blueteamnovel Chapter 222 A Deadly Feng Shui Trap
Chapter 222 A Deadly Feng Shui Trap
Chapter 222 A Deadly Feng Shui Situation (4000 words)
The next day, just after dawn, as the sky began to lighten with the first hint of light, Blackwind Town was still fast asleep.
In the back stable of "Lao Bian Inn", three fine horses had already been fed their fill of fine feed, their coats were scrubbed until they were shiny, and they were pawing restlessly and snorting loudly.
After a night's rest, their fatigue has been completely gone, and they are just waiting for their owner's command to set off again.
Lu Yuan, Xu Erxiao, and Wang Chengan had already finished getting ready.
The three men, each carrying their own baggage, with compasses at their waists and peach wood swords on their backs, appeared at the entrance of the inn, looking radiant.
"Walk!"
Lu Yuan mounted his horse, and the black-maned steed reared up and let out a long neigh, the sound carrying far in the quiet morning.
Xu Erxiao and Wang Chengan followed closely behind, and the three of them rushed out of Black Wind Town and headed north along the official road.
It was mid-spring, and although the weather outside the pass was still chilly, the scenery along the roadside was quite different from what it had been three days earlier.
Tender green shoots sprouted from the withered grass, and the rhododendrons on the sunny slopes began to bud.
The air was filled with the moist scent of earth and the fresh fragrance of grass and trees.
Horses galloped swiftly along the official road, their hooves thundering.
As Xu Erxiao rode on his horse, looking at the increasingly desolate scenery around him, he couldn't help but ask, "Brother Lu, why is this place called 'Wild Man's Gully'?"
"That sounds creepy."
Upon hearing this, Wang Cheng'an, before Lu Yuan could speak, pulled out an old book with frayed edges from his pocket. It was "The Customs and Scenery Beyond the Pass," which was his favorite book to read.
As he controlled the horse, he turned to a page with a folded corner and explained with great seriousness, "The name 'Wild Man's Gully' was actually given by later generations."
"According to the county annals, during the Xianfeng era, a monster that was over ten feet tall and covered in red hair did indeed appear in the deep mountains and forests of this area."
"Extremely strong, capable of wrestling a tiger bare-handed, it is known locally as a 'mountain demon' or 'wild man.'"
"Later, the imperial court sent troops to suppress them, but they failed to wipe them out completely. Instead, they scared away many hunters and villagers in the vicinity."
Xu Erxiao listened with great interest, his eyes widening: "Are there really savages?"
"So, do you think we'll run into them this time?"
As Wang Cheng'an closed the book and stuffed it back into his arms, he scoffed, "Hey, you idiot, that was back in the Xianfeng era."
"The Wild Man Valley is now deserted, with only the dead remaining."
"The place we're going to this time is that infamous mass grave in the ditch."
"
Xu Erxiao frowned: "It doesn't sound like a good place."
Lu Yuan pulled on the reins, slowing the horse down, and continued the conversation: "It's definitely not a good place."
"Yeren Valley has a unique terrain, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only a narrow valley leading to the outside world."
"That valley is like a pocket, only letting in and not letting out, never seeing sunlight all year round, and filled with extremely yin energy."
Wang Chengan nodded and added, "The county annals say that gold mines were discovered in this area during the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China period, attracting many gold prospectors."
"Later, the gold mine collapsed, a plague broke out, and too many people died. The government was too lazy to care, so they threw all the dead people into this Savage Gully."
"Over time, the corpses piled up like mountains, turning it into one of the largest mass graves outside the Great Wall."
After hearing this, Xu Erxiao touched his back and shuddered: "Goodness, how many bones are in there?!"
"No wonder those people said it was weird yesterday."
Lu Yuan glanced at the hazy horizon in the distance, where the outline of a dark valley could be vaguely seen.
"The more bones there are, the heavier the yin energy, and the easier it is for evil spirits to breed."
"The county annals only record the visible dead."
"The real big fish is the dirty tricks the Liu family pulls behind the scenes."
"As for the strange things those people are talking about, it's probably because the place that the evil god is worshipping has become loose—"
After Lu Yuan finished speaking, the three of them fell silent for a while.
The horses had been running along the official road for a while when Xu Erxiao suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" breaking the silence.
He scratched his head, looking puzzled. "Logically speaking, the strange things we were talking about in Savage Valley were caused by the seal on the place where the evil god was worshipped loosening, resulting in the leakage of evil energy."
"Right?"
Lu Yuan remained silent, while Wang Cheng'an responded, "That's right."
"With Liu Xuanyin dead, there's no one to maintain the formation, so it's only a matter of time before the seal weakens."
"Then it matches up!"
Xu Erxiao frowned deeply: "But the problem is, how long has Liu Xuanyin been dead?"
"At most, it'll only take half a month!"
Xu Erxiao counted on his fingers: "Logically speaking, even if no one manages this kind of large-scale formation, it would take a year and a half, or even several years, for it to gradually become ineffective, right?"
"How can the seal be so leaky, like it's made of paper, after only half a month of death?"
"Like that well at Zhenlong Temple, even if you don't dredge or clear it, it won't completely stagnate in half a month, will it?"
Xu Erxiao used a simple analogy: "Is the formation of this evil god's offering ground less durable than the well in our temple?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Cheng'an fell into deep thought. He stroked his chin and pondered, "The essence of formations lies in 'stability'."
"Especially for this kind of fierce formation that worships evil gods, in order to prevent backlash, the setup must be extremely complicated and meticulous."
"Although Liu Xuanyin is dead, the formation he left behind could not have collapsed on its own so quickly."
If time were flowing at a normal rate, after Liu Xuanyin's death, the land where the evil god offered sacrifices should have been in a state of "no master, but not in chaos".
It will take at least several months or even years for the earth's vein energy to be exhausted, or for internal resentment to accumulate to a critical point, before a leak and riot will occur.
But now, only half a month later, Yerengou has become a hot topic, and even ordinary people have sensed that something is wrong.
not to mention----
Wang Chengan and Xu Erxiao both looked at Lu Yuan ahead.
Before the two could speak, Lu Yuan turned and glanced at them, saying, "Moreover, this kind of grand formation must be maintained by members of the Ghost-Controlling Liu family!!"
That's right!
Wang Chengan and Xu Erxiao nodded repeatedly as they looked at Lu Yuan.
Others might not know, but Lu Yuan and his two companions knew it very well!
That evil mother and child spirit from the well behind that village last time!
That's where the three of them encountered the fake "Tanjiji"!
That fake Tan Jiji is actually from the Ghost-Controlling Liu family!
They were also members of the Liu family responsible for protecting the evil mother and son gods!
Therefore, such places of worship for evil gods must be maintained by someone!
And now, in less than half a month, the evil energy has begun to leak out.
"so----"
Lu Yuan's voice sounded exceptionally calm in the wind: "There are only two possibilities."
Lu Yuan held up two fingers: "First, Liu Xuanyin deliberately left a backdoor before he died, so that the formation would immediately backfire after his death, dragging the entire area outside the pass down with him."
"But that's impossible, because Qingwan had already completely sealed it off at that time, so Liu Xuanyin shouldn't have had a chance."
"And if that's the case, it won't just be a mass grave in Savage Valley."
"The second one—"
Lu Yuan paused, his eyes sharpening: "Or perhaps someone took over this formation after Liu Xuanyin's death, and was a half-baked one at that, not only failing to maintain it properly but also making it full of loopholes."
"Or perhaps the Liu family members who were originally protecting it, after learning of Liu Xuanyin's death, deliberately accelerated the collapse of the evil god's shrine before leaving, out of spite."
After Lu Yuan finished speaking, Wang Cheng'an and Xu Erxiao both fell into deep thought, pondering Lu Yuan's words.
Before the two could think further, Lu Yuan suddenly spurred his horse, and the black-maned horse accelerated again, rushing towards the entrance of the valley shrouded in gray mist.
"Whichever it is, let's go and take a look first!"
"Whether it's a person or a ghost, a loosened formation or human interference, once we get there, we'll naturally find out!"
Three fine horses galloped along the road, which had been full of springtime vitality, but as they approached Yeren Gully, it became visibly desolate.
The withered grass was no longer tender green, but instead presented a deathly gray-white.
The trees along the roadside are no longer upright; their branches are twisted and gnarled, as if countless struggling arms are reaching towards the sky.
The damp, earthy scent in the air had long since disappeared.
Instead, a strange smell, a mixture of rotting flesh, old coffins, and sulfur, made Xu Erxiao feel nauseous.
"Whoa—"
When they were still a hundred paces from the entrance to the valley, Lu Yuan suddenly pulled on the reins, and the black-maned horse reared up, letting out an uneasy neigh.
-
"What's wrong, Brother Lu?"
Xu Erxiao and Wang Chengan quickly stopped their horses and looked ahead nervously.
The entrance to the Savage Gully looked like a giant maw ready to devour anyone who might enter.
The cliffs on both sides are dozens of meters high and recessed inward, forming a natural "pocket".
The strangest thing is that, even though it was a sunny day, the entrance to the valley was shrouded in a layer of gray-black miasma that could not be blown away.
The sunlight shining in seemed to be swallowed up, not even a ray of light could penetrate.
Lu Yuan frowned deeply, his face so solemn it seemed to drip water.
Xu Erxiao touched his back and felt a chill creep up his tailbone: "Something's not right—"
Before he could finish speaking, Wang Cheng'an suddenly let out a muffled groan and hissed, "Don't speak! Don't move!"
The palm-sized brass compass at Wang Cheng'an's waist seemed to have gone mad, its pointer spinning wildly on the surface, making a "buzzing" sound.
The speed was so fast that the shape of the pointer was almost invisible, leaving only afterimages.
At the same time, the peach wood sword on Xu Erxiao's back also began to get hot.
The heat was not the usual warmth, but a burning sting that pierced through his thick, coarse robe, making his shoulder blades ache.
He instinctively reached for the sword hilt, only to discover that the peach wood sword was faintly emitting a strange dark red glow.
"The evil spirits have risen—"
Xu Erxiao frowned, looked ahead, and whispered a reminder.
Lu Yuan did not turn around; his gaze was fixed on the rock wall above the entrance to the valley.
Lu Yuan did not turn around; his gaze was fixed on the rock wall above the valley entrance, his eyes filled with a cold solemnity.
From his perspective, this was no ordinary entrance to a mass grave; it was clearly a meticulously arranged "feng shui trap."
The first thing that catches the eye is the several old elm trees of unknown age on both sides of the entrance.
Logically speaking, it's common for elm trees to attract ghosts, but the shapes of these elm trees are inexplicably eerie.
Their trunks do not grow naturally, but rather exhibit an extremely exaggerated tilt angle.
The lush canopy of the tree closes inward, and from a distance, it looks exactly like two enormous, pale white banners fluttering in the wind. What's even more amazing is that the drooping branches are not soft, but stiff as iron, with shriveled, blackened spherical objects hanging from their ends.
Lu Yuan squinted and strained his eyes to see clearly that what they were not fruits, but animal heads that had long since dried out, yet still retained the appearance of painful roars.
Those were offerings used to "draw away evil spirits".
When the wind blows, the branches sway, and the withered heads collide with each other, making a crisp "crackling" sound that echoes in the dead silence of the valley.
It was as if countless wronged souls were grinding their teeth.
"This scheme—it's incredibly ruthless."
Lu Yuan sighed inwardly.
These trees, taking advantage of their location, forcefully isolate the vital energy from the outside world.
They keep drawing the deathly aura out of the valley, no wonder the surrounding area is tainted with evil.
Between the two "Soul-Summoning Elms" stands a huge, pitch-black rock, about three zhang tall.
The stone was irregularly shaped, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom.
It looks like an inverted gold ingot, or a huge black heart, blocking the entrance to the valley.
The location of this stone is quite significant.
It did not block the entrance, but was stuck at the angle between two cliffs, which formed a "barrier".
In feng shui, this is called "thousand-pound weight".
It is used to suppress the spirits of the dead underground and prevent them from turning into zombies and escaping.
But at this moment, Lu Yuan sensed something was off.
"wrong----"
Lu Yuan frowned.
"This stone has been tampered with."
If this were a proper shrine to the evil god maintained by the Liu family, the Soul-Suppressing Stone should be as stable as Mount Tai, firmly suppressing the Yin Eye of the earth's veins.
But now, at the bottom of that boulder, there were several loose pebbles.
This caused the entire boulder to be in an extremely unstable tilted state, as if it might slide down at any moment.
It also seemed as if someone had deliberately raised it up, so that it wouldn't be "suppressed" so thoroughly.
"This is creating a disturbance."
In that instant, Lu Yuan realized: "To suppress without killing, to oppress without subjugating."
"To prevent everything inside from escaping, yet to give them enough room to roam and cause trouble —"
On the back of the Soul-Suppressing Stone, on the side facing the valley, Lu Yuan seemed to see several dark red marks.
That was no ordinary moss; it looked more like long-dried bloodstains.
It was drawn into distorted runes using some special technique, appearing and disappearing in the gray-black mist.
"Walk."
Lu Yuan spurred his horse, and the black-maned horse neighed, charging ahead towards the gray-black miasma that seemed capable of devouring everything.
Xu Erxiao and Wang Chengan exchanged a glance, without any hesitation or fear.
With Brother Lu around, what's there to be afraid of!
The two of them also suddenly swung the reins, instantly catching up with Lu Yuan, who was almost swallowed by the miasma ahead.
The moment the three figures disappeared into the miasma, the sunlight on the official road behind them seemed to be cut off by an invisible gate.
Inside the valley, only a deathly darkness and a suffocating stench remained.