Chapter 423 Chapter Two: The Study of Heart Warfare

The sun was finally below the western mountains. Since the afternoon, the clouds in the sky have become thick, and the clear weather is only a flash in the pan. Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong sat in a corner of the restaurant, and ordered steamed buns and side dishes, to feed their stomachs before entering the well to explore and hunt for treasure.Today is the second day of the new year, and there are not many shops open for business. This is one of them, so it is crowded with diners. Diagonally opposite is the back wall of Dugu's Xiji Garden. Although shops and big restaurants are concentrated in the east and west cities, such restaurants are scattered in the Lifang of the whole city in response to demand.

The inns are mostly set up on thoroughfare avenues like Suzaku Street. Kou Zhong looked at Jing Zhongyue and the cloth bag full of exploration tools that had been wrapped aside, and said with a smile: "I left my leaving book and put it under the pillow, so that leaving happily and easily like this will be beneficial to both the Sha family and me. There are two other letters, one for Li Yuan and one for Li Jiancheng, so that I don’t have to explain it all, writing three letters at a time takes up my entire time, it’s really hard work.” Bite a steamed bun, and said: "Of course Zhu Yuyan, Shi Zhixuan, and Zhao Deyan are not good men and women, and they behave very similarly on the surface. They always like to use tricks, and they are ruthless in dealing with things. But I always feel that there is still a big difference between them. Young Master Ling thinks how?"

Xu Ziling said: "I'm not familiar with Zhao Deyan, but I just saw that he suddenly used the trick of kidnapping and extorting people, and even used the 'seven needles to control the gods' to deal with Brother Lei, but the method was straightforward. The smell of winning tickets shows that this person has both courage and the spirit of adventure and fighting. When we fight against him, we must pay attention to his style and character." Kou Zhongdao: "How is Zhu Yuyan compared to others?" Xu Ziling pondered: "Zhu Yuyan doesn't seem to be as ruthless as she puts on. In fact, she is a person with rich emotions. At least she has become irrational towards Yue Shan and Shi Zhixuan. Just sitting in her position, I have to take the real He hides his feelings and pretends to be ruthless. If he is really ruthless, he has to count Shi Zhixuan. But even Shi Zhixuan still can't pass the test of his daughter's father-daughter relationship."

Kou Zhong nodded and said: "I totally agree with what you said. I just saw that Zhu Yuyan carefully cultivated a girl, and Shi Zhixuan defended the two apprentices from the left to the right, and made the two apprentices fight to the death for the "Immortal Scroll". It can be seen that Shi Zhixuan is a A person who only cares about himself. As for Zhao Deyan, he is another kind of person. He is more sinister and cunning than Zhu Shi and the other two. He will never lose his self-control due to impulsiveness or anger. Jie was abusive and helped Jieli invade the Central Plains."

Xu Ziling poured him tea and said with a smile, "Why are you suddenly so interested in discussing their differences in personality?" Kou Zhong's eyes sparkled, and he said in a low voice: "I'm looking for weaknesses in their characters, to see if there's anything I can take advantage of. I'm the most vague about Shi Zhixuan. You've fought against him three times, so you should be clearer than me." Xu Ziling said: "He doesn't talk much, my intuition is that he thinks very highly of himself, is aloof, and looks down on anyone. In fact, there are not many who are qualified to be his opponent."

Kou Zhong thought about it: "Even if you know the difference in their personalities, they still won't play any role in the carefully planned operation. Do you understand what I mean?" Xu Ziling nodded to express his understanding, because when a person calculates rationally, he will try not to be restrained by emotions and his own personality, and at the same time, he must have time to accommodate other opinions, which will reduce personal subjectivity to a low level. Kou Zhongcheng said with confidence: "But when they find that all the original plans are useless, the situation will be another matter. That's why I deliberately created this situation, so that the enemies on all sides will suddenly change. At this time, if we have to act without careful consideration, then we have an opportunity to take advantage of it."

Xu Ziling smiled and said, "Stop talking nonsense, go down and see what's going on first, and then decide what to do." The two climbed over the courtyard wall one after another and hid in a pile of grass and bushes. The target Beijing was about two feet away. Kou Zhong whispered: "I'm really worried that there is no entrance below, what should I do then?" Xu Ziling understood that he was worried about gains and losses, and comforted him: "The possibility of this is very slim, but you must test your unscrupulous apprentice's work on mechanism skills, go!"

The two skimmed a distance of two feet and plunged into the well. The well water was freezing cold. They held their breath and sank down to the bottom of the well, where the light was hard to come by and they were in the water, not to mention it was late at night, their eyesight was useless and they could only act by their senses. The bottom of the well suddenly opened up, and as expected, the bottom of the well was connected to an underground river. If it were someone sent by Li Jiancheng, they would not know where to explore the underground river at this time, but since they were sure that the treasure house should be in the underground of Wulou Temple, and the direction was clear, they dived there.

After diving and groping for nearly ten feet in the narrow and rugged river, Xu Ziling gently pulled Kou Zhong to express that something was wrong. Kou Zhong immediately understood, because not everyone has the ability to hold their breath in water for a long time like them and only rely on internal breathing, so if the entrance is too far from the bottom of the well, it doesn't make sense. And the underground river keeps going deeper and down, isn't it getting farther and farther away from the ground? After a while, the two emerged from the bottom of the well. Kou Zhongdao: "It must not be in the underground river, because the underground river will change due to the change of the soil, so some wells will suddenly dry up, and the entrance should be somewhere on the bottom wall of the well."

Xu Ziling calmed his breath and said, "From now on, I won't rely on your stupid mechanism to learn, because what I kicked with my left foot must be the entrance mechanism." Kou Zhong said happily: "Don't move!" He turned back to the bottom of the well, followed Xu Ziling's foot to touch the problematic stone, and it really protruded an inch from the well wall. , should not miss it carelessly. Kou Zhong yelled in his heart for God's blessing, and pressed hard on the half-foot-square stone. Under the anticipation of the two, the sound of "cracking" touched the ears in the narrow and long space at the bottom of the well.

On top of Xu Ziling's head floating on the surface of the well, the wall of the well sank slowly, revealing an entrance that only allowed one person to pass through. Kou Zhong floated up and said happily: "My mother, I finally succeeded!" Xu Ziling sighed, "I don't have confidence." Kou Zhong was stunned and said, "Why do you need confidence? The entrance is right in front of you, as long as you don't have no hands or feet, you can climb in." Xu Ziling said, "It's not that I don't have confidence in the treasure house, but that I don't have confidence in your mechanism." Kou Zhong was in a good mood, he had no time to care about his teasing, and said with a smile: "Auspicious people have their own talents, I just didn't have a chance to show it just now, Master Ling, let my younger brother take the lead." He took the lead and climbed up the wall, and got into the dark small square hole. The channel first extends upwards obliquely for five feet, and then changes downwards, which is quite steep. Surprisingly, the four walls of the secret passage were not covered with moss, the most humid and dark plants, and the air was suffocatingly stuffy. Fortunately, the two had the special skill of "fetal breath" of turning external breathing into internal breathing, and it was as if they were underwater Walk like holding your breath.After kneeling down for more than ten zhang, Kou Zhong suddenly stopped and said triumphantly: "One more push of the button, brother! I didn't lose my prestige this time, did I?" Xu Ziling knew that he was well-behaved and didn't dare to miss any unusual situations. He nodded behind and said, "You are an expert, and everything is up to you. You don't need to consult my layman's opinion." Kou Zhonghao took the time to discuss: "It's just that this secret passage made of granite is already a wonderful workmanship. I don't know how much manpower and material resources were used back then. The most rare thing is that so many people were involved and used. How could it be hidden from Yang Jian? It can be seen that Yang Su must have had power over the world at that time." While speaking, he pressed down the button protruding from the left wall in the same way as he did. The sound of "rolling" sounded again. A section of the passage where the two were in suddenly moved, leading them to slide down. This change was beyond the two's expectations. When they cried out inappropriately, there was an unpleasant squeaking sound of pulleys rubbing against the granite from under the wall, and because the narrow passage only had room for him, his ability to adapt to changes was greatly restricted, and he had no way to retreat. , In horror, this section suddenly became a movable passage, leading the two people who couldn't help themselves to slide down, and couldn't stop speeding up. The two of them told me that my life was over, and with a "boom", the moving passageway, after diving nearly twenty feet, collided somewhere, and stopped suddenly. But they didn't have the good luck to stop the passage, and they were brought to another space in the vast darkness by the strong impact. Their bodies fell in the air, with two puffs, and they fell into a fishnet-like thing respectively. Bounced up and fell again, the two young masters were so shocked that their bodies were numb, their heads were dizzy, and they didn't know what happened in the world. Their nightmare is not over yet, the net suddenly fell, and after falling nearly ten feet, the net closed down with the falling trend, and at the moment of the fall, the net just happened to bind the two of them firmly, unable to move, your head is tight Stick my feet. Since his debut, he has never tried such a field. The sound of the underground river flowing, gurgling, sounded under this absolutely dark space. The net wobbled, turning left and right, as if it would never stop. Kou Zhong sighed: "I only now understand what Master Lu wrote in his book 'The study of organs, mind warfare is the main thing, cunning is secondary, and everything else is equal'. The first button is safe, so how can people think of the second one?" This button is such a mother's trap." There were echoes, showing the depth of the crypt. Xu Ziling said in a deep voice: "Don't breathe, this place is full of methane gas, even if you take half a breath, there will be problems." After the net turned completely, it turned back in the opposite direction, from slow to fast. Suspended in an underground cave where you can't see your fingers, even a great master of martial arts will lose the sense of position and direction. Kou Zhong said: "Have you ever breathed? Otherwise how would you know?" Xu Ziling smiled wryly and said, "I want to see if there is a vent in this space. Alas! If I'm not wrong, I was thrown in like dumping waste just now. If not, the tunnel should be full of methane gas." Although the air in the tunnel earlier was stuffy, there was no poisonous and fatal methane. Kou Zhongdao: "The only way to be lucky is that this net is not woven with silkworm silk like the net of the beautiful army teacher, but is refined with thick beef tendon. However, after so many years, it has become rotten. I tried my best to break it, and guaranteed to shatter every inch, but in this situation, how dare I act rashly, what does Young Master Ling say?" Xu Ziling said: "Our only hope now is to find the way we came from just now. Didn't you read Mr. Lu's remains more than ten times? Use your little head to think about it." Kou Zhongdao: "What can a small head think of? But small eyes can see a lot of things. I carry more than a dozen fire lights with me, all of which are wrapped in tarpaulins. Don't be afraid. Sigh! Do you want to take this risk? What about it? Our breath-holding magical skills will not last long." Xu Ziling understood what he meant, shook his head and said: "In a cave with methane gas, it is most taboo to light a fire. You can save your firelight to be used when we commit suicide! This time it seems that it is a prophecy. The difference is that even if we have gongs There are drums to beat, but the sky should not be heard, and the earth should not be heard." Kou Zhong cast a aimless glance at the darkness, and said with a smile, "If we can return to the ground and tell people walking around on Zhuque Street that there is another world below, I guarantee that no one will believe it. Come on! Let's leave first. here." The net finally stopped. "Chi Chi" repeatedly. Kou Zhong sent out dozens of lines of fingering wind in one breath, slammed into all directions, and hit the cave wall, causing sand and stones to shatter.Suddenly came the sound of "dang"! Kou Zhongxi said, "Success!" Xu Ziling also heard that the sound of one of the finger winds was different, most likely it was touching the steel plate sealing the hole, otherwise there would be no sound like gold and iron. The senses of the two were so keen that they could instantly grasp the position of the steel plate. The net moved again. Xu Ziling's vase imprinted energy quickly, and the force of the rebound caused the net to swing towards the steel plate. The two of them exercised strength at the same time, as Kou Zhong expected, the net shattered inch by inch. Lifting their breath in the air, taking advantage of the momentum, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling dexterously pounced towards the steel plate like a bird out of the cage, and successfully adsorbed to the cave wall of the concave and convex rocks on both sides of the steel plate. Xu Ziling reached out to knock on the steel plate and said, "Master Kou, how do you open the door?" Kou Zhongdao: "Master Lu said clearly in the opening book of organ learning that civil engineering is a shady study. It is to accumulate virtue and must give people a chance at a desperate situation. According to his style, there must be a way to open the gate in this cave. , the question is whether we can find out!" Xu Ziling pondered and said: "To find a button in such a vast and unfathomable crypt, we would have been unable to hold our breath before we found it. Therefore, if Mr. Lu really left a way out, the location of this button should be deduced. .Eh? Miserable!" Kou Zhong shook his body, looked up at the dark place, nodded and said: "Yes! It must be where the rope is suspended on the top of the wall. Alas! It would be better if the cable net was not shaken to pieces." Xu Ziling freed his right hand and fired his fingers, and it took a long while before he hit the top wall with a sound of "Du". The two were stunned, hearing the echo, the distance from here to the top of the cave was at least ten feet away. Kou Zhong climbed up without saying a word, then returned to the original place after a while, and said with a wry smile: "The more you climb, the smoother and wet it will be, even with my gecko skills, I may not be able to reach the center of the cave roof. The worst thing is that this kind of luck consumes a lot of real energy, which makes me even more breathless. Fortunately, I still have the last trick, ha!" Xu Ziling didn't need him to explain. He reached into the pouch on his back and took out the long rope, and said with a wry smile, "I don't believe your rope is ten feet long. My mother! It's only two feet long. What's the matter?" use?" Kou Zhong said confidently: "Please find out, I still have one. I, Kou Laozhong, am the most fair person, how could I not take your share." Xu Ziling reached out and touched again, and sure enough there was another tendon rope, and said, "It's none of your business again, the things inside are prepared for us by occupying the road." Kou Zhong smiled and said: "Everyone is ready. A rope is tied around my waist, and you hold the other end in your hand. I don't need to tell you that Young Master Ling should know what to do! Let's have an 'immortal explorer' first." Pointing upwards, the wind bursts. The fault is that the two of them can use Zhifeng as spies instead of other people. Under this situation, they must be helpless. Kou Zhongdao: "I found it! The feeling of fingering the wind hitting it is completely different, come on!" The two of them exerted strength at the same time, pumped out their palms, bounced away from the cave wall, and slammed into the sky behind them. Suddenly they came to the center of the cave, Kou Zhong took a breath in the air, soared up, swung the two zhang long rope straight in his hand, shot towards the target, and stabbed straight. If someone is watching from the sidelines, they will be amazed that they can still find the target exactly after a series of movements and displacements in such darkness. Xu Ziling just felt it was a matter of course, so he took a breath of true energy and rushed towards the cave wall next to the steel plate. Kou Zhong borrowed Sola's power to successfully jump to the original place. The sound of "rolling" came again. The iron plate finally reopened. Both of them felt exhausted, and they crawled back into the cave one after another. It is not known whether their weight touched the mechanism at the bottom of the wall, but the steel plate fell down again, sealing the entrance of the cave. Kou Zhong suggested: "I can't hold my breath! Why don't you crawl back to the bottom of the well, catch your breath, and come back to find the entrance!" Xu Ziling's situation was not much better than his, so of course he agreed, he hurried back to the original road. Climbing down and then sliding down, and finally returning to the entrance at the bottom of the well, I was terrified at once, because the exit at the bottom of the well had been sealed. Xu Ziling didn't say a word, turned around and crawled inside again, if they couldn't find the entrance again, they would never be able to leave this place.