Chapter 17: Breaking the Formation

Her older sister had vanished; the umbrella demon searched among the human, demon, and god realms, but could find no trace. She refused to believe her sister would abandon her, so she waited in Fine Rain Town, year after year, for the slanting wind and fine rain, for the one who would never return.

"What's your older sister's name?" Shi Ran decided to help the umbrella demon find her; no matter who her sister was, she must be a character from the book, and even if not written, there would always be some clues to follow.

"Su Changhen!" Realizing Shi Ran's intent, the umbrella demon's eyes lit up as she looked at her: "My older sister is the Cold Shadow Immortal Venerable, Su Changhen!"

"Cold Shadow Immortal Venerable?" That name sounds familiar; it definitely appears in the original book, but she couldn't recall which chapter at the moment.

Shi Ran frowned, thinking hard: Which chapter? Exactly which one?

The umbrella demon watched Shi Ran's expression; the hope that had risen began to fade again, when Ling Xiao suddenly said, "First Nascent Soul Venerable of the Ruthless Dao! The eldest daughter of the Su clan, Su Wuhen! She became famous by single‑handedly defeating the chan fish in the cold river, so the world calls her the Cold Shadow Immortal Venerable, but I've never heard of a Su Changhen!"

"Yes, it's Su Wuhen! My sister later changed her name to Su Changhen!" The umbrella demon nodded, looking eagerly at Ling Xiao: "Do you… do you know her?"

Lost in the plot, Shi Ran gave the umbrella demon a flick on the forehead without thinking: "What 'you'? Mind your manners, okay? This is my master!"

The umbrella demon felt wronged but didn't dare speak, obediently correcting herself: "Master, do you know my older sister?"

Ling Xiao shook his head: "The title Cold Shadow Immortal Venerable was once known far and wide, but after the Immortal‑Demon War her whereabouts were lost… Still, among the myriad cultivators, someone is sure to know!"

Cultivators, Dao practitioners—they cultivate fate as well; at the very least, they know more than the folks in Fine Rain Town.

Shi Ran thought the same; she grabbed the umbrella demon's hand and said, "The cultivation world is full of capable people—surely they know more about your sister than these ordinary folk. Keeping them trapped here is pointless!"

Shi Ran's tone softened unusually: "No matter what mistakes they once made, after enduring such long torment they must have paid their dues—let them go!"

The umbrella demon nodded and shook her head: "I… it's not that I don't want to, Master, it's that I…"

"It's not that she can't!" Ling Xiao took over: "This formation has no solution; it can only be broken by force!"

The umbrella demon lowered her head, full of guilt: "Actually, Master, once the Double Star Ninefold Formation is activated, the people trapped in the town are already dead; they merely repeat their former motions, feeding blood souls to the formation's eye."

"You!" Shi Ran exclaimed, not expecting this; she had thought solving the formation would let those people survive.

"Sorry, Master! Sorry!" The umbrella demon shrank her neck: "Although the townsfolk weren't kind to my sister or me, I never wanted to take their lives!"

"It… it was that person who said, 'If you cultivate the formation to the ninth layer, you'll find your sister!' I… I really didn't… I didn't know…"

"Who is that person?" Ling Xiao asked.

"Tall and thin, a man!" The umbrella demon's memory of people's faces is always vague: "If I see a person, I'll remember them!"

She looked at Shi Ran pitifully: "Master, don't abandon little Red!"

Shi Ran's face was expressionless: "What's your name?"

"Bai, I'm Bai Xiao Hong!"

What a lousy name! Shi Ran flicked her lips in disdain, poked Bai Xiao Hong once, and she vanished—straight into Shi Ran's sea of consciousness.

Ling Xiao sighed and glared at Shi Ran!

Shi Ran also sighed, helplessly looking at her master: "Master, she's just… an umbrella; don't bother arguing with her!"

Ling Xiao turned away in anger and quickly walked toward the hot spring pool.

Furious! Shi Ran stuck out her tongue, hurried after Ling Xiao: "Master, how will you destroy this formation? Disciple, I'll lend you a hand!"

Ling Xiao ignored her, his hands began forming seals; countless gusts sprang up, Shi Ran didn't understand, and she flung Mei Ruoxue out again.

Mei Ruoxue's face was grim; as a ghost, does she have no freedom at all? Whenever she's needed, she just hurls that jade bottle wildly!!!

"All right, all right, senior sister, the master is furious right now—don't put on a sour face, teach me what to do, senior sister, my dear senior sister!" Shi Ran bowed again and feigned innocence.

"You deserve it! You clearly know the umbrella demon works better than that broken pool, yet you insist the master destroy the broken pool…" Mei Ruoxue turned back, only then noticing Shi Ran's hairstyle, she suppressed a laugh: "Fine… fine, follow my lead!"

"Mm‑hmm, okay, senior sister!"

Shi Ran was overjoyed, standing beside Mei Ruoxue and beginning to follow her movements.

"Heaven and Earth Reverse, Five Elements Return to Position! Metal splits, wood withers, water dries, fire dies, earth collapses—Break!"

Shi Ran felt her spiritual power merge with her master's, becoming a sword flashing with golden light.

Feeling the pressure of the spirit sword, Mei Ruoxue couldn't bear it and dove back into the jade bottle.

The gusts tangled Ling Xiao's hair and also disturbed Shi Ran's heart.

"With my essence blood I draw spirit into the sword, follow the wind swiftly, spirit sword obey—Break!!!"

As Ling Xiao's final word fell, the golden‑light sword pierced straight into the formation's eye—the hot spring pool.

The hot spring pool exploded instantly, sand and rocks flying, the hot water surged, everything rushed toward Shi Ran and Ling Xiao.

The Double Star Ninefold Formation was forcibly broken!

A gust blew past, fluttering the lanterns hanging under the eaves; in the wind they swayed slightly, but their colour became like water‑soaked xuan paper, fading, peeling, and dissipating from the edges, revealing the empty framework within, then turning into a wisp of smoke carried away by the wind. Wherever the wind passed, outlines and texture began to melt, like old paper ash gently blown.

The wind gradually blew toward the distance. The wooden lattice windows, their delicate carvings peeled off piece by piece, silently turning to fine dust that drifted into nothing. The blue‑stone pavement resembled a receding beach, smoothed inch by inch by the wind—first the grass in the cracks vanished, then the stone slabs themselves lost colour and pattern, fading and melding, leaving only empty, ownerless gray‑white traces.

All of Fine Rain Town, under the wind's combing, gradually faded; people grew old, becoming trembling skeletons, the wind left no trace, and the people and the town's scenery were wiped away one by one by the wind‑sword.

This wind is soundless time, also formless sand; it patiently erases everything, leaving only emptiness awaiting to be filled.

When the wind finally ceased, between heaven and earth remained only a boundless blankness, like a spread‑out sheet of raw xuan paper, pristine enough to cause anxiety, as if Fine Rain Town itself were merely a vast, elusive old dream.

Shi Ran lifted her head, realizing she had been well protected by her master, and felt guilty; though her master's face was cold, he had truly been good to her, yet she had favored others and cast aside Bai Xiao Hong—truly wrong.

Having come to her senses, Shi Ran apologized sincerely: "Sorry, Master!"

Ling Xiao frowned, waved his hand indifferently, but as he turned he couldn't hold back a cough—"Cough, cough, cough!" He too had been stubborn; breaking such a great formation with his essence blood had cost him some cultivation.