Chen Lubai, her horse was gone, and she kept crying like Daiyu's burial of flowers, so she was about to blurt out a song "The Burial of Horses" in public.
He Zhizhou and Zheng Weiqi are both cultivators, not to mention that they have reached the level of steel and iron, their ability to withstand pressure and beatings is always much better than ordinary people.
This time, he fell off the horse one after another, except that He Zhizhou's fragile little heart was seriously injured, and the rest was fine.
When he heard the news, Mr. Chen shook his head in grief, and tears came down from the corner of his mouth: "Let's have a horse meat feast tonight!"
Ning Ning returned to the guest room with the two wounded looking as if in mourning. Before entering the room, she saw Pei Ji's shadow.
"Little Sister."
He looked at the three of them lightly, and finally fixed his eyes on Ning Ning: "I heard the clue."
Zheng Weiqi was so embarrassed and angry when she was narrated by the comment about falling from a horse, she finally regained some vitality after hearing the words, and raised her head with bright eyes: "It's still a reliable little junior brother! Please learn from a savage surnamed He. !"
He Zhizhou's face was thicker than the city wall, so he ignored her step and answered, "What clue?"
After asking, he hurriedly added: "Junior Brother Pei, you don't know, all the horses in the stable just went crazy, and Senior Sister and I tried our best to calm the chaos. According to my inference, there should be some very powerful people hiding in the Chen residence. Monsters, otherwise they won't have such a big reaction."
Ning Ning smiled: "Let's go to the room and talk slowly."
Although they were in front of Chen Yaoguang's room, after some discussion, they finally decided to wait for the rabbit, wait for the child when the demon gate opened wide, and then draw their swords to meet—
But that's just a face-to-face talk.
Although Jian Xiu is reckless, most of them also have brains.
Since they already knew that this tower is extremely difficult, if they poked and moved like a frog, then they might be able to take off their heads and fry them tonight in addition to eating horse meat.
It's not very useful to keep it anyway, it's better to use it to fill your stomach.
At that time, He Zhizhou used voice transmission to tease Ning Ning "Ning Qingtian", but when she answered, she made a direct voice.
There is no other reason, it is precisely to let the behind-the-scenes men who are likely to be monitoring secretly relax their vigilance and reduce their defenses against them.
—At the same time, he is also using sound transmission to tell others his true thoughts.
"What? Is the man behind the scenes spying?"
He Zhizhou was at a loss after hearing this: "Who is the mastermind behind the scenes?" Zheng Weiqi stretched her waist and joined the voice transmission group chat: "It's most likely Chen Lubai."
Pei Ji nodded.
He Zhizhou:
Wait, are you guys really not chatting in secret? Why is the current situation the same as when he was in math class back then, when everyone had the same starting line, and when he closed his eyes and opened it, he couldn't understand anything
"I've always been very concerned. If there is no way to explore the consciousness in the Buddha Tower, then why should we arrange a plot where Zhao Yunluo was trapped in a nightmare? Wouldn't we just watch her die and be powerless?"
Ning Ning said: "This is a completely meaningless plot, and it can be completely discarded. From another angle, what if the problem is not the Buddha Tower, but Zhao Yunluo himself?"
None of the three made a sound, and quietly listened to her continue: "Imagine that there is a thing that looks exactly like a person, can move, laugh and talk, but she has no consciousness. Of course, she is not a dead thing like a table or chair, other than that. Besides, there is only one possibility."
Pei Ji took the word for the first time: "Illusion."
As soon as these two words came out, He Zhizhou made a wry smile: "Ningning didn't analyze it before, the problem is not the Buddha Tower—"
Having said this, the whole person was suddenly stunned.
What if... the hallucination in Chen's house did not come from the Buddha Tower, but another illusion within the illusion
"The Buddha Pagoda nourishes the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and is extremely powerful. The so-called full set of dramas, even if it is a created illusion, the characters should be endowed with illusory consciousness - but ordinary monsters are far from reaching this level."
Ning Ning thought about it for a while, and then said sternly: "Do you still remember, when we came back with Chen Lubai, she was called away by Master Chen as soon as we arrived at the gate. The daughter-in-law was in danger, but the father called the youngest daughter to the door. It's not normal to be nagging about other things."
"And as soon as we left, Chen Lubai came to visit her sister-in-law in the room, which is too coincidental."
After hearing this, Zheng Weiqi nodded: "Perhaps she already knew that the dummy in the illusion has no consciousness, and also guessed that once we can't sense Zhao Yunluo, we will continue to try to sense it on other people. If she is the whole illusion The maker, consciousness should be able to be detected by us, in this way, all lies will be self-defeating."
He Zhizhou gave a heavy "Oh": "That's why she deliberately left at that time, and we will investigate the situation when we leave the room!"
He has never liked to use his brain, and now he inevitably turns into a curious baby: "But there is one thing I don't understand. If the illusion is created by Chen Lubai, then she doesn't need to use a nightmarish thing, it's too much. It's easy for her to be exposed, isn't it better to replace it with a separate monster?"
This sentence also stumped Zheng Weiqi.
Yes, set up a scene of Nightmare possession, and deliberately expose Zhao Yunluo's lack of consciousness—
What is Chen Lubai's picture
"It should be related to the difficulty of creating illusions."
In the silence, Pei Ji said: "I have read some books related to this, and the books claim that it takes a lot of spiritual power to set up an illusion, and ordinary monsters can't bear it, not to mention the size of the goose city is not small, if you want to cover everything , very difficult.”
This man, who has always been among the best in the school, spoke softly at this time, and easily killed two academic scumbags, Zheng Weiqi and He Zhizhou.
It was the first time that Ning Ning heard this kind of thing, so she looked up at him with a bit of novelty, and then heard Pei Ji say: "In this case, the most convenient way is to use memory, combine illusion and memory, greatly To ease the difficulty of scene construction. So the scenes we see now should all be remembered in Chen Lubai's mind, and the past events that really happened in Goose City."
Therefore, everyone in the Chen Mansion and even in the Goose City, Chen Yaoguang was attacked by a painting charm, Zhao Yunluo was possessed by a nightmare, and even Chen Yueming played in the mud on the street, all really existed.
"Wait, wait, if everything around us is a memory, then the real goose city now-"
He Zhizhou paused, and suddenly realized: "I see! Do you still remember the opening of the demon gate? Maybe Goose City really suffered disaster, and Chen Lubai thought of his family, so he created this illusion, seeing things and people. ."
This seems to be the most convincing explanation available today.
But Ningning always felt that something was wrong, such as—
"But if that's the case, why does Chen Lubai keep us here? Why is she an ordinary little girl with the power to create illusions?"
Pei Ji spoke coldly, unable to hear the ups and downs of his tone: "The most important thing is, if she is the only one behind the scenes, why is this pagoda called 'extremely difficult'? It only needs to kill her and it can be solved. , can you make it difficult for so many seniors?"
He Zhizhou stared at him blankly.
Then he said to Ning Ning very moved: "Isn't Pei Ji a dummy too? Can he really talk so much in one breath?"
"Anyway, there are still many doubts in this tower."
Zheng Weiqi rubbed her eyebrows: "It's better than this. Let's first let one person secretly investigate the tricks in Goose City, and the rest stay in Chen's house to reduce Chen Lubai's vigilance. That person should live in isolation and be taciturn, even if he doesn't stay with us, It won't make her suspicious, who do you recommend?"
He Zhizhou was silent for a moment.
He Zhizhou: "Senior sister, if you want to help Pei Ji, just say it directly. You really don't need to find adjectives according to his template."
=====
So time goes back to the present.
The storm in the stables passed by without any danger, and the four of them sat in Pei Ji's room and listened to his harvest today.
"I found three things in total."
Pei Ji said: "One, if there is an enchantment around Goose City, Yujian will not be able to move forward after flying a certain distance."
Ning Ning sat on the chair and looked at him with her cheeks supported.
"… Second."
The black-clothed youth lowered his long eyelashes calmly, and his Adam's apple moved slightly: "The people in the city said that something was wrong with Chen Lubai."
Chengying laughed strangely: "Speaking of serious business, why are you still shy. She looks at you, and you look back at her."
A sullen look flashed between Pei Ji's brows, but her tone was still turbulent: "It is rumored that a domestic servant once saw her alone in the backyard of Chen's mansion at night, talking to herself to an old locust tree. What is very strange is that she was at that time. He clearly turned his back to the servant, but somehow suddenly turned around and looked straight in the direction of the man."
In the middle of the night, the moon is dark and the wind is high.
It's scary enough to see a little girl wandering off the beaten track in a backyard and talking to an old tree, but she turns her head coldly and stares straight at you like that.
He Zhizhou's scalp went numb when he heard it, and Zheng Weiqi, who was beside him, said, "The locust tree is called the ghost in the tree. It is very easy to grow into a monster and steal the body of others for its own use."
She hesitated for a moment, and then added in a low voice: "Could it be that the Chen Lubai who is in front of us is not himself, but was formed by the illusion of Huai ghost? In this way, it can explain why she, a mortal, created such an illusion. "
"What's going on in the Chen residence?"
He Zhizhou fought a cold war, and looked around with a bit of disgust: "Painting the Charming Nightmare and the Locust Tree Spirit in one pot, those who didn't know it thought it was the lair of the demon world. What's more, the 'demon gate is wide open', the demons are mighty and mighty. After all this, can this city be preserved?"
This was just a whim, I didn't expect that Zheng Weiqi suddenly slammed the table and made a muffled sound: "Do you still remember! I said it before, I seem to have heard the name of Goose City somewhere? "
He Zhizhou was taken aback and almost shrunk into Pei Ji's arms, causing Chengying to complain a lot, like an insulted flower girl.
"I remember! Goose City!"
Zheng Weiqi was so excited that she almost stood up from the chair: "During the battle between the fairy and the devil, the two worlds of demons and demons were unscrupulous. Among them, there were a group of evil spirits and demons who were cultivating their blood, and they joined forces to invade a small county, attracting all souls, and none of them survived— The name of the county is called 'Goose City'!"
As soon as these words came out, Pei Ji and Ning Ning both showed a clear look of "so it is".
"That's why," only He Zhizhou's face turned pale, "the so-called 'the fifth day of June's demon gate is wide open' is probably not a casually made up legend, but..."
He said and took a deep breath: "On the fifth day of the sixth month, Goose City was completely captured by demon cultivators. The people in the city..."
He said no more.
Since it is to draw blood, no one must survive.
The misty river bank, the pavilion with white walls and blue tiles, the garden-like Chen Mansion, and the group of children playing with mud and water in the alley.
Everything in the past no longer exists, and in its place, there are unscrupulous demons and a corpse with a dead end. It is dark and bloody.
Although this fantasy was constructed from the memories of the past, it was very different from the real scene due to their intervention.
No one has ever escaped by chance at the hands of the demon, and those scenes that seem to be near misses actually foreshadow everyone's death.
Chen Yaoguang was unable to be rescued from the beginning to the end, and was bound by the painting charm in the dark and cold cave, sucking blood and essence bit by bit, and gradually closed his eyes in endless fear and despair.
Zhao Yunluo was unable to escape the grip of the Nightmare, and experienced the torment of life and death over and over again in the dream, and finally collapsed completely and never woke up again.
Chen Lubai was seduced by the Huai ghost in the backyard, and gradually lost his mind, leaving only an empty shell. No matter what the process was, he was killed and replaced.
As for the other people in Goose City, they were also buried in the sea of blood and became a tool for demons to improve their cultivation.
All the mysteries seem to be gradually dissipating, and now the most important question remains.
- No matter whether that person is Chen Lubai or Huai Gui, what is the purpose of her trapping them here
=====
Their plan is more than half done.
Chen Lubai scribbled heavily on the rice paper, and the ink balls on the brush were thick and faint, as if it were pitch-dark night.
She pulled out a faint smile from the corner of her mouth, put the paper in the envelope, got up and walked out.
The wind in the fantasy world was completely different from the outside. Although it was fresh and cool, it made her feel disgusted from the bottom of her heart. But this scene is destined to not last long, and when the time comes—
Thinking of this, a wicked look flashed over the girl's fair skin.
She walked in a hurry, hiding her traces in the dark twilight, and went straight to the backyard.
The backyard is full of flowers and plants, green trees stand, and in the most central position stands an old ancient locust tree.
The locust tree belongs to the shade, and now it is clearly summer, and when you approach it, you can still feel a biting cold air.
The fine branches and leaves swallowed most of the light, casting a dark shadow on Chen Lubai's face. This time, she did not speak to the locust tree as in the rumors, but put her palm on the trunk and recited the formula silently.
The bark seemed to have a password, and a straight gap split open in the middle. Then the crack got bigger and bigger. From her point of view, it was not a tree trunk behind the crack, but another place that was almost the same as the backyard.
Chen Lubai didn't make any sound, raised his hand and delivered the envelope to the gap. Unexpectedly, a gust of wind suddenly hit behind him.
- Someone!
She was unprepared and could not dodge in time, and the man immediately snatched the letter from her hand.
"Miss Chen is very elegant. I am afraid that there is no one before and no one to write a letter to the locust tree. You are the only one who has done it."
Ning Ning's movement was extremely fast. After grabbing the envelope, she quickly took a few steps back and dexterously tore the cover open: "Why don't we come and see what is written in this letter."
Chen Lubai glared angrily, gritted his teeth and said nothing.
"The four of them didn't notice any difference, they just waited for Zi Shi's soul-refining formation to sacrifice with their blood."
Ning Ning read aloud, and finally glanced at the entrance of the backyard: "Senior sister, what is the Soul Refinement Array?"
"Refining thousands of blood souls for a whole year, and then leading strangers to conduct blood sacrifices, can greatly increase the cultivation of cultivators, and ascend to the sky in one step."
Zheng Weiqi slowly walked out of the shadow of the bamboo forest, wearing white clothes to cut through the night: "Using the soul of others to transcend one's own creation is a method only used by the most vicious people, and it is listed as one of the ten forbidden arts."
Chen Lubai knew that his strength was inferior to Jianxiu, and took a step back with a sneer. She knew that her identity was exposed, but she didn't show much panic, but said softly: "Where did I miss the filling?"
This is actually a very professional villain.
"My little junior brother inquired about an interesting thing. I wonder if Miss Chen is interested in hearing it?"
Ning Ning responded to her politely: "Everyone in the goose city said that the eldest lady of the Chen family is domineering and domineering, and she wants to travel far away, so as to get rid of the shackles of the father and brother in the Chen residence and live freely - but I clearly remember it. , that's not what you told me at the time."
"You only know Chen Lubai's temperament, but you don't know anything about her life experience. The reason why she said 'unwilling to leave Chen's house' to me is that she is determined to travel around the world, but she is afraid of her family. After a little reluctance, she secretly came to you at night to talk to you—but you couldn’t guess her mind, and mistaken the nostalgia before parting for never wanting to leave the Chen residence.”
She subconsciously held the hilt of the sword at her waist, and in order to guard against the opponent's sudden burst, she took a defensive posture: "What should we call you? Miss Chen? Or... Huai Gui?"
A moment of silence.
The locust tree was swept by the cold wind, causing a clattering sound, like the sneering of thousands of ghosts hiding in the dark, extremely strange.
The Huai Yao, who occupied Chen Lubai's body, seemed to finally give up the disguise. Hearing this, he laughed loudly: "So? Do you really think that if you break my illusion, you can leave Goose City safely? , all the demons in the city can kill you, see where you can escape!"
She was tired from laughing, and suddenly showed a hint of regret and regret: "The group of evil cultivators in the city wanted to directly break everyone's bones and shut them up next to the formation to die. Only I kindly created this illusion, Even if you die, it will not be too painful. Why don't you understand my painstaking efforts?"
This sentence is true.
The matter of Goose City spread throughout the world of cultivation, and the great sect of Xianmen was too busy to take care of itself in the war, unable to destroy the demons in the city one by one. However, in order to prevent the demon from entering the world, the elders of the various sects gathered together to set up a net formation, imprisoning them in Goose City and unable to escape.
If you want to break free from this formation, you can only use the Soul Refinement Formation to improve your cultivation, and then work together to break the formation. Naihe Soul Refinement Formation must use living people as an introduction. Since the fall of Goose City, no strangers are willing to come in.
After a lapse of nearly a year, four juniors with short eyes finally broke into it.
This is their best chance.
If you use force, once you encounter a person with a strong temperament and commit suicide, it will inevitably fall short. It was Huai Gui who proposed to set up an illusion, as long as a few people were trapped in the illusion, they would naturally have no intention of fleeing, and would just indulge in the illusion.
"It's useless to talk too much."
As soon as Zheng Weiqi thought that she had been tricked by these monsters, she immediately became furious, drew her sword and pointed at the sinister old locust tree beside her.
This tree is not only the real body of the Huai Ghost, but also the channel for her to communicate with the outside world. Nine times out of ten, it is the eye of the entire illusion.
The sword light split into several white shadows, as cold as the wind.
Zheng Weiqi thought that Huai Gui would fight with them out of control, but she didn't expect that the latter would only raise half the corner of her lips and sneer coldly.
Like a conjuration, the figure of Huai Gui quickly dissipated into the night, and only the gloomy voice remained in the wind: "You have to be prepared - it is not only me who wants your lives outside the illusion. One."
=====
Zheng Weiqi's sword light was as bright as a star and moon, Ning Ning suddenly opened his eyes from the drowsiness, and first smelled a stench of blood.
The stench was like the fusion of blood and flesh and blood, gradually rotting over the years, making her subconsciously hold her breath and turn her attention to her eyes.
She was actually still in the backyard of the Chen residence, but the situation was very different from that in the fantasy world.
The strange old locust tree in the backyard was unbelievably large. Its roots and branches almost filled the entire space, and the thick long beards were crawling on the ground, spreading all the way to the door of the backyard. potential.
The most terrifying thing was that those roots seemed to be some kind of breathing animal. The dark brown skin kept rising and falling. In the turbid night, they looked like giant pythons wriggling. nausea.
The roots circled, tying most of her body to the tree trunk like a rope, only showing a little bit of cheek, neck and chest, and the whole person could not move.
And when she raised her eyes, she saw the real Chen Mansion.
Blood light tore through the sky, and the night was endless. A cotton wool-like cloud covered most of the moonlight, and the moonlight poured out from between the clouds, it was a dark red color that was no different from blood, like blood tears dripping from the eyebrows, pitching down from the dome, killing intent overgrown.
The blood moon flies into the sky, and there are ghosts in the sky. The rest of the trees have been sucked by the old locust, and have long since died, leaving only a few ferocious remnants of ghost claws.
Suddenly, a demonic wind blew through her long jet-black hair. Between the ups and downs of her hair, in the blurred vision, Ning Ning saw a skeleton collapsed in the corner.
Smoke and grass, mottled walls and tiles. The silent pavilion was covered in blood, covering the cold white bones with a thick shadow, and fine moss climbed up from the joints, dyeing the skeleton a light gray.
The skeleton is very small, and it looks like a young child, curled up and crumpled, covering his head with his hands.
The cracks deep into the bone marrow were clearly visible in the night, and it was conceivable how unbearable the pain had been.
Ning Ning's heart sank, and she guessed her name.
The clouds shrouded in the residual blood slowly moved westward, quietly swallowing the last ray of light. Ning Ning took a shallow breath and gathered his fingertips secretly.
The sharp sword light was as fast as electricity, and it pierced through the giant vines wrapped around her in an instant.
A wild laughter sounded in the distance, accompanied by continuous fire.
There is a fishy smell in the vicinity, and the bones are thick.
The time is coming.
"This ring is surrounded by a ring, and my brain is almost useless, and I have no time to spare."
Zheng Weiqi followed closely and jumped down from between the vines, showing a rare wry smile: "This tower... Isn't it meant for us to slaughter the entire city of demons?"