No one knows how long the black river in the Death Forest is, and no one knows where its origin and end are.
However, the big and small bamboo rats in the forest know that every hundred years, the little bamboo rats will lie on a leaf and swim down the Heihe River to see the beautiful scenery along the way and relieve the loneliness and pain in their hearts. depressed.
The river meanders like a giant black dragon meandering away.
At the end of the Black River, stands an ancient tower covered in dust.
The ancient pagoda is dilapidated and covered with spider webs. The stones below are covered with moss, covering all the knife marks and sword wounds on the stones. The ancient pagoda has a total of nine floors, which means climbing to the sky one floor at a time. The gate is made of the best pear wood, and the most precious banner hangs on the top. However, it has also been eroded by the years and is dilapidated and dilapidated by the cold wind. Blowing, the whole ancient tower shook, as if it would collapse at any time.
But the door, eroded by time, is tightly closed.
Behind the ancient pagoda is a small pavilion made of bamboo, with a large bell standing in the pavilion.
The big bell is covered with runes that beat like tadpoles, and the top of the big bell is engraved with dragon and phoenix patterns. The dragon is a green dragon, looming in the clouds. Opposite it is a phoenix with colorful and extremely gorgeous feathers. One dragon and one phoenix stare at each other, their breath stirring the void.
A wooden stick made of unknown material, the thickness of a bucket, hung next to the big clock.
This is a forbidden place in the Death Forest. Except for big and small bamboo rats, no ferocious beast dares to stay, even ferocious beasts with the strength of the Venerable. The water of the Black River flows from a stone cave under the ancient pagoda. flow out.
As the name suggests, the water in the Black River is slightly dark in color. The color is like five or six drops of ink suddenly dripping into a small bowl filled with water.
Two bamboo rats, one big and one small, stood side by side under the pavilion. The big bamboo rat pursed its eyes. Looking at Ouyang Ming, his eyes were full of solemnity, and he said solemnly: "I have been in the forest of death for thousands of years. In addition to guarding this forbidden place, I just ring this big bell, and you are here. The first people to come here in thousands of years." As he spoke, his fingertips as sharp as bone knives pointed at the big clock.
The brown pupils are full of depth and vicissitudes of life, and there is also a kind of indifference that sees through the world.
Ouyang Ming took in the vicissitudes of life in his eyes, and knew in his heart that the depth in the bamboo rat's eyes was not pretending to be deep, but was a result of his rich experiences.
This may be because I have seen too much warmth and coldness in human relationships and the harshness of the world.
He exhaled a breath of cold air, condensed his eyes, cupped his hands, and said in a very respectful voice: "Senior, I wonder how long this ancient pagoda has been around? What's the point of ringing the big bell?" He asked two questions in a row. Questions, these are what he desperately wants to know. He vaguely feels that this ancient tower may be closely related to the formation of the Death Forest. People will be curious about unknown things, even Ouyang Ming is no exception. .
The big bamboo rat felt the strange and special aura on his body, and answered his question with a gentle voice: "This ancient pagoda has existed for thousands of years. As for the meaning of this big bell ringing, I don't know. I only know that ringing Ringing the big bell is the mission that runs in the blood of the bamboo rat. "There is another sentence that it did not say. This is a mission, and it is also a shackle. It is tightly wrapped around its head, getting tighter and tighter, and it is impossible to break free.
The big bamboo rat looked at Ouyang Ming, with a hint of expectation deep in his eyes.
As for the little bamboo rat, he looked at Dahuang with curiosity. After thinking, he glanced at the multi-armed Vajra. Most of the ferocious beasts in the death forest are covered with bone spurs, which are terrifying and hairy like rhubarb. This is the first time it has seen it. As for the multi-armed King Kong, it is even more strange. It has a human body and an ape head, so that the little bamboo rat can't move its eyes. open.
After ten thousand years, is it this time again? Ouyang Ming murmured in his heart. In the large formation arranged by Xu Junqing, Ouyang Ming already knew that every ten thousand years, a catastrophe would occur in the spiritual world, causing all living beings to be devastated. Even the venerable people did not dare to say that they could survive the catastrophe. Take care of yourself alone.
And now, this ancient pagoda has only existed for ten thousand years. Is this a coincidence, or is there an unknown conspiracy? This is intriguing. Ouyang Ming's mind was like a mess stirred by a pair of chopsticks.
"Master, what's wrong?" Multi-Armed King Kong saw that Ou Yangming's expression was very bad, so he asked in the spiritual world with his mind.
"It's okay, my mind is a little confused." Ouyang Ming thought to himself, and this voice suddenly rang in the brain of the multi-armed king.
This kind of communication was not noticed by the big and small bamboo rats.
Ouyang Ming shook his head and suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his mind. He exhaled a cold breath and threw a stone into the black river. Suddenly, arc-shaped ripples rolled outward.
He took two steps forward, looked at the big bamboo rat, and asked, "Will there be any unexpected danger if ringing the big bell?"
The big bamboo rat spread his paws, shook his head, and said: "I don't know, this big bell has never sounded once in thousands of years. No matter how hard you ring it, it won't ring. Have you seen the wooden stick next to the big bell? ?”
Ouyang Ming glanced away and nodded immediately.
There was a rare hint of fear in Dazhushu's eyes, and he said seriously: "On weekdays, I have trouble even lifting this stick."
"Huh?" Ouyang Ming's face changed slightly, and he thought to himself, how could this be possible? How could such an ugly stick be so heavy.
No matter how heavy the treasure is, it shouldn't stump a venerable person. Moreover, judging from the aura exuded by the big bamboo rat, even compared with the multi-armed Vajra that has survived the six heavenly tribulations, it is not weak at all, and is even better than it in some aspects.
It is no exaggeration to describe how powerful the Venerable is. It is no exaggeration to say that he can lift mountains with all his strength. But now, it is said that it is difficult to even lift this stick. This is incredible.
There is no doubt that the big bamboo rat is a ferocious beast with great wisdom. When he saw Ouyang Ming's expression, he immediately understood the thoughts in his heart.
There was a trace of memory in its eyes, and it said: "Two thousand years ago, when my father's death was approaching, he used all the spiritual power in his Dantian, but he still didn't ring the big bell. Since it didn't ring, this important task will be over. On my shoulders. At that time, I had just survived the catastrophe. I was very ambitious and unwilling to be bound in the forest of death. I rang the bell every day for thirty consecutive years, but this big bell kept ringing. It didn't ring even once. Later, I figured out that this was luck, fate, and the responsibility that the bamboo rat clan had to bear. After that, I sat there for a hundred years, calmly waiting for the qualification to ring the bell. People. Haha, until today, maybe it’s time to wait.”
It looked deeply at Ouyang Ming, and its tone became more solemn: "If you are this person, then this big bell can finally ring." In the ancestral training of the bamboo rat clan, there are only certain Only the best candidates can ring the bell.
Although Dazhushu's voice was calm, Ouyang Ming still heard the helplessness in this voice.
Ou Yangming was extremely shocked. He observed carefully for a long time and then slowly said: "Fate and luck are things that are elusive and unpredictable."
When he said this, he felt particularly emotional. Originally, if he had not received the Fire of the Heavenly Phoenix, he would most likely have been mediocre and inactive, worrying about firewood, rice, oil and salt every day. But because of the Fire of the Heavenly Phoenix, he The trajectory of his life has undergone earth-shaking changes and he has embarked on a colorful and colorful road.
The big bamboo rat looked like a wise old man. He raised his head and glanced at the sky, and said seriously: "It's getting late, get ready to ring the bell!"
Ouyang Ming's eyes flashed and he whispered, "What do you need from me?"
Dazhushu looked at him with a deep look, chuckled and said, "Of course, I need to take out a drop of blood essence from your body."
"Don't dare to disobey!" Ouyang Ming looked respectful and slightly cupped his hands.
Rhubarb and Multi-Armed Vajra also had bright eyes and expectations in their hearts.
The big bamboo rat walked into the pavilion, its furry paws pointed forward, and its sharp nails flashed coldly, as if it ignored the space, and printed directly on Ouyang Ming's eyebrows. Ouyang Ming only felt an itch between his eyebrows, and a drop of scarlet incomparably carried it. The vital blood essence flew out from the center of the eyebrows and kept spinning on the bamboo rat's paws.
It pressed its claws forward, white light flashed on its fingertips, and the air in front exploded and then peeled away.
He exhaled softly from his sharp mouth and roared: "It's true!"
A heavy aura spread out, like a mountain as heavy as a mountain pressing down on Ouyang Ming's heart. Even if he was as strong as the multi-armed Vajra, he felt a little depressed in his heart. It can be imagined that the cultivation level of the big bamboo rat has reached To what extent.
Immediately afterwards, this drop of blood essence turned into blood mist and blended into the big bell.
Suddenly, the complicated and ghostly patterns on the big clock pushed upward inch by inch from the bottom of the big clock. The light was strong and of different colors, illuminating the surrounding area extremely brightly.
The big bamboo rat gathers its energy and exhales, blowing out an arc-shaped hurricane.
The small body suddenly swelled up, and the soft hair on his body stood up instantly, making him look a little less frail and a little more awe-inspiring. The body stretched out, expanded directly, and finally became extremely strong, with muscles like squirming caterpillars, and the whole body was full of explosive power.
The little bamboo rat held its paws on its chest, its eyes full of surprise.
Obviously, it has never seen this kind of scene before.
"Drink!" The big bamboo rat moved, stepped dozens of feet in one step, and came to the foot of the pavilion.
Spreading its claws, it directly grasped the wooden stick as thick as a bucket. There was a look of understanding in its eyes, and it secretly thought to itself, could it be that this human boy is really a suitable candidate, so did it make the stick become as light as nothing? Without hesitation, a cyclone suddenly appeared in the dantian, turning all the spiritual energy into energy and transmitting it to the weathered claws.
The big bamboo rat roared loudly, his eyes flashed, and he pushed his paws outward hard.
In an instant, the wooden stick carried the Yangtze River rushing into the sea and slammed into the big bell.
"Bang..."
I saw the big bell first sinking inwards, and then protruding outwards, repeating this, vibrating continuously, and the light emitted became brighter, like a burning star, extremely hot, and then, there was a ripple visible to the naked eye and a roar. At the same time, it spread, completely breaking the silence in the forest of death...