Chapter 30 The Thirtieth Time in the Soul Refining Pool

But in the end, the laughter gradually became louder, and the laughter also echoed, and it was only heard in all directions, as if it was that kind of eerie and sharp laughter. Shrill laughter surged from all directions like a wave, hitting Zhan Mengbai's heart like a wave of knives, Han Shan, sneering, the world was full of murderous intent. Zhan Mengbai slowed down, and it seemed that there were grinning ghosts in the clouds and mists. He felt a chill involuntarily rising from the bottom of his heart, and couldn't help shouting loudly: "Brother Yang, where are you... " The laughter stopped, and the echo faded away.

There was a sudden scream in the distance, it seemed to be from Yang Xuan. Zhan Mengbai's hot blood rushed up his throat in an instant, he pulled himself together, rushed over, and hissed, "Brother Yang...Brother...is that you?" Two zhang away, in the misty clouds, a figure with disheveled hair suddenly appeared, standing there like a ghost, waving gently to Zhan Mengbai. Zhan Mengbai's blood boiled like an arrow, and he rushed over like an arrow, shouting: "Yang Da..." Before the word "big" could be uttered, the figure suddenly shrank back, raised his palms, and released a strong palm wind, hitting Zhan Mengbai's chest directly.

Zhan Mengbai was flying in the air, received a palm, and fell to the ground, but he didn't know that the ground below was empty, there was no place to stand. His strength was almost exhausted, he stepped into the air, and it was difficult to jump up, his body fell straight down like a stone... only to hear that sharp and sinister laughter sounded again from the four mountains. The laughter gradually became distant, and Zhan Mengbai's ears and eyes gradually became dizzy... At this moment, he raised his breath, bent his elbows and knees, and rolled his body into a ball. Then there was a loud "plop", and his body seemed to fall into the water.

The four mountains are silent, and the clouds and mists are still misty. The figure with disheveled hair gathered his hands, tied up his hair, and laughed triumphantly: "Zhan Mengbai, you have fallen into this hidden dragon's mouth, the soul refining pool, and you can't even fly out." In the bleak mist, I saw his face full of smug smiles, and said with a smile: "You Zhanmengbai, even if you have Bai, did you die at the hands of my Yang Xuan? I'm afraid someone will think you disappeared out of thin air!" He is Yang Xuan. It turns out that on this ridge like the back of a knife, there is a mountain pass with a radius of two zhang.

The mountain is shrouded in clouds and mist all day long, and the mountain pass is like a dragon pass, opening up to the sky, waiting for others to commit suicide, so it is called "Hidden Dragon Pass". The mountain pass is hundreds of feet deep, with no grass growing on the walls, and at the bottom is a cold pool. The water in the pool is extremely cold, and there are snakes and insects in the water. No matter how high a person's martial arts are, if he falls into the pool, even if he can survive, he will be frozen to death by the pool water or bitten to death by a poisonous snake within a short while.

And Zhan Meng has fallen into this extremely dangerous "Soul Refining Pond" since then. He was dizzy for a while, and was immediately awakened by the cold pool water. In the panic, the desire to survive immediately surged. Fortunately, he had a little understanding of the nature of water since the boat capsized in Taihu Lake, so he stabilized his mind and did not let himself sink to the bottom of the pool. But in this deathly silence and darkness, he couldn't see or hear anything, and this situation was close to death. For the first time in his life, this brave and arrogant young man knew the taste of fear—it seemed to be a kind of cold that penetrated deep into the bone marrow, so cold that your heart would stop beating.

He slowly moved to the side, and finally touched the stone wall, only to feel that the moss on the wall was more than an inch thick, and it was difficult for even a god to stop. He could still resist the coldness of the pool water, but the coldness born of despair and fear made him unable to bear it anymore. At this moment, he even would rather exchange his life for some warmth and light. He moved inch by inch along the mountain wall. In the incomparable silence, he seemed to hear the sound of snakes and insects sliding in the water. But the strange thing is that there was not a snake, but an insect bit him. It seemed that wherever he moved, the snake and insect would avoid it far away.

These are unbelievable miracles, but the miracle happened to him, and he couldn't explain the reason. Suddenly, where he touched his hand, he touched a soft thing in shock. It turned out to be a human body, as if it was still wearing clothes. Shocked, he retracted his palm like lightning, closed his eyes, opened them again, and stared.I could vaguely see a grayish-white shadow hanging in the water, with grayish-white wings stretched out on the left and right sides, hanging there motionless, like a ghost in hell, or like a vulture in ghostland , waiting to peck at the victim's corpse.

It's definitely not because his eyes are dazzled, it's just because where he touches, it is indeed soft and warm, and it is indeed a living thing. He suppressed the horror in his heart, and stretched out his hand again... Unexpectedly, Fang Zi stretched out his palm, and the gray ghost spoke a human voice in shock, hissing, "Is anyone here?" In an instant, the blood in Zhan Mengzi's whole body seemed to have froze, he hastily withdrew his palms, and said in a trembling voice, "You... who are you?" The gray shadow seemed to be more surprised than him, and said in a hoarse voice: "Who are you? Are you standing in the water and talking to me?"

Zhan Mengbai said: "No... not bad." The gray shadow remained silent for a long time, as if he was sizing up Zhan Mengbai with all his eyes, but finally he just sighed in disappointment and said, "How long have you been down?" Zhan Mengbai said: "There are quite a few times." The gray-white shadow suddenly uttered the Buddha's name, and said, "Amitabha, is this my dream? In the Soul Refining Pool, there are people who can survive." Zhan Mengbai said: "Aren't you a living person?" The gray-white shadow giggled miserably and said, "I am dead or alive, and you will be able to see it when there is some twilight in the morning."

The stern laughter carried an indescribably tragic and terrifying meaning, it didn't seem to come from a human being, but like the mocking of a ghost. Zhan Mengbai couldn't help shivering shrewdly. Only to hear the shadow say again: "The water in the Soul Refining Pond is freezing to the bone. If a living person survives, he will be frozen to death in less than a cup of tea. Why have you survived until now?" Zhan Mengbai himself was taken aback, and said: "Is the water in this pool really so cold? How can I survive until now? I don't know." The shadow hissed, "A miracle? Could it be a miracle..." Zhan Mengbai's thoughts changed, and suddenly he said: "I'm afraid it's because I have taken Huoyang pills and practiced Liuyang palm, so..." The shadow sighed: "That's it, you have taken the medicine of Zhiyang, and you have practiced the power of Zhiyang, so you can naturally resist the coldness of the pool." There was a slight pause in the voice, and he said again: "I'm afraid you still have a holy medicine such as male essence on your body, so you can stand in the water and not be disturbed by snakes and insects." Zhan Mengbai was even more at a loss. After much deliberation, he couldn't think of how many times he had carried this rare and rare medicine in his body. While his thoughts were spinning, he reached into his bosom unconsciously, and suddenly touched the silk sac given to him by Mrs. Chaoyang, he couldn't help but suddenly wondered: "Could it be in this sac?" The shadow sighed a long time and said: "It seems that you are a lucky person. You have obtained all the things that other people dream of." Zhan Mengbai smiled wryly: "If you are a blessed person, how could you fall into this place?" The shadow giggled and said: "That's not bad." He suddenly closed his mouth, and if he didn't speak again, his shadow hanging in the air never moved. Zhan Mengbai was surprised and curious at the same time, he just felt that the shadow always had a ghostly aura, and the words and laughter didn't seem to come from the dantian. Although he wanted to ask about the origin of this shadow, he also knew that he would never be able to find out. He only hoped that the sky would be brighter soon so that he could see what the shadow looked like. Waiting for the dawn in the dark night is already enough to make people anxious, but at this moment, in this ghostly Soul Refining Pool, the night is extremely long. After an unknown amount of time, Zhan Mengbai felt the coldness of the pool getting heavier and heavier, his upper and lower rows of teeth trembled unknowingly. His heart trembled, and he immediately followed the Kunlun treasure, the practice method recorded in the Six Suns Secret Book, against luck, and after twelve weeks of Qi, it seemed as if a yang and harmony escaped from his dantian, gradually dissipating. Covering the whole body, one must know that he is a peerless talent in martial arts, and his foundation is extremely deep, coupled with his strong and upright mind, if he learns this kind of yang and stalwart kung fu, it should get twice the result with half the effort. What's more, he once took the "Huoyang Pill" and "Dream-Invigorating Grass". I don't know that in this extremely cold "Soul Refining Pool", it is even more wonderful to practice the most yang and steadfast "Six Sun God Palms" - he encountered many kinds of coincidences when he practiced for the first time. The speed of the border is really something that no one else can dream of. Gradually, he only felt that his body and spirit were peaceful, and he had reached the state of forgetting both things and himself, and all the cold and fear had gone away from him. I don't know how long it has passed before I suddenly heard a loud shout: "Zhan Mengbai, it turned out to be you." Zhan Mengbai's heart trembled, and he opened his eyes... The night has passed, and in the soul refining pool, although it is still cloudy and misty, there is light, and all the scenery and figures in the cold pool with a radius of three or two zhang can be clearly seen. On the pool water, the cold air was like smoke, the gray shadow was indeed a figure in a gray robe, both legs were immersed in the pool water, only the upper half of the body was exposed, so in the dark, it looked like a shadow. It seems to be hanging in the air in the misty clouds. The clothes on his body were all rotten, his face was haggard and emaciated, his eyebrows had almost fallen off, and there were only a few bones left on his body. There is also a cross-shaped iron frame made of black iron tied behind him, with his arms outstretched and tightly handcuffed to the iron frame--sleeves fluttering wide, looking in the dark like the wings of an evil bird. There are also two iron chains, which pass through the lute bones of the left and right shoulders and are tied to the iron frame! Under such circumstances, he was naturally unable to move his whole body - no matter who saw his current situation, I'm afraid they couldn't help but weep for it. But Zhan Mengbai felt dejected in his heart, but he was even more surprised, and said in a trembling voice: "Who are you, how do you know me, how do you know my name?" The whole body of the old man in gray robe was tortured to the point where he was lifeless, but there was still a firm light in his eyes. He stared at Zhan Mengbai, with both surprise and pity in his eyes, and said with a wry smile: "I haven't seen you for a few months, so you don't recognize the poor monk anymore?" Zhan Mengbai thought about it, but he couldn't think of how many times he had seen this person in his life, his eyes were fixed on him, and he was really speechless. He was just amazed at the endurance of human beings, and even more admired this person's courage to survive. Under such painful torture, he still struggled to survive. Only the gray-robed monk said sadly: "That day at the foot of Jinshan Temple, when the poor monk sent that thin man Qin down the mountain, he once saw Mr. Zhan once..." Zhan Mengbai's heart trembled again, and he said in amazement: "You...you are the fourth junior brother of the abbot of Jinshan Temple, can't you be a gray-browed monk?" The old man in gray robe said with a miserable smile, "That's right..." Zhan Mengbai tremblingly said: "But you are obviously dead, how did you come here?" He stared, and saw that the old man's eyebrows really had that strange gray color, but after a long period of torture, the eyebrows have fallen off and the person has been deformed, so he didn't recognize it at first glance. But he still remembered clearly that he had seen this person's body for the first time after he was in the Jinshan Temple, Liuyun Pavilion, and the "Jiangtian Yilan" signboard. The second time, on the Yangtze River ferry, I saw it again. Twice, he had breathed his nose, and decided that this person must have passed away, and this person's body disappeared twice, but he never expected to see that body turned into a living person here again. The more Zhan Mengbai thought about it, the more he realized that this matter was not only complicated and weird, but also very mysterious and terrifying. The grey-robed monk smiled sadly and said: "This matter is a long story, if Mr. Zhan is interested, the poor monk will tell the story of this tragic and sad story." Zhan Mengbai said: "I have been waiting to know the secret here for nearly a year. If Master is willing to tell me, I will be very grateful." The old man in gray robe stared at the sky for a long time, his haggard face became distorted again, as if the memory of the miserable and sad past was still vivid in his heart at this moment. Then he sighed a long time, and said: "As the saying goes, 'talking too much brings misfortune', but I don't know that 'too many things' is more likely to cause misfortune. The poor monk originally knew one more secret of others, so he ended up like this today. If the poor monk had not stretched out his hand less that day, it would not have ended like this today." His eyes flickered, and he suddenly smiled bitterly, and said, "Although the poor monk is so miserable today, he will never regret it. If time can go back to that day, the poor monk will still extend his hand." Zhan Mengbai was even more at a loss when he heard it, and couldn't help asking: "What day is it? What kind of hand are you stretching out? Can you please clarify, master." The gray-robed old man closed his eyes and said slowly: "That day in the abbot's room of Jinshan Temple, some heroes came from afar to pay their respects to the Dongpo jade belt and the Zhuge bronze drum. "The poor monk is a confidant, so naturally he entertains the guests there, but the poor monk has seen the bronze drum and jade belt countless times, so naturally he has no intention of admiring it. "While everyone else was concentrating on watching, the poor monk found a handbook with a black leather cover next to his chair, which definitely did not belong to our temple. "The poor monk shouldn't have been curious for a while, so he quietly picked up the pocketbook, flipped through it twice, and after one flip, the poor monk suffered ten thousand calamities." His face was contorted again, his voice paused slightly, Zhan Mengbai seemed to have a strange premonition flashed in his heart, and couldn't help asking: "What is written in that book?" The gray-robed old man said in a deep voice: "On the front of the booklet are just the names of people and the amount of money, and the names of the medicines and the places where they were collected are written on the back." Zhan Mengbai sighed in disappointment, "Why is this so rare?" The gray-robed monk's eyes flashed, and he said: "But those names are all villains in the world, and those names of medicines are all poisonous things." Zhan Mengbai's heart skipped a beat. The gray-robed old man continued: "The poor monk took a quick look, was startled, and said 'huh', and everyone in the room turned their heads. "At that time, the poor monk had vaguely guessed that there must be a great secret hidden in the handbook, and when everyone turned their eyes, he hurriedly hid it. "I only regret that the poor monk didn't notice the faces of these people at that time, he only felt that it was a bit inappropriate to put the bag on his body, so he took the opportunity to change it. "In the end, everyone dispersed, and the poor monk sent him to the bottom of the mountain and put him on a boat because he was the great benefactor of our temple. "At that time, the poor monk was determined to discover the secret in his hand, so he hurried back immediately, taking a shortcut that was rarely traveled by. "Unexpectedly, the poor monk walked halfway, and suddenly smelled a strange fragrance from the end of his nose, and before he could even cry out, he fainted on the spot." Zhan Mengbai had already heard his fists clenched and his heart beating, and when he saw the gray-robed old man's voice paused, he immediately asked, "What happened next?" The gray-robed old man sighed sadly: "When the poor monk woke up, he was locked in a box about four feet square, curled up and unable to move. "The box only has a small hole with a radius of more than one inch, which is used for ventilation. The poor monk thought that he would break the box with luck, but he didn't expect..." On his haggard face, there was a look of grief and pain, and he said slowly: "The poor monk's hamstring has been broken." Zhan Mengbai's heart trembled, he gritted his teeth and said, "What a vicious method." The gray-robed old man said tragically: "At that time, the poor monk was filled with horror and grief, so he couldn't help but screamed and cursed. After a long time of cursing, no one answered from outside the box. "It was a gloomy voice, saying: 'If you don't want to suffer more, you should call it out honestly, if you talk nonsense again, you will be punished.' "The poor monk was really surprised, so he naturally asked him what he wanted the poor monk to recruit? He also asked him what kind of enmity he had with the poor monk to torture the poor monk like this? "The voice sneered and said, 'We have no grievances with you, all we want is the black leather handbook you picked up from the abbot's room.' "At that time, the poor monk knew that there must be a great secret in the manuscript, otherwise they would not have treated me like this, but they deliberately asked him what the manuscript was? "However, the poor monk hadn't finished speaking, only to hear the box suddenly lifted off the ground, and then fell down heavily with a 'bang'." Zhan Mengbai changed his color and said, "It's so ruthless..." The old man in gray robe closed his eyes and said with a miserable smile: "The dizziness and pain that the poor monk felt at that time really cannot be described by any human words. "After a long time, the poor monk came back to his senses, but the pain in his ankle was still painful, but there was a sinister and vicious laughter outside the box. "After laughing for a while, the voice said coldly: 'Say it or not.' Zhan Mengbai continued in a harsh voice: "Since you already know their secret, even if you tell them, they will never let you go, and you must never tell it." The gray-robed monk sighed: "But the poor monk still wanted to survive at that time. He just wanted to come out alive and see who these demons really are. So the poor monk pretended to be tortured, and told them that the pocket book was indeed It was picked up by the poor monk and hidden in the bronze drum and jade belt." Zhan Mengbai stumbled and said, "How can you say that, isn't it..." The gray-robed old man interrupted: "The handfold is not in the bronze drum and jade belt." Zhan Mengbai was stunned for a moment, then sighed again: "Since you're not here, you can't say anything, do you still want to trick them into letting you out first?" The gray-robed old man smiled bitterly and said: "The poor monk also knows that these demons will never release the poor monk first, just because the poor monk knows that the bronze drum and jade belt is the treasure of our gate, and the defense is extremely tight. If they want to snatch it, We must go through a great battle, with the strength of hundreds of disciples in our sect, we may be able to defeat them, and then the poor monk will not only be able to survive, but also have his revenge!" Zhan Mengbai said it was inconvenient to say more, but he just nodded silently, but he couldn't help but sighed in his heart: "Although your thinking is reasonable, you are too naive." Only the old man in gray robe continued: "After the poor monk finished speaking, there was another voice outside the box: "Bronze drums and jade belts are the treasures of their towns and mountains. The defense must be very tight. We can only outsmart them, not force them." Hearing this, the poor monk couldn't help but feel chills secretly, only felt that these demons were not only well-organized and vicious, but also deep-minded and clear-headed, obviously very human. "The combination of these witty and vicious people must have great ambitions, and their goals are naturally extremely sinister and terrifying. "The more the poor monk thought about it, the more chilling he felt, he just heard the voice giggling and said: 'You should outsmart me, you disguise yourself as this gray-browed monk, go up the mountain to trick you out.' "The other person immediately laughed and said, 'Not bad, anyway, here we have the number one expert in disguise, and this time it just happened to be used.'" Hearing this, Zhan Mengbai couldn't help another tremor in his heart, and suddenly said: "So that's the case, you know that you have harmed your senior brother in charge by doing this." The gray-robed old man changed his expression miserably: "How do you say that?" Zhan Mengbai sighed: "That person really pretended to be you, and went to your abbot senior brother to deceive the Dongpo jade belt and Zhuge bronze drum. At that time, your abbot senior brother must have seen the flaw, so he refused to hand it over. , that man was so angry that he used the 'lover's arrow' to assassinate your brother abbot to death..." The already fragile life soul of the old man in gray robe was suddenly hit by this blow. He stared blankly at the cloud and mist, unable to speak for a long time. Zhan Mengbai said harshly: "These demons not only blame you for this crime, but also make others think that you have died in fear of crime. "They must have captured another Jinshan Temple monk alive, disguised him as you, killed him in Liuyun Pavilion, and deliberately let others see him. "So everyone in Jianghu thinks that after you murdered the senior brother in charge, you committed suicide in fear of crime, or were killed by your accomplices. They therefore set up doubts and created a fait accompli. I can't doubt that if I hadn't met you today, not only would you have sunk into the bottom of the sea forever, but this sinister conspiracy would never have been discovered." The old man in gray robe said blankly: "Could it be that those brothers from my sect can't recognize them?" Zhan Mengbai pondered for a while, then suddenly realized, he clapped his hands and said, "That's right, no matter how good their disguise is, they have never been able to deceive the brothers who have been with you for many years." There was a miserable smile on the face of the gray-robed old man, and he said, "My brother who is the head of the sect must have recognized him, and he won't blame me if he dies." For decades, he has been referring to himself as a "poor monk", which has become a deep-rooted habit in him, and he hasn't even changed his mouth just now. But at this moment, his spirit has completely collapsed, his mind is completely lax, and he has recovered his original nature, calling himself "I". People usually become like this when they are under great stimulation and shock. Zhan Meng sighed to himself: "But your brothers are all dead." The gray-robed monk smiled bitterly and said, "Where are the others?" Zhan Mengbai said: "The viciousness and cunning of such a devil is really appalling, he knows that since the abbot can see the flaws, your other brothers in the same sect must also be able to see. "But when he kills your senior brother, if no one sees it, how will others know it's you, so he has to let outsiders see him doing it on purpose." He let out a long sigh, and continued: "Those people can only see your appearance, but can't see any flaws. They will naturally claim that you killed the senior brother in charge. It's just ridiculous that 'Huashan Sanying' still thinks that he is clever in lightness kung fu. How could they think that they are just puppets used by others." The old man in gray robe said with a miserable smile: "My corpse should be recognized by others!" Zhan Mengbai lowered his head and sighed: "I discovered your 'body', so I naturally couldn't see any flaws. When your brothers from the same school were going to collect the body, they hid your 'body' again. Well, he lied to me once and it wasn't enough, he made another mystery on the river boat, not only made me unable to figure it out no matter how I thought about it, but also made me more and more confused. It seems that if I didn't meet you today, I would only have Take this secret to the coffin." There were already many doubts accumulated in his heart, but now they were suddenly revealed, he couldn't help but feel a relief in his chest, and he looked up to the sky and exhaled deeply. The gray-robed old man was silent for a long time, then a miserable smile appeared on the corner of his mouth again, and he said slowly: "You met me today, and you can discover an even bigger secret." Zhan Mengbai was stunned for a moment, and suddenly a flash of inspiration flashed in his heart, and he blurted out: "That's right! They have 'Lover's Arrow' everywhere, so could the pocket book be the secret of 'Lover's Arrow'?" He felt excited, his blood was rushing, and his accent was trembling. The old man in gray robe said slowly: "Listen to me slowly... "That day I heard them tell me how to get the treasure in front of me, so I knew they would never let me go no matter what. "I don't know how long it took, but the man came back and said angrily: 'There is nothing in the bronze drum and jade belt, you dare to lie to me, don't you want to live?' "I heard that they have checked the bronze drum and jade belt, and although they don't know about the assassination of senior brother, they can't help but feel even more uncomfortable. "But the more this happened, the more I wanted to survive, so I laughed and said, 'Even if I lied to you, you dare not kill me.' "The voice sneered and said: 'Your life is in my hands, I can kill you at any moment, why don't you dare to kill you?' "I also sneered and said: 'Your secret is also in my hands, if you kill me, someone will immediately make that secret known to the world.' "The voice seemed to have stayed there for a long while before he let out a long sigh and said slowly: 'Even if you win, where did you put that hand?' "When I heard that there was hope for survival, I couldn't help but said with great joy: 'If I don't tell you about the place where I hide my hand, no one will find it in thousands of years.'" Zhan Mengbai paused and said, "If you say that, it's a bad thing." The gray-robed old man sighed: "I just finished speaking, I don't know if it's good, but it's too late. "The voice really laughed and said: 'Since no one can find that handcuff, how could someone disclose that secret to the world, I almost fell for you.' "Since I have been told the truth by him, I can only wait for death with my eyes closed, and I have nothing to say, just listen to that person wanting to sink me into the river. "Unexpectedly, someone said coldly at this moment: 'No matter what, that hand fold must not be lost outside. Even if this person is rasped to ashes, he must leave his mouth and tell the place where the hand fold is hidden.' "If I had died at that time, I would have suffered much less pain. His words have determined my tragic fate, making it impossible for me to live or die." He slowly stopped speaking, Zhan Mengbai was already terrified. After a long while, the old man in gray robe said slowly: "They first put dozens of poisonous mosquitoes and termites into the small hole..." Zhan Mengbai suddenly closed his eyes and shouted: "Please don't say it!" He really didn't dare to imagine how painful it would be for a person with his hamstring picked, unable to move, curled up in a box, and being bitten by mosquitoes and ants. The old man in gray robe said with a wry smile: "I suffer from mosquitoes and ants every day. The pain cannot be stopped, and the itching cannot be scratched. Although this pain is unbearable to human beings, it is not as good as what I suffer here." Zhan Mengbai tremblingly said: "This...what is the pain here?" The gray-robed old man sighed: "You are carrying the miraculous medicine, so naturally you don't feel the pain, but I... alas! They sent me here only because I endured all kinds of torture and kept my mouth shut. You can imagine it." You know, the suffering here is worse than all the tortures in the world, if I hadn't heard from their words that the secret was related to the 'lover's arrow', I'm afraid I couldn't help but say it." You must know that the "Lover's Arrow" is really too vicious, and everyone in the Jianghu hates it deeply. This gray-robed old man has a strong temperament, and when he heard that this matter was related to the "Lover's Arrow", he refused to tell the truth even if he died—not to mention that he deeply Knowing that even if I say it, I will inevitably die under torture, it is better not to say it, even if I can't lose the reputation of chivalry behind me, at least I can live up to my conscience and die in peace. Zhan Mengbai gritted his teeth, and said sadly: "Master, your determination and courage to endure pain, I really admire you..." He looked up to the sky and breathed out, and continued: "To tell you the truth, master, I also have a deep blood feud with 'Lover's Arrow', I wonder if the master can tell me the secret of the folded hand?" The gray-robed old man nodded and said, "Just ask!" Zhan Mengbai's spirit was shaken, and he said, "What was written on the folded hand?" The gray-robed old man said: "At first I saw the names of those people and the amount of money, but I didn't know what the secret was, but after I knew that this handfold belonged to the 'Lover's Arrow', I thought about the rumors in the world that the 'Lover's Arrow' could be If you buy it with silver money, you can guess the names of those people, they must be the people who bought the 'Lover's Arrow' secretly, and the amount of silver money below is naturally the price they paid for the arrow." Zhan Mengbai said fiercely: "Where in the world can't you make money, why do they use such vicious methods? Isn't it much easier to be a robber?" The gray-robed old man sighed: "Looking at the tightness and size of their organization, but their purpose is not above money, there must be a bigger conspiracy." Zhan Mengbai said: "Is there any other conspiracy?" The gray-robed old man said: "The man who made the arrow must have great ambitions, to completely wipe out all other forces, to dominate the world, and to lead the rivers and lakes. "That's why he made this 'Lover's Arrow', which created an unprecedented disturbance in the Jianghu, making everyone in the Jianghu panic, and talking about the arrow turned pale. "He added a lot of mysterious colors to the 'Lover's Arrow', the double arrows connecting heads, as if there is love, and it must appear on the eve of the full moon. "These must have been deliberately exaggerated by him, causing the 'Lover's Arrow' to slowly create many mysterious and terrifying legends in the Jianghu. "So he took advantage of the hatred between people and secretly sold the 'Lover's Arrow'. "Some scumbags in the world are not strong enough to deal with their enemies, so they naturally want to do everything possible to buy the 'lover's arrow' for revenge. "You must know that if he wants to create a hegemony, he will have to spend a lot of money and need a lot of money. Whether he steals or robs, he will definitely attract the attention of others, and he will even lose his reputation in the battle. Since ancient times, I don’t know how many examples of this kind. But he did this without any effort, teaching others to automatically send a large amount of money obediently. Doesn’t it mean that there is no risk at all? "In addition, the person who bought the arrow was afraid that his secret would be leaked. After revenge, he would naturally obey him in everything and become his subordinate invisibly. "He must have very high martial arts skills and a great reputation. Now he has easy money and subordinates. Naturally, his organization is getting tighter and bigger, but people in the world don't even know who he is. Naturally, no one would hate him. After he eliminated all alien powers, he would change himself and restore his original identity, even breaking the secret of the 'Lover's Arrow' on purpose. "Thus, people in the Jianghu will naturally admire him and embrace him as the real overlord of the martial arts, and obey him in everything, and he is definitely not comparable to those leaders with empty names. All the underworld and white careers have become his world. , how powerful he was at that time, and those who were ruined by the "lover's arrow" will not know the secret of this, and will also obey him wholeheartedly..." Sometimes he sighed long and sometimes laughed wildly, and it was obvious that he was extremely sad, indignant and excited, so he uttered this long paragraph in one breath. Zhan Mengbai was shocked and stunned. After a long time, Zhanmeng Baifang sighed: "Since the appearance of the 'Lover's Arrow', there have been many rumors and legends about it in the world, but no one has an opinion as pertinent and insightful as the master, After this long conversation with Master, I seem to have lived ten years longer." The gray-robed old man said tragically: "I suffer inhuman torture every day here, and I really hate 'Lover's Arrow' to the bone, and I am always looking for his secrets. "The deeper the pain I suffer, the sharper my thinking becomes. No one in the world has ever been so miserable by the 'lover's arrow', and no one has a deeper insight than me." Zhan Mengbai sighed sadly, lowered his head slowly, his eyes swept over, his heart was shocked, and he said in a trembling voice: "Master...you...you..." His face changed terribly, his voice trembled, and it was difficult for him to speak for a while. The old man in gray robe looked down, but instead he looked up to the sky and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, I finally survived the pain for half a day, and I can feel comfortable for half a day." It turned out that the water in the pool has receded a little at this moment, and a three-foot-square rock appeared beside the pool, and the gray-robed old man was standing on this rock. When the water in the pool was high, the water was as deep as his hips. Now when the water receded, his legs were exposed, and the flesh on his legs had been bitten clean by the snakes and insects in the water, leaving only two bony joints. The leg bones are in such a miserable shape that even a man of iron and stone would not bear to see them. Zhan Mengbai felt his stomach churning, bitter water poured out from his throat. The gray-robed old man smiled bitterly and said: "The water in this pool rises day by day and rises at night. When the water rises, I have to endure the pain of immersing my body in the cold pool and being devoured by poisonous snakes. But recently, I have no flesh left, and the poisonous snakes..." Zhan Mengbai let out a cry of pain, and said in a trembling voice, "Master...you...how long have you endured...inhuman torture?" The old man in gray robe said leisurely: "I'm afraid it's been two months." Zhan Mengbai trembled all over, and said: "Two months...Master, you...Why are you..." The old man in gray robe said sadly: "Are you asking me why I am not dead yet?" He looked up to the sky and smiled miserably: "It's not that I don't want to die, but that they don't let me die. Not only did they force me to take various antidotes to make me resistant to snake venom and cold poison, but they also never forget to force feed me some Food, so that I can't live, I can't even die, so that I can continue to suffer from them." The stern and tragic laughter really makes people feel heartbroken. Zhan Mengbai was filled with grief and indignation, his eyes were about to split, and he said harshly: "If I can see those inhumane demons, I will definitely smash them into pieces and avenge you..." The eyelids were slightly closed, tears of grief and indignation welled up in his eyes. The old man in gray robe was silent for a while, then suddenly said slowly: "Perhaps it's not too late." Zhan Mengbai's body trembled, and Huo Di raised his head, his bright eyes were immediately full of hope, and he looked straight at the face of the old man in gray robe. The gray-robed old man said in a deep voice: "Above the cliff halfway up, there is a hidden cave, and there are subordinates of 'Lover's Arrow' hidden in the cave all the year round." Zhan Mengbai's spirit was shaken, he looked up, and saw clouds and mists covering the valley, the walls were cut like knives, it was difficult for birds to fly over. As long as he glanced at it, it was enough to make his blood cool down. But the gray-robed old man still had a warm light in his eyes, and he continued: "The reason why I have survived until now is because every one or two days, someone from that cave would come down with a basket and bring some Drugs and food, force me to take it, I am already like a waste, they have never seen me in their eyes, so only one person comes at a time, and the precautions are very negligent, but you are here this time, isn't it... ..." Zhan Mengbai was already full of joy when he heard it, and now he couldn't help being overjoyed and interrupted: "I'm here this time, isn't it the time for this guy to die?" The gray-robed old man said: "That's right, it's his time of death." The old man's dry and haggard face now had a real smile from the heart, and his pale cheeks also aroused a flush of excitement. He flickered his eyes, and said: "You are hiding in the pool, if he can get down, he won't be able to escape, so you can take the hanging basket and fly up." Zhan Mengbai said: "I hope that the person above who asked for help will not find out that there is a change in the middle." 灰袍老人笑道：“每次垂篮而下之人，不但身穿重衣，头上还罩着木笼，你剥下他的衣衫穿上，还有谁认得你？” 展梦白大喜道：“只怪这些恶徒天夺其魂，到了此刻，还不敢以真面目示人，这却便宜了我。” 灰袍老人叹道：“他们明知我已无法生离此间，是以他们身穿重衣，头戴木笼，倒不是为了不敢以面目示我。” 展梦白大奇道：“那是为了什么，难道是为了要避寒毒？” 灰袍老人道：“水中虽有寒毒，他们不必入水。” 展梦白更是奇怪，道：“如此说来，在下不懂了。” 灰袍老人目光闪烁，道：“若是我的猜测不错，上面那洞窟，便是炼制'情人箭'之地。” 展梦白心头一凛，只听老人接道：“这寒潭之水，想必也是炼制'情人箭'必备之物，是以他们才会不避艰苦，在此地开出洞窟。” 展梦白动容道：“大师这猜测可有什么根据？” 灰袍老人道：“每次有人下来，都要带两桶潭水回去，这潭水绝对不可饮用，他们汲水不是为了炼箭是什么？” 语声微顿，接口又道：“他们若是要掩去面目，戴上个面具便已足够，又何苦身穿重衣，头戴木笼？” 展梦白道：“在下正为此奇怪。” 灰袍老人肃然道：“是以我便推断，他们身上穿的这重衣，头上戴的这木笼，只是为了要抵抗炼箭时所散发的毒气。” 展梦白呆了半晌，方自仰天长叹道：“我为了探寻'情人箭'的秘密，不知受了多少辛苦，当真是上天入地无觅处，哪知此番得来全不费功夫，看来我真要谢谢那将我陷害之人，他若不将我骗到这里，我又怎能发现这'情人箭'的秘密，事到如今，我总算懂得什么叫'因祸得福'了。” ——若是杨璇听得他此刻的言语，心中又不知有何感觉。 灰袍老人凝目望了他半晌，沉声道：“这石上还有落脚之处，你且先上来歇息一阵再说。” 展梦白依言跃上那三尺见方的山石，坐在老人足下。 灰袍老人神情肃穆，沉声道：“你此番若能生还，便需立刻赶到金山寺去，取出那本黑皮手折。” 展梦白道：“在下正要请问大师，那手折的藏处？” 灰袍老人道：“那手折已被老夫以重手法，塞入了金山寺中，方丈室云床的蒲团之中。” 他长叹一声，接道：“你取得手折，切切不可鲁莽从事，必须邀集同道，集合力量，再揭发这震撼天下的秘密。” 展梦白肃然道：“大师以如此重大之责交托于我，在下怎肯鲁莽从事，请大师只管放心好了。” 灰袍老人道：“你生性激烈，不顾生死，但今后切莫忘了你身上已多了副千钧重担，你一人的生死，已关系着天下武林同道的命运，你纵然要死，也要等到揭破'情人箭'的秘密后才能死。”