Sword from the Immortal Mountain

Chapter 109: Transformed into a bird, spying on the gods

"Chen Guiyang?"

The two girls were startled, looked at each other, and shook their heads: "I don't know him, I haven't heard of him."

Chen Jin thought for a while and said with certainty: "There should be no young person with this name in the twelve rooms. Maybe he is from the outer room, but I am not sure. Master Chen, is he your friend?"

Chen Jin replied vaguely: "Not really friends."

The other party's answer corresponded to the intelligence information that Brother Hu San had obtained at the beginning, and they confirmed each other, indicating that they were correct.

The topic immediately changed: "Among the twelve families with the surname Gui, who are the most powerful ones?"

Chen Ru answered quickly, "Of course they are Chen Guiwu and Chen Guiwen from the eldest house, one is a scholar and the other is a warrior, both are good at both. Brother Guiwu is a true disciple of Bailong City. He entered the sect at a young age and has not been home for many years. Brother Guiwen is a scholar. When he was a few years old, he was a child prodigy in the clan. By the way, he is sixteen years old this year and is also a candidate for the exam, the same age as you. Everyone says that he is the first in this year's provincial examination."

Chen Jin nodded slightly: "It's really amazing."

He had heard the name of Bailong City from Mr. Hu, who said that it was a holy place in the martial arts world and that the city lord, Ye Gechan, was an outstanding figure in martial arts and was extremely capable.

However, not much is known about the specific situation.

The world is so big, and there are many heroes. There is never a shortage of masters.

Chen Jin has never looked down on this world.

Chen Ru's eyes rolled: "Mr. Chen, do you have the confidence to pass the exam?"

Chen Jin smiled and said, "Do your best."

Chen Ru added, "I've heard from the elders that if the local Chen children perform well, make achievements, or obtain high-level honors, they can return to their ancestral home. Therefore, Mr. Chen, if you pass the exam, you may have the opportunity to move into Boji Lane and live here."

Chen Jin's eyes flashed: "Since we are talking about tracing our ancestors, I was thinking of going to the ancestral hall to take a look."

Chen Jin hurriedly said: "The Grand Ancestral Hall is a sacred place and is not open to the public."

"I won't go in. I'll just watch from outside."

"That should work."

Then Chen Jin directed the route and headed towards the ancestral hall.

About a quarter of an hour later, the carriage arrived at the foot of a mountain.

The mountain is not high, the forest is lush, the paths are well built, and they are all paved with neat bluestone slabs.

Winding up along the stone path, there is a pavilion at regular intervals for people to rest, eat, and enjoy the scenery.

"This place is called Yanshan. There is a pavilion on the mountain with a great view. You can see many places in Boji Lane, including the ancestral hall."

Chen Jin explained.

She thought that if the carriage stopped outside the ancestral hall, it would be blocked by the gate and high walls, and people outside would not be able to see anything. It would be better to bring Chen Jin to the mountain. Although the distance was farther, he could see more.

This move was exactly what Chen Jin wanted.

After finding a place to park the carriage, everyone took their belongings and started to climb the mountain.

This time, Wangcai was not brought along, and Chen Jin did not carry his books. He always carried his sword, and a green-skinned gourd hung around his waist.

Dressed like this, he doesn't look like a scholar, but more like a wandering knight.

Chen Jin secretly guessed that the gourd should contain the elixir for refining. However, she did not ask any more questions because of her father's instructions.

Chen Ru subconsciously thought that the gourd was probably filled with water or wine.

When people travel, they usually bring something to drink. Gourds and water bags have similar uses, but they differ in form.

In comparison, the gourd just looks novel, but in terms of practicality, it cannot compare to the water bag.

Chen Ru was more concerned about the Caomang Sword and couldn't help asking, "Mr. Chen, have you ever practiced martial arts? Can you use a sword?"

Chen Jin smiled and replied, "I learned a little bit, for self-defense."

When Ye Yanke behind him heard this, he couldn't help but hide his heavy sword behind him.

When people outside observe the two of them, they basically think that Ye Yanke is Chen Jin's bodyguard and guard. How could they know that it is not the case at all?
This is good, it can provide cover.

Chen Ru's eyes lit up and she praised, "He is good at both civil and military affairs. That's great." But she was secretly puzzled. No matter how she looked at it, Chen Jin didn't look like a poor scholar from the countryside.

However, as a woman, she couldn't ask too much about her family background.

Chen Jin knew more, but he had never seen Chen Jin use a sword, so he had no idea how good his swordsmanship was.

Just listen to it.

The mountain was not high, so we stopped for a rest halfway and reached the top of the mountain in less than half an hour.

The top of the mountain is flat, with a pool of water in the middle. There are pavilions and towers built around it, as well as large rocks piled up. The scenery is quite nice.

No wonder it is called "Inkstone Mountain" as its shape looks just like an inkstone.

There is another octagonal pavilion near the edge, named "Yanshan Pavilion". The pavilion is equipped with stone tables and stone benches, and the stone fences around it are all carved by craftsmen with exquisite patterns.

Chen Jin walked over, leaned on the railing and looked down. From his vantage point, he saw the large number of houses in Bojiji Lane connected together, like a city.

In the center, a dark square building stood out. From a distance, it looked like a huge tomb.

In the courtyard, there is a towering tree with a crown so lush that it looks like a single tree forming a forest.

This should be an old locust tree.

Through the branches and leaves, you can see hundreds of big red lanterns hanging on the branches, which is quite spectacular.

This is the rough appearance of the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall in Changle Hall.

The reason why Chen Jin was so interested in this and wanted to have a sneak peek had his own considerations.

Common people have no temples, so clans use ancestral halls as their family temples.

As for the situation in Bojiji Lane, the Chen family had produced Jinshi (imperial examination candidates) and high-ranking officials. After being honored by the court, they were qualified to build temples independently.

These temples were built next to the ancestral hall, forming a layout and integrating into one, and together they received incense and sacrifices from the Chen clan.

In terms of ritual rules, it is intended to emulate the royal ancestral temple.

The clan ancestral halls all worship their own ancestral gods. For small clans in small places, it is difficult for ancestors to become gods, and only through continuous incense and sacrifices from generation to generation can a faint divine aura be nurtured.

Once it is destroyed and the incense is cut off, all the previous efforts will be wasted.

But for the wealthy and powerful, the situation is quite different.

They have profound heritage and long inheritance. The ancestors they worship have received orthodox titles and thus possess divine powers. They are truly "ancestor gods" who can bestow protection and blessing on their ancestors.

Chen Jin came here to find Chen Guiyang and then kill him.

As long as the other party is a descendant of the Chen family of Changletang, there is a possibility that they will encounter the ancestor god.

Therefore, Chen Jin had to find out the truth and test the quality in advance so as to know himself and the enemy.

Looking from a high place, all you can see is the appearance, which doesn't have much practical significance, so you have to think of a way to sneak in.

"Zhizhicha!"

A sound of birds singing was heard, and it turned out that a group of tits had landed on the roof of the octagonal pavilion.

Chen Jin's mind moved, he had an idea, and his spiritual power was stimulated.

The next moment, one of the tits suddenly rolled its eyes back, then flapped its wings and flew away, leaving the group and flying towards the ancestral hall.

It flew quite fast, flapping its wings. After a while, it arrived above the ancestral hall and first landed on the high wall.

The top of this circle of wall is covered with iron nails and sharp stone slabs to prevent people from climbing up.

The titmouse paused for a moment, then flew away, preparing to hide among the locust trees.

Suddenly, the wind blew, the branches of the locust tree swayed, and the big red lanterns swayed, like hidden eyes. Then a hoarse and low voice sounded: "Who are you, you rat, how dare you spy on us?"

The titmouse's body suddenly sank, and it had no time to fly away, as if it had been hit by a slingshot. It fell to the ground with a snap.

(End of this chapter)