The capital of the Great Qi Kingdom, the Imperial Palace.

Under the eaves of the northwest corner of each palace in this splendid palace, there is a bronze bird wind chime with an intricate pattern.

These wind chimes are so peculiar that they can't be blown by any kind of wind. Nowadays, the princess was very naughty when she was young, and used to smash these wind chimes with stones, but even this could not make the bird make even a slight chirp.

Legend has it that these bronze Xuanniao wind chimes were made by the Taoist ancestor who took the bronze of the first mountain from the founding of the country, and spent 7749 days to refine them.

It was specially given to Emperor Gaozu to ward off evil spirits. It is said that when an evil creature approaches the palace, these wind chimes will automatically become windless, and the bird decoration on the top will make a sound like a bird chirping from its beak.

At this time, none of the soldiers standing under the porch to protect them noticed it. The Xuanniao wind chime not far from the top of his head actually trembled slightly, and the yin and yang patterns carved on the bronze body faintly emitted light.

The bronze statue of the Xuanyao lying on the top of the wind chime also raised its head and cast its eyes in the direction that emitted a strange appearance thousands of miles away.

It is the direction where Xia Zhicicada is located.

……

Ten Thousand Buddha Mountain, Bodhi Temple.

This is the place where the Bodhi Zen Master meditated and sat in meditation in his later years.

In front of the gate of the Bodhi Temple, there are two lions carved in stone with low eyebrows and bowed their heads one foot high. As if they had been inspired by something, they writhed their bodies and came to life.

The stone lion on the left raised his head, the huge claws of the beast scratched his neck and shoulders, and as he moved, a lot of stone chips and dust shook off, and his voice was angry:

"Something is about to be born, why don't we go and see it?"

The stone lion on the right opened his mouth and yawned widely, as if he hadn't heard what he had just said, but stretched his body and fell down, he glanced at his stupid brother angrily, and then said slowly:

"The Buddha enlightens you and me, that is, let us guard this Bodhi Temple. Don't make trouble for us. ”

"Oops, brother. We've been here for three hundred years, and it's not bad for a while, so let's go and see it secretly, and we'll be back as soon as we finish reading. ”

The stone lion on the left shook his head and said.

"Hmph. I'm afraid that if you have a life to go or not come back, you will become a pile of broken stones when the time comes, I don't think you can still say that you are okay. ”

"Is it that serious? I think ......"

"Shut up! Someone's coming. ”

After saying that, the two stone lions immediately returned to their exact same state, as if what they had just talked and chatted about had not happened at all.

With a creak, an old figure opened the wooden door of the Bodhi Monastery, an old monk in shabby gray monk's robes and holding a large broom in his hand.

Every day is the same, perseverance in cleaning the mountain gate. This matter has been done for a whole year since he entered the Shamen, that is, sixty years.

"Amitabha."

Put your hands together and chant the Buddha's name.

The old monk is not enlightened, and he is obsessed and unenlightened.

Zen Master Buwu is already seventy and two years old this year, and he didn't need to clean in front of the mountain gate anymore, but he was really used to this kind of life, and the other people in the Bodhi Monastery couldn't persuade him, so they simply went with him.

As always, sweep the floor.

It's just that unlike usual, the old monk whispered a Buddha name to the distance.

There was no fluctuation in his old countenance, as if decades of quiet had been precipitated in every wrinkle of his skin.

The direction in which he recites the Buddha's horn is also the direction where Xia Zhicicada is.

After the old monk cleaned up and left, the two stone lions came back to life.

The two stone lions looked at each other.

"Almost, just a little bit......"

This time it was the stone lion on the right who said it first, he sighed, and the stone chips that blew out smashed the ground in front of him into a small pit:

"If you don't realize it, you really can't realize it."

……

Knock –

Knock –

Knock –

Three distant bells rang, enveloping the entire Dragon and Tiger Mountain. Many Taoist priests in Tsing Yi who were meditating cross-legged or pinching and dancing swords couldn't help but look up, their eyes full of doubts and incredulity.

The ancient bell hangs on a hundred-year-old pine on a cliff.

Legend has it that this ancient bell was hung by the Boundless Ancestor himself, and it was forged from the same Shoushan copper as the bronze Xuanniao. It is a huge bronze bell that can only be held by four people, and the whole Taishang induction decision is carved with yin and yang scripts. There was a bronze dragon attached to the ancient bell, and a bronze tiger was lying on the top.

And under this bronze ancient bell, there was a slender figure wearing a white robe sitting cross-legged.

With a bang, several figures rode the sword light and fell through the clouds to the top of this Dragon and Tiger Mountain. Everyone respectfully put away their sword light and knelt behind the slender figure.

Among the kneeling crowd, the one in the center was a middle-aged man wearing a yellow robe. He had a straight countenance, his eyes like torches, and three strands of long black hair fluttering in the wind on his chest. He is Zhang Taixuan, the head of Longhu Mountain, and he is unceremoniously said that even His Majesty the Emperor of Great Qi is not qualified to let him kneel.

But now, he actually knelt respectfully behind the figure.

"Uncle Shi, dare to ask if the ancient bell of this town demon made three rings for no reason today, is there any big demon about to be born......

The figure who was called by Zhang Taixuan, the master of the sect, did not speak, and did not even move. The figure seemed to be transformed into a statue carved out of wood and stone, unable to speak or move at all.

"Uncle Shi, the ancient bell of the demon town warns, this matter is not trivial, dare to ask Uncle Shi to show me to wait......"

Among the kneeling people, an old man in a red robe with a white beard couldn't help but ask. The old man has been a short-tempered person since he was young, and even if he is in charge, he dares to interrupt directly.

Now, almost the ancient bell of the Demon Suppression, which has not made a sound for nearly a hundred years, actually issued a warning again, and he was so anxious that he couldn't wait to hear the answer immediately.

"It doesn't matter."

There are only two words, and they are said in everyone's ears by means of sound transmission. The voice was indifferent, as if it were talking about a trivial matter.

"Yes."

Everyone didn't dare to say a word, so they could only bow down and salute, and all of them retreated to the top of the mountain.

……

Sleepy Dragon Mountain, a small farm yard.

This courtyard is not big, and there used to be four children studying and practicing here. And now those children are already adults and have traveled the world. Only the old man, whose beard had turned black to white, was still sitting in the courtyard.

In the center of the courtyard is a peculiar chessboard with nine vertical and nine horizontal, and the chess pieces in the chess jar have four colors.

The old man stared for a long time before he raised his hand and dropped a chess piece.

The piece is black.

"Won't you save your apprentice? He may not survive this catastrophe......"

On the opposite side, a tall middle-aged man who looked similar to the old man, but was much younger. The man took one out of the box and fell.

He is holding the red son.

"If he can't even survive the calamity in front of him, he doesn't expect him to survive the death calamity in his life......"

The old man picked up another one, but it didn't fall yet. There was no worry on his face, and he said:

"You can't rely on me, the master, to help him for the rest of his life."

"Hehe, what a good master."

There was another person on the right-hand side, a young man with bright eyes and bright teeth. His appearance is also very similar to that of the old man and the man, but his eyes are more unruly, and the words in his mouth are not very good.

The boy flicked his fingers, and a white piece leaped out of the chess box and landed on the chessboard safely.

"If you can't help him survive the catastrophe, then you might as well let him die in the capital in the first place......

"Well, that's not right."

On the chair on the left-hand side appeared a chubby white child, who shook his head with a small pigtail tied with a strip of red cloth, and picked up a cyan chess piece in both hands, he didn't know how to play, but just threw it into the board by feeling.

"What kind of bad intentions can the master have for the apprentice, my master is very good to me."

The white-haired old man holding the black son is the owner of this small farm yard.

The tall middle-aged man who holds the red son is the mountain owner of this sleepy dragon mountain.

The unruly young man who holds the white son is a five-colored spirit official who knows the heavens.

The little child who holds Qingzi is a genius born with a glass heart.

They are the same person, named Hong Huanglan.

……

The eyes of heaven are as big as mountains.

Xia Zhicicada, who was exhausted, fell to the ground, looked at the vision in the sky, and didn't know whether to cry or laugh for a while.

A huge vibration came, and there were bursts of regular sounds from the black hard "river bottom" under him, and if you listened carefully, it was a bit like the beating of the heart.

It turned out that the black bottom of the river that Xia Zhicicada thought was revealed by splitting the river with his sword qi was actually the back of this huge monster.

The eyes like mountains, the back, which is pitch black to the limit, and the large, hard but very flexible black tentacles.

What a huge, terrible monster it is.

Syllable. The black tentacle that had been cut out by Xia Zhicicada with two huge wounds with majestic sword qi once again came out from under the river. It swayed and smashed on the "land" within a stone's throw of Xia Zhicida.

Then as soon as it rolled, it rolled Xia Zhicicada, who was almost immobile, into his tentacles.

When the pain reaches its extreme, it is as if it no longer exists. Xia Zhicicada actually didn't feel the pain at this time, although he also lost the feeling of most of his body.

He could only let the tentacles roll him above the clouds.

Above that cloud, there is a deep black hole so large that you can't see the edge.

Xia Zhicicada knew that it was the mouth of a monster.

It's going to eat him.

The darkness was completely enveloped, and Xia Zhicicada was thrown into a deep hole, when he watched the last ray of light disappear in front of his eyes.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Many faces appeared like a mirror, and then quickly dissipated.

The master with a rickety body, the senior brother with a warm smile, the second senior brother who will never grow up, and the third senior brother who seems to be elegant but is actually black-hearted......

Father, Mother......

And that red dress......

Finally, what appeared in front of Xia Zhician was the wooden door painted on the back wall. It's a pity that he's about to die, and he's still just a spirit officer who hasn't started. It is estimated that since the beginning of the spirit officer, for more than 300 years, he is the only spirit officer who died without getting started.

Almost, just a little.

Stretching out his hand, his fingers had touched the wooden door. It was as if the wooden door could be easily opened with a single push. But with this gentle push, Xia Zhicicada seemed to have exhausted all the strength of his body.

The door was eventually opened through a crack.

It was the same as when the master opened the wooden door, and the familiar white light emanated from the crack in the opening of the wooden door, sprinkled on Xia Zhicicada's body.

The light was warmer than the sun, dispelling the pain all over Xia Zhicicada's body, making people feel extremely comfortable.

Xia Zhician squinted, he didn't covet the comfort brought by the light, but took his hand back.

The light is gone.

It's as if it never appeared. But only Xia Zhician knew that he was different now, at least he opened the door and saw a trace of scenery behind the door. It's a pity that he doesn't have the strength to push that door open completely.

A satisfied smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Chaowen said, you can die at night."

Xia Zhician muttered at the end, and his consciousness completely fell into darkness.