C55

"Lord, there's nothing here." Chu Zhenye wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the slightly gloomy Duke Huan.

Duke Huai pressed down on his temple. "There's a secret passage to the Dark Palace in the Ming Palace. If we continue searching, we'll definitely be able to find it."

Chu Zhenye said, "But the young prince is not here and those traps are not light, how can we find him?"

Duke Huan could be considered to have witnessed the power of the Puppet Palace's mechanisms, so when he heard the news, he went silent. "Go, give the order for everyone to gather in the empty space, and each of us will go find a place under the shade to rest."

Chu Zhenye received the order and was about to go forward to pass it when he suddenly heard Chen Huayi's surprised voice, "Sir! "Found it."

Duke Huan immediately perked up and pulled at Chu Zhenye. "Let's go take a look." Chu Zhenye sighed because of his lack of rest, but he did not waste any time as he followed Prince Huan in the direction of Chen Huayi's voice.

The four pillars in the hall had all shifted their positions, revealing a flight of stone steps in the middle that allowed one person to enter and descend.

Duke Huan looked around but did not see any traps. He could not help but be surprised. "What's going on?"

Chen Huayi pointed to a pillar beside him and said, "Sir, please take a look. If you look closely, you can see the difference in color in this relief sculpture. There are also extremely hidden cracks around it. Not just this one, but all the pillars inside could be seen. This subordinate boldly tried it out. The four of us pressed this button at the same time and found that the pillar could be pushed, so we gave it a push. "

Duke Huan did not reprimand him for his decision. He pondered for a moment before replying, "Bring me the torch. I'll go down and take a look."

Chu Zhentian was a little taken aback, "Your excellency, you are going there personally? Isn't it too dangerous? "

Chen Huayi eagerly said, "Master, if this really is a secret passage to the Dark Palace, then there must be many dangers and it will take a long time as well. Why don't you take us down with you? "We won't hold back the adults, it's easy to solve the problem."

Prince Huan muttered to himself, "Chen Huayi, go and pick out some nimble people from the Seven Slaughter Army. Chu Zhenye, go call Tao Zhe and the rest. "

Chen Huayi asked, "Do you want to pick randomly?"

Chu Zhenye asked, "Sir, are you bringing those with you that are good at Qing Gong?"

The two of them spoke up at almost the same time, but Duke Huan heard them clearly, "Pick any one that suits you. Pick the suitable ones. Since he was going to deal with a mechanical sect, then he had to be flexible. He asked them to pack the necessary weapons and light them up, so that each of them could use a fire piston. By the way, tell everyone to stay put and not take unnecessary action. Three days is the world. If we don't come back, then let them contact Nine at Nine's Seven Killing Army station. There's no need to look for us. "

Chu Zhenye agreed. Chen Chengyi waved his hand and said, "Sire can personally speak of this matter. It's not appropriate for us to do so either."

Duke Huai hesitated for a moment, then nodded and walked out.

The seventeen people that Chen Huayi had picked were all rather thin. They even called over the deputy general that the Duke of Xin had sent to lead the Seven Deadly Army, Shen Yifan. Duke Huan looked around and felt that there was nothing wrong with it, so he said, "Everyone focus your attention on me, understand?"

The twenty-six answered in unison.

They were all elites, so there was no need to say anything else. Duke Huan said directly, "Then let's enter." He took the torch from Chu Zhenye and walked in.

As he descended the stairs, he was blocked by a stone door. There was a pattern drawn on the stone door, two horizontally and two vertically. There were nine depressions, and next to the picture were nine stones, from one to nine.

Chen Huayi blinked. "These are the nine palaces?"

Duke Huan nodded, "It looks like it. But why did it feel so childish? The first door of the secret passage between two palaces is this kind of thing? "

"Are you afraid of a trap?" Chen Huayi tilted his head to look at the door, then lowered his head to look at the rock, "My lord, please tell me how to put it. Let me give it a try."

Everyone take five steps back." He also retreated a few steps, "Sunset Palace fill 4, Seism Palace fill 3, Zong Palace fill 8, Li Palace fill 9, Mid Palace fill 5, Kan Palace fill 1, Kun Palace fill 2, Ronggong Palace fill 7, Gan Palace fill 6." Chen Huayi pointed his finger down from the top left corner, and did as he was instructed.

With a muffled sound, the stone door slowly opened, revealing a dark passageway. Chen Huayi grinned and made a gesture of success.

Duke Huan also smiled slightly and patted him with his hand. "Hurry up and move forward. Pay attention to the ground." He walked past him and headed inside.

Everyone knew that they could not afford to be careless. Holding their breath and focusing their attention, they followed behind Duke Huan while walking at a slow pace, their fingers never leaving their weapons.

On the contrary, Duke Huai was the least nervous. His eyes constantly scanned his surroundings, stopping whenever there was a possibility that something was wrong. Everyone was waiting for him in silence and patience, not a single trace of impatience or restlessness could be seen on their faces. The traps along the way were not that powerful. They were just a few of the simplest type. Although there were a lot of them, they could be easily avoided if one was careful in walking forward. The path was dark, and Prince Huan had ordered for three torches to be lit. The light from the torches also revealed a few hidden mechanisms.

"What is this?" Seeing the mechanism in front of them, everyone couldn't help but sigh. It was the biggest thing they had seen in their long journey.

A huge eight trigram diagram was drawn on the ground, and it was filled with curves. There were four statues that were as tall as two people standing on four sides. On the wall directly above them, there were countless crossbows hanging from the walls. It was obvious that the top of the wall, which was ten Zhang away from the ground, could not be reached with Qing Gong. With Duke Huai's Qing Gong, however, this huge Eight Trigrams Diagram might not even reach half of the wall.

Everyone silently looked at Duke Huan, waiting for him to figure out a way to break the formation. Duke Huan looked at the dozen pairs of eyes and said snappily, "Don't look at me, I don't know how."

"No?" Tao Zhe shouted with a look of disbelief on his face.

Duke Huan said with his eyes wide open, "Is there really a need to be that shocked? Was this really necessary? I'm not interested in these things. I only know how to pass my time, and the shallow things my royal brother forced me to learn. Look at what this is all about! The eight trigram diagram on the ground, and the four sides of the diagram were baring their fangs and brandishing their claws — these were the four God Beasts. How can I possibly understand such a difficult matter? "

"Master, what is the Eight Trigram Diagram?"

"Lord, what are the four great divine beasts?"

"Master, how do we get there?"

Duke Huan took a deep breath, and said with an expression that said "I'm stupid, you guys are even stupider than me", "The eight trigram diagram is the eight trigram diagram, I don't know anything other than what it is. The four mighty divine beasts were each in charge of four of the Five Elements. The Azure Dragon in the east is wood, the Black Tortoise in the north is water, the White Tiger in the west is metal, and the Vermillion Bird in the south is fire. " He pointed out the four stone sculptures that did not resemble each other at all.

Tao Zhe counted with his fingers: "One more."

Duke Huan was confused. "Missing what?"

Tao Zhe said with a serious face, "There should be five of the five elements. My lord only said four."

Prince Huan said, "That's right, that's four of them. There are four of them here, and I also said that they are 'four of the five elements'."

Tao Zhe asked, "Then what's the other one?"

"Middle earth, middle earth. Because the twenty-eight constellations had four great divine beasts in charge of seven separate nights, these four great divine beasts were generally fixed as representatives. However, the guardian beasts of the Middle Earth have different opinions. If you must say something, it should be a Qilin. " A clear voice sounded from behind him, it was Shen Yi Fan.

Duke Huan froze for a moment, then said happily, "You know what I'm talking about? Then come and take a look."

Shen Yi Fan quickly said: "This general only knows a little, I don't dare to show off."

Prince Huan said, "It's fine. As long as you are stronger than me."

Shen Yifan stammered, "This lowly general dares not compare with Your Highness …"

Duke Huan pulled him over, "Take a look first. It's fine if you can't figure it out, no one will blame you. "I don't know anything. A person is better than me."

Cough, cough." "The imperial guards began to cough dryly, as if they wanted to choke their own throats.

Duke Huan narrowed his eyes and asked, "What are you doing? Say it if you have something to say.

A few guards pushed each other, but no one spoke up. Chen Huayi simply stepped forward and said, "Master, please forgive this subordinate for risking my life to report this. We have no objections to your belittling us, but don't pull us in together and scold us! "

Duke Huan recalled the words he had just said and waved his hand. "A small matter, don't be boggling over small matters."

The guard touched his forehead and said in unison, "Sir, please hurry up and return to normal!"

Duke Huan was only joking around, and after hearing that, his expression became serious. He asked Shen Yi Fan: "Do you have any ideas?"

Shen Yi Fan shook his head and then asked, "What will the Prince think when he sees these four stone statues?"

Duke Huan had obviously thought about it before, and after hearing this, he blurted out, "Five elements, star sign, position."

Shen Yi Fan asked: "What about the eight trigram diagram?"

Duke Huan hesitated and asked, "Alchemy? Formation? Position? And … "Positioning!"

Shen Yi Fan agreed: "I share the same sentiments. Kan is the north, Kun is the southwest, the earthquake is the east, the southeast, the northwest, the west, the northeast, and the south. "

Chu Zhenye was stunned, "This is similar to what you said when you pressed the stone."

Chen Huayi rolled his eyes and said, "It's not that they look similar, it's just something."

Tao Zhe counted with his fingers and shook his head. "No."

Chu Zhenye asked curiously, "What's wrong with that? You understand this too? "

Tao Zhe shook his head, his face still serious. "I don't understand. However, even though Master Shen filled in nine slots, this Master Shen only said eight. "

Chu Zhenye was even more curious. "I didn't see you counting when I said it just now. When did you count?"

"Are you stupid? "Pig-head?" Chen Huayi could not help but knock him on the head, "Of course there are nine slots in the Nine Palace. General Shen said eight slots, is there even a need to count?"

However, he heard Tao Zhe say, "Oh, I was counting in my mind." A pig has four legs, Master Shen said two pigs, and our master also said two pigs, but one of them has a tail. "

Chen Huayi said in amusement, "How can anyone understand that algorithm of yours?"

Chu Zhenye was suddenly enlightened, "Ah! Truly, you can even calculate like this!

"I …" Chen Huayi knocked on his head again and tactfully remained silent. The rest of the guards snickered when they heard his words, but their voices were very quiet, afraid that they would disturb him.

Shen Yifan pointed to the eight trigram diagram and asked, "Sir, have you thought of something?"

Duke Huan looked at the eight trigram diagram thoughtfully and his eyes suddenly lit up, "It's not in the right direction! The eight trigram diagram's direction is different from the direction that the four stone statues are pointing at! "

Shen Yi Fan replied: "Your highness is wise, that's exactly the case."

Duke Huan had been hanging out with a bunch of imperial guards all year round, and those words made him feel extremely awkward. He immediately turned around and said to Chen Chengyi, "Give me the burnt torch."

Chen Huayi, who was currently troubled by 'Pig', was startled upon hearing this. He hurriedly passed the extinguished torch in his hand to King Huan and asked, "Has sire thought of it?"

Prince Huan took the torch and said, "I don't know. I'll give it a try first." He poured some inner strength into the torch and forcefully threw it into the eight trigram diagram.