Last night, Nie Xiaoqian and Chen Jianchen talked for a long time, but they didn't say much in substance, and they exchanged more heartfelt words. Among them, Chen Jianchen mentioned that he wanted to join the operation tomorrow, and Nie Xiaoqian immediately did not hesitate.
He refused: Are you kidding? How could he, a scholar, get involved in this? Beating and killing? Moreover, it was a treasonous crime of killing an official and rebelling!
However, Chen Jianchen persisted and his attitude was very firm. Nie Xiaoqian couldn't resist it and had to agree. In her opinion, Chen Jianchen was not an ordinary weak scholar after all. He was courageous and knowledgeable. He should still be able to play a certain role when he got there.
The role of...[]
It might have a small effect, but as for a big one, Nie Xiaoqian didn't dare to think about it. Now I heard that there was a peerless swordsman living in Lanruo Temple, and it sounded like he was Chen Jianchen's friend.
Wu Yan and Huo Jun looked at each other in astonishment, both showing expressions of disbelief: There are people living in Lanruo Temple. The matter itself is very mysterious, let alone a peerless swordsman living there? Moreover, Chen Jianchen is
How do you know that the other party will live there? Could it be that it was agreed before...
Although they didn't quite believe it, they also wanted to catch a glimpse of the peerless swordsman and see what was going on, so they naturally followed him in.
A large area of the main hall collapsed, and the originally magnificent temple was completely destroyed. It looked like a ruins, but the overall structure of the house was still there, silently supporting it, showing the scars of the vicissitudes of life to those who came.
How can anyone live in such a situation?
Both Wu Yan and Huo Jun were suspicious. If Chen Jianchen was not an old acquaintance of Nie Xiaoqian, they would definitely think that Chen Jianchen was lying and turned against him on the spot.
Along the way, Chen Jianchen did not stop in the main hall, but walked straight through, and did not stop until he reached the monk quarters at the back.
The monks' dormitory area of Lanruo Temple is very large and open. The rows of monks' dormitories form a semicircle and form a large courtyard. There is a water tank in the middle of the courtyard. There is actually half a clear water in the tank. I must have
It was saved up on rainy days.
There are three lotus plants growing in the pond, but their growth shape is far different from the lotus flowers on the big lake outside, or it may be due to lack of nourishment. These three lotus plants all grow weakly, and the lotus leaves are withered and yellow, as if they will wither at any time.
appearance.
Looking around, most of the many monks' houses in the surrounding area are dilapidated. The doors and windows are old and dusty. The weeds outside the houses are almost taller than the window sills. They look desolate and traceless.
One look and it was clear that there could not be anyone living there.
"Huh?"
At this time, Wu Yan suddenly let out a sigh and turned his gaze to the south.
Soon, everyone looked over there and saw a monk's dormitory in the south. The door was as new as new, and new doors and windows were made out of bamboo strips and installed. It looked completely different from other monks' dormitories. It was clearly that it had been artificially renovated recently.
Repaired.
Chen Jianchen's heart moved and he walked over to take a look: "Excuse me, is anyone here?"
There was no reply, and there was silence all around.
He walked up and knocked on the door again, but there was still no response. No one was there. He turned back and shook his head at Nie Xiaoqian. As for forcing himself to push the door in and check inside, it was the behavior of an uninvited guest, but it was not advisable.
At this time, Huo Jun couldn't help but said: "I have known for a long time, how come there are people living here? Even if there are people living here, they must have left long ago. It is impossible for them to live here permanently. Others are not crazy."
Chen Jianchen did this to him in the middle, which cost him nearly half an hour. Huo Jun was quite angry and dissatisfied, but it was hard to let it out.
"Let's go..."
Chen Jianchen waved his hand - he came here, of course, just to see if Yan Chixia would live here. If he really had to be here, he could pay a visit. But it seems that he is still disappointed at the moment. The building has been tidied up.
The monk's residence cannot explain anything, let alone prove that it is the place where Yan Chixia lived.
There is no necessary connection between the two.
At that moment, the five people left and turned onto the main road. When they reached the backyard, the woods in front of them suddenly became thicker, and they were actually all banyan trees. There were an unknown number of them. Their roots formed a forest and stretched into a large area. It looked like
A sea of banyan trees, blue waves like mountains, boundless and endless.
Looking at this banyan forest, Chen Jianchen's expression suddenly changed, and he immediately thought of the tree demon that formed the "bird's paradise" entrenched on the Jianjiang River beach in Jiangzhou. However, in comparison, the sea of trees in front of him was much larger.
It is prosperous and vast, so vast that it is breathtaking.
I don’t know how many years it took to grow and develop such a lush banyan forest.
This is really unusual...
Chen Jianchen looked at Yingning inquiringly, and Yingning shook his head, indicating that he didn't notice anything. Not to mention her, even Chen Jianchen's own righteousness showed no sign of fluctuation.
In this case, either this huge banyan forest is natural, or the opponent's cultivation has reached an unfathomable level, and his body is as unfathomable as the sea, which is not something they can feel...
Hopefully, it will be the former possibility.
Without much hesitation, the five people began to enter the woods. Once they entered, they suddenly realized that they had entered another world, a dark, humid, and dark world——
In this world, wherever you look, there are banyan tree roots hanging down as thick as an arm, intertwined and mixed together like vines.
The first ten feet or so was easy to walk, but the further inside, the denser it became, and gradually the road disappeared. The roots were like spider webs, and there might be some space left just enough for a person to pass through.
It's a road. However, this road is more accurately described as a tree hole. I don't know where it leads to.
The situation is far more complicated than imagined.
The five people looked at each other, and they all saw the shock in each other's eyes.
Nie Xiaoqian looked solemn and said: "Three senior brothers..."
Wu Yan seemed to have known what she was going to say, and immediately interrupted: "Little junior sister, you don't have to say anything else. Let's go."
Huo Jun also said: "Yes, little junior sister, the master once said when he accepted us as a disciple, fellow disciples are like compatriots. If one person is in trouble, the other three must step forward no matter what. We are not afraid of swords or officials.
If you dare to kill officials and rebel, will you still be afraid of this forest?"
Hearing this, Nie Xiaoqian was greatly moved, with tears in her eyes. She looked at Chen Jianchen again and advised: "Liu Xian, the situation is different. You should take the book boy out and go back to the temple to stay with Senior Brother Xia.
"She was really worried that Chen Jianchen and Ying Ning wouldn't be able to endure such hardship.
Chen Jianchen looked around and suddenly smiled bitterly: "I'm afraid I can't get out!"
What?
Nie Xiaoqian and others were puzzled as to why Chen Jianchen would answer such a sentence. However, they soon understood what Chen Jianchen meant.
An hour later:
"Elder brother, do you feel strange?"
"strangeness?"
"Well, I feel like we've been going in circles."
Wu Yan's face was heavy, and he obviously felt the same way. He immediately shouted: "Third Junior Brother, we use weapons as signals."
Huo Jun agreed, brandishing his long sword, and together with Wu Yan, they used their weapons to carve unique logo patterns on the tree trunks they passed.
…
About a few hours later, when the tree trunk with the pattern logo appeared in front of everyone, they all gasped: they were indeed lost!
Wu Yan didn't panic too much, and said to Nie Xiaoqian in a deep voice: "Little junior sister, use Qinggong, go up!"
Nie Xiaoqian hummed, and used Qinggong to walk up a tree trunk to see if she could find a way out of it. However, these trunks were actually the roots of a certain big banyan tree, entangled with dragons.
It is criss-crossed, layer by layer, like a giant net with no flaws. It is impossible to penetrate it. And if you want to use weapons to cut it, the project is too huge and unrealistic.
As a last resort, Nie Xiaoqian jumped down again, panting slightly and said: "Elder brother, you can't get out from above."
Huo Jun opened his eyes wide and said angrily: "Elder brother, why don't we burn it with fire?"
Wu Yan shook his head and smiled bitterly: "It's difficult. If it really catches fire, I'm afraid we will also be buried in the sea of fire."
Nie Xiaoqian gritted her teeth: "Let's go again! I don't believe we will be trapped in this forest."
I don’t know how long it took, maybe it was afternoon, maybe it was already dusk, when the familiar road signs appeared in front of them again, the tired Nie Xiaoqian and others were almost desperate.
They're going in circles, they're always going in circles, it's just a difference between a small circle and a big circle.
At this time, Chen Jianchen was getting a little anxious. Ying Ning had tried it a long time ago, secretly using magic techniques to test, but to no avail. The countless banyan tree roots that existed around him were all real, not an illusion, nor an illusion.
Ghosts beat the wall. Since it is a real plant, Chen Jianchen's righteousness is also helpless.
They were actually trapped halfway, and fell into a dilemma.
"How could this happen...how could this happen..."
Nie Xiaoqian was the first to panic. Her panic was not because she was worried about her own safety, but because she was worried about her father. If they were trapped like this and couldn't get out, the prison car on the other side to release their father would have passed outside and headed north to the capital.
.
"I want to go out, I want to go out!"
She shouted emotionally, and wildly danced the sword in her hand to chop the roots in front of her.
However, those banyan tree roots were as thick as a human upper arm and extremely tough. Even though she had the strength to do so, her strength failed after cutting a few of them, and her movements slowed down significantly.
Boom!
There was a sudden thunder, like a bolt from the blue, and it was difficult to survive. The heavy rain fell down, passing through the dense branches and leaves, and dripping on their heads and bodies.
At this time, it actually started to rain heavily. As the rain fell, the already dark woods became even gloomier, to the point where it was almost impossible to see the road.
Lost, heavy rain, darkness, all kinds of unfavorable objective circumstances all came together at once, coupled with my own fatigue - the predicament turned into a desperate situation!