Chapter 198

"Boom—!"

After everyone entered, the stone door began to close.

Inside, it could no longer be called a corridor; although the four walls still had clear edges and corners, it was very wide and high, and standing here, one would even feel a sense of insignificance.

Moreover, as the stone door closed completely, a greenish, eerie light gradually emerged from the rock walls on both sides and above.

Lin Shu stared at the luster on the rock wall in front of him and asked subconsciously, "Jade?"

Seeing Yin Meng: "If it really were jade, wouldn't those people who gamble on rough stones all be out of a job?"

Tan Wenbin corrected him: "Those who sell jade would also be out of a job."

Zhao Yi walked over, placed his palm on the stone, touched it carefully, and then frowned, saying: "It doesn't look like jade; it looks more like a kind of patina."

Li Zhuiyuan tapped the wall lightly with his knuckles, listened quietly to the echo, and confirmed: "There should be liquid inside."

"Liquid?"

Precisely because everyone trusted Brother Xiaoyuan's judgment, they found it even more incredible.

Tan Wenbin looked around; except for the ground, the other three sides were all green: "If it's liquid, wouldn't we be like standing in an aquarium right now?"

Seeing Yin Meng: "What does an aquarium look like?"

Tan Wenbin: "Go out less often in the future."

Seeing Yin Meng: "Then I'll go see an aquarium after I return to Nantong."

Tan Wenbin shrugged: "You can't see one in Nantong now; let's look for one next time we go to Jin Ling."

Nantong had its own aquarium, which only opened during summer vacation for primary and middle school students to visit, but the aquatic creatures inside were all kept in individual glass tanks; not only was the variety not rich, but there were also quite a few extras temporarily brought over from the vegetable market.

Just as the brightness here reached its peak, a black shadow suddenly appeared on the wall.

It appeared very abruptly and was getting closer and closer, as if it were about to rush out from within the wall.

Everyone retreated a few steps and set up a defensive formation.

The black shadow stopped after getting close to the wall; judging from its form, it looked a bit like a person, because it had the outline of a head and neck, but no limbs were presented.

Moreover, when the first one appeared, a second, a third, a fourth... began to appear one after another on the walls on both sides and overhead. There were more and more black shadows, as if they had been stimulated or drawn by something, and they began to gather from the depths to the inner edges of the walls.

The number was unimaginably large, dense, and brought a chilling sense of oppression.

Tan Wenbin: "Now... it's a bit like the aquarium in Nantong."

A water tank, surrounded by students.

Their group, on the contrary, looked like the objects being visited inside the water tank.

Zhao Yi looked at Li Zhuiyuan and asked, "Are they living things?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head and replied, "I hope so."

Zhao Yi was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Hmm."

If they were living things, they might be some kind of special animal or plant, which would actually be nothing to worry about, but if they were dead things... the changes in dead things could be too numerous.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Let's continue walking inside; don't waste too much time here."

Everyone began to move forward. This feeling of being "watched" by dense black shadows was really unfriendly, but for now, they could not rush out of the rock walls, nor did they show any danger.

If it's just looking, then let's look.

Not long after walking, sinking steps appeared ahead, and below was a circular hall layout.

Above their heads, green stones hung downwards, and each tip had a white ring attached; looking closely, they looked like cocoons.

This place was different from before; not only were the sides and the top green, but even under their feet, the entire environment was completely surrounded by a green texture.

Moreover, as if sensing living people, more and more black shadows either emerged or simply followed from their previous positions, swarming and "swimming" here.

"Drip... drip... drip..."

The sound of water dripping was very light at first, barely audible, then gradually grew louder, and after reaching a piercing level, it instantly fell into dead silence.

At the same time, a black shadow squeezed into the top of a thick, green, hanging stone cone, and the black shadow slid all the way down inside, finally disappearing into the white cocoon at the very bottom.

The white cocoon gradually expanded and began to hang down slowly; it shouldn't take long before it falls off the top and hits the ground.

Tan Wenbin: "If the person who falls down in the end is a person, doesn't that mean these black shadows inside the walls..."

Zhao Yi: "Are all people."

Lin Shu: "Then how many people must be here?"

Just the number of black shadows appearing right now was already uncountable.

Zhao Yi: "This is also normal; this place should have had some kind of strangeness to begin with, but no matter how strange a place is, it's impossible for buildings to appear out of thin air; in the end, it was built by people."

"Thump!"

A muffled sound came from below, and ripples spread out continuously. The black shadows in the surrounding walls began to sway, like mud and sand being stirred in a pool.

At the location where the sound came from, there was a coffin, its lid pressed against the rock wall below.

Lin Shu: "This thing is coming out, it's floating up."

On the ground, the coffin slowly emerged, as if it were performing some kind of penetration.

It was clearly returning from the eerie green to reality, yet it had a sense of returning to the human world from hell.

Moreover, the surrounding black shadows seemed to have suddenly lost interest in Li Zhuiyuan and the others, and all spontaneously began to gather towards the coffin, as if waiting for it to go out so they could rush out together through the gap it broke open.

However, after the coffin floated up halfway, it stopped.

Like a wooden stopper on a wine bottle, it was stuck there.

Below it were a large number of gathered black shadows, like a huge beehive.

The coffin was large and made of bronze, with pairs of huge, bulging eyes carved on it, as if scanning in all directions.

Zhao Yi: "If you want to ensure absolute safety, you should take action now, and before the coffin lid opens, step forward one step ahead to apply a seal to it."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Suggestions that are not from my perspective can be left unsaid."

Zhao Yi spread his hands.

He was a loner, just wanting to follow along and finish this wave to extend his life with merit, so naturally, the safer the better.

As for Li Zhuiyuan, in the first round of the jade fragment competition, he tried every possible way to delay time to let his partners recover from their injuries, and even at the end, he tried his best to avoid combat consumption, including when facing the two from the Yu family outside, even knowing they were seriously injured, he didn't choose to find an excuse to start a war.

The purpose was to be able to be as calm as possible after entering here.

Having endured the big stick, one shouldn't be weak when eating the sweet date.

The door he chose represented a puppet, and he came to take the opportunity in this regard; if you block the crisis, you naturally block the opportunity.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his hand: "Everyone, adjust your state."

Runsheng took out compressed biscuits and distributed them to everyone.

Others were biting them in small mouthfuls, while he was stuffing them into his mouth piece by piece, and while eating and chewing in the gaps, he didn't forget to suck the crumbs in his palm into his mouth.

"Buzz buzz buzz..."

The heavy coffin lid moved forward slowly.

In the past, when encountering such a situation, no matter what was lying inside, one would try to keep it stifled inside as much as possible if it couldn't be allowed to come out.

Now, instead, one had to stand far away and wait quietly.

The coffin lid was not completely overturned, only slid out by one-third.

According to standard human body proportions, if there were a person inside, it should only be opened to the chest position.

A pair of fair and slender hands slowly reached out from inside the coffin.

Ten long fingernails, five on the left hand were red, and five on the right hand were black.

Suddenly, the ten fingers arched and crossed!

"Snap!"

The white cocoon on that green stone pillar, which had long been ready to go, fell off at this moment and landed heavily on the ground.

The ten fingers slowly loosened.

The white cocoon slowly tore apart.

"Eee............"

A long tune came from within the white cocoon, echoing continuously in the empty surroundings.

The hands clapped.

"Snap!"

The white cocoon shattered, and a figure wearing white clothes appeared from inside.

Actually, it wasn't wearing white clothes, it was more like a kind of raw silk.

Moreover, although it stood up like a person, it couldn't see its hands and feet.

The hands flipped forward.

The head of the white shadow knocked downwards, instantly turning red, as if wearing a red lacquer mask.

Above the coffin, the ten fingers no longer paused and began to change and cross continuously, the speed turning from slow to fast.

The masked person also turned from stiff joints and stop-and-go at the beginning to becoming more and more fluid, and the white silk on its body had already woven hands and feet for it, gradually becoming anthropomorphic.

This whole set of changing movements was like the opening of a dance, full of rhythm and melody, and was moving towards a climax.

Zhao Yi: "You say, does this look like..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Nuo opera."

Nuo opera has a long history, originating from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and has evolved into different branches in various places to this day. In many places, it is also called "ghost opera."

The masked person's movements became more and more coherent. After the figure rotated continuously to the side, it stopped abruptly, arms close to the body, body leaning forward, as if falling but not falling.

Not long after, it took steps towards the front, that is, the position where Li Zhuiyuan and the others were, one step, two steps, three steps, the step frequency getting higher and higher, the speed getting faster and faster.

It rushed over.

But Li Zhuiyuan's main attention was not on it.

The teenager's focus throughout was on the pair of hands above the coffin.

It was those hands that were controlling the masked person.

"Lin Shu, go!"

"Understood!"

Lin Shu jumped down and happened to block the masked person's path.

The masked person's figure stalled, feet stuck to the ground, the upper body turned a circle on the spot, and then rushed towards Lin Shu violently.

This movement was considered fast in the eyes of ordinary people, but in Lin Shu's perception, it was a bit slow. He didn't even need to perform a spirit descent; he could deal with it with his own skills in a normal state.

The two sides exchanged fists and kicks, and after several moves, Lin Shu found that the opponent's strength was just so-so.

After exchanging fists again, Lin Shu immediately approached forcefully, took out his trident, inserted it directly into the masked person's chest, and then cut horizontally.

"Swish..."

The sound of silk cloth being torn.

The masked person's body turned into two halves, fell to the ground, flames rose, and it burned itself.

In an instant, only two thin ashes separated from top to bottom remained on the spot, and in the next moment, they scattered without wind.

The opponent was very weak and had almost no threat. After solving it, Lin Shu didn't even have the thought of asking for credit.

However, he still turned his head to look at Brother Xiaoyuan behind him.

But he found that Brother Xiaoyuan had already sat cross-legged, and that hateful Zhao Yi was also maintaining the same posture as Brother Xiaoyuan.

Zhao Yi: "Nuo opera puppet technique, very exquisite."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Hmm."

Zhao Yi: "This is the first round."

Li Zhuiyuan: "This is the opening move."

Zhao Yi: "It will go from simple to difficult. Once you are too greedy, you will capsize, which is very likely to cause us to die here. Don't forget, this stone door has our two votes."

Li Zhuiyuan: "It should be greedy."

Zhao Yi nodded: "I am standing on your side."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Hmm, but it's still nonsense."

Just at this time, two black shadows slid down along the green stone cone and fell into the white ring at the bottom tip.

The ten fingers above the coffin crossed again.

"Snap!"

Another white cocoon landed.

The ten fingers separated, and the white cocoon tore apart.

A new masked person appeared.

This time, the time it took for its limbs to go from stiff to smooth was very short, almost after a few quick twitches, it became extremely flexible.

At the same time, the color of its mask turned black, and it was more delicate, like a human face, with specific depictions.

Lin Shu noticed the opponent's change this time, which was very different from the one he had easily solved before.

The ten fingers on the coffin began to change.

Li Zhuiyuan's hands imitated and moved together.

Zhao Yi was the same, the two people, one young and one old, had consistent hand speed changes.

The danger was not yet clear, but the opportunity had already appeared.

Those hands were actually performing puppet techniques. The previous round was the foundation, which was the "opening move" that Li Zhuiyuan said. Of course, it could also be called the "first style."

Although Zhao from Jiujiang was not a true Long Wang gate, the family foundation was quite rich, and he, Zhao Yi, had eaten fine bran.

As for Li Zhuiyuan, relying on the collection in the basement of his great-grandfather's house, it could be said that from the moment he started, he was lying on a pile of fine bran.

When those hands began to perform, the two immediately noticed the exquisiteness of this Nuo opera puppet technique, which was a precious technique that both of them would be jealous of.

However, this was not a teaching session, and it could even be said that the so-called teaching here was just a trap to seduce people's inner desires.

Since those hands started from the "opening move," it must be different from independent techniques like "The Twelve Decrees of Fengdu." It had clear progressive changes, which was what Zhao Yi said from simple to difficult.

People's greed must want to learn as completely as possible, and the deeper the understanding, the better. Therefore, the masked person faced will also become stronger and stronger.

Once greed cannot be grasped, the masked person becomes more and more difficult to deal with, and even in the end, one's own side cannot suppress the situation, then this seemingly relaxed and pleasant teaching session will become a town-killing session.

The switch is in one's own hands, but it is even more dangerous, because most people really find it difficult to overcome their own greed.

Runsheng gently pushed Tan Wenbin's shoulder and asked: "You should also sit down and learn together."

Tan Wenbin looked at Brother Xiaoyuan and Zhao Yi sitting in front of him: "I don't seem to be suitable for this occasion."

Runsheng: "That mule is rented, and you are your own mule."

Tan Wenbin nodded: "The words are rough but the reason is not."

Runsheng scratched his head: "Old Man Li often teaches me these truths, they are quite useful."

Tan Wenbin smiled, sat cross-legged, patted his shoulders with both hands first, and whispered:

"Children, borrow your two smart heads to use."

Two faint baby phantoms appeared on Tan Wenbin's shoulders, and they shook their little feet happily.

Tan Wenbin looked at the hands on the coffin, and his left and right hands followed it in slow motion.

Watching and learning, there must be a lag. He was already in a hurry just by imitating, and Tan Wenbin also knew that imitating movements was just the lowest and most secondary. What really needed to be understood and realized was the spiritual charm of the technique contained in those hand movements.

Look at Zhao Yi, that kid's hand movements were almost in the same frequency as those hands on the coffin, and he occasionally showed a smile and a look of realization on his face.

It was very much like the students who studied well in the class during high school. After the teacher finished explaining the questions, when most students were still confused, he made an "Oh~" sound by himself.

Look at Brother Xiaoyuan again, he was also doing the same movements, but his expression remained calm. Look, this is the calmness that belongs only to the college entrance examination champion!

Tan Wenbin knew that his brain was not enough, at least this learning progress was not something he could catch up with, but it didn't matter, he could gnaw on the small.

The two children had already followed to fold the hand seals together. Although there were some stumbles, they were much smoother than him, the father.

Three cobblers worked together, Tan Wenbin's hands gradually began to keep up with the rhythm, some intermittent insights also appeared in his brain, and his mouth kept making sounds:

"Hiss~"

"Ah~"

"Oh~"

At that time, Zhuangzhuang felt the happiness of those who pretended to be goods in the class.

Runsheng lowered his head, looked at Tan Wenbin sitting there, and wondered: "Are you breeding here?"

Immediately, Runsheng turned his head again and looked at Seeing Yin Meng standing beside him.

Seeing Yin Meng pointed to herself: "Do I need to sit down and learn?"

You can't learn this with your brain.

Saying it so directly would hurt people.

Therefore, Runsheng said:

"Forget it, it's easy to get numb legs when sitting."

Below, the second masked person brought pressure to Lin Shu. Its speed and strength had significantly improved compared to before.

Under the premise of not performing a spirit descent, the two sides actually fought inextricably for a while.

Li Zhuiyuan stopped the movements in his hands, and Zhao Yi stopped immediately after.

Tan Wenbin was still continuing to imitate the seals, his hands busy flying.

Li Zhuiyuan was silent.

Zhao Yi leaned back slightly and looked at Tan Wenbin.

Tan Wenbin: "Brother Xiaoyuan, you don't have to wait for me."

It's enough for Brother Xiaoyuan to learn it well. Anyway, he can be given special treatment if he wants to learn in the future. Right now, it's mainly about experiencing the learning atmosphere, and participation is the most important.

Li Zhuiyuan: "A-You, spirit descent."

Lin Shu received the order and immediately completed the spirit descent in the gap where they pulled away from each other after stepping on each other's feet, and the vertical pupils opened!

His speed of spirit descent was getting faster and faster, as if calling a paging station without ever worrying about queuing or busy lines, and he could hear the soft voice of the paging station lady as soon as he dialed.

The Bai He Master Master Tongzi's figure rushed, and his figure flickered to the opponent's side under the three-step praise, then pinched the masked person's neck with one hand, threw it towards the ground, then raised his foot and stomped down!

"Bang!"

The masked person collapsed, turned into a group of scattered flames, burned into ashes, and dissipated by itself.

The boy was a little surprised, this time the opponent was so simple.

He began to use his vertical pupils to look at the surrounding environment, saw the countless black shadows behind the "jade," saw the coffin, saw the hands on the coffin...

The boy's face was solemn: What kind of place is this?

Five black shadows slid into the bottom end of the green stone cone.

Above the coffin, those hands crossed their ten fingers again.

Li Zhuiyuan's lowered eyes opened again, and Zhao Yi touched his fingertips, this is preparing for a new lesson.

Along with the loosening of the ten fingers, with a "snap!" sound, another white cocoon landed.

From inside, a new masked person stood up. This time, the colors on the mask were richer, and one could even see that it was seven or eight points similar to Lin Shu.

The next scene made the Bai He Master Master Tongzi's vertical pupils condense.

The masked person actually walked over by stepping on the three-step praise!

"Damn it!"

Tan Wenbin only felt a tightness in his chest, as if he had been punched. The two children on his shoulders were also swaying, holding their heads and saying "Ouch."

This can't be learned, it can't be endured at all.

The first two times, it was just the change in the gap between moves and strength. Who could have expected that this time, the figure and footwork of the official generals actually appeared.

The ten fingers above the coffin changed into afterimages, and the deduction and calculation amount it represented was completely raised by a level!

Zhao Yi's face was strenuous, he couldn't keep up.

The corner of his eye looked at the teenager beside him, but saw that the teenager's face was still calm, and his hands were steadily following the movements.

Zhao Yi was not annoyed, and very simply tore off the bandage on his forehead.

When his life-and-death door seam opened, his body would be soft as if boneless, and only when it was closed or dug out could his skills reappear.

But right now, this seriously injured body couldn't talk about any skills at all. If he still needed someone like him, a "broken flower and defeated willow," to run to the front to fight, it would be almost equivalent to being wiped out.

His fingertips pinched his brow, and Zhao Yi forcibly tore off all the sutured brow wounds.

The bloody life-and-death door seam reappeared.

Blood dripped on his face, but his hands had already kept up with the frequency again.

Looking at this scene, Tan Wenbin had to sigh in his heart: This Zhao is really ruthless to himself.

The Bai He Master Master Tongzi felt insulted. He rushed up with a trident. Both sides were three-step praises, and their figures flickered and crossed.

While fighting, the boy found that he couldn't effectively hurt the opponent at all. The opponent seemed to be able to predict his next step in advance and made evasions in advance.

Moreover, after a figure crossing halfway, the opponent's palm spread out, first a wisp of white smoke rose, and then the white smoke condensed, phantomizing a trident phantom.

The Bai He Master Master Tongzi's breathing grew heavier, his lips parted and teeth exposed.

If it weren't for the fact that he was the Bai He Master Master Tongzi, he would probably suspect that the masked person opposite had also performed a spirit descent, and the one he invited was himself.

At this moment, even as a Yin god, he felt that this place was abnormally evil.

Zhao Yi: "Can unused techniques also be deduced? Then the environment is not limited to here. Was it recorded after killing someone when fighting for jade fragments before?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Hmm."

What is drawn on the stone door are all people who died in the competition for jade fragments.

Zhao Yi: "This place is really impenetrable."

As one of the nine secret realms, it must have its mysterious aspects.

It's just that Li Zhuiyuan is not thinking about this now. When the masked person used the three-step praise and the phantom trident one after another, his judgment was consistent with Zhao Yi's.

The people killed by himself and others were recorded in their state before death, that is, the moves of himself and others. These will all be presented again in the form of Nuo opera puppets by those hands.

The good news is that in the previous round of jade fragment competition, he only killed one person—Xu Yijin.

The bad news is that when killing her... he went all out.

The special environment of the secret realm created this place, and the large number of black shadows here are also inexhaustible raw materials, which can be used by those hands to continuously pinch out Nuo opera puppets. It has been confirmed that it can enhance the strength of the Nuo opera puppet itself by superimposing the number of black shadows.

This means that if he doesn't interrupt the teaching in advance, then next, he will very likely face the... of all members of the team.

Reverse collective explosion.

Li Zhuiyuan's hand movements didn't stop. He diverted his attention and focused his eyes on the Bai He Master Master Tongzi who was fighting with the "Bai He Master Master Tongzi" below.

The Bai He Master Master Tongzi was a bit unable to do anything to "Himself," but the boy also clearly withdrew his moves and no longer thought about making a quick decision, because he could feel that the opponent, like himself, was gradually fading in breath.

Obviously, although the opponent's spirit descent was fake, this fake also had a time limit.

This is easy to handle. Because he just came down, he didn't know that the teenager sitting behind was imitating and learning, but he could see that since the teenager only sent his own spirit boy to fight alone, and everyone else stayed behind to watch, naturally he was not in a hurry to solve the opponent.

Then... just wait slowly.

A strong sense of crisis suddenly rose in Li Zhuiyuan's heart. The danger of this teaching might come earlier and more violently than he had previously expected.

At this time, after another entanglement and stalemate, the boy felt it was almost enough. His breath had fallen into a downturn, and the opponent was the same.

The boy took out three sticks of incense, ready to insert them for himself, and comfortably continued for a round.

However, just as he inserted the three sticks of incense on his head, he was stunned to see the fake on the opposite side, his hands took out eight talisman needles!

Bai He Master Master Tongzi: "..."

———

There is more tonight, asking for monthly tickets!

(End of chapter)