Chapter 54: Statue (Catching Bugs)
The Lu family has always been a well-known wealthy family in Luming City. The ancestors of the Lu family once served the gods of Dongchang, so some people believe that this is why the Lu family has a higher probability of passing the trial than others.
The mansion is located in the center of the city, with red gates, high walls, green tiles and flying eaves, and is magnificent.
However, today is the day when the descendants of the main and side branches of the Lu family gather here to go for the trial, so the kind vermilion gate has not been opened. All the side branches of the Lu family from all over Dongchang have gathered in front of the gate waiting.
People were more or less nervous, and they gathered in groups of three or four to talk.
Lu Fei was one of them. He had prepared as best he could, but he still had no idea what the content of the trial was.
So he leaned over and asked very bluntly, "What exactly is the content of the trial?"
The people next to him looked at him and saw Lu Fei and Jian An Ning behind him.
"Who knows?" the man said, and then continued, "But, are you going to participate in the trial with your sister?"
The people who came to the Lu Mansion were probably all members of the Lu family, so that person mistook Lu Fei and Jian An Ning for siblings. Lu Fei didn't intend to refute and said, "That's right, it's good for the two of them to look after each other."
The man snorted and said, "That's not necessarily true. The trial is extremely dangerous. Be careful, or you two might get killed."
"quiet--"
The red door opened wide, and Lu Fei's words of rebuttal were blocked by the silence.
Moreover, Lu Fei was shocked to find that he could not make any sound even when he opened his mouth, as if the silence was an irrefutable golden rule.
Is this the power that a cultivator possesses? Lu Fei's heart was burning with anger.
Two young men walked out of the door, with arrogant expressions and colorful clothes. It was obvious at a glance that they were extraordinary.
After the two young men were five people from the main branch of the Lu family who were also going to participate in the trial with Lu Fei and others.
When the two young men saw the huge crowds of people at the gate of Lu's mansion, they didn't say much. They just chanted something and took out two palm-sized apricot-yellow flags in their hands.
They inserted the two flags into the bluestone ground, and the ground shook.
Then a passage appeared out of thin air in the middle, with the two flags as the boundary.
One of the young men said to the crowd, "Follow me, hold each other's hands and go in, otherwise who knows where you will fall."
After he said that, he walked in front, and the people from the main branch of the Lu family who followed him followed very obediently.
Naturally, Lu Fei had no reason to disobey. He held the hand of the person in front of him, and also held Jian An Ning's hand, and followed the people in the long queue into the passage.
Another young man followed at the end of the crowd. He counted the number of people who came to participate in the trial, with a satisfied expression on his face.
He knew very well that if the Lu family wanted to continue its power and status, it would need more members of the Lu family to pass the trial.
At the end of the passage is a dark place.
This place seemed to be somewhere underground, where the sun could not be seen at all. Even ordinary people like Lu Fei felt they could not breathe when they came out of the passage.
It was the young man who led them who cast a spell that allowed them to walk normally here.
Lu Fei looked around and found that it was not completely dark here. There were some halos not far away, and a slightly burning feeling.
They continued to follow the young man and gradually approached the halo.
That was the light emitted by the exposed magma, and the scorching heat made it difficult to breathe.
There were dark rocks all around, and the road they were walking on was also made of these dark rocks.
In the center of this sea of magma is a palace carved from dark rock. The palace is very majestic. From Lu Fei's perspective, it seems to be suspended above the sea of magma, connected to it only by a stone bridge that can only accommodate one person.
The young man leading them spoke with a hint of warning, "Ahead lies the absolute domain of the gods. I will remove the restrictions on your language, but you must not speak or move without reason, nor disrespect the gods."
The young man then made a hand gesture and explained, "We are deeply blessed by the gods, which is why we have the opportunity to escape from the ranks of mortals. Therefore, before each trial, we must first pay homage to the gods."
As he spoke, he produced a large number of garlands from somewhere. The garlands were very long and looked like a huge necklace. They were covered with bright red pomegranate flowers and gave them to everyone.
"The specific practice of this ritual is to offer the garland to the deity, then kneel down and touch the deity's toes with your right hand, and then touch your forehead with your right hand."
"The gods are merciful and do not reveal themselves to mortals. Therefore, there is only one statue in that temple. However, you must show the same respect to the statue as to the gods themselves."
Lu Fei understood what to do next, but he was a little puzzled. Since gods needed to be worshipped, why hadn't he seen a statue in Dongchang?
The young man answered Lu Fei's question as if he had telepathy.
"After you have seen the statues, you must offer sacrifices to the gods regularly. The gods are merciful and know that offerings are difficult for ordinary people, so they hide their forms from mortals. That is why you have never seen the statues of the gods spread all over Dongchang."
After the young man finished explaining, he clasped his hands together and turned towards the stone bridge.
The stone bridge was very narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass through, so the people who came to take the trial also imitated the young man, put their hands together, and crossed the stone bridge like a long dragon.
And the test of the trial seemed to begin from here.
The stone bridge is not close to the lava, but the heat waves from the lava below give people the illusion of walking through flames.
Soon, some weak people could not hold on any longer and fell into the sea of magma.
The people walking on the stone bridge were all shocked when they heard the scream, but the young man in the front did not look away and was not moved at all.
And they also remembered what the young man had just said. From here on, it was the absolute domain of the gods, and they were not allowed to speak or move recklessly or disrespect the gods.
So no one even dared to look back.
Then, a few more people couldn't hold on and fell off the stone bridge. Just by walking across the bridge, many people lost their chance to participate in the trial.
Then, the remaining people finally arrived in front of the temple.
The gate of the temple is very high and the end is as far as the eye can see. It is engraved with gorgeous and complex patterns and inlaid with various gems.
Those gems kept flashing under the halo of magma, like stars in the night sky, as if hiding some kind of pattern.
When the young man walked to the front door, the door opened automatically as if it had sensed something.
The rest of the people followed the young man's footsteps and moved forward.
Inside the temple was a huge pool. The water was as black as ink and the bottom was invisible. There was still a small bridge made of black rocks floating on the water. Several fiery lotus flowers bloomed on the dark water, slightly illuminating the deep temple.
Some people breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this. This was much better than the magma outside.
However, when they followed the young man's footsteps and stepped onto the small bridge over the water, they felt a biting cold.
It was even more terrifying than the coldest days of winter. The cold air was like an invisible hand, pulling the people on the bridge into the water.
Soon someone couldn't hold on any longer and was dragged away.
He couldn't even make a sound, only the sound of slight splashing water could be heard.
As a result, the number of people taking the trial decreased significantly due to the number of people crossing the pool. The team that originally had more than 30 people now has less than half of them left.
The remaining people then came to the statue.
The statue is also made of dark rock and is quite tall. If you look up at the foot of the statue, you can see that the statue has its head bowed and a compassionate expression on its face.
The leading young man placed a long garland on the statue, knelt down and touched the statue's toes, and then touched his own forehead.
The rest of the people followed suit until the last person performed the ceremony of respect. The young man then put his hands together and uttered some rather unfamiliar syllables.
The next moment, a golden light flew out from the statue, opening a passage.
The young man also introduced them: "This is the place where you will be undergoing trials."
As he spoke, he lit a stick of incense in his palm and continued, "The flow of time in the Trial Grounds is different from that in the outside world. When this stick of incense burns out, it represents one day and one night in the Trial Grounds. If you return before the incense burns out, you will be considered to have passed. If you fail to return before the incense burns out, you will never be able to return."
"There are countless rare treasures in the trial grounds. The more treasures you bring back, the greater the rewards you will receive after passing the trial."
"There is a great demon in the trial grounds. If you can kill it, you will be the undisputed first place winner, and the gods will bless you."
Lu Fei listened to the young man's words and thought to himself: These are the three methods mentioned by Brother Huang, right?
Obviously, if you just rely on surviving and leaving alive, then it is obviously impossible to get the best result.
But he doesn't need the best, he needs what he can get.
Lu Fei made up her mind, so she grabbed Jian Anning's hand and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry about anything else. It's enough for us to come back alive."
Upon hearing this, Jian An Ning turned to look at him.
However, Lu Fei was probably a little anxious, so he directly pulled Jian An Ning into the passage.
Then, Lu Fei felt a flash of white light in front of his eyes, and the next moment, he felt himself fall heavily.
Jian An Ning watched from the side as Lu Fei stood up with a hissing laugh and observed the surrounding environment.
They were teleported to an unknown deep mountain forest, surrounded by dense green trees.
Lu Fei felt that this was his home ground. After all, there were mountains near Luming City, and he would also go to the mountains to collect herbs, so he was familiar with the environment.
"We just need to choose a safe place and hide there for a day and a night." Lu Fei said confidently.
Jian Anning tilted her head and asked with a hint of confusion, "But how are you going to leave?"
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