Chapter 192

The bird was released for a long time, but Zhao Yi was slow to appear.

Regarding this, Li Zhuiyuan didn't feel surprised.

The other party couldn't be idle there, waiting for his summons; even if he wanted to come over, he had to finish the things at hand, and even, after receiving his message, he would tacitly assume he would get the jade fragment and go do some arrangements in advance.

The government agency tour group left by bus during the day, and the homestay became quiet again.

Before dark, Li Zhuiyuan returned to the room early and started today's seal.

Although he hated this work, he had to continue doing it; theoretically, the later this jade fragment erupted, the more favorable it was for him.

The exquisite and small compass was placed by Li Zhuiyuan's side, and Li Zhuiyuan would look at the compass measurement results from time to time while busy with his work.

The corpse Qi representing the third jade fragment appeared with higher frequency movement after entering the night, and the direction was completely irregular.

This meant that it was being repeatedly snatched, and every change of ownership was accompanied by a slaughter.

Early the next morning, Li Zhuiyuan pushed open the door and welcomed the sunshine.

Many checked out, and yesterday they couldn't finish cleaning, so Fatty Jin's parents were busy again early.

His partner went home because her father was sick, and Fatty Jin planned to buy some gifts to visit his future father-in-law in two days after he was busy with this wave.

"Are you staying? Please come in, please come in."

Fatty Jin saw the four people standing at the door of the front room and immediately walked out to welcome them.

His homestay was a bit remote, not in the city, not in the ancient city, and not in the ancient town; usually, besides taking the initiative to find travel agencies to pick up orders, those who could find the door themselves were friends and relatives introduced by old customers; such guests needed more enthusiastic reception, doing word-of-mouth.

However, no matter how enthusiastically he invited, those four people stood outside the line between the floor tiles and the dirt road at the door, and didn't take a step inside.

Fatty Jin was a bit puzzled; even if they wanted to check the internal environment and room layout, shouldn't they come in and take a look?

He went out backward and looked at his signboard, thinking something was wrong here.

The four people outside the door didn't want to enter, but didn't dare to enter.

Because as long as they took another step forward, they would be clamped by the formation.

Moreover, the grade of this formation was very high, the internal composition was very complex, and it contained a variety of suppression effects.

The only drawback was probably that it wasn't covered or hidden, and was placed openly.

Of course, this might also be intentional, just to avoid having some hot-headed fool barge in for no reason.

"Young Master, it's here." Sun Yan looked up at the bird circling overhead and confirmed.

Xu Ming crossed his arms, his muscles bulging and rippling, radiating a bronze-colored pressure under the sunlight. He spoke, "Young Master, is this a case of 'luring the enemy into the urn'?"

Behind Zhao Yi, there was another person, wearing a black robe, with a veil on her face; judging from her figure, she should be a plump woman.

She said: "You don't go in, it's dangerous."

The person who could arrange such a formation was definitely not a simple character.

A few mice darted out from the field beside, came to Sun Yan's feet, and made "squeak-squeak" sounds.

Fatty Jin immediately took out a broom to drive them away and explained busily: "Don't worry, there are no mice in our homestay; we have always been exterminating mice, and we check and clean every day!"

The mice were driven away by Fatty Jin, but what surprised Fatty Jin was that the girl wasn't afraid of the mice that darted in front of her feet at all, but instead calmly turned her head and whispered into the ear of the scarred man.

Sun Yan said: People just died here, many died, no bones left, the mice told me.

Zhao Yi yawned, looked at the formation in front of him again, and then threw his package behind him, which was caught by Xu Ming.

"You stay here, I'll go in and take a look alone."

Sun Yan, Xu Ming, and the mountain girl all leaned forward, wanting to stop his impulsive act.

Zhao Yi's voice sank: "Be obedient."

The next moment, the three of them all stabilized their figures and stopped talking.

Zhao Yi walked into the homestay, and Fatty Jin followed to introduce the room types.

"My friend lives here, you go be busy; if you want to check in, I'll find you to handle the procedures."

"Friend?" Fatty Jin saw Li Zhuiyuan sitting at the door of the room waving at this side, and then understood, "Okay, then you chat, I'll go prepare some fruit for you."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Zhao Yi walked to Li Zhuiyuan and smiled at the boy.

It could be seen that the boy's state was good, not like the last time they met in Guizhou, when he was sick and had to be fed medicine by him personally.

Li Zhuiyuan pointed to his face, indicating the scar on Zhao Yi's face, and asked: "Opened a bigger life-and-death door crack for yourself again?"

Initially, Zhao Yi's life-and-death door crack was on his forehead, which he later dug out with his own hands, leaving only a small scar mark now, which was almost invisible.

But now, on Zhao Yi's left face, extending from under his nose across his lips, there was an extra very deep and thick scar.

Zhao Yi pulled open the buttons of his clothes, revealing his chest.

That scar wasn't just on his face, but continued downward, to his neck and then to his chest, and finally, fell back to the position of his heart, where a layer of black cloth was wrapped.

He uncovered the black cloth, and inside there was a bloody depression; deep in the depression, a spider the size of a palm was lying, and with the frequency of the heartbeat, the spider's tail was also constantly bulging and shrinking.

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head, drank a sip of Fatty Jin's flower tea, and said: "So, you are dying."

Zhao Yi's heart was either dug out or almost useless; now, it was relying on this life-gu to replace the heart's function, but this couldn't last long.

"Yes, I am dying, and I have to thank you for this."

Fatty Jin's footsteps came from behind, and Zhao Yi buttoned his clothes back up.

Fatty Jin put down a plate of fruit and smiled: "You eat."

Li Zhuiyuan asked Zhao Yi: "Have you opened a room?"

Zhao Yi said to Fatty Jin: "Open four rooms, preferably all on the ground floor."

Fatty Jin waved his hand busily: "No, I didn't mean that, just fruit to treat friends."

"Open a room, and call the three people outside in, just say I said so."

"Then okay, I'll help you open them."

Fatty Jin trotted back to the front room.

Zhao Yi peeled an orange, put it into his mouth, and said while chewing: "Last time in Guizhou, I didn't catch up, I accidentally bumped into an ancient burial of the Miao corpse-gu sect, almost died, and relied on dog-shit luck to pick up a life."

Li Zhuiyuan didn't care: "What does it have to do with me."

Actually, it had something to do with it, because the old woman's wave was originally supposed to be solved by him and Zhao Yi together, but he handled it cleanly in advance.

It was equivalent to forcing Zhao Yi's wave to fall through, and then the new wave appeared inevitably faster and fiercer, and the danger coefficient and difficulty naturally increased significantly.

Zhao Yi shook his head: "Understand, anyway, you are a heartless thing."

Li Zhuiyuan asked: "So, you shouldn't have come to Lijiang, right?"

"Yes, that's right, there was no me in this wave in Lijiang, I found the news myself, took the initiative to join, and picked up this wave." Zhao Yi reached out and touched his chest position lightly, "I am in a hurry to rely on the merit of this wave to continue my life."

The merit of walking the river was sometimes difficult to calculate specifically, somewhat ethereal, but it really existed.

Every time Tan Wenbin used the ghost-control technique, he had to rely on the merit of every wave to fill his lifespan; this was "visible to the naked eye."

Secondly, there were some invisible ones, just like the last wave in Guizhou:

Runsheng swallowed the Gu child, Yin Meng got the Gu insect, Tan Wenbin's two godchildren ate the resentment on the mural, and he got the copper coin sword.

Even Lin Shu, his deep cooperation with the White Crane Boy to defend against enemies every time could actually get gains; after all, as Guan Jiang Shou, his main improvement method was still in the grinding and carrying with the Yin God.

Zhao Yi couldn't wait; he didn't know when this life-gu heart would cause him a sudden cardiac arrest, so he couldn't wait to be involved in the next wave, hoping to obtain a way to continue his life.

Once he succeeded, it was highly likely that his life-gu would undergo changes due to some chance, changing from an unstable state to a relatively stable state for a longer period of time.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Zhao Yi and spread his hands: "Look, you really have to thank me, because it was I who gave you the opportunity to continue your life."

Without the jade fragment, you couldn't get a seat, which didn't count as truly entering this wave, so where would the merit come from.

Zhao Yi put his hand on the back of the chair, crossed his legs, and had a playful young master's appearance, his toes shaking lightly, and said:

"You don't want to give it to me, you want to divert the disaster."

"Don't know good people."

"Heh, in your hand, are there two jade fragments?"

Li Zhuiyuan didn't speak, just drank tea silently.

Zhao Yi continued: "Definitely two, with your personality, you couldn't let yourself not have an entry qualification. Let me guess again, one of them, you can always seal, the other, you can't suppress, and you want to throw this hot potato to me?"

Li Zhuiyuan still didn't speak.

"Do you know that because you hid two, the only one outside triggered such a tragic competition?"

Li Zhuiyuan put down the teacup.

Zhao Yi took the thermos on the ground first and filled his teacup.

Outside, there were many guesses about the fact that only one jade fragment erupted corpse Qi and the other two jade fragments were still missing.

The most mainstream guess was that the holders of the other two jade fragments were still continuing to suppress the corpse Qi inside.

This was very unreasonable, because every person who temporarily obtained the jade fragment that was being snatched did the first thing to suppress it, but they all failed.

But this was also the most reasonable inference, because under the push of the river water, the three jade fragments must be in the Lijiang area at this time, and the Jianghu produced heroes; you think it's very difficult to do, but maybe others have this ability.

The moment Zhao Yi received Li Zhuiyuan's message, he knew that the boy had two jade fragments in his hand!

Unbelievable things, if matched with unbelievable people, suddenly became normal.

He wouldn't naively think that Li Zhuiyuan deliberately wanted to help him, so he decided to give him one.

At least before meeting, Li Zhuiyuan didn't know he was dying and urgently needed merit to continue his life.

So, this jade fragment was something the boy was going to give away anyway; giving it to him, Zhao Yi, was giving, and giving it to a dog was also giving.

The newly poured tea was very hot and couldn't be drunk; Li Zhuiyuan turned the teacup in his hand lightly and asked:

"Do you want it?"

"Want."

"Cooperate in acting."

"After its corpse Qi erupts, be forced to hand it over to me in front of everyone?"

"Hmm."

"I reached a cooperation with two other groups last night to hunt the jade fragment holder, kill the holder first, and then we compete internally.

After I received your message, I betrayed them immediately, not only watching from the sidelines without making a move, but also deliberately breaking the formation I was responsible for arranging, catching them off guard and causing heavy casualties.

That jade fragment holder was very surprised.

However, the jade fragment in their hands didn't last until dawn either.

Those two teams that were originally going to cooperate, like my team, are relatively rare and can talk, and can reach a consensus on cooperation.

So, their two teams must be out first, otherwise they will cooperate to target me."

Zhao Yi did indeed arrange in advance as Li Zhuiyuan thought, and even thought about the team that might cooperate to target him after getting the jade fragment.

"The jade fragment I give you, not counting today, I can add one more seal, maintaining it for one more day. This is the arrangement time I give you."

"Good, I can help you attract firepower and be this bird that sticks out."

"Why do you always like to gild your face; the other jade fragment in my hand can indeed be sealed for a long time, but without me, it will erupt immediately. Even if you snatch it, it makes no sense.

A jade fragment exposed will trigger a bloody storm, two exposed pressure is much smaller, and pursuing three exposed to reduce pressure is not that important.

Furthermore, you have to consider whether you can have an extra partner when finally entering the banquet."

Zhao Yi asked playfully: "Then, are you a qualified partner?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "This can't be asked of me, it has to be asked of yourself."

Zhao Yi nodded: "Of course, you are."

What is the most important point of an excellent partner... have a bottom line!

Zhao Yi betrayed his two partners last night and pitted them to death; he didn't think he was a person with a traditional moral bottom line.

But he believed the boy in front of him had one, provided that he didn't calculate against him first and didn't violate the taboo first.

Having this feeling wasn't because his ancestors had bestowed magic weapons on the boy, nor because he didn't attack the boy last time.

It was because the boy once said painfully that he was stupid when he was taken care of by him.

When dealing with the old woman, he could have avoided paying such a huge price, but in order not to let the old woman kill and sacrifice around, he went to the bottom of the lake in advance, increasing the difficulty of his own wave.

How to say, you can not be a clean person yourself, but as long as your brain is not broken, you still hope that the people around you are righteous.

Grass-roots are certainly not lacking in true heroes and true men, but it takes a lot of effort to distinguish them, but Li Zhuiyuan, in Zhao Yi's eyes, although he couldn't figure out why it was like this, the boy was indeed walking the orthodox path of the Dragon Kings of the Qin and Liu families.

Taking a step back, even if it was forced to calculate against each other in the end, even if he lost to him, he wouldn't feel so stifled and could accept it more.

Li Zhuiyuan tilted his head slightly, looked at Zhao Yi, and asked:

"Thought it through?"

"Cooperation!"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

Zhao Yi asked: "What about the jade fragment?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Don't need me to add one more seal for you?"

"Want."

"Then I'll give it to you tomorrow."

Zhao Yi blinked.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Zhao Yi, you are also a qualified partner in my eyes."

Zhao Yi reached out and straightened his collar, saying as a matter of course: "At least I have been influenced by that Dragon King in my family, family style..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Because you are easy to manipulate."

Zhao Yi: "..."

"Dududu!"

Zhao Yi tapped the tea table with his fingers, warning: "I think in order to enhance our cooperative friendship, at least some polite words should be said, don't you think."

Li Zhuiyuan picked up the teacup, blew on it, and shook his head:

"One reason you can rest assured to cooperate with me is that you feel you don't have the confidence to manipulate me, so you become obedient instead, saving a lot of trouble."

"Clap clap clap!"

Zhao Yi slapped the tea table with his palm and asked:

"How many flower cakes have you eaten recently, your little mouth is as sweet as if it were smeared with honey."

At this time, Fatty Jin trotted over with four keys and handed them to Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi: "Hmm?"

Fatty Jin said a bit awkwardly: "I called several times, but the three outside still won't come in."

Li Zhuiyuan's mouth deliberately appeared with a curve.

Zhao Yi felt he had lost face.

Because Fatty Jin went to call them, they didn't know if Fatty Jin was "falsely passing the holy decree," so they didn't dare to come in.

But from another angle, even if Zhao Yi was trapped, his subordinates should have rushed in to rescue him without hesitation... or died together in the trap.

Of course, this was the most ideal "subordinate state."

Obviously, Zhao Yi's team was not ideal.

Everyone had their own thoughts; once the backbone had a big problem, the rest would naturally consider splitting the luggage and returning to Gaolaozhuang.

Zhao Yi felt he was despised; he stared at Li Zhuiyuan and asked back: "What's wrong with this?"

Li Zhuiyuan said faintly: "My people will come in."

No matter how rationally he warned in advance, even if the hope was slim, Runsheng and Tan Wenbin would definitely come down to die with him.

Lin Shu... would too.

Yin Meng would too, but part of the reason would be based on Runsheng already having gone down.

This was very interesting; he, who had no emotions, possessed a team willing to live and die together.

However, why didn't that old man come in?

Li Zhuiyuan asked: "Where is Old Man Tian?"

Zhao Yi's expression darkened: "To save me, he was completely crippled and was placed in the outer house of his hometown; I go back to visit him after every wave ends."

"Oh, my condolences."

"He's just crippled, not dead; this result is good for him, he can enjoy his old age like an ordinary old man.

After the old thing knew he was useless, his courage grew, and he actually dared to urge me, this young master, to get married early and have a child for him to help bring up."

Li Zhuiyuan showed a painful expression and said: "Old people, they are all like this."

"How did you..."

Looking at the painful expression that just flashed on the boy's face, Zhao Yi pursed his lips and didn't continue, turning to Fatty Jin: "Help me tell them, if they don't want to come in, get out now!"

Fatty Jin: "Uh..."

After saying that, without waiting for Fatty Jin to pass the message, Zhao Yi went out to call people himself.

If anyone was really moved, even if he called them back, the team would be alienated and hard to lead.

Zhao Yi went out personally and called people in.

Xu Ming and Sun Yan, Li Zhuiyuan had seen. One body-refining, one beast-controlling.

That veiled woman, Li Zhuiyuan looked at her twice more; she should be a Gu master.

Zhao Yi introduced: "Miao Saintess, Mountain Girl."

Mountain Girl saluted Li Zhuiyuan, and after the salute, waited for Li Zhuiyuan to return the salute.

Li Zhuiyuan held the teacup, toasted her virtually, lowered his head, and took a small sip.

The aura on Mountain Girl changed; she felt disrespected.

Zhao Yi scolded: "Retreat!"

Mountain Girl retreated, but still had emotions.

Zhao Yi apologized to Li Zhuiyuan: "Newcomer, doesn't understand the rules yet, don't mind, without the life-gu she planted, I couldn't live now."

Immediately, Zhao Yi said to them: "Pay the room fee, and then go choose your rooms, we are staying here."

The three retreated.

Zhao Yi had been in contact with the people around Li Zhuiyuan; he could feel that the atmosphere of the boy's team was very different from his subordinates.

Originally, he had Old Man Tian following him, so there was no gap, but now, the guy he had always disliked for being old and useless and dragging him down had gone home to recuperate, and he started to miss him.

"By the way, where are your people? Did you send them all out to do things? You trust me, daring to stay here alone to welcome my whole team."

That was what he said, but Zhao Yi still felt that the boy's people should be nearby, perhaps hidden somewhere.

Because the boy arranged a formation here, so after he entered here, his perception was also compressed and shielded.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Since we are talking about this, then I won't be polite; do you still have those pills you left me last time? Give me another portion in the same proportion."

Zhao Yi's eyes gradually widened, and he asked tentatively:

"So, your people..."

Li Zhuiyuan pointed to the three rooms on this side and said frankly:

"All seriously injured and collapsed."

Zhao Yi's face began to turn red, and white smoke rose from his head.

Then, he stood up abruptly, slammed his fist on the tea table, smashed the tea table, and cursed hoarsely:

"You motherfucker are doing it again!"

Zhao Yi compensated Fatty Jin for the tea table money.

Although Fatty Jin didn't want to accept it at first, and even said it was a problem with the quality of his own tea table.

The medicine, Zhao Yi gave.

It was still Zhao Yi who personally fed it to Runsheng and the others.

The medicine in Zhao Yi's hand wasn't unlimited; after all, this was a high-consumption consumable.

Just like Yin Meng would spend a lot of time and energy extracting toxins from the natural world between walking the river, Zhao Yi's medicine also needed to be made.

In the past, it was made by Old Man Tian, and now Old Man Tian couldn't get out of bed at home, but he could also continue to pound medicine.

Like last time, Zhao Yi didn't have any good way for the poison Yin Meng was poisoned with, so he could only take some clearing-heat and detoxifying pills and make do with them.

Regarding this, Li Zhuiyuan wasn't surprised at all; even if Yin Meng personally detoxified Yin Meng, she wouldn't have any good way.

However, Zhao Yi suggested letting Mountain Girl take a look at Yin Meng; Gu masters were also good at detoxification.

But this suggestion was rejected by Li Zhuiyuan.

He could accept Zhao Yi giving him pills, but he wasn't willing to let that Mountain Girl contact his companions.

In the boy's eyes, that Miao Gu girl was in an uncontrollable state, and she had a heavy heart.

Zhao Yi also knew this, and he also knew that Mountain Girl liked him.

Although it wasn't the kind of love that would die for him, Mountain Girl indeed had feelings for him.

He also used this point to let her leave the mountain village and follow him to walk the river.

The two stood on the rooftop terrace, leaning against the railing, enjoying the scenery around.

Zhao Yi actually knew that last time in Guizhou, the boy should have really had a situation, and this time's situation was also true.

But compared to the last time, he didn't have much to struggle with this time.

Kill them and snatch the second jade fragment in the boy's hand?

What did he want two jade fragments for?

In the dead of night, wearing two searchlights to attract bees and butterflies—are you in such a hurry to die?

In the end, he still had to give one away, and who to give it to... it seemed that the boy he almost killed was the most suitable to give it to.

To put it bluntly, now that the jade fragment was in hand, he should consider the next stage of entering the banquet.

Li Zhuiyuan listened to Zhao Yi tell about the things that happened outside these days.

For example, who killed whom, who was tricked by whom, who cooperated with whom and then had internal strife...

In these days, Li Zhuiyuan had been living in the homestay, enjoying the unique quiet years of Lijiang.

But outside, it was really a bloody storm.

Most people, Li Zhuiyuan heard their names for the first time; their families, their sects, hadn't had time to contact and know them, and they were already dead.

After chatting, Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs to the room to arrange the seal for the porcelain doll.

During this time, Zhao Yi took his people and left the homestay.

They had to arrange their escape route after getting the jade fragment.

Skipping the competition process, the escape route could be designed more calmly.

By the time Li Zhuiyuan finished today's seal, it was past midnight.

Pushing open the room door, he saw Zhao Yi sitting at the door with a lunch box.

"Eat a little?"

The lunch box above was chicken bean jelly, and below was Lijiang cake.

Even the medicine he gave, Li Zhuiyuan let his companions eat, so he wouldn't mind these foods.

The two sat in the corridor and ate.

"Sealing takes so long?"

"The seals arranged by the first two owners were too poor, without enough sequentiality."

"Hard work."

"The last time, finally don't have to face it anymore."

"There is something I need your help with."

"Let me help you arrange a few formations on the escape route?"

"Exactly."

At this time, Tan Wenbin woke up, he leaned against the wall and went out the door.

Seeing Zhao Yi, Tan Wenbin smiled: "Hello, our editor-in-chief captain."

Li Zhuiyuan said: "Your family's Dihuang pills work really well."

Zhao Yi: "That's for sure, the men in our family start eating this after they become adults."

Tan Wenbin: "Are the men in your family so unconfident?"

"Brother Binbin, you just woke up, you take care of them here, I'll go help them arrange the formation, and then talk to you when I come back."

"Don't worry, Brother Xiaoyuan, leave it to me here."

Tan Wenbin just woke up and was still very weak, unable to walk, but he was weak, and the two dolls on his shoulders were still jumping around.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up, and when he was about to leave, his ears moved slightly, and he said: "Ah You seems to be waking up soon, his breathing rhythm has changed."

Tan Wenbin: "I'll go see him."

"Hmm."

Li Zhuiyuan followed Zhao Yi out of the homestay to the escape points they designed themselves.

The formation level of Zhao family Dragon King Zhao Wuyang at that time was very rough, but after so many years of development and learning, at least the formation attainment Zhao Yi presented couldn't be underestimated.

Moreover, the formations Zhao Yi arranged weren't used to delay, hinder, and cover up, they were all killing formations.

Formation piles were buried deep underground; after the formation was activated, the effect was often just for a

For this kind of formation, one doesn't need to consider stability or sustainability, so it can be set up very quickly, and the materials required are simple.

Regarding the specific details of the formation, Li Zhuiyuan actually had nothing much to adjust. He simply stood before the formation, holding the formation eye Zhao Yi had handed him, and then began waving his hands toward the surroundings, binding the local Feng Shui Qi and phenomena to this formation.

After seeing this scene, Zhao Yi's eyes widened instantly.

The formations he set up were filled with a sense of artificial craftsmanship, yet the young man had added just a single stroke, imbuing it with a certain divine charm.

"Is this... the heritage and foundation of the Long Wang family?"

Li Zhuiyuan did not refute this.

This was actually something he had learned from Wei Zhengdao in his dream, but as for how he learned it, he couldn't remember.

That forgotten dream was truly strange; clearly, there were no traces of memory left, yet it was as if everything he ought to have learned and all the useful information were all there, not a single thing missing.

"Why didn't the formation in your homestay have this feeling... Ah, did you hide it?"

"Mm."

"You really are ruthless."

"It's just that you're slow and failed to see it."

Zhao Yi looked up at the stars overhead and let out a dry laugh: "Heh, hehe."

He was used to it.

But he still asked with renewed curiosity: "Since your surname is Li, tell me, if you hadn't apprenticed into the Qin and Liu families, but instead apprenticed into my Zhao family, wouldn't that mean my Zhao family could..."

"Then there would be no business left for you, Zhao Yi."

Zhao Yi's mouth twitched.

"But, that actually wouldn't be bad either."

"Dawn is coming soon, so stop dreaming."

Li Zhuiyuan upgraded the formations he had helped Zhao Yi set up one by one, effectively increasing the lethality of the formations by twenty percent.

It wasn't an exaggerated increase, but it had clever uses.

Because those pursuing them were not inexperienced; upon discovering they had fallen into a kill formation, they would use their experience and knowledge to mount corresponding defenses. This twenty percent increase in attack power would very likely cause them to make errors based on empiricism.

After all, in the current environment of intense competition for the jade fragments, everyone would consciously conserve their own strength.

Zhao Yi knew better than anyone that simply running away with one's head in one's hands was useless; only by killing could one stop the killing.

As long as enough people died because they were pursuing him, the others would subconsciously go to compete for the other jade fragments.

When they returned to the entrance of the homestay, Zhao Yi said:

"Um, if I end up fleeing outside for a while and finally can't hide anymore, can I come back here... and ask for your protection?"

Li Zhuiyuan said nothing.

Zhao Yi continued: "After all, we are partners, right?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "If I don't let you come, would you not come?"

Zhao Yi: "If I really can't hold on, I will definitely come to seek refuge with you."

Li Zhuiyuan took a stack of draft paper from his backpack and handed it to Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi took it and flipped through it, his eyes widening for the second time that night, and he asked: "Just how little do you think of me?"

The originally high-end formation theories had been broken down by the young man into rigid, dull, tiny squares.

For Zhao Yi, who was also proficient in formations, this was simply an insult to his profession.

Yet at the same time, he couldn't help but admire him, because he himself couldn't do this kind of chewing and feeding, simplifying complex problems to such an extent.

"There's still some time before that jade fragment erupts. You all should hurry up and follow my diagrams to add bricks and tiles to my formation."

The newly added parts of the formation also included the integration of the special abilities of Zhao Yi and his three subordinates.

Zhao Yi sorted the draft papers, handed them to his subordinates, and instructed them earnestly: "Go and set it up quickly!"

"Understood!"

"Got it!"

"Good!"

Lin Shu You, who had just woken up and was leaning on a crutch, struggling to reach the courtyard to get some air, heard the chaotic responses from outside, and the corners of his mouth kept rising, higher and higher.

Heh, low-class!

Tan Wenbin passed by Lin Shu You, reached out and patted his face a few times, and asked in surprise: "Did this injury and overexertion give you facial paralysis?"

"Ah, no, it didn't, I'm fine, Brother Bin."

"Come, drink the medicine."

"Oh, okay."

Zhao Yi and his group were busy through the night, while Li Zhuiyuan seized the time to go to sleep.

This time, he slept until noon the next day before waking up.

He received the news that Runsheng had woken up.

And the Gu insect in Yin Meng's body had also begun to run around inside her, meaning that Yin Meng was also about to wake up.

The Zhao family's pills indeed had remarkable effects.

Li Zhuiyuan decided that after this wave passed, it would be necessary to get a batch of medicine from Zhao Yi separately.

He could use Mengmeng's poison to trade for it.

Sigh, his team originally had a physician, but the physician had gone down the wrong path.

Zhao Yi had been busy until now and finally finished; he came to report the completion of his task.

"Done."

Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes and sensed the formation; the young man was very satisfied.

He hadn't originally expected Zhao Yi to complete everything; completing fifty percent would have been good enough, but Zhao Yi had exceeded the task.

If Zhao Yi were on his own river-walking team, it would indeed be very helpful, but that was an impossible thing; Zhao Yi could bow his head to him temporarily, but he would never be content to live under someone else.

"Go and rest. The jade fragment won't break its seal and erupt until tonight; you still have one last breathing space before you flee."

"Tell me, aren't you afraid that I left some flaws in your formation to make it easier for me to come back?"

"You can leave them, bet on whether I can discover them, and bet on whether you dare to activate and trust those flaws when you return."

"Don't mention the word 'bet' to me; I get flustered whenever I hear it."

"Normal. People who can't afford to bet are all like that."

"Heh, hehe."

Just as Zhao Yi turned to go back to his room to sleep, Li Zhuiyuan took out a small, exquisite formation flag and tossed it toward Zhao Yi.

The other party didn't even look back and reached out to grab it.

This was a secondary flag that could control this formation, and the patterns on it echoed the patterns of the formation itself.

Zhao Yi: "Don't be like this. You doing this so suddenly makes me feel a little moved."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Don't misunderstand. I gave this to you to make it easier for you to break the formation tonight, so you can create the effect. After tonight, I will modify the formation, and the flag in your hand will be useless."

Zhao Yi: "I'm saying, is it necessary to be this cautious?"

"I'm afraid that if your escape fails and you get killed, the formation flag will be seized, creating a security risk for me."

"Heh."

Zhao Yi held the small formation flag and poked his own chest several times.

"Hiss... oh, oh, oh!"

It seemed that poking the large spider near his heart made him bend over in pain and start gasping, and he returned to his room, swaying.

Time flowed away bit by bit.

At dusk, Yin Meng woke up.

Li Zhuiyuan went to check on her condition; just like after the last time she was poisoned, she woke up first, her eyes opened first, but her mind hadn't come back to her yet, and she was staring numbly at the ceiling.

Runsheng, who had woken up a bit earlier, sat weakly by the bed and encouraged her:

"It's okay, as long as you're awake. If your brain is lost, it's lost; anyway, it wasn't much use."

Under Runsheng's gentle words, Yin Meng kept blinking, the frequency getting faster and faster.

As the number of times everyone was severely injured increased, everyone had developed their own suitable experience on how to recover after an injury.

Brother Pang Jin came over to discuss with Li Zhuiyuan that his future father-in-law's condition seemed to be worsening, so he had to take his parents to the hospital to visit, and no one would be left to guard the homestay tonight.

Li Zhuiyuan comforted him to go with peace of mind, as he would help watch over the homestay.

Brother Pang Jin then took his parents and drove away from there.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't know if this was a coincidence, but in all likelihood, there would be special arrangements in the dark.

He still had to continue living here.

This feeling of just sitting and waiting for clues to fall into his lap was actually quite nice.

The night gradually deepened.

He had arranged for everyone on his side to be on the terrace.

Although Runsheng, Tan Wenbin, and Lin Shu You had woken up, their bodies hadn't recovered yet, so they all held onto the railing to maintain their balance.

Then, under Tan Wenbin's adjustment, everyone displayed an aura of "being calm and unruffled."

But this aura needed a transition process, one of "panic, fear, and dread."

This was easy to manage; as long as they let go of the railing they were holding onto and took a few steps back, given their current physical state, they would all become staggering and pale-faced.

Yin Meng hadn't fully regained consciousness; she was arranged to sit in an armchair, eyes open, with bottles and jars placed on the table in front of her.

Tan Wenbin observed for a moment and said: "Don't say, Mengmeng looks really scary like this."

Runsheng: "Indeed."

Yin Meng blinked rapidly.

Zhao Yi took his people and left the homestay. When leaving, he looked up, wanting to share a knowing glance with the young man on the roof.

But the young man didn't lean out of the terrace for a long time, so he just kept his head up and walked out of the homestay gate.

Everything was ready.

Li Zhuiyuan held the ceramic doll in his hand.

Finally, it's time to say goodbye to you, you stupid thing.

"Crack... crack... crack..."

The ceramic doll began to shatter, the speed getting faster and faster, and finally, it completely crumbled. Immediately after, an invisible wave of Qi spread out from the jade fragment.

If one were walking the path of the Yin, one could see a black wolf-smoke rising here.

Not long after, Li Zhuiyuan sensed probing gazes beginning to converge here.

Continuing to wait, with the help of the probing part of the formation, Li Zhuiyuan could capture figures, some distant and some close, rapidly approaching.

The second jade fragment, after waiting for so long, had finally appeared!

However, although more and more people were gathering, Li Zhuiyuan waited for a long time but couldn't wait for the first wave to charge the formation.

Because no one was stupid; everyone knew how terrifying the formation set up by someone who could suppress the corpse Qi within the jade fragment for so long must be.

However, this hesitation and waiting were destined not to last long. Once more people gathered, they would soon collectively charge the formation with great tacit understanding.

The first to take the lead was Zhao Yi, his voice echoing in the night sky:

"Everyone, let us break this formation together first, seize the jade fragment from his hands, and then we shall compete for it!

I, Zhao Yi of Jiujiang,

will set the example for you all!"

Zhao Yi took his people and began to charge the formation.

Holding the secondary flag, he could cancel out his own attacks while charging, so the actual effect was close to zero, but the commotion and light effects he stirred up were truly quite shocking.

Furthermore, under his agitation, more and more people around began to charge the formation. Zhao Yi was on their side, yet he deliberately used his perspective to mobilize the formation's power to counter them.

In the eyes of those charging, the formation seemed to have grown eyes, launching targeted counterattacks against them.

It was under this self-directed performance that the level of the formation Li Zhuiyuan had set up rose significantly in everyone's minds compared to reality.

This was the effect the young man wanted; he wanted to ensure that for a long time to come, while he remained here, no small groups would dare to come and disturb him.

But soon, Li Zhuiyuan also discovered that there were experts among this group, and quite a few of them.

This Jianghu truly had no shortage of talent; it wasn't just he who was clever, nor was he the only one with opportunities.

Just like Xu Yijin, who was buried there.

Even for himself, it wouldn't be strange if one day, while feeling good about himself, he suddenly had his head chopped off.

In short, two fists were no match for four hands; if he just sat here and took a beating, this formation really wouldn't be able to hold out for too long.

Of course, while Li Zhuiyuan was worrying about this, the people outside were actually even more shocked than he was.

This was just a homestay, not someone's ancestral home; for a temporary formation to be this resilient, the person who set it up was truly terrifying!

"You think you're the only one who understands formations? I, Zhao of Jiujiang, also have a formation heritage!"

Zhao Yi's voice continued to amplify outside.

This was the normal way to make a name for oneself while walking the river.

But Li Zhuiyuan still didn't like this style.

If he could wave his formation flag right now and turn this place into a formation environment like the one inside Fengdou, capable of successfully trapping and killing everyone here, he wouldn't mind shouting out his name as a descendant of the Qin and Liu families.

Shouting out his name wouldn't kill them, so... it was quite meaningless.

Zhao Yi manipulated the secondary flag, causing the formation to tremble violently; for a moment, it actually seemed on the verge of collapse.

Tan Wenbin whispered: "Retreat."

Runsheng, Tan Wenbin, and Lin Shu You all let go of the railing, retreated, and then one by one staggered, their faces pale.

Li Zhuiyuan also took two steps back, looking at the sky with a grave expression.

Zhao Yi: "Hahahaha! No matter how well you set up your formation, there's only a small group of you; how could you possibly stop all of us heroes of the Jianghu!

If you're sensible, I advise you to hand over the jade fragment early to avoid being dismembered and dying a miserable death!

After all, corpse Qi and evil spirits must be purged!"

Li Zhuiyuan tossed the jade fragment, which had now turned black, forward.

The gazes of everyone breaking the formation on the periphery collectively converged.

Li Zhuiyuan had deliberately thrown it toward Zhao Yi, and Zhao Yi himself was also manipulating the formation to pull it toward him; without any surprise, the jade fragment fell into Zhao Yi's hands.

Zhao Yi: This jade fragment is finally in my hands!

Li Zhuiyuan: Fend for yourself, good luck.

"Everyone, please rest assured, I, Zhao of Jiujiang, will take responsibility for suppressing this evil object; I will never let it harm the human world!"

After saying this, Zhao Yi took his people and slipped away directly.

Li Zhuiyuan turned to manipulate the formation to launch a counter-shock against those who were breaking the formation, helping Zhao Yi stall for time.

"Damn it!"

"Beast!"

"Scoundrel!"

Curses came from all around.

But most people couldn't even be bothered to curse and chased after him directly.

Once the person inside the formation threw out the jade fragment, no one wanted to continue gnawing on this sturdy formation.

Everyone knew clearly that earlier, everyone had swarmed in, so the formation was forced to defend, and everyone could be relatively safe; but if small groups went to attack, the formation could calmly counterattack.

The surroundings of the homestay soon became quiet.

However, Li Zhuiyuan could vaguely feel that there should be more than one pair of eyes still hidden in the darkness nearby, having stayed behind.

Clearly, it was impossible to fool everyone with this trick; there would always be people who grew suspicious, and there might even be experts in formations who could spot a few flaws.

Regarding this, Li Zhuiyuan wasn't afraid, because mere suspicion couldn't generate enough motivation.

Li Zhuiyuan felt a sweetness in his throat and forcibly swallowed it back, then lifted his head to prevent his nosebleed from flowing out.

The previous manipulation of the formation had already placed a huge burden on him, but he couldn't show it now.

He could be seen as having been forced to hand over the jade fragment under pressure from the crowd, but he absolutely couldn't let outsiders see the current weakness of his team.

The young man looked at the starry sky overhead, his voice spreading out with the help of the formation's power, and he extended an invitation:

"To those remaining, if you have the interest, you may come inside to sip tea and watch the stars!"

(End of chapter)