Knife splashing

Chapter 404 Falling short of success

crackling...

Rubble of varying sizes poured down.

Wu Ba shrank back covered in dust and dirt. Li Yan lit a torch and came out, holding onto the rock wall and looking around.

The Yangxue Cave at Shennongding is larger than the one he saw in his fantasy. It winds its way into the mountain, and is often filled with rocks and wasteland along the way.

If no one had known it in advance, no one would have thought that there was another world inside this remote and uninhabited Shennongding.

Looking around, Li Yan thought to himself that this was indeed the case.

In front of us is a karst cave, which has obviously been artificially modified and many caves have been dug out. They are huge and messy, and are not meant for human habitation.

There were some depressions dug out on the stone wall next to it, which looked a bit like the place where hanging coffins were placed, but inside they contained a skeleton with one arm and one leg.

This should be the ancestral land of the Shenkui tribe.

The Shenkui tribe in Shennongjia has traces of transformation by Taoist magic and was placed here, obviously to guard something.

This method also comes from Fang Xiandao, which is used to capture and control strange beasts and guard tombs.

Could someone be buried here?

Li Yan became more and more curious. He took a deep breath, explored the terrain below, and then jumped down with a torch in hand.

After using the force, the two landed at the bottom of the cave.

Others also climbed down from the cave.

"My goodness, this... this can't be the Shennong Mausoleum!"

Sharifei opened his eyes wide, obviously thinking it was a tomb.

"Thinking too much."

Li Yan looked around and shook his head, "Look at those carvings. They are not very old. They should be something else."

Having said that, he already had a guess in his mind.

This place was originally guarded by a deity, but the monster tribe has already moved away, so there is naturally no danger.

According to the memory in the illusion, Li Yan led everyone through many twists and turns and soon found the bronze door.

"We're here! This is it!"

Li Yan raised the torch and looked around carefully.

There must be something strange about this place. Even the Dragon Girl’s dream couldn’t reveal what was inside.

"Roar…"

At this moment, "Zou Yu" who followed in let out a few low growls.

Lu San frowned and quickly spoke to him in Shangfang language, then explained: "The mountain god said that there is a force of repulsion here. He felt uncomfortable when he approached, so he is waiting for us outside."

"Oh?"

Li Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, understanding something.

This place should have arrangements for the gods, so it is difficult for both the Dragon Girl and "Zou Yu" to get close.

He walked forward with a torch in hand, examining the bronze door closely, seeing that it was covered in patina and the patterns around it were ancient, yet with a hint of novelty.

“This is Song Shi’s craft.”

Wang Daoxuan, who was standing next to him, also looked around and said, "The people of the Song Dynasty revered the ancients. From the palace to the common people, they all loved to imitate the bronze vessels of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and they would even make them look old."

"Well, be careful."

Li Yan nodded, took out the alien key, aligned it one by one, inserted it, held the front end and twisted it slowly.

Crunch~
Suddenly, there was a sound of mechanism coming from inside the bronze door, and finally it slowly opened with the rustling of dust.

In an instant, a foul odor hit my face.

"It stinks, what the hell is this?"

Sharifei covered his nose and raised the torch to check.

When I saw this, I was immediately surprised.

There was also a cave inside, but the stalactites had a strange structure, stacked up layer by layer, twisting and turning, forming fine scales and arching around.

"Dragon's lair!"

When Wang Daoxuan saw it, he was immediately shocked.

He had seen this kind of thing before.

There is something similar inside the Zhenwu Dragon Cave in Wudang Mountain, but it is at the top, and it looks like five giant dragons entangled.

The one in front of us is protruding from the ground, as if half of the body of a giant dragon is arched up. It is simply a product of nature and a masterpiece of nature.

On top of that strange "dragon body" were nailed huge bronze pillars, connected by chains, all covered in patina.

Several bronze pillars had fallen off, obviously caused by human destruction, and there were dense piles of human bones around them.

Although their clothes were tattered, one could vaguely tell that they were all Taoist robes. There were also swords, tokens, formation flags and other magical instruments scattered on the ground, but they had all decayed and lost their spiritual charm.

“This is the Dragon Suppression Pillar!”

Wang Daoxuan was startled, and then he took out the compass, checked it, and shook his head, saying, "The dragon energy in the earth veins is scattered, and there is nothing strange about it."

Sharifei turned his head left and right, and seeing that there didn't seem to be any treasure, he was very disappointed, "Tsk tsk, another wasted trip."

Li Yan also frowned.

The scene before him was also beyond his expectations.

Go to the corpses and examine them carefully.

All the bones were in perfect order, except for the throat and skull, which had turned ink black and appeared very loose.

Li Yan raised the Duanchen scabbard and poked it lightly.

Click!

The bones shattered with a sound, revealing dense holes all over them, twisting and winding, as if they had been eaten by some kind of insect.

buzzing...

Lu San's magic gourd began to shake immediately.

He listened for a moment and said in a muffled voice, "The demon gourd sensed something and said it was a powerful poisonous insect, but it has dissipated."

Li Yan nodded, and then carefully checked the pile of corpses. Finally, he found an iron box. After opening it, he found a Taoist certificate and a secret letter inside.

It was written on the Taoist certificate that Bo Yangzi of Taixuan Orthodox Sect was a Quanzhen Taoist who had reached the third level of Taoism.

Li Yan opened the secret letter again and said as he read it: "It says that there are bandits named Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun in Bashu who are plotting rebellion in the name of Erlang, and the war situation is deteriorating. They are asking these people to come here secretly and break the Dragon Suppression Pillar... The signature is Wang Jie'en."

"Eunuch Wang Jie'en?"

Wang Daoxuan nodded and said, "I have heard of this man. He was a close confidant of Emperor Taizu of Song. He supported Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi, to succeed to the throne and was deeply favored by him. However, he was later demoted due to a palace change."

"During the Tianfu Rebellion, this man was the commander-in-chief."

Li Yan pondered for a moment and said, "The Dragon Girl mentioned this in her dream, but the words were not detailed."

"Li Bing built the Dujiangyan Weir, and the sorcerer killed the Great Lord of the River God. His dragon energy was hidden in the Daba Mountains, and was suppressed by Erlang of Guanjiang."

"Back then, Hou Shu conferred the title of 'King of Protecting the Country' on Erlang. In order to suppress Bashu and unify the national sacrifice, Emperor Taizu of Song stripped him of the title."

"Later, the people of Shu were destitute and began to rebel in the name of Erlang. Erlang Shen was well-known among the people of Bashu. Wang Jie'en probably wanted to do something here to damage Erlang Shen's reputation."

After Wang Daoxuan heard this, a trace of disgust flashed in his eyes, "If the Dragon Suppression Pillar is destroyed, the dragon energy of Lord Jiangshen will wreak havoc, and Bashu will surely suffer from floods. This person is really crazy!"

Li Yan shook his head and said, "People like them, for the sake of power, dare to even get involved in the fight for the throne. What's the big deal about killing a few people?"

"Ah~"

Wang Daoxuan sighed: "Before the Song Dynasty, people worshipped the Lord of Heaven. The Song Dynasty promoted the belief in the Jade Emperor, and Emperor Huizong of Song called himself the son of the Jade Emperor."

"There is a folk legend that Erlang only listens to the tune and not the announcement. This is probably because of this incident and was then interpreted and choreographed by others."

“It’s not important…”

Li Yan looked at the corpses on the ground and said in a deep voice: "It seems that they were killed just by pulling out a few dragon-suppressing stakes."

"The dragon-suppressing stake here was set up by Fang Xiandao back then. The god guarding this place also has traces of transformation by Fang Xiandao's magic."

"These people were probably killed by a Fang Xian Dao master, and that master placed the Shen Kui tribe here to watch over them."

Wang Daoxuan also nodded and said, "During the Five Dynasties, there were many masters of the Fangxian Dao. Although they were unknown, they stirred up the world and led to the establishment of the Taixuan Orthodox Sect."

"I don't know who this expert is."

"Brother Yan, that Black Scale Master must have gotten that ray of dragon energy because of the destroyed Dragon Suppression Pillar." "Did the Dragon Girl tell us how to deal with it?"

Li Yan said helplessly: "I don't know either, but the dragon energy has been lost. I think it will be useless to make any moves here."

"If we alarm Lord Jiangshen and a few more wisps of dragon energy escape, that would be troublesome."

"Forget it, let's seal this place off first to prevent anyone from causing trouble again."

After saying that, he led everyone to close the bronze door and leave the cave.

Rumble!
As soon as we left the cave, we saw dark clouds in the sky, howling winds, and rumbling thunder, filling the entire sky.

When Wang Daoxuan saw this, he was shocked:
"Oops, I lost the fight!"

Rumble!
As soon as he finished speaking, there was another thunder.

It was as if there was a hole in the sky. With the naked eye, rain could be seen from the southwest falling from the sky like a waterfall, rapidly heading towards Shennongjia.

In an instant, heavy rain poured down on the mountains.

"hold head high--!"

A long hissing sound came from the southeast.

Wang Daoxuan pinched the magic formula and looked up, only to see a black gas rising up like a long dragon, flying up and down in the rainstorm.

"The dragon has gone away..."

Wang Daoxuan gritted his teeth, not knowing what to say.

Others also fell silent.

Unexpectedly, after all the hard work, something went wrong.

Although they accepted the task from the imperial court, they still adhered to the righteous path. After the dragon left, the Ju River surged and countless people downstream must have been killed and injured.

That scene is scary just thinking about it.

"Roar!"

At this moment, the mountain god "Zou Yu" also howled to the sky, seeming to be very angry, and all the hair on his body stood up.

Lu San said in a deep voice: "When Mr. Black Scale left the dragon, the energy of the ground in Shennongjia would be disturbed, and many lives would be killed or injured. The mountain god 'Zou Yu' would go and take a look."

Li Yan gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go too!"

"Roar!"

"Zou Yu" roared again, and the coffin beasts appeared again, carrying everyone, as well as many ferocious beasts and donkey-headed wolves, and ran towards where the Black Scaled Sir was.

There was heavy rain and the mountain road was soon flooded.

It first gathered into a small stream, and then turned into a mountain torrent, rushing down from the top of the mountain with amazing momentum, carrying broken wood and rocks.

Many animals are fleeing, and if they are not careful, they will be swept away by the flash floods and no one knows where they will be taken.

The mountain god "Zou Yu" roared loudly, causing the earth's energy to surge and rocks to collapse along the way, causing the mountain torrents to change their course and not affect the progress of the people.

In the heavy rain, everyone's figures gradually disappeared...

………………

"Get out! Get out!"

With the sound of gongs and drums, the imperial troops retreated quickly.

The short and strong general was furious. He didn't expect to fail at the last moment. But he had no time to think about it and had to run to the top of the mountain.

If we are slow, most of our soldiers will be killed or injured.

In the team, several Taoists were carrying the unconscious Yu Longzi, looking dejected, and Wu Longzi was so angry that he gritted his teeth.

They have set up a sword formation and are trying their best to stop it.

But unexpectedly, Xiao Tianxiong was actually a master. Although he had not yet recovered, he was enough to bring down the sword formation.

And Master Huang Liu took the opportunity to cast a vicious curse, causing Yu Longzi to fail in the fight and suffer the backlash and fall into a coma.

Thinking of this, they looked into the distance again.

On the opposite hill, the people from the Tiansheng Sect and the Gui Sect were also climbing the mountain frantically, trying to reach the top.

But they knew that there were several huge lakes connected to the area where the Black Scale King was trapped. If the water were to pour down and they were unable to dodge in time, even they would suffer.

When the short and strong general saw the appearance of the few people, he immediately sneered and said, "Everyone, you Wudang are too arrogant. Let's see how you will explain yourself for causing such a thing."

"still have a chance!"

Gu Linzi's face was stern, not caring about his ridicule, and he said in a deep voice: "We have already sent a message back to Wudang, asking the masters on the mountain to come to help."

"After we get up the mountain, we will immediately build a dragon-slaying platform, and when the trapped dragon rushes down, we will suppress and kill it!"

The short and strong general gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

At this point, he had no choice but to listen to these Taoists. If he was held accountable in the future, he could put the blame on them.

"Go ahead, chop down the tree!"

When they reached the top of the mountain, the general gave an order and the soldiers immediately cut down the trees on the top of the mountain and built an altar together with the Taoists.

In the heavy rain, everyone worked together.

In the face of this catastrophe, there is no difference between warlocks and mortals...

…………

"Here we are, right ahead!"

In the dense forest, Li Yan suddenly shouted.

Although there was heavy rain all around and he couldn't see clearly beyond ten meters, and his sense of smell was also weakened, his hearing ability was still usable.

He could hear a lot of noise ahead.

Wow!
After rushing out of the dense forest, a large lake suddenly appeared in front of us.

Originally this place was surrounded by mountains, but on the side close to Baokang County, a ditch had been dug that meandered out of the mountain.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, the lake had turned yellow, there was a huge whirlpool in the center, and a huge black shadow was rotating with it.

Next to the lake, the craftsmen of the Tiansheng Sect had already cut down wood and built a large ship. It looked very rough, but was sturdy enough.

At this moment, they were swinging sledgehammers to smash the wooden frames used for fixing. It seemed that they wanted to use this big ship to go downstream after the dragon left and break through the interception of the imperial troops in one fell swoop.

"Roar!"

The mountain god "Zou Yu" rushed out of the dense forest with a roar.

"Then...what is that?"

The Tiansheng believers all looked up, stunned.

Before they could react, ferocious beasts jumped out of the dense forest, including tigers, leopards, bears, donkey-headed wolves, coffin beasts... almost all the ferocious beasts in Shennongjia gathered here.

"The mountain god is angry!"

Many people turned pale, stepped back in fear, and climbed onto the boat in panic.

The main forces of the Tiansheng Sect and the Gui Sect all ran to attack the imperial camp, and most of those who remained here were ordinary believers.

How can I not be afraid with such a situation?

However, it was all too late.

The enraged beasts ran in the heavy rain and rushed directly into the crowd, biting them madly. Soon, screams were heard and blood was flowing on the ground.

Li Yan and others rode on the coffin beasts with cold eyes.

No matter where these people came from, their deaths are not a pity.

The wooden boat was huge. The people who escaped climbed up along the rope and immediately drew their bows and shot arrows.

The rain was so heavy that firearms were useless.

Ordinary wild beasts could not reach this height, but the donkey-headed wolf spread its toes and jumped up like a goat, continuing to chase.

Soon, the deck was in a mess.

Li Yan didn't bother to pay attention to him. He stood by the lake with a sword in his hand, staring at the water in the distance.

"Roar!"

The mountain god "Zou Yu" roared again.

Wow~
Suddenly a wave of water rolled towards the lake...

(End of this chapter)