Li Yan's sense of smell is unmistakable.
The smell of Kong Hui is extremely special - it is a closed study filled with moldy ancient books all year round, mixed with the faint smell of blood.
Once you smell it once, you will remember it forever.
There was no response from Gou Liao, which further confirmed his judgment:
The goal only "came here" and has already escaped at this moment.
However, the sound of casting curses from deep in the cellar was clearly audible. It was in an obscure southwestern dialect, rustling, and filled with something evil.
"Catch them alive." Li Yan shouted with a wink.
The order fell silently, and the team moved instantly like a sophisticated mechanism.
Sha LiFei climbed up the low wall like an ape, Divine Firearm was firmly placed on his shoulders; Wang Dao Xuan twisted the talisman between his fingers and recited the mantra silently; Long Yan'er raised its slender fingers slightly, and a few gleams of light flew out from the cuffs; Lu San raised its arms, and the falcon "Lidong" grabbed Demon Gourd and soared into the sky...
As for Wu Ba, he twisted his neck, put on the iron-embedded gauntlet tightly, and followed closely behind Li Yan.
Luo MingZi on the side was secretly shocked.
This Twelve Yuan Chen action seems to be scattered, but in fact it instantly locks up every inch of space and is both offensive and defensive. No wonder it has become so famous.
The two of them rushed to the door of the shop.
Boom!
Wu Ba charged up a punch, and with a dull loud noise, a big hole opened in the thick brick wall.
At the moment when dust and debris were flying, the figure of Li Yan had smashed open the wooden door like a ghost and forced his way in!
Instantly, a strong smell hit the nasal cavity:
The bitterness of new wood, the pungent tung oil, and the strong sweetness of fresh blood...
Seeing the scene inside the shop clearly, Li Yan's pupils shrank suddenly.
The shop was now in a mess.
Wood shavings were strewn all over the floor, and several odd-shaped, half-finished wooden puppet components fell to the ground.
One of them looks like a common keel waterwheel in the fields, but its structure is ingenious, and every section has been redesigned, turning it into a Wood Puppet puppet with teeth and claws, like a dragon and a snake. The protruding parts are all knife tips, some are twisted, and some are still dripping blood.
There was blood everywhere on the ground, and there were several bloody corpses lying on the ground.
The small door leading to the backyard was broken. After Li Yan went in, he saw that the shelves in the courtyard were tilted here and there, the wood was strewn about, and the signs of a fight were shocking.
The most shocking thing is the wooden sculpture of Thunder God in the earthen wall shrine on the right.
The door of the base mechanism is wide open, and among the densely packed reed crossbow mouths, there are still several bone-penetrating nails that cannot be activated.
Below, seven men in black were nailed into hedgehogs, with bloody holes all over their bodies.
In the center of the courtyard, the ground suddenly collapsed, revealing a dark square entrance.
Beside the entrance stood a thick basalt slab covered with honeycomb-shaped holes, with more than a dozen triangular poison darts glowing with a cold blue light deeply nailed to the slab.
And beside the tunnel, crouched an old man dressed as a foreigner.
His head was wrapped in a white scarf, Deep Blue civilian clothes, huge silver earrings swayed in the shadows, and several shiny gourds hung around his waist. He was murmuring to a gourd stuffed with red cloth, while wisps of tiny dark green centipedes were crawling out of the gourd's mouth and twisting into the tunnel.
It's the Southwest Gu Master!
The moment Li Yan broke in, the Gu Master was shocked, and a trace of panic flashed through his cloudy eyes.
He hurriedly turned sideways and whistled hastily.
Hiss!
Several slender poisonous snakes were like shadow arrows, shooting out from under the old man's clothes and biting Li Yan's face!
But the snake's shadow flew by, and Li Yan was no longer where it was.
The Gu Master felt a strong wind blowing behind his head, his vision went dark, and he was knocked unconscious by Li Yan.
The poisonous snake centipede, which lost control, suddenly went crazy and ran around the room.
Outside the door, a longer whistle from Long Yan'er was heard at the right time.
Her Natal Gu and "Lute Worm" turned into a red line and flew in. Wherever it passed, all the poisonous substances shriveled up and died.
Li Yan Without any further words, he had already jumped into the gloomy cave.
Since ancient times, there must be tunnels in Divine Land big cities.
Just like this capital city, it was called "Yandu" in ancient times, then "You Prefecture", and it is still the "Dadu" of Golden Horde Wolf Country.
Due to the war and smuggling by merchants in the city, many tunnels were dug.
The one in front of me is obviously a secret passage for hiding soldiers in ancient times. It is quite large, but all the outward passages are blocked.
Ebony coffins were placed in a row, with paper dolls hanging from oil-soaked straw ropes above them.
The skin is white paper, the eyes are dotted with cinnabar, and the joints are connected by small wooden shafts. It is a puppet made by the "Wooden Bone Paper Skin" method secretly passed down by the Kuai family.
The paper bundles were occasionally torn, revealing the delicate wooden frame inside.
At this moment, they were swaying slightly in Yin Wind, their joints made a "click... click..." sound, and their empty eyes seemed to be looking down at the intruder.
In front of the coffin, there were also several men in black lying dead, with different forms of death, apparently killed by mechanisms in the coffin or paper puppets.
Li Yan's sharp eyes swept across the ground and his steps stopped.
Under the dim light, several thin, almost transparent metal wires stretched straight and shimmered with an imperceptible light.
Li Yan shook his head slightly and fixed his gaze on the innermost part of the cave.
There is a small building made of dark sunken wood, which seems to be connected to the upper part. It has a strange and heavy style, with only a narrow and high window left.
In the window, a young man's face, which was extremely pale due to blood loss, flashed suddenly and disappeared into the shadows!
"Hey! Here comes another one." A careless curse sounded.
"No matter how many come, this 'Hundred Crafts Pavilion' is the place where you will be buried!"
After that, the "click-click" sounds of the machines in the building were heard again, and the surrounding coffins were clattering and shaking, which was creepy.
"But Brother Kuai? Don't do anything!"
Li Yan immediately raised his voice and clasped his fists at the same time. "I am Li Yan, here to track down the demon."
"Li Yan?"
The young man in the small building had obviously heard of him, but he was full of doubts, "What evidence is there?"
Immediately afterwards, an old and weak voice came from the building. "No need to be suspicious... he is Li Yan..."
Li Yan's eyes lit up. "Senior Wu? Is it you?"
Wow~
The sound of machine locks inside the building could be heard, and a narrow hanging basket-style wooden compartment slowly lowered from the side wall of the originally integrated sinking wood building.
There were two people sitting slumped in the cubicle.
The man in ragged clothes and with withered white hair is none other than 'Living Underworld Messenger' Old Wu in the ghost market.
His face was livid after being poisoned, a black line snaked to the bottom of his neck, and he was dying.
The other person was a young man wearing a neat short black robe. He had pale skin and rough eyebrows. He had a big nose and a wide mouth. His appearance was not really good-looking, but he had a white streak on his forehead and messy hair tied up. His eyes were astonishingly bright, burning like fire with severe pain and anger.
A bloody gash was opened in his abdomen, and only a dyed coarse cloth was used to wrap it around to stop the bleeding. It was none other than Kuai Dayou, a wizard in the craftsmanship.
At this moment, Wang Dao Xuan and others have also jumped down.
"Save people first!" Li Yan shouted.
No need to say anything, everyone took action immediately.
Wang Dao Xuan inspected the injury, Lu San took out herbs to cover the wound.
The real expert is Long Yan'er. She cleans the wound quickly, applies ointment, and re-bandages it. She moves as fast as through flowers and attracting butterflies.
Soon, Kuai Dayou's pale face regained a trace of vitality, and the black energy on Old Wu's face also faded a lot.
"You two, what's going on?" Li Yan asked immediately after the two of them calmed down.
"It's a shame... It's a damn big mistake!"
Kuai Dayou just said a word, then he bit his back molars and grimaced in pain.
Old Wu gasped for breath and his voice was hoarse. "Not long after I left the hiding place in the ghost market, I felt something hanging behind me, so I hid in Brother Kuai's coffin shop... I thought I could always avoid this underground secret room, but I didn't expect a conspirator to find it here. Fortunately, I used Celestial Decree to scare him away."
"Shit!"
Kuai Dayou spat, fearful and indignant, "Laozi was sleeping deeply when that coffin Facebook guy suddenly appeared like a ghost! Thanks to my quick reaction, a 'lazy donkey turned over' and slipped into 'Hundred Crafts Pavilion', otherwise he would have been a ghost!"
"That guy's skills and methods are so evil! Ordinary people can't do anything to me."
"He is Kong Hui."
Old Wu was also tracking Jianmu, Li Yan pointed out the origin, and then asked doubtfully, "He was pregnant with <Earth Official's Treasure Edict of Atonement>, so he could have ignored the pursuit of the underworld. Senior Wu, how did you scare him away?"
This is Li Yan's biggest doubt.
"Because the price is not worth it."
Luo MingZi on the side shook his head and looked at the corpses around him, "The lives of my men are not as important as those trump cards."
Old Wu nodded laboriously, a look of worry flashed through his sunken eye sockets. "Indeed... it is true. It's just... I still can't figure it out, how could they... lose my trace so quickly?"
This question was like a shadow, hanging over his mind.
"What they are looking for may not be you." Li Yan looked at Kuai Dayou who was grinning and checking the wounds of his puppet. "Have you refined the control 'Monkey Netherworld Soldiers' and secretly assisted Tuer Ye?"
Kuai Dayou raised his eyebrows and said, "It's none of your business?"
"Little bastard, why are you talking to me?"
Sha LiFei immediately cursed, "We just saved you."
Kuai Da rolled his eyes and said, "One code means one code. You will be repaid for saving me, but don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask."
Li Yan frowned slightly when he heard this.
This Kuai Dayou is a young genius, but his temperament is like a stubborn man in the market.
I'm afraid that people from the Xiangshan Society will take over his position, and his generous temper is also one of them.
Thinking of this, Li Yan simply pointed it out directly, "Zi Hour, I am in 'Nine Gates Yin Ruins'."
"It turns out to be you."
Kuai Dayou was happy and gave a thumbs up, "You dare to disturb the dragon's veins, you have the guts!"
After saying that, he could no longer hold on and fainted.
Everyone looked at each other, a little speechless.
But now, we can only take the person back to "Rouyuan Posthouse" for treatment...
On the other side, outside the imperial city Imperial Ancestral Temple.
It was already bright, but the light was getting dimmer.
Imperial Ancestral Temple On the glazed roof, the outline of the cornice Ridge Beasts can be seen, making it appear eerie and solemn.
The morning breeze stirred up dust, swirling in the cracks of the white marble.
At the end of the royal road, under the Nine Dragons Treasure Canopy, Emperor Xiao Qixuan of Daxuan stood with his hands behind his hands, his face as cold as frost.
He sat quietly on the couch, looking deeply at Imperial Ancestral Temple's closed palace door. The hot tea next to him had already gone cold.
The information Pei Zongti brought back made his scalp numb.
"Pan Peach Gathering" is actually just a sacrifice, Jianmu's demon has already done something deep in "Nine Gates Yin Ruins".
Not daring to show any signs of neglect, he immediately ordered a thorough investigation of the abnormalities in the dragon veins and personally stood guard outside.
Imperial Ancestral Temple In the main hall, candles are brightly lit.
The unique rich scent of camphor wood mixed with the smoke of incense sticks filled the entire hall.
In Imperial Ancestral Temple, Attendant are the memorial tablets of the emperors of Daxuan dynasties and their first wives, and they are distributed according to the "same hall, different room" and "left Zhao Zhao and right Mu".
In addition, there are also civil servants and generals who have been sealed into Imperial Ancestral Temple and enjoy Attendant.
The specifications of Attendant are also top-notch. In addition to ritual and musical instruments, there are also cows, pigs, and sheep.
This is the gift of "Tai Lao", and those civil servants and military generals deserve to enjoy the gift of "Shao Lao" Attendant.
Right in front of the main hall, thirty-six Court of the Imperial Clan royal magicians, holding ritual vessels, were surrounding them in Heavenly Gang directions.
In the center of the array, Mystic Sacrificial Official Pei Zongti, Directorate of Astronomy Bai Chenshan, and an old man in a python robe are all sitting cross-legged.
No matter Pei Zongti or Bai Chenshan, both were a little nervous and excited at this time.
Although one of them is a master of Confucianism and the other is an Earth Master, with a respected position in Xuanmen, this is the first time they have come into contact with Dragon Vein.
This is the secret of the dynasty. Except for those National Teacher at the founding of the country, this is the first time that an outsider has entered.
And the warlocks at the Court of the Imperial Clan all looked a little ugly.
The emperor sent outsiders to investigate, obviously because he didn't trust them, but now that something happened and there were senior officials monitoring the situation, no one dared to object at this moment.
The old man in python robe in the magic circle is Zuo Zongzheng Prince Lucuan, who is considered a close confidant of the emperor.
Prince Shunyang's Zongrenling position will definitely be deprived of his position, and he will be the next Zongrenling appointed by the emperor.
"Both."
Prince Lucuan looked at the two of them and said in a loud voice, "Be sure to follow me closely after entering."
After saying that, he winked to the side.
The surrounding Court of the Imperial Clan warlocks immediately held ritual vessels and chanted <Great Xuan Sacrificial Prayer to Heaven and Earth>.
"The universe is vast, Yin and Yang are divided, Daxuan is ordered by heaven, inheriting Divine Land destiny..."
With the majestic sound, the smell of incense in the hall became stronger.
The three people in the magic circle felt their bodies light up, and then they seemed to rise into the sky and dive into the smoke.
The barrier between illusion and reality seems to be blurred at this moment.
The three people Yin Soul were cruising, and after passing through the fog, they finally saw "Nine Gates Yin Ruins".
Different from Li Yan, they use the Imperial Ancestral Temple magic circle to look down from a high altitude and have a clearer view.
Everything within sight is strange and bizarre.
What they saw was no longer a simple reflection of the ruins of the capital city.
But you can see the white marble stone base supporting the mottled Tang style rammed earth walls;
Golden Horde Wolf Country style Lama Pagoda, half buried in the glazed rubble of Daxuan Palace;
There is also the afterimage of the "Orda" (palace) of the Wolf Kingdom, which appears and disappears next to a river flowing with the shadow of a Song-style boat...
The dust of history is not deposited in a time series.
Rather, they are like shuffled playing cards, layered, twisted and pressed together.
Every slight tremor of space brings visual dizziness and cognitive tearing.
Pei Zongti and Bai Chenshan wanted to see more clearly, but they only felt dizzy.
"You two, please don't stare."
Prince Lucuan said in a deep voice, "Secret Realm Cave Heaven contains the mysteries of heaven and earth. We are all mortals, and we use Imperial Ancestral Temple National Sacrifice to peer into it. If we indulge in it, Yin Soul will be damaged and unbearable."
Hearing this, Pei Zongti and Bai Chenshan did not dare to wait and see.
They looked into the distance, and the nine gates they saw were also different from Li Yan.
But seeing the nine gates of the capital floating in motion, they no longer simply rotated, but advanced forward and backward in a staggered manner.
It looks like a huge heart beating slowly.
What is being opened and closed by the city gate is the solid resentment, the remaining incense of the dynasty, and even the fragments of space.
Inside Chongwen Gate, the stiff souls of merchants can still be seen repeating the past tax-paying procession, wailing silently...
Inside Zhengyang Gate, one can occasionally catch a glimpse of the golden cavalry's charging light and shadow reappearing. The sound of arrows piercing the sky turned into a scream, tearing apart the silence...
Inside Chaoyang Gate, a team of workers winding like long snakes, carrying invisible rice bags, walked forward silently with their backs bent...
Inside Xuanwu Gate, the blade of the guillotine is stained with rust, and countless headless corpses stand in a pool of blood...
Each city gate seems to be an independent time and space trap.
A historical moment is solidified inside the door, and the cycle continues...