Castellan Mansion occupied almost half of the south of the city, which included a training ground for the Cui family and the youths of the family to practice martial arts.
The training ground was laid by bluestones and faced the sunset. On the east of the ground was an about-11-foot-tall platform where elders of the family normally watched and commented on martial arts.
It was a hot day with a cloudless sky, and a 110-foot-long platform was filled with armchairs. Many celebrities and masters of Wu Lin had been seated, behind whom were their own disciples or their younger generation.
The purpose of this competition was to let their disciples watch the competition between grandmasters and realize the quintessence of Kung Fu, which would help them avoid detours.
When Meng Qi arrived with Ning Daogu and other people, it was noon and only half an hour from the beginning of the competition. They saw Cui Xu, who was dressed in a white robe with a wooden hairpin in his hair, silently sit on the chair with his eyes closed and his sword laid on his knees, seemingly against the grain of the surrounding noise.
Two disciples of the Cui family stood in front of the stairs, and they scanned the invitation after receiving it from Meng Qi and they declared loudly, "Master Zhen Ding arrives."
Everyone present suddenly fixed their eyes upon him, as many Wu Lin celebrities whispered with surprise.
"Is he Zhen Ding?"
"How could he have defeated the father and son of the Mu family?"
"The most famous Ennea Monkey is said to be almost defeated by him?"
"It is so unbelievable! Is he really a young hero?"
"Alas, the new generation expels the old."
Having heard those words, Meng Qi felt excited in his heart without showing it with his expression. He chanted "Amitabha Buddha" in a low voice and strode up the stairs. With the help of maidservants, he found his seat with a detached expression.
When following Meng Qi, Ning Daogu, Yue Shishi, and two other people of the Four Meritocrats in the south of the Yangtze River felt extremely excited with contracted skin and a slow walking pace.
There are so many masters and celebrities gathering here, which they hardly could see at ordinary times. How could they not feel excited? How could they not feel anxious?
They also felt this experience was precious even if there would be no competition between grandmasters. This competition could be a "qualification", at least leave an impression on these celebrities.
"That is Long Youzong master... That is the 18th waterway master..." Yue Shishi and the other people saw those eminent people appearing in succession. They followed Meng Qi and restrained themselves from excitement, looking steadily forward and dropping their eyes.
After looking at Meng Qi for a while, those celebrities discussed this competition respectively instead of continuing to look at Meng Qi, as people arrived occasionally and were served by maidservants. Some people left occasionally to spy on the whereabouts of the Sword God in White, which disordered the scene. After all, everyone present was eminent in Wu Lin. Cui Xu became silent again with his eyes closed. Apparently, this noisy scene could not be controlled by only Cui Jinxiu and Fei Zhengqing.
Faced with this situation, Meng Qi raised up suddenly, speaking to the maidservants with a smile, "Excuse me, I want to go to the restroom, but I don't know where to go?"
The maidservant was extremely surprised that celebrities would ask about that "need" in this situation. Ning Daogu, Nie Yao, and other people had nearly the same surprised expression.
The maidservant led Meng Qi to that yard, she pointed toward the latrine and said, "Master, right here. Do you remember the way to return?"
"I remember it. You don't need to wait for me," Meng Qi answered peacefully.
Hurrying to serve other guests, the maidservant left in haste without saying anything.
Meng Qi took a deep breath and used his method of Kung Fu. Then he secretly went to the dungeon that You Tongguang had told him about, avoiding the servants everywhere at the same time.
Perhaps because of the broad daylight, people did not pay much attention to him. So Meng Qi had no difficulties in passing the noisy yard and he finally reached the dungeon located in the southwest.
Woods were planted here on purpose in order to divide the dungeon and inner yard, which seemed to be extremely gloomy.
The outer wall of the dungeon was built by a huge rock, and the inside and outside of the place were divided by a heavy gate guarded by two strong men.
Meng Qi picked up a stone and bent his fingers, hitting the other side of the wall by using the stone.
"Slap!" When hearing that sound, the guards turned away at the same time, looking at the place that the sound was from.
It was at that moment that Meng Qi swiftly attacked them as if a great hawk had spread its wings, and he hit their heads by using his two fists respectively.
"Slap, slap!" Meng Qi struck those two men down to the dust and they become unconscious at once. Even though Meng Qi's fist was not as big as an earthen bowl, it was still very powerful.
He bent down to attack their acupoints and dragged them into the forest. After that, Meng Qi went to the iron gate unhurriedly, and grasping the knocker, he began to knock at the gate with drumming.
The drumming had a rhythm that consisted of three long knocks and two short knocks, which was then repeated three times.
After a while, the iron gate created a squeaking sound and backed toward the rear slowly.
When the gate was opened slightly, the people found something wrong as they peeped through the gate. "Where are two guards? Who is the monk dressed in white with the detached look?"
They reclosed the iron gate immediately with their quick reaction.
Pressing on the gate with his two hands, Meng Qi tried his best to push it open.
"Open the gate!"
Meng Qi groaned, his skin became vein-laced, and his arm muscles contracted.
The two men behind the gate stumbled and they could not stop the iron gate from opening.
He is so violent! He is so rude!
They were beginning to think that he was a detached and handsome monk. Now it seemed that he was just a rude person!
The two men behind the gate looked at the somewhat hideous expression of Meng Qi, which was caused by exhaustion, and a feeling of being cheated by his appearance arose in their hearts.
Meng Qi jumped into the dungeon and attacked their acupoints point before they could ask for help. In order to search for the keys, he stunned them and abandoned them aside.
"It really spoils my image." Meng Qi flicked his white frock, holding his Buddhist Commandment Blade, fleeing downstairs at a fast pace.
Meng Qi realized that the bottom of the dungeon was his specific aim. The people he met were stunned by his Buddhist Commandment Blade or their acupoints were attacked by him. It was strange that nobody could defeat him.
Perhaps nobody had expected that someone could break into the dungeon. Prison guards and masters that were scattered everywhere could not gather effectively and it was hard for them to cooperate, plus his strange method of Kung Fu let him break through quickly without being noticed by others.
He fled down three floors, and he finally reached the narrow iron gate described by You Tongguang. Then he found the keys on the guard and opened the gate.
His right hand felt that it was cool when he touched the iron gate, it seemed like an ice cellar instead of a dungeon.
Undoubtedly, it had no impact on Meng Qi, who had suffered the cooling from Frigid Tortoise. He gently pushed the gate and it was opened slowly.
The ice-frost congealed behind the iron gate, and through the narrow corridor, a flow of cold air rolled upward from below.
Meng Qi kept calm and rushed to the end of the corridor.
The corridor was 100 feet long, whose end was shortly seen by Meng Qi.
There definitely was an ice cellar. With the lights of torches on either side of the corridor, the ice which had been placed there glittered with dreamlike color, among which was a sapphire coffin that was gleaming with a faint light.
Meng Qi frowned slightly and slowed his steps because a person was standing at the exit of the narrow corridor. That person with gray hair and a red face was continuously smiling kindly, and Meng Qi realized that it was You Tongguang.
A young person that lay behind him had a faint face with his eyes closed, and a white gas emitted from the top of his head.
"You are here." You Tongguang greeted him with a smile.
In front of him and Meng Qi, a transparent ice wall, which could not be easily noticed, separated the inside from the outside.
"Here I am," Meng Qi answered calmly.
"From your looks, it seems that you have known something." You Tongguang still smiled with his hands behind his back.
"I have known what I am supposed to know." Meng Qi fondled his Buddhist Commandment Blade and spoke slowly.
"Why do you come here with the possibility of being trapped?" You Tongguang extended his hands.
"I have to come here." Meng Qi smiled for the first time.
"Do you regret it now?" You Tongguang did not ask Meng Qi why he had to come.
"Some challenges aim at testing your courage and judgment," Meng Qi sighed.
"Your courage is admirable, but your judgment seems to be wrong," You Tongguang sneered.
"Why other Animal Gods can be sure that Ennea Monkey is apocryphal and why they believe me to have the ability to threaten the Sword God in White, that's all I ever think about." Meng Qi shook his head.
"Have you found out the answer?" The smile of You Tongguang faded.
"Sure, Mr. Zodiac Mouse," Meng Qi said, staring at eyes of You Tongguang.
"I wonder why my fifth brother always affirms that you can threaten Luo Qing, but now that he has said so, we have to believe it. Can you tell me the reason?" You Tongguang took a deep breath.
"I have previously told you that I have something which can keep people alive. Castellan Cui, or Mr. Zodiac Dragon, are you afraid now?" Meng Qi found that he did not know Pearflower Storm Needles, so he could not tell him easily.
It was because that Animal God made use of him to deal with Luo Qing that Meng Qi associated the Twelve Animal Zodiac Gods with Cui Xu the first time. He could threaten the two abilities of the grandmaster, Peace Quietude Split and bladesmanship, and they had not been used. Pearflower Storm Needles was shown just once, and he only saw the black shadow, which seemed to be Cui Xu by his analysis.
Things became clear after analyzing. From the beginning, they had known that Ennea Monkey was apocryphal because nobody was so foolish as to deal with their companions. The test on the second day was just a trick. For one thing, he had not expected that most people tested were Animal Gods; for another thing, he wanted to test his Kung Fu.
But Cui Xu had a little wrong judgment. Meng Qi thought that he used the instruction of Peace Quietude Split to eliminate sensorial interference without using Pearflower Storm Needles. Thus, Luo Qing almost did not lose his combat effectiveness, he just lost a head start—At that time, they had to combat, because only when Luo Qing slowed his pace of drawing his sword did he run away by means of parry. Then, Luo Qing did not give him a narrow chance.
"I hadn't expected that the Zodiac Dragon was Castellan Cui, no wonder you are a grandmaster." Meng Qi continued to speak before You Tongguang could reply.
"Alas, since the death of Xiao Min, the fifth brother has changed a lot. He nagged all the time about the boundary between human beings and gods or resurrecting the dead. Then he found this organization called the Twelve Animal Zodiac Gods to collect scripts of Kung Fu." You Tongguang sighed and continued to speak. "What could we say because we are brothers? No matter what will happen, we will support him and we can get many benefits as well."
At that time, Meng Qi saw the cold gas rolling behind You Tongguang, and it condensed into a few lines of text:
"You failed to enter the Twelve Zodiac Animal Gods.
"You have figured out the secret of the Twelve Zodiac Animal Gods.
"You have finished the side task and 150 Karma points is your reward.
"The triggering of side task two killed the Zodiac Mouse, you can be rewarded with 60 Karma points, and you can get 120 Karma points because of killing the Zodiac Dragon as well."
Meng Qi's smile became more sincere. "You set such a big trap just for dealing with me, who is a little monk?"
You Tongguang nodded, looking at the back of Meng Qi. "Come out, Mr. Leisure."