Chapter 134

Time passed in the flow, a little over a week went by; during that week, Chen Zheng used iron-blooded methods to sweep through the big and small gangs of Aomen, after which Dong Ling beat a hasty retreat, greatly shrinking its controlled territory, and also dispersed many of its disciples.

After that week, a society called the Iron Blood Gang quickly rose; behind this society, the shadows of the bigwigs of Aomen's various powers could be vaguely seen. And Chen Zheng not only did not suppress this society, but also intentionally or unintentionally lent it a hand.

This is an agreement tacitly reached between Chen Zheng and the various bigwigs, each side understanding its deeper meaning. The Black Gang Dong Ling, in Aomen, has penetrated the populace more deeply than the police; wherever Dong Ling's jurisdiction extends, there is no vice, no drugs. As long as protection money is paid, the society will dutifully protect you.

Therefore, whether it be the police, the casinos and other big powers, or small street vendors, none wish for Dong Ling's society to disappear. For no one knows whether, once Dong Ling is wiped out, the second black gang that rises will be as unconventional as Dong Ling, nor whether its leader will be as disinterested in money as Chen Zheng.

Thus, these powers are reluctant to see Dong Ling go, yet fear its unilateral dominance; hence the so-called Iron Blood Gang is what they have propped up to counterbalance Chen Zheng.

However, these matters have little to do with us; we have more important things to do.

In the quiet passage of time, the day to set up the formation arrived unnoticed.

This night was the day when the Tai Yin star, one of the fourteen chief stars of the Purple Micro, reached its peak, all other stars hidden while only the Tai Yin was exalted. Therefore, Pangzi had already begun three days earlier to lay out the formation at Chen Zheng's ancestral home, erecting inside the house nine two-meter-long pillars, and outside the pillars twelve flags arranged according to Qi Men.

These nine pillars and twelve flags each have their own meaning.

The nine pillars represent respectively Lesser Yin, Terminal Yin, Heavenly Yin, Jade Yin, Profound Yin, Blood Yin, Metal Yin, Crimson Yin, and Tai Yin — together the Nine Yins.

The twelve flags represent the twelve Earthly Branches: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog.

Zi is the Ink Pool, located due north; Wu is the Beacon Tower, located due south; Mao is the Jade Forest, located due east; You is the Temple Bell, located near Xu-Hai, its sound reverberates the Heavenly Gate……

The twelve flags surround the outside of the Nine Yin Pillars, using the power of Qi Men Dun Jia to encircle the nine pillars; the Nine Yin Formation's yin qi is strong, fearing its leakage, so these twelve flags are needed to suppress it.

From laying out the formation's core to forming the formation's eye, Pangzi handled it all alone; I am not familiar with these formation matters, so I can only silently stand by to guard his practice.

Night… at the end of the Hai hour, when the clock slowly passed eleven, I and Pangzi stood with focused spirit and gathered qi in the courtyard of Chen Zheng's ancestral home, awaiting the appearance of the celestial Tai Yin star.

The Tai Yin star is one of the twenty-four chief stars of the Purple Micro of the highest rank, not part of the Northern or Southern Dipper, and in heaven it is the essence of the moon.

Both Tai Yin and Tai Yang are extreme stars.

Tai Yang governs authority and nobility; Tai Yin governs yin and softness.

If a woman, in her yearly cycle meets the auspicious deity, she will have the joy of pregnancy; and if within that auspicious deity the Tai Yin star appears above, then the child in her womb will be female; conversely, if Tai Yang enters her destiny, the child in her womb will be male.

Today Pangzi set up a formation on the ground using the Tai Yin, with the remaining eight yin as auxiliaries; its purpose is to borrow the Tai Yin's soft yin qi to neutralize the yang killing qi within the yang residence.

What is borrowed is not the power of the mountain and river dragon veins, but rather setting up a formation on the ground corresponding to the stars of heaven and earth, borrowing heavenly momentum for earthly fortune to dispel the killing qi.

But I still cannot help feeling uneasy, for aside from the Tai Yin star's influence that can be drawn down, the so-called eight yin merely correspond in direction, lacking any corresponding orbital trajectory of celestial bodies; we merely borrow the Tai Yin's momentum to activate these eight stellar positions.

Therefore, in today's terms, these eight yin stars are just knockoff goods.

This… really no problem? I can't help but worry.

"No problem, absolutely no problem, you must trust the Prince's experience and understanding of formations!" Pangzi bared his teeth, slapped his chest, and said affirmatively.

I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead, silently thinking to myself: "You speak as if you were very experienced, but in fact this isn't even your first time setting up a formation."

Seeming to see through my thoughts, Pangzi raised his head and snorted proudly: "Some people are just that awesome; my formation talent, you can't envy it… oh no!"

While he was saying this triumphantly, Pangzi's face suddenly changed; he then pinched his fingers with both hands, his face turning pale as he said: "Quickly go maintain the twelve flags, the Tai Yin star is about to appear."

At the same time, the dark, oppressive sky slowly revealed a glimmer of light; immediately a soft beam of light shone down from the heavens.

The moon, long hidden somewhere, finally peeked out a corner beneath the cover of the dark clouds.

The moon star, which is none other than the Tai Yin star; when that soft light shone down, I had already walked to the altar outside the formation.

At the center of the altar stands a large oil lamp; this lamp is the formation lamp of the twelve flags, intimately linked with them—if the lamp goes out, the twelve flags lose all effectiveness; if the twelve flags lose effectiveness, the Nine Yin qi will leak out. The area of several li around this ancestral home will be affected: lightly, poultry, livestock and people will be influenced by the yin qi, suffering a serious illness; heavily, they will perish utterly.

Therefore, when the Tai Yin star showed a corner, I had already gathered all my essence, energy, and spirit, guarding before the altar, tightly holding the oil lamp.

On the other side, three large copper mirrors, each the same height as Pangzi, had already appeared beside him.

The copper mirrors serve a filtering function; the Tai Yin star's soft yin qi is too intense, and if poured directly into the Nine Yin Formation it might cause the yin qi to explode instantly, at which point the twelve flags may not be able to suppress that explosive force.

Thus Pangzi could only use the copper mirrors as a transfer medium, filtering the Tai Yin star's soft yin qi through them, then slowly feeding it into the formation.

When the moon fully emerged from the clouds, a pale, cold white light slowly shone upon Pangzi; at the same time, the copper mirrors' light flickered, slowly transmitting that white light into the Nine Yin Formation.

The nine yin pillars of the Nine Yin Formation are all forged from yin-sunken wood; the material is excellent, the best substance for bearing yin qi.

Gradually, the atmosphere inside the room changed subtly, from hot to cool; next, the copper mirrors' light became expansive, and the soft yin qi instantly turned into cold yin qi. The room's temperature plummeted instantly, feeling as cold as dozens of degrees below zero in the Arctic.

Every celestial star possesses its own dignity; when the Tai Yin star sensed that Pangzi was borrowing its qi, in an instant the star's dignity burst forth, and that soft yin qi instantly turned into an extreme cold qi.

At this moment Pangzi was like jelly frozen in an icebox, his whole body coated with a granular layer of frost, his sturdy frame trembling in the icy wind.

At this time, the twelve flags surrounding the nine pillars trembled slightly; under the opposition of this extreme cold qi, the flagpoles already showed weakness.

Seeing that the twelve flags were about to detach from the ground and fly out, I quickly bit my fingertips, activated the finger seal, tightly pulled up the wick, pouring my heart's hot blood into it, stabilizing the formation of the twelve flags.

On the other side, the stiff Pangzi barely managed to steady his posture, then hastily pulled out his familiar wine gourd and took a big gulp of hot wine.

The wine in the gourd was specially prepared for Huo Guang's fire seal; besides being usable for casting spells, it can also bolster yang qi and dispel cold yin.

After taking several more gulps of hot wine, Pangzi again pinched his finger seal, chanting the incantation to stabilize the copper mirrors, slowly feeding the yin qi into the nine pillars.

Gradually, the yin qi inside the room grew heavier, and the pressure I faced increased as well; the wick in my hand felt as heavy as a thousand jin, like a massive stone slowly sinking.

Thus I had no choice but to bite my tongue again, exhaling a mouthful of warm breath containing true yang saliva onto the wick; the wick's flame flared, the pressure eased at the same time, and I exerted force with my right hand to pull the wick slowly upward.

Inside the formation, the cold yin qi slowly entered the nine pillars via the copper mirrors' transport; outside, I controlled the twelve flags to suppress the nine yin pillars, keeping the yin qi within a certain range so it would not leak out. As long as we continue like this, the formation's success is merely a matter of time.

However, just as the formation returned under our control, a barely audible crack suddenly sounded from within the courtyard; I and Pangzi looked toward the source, and our faces involuntarily changed.

Only to see that the nine pillars forged from yin-sunken wood inside the formation had developed slight cracks; the sound came from those cracks.

This is yin-sunken wood, which soaks in water for thousands of years without rotting; yet under the corrosion of this yin qi, it has actually developed cracks.

My heart clenched; I anxiously looked at Pangzi. We had prepared everything, but we had not anticipated that the cold yin inside the formation had exceeded the tolerance limit of yin-sunken wood.

"Never mind it, just hold the formation!" Pangzi, drenched in sweat, even with his legs trembling, still clenched his teeth.

Even if I were more anxious, I could only helplessly suppress my inner impatience and quietly watch the situation evolve.

But as the first cracking sound rang out, the house filled with a crackling of many barely audible fractures, and the nine yin-sunken wood-forged pillars all simultaneously developed cracks.

The Tai Yin star in the sky shone ever brighter; the Nine Yin pillars stood tall and mighty, yet were about to shatter.

If the Nine Yin pillars break, the cold yin qi trapped inside the formation will surge outward in all directions; Pangzi, located within the formation, will undoubtedly be the first target of that cold yin qi, and will certainly die suddenly from the cold attacking his heart. At that point, the twelve flags will no longer be able to suppress the instantaneous explosive force; once the formation collapses, aside from us two each suffering harm, it will surely also afflict the innocent populace within a ten-li radius.

The situation leaves no room for optimism; it has starkly come to a life-and-death juncture..