catch the rabbit

A stick of incense has been burned for less than half.

Cheng Ju seemed to be unable to hold back anymore, his right hand tightly grasped a magic talisman.

Seeing this, Wan Kong said: "Don't act rashly, if you say there is a monster in the box, I'm afraid the imperial concubine will make things difficult for you."

"Is this demon already in the box, or did the imperial concubine put it in on purpose?" Jiang Tiaotiao asked.

"A weak woman should not have such abilities." Huang Cai said, "It's just that I can't tell what kind of monster it is..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the unicorn bead on his wrist shone dazzlingly, and a small cloud of silver-white smoke rose from the forehead of the monster in the mirror, vaguely like an ornament.

"Kirin bead?" Wan Kong, who was stuffing walnut cakes into his mouth, looked surprised.

Huang Cai coughed lightly: "I got it by chance."

"Oh." Wankong nodded, "I used to have a bunch, but I gave it to my savior."

She brushed the pastry crumbs off her hands, looked carefully at the puff of smoke, and concluded, "It's a jade bracelet."

"Why does the jade bracelet give birth to demons?" Jiang Tiaotiao asked puzzled.

"There is blood on that bracelet." Wan Kong pointed with his hand, "It should be that resentment has produced demons, and such things are not unusual in the palace."

At this moment, Xi Baiqing said slowly, "Can adult immortals see what is in this box?"

They are both magicians, and their skills are comparable, Xi Baiqing's claim sounds very harsh.

Cheng Ju said, "It's the same as what you saw."

"Since I saw it, why didn't I say it?"

"Why didn't you say it?" Cheng Ju raised his eyebrows.

Xi Baiqing sighed, as if he was very sorry: "I thought you would give in sincerely when you were young, and since you don't appreciate it, then I'll just say it."

He took a step forward and said in a loud voice: "Young Concubine, in this box—"

"Inside the box is a jade bracelet!"

Cheng Ju jumped in without waiting for him to finish speaking.

"This idiot!" Wan Kong gritted his teeth angrily in front of the mirror, "The one surnamed Xi is obviously irritating him, you can't even see it!"

Concubine Rong behind the gauze curtain said, "Oh? If that's the case, can adult immortals have a way to open the box?"

Cheng Ju was at a loss for words.

It is not difficult to open the box, but is it necessary to let the monster disturb the holy car in full view?If Concubine Rong sees a demon in the dowry, she will be furious and blame him, wouldn't she be asking for trouble?

Concubine Rong couldn't wait for a reply, and said: "Could it be that adult immortals can only see inside the box, but they can't open it?"

Cheng Ju's face turned pale, but he could only remain silent.

Xi Baiqing, who was at the side, said: "Young concubine, I can open this box, but..."

When he said this, not only Chengju, but also Wankong and the others were quite shocked.

"If Xi Renxian needs anything, it's okay to say." The emperor also said.

"I have the guts to borrow the hairpin from the imperial concubine's head."

A moment later, the maid in pink who just lit the incense presented a gold hairpin with both hands.

"Are you really going to release that monster?" Cheng Ju couldn't help but whispered when he saw that he was going to open the box.

"There is only a bracelet in the box, so where is the monster?" Xi Baiqing smiled at him, inserted the end of the hairpin into the keyhole, and then twisted it forcefully.

The treasure chest opened in response, and a ray of purple light shot up into the sky, and disappeared without a trace in an instant.

Lying quietly at the bottom of the box was a round white jade bracelet with bloodstains on it, like plum marks in snow. There were also some scattered ornaments, scattered beads, etc., which were not as luxurious as this jade bracelet.

And that evil and strange monster was nowhere to be seen.

A court lady took the box and presented it to the emperor and Concubine Rong.I don't know what they said behind the gauze curtain, but after a while, a woman's low sobbing sound came out.

What is the secret of this jade bracelet, which can make the noble concubine who is loved by thousands of people shed tears?

Jiang Tiaotiao and the others had no way of knowing, because Cheng Ju took off the twin mirror of one thought, and all they saw was darkness.

When Chengju returned to Yueranju, everyone saw him with a sullen face, knowing that he was in a bad mood after losing to Xi Baiqing in the first round, so no one dared to speak.

After the restaurant closed, Wan Kong said, "It's nothing to lose a game", and Cheng Ju was furious.

"Who said I lost!?" He turned pale with anger, "It's a draw! A draw! You all think I'm inferior to Xi Baiqing, don't you?"

Everyone was so frightened by him that they didn't dare to breathe out, and they kept silent like a cicada.

The thing is like this, the jade bracelet in the box was the first reward Rong Guifei got when she entered the palace.As for the result of the competition, the prime minister naturally supported Xi Baiqing to win, after all he was the one who opened the box.But Xi Baiqing offered to propose that Cheng Ju should see what was in the box first, and it should be a tie.

In this way, Xi Baiqing left a good impression of being humble and polite without taking credit for himself, which is indeed a step ahead of Cheng Ju.

This is not the most shocking thing.

"Do you know why there is no monster in the box?" Cheng Ju said in a muffled voice, "The moment he opened the box, he subdued and killed the monster on the spot. The speed of his technique was unimaginable, and even I could barely see his body clearly. action."

Wan Kong also changed his face when he heard the words.

"Senior sister, I really can't beat him."

It was the first time Cheng Ju showed such an expression since he was a teenager.

"This is the second test question Li Jian gave me. You know, Master has never taught me this."

He spread out his palm, revealing a piece of paper with two words written in thick ink.

into a dream.

Entering a dream naturally refers to entering someone else's dream.

No matter how weak a person is, he can go to heaven and earth in his dream to be omnipotent, so the dreamer will never know what he will face. If he is accidentally trapped, he can only stay in the sleeper's dream forever. until he wakes up.

Cheng Ju's master, Xu Yaoji, is very good at breaking dreams, and has broken dreams for many people who were stuck in nightmares and could not escape.He had intended to teach Wan Kong, but it was a pity that Wan Kong couldn't go hungry, and it usually took several hours to fall asleep, even if she wasn't trapped in the dream, she would starve to death in the dream, so she had to give up.

As for Cheng Ju, Xu Yao never thought of teaching him this.Because Cheng Ju is greedy for everything, he has to learn everything at once, and if he can't learn it, he just gives up forever. This is his strength, but it is also his weakness.If such a person learns to dream, nine out of ten will be trapped by dreams.

Falling into a dream is one of the few things he didn't learn from Xu Yao, but it is precisely the second test question between him and Xi Baiqing.

"What should I do..." Cheng Ju was dizzy with anxiety.

"I don't know how to enter the dream either." Wan Kong said, "But the one surnamed Xi won and let you go, obviously looking down on you, this time you have to give him some color in whatever you say."

Wan Kong said, looking around at the other people in the room: "Which of you will fall into a dream?"

Yan Pu heard the words and looked at A Ling, A Ling turned to look at Xiao Lan, Xiao Lan pushed Baoxiu, Baoxiu coughed twice, and pointed at Jiang Tiaotiao.

"Tiaotiao." Wankong stuffed a piece of rice cake into his mouth, "Then you go and compare. Although I can't fall into dreams, I still learn to move my mind quite well."

Huang Cai took a sip of tea and sprayed it out: "Him!? I might as well go if he goes!"

Baoxiu snorted and smiled: "I remember someone who wanted to tell a story in someone else's dream, but because that person was drunk and fell asleep for three days, he was trapped for three days—"

Huang Cai glared, Bao Xiu pretended to look up at the sky, but Jiang Tiaotiao didn't understand, so he asked, "Who is this talking about?"

Cheng Ju sat on the side with his head in his arms, and the demeanor of the number one magician in the capital had completely disappeared.

"Let Tiao Tiao go? Can it be done..."

"He is a demon who is about to become a fairy, it's better than you who can do nothing." Wan Kong swallowed the rest of the rice cakes in one go, "Besides, I don't believe that Xi can do everything. !"

Facts have proved that Wan Kong still underestimated Xi Baiqing this time.

The location of the second competition was Dexiu Palace. When Cheng Ju came to the gate of the palace, he happened to meet this Xi Renxian. He had his hands behind his back and his face was calm, as if he was walking leisurely in his own courtyard. I don't feel troubled by the question of falling into a dream.

In contrast, Cheng Ju looked very restless.

Wan Kong in front of the Yi Nian Twins Mirror was even more nervous than him. In less than half an hour, from Chengju's entry to the palace to the start of the competition, he had already eaten at least three catties of cloud cakes.

This time the emperor and Concubine Rong were not there, and even Prime Minister Li Liangzhen was absent. The huge palace was empty, only three mahogany chairs surrounded by each other and a screen embroidered with a hundred birds facing the phoenix.

"Who is the person who wrote the question?" Huang Cai asked while looking in the mirror.

Wan Kong signaled him to keep quiet, and pointed to the figure behind the screen.

The eunuch and Cheng Xi who led the way had already knelt down to salute, and a luxuriously dressed little girl walked out from behind the screen, surrounded by pearls and emerald greens, but her face turned to the sky.

Although this girl is small, she is the daughter of the late empress, the sixth princess Shuxian who is the most beloved by the emperor today.

Standing in front of Cheng Ju and Xi Baiqing, who were more than a head taller than her, she couldn't hide her arrogance in her almond eyes: "Last time, Concubine Rong's questions were too easy, I can't even tell how much you weigh. , and even made a draw, it's really meaningless. There is only this princess here today, so you don't have to be cautious, just show your real skills."

Wan Kong and Huang Cai glanced at each other, only to know that the other person behind the gauze curtain last time was not the prince but her.

Princess Shu Xian picked a chair and sat down, with her arms stretched out on the armrests, revealing her hands wearing gold bracelets.

"Today's test question is 'Entering Dreams'. When Master Xu Yao was in the palace, I have seen this technique of entering dreams many times, so you should avoid fooling me with tricks like dealing with children." Shu Xian Having said that, he glanced at Cheng Ju, "It's limited to one hour, whoever can find this princess in the dream first will be considered the winner."

After hearing this, Cheng Ju and Xi Baiqing sat on the other two chairs, each took out a blue thread, tied one end to the princess's wrist, and the other end to his own wrist.

The maid beside the screen began to light incense.

At the moment when the flames touched the incense, Wan Kong drew a silver-white circle in front of the Yi Nian Twin Life Mirror, and pushed Jiang Tiaotiao over.

When the light of the magic circle disappeared, the three people in the mahogany chair had already fallen into a deep sleep.

Wan Kong wiped off the cold sweat that broke out from excessive tension on his forehead, and looked at Jiang Tiaotiao, who was motionless beside him.

"Chengju? Chengju?"

Jiang Tiaotiao opened his eyes, called "Senior Sister" and fell asleep.

Huang Cai hurriedly supported him, turned around and asked, "How is it? Did you succeed?"

Wan Kong grabbed the only two pieces of Yunpian Cake left, swallowed them directly, and said after a long while: "Successful, Tiaotiao is already in the dream of the little princess."