Chapter 90: Capturing the Fire Crow Evil Spirit

Pfft…… the command flag and the evil spirit merged, not producing a fierce collision sound but instead a soft pfft as they melted together.

Immediately I felt an immense 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 stepped back several paces in succession.

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

Its beak was curved, it had three legs and three tail feathers, its whole body translucent red. If its color were not red but gold, it would look exactly like the three‑legged golden crow of myth.

A wry smile crossed my mind—this Five Ghosts Wealth‑Bringing Feng Shui array is truly heaven‑defying: 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, 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 now chipped off a corner.

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

My thoughts began to race, considering how to deal with this fire crow. Although I'm not like those ruthless types who gather ghosts' resentful grievances into the flag, I have refined it day and night, and the flag has already condensed an extremely thick Yin Qi—so much that it could literally freeze a group of people to death, which is no exaggeration.

Yet that light collision just now made the superiority of the two, the strength of Yin versus Yang, obvious.

While I was pondering countermeasures, 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 it give me no chance at all as it flew toward me, I could only curse, my courage rising from desperation, and I grit my teeth and charged forward with the command flag.

Another silent collision occurred, and the flag's Yin Qi dissipated a bit more. The Yin Shan 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 several blows in succession, I felt extremely stifled; moreover, the fire crow's body bore extremely heavy Yang Qi, so even a touch felt like being roasted by fire. Now I wasn't fighting a person—I was practically grappling with a fireball.

"Pangzi, you bastard, think of something!" The fire crow was like a huge fireball, forcing me to jump around the room in a frantic, disgraceful escape.

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

Another wave of scorching breath shot over my head, startling me into a sudden jerk; I ducked my head at top 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, who was sitting by the door, in a fit of rage.

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

Me: ……

"Chirp……" a piercing cry rang out; the fire crow's body burst into intense flames, it flapped its wings in midair, executed a forty‑five‑degree flip, and swooped down toward me.

Its patience…… had now reached its limit.

Not to mention fighting; just seeing this scene made my scalp go numb. The Talisman and Register Thunder Method had no effect whatsoever on this fire crow, and even the Yin Shan Command Flag I relied on was suppressed by this thick Yang Evil, rendering it completely useless.

Seeing the fire crow charge at me with thunderous force, I instinctively turned my body to dodge it.

But at that moment, the fire crow did not press its advantage against me; instead it flew toward Pangzi on the stool.

"Holy crap……" Pangzi muttered a curse, his heavy body once again sprinting across the courtyard like a gust of wind. As he ran, he turned and unleashed his most proficient Samadhi True Fire spell, shaping it like the character for "flower" and shooting it forward.

But he forgot that the fire crow is born of Yang Evil qi, and Samadhi 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 even more fiercely!

"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 feeding it?"

This scene before my eyes is truly hilarious—a fireball chasing a meatball, neither slow, making it more exciting than watching a marathon.

Pangzi ran around the courtyard with his head in his arms, sometimes playing hide‑and‑seek with the fire crow, sometimes playing the game of eagle catching chicks. To put it bluntly, it was an eagle chasing a fat chick—and that chick was 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 while reality is cruel; nobody expected the fire crow to be this fierce, and also capable of flight.

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

Pangzi came to the well's edge, about to jump in, but after a second he realized it was a well—jumping down would mean he couldn't get back up. Moreover, with his build, whether he could even get down was questionable. Right before my stunned eyes, he turned his body toward the well and made a pleading gesture at the fire crow hovering in the air.

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

I was instantly thunderstruck by this scene, my eyes askew and mouth twisted, unable to even force a bitter smile… I said, "Pang‑brother, 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 not only failed to move the fire crow, it utterly enraged it. Obviously the fire crow's intelligence is not low; even if he doesn't grasp what's going on, he can sense…… that Pangzi is treating it like a fool.

It charged down toward Pangzi by the well with tremendous momentum; caught off guard, Pangzi's body brushed past it, and his clothes erupted in blazing flames, making him squawk 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 out 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 magical artifact heavy with Yang Qi.

The fire crow was already extremely uncomfortable from the Five Yin Water, and having long dwelt in a cold, Yin environment, it could not contact any Yang thing. 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 0.2 centimeters apart—about the width of a ruler. Pangzi had no time to think; the next second, with both hands he launched the brick in a basketball three‑point shot posture.

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, abruptly turned in midair and pursued the brick, and even though the brick was in the water, it dove straight 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 nearby large stone to cover the well.

With a boom, as the rock covered the well, I quickly used the Yin Shan Command Flag to draw an edict on the stone's surface.

Immediately afterward, we two pressed down on that large stone with all our might, daring not to relax in the slightest.

We feared that if we loosened our grip, the fire crow would turn back; although the well is the dead gate of the formation, and Pangzi had drawn underground Yin springs via the Nine Dragons Water Creation Method, we still dared not let up, just in case.

As I drew the edict and Pangzi strained to press the rock down, the stone's surface transmitted an intense heat, the whole rock turning slightly red. At this critical juncture, neither Pangzi nor I dared to relax; we summoned the strength of a suckling infant, pressing down on the stone with all our might, allowing no slack.

After several minutes, when 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, collapsing beside the well and gasping for breath.

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

But when I looked at Pangzi, I couldn't help bursting into laughter—he had earlier clung to 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, could be so pale. Look at his fair skin—even a woman seeing it would probably feel jealous.

Pangzi felt uneasy under my stare, his hands instinctively covering his chest like a wolf‑guard, then he adopted a shy, maiden‑like posture, a blush rising on his cheeks, warily eyeing me and asking: "What are you looking at, kid? I'm telling you, don't think that just because I've lost my clothes I'm afraid of you—I…… I won't submit to you."

I…… 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 feeling in my stomach, I gave Pangzi a sideways glance; if looks could kill, he'd already be chopped into countless pieces.

"All right, all right, cut it out—let's rest a bit!" 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 fix him with a murderous gaze.

"Hell, we said we'd rest, why are you still giving me that creepy stare?" The murderous gaze persisted; in the end Pangzi came to me with a tear‑stained face, begging for mercy.

"Sir, I was wrong, I was just joking—do you really have to stare at me this long?"

I barely managed to satisfy myself with a nod; to win without battle—I really am talented.

At that moment I suddenly recalled the feng shui of Chen Zheng's ancestral home. Although the Fire Crow evil spirit had been eliminated, that doesn't mean this feng shui will improve because of it.

If we don't completely overhaul the feng shui from start to finish, I fear that in a hundred years this house may still give birth to an evil spirit, and that future evil spirit might be even more terrifying than the one we faced today.

But this house, having offended the Five Ghosts, has become a dead house; I fear ordinary landform and compass methods are useless here. Even if we wanted to change the layout, we cannot alter this land's fortune. Moreover, Chen Zheng does not want us to demolish the house, so for a moment I found myself in a dilemma, unsure how to choose, and thus I voiced my doubts to Pangzi.

Pangzi furrowed his brow, pondered for a moment, and said to me: "Even if we demolish and rebuild this house, we cannot change its land's fortune; it seems there is only one way—we must borrow the power of the mountains and rivers…"

"No…… absolutely not," I jumped up, firmly rejecting it.

That seemingly casual remark actually gave me a start. What he meant by "the power of mountains and rivers" is actually the dragon vein of the mountains and rivers. Though it sounds ordinary, it is in fact extremely perilous.