Chapter 362

Pfft…… the command flag and the evil spirit merged, not only did they not produce a fierce collision sound, but instead came a pfft sound of substances melting together.

Immediately I felt an enormous pressure surge toward me, a scorching breath spreading from my fingertips to my whole wrist, almost making me unable to hold the command flag, and I stumbled back several steps.

After I steadied myself and got a clear look at the evil spirit's appearance, I involuntarily sucked in a breath of cold air.

Curved beak, three feet and three tails, the whole body translucent red. If its color were not red but gold, it would practically be the spitting image of the three-legged golden crow of myth.

A wry smile flickered in my heart—this Five Ghosts Bringing Wealth feng shui formation truly defies heaven: one yin can make a person rich overnight, and one yang can actually spawn such a terrifying creature. Look at this Fire Crow's appearance; it's actually beginning to revert to its ancestral form.

The command flag and the Fire Crow collided heavily; even though the flag had undergone several years of sacrificial refinement, the Fire Crow still burned off one of its corners. Looking at the damaged spot on the flag, I felt an indescribable pang of anguish. From the day I became a disciple, how many days of refinement went into forging this flag's power, yet a light touch from the Fire Crow has chipped off a corner.

At that moment, the Fire Crow let out a strange cry in the air, flapped its wings twice, and another wave of scorching breath surged toward me.

My mind began to race, considering how to deal with this Fire Crow. Although I'm not like some ruthless types who gather ghosts' resentful grievances into the flag, I have refined it day and night, and the flag has already condensed an incredibly thick yin qi—enough to freeze a group of people to death, which is no exaggeration.

Yet that light collision just now made the superiority and inferiority, the strength and weakness of yin and yang, obvious.

While I was pondering a strategy, the Fire Crow let out an angry little cry. Although I couldn't understand its meaning, I could sense it was threatening me, telling me not to get in its way.

Seeing that he gave me no chance at all and flew straight at me, I could only curse, summon my courage, and rush forward with the command flag.

Another silent collision occurred, and the flag's yin qi melted away a bit more. The Yin Mountain command flag that usually makes human souls scatter and ghosts vanish three zhang away now had no effect whatsoever against this Fire Crow.

"Damn……" After taking a few blows in succession, I felt extremely stifled; moreover, the Fire Crow's body is saturated with extreme yang qi, so even a touch feels like being roasted over fire. Now I'm not fighting a person at all—it's like grappling with a fireball.

"Pangzi, you bastard, think of something for me!" The Fire Crow was like a huge fireball, forcing me to jump around the room in a panicked scramble.

"I'm not trying to think of a plan for you, am I?" Pangzi sat on the stool by the door, panting as he replied.

Another wave of scorching breath swept over my head, startling me into a jerk; I ducked down at lightning speed. Yet when the Fire Crow struck the wall, it still sprayed out sparks. The sparks landed on the back of my head and spread like a prairie fire; if I hadn't promptly slammed my head against the doorframe, I would have instantly turned from a Daoist into a bald donkey.

"Holy shit, have you figured it out yet?" I yelled at Pangzi sitting by the door, fuming.

"I've figured it out; the only thing I can do now is…… cheer you on!"

Me: ……

"Squeak……" a piercing cry rang out, the Fire Crow's body burst into thick flames, it flapped its wings in midair, executed a forty‑five‑degree flip, and dove straight at me.

Its patience…… has now reached its limit.

Not to mention fighting, just seeing this scene made my scalp tingle. Talismanic thunder magic has no effect on this Fire Crow whatsoever, and even the Yin Mountain command flag I rely on is suppressed by this thick yang evil, utterly useless.

Seeing the Fire Crow rush at me with thunderous force, I instinctively turned aside to avoid its body.

But at that moment, the Fire Crow didn't press its advantage against me; instead it flew toward Pangzi on the stool.

"Holy crap……" Pangzi muttered a curse, his bulky frame again sprinting across the yard like a gust of wind. While running, he turned and unleashed his most proficient Threefold True Fire incantation, shaping it like a flower and firing it off.

But he forgot that the Fire Crow is born of yang evil qi, and the Threefold True Fire is an extremely yang technique—how could it possibly harm the Fire Crow?

Not only did it cause no damage, after absorbing the true fire the Fire Crow's vigor became even more abundant; it let out a bright, relaxed cry in the air, and its whole body blazed brighter than before!

"Pangzi, can you stop being such an idiot? You know this thing is yang evil, yet you attack it with true fire—aren't you just serving it up on a plate?"

This scene before my eyes is truly hilarious—a fireball chasing a meatball, both moving at no slow pace, it's more entertaining than watching a marathon.

Pangzi ran around the yard with his head in his arms, sometimes playing hide‑and‑seek with the Fire Crow, sometimes playing eagle‑chasing‑chickens. To put it bluntly, it's more like an eagle chasing a fat chicken, and that fat chicken is really stupid.

According to the original plan, Pangzi was preparing to lure the Fire Crow into the well, using the yin water drawn by the Eight Gates formation to extinguish it.

But wishes are beautiful, reality is harsh. No one expected the Fire Crow to be this fierce, and that it could fly.

Even more unexpected was what happened right before my eyes……

Pangzi came to the well's edge, about to jump down, but a second later he remembered it was a well—jumping in would mean no way out. Moreover, given his build, whether he could get down at all was questionable. Then, under my stunned gaze, he turned around, faced the well, and made a pleading gesture toward the Fire Crow hovering in the air.

This gesture…… is it 'please enter the jar'?

I was instantly thunderstruck by this sight, my eyes crossed and mouth twisted, unable to even force a wry smile… I said, "Pang bro, you're really leaving me speechless. Even if that thing is a spirit and not a person, you shouldn't insult its intelligence like this."

Another loud cry rang out; sure enough, Pangzi's gentlemanly behavior didn't move the Fire Crow at all—it only infuriated it further. Obviously, the Fire Crow isn't low‑witted; even if he doesn't grasp what's going on, he can sense…… that Pangzi is treating it like a fool.

It charged at Pangzi by the well with overwhelming force; caught off guard, Pangzi's body brushed past it, and his clothes erupted in blazing flames, making him scream and flail beside the well.

Seeing the Fire Crow spin in midair, preparing another wave of attack on Pangzi, I spotted the brick in his hand. In desperation I blurted to Pangzi, "Pangzi, quickly throw the brick in your hand down the well!" If I'm not mistaken, from the moment the Fire Crow appeared until now, its target has always been that brick in Pangzi's hand. Although I don't understand what Pangzi calls his "gold brick," I can feel from intuition that it is a heavy‑yang artifact.

The Fire Crow was already extremely uncomfortable from the five yin waters, and having lingered long in a cold, yin environment without contact with anything yang. It's like a person wandering long in a desert—you can imagine his thirst, and what his expression would be upon encountering water.

The instant I spoke those words, the Fire Crow and Pangzi were only a ruler's length, twenty centimeters apart. Pangzi had no time to think; the next second, with both hands in a basketball three‑point shot stance, he flung the brick from his hand.

With a plop, the brick traced a perfect arc through the air and fell into the well.

Just as I expected, almost the instant the brick entered the well, the Fire Crow, which had been rushing toward Pangzi's body, twisted in midair and pursued the brick; even though the brick was in the water, it dove straight down into the well without hesitation.

As the Fire Crow followed the brick into the well, Pangzi and I instantly snapped to, ran to the well's edge, and together lifted the large stone nearby to cover the well.

With a boom, the rock sealed the well; Pangzi and I still dared not loosen our grip, gritting our teeth as we pressed down hard on the stone.

We feared that if we let go, the Fire Crow would turn back; although the well is the dead gate of the formation, and Pangzi had drawn subterranean yin springs via the Nine Dragons Water method, we still didn't dare release our hold, just in case.

As we just pressed the rock down, its surface transmitted an intense heat, the whole stone turning slightly red. The more critical the moment, the less we dared to relax; we summoned the strength of suckling infants, pressing down on that large stone with all our might, not allowing the slightest slack.

After several minutes, when both our hands were scorched nearly to numbness, the fiery red hue slowly faded from the rock.

At that point, Pangzi and I were utterly exhausted, collapsed beside the well, gasping for breath.

"Pangzi…… you all right?" I swallowed and asked him.

But when I looked at Pangzi, I couldn't help bursting into laughter—he had earlier grappled with the Fire Crow in a close embrace, and now his whole body was covered only by a pitiful scrap of cloth shielding his vitals; the rest—arms, thighs—was bare white flesh, with no cover at all.

Sometimes I really wonder how a grown man, especially one who trains martial arts long‑term, can be so pale. Look at his fair skin—even a woman seeing it might feel a pang of envy.

Pangzi grew flustered under my stare, instinctively covering his chest with both hands like warding off a wolf, then adopting a shy, maiden‑like demeanor, his cheeks flushing pink, he eyed me warily and said, "Kid, what are you staring at? I'm telling you, don't think I'm scared just because I'm shirtless—I…… I won't give in to you."

Me…… Pangzi, can you be any more shameless? Damn it, your sexual orientation is abnormal, and you're even doubting whether my gaze is the problem.

Suppressing the churning in my stomach, I gave Pangzi a sideways glance; if looks could kill, he'd already be chopped into a million pieces.

"All right, all right, cut it out, take a break!" Pangzi couldn't withstand my murderous stare and began to beg for mercy.

"Holy shit, can you stop looking at me like that?" I continued to glare at him with a killer's gaze.

"Damn, we said we'd take a break, why are you still giving me that creepy stare?" The killer's gaze persisted; in the end Pangzi wore a grim, tear‑streaked face and begged me for mercy.

"Sir, I was wrong, I was just joking, do you really have to make such a fuss? Staring at me this long…"

Only then did I finally nod in satisfaction—winning without fighting, I truly am a talent.

At this moment, I suddenly recalled the feng shui of Chen Zheng's ancestral home. Although the Fire Crow evil spirit had been eliminated, this does not mean that the feng shui would therefore improve.

If we do not completely overhaul the feng shui from start to finish, I fear that even a hundred years later, this house could still give birth to an evil spirit, and perhaps that evil spirit a hundred years from now will be even more terrifying than the one we encountered today.

However, because this residence had offended the Five Ghosts, it had already become a dead house; I fear that ordinary form-and-qi methods would have no effect here. Even if we wanted to change the layout, we could not alter the earth's luck. Moreover, Chen Zheng did not want us to demolish the house, so for a moment I found myself in a dilemma, not knowing how to choose, and I could only voice my doubts to Pangzi.

Pangzi frowned, pondered for a moment, and said to me: "Even if this house were demolished and rebuilt, its earth luck could not be changed; it seems there is only one way—we must borrow the momentum of the mountains and rivers…"

"No… absolutely not," I jumped up and firmly objected.

This seemingly offhand remark actually gave me a real start. What he referred to as the momentum of the mountains and rivers was in fact the momentum of the mountain river dragon veins. Though it sounded ordinary, it was actually extremely dangerous.