If I don't have money to go to college, I can only go to slay the dragon.

There was the sound of water droplets in the darkness, clear, long, and reverberating.

Everything was dark.

If you try to look deeper, you will see two clusters of warm halos burning on the left and right.

"That's almost it." The woman in front said.

Chu Zihang, who was blindfolded with black cloth, stopped and raised his head. The soft sound of the soles of his last shoes colliding with the hard stone surface echoed in the long space.

"Eh? Are you here yet? Does that mean you can take off the cloth? If you see something you shouldn't see, you won't be pushed to the Meridian Gate and beheaded, right?"

Chu Zihang heard Xia Mi's voice. The distance was very close, less than ten centimeters to his left. When he raised his left hand and formed an angle of about 15 degrees with his side, he should be able to touch Xia Mi's soft breasts. Outside of the little finger of the right hand.

"You can take off the cloth strip." The woman in front said again.

Someone behind Chu Zihang took off the cloth that covered his eyes. After his vision returned, the first thing he saw was Li Qiuluo standing upright in front of him, but Chu Zihang subconsciously turned around to look behind him.

No one was seen except for a long arched stone path. Rows of bright lamps hung around the three-meter wide stone path, extending to the far distance and converging into a bright point, showing how long this road is. .

He looked to the left again. Next to him, Xia Mi, who was covered with black cloth in front of his eyes, was standing upright in the tunnel with his hands behind his back. However, even though he was blindfolded, his little head was tilted to the east and west. However, her delicate nose would twitch from time to time, making her very restless.

Chu Zihang raised his hand to take off the black cloth from her face. Xia Mi was dazzled by the candlelight in the tunnel. He raised his hand and rubbed his eyes, then started to arch his eyes left and right, looking up and down, left and right, and immediately became aware of what he was seeing. He was surprised by the environment he was in, "Is this a tunnel? Damn it, weren't we in the Forbidden City before? Wait. Did you build a secret tunnel under the Forbidden City?"

Yes, they are currently underground in the Forbidden City. The environment they are in is such a secret passage. It is paved with blue-gray stone. It is three to four meters wide and four to five meters high. It is cramped but not too narrow. The only light source. There are lamps and candles on both sides, which also make the entire stone path burn brightly, and the arrangement of light and shadow is so orderly that it makes people feel peaceful.

"The "Records of the Qianlong Dynasty" mentioned that there may be many enclosed palaces underground in the Forbidden City. These palaces may be private residences, sacrificial places or other special-purpose buildings for the monarchs of the Ming and Qing dynasties. These passages connect those A secret passage in an underground building? I thought it was just a folk legend."

Chu Zihang raised his hand and touched the gray stones full of age in the tunnel beside him. If he admitted it correctly, the inner surface of the entire tunnel was paved with "ten thousand-year stones". According to the current classification, it should be called " "Blue and white stone" is a kind of marble. It has the characteristics of hard texture, delicate texture and not easy to weather.

Li Qiuluo stood alone in front of the secret passage and said, "You are the distinguished visitors of the secret party. In order to increase the trust between us, we always need to let you know more about the basics of orthodoxy. This exchange and learning I think both of us are We do this with a friendly attitude, and we hope to eliminate some of the stereotyped barriers between us.”

"You must know that very few people know the true location of the orthodox institutions. In the cooperative relationship between the secret party and the orthodox, it is necessary to appropriately exchange knowledge and enhance understanding. Please cherish this opportunity and work together. It is not an easy task to convince the clan leaders to accept 'outsiders' for learning and exchange at the tea party. If anything goes wrong, as the commander-in-chief of Lang Juxu, I will be fully responsible."

Chu Zihang nodded slightly to express his understanding.

Just yesterday, he was being carried around the Old Summer Palace by Xia Mi, who was holding a candy man and a candied haws on a stick. On a whim, he contacted Li Qiuluo on his mobile phone and asked if he could visit some orthodox infrastructure and learn about the operation of various orthodox departments. Way.

Originally, he made the call with the mentality that he would be rejected, but what he got was a moment of silence and the necessary waiting time for reporting.

Obviously, the fact that he is standing here now means that the application for visit and study submitted by Li Qiuluo has been approved. The people who approved their request are naturally the clan leaders who are the most powerful in the orthodox tradition, and those senior and powerful elders are happy It was agreed that Chu Zihang and Xia Mi, two young people from the Secret Party, would come to the Orthodox interior as guests.

Chu Zihang didn't know what those old people were hiding, but he would definitely not let go of this excellent opportunity to spy on information. Moreover, he himself was also very curious about how this hybrid force entrenched in the Eastern world worked. He was waiting for Unveil the mystery of orthodoxy,

"However, Commander Li, you said that the orthodox clan elders who persuaded the clan elders at the tea party will still hold tea parties regularly? Do the orthodox clan elders still have the heart of a girl who loves to hold tea parties?"

Xia Mi bent forward and stared at a bronze dragon lantern hanging on the stone wall. The dark golden copper dragon stepped on the auspicious clouds, and the dragon's tail bent out of the lid and fell on the burning lamp plate on the dragon's back. , there are circles of grease floating around the wick in the plate, and there is a strong aromatic smell.

"Don't speak nonsense." Li Qiuluo shook his head and showed disapproval, "It's better to say less disrespectful words. Please read more, ask more, do less, and discuss less during the next trip."

Xia Mi stuck out his tongue and made an apologetic gesture, pointed to the bronze dragon lantern in front of him, and awkwardly changed the subject, "Uh, is this the legendary everlasting lantern? Is the fuel inside really mermaid ointment?"

""Taiping Yulan·Huo Bu San·Leng" quotes "San Qin Ji" and says: In the tomb of the First Emperor, whale paste was burned as a lamp. The so-called mermaid paste is just whale oil. The thousand-year-old lamp uses whale oil as a candle." Li Qiuluo explained with his hands behind his back, his figure under the light of the oil lamp, his shadow like a sharp sword hanging on the ground of the secret passage, "During the Qin Dynasty, the alchemist Xu Fu was ordered by the First Emperor to search for the elixir of immortality. However, he turned back without success and reported to Penglai Fairy Island. On the way, he came across a huge magical fish as big as a mountain. This magical fish blocked his way to find the elixir. After hearing the news, the First Emperor thought that it was a correct signal to seek immortality. Longyan was so happy that he sent heavy troops to kill the magical fish. Take the fish oil and burn it on the altar to pray for Xu Fu who is looking for the elixir of immortality."

"Oh, so these oils are whale oils?" Xia Mi curiously stretched out her little finger to get some oil foam. Li Qiuluo did not stop her and just stood still at a distance. When her little finger was about to touch the oil surface, her wrist He was gently held by another stretched out hand.

Chu Zihang gently shook his head at Xia Mi, who was looking at him, and signaled her not to touch things that had not been truly defined.

After seeing him stop Xia Mi, Li Qiuluo, whose ever-bright lamp could not illuminate, turned her eyes slightly, turned around and walked towards the depths of the secret passage. Rows of ever-bright lamps burned quietly on both sides of her, and the voice gradually fell from the front. , "Please follow the two secret party visitors and don't get lost in the secret passage. Even today, the traps in the secret passage underground of the Forbidden City have not been dismantled, and have even been modified and adjusted. Once you get lost in a place you shouldn't go, it will be An extremely dangerous thing. If an accident does happen, please ask your lost friends to stand there and wait for rescue, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."

"Well, if we accidentally trigger the mechanism, will a big rock roll out and crush us?"

"I can only tell you that it is very dangerous." Li Qiuluo suddenly stopped, looked back at Xia Mi, nodded slowly and repeated, "It is very dangerous."

"Uh, okay." Xia Mi immediately became more honest after being stared at by this mature woman. Maybe Li Qiuluo reminded her of the young professors at Kassel College, both of whom had very bad tempers. Good (after all, the teaching resources are not enough and it is difficult to control the young students. If there are too many cerebral hemorrhages, the temper will be bad).

Following Li Qiuluo and walking in the quiet secret passage, Xia Micat whispered to Chu Zihang, complaining in a low voice that Orthodoxy was so stingy. Kassel College was open to Orthodoxy, and exchange students could often be seen in the library. They were munching on information, and the pork knuckles and mashed potatoes in the cafeteria were also given away for free. Why did they have to be blindfolded when they came to the orthodox side? unfair! It's so unfair!

Chu Zihang did not show any sympathy for Xia Mi's mutterings. He observed the surroundings while walking in the secret passage. From time to time, he put his hand on the bluestone wall to feel the delicate feel of the ten thousand year stone, as well as the thickness and depth of the earth behind the stone. .

They entered the tunnel from a remote courtyard in the Forbidden City, or they didn't even know the entrance to the tunnel. Standing in the courtyard, Li Qiuluo just put on black cloth for them, and after a moment, asked them to go to the tunnel. As they walked forward, they were reminded from time to time to turn around, and when they finally took off the black cloth, they were already deep in the secret tunnel beneath the Forbidden City.

"Orthodox is generally composed of three departments, two cabinets, one department, and one room. Maybe guests of the secret party have heard of it, but I still introduce it in advance before leading you to visit these departments and offices." Li Qiuluo's voice was similar to The sound of footsteps came steadily from the front and was clearly audible in the secret passage. There was no possibility of being missed or missed.

"The three orthodox divisions are: [Lingluo Shou] [Searching House] [Lang Juxu]. The second pavilion is: [Tianji Pavilion] [Tianding Pavilion], one department belongs to [Danding Division], and one room ."

"I know this. The first room must refer to the [Imperial Dining Room], right? I remember that orthodox and hospitable friend, his name seems to be Sima. He mentioned it when we were having dinner in the courtyard, and you were there to take care of us. The banquet hosted by Xichen was prepared by the [Imperial Dining Room]." Xia Mi acted as a class representative and walked beside Chu Zihang and raised his hand to answer.

"Yes, the imperial dining room. It seems that Xuxu told you a lot." Li Qiuluo, who was walking in front, did not look back, and his words were very natural, as if he was not surprised.

"Can you elaborate on what the respective responsibilities of these departments are?" Chu Zihang asked.

"Actually, these departments are not mysterious. You two have actually come into contact with three of them. We will follow the prescribed route and follow the 'Seven Stars' completely." Li Qiuluo said, "Every department The responsibilities of each door are not as complicated as imagined. To put it simply, they can be roughly classified as: Tianji Pavilion·Forging Magical Works. Alchemy Division·Yao Bai Gu. Imperial Kitchen·Food Qi Sheng. Wolf. Juxu·Tiefu Tu. Lingluo Shou·Golden Seal Shou. Remaining Site·Zangqingwu. Tianding Pavilion·Ziu Yun."

"I feel confused." Xia Mi didn't read enough books and was a little confused.

"Hearing is worse than seeing. Your first stop is almost here." Li Qiuluo stopped at the end of the stone path. The arched secret passage finally came to an end, and at the end was an arched bronze door.

Standing behind Li Qiuluo, Chu Zihang saw two bronze dragon pillars running through the stone paths on the left and right sides of the gate, as if supporting the heaven and earth of this secret path.

Chu Zihang stared at the two dragon pillars intently. He inexplicably felt a sense of heat rising from the bottom of his heart. It was an indescribable heat that had nothing to do with the fire in his heart. It was just a simple "heat" "Saving up money, resonating with the bronze dragon pillar.

"Senior brother, do you feel a little warm suddenly?" Xia Mi suddenly asked beside him.

Chu Zihang frowned and moved his eyes away from the dragon pillar, falling towards the bronze door. His eyes were immediately filled with a strange relief painting carved on it.

At this moment, the heat in his heart increased instead of decreasing, reaching the extreme, and he breathed out scorching air unconsciously. The jet black metal texture does not seem to give people a cold and slippery feeling when touched. On the contrary, when the eyes fall on the jet black metal, they can suddenly visualize the light and heat flowing like magma before the relief was cast.

It is pure "temperature", the static "fire element".

On the bronze iron door, there is a strange man with an animal body and a human face and two arms burning branches of fire, riding two dragons and wrapped in a large cluster of auspicious clouds, soaring in the mountains and seas. "The Classic of Mountains and Seas: Overseas Nanjing" records: "Nan Zhurong has a beast body and a human face, riding two dragons."

"Behind the door is the first stop we want to visit today. Tianji Pavilion." Li Qiuluo turned back to look at the two of them and said calmly.