Hibernation.
Spring thunder sprouted, all living things awakened, and hibernating insects broke out of the ground. The scenery of Beiliang Palace wrapped in silver was incomparably beautiful. The Prince's Mansion in the warm spring was also charming and gentle, with thousands of pink trees, peaches, and white pears, overflowing with spring. At noon, Hsu Fengnian came to the lakeside alone. He rowed a boat to the center of the lake, took off his outer garment, took a deep breath, and jumped into the dark green lake.
This lake was flowing water, far clearer than ordinary lakes. Hsu Fengnian held his breath as he dove into the lake, but he was still some distance away from the bottom. He resurfaced and dove again. After repeating this three or four times, he was completely confident that he could reach the bottom of the lake. Only then did he continue to dive. The lake was rather deep. Logically speaking, a slightly deeper lake should be completely dark and unable to see anything. However, the mystery lay in the fact that this lake regularly removed silt. At the center of the lake, there was a huge luminous pearl that shone as bright as day. Hsu Fengnian held his breath as he hovered at the bottom of the lake. The scene in front of him was enough to be written into any fairy tale that would leave the common people speechless. A "Water Kui" about three meters tall sat cross-legged in the silt. Its white hair was like seaweed, slowly swaying in the wind. The Water Kui with its eyes closed in meditation had a robust physique. Through the light emitted by the luminous pearl the size of a goose egg, one could vaguely see that the Water Kui's left hand and legs were bound by three iron chains as thick as arms. At the end of the chains were three iron balls weighing several thousand jin.
Was there any prison in the world that was more unimaginable and cruel than this?
The Water Kui opened its eyes without any emotion. It looked at the only living person it had seen in more than ten years.
Hsu Fengnian made a hand gesture, roughly indicating that he would throw the cooked meat down later.
The huge monster opened its mouth and sucked a koi into its mouth. It directly tore at the koi, causing its blood to seep out of its mouth. In a few moments, the fat red koi was swallowed whole.
Hsu Fengnian's face turned from red to green. He couldn't hold on for much longer. After a moment of hesitation, he made a series of hand gestures that only he and Hu Kui could understand.
The Old Man, who looked more like a demon than a living person, widened his eyes and stared at Hsu Fengnian with sharp eyes, as if he was doubting and judging something. After being isolated from the outside world for so long, the Old Man's thinking was very slow, but Hsu Fengnian couldn't wait any longer. With a whoosh, he rushed up, or else he would die young and float on the surface of the lake. Climbing onto the boat, Hsu Fengnian wiped his body and put on his clothes. There was a stove in the boat, so it was quite warm. Hsu Fengnian waited for a moment, but the surface of the lake was as calm as a mirror. Hsu Fengnian felt a little regretful, so he retracted his gaze and glanced at the Spring Thunder Dagger given to him by White Fox. Placing it on his knees, he stroked the scabbard and sighed, "Daughter of Spring Thunder, it seems that you have no place to use your skills. That old man is willing to stay down there like a coward. Let's see if I will still give him meat to eat in the future. "
When he was young, Hsu Fengnian had cramps while playing in the water and almost sank to the bottom of the lake. The Old Man, who ate live fish at the bottom of the lake day after day and year after year, did not swallow Hsu Fengnian alive. Instead, he used his supernatural power to lift His Royal Highness out of the bottom of the lake. Since then, Hsu Fengnian had developed the habit of throwing cooked meat into the lake as a way to repay his kindness. When he was in a bad mood, he would also dive to the bottom of the lake and look at the Old Man sitting at the bottom of the lake. He would feel that life was actually very beautiful. At first, he thought that the Old Man was a demon who was punished by the heavens, but when he grew up, he realized that he was a human who also needed to eat. However, Hsu Fengnian couldn't figure out how to breathe under the lake for more than ten years. Wouldn't he suffocate to death? Then what realm did his inner strength reach?
For this reason, Hsu Fengnian specially went to the Tide-listening Pavilion and flipped through the ancient martial arts books about holding one's breath. He only found the two words "Embryonic Breathing" in a Taoist secret scripture that corresponded relatively well. However, Hsu Fengnian was no stranger to Mount Wudang. He had never heard of any expert on the mountain who could achieve such a wonderful "Black Tortoise Fixation". His Royal Highness, who did not have a good impression of Taoist priests, believed that the Taoist scripture's "Pulse stops, Qi stops, embryonic growth begins" and "If you want to live forever, your spirit and Qi must converge" were just words used by the immortals to deceive the world. His master, Li Yishan, had clearly said that there were no ghosts or gods in the world. The limit for a Taoist priest was to abstain from eating for three years. There was absolutely no possibility of ascending to immortality.
His Royal Highness, who had left in high spirits but returned in disappointment, carried the spring thunder ashore. He took out his saber and chopped off four or five willow branches full of yellow buds. He wrapped them around his head and swung the spring thunder back and forth in a leisurely stroll.
Outside the Prince's Mansion, a handsome man with a face as delicate as a peach petal threw himself at the nameplate. The gatekeeper of the Prince's Mansion had long trained his discerning eyes. He immediately weighed the weight of the nameplate in his hand. He lowered his head and took a closer look. It was the young master of the Lin Family from the Qiao Kingdom of Hedong. This family was not considered a first-rate aristocratic family in the dynasty, but it had some connections with the Prince's Mansion. The Lin Family's eldest son originally had the opportunity to marry the eldest princess, so the gatekeeper did not dare to neglect him. He withdrew his initial coldness and smiled slightly. He asked the young master to wait for a moment and immediately went to report. The young master of the Lin Family had become a scenery along the way. Her delicate body could not be considered extremely beautiful, but the aura she exuded was a rare charm in the valiant Cold Land. It was unknown whether it was because she was weak or because she was walking too fast, but her smooth forehead was covered in sweat. The young master of the Lin Family felt sorry for her, but he really did not have the courage to mention it to the housekeeper of the Mansion. The Lin Family from the Qiao Kingdom of Hedong was not at the top of the county. Compared to the colossus of the Beiliang Palace, they were not even worth mentioning. As the saying goes, the Prime Minister's gatekeeper is a third-rank official. Even though he had taken third place in the imperial examination last year and had seen all the flowers in the capital with the top scholar and second place on horseback, when he came to the Beiliang Palace, he did not dare to be arrogant.
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