The churchman, dressed as a peddler, picked up the burden that lay on the side of the road and walked slowly into the pine forest by the roadside.

Ying Ying and her disciples glanced at each other and rode a deer to follow. In the blink of an eye, these ghosts had disappeared into the woods, and only the long-lasting wind on the Huangquan Road remained outside the woods, not boringly sweeping the loess on the road.

At this time, it is the end of winter, but the deserted pine forest is still green and straight, and the elastic branches, covered with soft pine hairs, are about three feet above the ground, along with the strips of paper facing all directions, one by one. Even though it was noon, it was rare to see a few rays of cloudy light into the forest, which made the forest very dark.

Only the non-stop flying ghost fire can barely illuminate them and save them from the tragedy of hitting a tree.

And along the way, there is always a lush and cool forest, full of gloomy air, not to mention birds, not even a crow has been seen, but the forest seems to be even quieter, and lifeless.

"National teacher. Slowly walked half a mile to the east, and the fungus man hidden in her sleeve crawled out, and said urgently: "The fungus people who stayed by Shui Ye's side sent a letter, saying that they had entered the west entrance of the secret passage. ”。

The water master he said was Lin Cong. The bacteria can transmit ideas to each other, which makes it easier for Lin Cong and Yingying, who are far apart, to keep in touch.

Ying Ying nodded lightly, silently and continued to ride the deer to follow.

After walking for half a cup of tea, they came to the shady side of a hillside in the southeast of Xudu. There is still a dense pine forest here, and the ghosts are rare, only in the middle there is a circle of open space with a diameter of no more than one zhang, and there is an ancient tree of the soul that blooms every flower and fruit every eight hundred years, standing between the pine forests and surrounding.

The roots of the crouching dragons on the exposed soil were covered with moss that looked like long hairs.

And this old cypress tree is also very special, and the right part is leafy and vibrant. But although the left part is dead, the bark is yellow and there is no leaf, but the dead branches point to the sky, and they are dead and immortal.

There were no birds or beasts along the way, but on this ancient tree, there were dozens of spirit birds, all of which were only the size of ordinary people's soul palms, but the plump feathers on their bodies were five-colored finches of five colors.

But they did not cry, but stood quietly on the branches, looking curiously left and right, and occasionally they would fly not far away to find something to eat, but they would just find it, and then they would take it back to the tree to eat again.

If you don't pay attention, you really can't notice that there is such a thousand-year-old tree that is not pine in the vast pine forest.

The four Xuanjiao disciples were under the tree, and when Lao Li brought Ying Ying and them to arrive, the eyes of the four ghosts swept away, and they all fell on Ying Ying; ”。

Ying Ying noticed the half-dead and half-alive ancient spirit tree, and after returning the salute one by one, she raised her head slightly towards the ancient tree, and slowly asked, "Isn't this the entrance to the dark path cultivated by the Mo family?"

"It's not. One of them, dressed in old clothes, was already in his prime, took a step forward and smiled mysteriously: "The entrance is actually at your feet." ”。

After finishing speaking, he led the nine-colored deer out of place, squatted down and peeled off the thick pine hair and soil on the ground, and a heavy bluestone slab appeared.

Ying Ying had an epiphany, that the overly conspicuous ancient tree was just a disguise, and if he found out about the existence of a secret passage and came to look for the entrance, most ghosts would fall into a blind spot in their thinking, thinking that the entrance was on the ancient tree, or under the roots of the ancient tree. In this way, even if you search for hundreds of years, you may not be able to find the entrance.

At first, the Xuanjiao disciples who lurked in Xudu only knew the secret passage, and they didn't know where the entrance was, so they suffered such a loss, but fortunately, with Lin Cong's secret letter, they slowly found all the entrances, and then they touched the entire terrain of the secret passage.

"Lao Li is the best assassin among us, and the earth wisps were killed by his knots, and he will not be unhelpful if he enters with you, and he can also be a guide for you. The old ghost, who looked like a wizen, lifted the heavy bluestone slab with only one hand, and a square entrance suddenly appeared: "The deer can't get in, please leave it to us to take care of it, and we will help you control the wind outside." ”。

Ying Ying nodded her head without any doubt, she knew that Mo Zhai not only had the clever means of pitting ghosts, but also the soul of a human with divine skills, and the disciples might be good, but they might not be able to help if they carried out assassination in a secret passage that was no more than three feet wide and half a foot high.

It's a good thing that the Xuanjiao disciples don't all follow in.

Lao Li took off the blue-bottomed flower cloth that was hanging on the baskets on both sides of the burden he was putting down, and saw all kinds of hidden weapons, lying quietly in the basket.

Plum blossom needles, flying locust stones, sleeve arrows, and throwing knives are everywhere.

"The hidden weapon we got from the black market is not as good as the ordnance superintendent, but it is okay. Lao Li Yan scratched his head with a smile and said, "Let's pick a few." ”。

The national teacher and his entourage came from afar, and they had to pass the calf pass, so they didn't bring any weapons. After thanking her at the moment, Ying Ying only picked up a few plum blossom needles from them accurately, and inserted them into the bun as hairpins, and after the rest of the Sutianju disciples did it one by one, they each chose two sleeve arrows, hid them on their arms, and put down their sleeves to cover them.

Then they each picked two short swords and carried them on their backs.

And Lao Li waited for them to choose, and then picked out ten flying knives for himself and inserted them under the front belt of his abdomen. Then he chose a dagger and a nine-section whip for himself to hang behind his waist.

"Without further ado, let's enter the secret passage. After the disciples had selected the secret weapon, Ying Ying slowly saluted the old ghost and said politely: "The matter of the wind is up to you." ”。

After the old ghost nodded in response, Ying Ying took a deep breath, took the disciples and Lao Li, and slowly walked into it along the steep stone steps behind the dark passage in order.

Ying Ying, who was at the forefront, had only taken ten steps down, and then injected her own soul energy into the spirit snake staff held tightly in her hand, and a soft green light appeared on the staff, just enough to illuminate the five feet of land around her, and show the way for the disciples and Lao Li behind her.

After walking out of the three zhang again, they came to the end of the stairs, and as far as the eye could see, there were many forks in the dark passage ahead. No one knows where the Mo Zhai people will appear at the bottom.

At this time, it is inevitable that she can only rely on the contact of the fungus man, and Yingying hurriedly called the fungus man. The fungus man got out of her sleeve and climbed up her shoulder, and after concentrating for a long time, she shook her head helplessly: "The secret passage is blessed with the worldly talisman seal, and my ability can't be used here." ”。

The Alternate Life Talisman Seal was created by the ancient gods, and although it has no attack power, it can make even if the world is turned upside down in the dark passage, and the outside is safe and sound. And it has the effect of isolating the connection of thoughts and the transmission of sounds, in order to prevent the Emperor Xudu from exposing the secrets of this place after controlling the ink with his mind.

With the Otherworldly Talisman, even if the Ink Artist is controlled, once he enters the Secret Passage, the control technique will suddenly become invalid. Therefore, the fungus people who transmit information by connecting their minds also lose their advantage here.

"Then let's go to the middle of the tunnel. Ying Ying can perceive it, but this dark passage is too huge, criss-crossing like a spider web, she can't perceive it for a while, so she came up with this plan: "Lao Li, you will show the way." ”。

"No. Lao Li answered, and with his eyes as sharp as eagle eyes, he looked around for a moment and recognized the way, and raised his hand to point: "After going straight for four feet and one foot, turn left, the fastest shortcut." ”。

Ying Ying nodded and walked forward, Lao Li followed, side by side to show them the way, and pointed them out the location of the mechanism in the secret passage.

Qingsheng's footsteps echoed leisurely in the dark passage.

Just like this, after walking around and turning in the dark passage, Ying Ying suddenly stopped, and at the same time received the soul qi injected into the staff while making a boo gesture.

The green light disappeared when he ascended, and darkness returned to the surroundings.

All the disciples concentrated their energy, looked around at the darkness, and frowned. Lao Li didn't dare to slack off, and immediately looked ahead with twelve points of spirit, he vaguely remembered that before Qingmang disappeared, he vaguely saw that they had come to the end of a dark passage, and two feet ahead was a huge stone room, which was eight squares. Above each side, there is a secret passage that extends outward.

Although this place is still far from the center of the dark passage, there is no mechanism in the stone chamber in the dark passage, which makes Lao Li secretly relieved.

Ying Ying stood still for a long time in a quiet and tense atmosphere, and suddenly heard a "Huh?" sound of surprise not far in front of them.

Then, there were successive footsteps, from far to near in the dark, until they were about three feet away before stopping, and a slightly hoarse voice came: "I thought it was a drunken dog, it turned out to be the disciples of Su Tianju." ”。

The words are sonorous and powerful, full of neutrality, and the tone is also relaxed and flat, as if he is not afraid of Su Tianju.

Ying Ying's fingers trembled, and she heard that this voice was Mo Zhai's voice, and when she was stunned, she secretly felt a little joy in her heart;

Contrary to the indifference of the past, it made the old Li Dunsheng beside him a little puzzled and vigilant, and couldn't help but secretly wonder: "Could it be that the national teacher and Mo Zhai are old friends?"

Mo Zhai in the dark, after listening carefully, suddenly felt that this sound was very familiar, and after thinking about it for a while, he dragged a long voice "Oh!", and chuckled: "It turned out to be Qianqian's most troublesome apprentice." ”。

After a pause, Mo Zhai asked again: "What about your master? After finishing speaking, he suddenly laughed a few times.

In the laughter, there was a hint of pride.

"My master has been dead for many years. Ying Ying's face was gloomy and slightly gloomy, and at the same time she said coldly: "Before she died, she entrusted me to send you to the end!"