My heart's speed has quickened and then slowed down, just barely calming down.
My family of three exchanged a glance, and my father's face lit up with extra excitement.
However, he didn't go down directly.
Taking away Tian Gong Spring Water, how can it not be held in both hands?
Walking around the Tian Shou Daoist Temple again, I went to some well-preserved halls and found some bottles, iron kettles, and wooden gourds that could hold water.
Then, the three of us and the ghost followed the passageway downwards.
My parents' preparations were too thorough, and I have never walked on such brightly lit paths underground or in the mountains before.
There were also some coincidences, such as the steps in the mountain belly, which were somewhat similar to the layout of Gao Tian Daoist Temple.
Of course, digging tunnels and steps inside a mountain would naturally take on one of these two forms, so it's normal for them to be similar.
Lao Gong hummed a tune, looking incredibly content. My mother didn't particularly like Lao Gong's singing style, but she occasionally furrowed her brow without saying much.
The time spent on the journey was too dull, especially inside the cave. At least having a mobile phone allowed us to know how much time had passed.
We rested twice along the way, took a nap, and then continued down the mountain.
In the end, we spent about the same time as we did going up the mountain. Only then did Lao Gong stop humming the tune, smiling and saying, "Master, we've finally arrived. Although it feels like a sweet spring water, I still want some now. I think we should all drink plenty of it before continuing on our journey."
My mom immediately whispered, "A hundred taboos, a hundred taboos."
Lao Gong jumped down from my shoulder and rolled down the steps.
We could see a door at the end of the long, narrow steps through the spotlight above my parents' heads.
In front of the stone door, there was a round head, none other than Lao Gong!
Of course, that was a strand of Lao Gong's soul left behind as a guidepost!
In no time, Lao Gong rolled up to the door. In an instant, he merged with the soul left behind as a guidepost, but he didn't stop. He shot inside the door without a pause!
In an instant, my parents' pace quickened.
Involuntarily, I too hastened my pace.
As we approached the door, I saw that there were several sealed stone doors on the walls of the tunnel on either side of the steps!
These were not walls that prohibited entry; they were just doors, as if there was something extraordinary inside.
Without hesitation, our top priority was the Tian Gong Spring Water.
In the next moment, all three of us entered the door.
The light immediately filled the square stone chamber.
As soon as I entered the room, the first thing I saw was a jade-like wellhead.
No, it wasn't just like jade; it was actually jade!
A colossal, round piece of jade was deeply embedded in the ground, slightly elevated like the rim of a well.
The white light from the spotlight shone on the water's surface, and the color of the water was a faint blue, very smooth, giving people a sense of tranquility.
I could see a wall in front of me. The wall was covered with large amounts of black, burnt marks, which were originally supposed to be seal characters, but they were all broken!
The ground was marked with many deep indentations, as if made by people sitting there for years.
"Tian Gong Spring Water!" My father's voice was extremely loud, filled with excitement and joy!
"Mr. Qin... is now awake, this is so good." My mother could not hide her happiness either.
My heart was beating fast as well.
For me, the Tian Gong Spring Water holds a much greater significance!
"Ha ha, it seems that you all really like it here?"
Suddenly, an out-of-place voice echoed from behind us.
"They've been so taken by it that when a ghost went in to explore first and disappeared, you all didn't react?"
The voice was old and carried a hint of an indescribable coldness and killing intent.
My parents froze in place immediately.
My face suddenly changed, I was shocked and turned my head back in horror!
What I saw was a man standing next to the wall by the side of the stone door entrance behind us.
He was dressed in ragged and worn-out Daoist robes, holding a walking stick, and his originally straight back was now hunched over. Although he looked old, he was actually thin and wiry. At this moment, he seemed to be on the verge of exhaustion!
My mind suddenly went blank, and my eyes widened abruptly!
"Tian Shou Taoist!? You..."
I wanted to ask why he was here!
But my words were cut off abruptly.
Because... there's no point in that!
He is already here...
We are even now staring at each other!
But the thing is, Lao Gong came in and even drank some of the Tian Gong Spring Water.
How could we have missed such a big problem!?
We had been assuming throughout the journey that Tian Shou Taoist was not here, and the Tian Shou Daoist Temple was empty of people.
Our vigilance... could be said to have dropped to an all-time low.
We never thought that the place where Lao Gong entered, or even left his residual soul, could be so dangerous!
My parents reacted faster.
They stepped forward suddenly, each blocking me.
In the next instant, my mother held a slender bone in her hand, which was none other than the one I gave her, which came from Luo Kuan's corpse!
My father held something slightly different in his hand, which appeared to be a string of teeth, very eerie!
It looked like there was going to be a deadly fight at any moment!
I quickly pressed down on the shoulders of my parents with both hands, beads of sweat falling like rain.
We can't fight... trying to hit each other is a joke.
Only then did I see that Lao Gong's head was on the ground, trampled but not dissolved, it was flattened and deformed...
"I wonder why Tian Shou Taoist is here?"
"Since you asked about my reasons for being here, I can tell you that I sent my disciples to various places and always had unease in my heart. I wanted to come back and check on the mountain. Also, I knelt before the tombs of all past Taoist masters. The mountain gate was destroyed by my hand, and I feel indebted to all the past masters."
"And to my surprise, the talismans here have been broken!"
"Very good, this ghost thing actually stole to drink Tian Gong Spring Water."
"Yang spirit ghosts cannot come alone, so he must have quickly gone through the wall and left. Haha, he even left behind a strand of his residual soul."
"Tian Shou Taoist cannot possibly scare off the snake and let Sha Sha kill you all. It wouldn't matter much. I want to see who can find their way here."
"Never mind, but seeing it, that's good!"
"Which name do you want me to call you, Liu Zihu or Luo Xianshen?"
Tian Shou Taoist took a step forward, not stepping on Lao Gong's head.
Suddenly, Lao Gong returned to my shoulder, he kept pumping his face and the flattened head, slowly regaining its vitality.
However, his head kept trembling and his lips were slightly trembling.
"I'm dying... I'm going to die..."
This is the usual appearance of Lao Gong!
The effect of the scriptures on purifying him was higher than expected...
But, my heart has cooled to the bottom of the valley.
Struggling to hold back the agony and fear of being trapped with no way out, I lowered my head and whispered hoarsely, "Master, if you want me to call you something, just say so. But one should take responsibility for their own actions. It was I who accidentally injured you, not my parents. If you want to kill or torture me here, it's all up to you. Please let my parents live."
Tian Shou Taoist took two more steps forward, but he coughed twice and slightly shook his head.
"Taking refuge directly? You seem like a completely different person from before. If you continue to beg for mercy like this, then the three of you will spend the rest of your lives here in eternal sleep."
Tian Shou Taoist's face was smiling in an odd way, with a touch of ridicule.
My dad's face looked awful, beads of sweat still dripped continuously...
The first feeling that surged through my heart was helplessness, followed by a fierce determination!
Tian Shou Taoist, is it to toy with, torment, and eliminate the grudge in your heart like a cat playing with a mouse before eating it?
That's not easy!
I quickly reached into the night pot bag!
Grasping the two bone fingers, I pulled them out without hesitation and inserted them into my mouth!
"Hmm?!" Tian Shou Taoist obviously sensed something was wrong and quickly reached for my hands!
