This is a person who likes carving very much.
Jianchou didn’t quite understand why Master Buyu had such a hobby.
She suppressed the doubts in her heart and looked at the carvings carefully.
The dark round hole was surrounded by withered carvings, like winding branches.
The first carving was actually a small jar the size of a palm. Inside the jar was a tiny cricket with one wing stretched out, but it was a little broken, as if it was injured.
This kind of jar looks very familiar to Jianchou.
She had been to the capital city before. Cockfighting, dog running, bird walking and cricket raising were the four things that all the unlearned children of Daxia had to master.
Often when you walk on the street and come to a slightly bustling teahouse alley, you can see these people walking around with cricket jars in their pockets.
Her mind moved, and she continued reading.
The stone carving is quite obscure. The second picture shows another cricket being put into the jar, confronting the one with injured wings, and then they start fighting.
The injured cricket was defeated step by step and was thrown over by the tall black general. He lay on his back with his face to the sky, trying hard to turn over, but was immediately suppressed by the ferocious opponent.
Fighting again and again, falling again and again...
The stone carving is still a cricket jar, but on the carving on the back, the "Black General" has disappeared, leaving only a lonely, defeated cricket.
It was unable to retract its injured wings and could only curl up in the corner of the jar. A beam of light fell from above and landed right in front of it.
This is a very strange carving.
The engraver used an ink pen to carefully separate the light and shadow. The light fell in front of the little cricket, but never covered it.
So the little cricket stayed in the shadows.
At that moment, Jianchou couldn't help but feel a sense of...
It's looking outside the jar!
A world that originally belonged to it!
As if to confirm her guess, the last painting finally appeared.
The injured wing trembled as the little cricket lifted up, wobbling and wobbling, and suddenly it flew up, flying towards the narrow mouth of the jar, flying towards the sunlight coming in from outside, and flying towards the vast world that originally belonged to it...
Plop, plop, plop.
That was the sound of Jianchou's heart beating.
The last carving is frozen in such a picture of flapping wings. Although the background is still such a small jar, the artistic conception instantly becomes broader.
I don’t know if it’s because the carving knife of the carver has some magical power, but Jianchou actually felt a surge of emotion.
I couldn't help but raise my hand and let my fingertips touch the rough stone.
Some of the fine stone chips fell off and fell down like dust, disturbing the thing inside the round hole.
"Chirp..."
Two soft chirps.
For a moment, Jianchou actually remembered the summer night, the moon, the grass, the moist grass roots, and the crickets hiding in the grass and chirping on the ground.
“Buzz.”
A dim blue light, like a drop of water falling on the lake, created a blue ripple.
The dark round hole in front of Jianchou, which could not be penetrated by the sight just now, suddenly became bright like a mirror.
This is a light blue curtain, as transparent as glass.
As soon as the blue light appeared, Jianchou had already taken two steps back, his whole body tense.
However, no strange phenomena occurred, and no attacks took place.
Yes, it was just the round hole that suddenly became clear.
"cricket?"
Through this transparent curtain of light, the moment he saw clearly what existed behind the curtain, Jianchou actually felt a feeling of "as expected".
It was a cricket lying deep in the round hole, and it looked exactly like the cricket in the carving.
only…
Jianchou suddenly frowned. Even through the layer of light, she could feel the frail old look.
It was not a cricket that could fight with its own kind for three hundred rounds. Even when injured, it found it difficult to flap its wings and fly again.
It just lay there, no different from a piece of stone growing on a high wall, no different from a handful of yellow earth scattered on the ground, no different from a lifeless corpse.
It was an old cricket, a weak old cricket.
"Chirp..."
Even the voice sounded a little slow, as if he was old and working like a bellows.
"Who are you?"
The two whiskers on its head moved, and it actually uttered an old question.
Jianchou was slightly surprised and guessed that it was the same red butterfly he had seen before, so he said with a bit of respect: "I am..."
But she had just said two words and had not had time to reveal her identity when the cricket spoke tremblingly, as if he had not heard her at all, interrupting her.
"Is the master here to pick us up?"
"… "
Owner
Are you referring to Master Bu Yu
Jianchou didn't quite understand what was said, and after a moment's hesitation, he replied, "Senior, you misunderstood me. I'm from Yashan in the Central Region, and I hope to enter the hidden world to obtain something related to the Nine-Curved River Map..."
Master Buyu ascended to heaven a long, long time ago, even nearly a thousand years ago.
The carvings around the round hole must have been left by Master Bu Yu before he ascended to heaven. This cricket looks inconspicuous and has a sense of weakness, but it is actually a "thousand-year-old monster".
Therefore, it makes sense for Jianchou to call himself a "junior" to this cricket.
"Chirp..."
A few more ambiguous noises were uttered.
After hearing Jianchou's words, the old cricket remained silent for a long while. He even turned his head, turned his back, and staggered back into the cave, saying, "I don't know much about the hidden world. Go ask someone else."
There was a long sigh in his voice.
Jianchou was stunned.
Not sure
Ask others
Which other person
She opened her mouth, wanting to ask this cricket elder for clarification. Even if he didn't know about the hidden world, it should be okay to just point out the right path in the maze, right
Unexpectedly, the cricket turned around and walked inside for a while. Before Jianchou could make any sound, the light curtain that had just spread like ripples dimmed.
The entire cave entrance suddenly returned to its dark state.
Jianchou reached out her hand to touch the darkness, but what she touched was hard stone, as if the dark hole in front of her where the cricket lived was just an illusion.
"interesting… "
The hidden world of powerful monks is still amazing.
This is not something that can be achieved by trickery.
Jianchou thought about it secretly, then looked back and saw that there were actually quite a few stone caves on the four high walls that surrounded her.
She immediately understood what the cricket said.
There are many "spiritual beasts" like crickets living in the maze.
But she still didn't understand what the first sentence Cricket asked her when he saw her meant.
Just now I saw Diao Ke having a few words with the cricket, and some time has passed.
Although Jianchou was the first person to enter the maze and hold the Dao Seal in her hand, she did not dare to linger there. If something unexpected happened outside, and those people from Shanyin Sect and Xie Buchen came in together, she would be in trouble.
Therefore, the doubts in Jianchou's mind only flashed by and remained in his heart, but he did not take the time to think deeply about it.
Without hesitation, she walked towards the other cave entrance, and at the same time slapped the spirit beast bag to call out the little mink.
The little mink who saw the light of day again became excited again: "Awooo!"
Master, you remembered me again, I’m so happy!
Jianchou smiled slightly, and when she turned her head, she saw a gray shadow flash by. The little mink was very fast and slippery, like a flash of lightning, and jumped onto her shoulder in an instant, holding the Dijiang Bone Jade who had opened his eyes at some point in his arms.
When Jianchou looked over, it also looked over here.
Two ink-painted eyes, one big and one small, with a pouty little mouth, looking lazy as if just waking up.
However, after seeing Jianchou, his eyes blinked and narrowed, and his little mouth opened, like a silly child, showing Jianchou a smile that could be described as "honest".
"… "
Could it be that this child has become stupid because of being hugged by the little mink
Jianchou lightly touched his chin with his finger, and his heart twitched for a while.
The little mink has an unknown origin, a lot of bad habits, and is almost a natural hooligan.
Although it has been a long time since the bone jade became a spirit, it was tormented by the remnant soul of Dijiang before. It was not until it followed me that it was enlightened with the help of the eye-dotting pen. It is like a blank sheet of paper. I still have to find time to educate it properly. What if it is led astray by the little mink
and…
The worst thing is not the broken belt.
What Jianchou feared the most was that the kid would become stupid because of the little mink.
"well… "
A long sigh.
Jianchou reached out and touched the bone jade that was smiling foolishly, and walked to the next cave entrance with a bit of worry.
But this time, there was no obstruction in front of the cave entrance, and Jianchou could see everything in the not-so-wide cave at a glance.
A white skeleton.
The thin bones were grayish white in color, and seemed like they could be knocked down with a light touch of a finger.
It was a little bird, with its two feet standing on the closest point to the cave entrance, its neck raised and its little head seemingly looking outside the cave.
Before it died, it seemed to be standing at the entrance of the cave, looking outside eagerly, waiting for someone to come.
A posture of watching.
Somehow, even though the bird's skeleton was small, it could see that my heart was shocked and I felt an indescribable sadness: What was it waiting for
The question that Cricket had just asked suddenly appeared in my mind, as well as the charming yet lonely look of Red Butterfly...
It seems like I understand something.
A vague guess emerged.
The little mink squatting on Jianchou's shoulder glanced at the bird's skeleton, shook its furry head uneasily, and gently swept Jianchou's neck with its tail, as if urging her to hurry to the next cave.
Jianchou seemed to sense its uneasiness, so he reached out and stroked its head, then continued walking down.
There are high walls on all four sides, and many intricate passages leading to the entire huge maze.
Jianchou did not choose any passage, but frowned and walked towards the next cave, and then the next cave...
The third cave was empty.
The skeleton in the fourth cave had already fallen apart, as if it had been there for a long time. Jianchou could only vaguely make out that it was a civet cat.
In the fifth cave was a dried-up frog, but still somewhat "fresh"...
There are many caves, and there seems to be a spiritual beast in each cave.
However, except for the cricket in the first cave, the spiritual animals in most other caves had been dead for a long time.
Around each cave, there are carvings of pictures related to the spiritual beasts living in the cave.
Some are just birds and beasts in the mortal world, while others are powerful monsters in dangerous and vicious places. No matter their appearance or origins, there are very few overlaps.
Perhaps the only thing in common is the feeling.
Just like a defeated cricket unwilling to wait in the cricket jar to be thrown out, it fights desperately to flap its injured wings, fly out of the narrow sky, and return to the vast world. All other spiritual beasts have similar experiences.
The raccoon cat lived with its tribe and encountered a natural enemy. It chose to protect its companions and put itself into the tiger's mouth.
The lark was hatched by an old lark on an old tree. When it was young, it always took advantage of the shade of the old tree and looked at the sunlight through the gaps in the tree.
By the time it was able to fly again and fly far away, returning with fine grass and wild flowers, the old tree had lost its vitality due to lack of water.
The little lark folded its wings, lowered its head, placed the grass and wild flowers under the dry trunk of the old tree, and stood quietly...
Every carving brings Jianchou some strange feelings.
She guessed that the reason why Master Buyu accepted them as spiritual beasts was probably because he had seen these things happen in reality and they touched his heart.
Who is the cultivator who committed the most murderous acts at the turn of ancient and recent times
Jianchou suddenly felt that this was not necessarily the case.
She went from cave to cave, but never saw any living creature.
Until, the tenth cave.
The illusory, impenetrable darkness that I had seen in the cricket cave before appeared again.
"Who are you?!"
Just as Jianchou's footsteps approached within three feet of the cave, a childish shout was heard from inside!
This is really unexpected.
Jianchou was startled and stopped immediately, not coming back to his senses for a long time.
"Hua La La..."
There seemed to be the sound of paper turning, with a hint of haste.
Then there was another rustling sound, as if something was crawling quickly.
A pink and white light suddenly appeared above the illusory black, quickly dispelling the darkness and illuminating a pink and white light curtain.
Then, Jianchou saw everything clearly.
This time the cave was surprisingly large, with thick piles of books on three sides.
There was also a book in the middle, but it was spread out on both sides. The ink-black printed words were mostly damaged, as if they had been gnawed by something, and were in a mess.
"I'm asking you a question! Who are you?"
There is something indescribably funny about the babyish voice when it calls itself "Benjun".
Jianchou heard the voice, but didn't see any spiritual beast.
"Chichichi! Chichichichi!"
The little mink on her shoulder rolled its eyes, raised its paw and pointed at the seam of the open book, then almost leaned back and let out a sarcastic laugh.
After it pointed at him, Jianchou finally looked over.
It turned out that it was not her fault that she did not see anyone. It was because the creature this time was too small, just a small black beetle the size of a grain of rice, quite cute, with a layer of tender pink and white light around it.
This turned out to be a woodworm!
Looking at the messy marks left on the book by the gnawing of its body, Jianchou sighed in his heart: Bookworms!
"say!"
The little bookworm roared at Jianchou again.
You know what, this guy, who is as small as a needle tip or a grain of rice, can be so powerful when he yells at people.
Seeing that Choule was happy, he coughed and replied seriously, "Sorry, sorry, I am a cultivator from the Central Region. I came to the Hidden Realm to find the secret of the Nine-Curved River Map..."
"Aren't you sent by the master to take us to the upper world?"
Still before Jianchou could finish his words, the little bookworm interrupted him and asked in disappointment.
Upper realm
The thought in my mind finally came true.
All the complicated thoughts were mixed together at once, and Jianchou looked at the little bookworm but was speechless for a long time.
He ascended to heaven in broad daylight, and his chickens and dogs followed him.
Originally, cultivators could take spirit beasts with them when they ascended to heaven. But now, there were still so many spirit beasts left in this hidden world, and every living spirit beast asked Jianchou this question. It was obvious that it was not as simple as Master Bu Yu not taking them away when he ascended to heaven.
Jianchou frowned and looked at the little bookworm, whose head drooped. The pink and white light on its body suddenly turned into pink and gray, and it seemed to be in a very low mood.
She finally answered truthfully: "No. But the same question was asked by Senior Ye, the cricket I met in another cave just now..."
"Old Cricket?"
When the little bookworm heard Jianchou say this name, he seemed to recognize it.
It jumped out from the gap in the book, and then slowly slid back into the gap along the spread lines. It opened its mouth and nibbled at a big word on the book. It bit a mouthful of paper scraps, but the word was only missing a small dot.
"Hmph, the master didn't keep his word. He promised to take me to the upper realm to eat books, but now he has gone to the upper realm and forgotten us! He doesn't even want the hidden world! How mean! He didn't keep his word! He just left us here to suffer..."
Oh my, I'm so angry!
The little bookworm took a bite of the book and spat twice.
The circle of pink-gray light on the black body dimmed a little.
Jianchou, Xiaodiao and Guyu all looked at it together and found it somewhat strange.
This little bookworm is full of complaints, but he is still full of energy and spirit, unlike the old cricket.
After complaining to himself for most of the day, the little bookworm turned around and saw Jianchou. He asked unhappily, "You're not here to pick us up, why aren't you leaving?"
"… "
I'm here to ask for directions!
Jianchou suddenly had a headache and said after careful consideration: "This is a maze with many roads. If you are not careful, you will get lost, so..."
"Hmm, you want to ask for directions?"
The little bookworm lay on a big Chinese character "Tao", burped, and asked.
Jianchou nodded.
She thought that the spiritual beasts in this hidden world were quite displeased with outsiders, but she didn't expect that this little book beetle would become ecstatic after seeing her nod.
The dark pink-gray color turned back into bright pink-white.
"Great! Finally someone comes to ask me for advice!"
The little bookworm waved its legs together and quickly crawled from one end of the book to the other, muttering, "Wait, you mortal, I'll take care of this little thing. I'll turn the pages of the book and help you look!"
"Hua La La..."
He lifted one of his slender feet, and just with that little movement, the book, which had been gnawed with holes in it, began to turn the pages automatically, finally stopping at a certain page.
The little bookworm shouted in surprise: "Found it!"
Jianchou was a little surprised.
This little bookworm speaks in a baby voice and its intelligence should not be very high, which seems to fit the image of what people call a "bookworm". However, it has an indescribable spirituality.
Seeing that the other party was willing to help and found the pages of the book so quickly, Jianchou was somewhat surprised.
Could it be that the solution to this maze and the path leading to the platform where the second Taoist seal is located are actually within this page of the book
The little bookworm climbed onto the page and began to read, shaking its head: "Sixteen steps to the left of Kun, thirty-six steps to the west, and then go around to Dui, straight... straight..."
Before he had read halfway, the little bookworm suddenly got stuck and tried to read it for a long time without any result.
Jianchou asked, "What are you talking about?"
What's going on
The little book beetle seemed to stiffen for a moment, and the circle of pink and white light around its dark little body also shrank, and its childish voice trembled.
"No, no..."
“Gone?!”
I’ve just reached the Dui position, it’s definitely not over yet!
Jianchou was extremely surprised.
The little bookworm said weakly: "The ones at the back were eaten by me..."