Chapter 97: Carving a Boat to Seek What, Again

Lan Ting was originally accustomed to using meditation to replace sleep at night, but ever since joining the barbecue shop, she had developed the good habit of sleeping at night.

When the four of them woke up, they felt refreshed and full of spirit; this was partly due to the formation Lan Ting had set up.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go out and play, I haven't had enough fun yet!" Meng Jingzhou was the most energetic, calling Lu Yang up from his bed as if he were driving pigs.

Lu Yang kicked Meng Jingzhou before getting up reluctantly.

Man Gu had gone to the vegetable market early to stock up; he was the first to rise.

Man Gu made a pot of dough-drop soup, cracked in four eggs, and added a few drops of sesame oil; the fragrance filled the entire main hall.

Lu Yang liked vinegar, so he added a small spoonful to his own bowl of dough-drop soup. The four of them ate until they were clean and refreshed, then went out to play.

The four of them left quite early, but there was already a large crowd of tourists out playing on the streets. Lu Yang heard that the hostels had long been fully booked, and many people chose to stay in homestays.

People's faces were filled with joyful smiles. Small children wore the same tofu masks as Lu Yang, holding large pinwheels in their hands, jumping up and down, while their parents held their hands, terrified that the children might get lost.

"It's so lively here, it's just like a temple fair."

"Have you heard? Someone brought a behemoth from the south of the continent; it's right by the river. Let's go take a look!" someone said excitedly to their companion.

Upon hearing this, Meng Jingzhou could not suppress his curiosity and took the other three to the riverbank to see the behemoth.

The four of them arrived at the familiar large stone bridge, only this time they were standing on top of it. Both sides of the stone bridge were covered in small flags.

Seeing the behemoth, Meng Jingzhou was somewhat disappointed: "I thought it was something else; it turns out to be an elephant."

By the Yinlong River, this place was originally a gathering spot for tourists every year. Now, because someone wanted to show off and brought an elephant from the south of the continent, there were even more curious tourists watching.

Lu Yang, needless to say, had certainly seen an elephant before. Meng Jingzhou and Lan Ting came from aristocratic families and had seen more strange and peculiar objects since childhood than Lu Yang had ever heard of. Man Gu lived in the wilderness and had even hunted elephants.

Ordinary people did not have the experiences of the four of them and were very interested in an animal with such a massive body as an elephant.

A tourist exclaimed: "Is this a demonic beast? How did it grow so big, and why does it have such a long nose and teeth?"

The elephant's owner was a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator. He explained: "It is indeed a demonic beast. It's hard to evaluate the realm of a demonic beast, but it's roughly at the 6th layer of Qi Condensation. Its massive size has nothing to do with it being a demonic beast; this type of creature is called an elephant, and they all grow this big after reaching adulthood."

The tourist continued to ask: "How heavy is a creature this big?"

The elephant's owner laughed dumbly; who would know that? There wasn't a scale big enough to weigh it.

Another tourist suggested: "Since this place is right next to the river, you could put the elephant on a large boat, make a mark where it touches the water surface, then have the boat carry stones or something similar. Once the marked spot touches the water surface again, weigh the large stones, and you'll know how heavy the elephant is."

The elephant's owner also wanted to know how heavy his spirit pet was and readily agreed.

Under the owner's command, the elephant was driven onto the boat. The elephant was too heavy, and the boats in the shallow water area couldn't carry it, so the owner rowed to the middle of the river. The owner took out a small knife and made a cut where it touched the water surface.

Just as the owner was about to row back, the elephant inadvertently raised its eyes, saw Man Gu, and was immediately given a huge fright.

Demonic beasts are most sensitive to aura. The ancient barbarian tribes often hunted elephants in the wilderness. This fierce killing intent flowed in their blood. Although the elephant did not understand the meaning, it felt a chill in its heart when it saw Man Gu; this was suppression originating from the bloodline.

The elephant panicked, fell into the water with a splash, and sank directly to the bottom.

People on the shore exclaimed, telling the elephant owner to hurry and save the elephant. Who would have expected the elephant owner to calmly carve a mark where the elephant fell into the water and say: "This is where the elephant fell into the water."

The people on the shore were puzzled, and the elephant owner did not explain. When they were almost at the shore, the elephant owner pointed to the mark and explained: "My elephant fell down right here, and now it's still right here!"

The crowd laughed heartily, thinking he was joking. Who would have expected the river surface to churn, a whirlpool to appear, and the elephant to actually fly out from under the mark, flapping its two large ears.

A specialty of the south of the continent: the Flying Elephant.

Man Gu witnessed this scene, his brows furrowed tightly. Then, he suddenly realized and slapped his palm, saying: "I remember now, I learned this idiom in class; it's called 'Carving a Boat to Seek the Elephant'!"

He now had a profound realization of this idiom.

Lu Yang: "..."

What kind of nonsense did you learn in class?

Meng Jingzhou laughed: "I still remember that we found the first Anti-Longevity Talisman under the bridge. At that time, we were really shocked to learn that such a thing as an Anti-Longevity Talisman existed. Fortunately, the person had already been reported by us."

Lu Yang was just about to joke along with Meng Jingzhou's words when he suddenly saw the small flag in front of him. His smile faded. As if remembering something, he pulled the small flag down and, frowning, studied it carefully against the sunlight.

When Lu Yang saw the appearance of the small flag in the sunlight, he felt a chill in his heart.

"What's wrong?" Meng Jingzhou noticed Lu Yang's expression. He had been waiting for Lu Yang's quip, only to discover Lu Yang's abnormality.

Lu Yang's expression was solemn as he pointed to the faint pattern on the small flag and said: "Look at this pattern, what does it look like?"

"An Anti-Longevity Talisman?!" Lan Ting was the first to react; she was most familiar with this pattern.

Meng Jingzhou widened his eyes. The pattern on the small flag was very shallow and could not be seen at all without facing the sunlight. Even if one could see it, tourists would only think it was a feature of the Spring Festival. How many people knew the pattern of an Anti-Longevity Talisman?

"Don't lose your footing; perhaps the Anti-Longevity Formation hasn't been completed yet!" Meng Jingzhou convinced himself not to panic.

Lu Yang analyzed calmly: "Impossible. Don't forget, this isn't just one or two small flags; the entire Yanjiang County is covered in these flags!"

The small flags with the Anti-Longevity Talisman pattern were hidden among the ordinary small flags. Who could have imagined that?!

Lu Yang continued: "In other words, the Anti-Longevity Formation has already been completed. It's displayed right in front of everyone, but no one has noticed!"

"Then why hasn't the Anti-Longevity Formation been activated?" Meng Jingzhou recalled the conditions for activating the Anti-Longevity Formation. Besides using Anti-Longevity Talismans to set up the Anti-Longevity Formation, it also required blood as a sacrifice.

Someone daring enough to set up an Anti-Longevity Formation could kill a few people with ease. What was he waiting for?

Lu Yang said coldly: "He is waiting for people. There aren't enough people at the Spring Festival yet, and there are still people continuously rushing to Yanjiang County!"

The Anti-Longevity Formation plunders the longevity of mortals and converts it into the cultivation base of the person setting up the formation. The more mortals plundered, the greater the improvement to the cultivation base!

Meng Jingzhou also remembered: "According to custom, on the second night of the Spring Festival, people will gather on the streets to sing and dance, gather by the river for a banquet, and hold a song festival!"

Today is the second day of the Spring Festival. ===== CHAPTER 98 =====