thinking, his head was lowered, as if looking at the road, and as if looking at an empty place.

"Hahaha...... You, if you tell the juniors about the troubles of the year, you will really have no shame in facing young talents, hahahahaha! Xiao Qingshan laughed again, his voice was very hearty, like being degraded, in his opinion, it was a very happy, even old friend's belittlement, that kind of schadenfreude, it couldn't be hidden......

His face was a little stiff with a smile, and he touched it.

"Don't dare to be, don't dare to be, the praise of the predecessors, Xiaosheng is naturally grateful, as for the rest, in fact, in terms of his position, he doesn't dare to have too many ideas." Chen Huan also walks respectfully, without any swagger, and has a sense of well-behaved children following the old man.

"Mmmmmm, that's fine, there's no need to think about anything else, it's best, you will do the matter of repairing the marriage thoroughly, the mentors here in the mountain guard array have almost repaired, you finally pay more attention, just check the activation lines of the magic circle, and there are many lost spirit beasts, if you can recover them, you can recover them...... It's not that bad, it's really that bad. The power of the circle must be strengthened. Xiao Qingshan gently pointed at everything around him with a feather fan.

"Prime Minister rest assured, Chen Huan will do his best." Chen Huan saluted and slowly followed.

"Oh, that's right, Chen Huan, the jade pendants of the mentors must be carefully checked to avoid other people pretending to be, or taking advantage of the chaos in the past two days to sneak into Bailing Mountain, this point must be strictly controlled, bring the disciples who are not registered to the Wutong Division, if you can, check the bottom of all the disciples now, put them on my desk, I need to check them one by one." The prime minister turned around and tapped the feather fan at Chen Huan.

"Okay, Prime Minister."

"Aoyama, there's one thing I don't understand...... What really happened three days ago? I don't understand why even asking for directions and marriages, such a powerful magic circle as the Mountain Guarding Array was destroyed...... They just said that it was snowing very strangely, and I had no idea what was going on, so what are you hiding from me? Tan Mingqiu still couldn't seem to get around, and his sudden question made the shaking of the feather fan slower and slower.

"And ...... The casualty report under the mountain is not a small number, if it is just an ordinary thief, this casualty number is quite normal, after all, the strength of the Righteous Law Division is limited, but if it is a powerful thief, then this number, plus the casualties of the Righteous Law Division...... It's too unusual...... The Holy One doesn't know the truth, and it's okay to say that I left my post without permission, but you should at least tell me what happened......"

"Tomorrow and autumn...... What about some things? People can not understand, but they can also live well, you see, you are so leisurely now, isn't it good? Where is the need to know so much? Isn't it necessary...... What's snowy...... What formations, it's all gone...... Don't care at all...... Let the past be sealed in the past...... Right? Chen Huan? Xiao Qingshan stepped up the mountain, and his steady steps made a loud sound.

"That's what the prime minister said." Chen Huan glanced at Tan Mingqiu and nodded seriously.

"You're wearing the same pants...... Hey......" Tan Mingqiu touched his head and glanced at the top of Bailing Mountain, where the sky was clear again.

"Mingqiu, that's good...... Believe me...... What about the old man...... The most important thing is to enjoy your old age...... Instead of running here and there, waiting for others to participate in their own white affairs, it is also a matter that requires enough patience, people, you can't disobey the old, you will be ......confused when you are old" Xiao Qingshan said some very strange things, but Tan Mingqiu didn't pay much attention to it, and just heard the last sentence.

"You're also very old, aren't you afraid that you will also be old and confused?"

"I'm afraid...... So, while I'm still confused, I'll finish what I want to do first, and then I'm done...... I will accompany you to plant tea trees in Bailing Mountain, how delicious it is to ...... Erhai Lake" Xiao Qingshan's feather fan shook gently, and a very light wind blew over, blowing their clothes.

"Okay, if you don't talk about it, I won't ask...... I do get old...... It can't be compared with young people...... The future is terrifying......" Tan Mingqiu also said something more inexplicable, but after glancing at Chen Huan, he nodded happily.

"It's good to know, but not cooking...... That's the older you are, the better you can master the heat, watch me fry two side dishes today, buy some good wine, chant poetry with wine, and be happy in the world! Hahaha! Xiao Qingshan laughed again, this smile echoed on the thousand-foot steps, faintly echoing, endlessly.

"I'm going to eat braised pork...... Although I am not good at teeth, if you make braised pork, I just cut off the toothpick, and you want to make it. Tan Mingqiu breathed a sigh of relief, seized this opportunity, and followed behind Xiao Qingshan like a child begging for food.

"Okay, okay, do you want to eat sweet and sour fish? Go kill a grass fish from Mingli Lake and make sweet and sour fish to eat! Xiao Qingshan also turned around, and suddenly looked at Tan Mingqiu excitedly, his eyes lit up: "Do you want to eat?" To eat or not to eat? ”

"Eat, eat, eat! Eat, eat, eat! Tan Mingqiu's eyes also lit up, delicious food, for everyone, it is all the same, don't say anything about emotional resonance, as long as you can make an appointment with three or two friends, it is peanuts and beans with wine, and you can also eat a flower.

"That'...... Junior, should I go down the mountain to buy some good wine? Chen Huan responded next to him, stood on the steps, and was about to listen to the order to go down the mountain.

They had just reached the front of the mountain, and if they came down now, it would be too late.

"The mountain is still being rebuilt...... I guess it's hard to buy, so don't go...... I had good wine in my room...... I'll take it out now and drink it for you......" Xiao Qingshan persuaded Chen Huan, Chen Huan gave up, nodded, and respectfully followed.

"You knew there would be this day? If there is good wine...... You've been drinking with me a long time ago...... Will you deliberately save it to this day? Tan Mingqiu said angrily again, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"Huh! What do you mean by that...... I'm not Liu Banxian, so I can count it...... If you can really calculate it, will you be demoted? The wind on Xiao Qingshan's feather fan blew on his clothes, his clothes moved lightly, he looked at the traces of shattering here, the front end of the mountain stone here was cut by the sword qi, and it was extremely smooth, and the second half was like being shattered by a heavy object, and the disc didn't know how it was formed, but it was mottled heavily, telling the fierce fight that might exist at that time.

"Heh......" Tan Mingqiu stopped talking, he touched the blood stains on them next to those rocks, those speckled things, like flying heavy objects smashing on the ground and splashing blood.

"If any disciple protects this place, he will fight against that thief...... Be sure to reward it. Tan Mingqiu looked at the deep pit on the thousand-foot steps, where there was just enough for a person to lie down, they walked around this deep pit, there were also very slight blood stains in it, if it was smashed down by others, it was indeed tragic enough...... It's just that this little bit of blood is obviously abnormal, it can only be said that the thief is not so powerful, but he just let that person suffer a little skin injury, otherwise it wouldn't be so bloody......

"Mingqiu, you're no longer the chief manager...... Who are you commanding? Hahahahaha......" Xiao Qingshan's words woke up the dreamer, making Tan Mingqiu shrug his shoulders indifferently.

"Nothing...... It is...... Got used to it...... If that thief destroys the magic circle with some evil sect crooked ways that break the formation, then the disciples who blocked them can be regarded as merit...... It really deserves to be commended. ”

"Well, thieves shouldn't be strong......" Xiao Qingshan looked at the pit that was not big, but small and small, and nodded affirmatively.

"If that's the case, then I think I really should have made that move friendly...... I feel like I'm about to win......" Tan Mingqiu pretended to be annoyed and smiled.

"No, no, it's clear that you're about to lose. Why are you going to win again? Xiao Qingshan didn't look at the pothole and continued to walk forward.

Mountains and seas are not flat.

Thank you for your hard work......

No matter what you're doing......

"Qingshan, how long will the young master of Bailing Mountain be in retreat? A year? Two years? Still is? ”

"I don't know...... It shouldn't be as long as five years...... But it's not impossible......"

"That's really bad...... In that case, as soon as he comes out, he will marry the eldest princess...... Good days, but it's over......"

"Hahaha...... If that's the case, I don't know if we'll live until then......"

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