Chapter 146: Qiongqi

My heart gave a sudden thump, and I immediately asked what place that was.

Guo Zaimin thought for a moment, then said uncertainly, "It sounds like a prison; when I came here earlier to scout, I heard people say that it holds only death-row inmates."

Death-row inmates?!

Jin Wuya immediately gritted his teeth and cursed in a low voice, "You really know how to pick a spot! Practicing with Buddha's head facing the execution ground—no wonder your family would run into trouble!"

Around the prison holding death-row inmates, especially the area at the foot of the mountain, there must be an execution ground.

That place is where the yin and killing qi is the heaviest!

Guo Zaimin pointed at the temple and said, "But this temple also faces that prison, doesn't it? And yet there's been no problem?"

As he said that, I and Jin Wuya simultaneously turned our heads to look at the temple.

Then we almost in unison said, "Hurry, go down the mountain!"

Jin Wuya led Guo Zaimin forward, while I and Li Qingying followed behind.

We had barely gone far when the mist in the mountains suddenly grew thick.

The originally white mist instantly turned black, so thick you couldn't see your own hand in front of your face.

I instinctively called out Li Qingying's name; the sound seemed to be swallowed by the mist at once, with no echo.

Oh no!

I hastily turned my head; amidst the black fog, only the temple still glimmered with specks of light, like a lighthouse guiding lost souls home.

I felt as if bewitched, involuntarily lifting my foot to walk toward the temple.

After just a few steps, a hand suddenly reached from behind and wrapped around me; immediately I felt a sharp pain in my earlobe, my whole body shuddered, and my mind cleared instantly.

A familiar scent of sandalwood wrapped around me; my heart stirred, I turned and saw it was Liu Junyan, and I exclaimed in surprise, "How are you here?"

Liu Junyan rubbed the earlobe he had just pinched, saying, "I happened to be checking things here with Mo Qiong; this place isn't safe to linger, let's go down the mountain first."

Liu Junyan drew a talisman in the air, slapped it out, and it ignited without fire; the surrounding black mist swiftly dispersed, and he pulled me down the mountain.

We hadn't gone far when we saw Hui Moqiong half-dragging, half-pulling Li Qingying down the mountain.

Li Qingying stiffened her neck, wanting to turn back to look for me.

The two struggled for a while; Hui Moqiong cursed softly, lowered his body, and hoisted Li Qingying onto his shoulder.

Li Qingying still wanted to resist, and I was about to call out to her, when suddenly a roaring sound came from beneath our feet.

That sound was like a bull's bellow and a tiger's roar, incredibly penetrating, shaking the mountain as if it might collapse at any moment.

Liu Junyan gripped my hand tightly and said, "Mo Qiong, hurry!"

As his words fell, I only felt the wind whistling past my ears, and everything before me blurred.

In just a few seconds, Liu Junyan had already brought me to the foot of the mountain.

Soon, Hui Moqiong came down carrying Li Qingying on his shoulder.

Jin Wuya had been leading Guo Zaimin ahead of us all along; by now he was nearly at the mountain base, and upon asking, he said they hadn't encountered the black mist.

It turns out that sudden burst of black mist was aimed at me and Li Qingying.

After inhaling the black mist, Li Qingying and I reacted identically—we couldn't help turning back to look, and upon seeing the temple, we felt compelled to walk toward it.

If Liu Junyan and Hui Moqiong hadn't appeared in time, we would have gotten into trouble tonight.

Truly impossible to guard against.

The roaring continued, the earth shook and the mountains trembled, birds and beasts fled in panic; in the dark western night, for no reason, an abnormal red hue appeared, fleeting as it was.

Afterward, everything returned to calm.

Hui Moqiong crooked an arm onto Li Qingying's shoulder and asked, "Yingying, did you come for the Guo family's girl?"

Hit the nail on the head.

Li Qingying hadn't yet recovered from the shock; she instinctively nodded: "Yes."

"You'd better not get involved in this," Hui Moqiong said.

Li Qingying frowned, reached out to slap his arm: "We've already taken on this job at the pawnshop—how could we ignore it? Get lost!"

Just as Li Qingying lifted Hui Moqiong's arm, he smoothly wrapped his hand around her shoulder and pulled her back, forcing her back to press against his chest.

Hui Moqiong said, "Don't make a fuss—this is a life-or-death matter. Have you seen the prison down at the mountain's base? It has stood since the early Qing dynasty; just how evil it is, do I need to spell it out?"

Li Qingying fell silent at once; I only felt my scalp tingle, and I turned my head to look at Liu Junyan.

This time I seem to have kicked up a huge storm.

Liu Junyan rubbed my head and said, "It's not that serious; we're also investigating some things, and we'll eventually move on this—it's just that you took on this job earlier than we did."

Guo Zaimin, listening from the side, caught on and hurriedly said, "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, you promised me—you can't just ignore my daughter!"

"We'll handle it," Liu Junyan said, "but we might need her to cooperate with us on some things; it's a bit dangerous—is that all right?"

Guo Zaimin was reluctant.

Jin Wuya kept giving him meaningful looks: "If the pawnshop doesn't get involved in Guo Zhen's affair, it's ten deaths and no life."

After much thought, Guo Zaimin gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I agree."

We first returned to the Guo household; Liu Junyan personally checked Guo Zhen's condition, then formed a sword-finger seal and conjured a talisman at her brow; after sealing it, Guo Zhen fell into a deep sleep.

Liu Junyan instructed the Guo couple to watch the door and not let Guo Zhen go out, then turned to Jin Wuya and asked, "Are you staying here these few days?"

Jin Wuya replied, "The Guo family came to me first; I must take full responsibility for this matter."

"All right," Liu Junyan said, "the moment Guo Zhen shows any sign of waking, you must immediately dab cinnabar on her brow, and keep doing so until you can no longer restrain her—then notify us right away."

Jin Wuya said he guaranteed to fulfill the task.

That night, the four of us returned to the pawnshop; Hui Moqiong spread a piece of sheepskin parchment on the table, and Liu Junyan said to me, "This is a sheepskin parchment passed down from the early Qing dynasty; what's drawn on it is that mountain—Xiao Jiu, take a look and tell me what it resembles."

I lowered my head and examined it closely.

After the mountain's outline was sketched on the parchment, it looked more clearly.

The overall shape……resembles both a bull lying prone on the ground and a crouching tiger……

This made me think of the roar that came from down the mountain earlier.

That roar also sounded like a bull's call and a tiger's howl.

I opened my mouth to voice my opinion, but suddenly something occurred to me, and I snapped my gaze up at Liu Junyan: "It's Chaos."

"All right, little sis!" Hui Moqiong praised, "I thought you could at most tell it looked like an ox!"

Li Qingying didn't understand: "Isn't this just a lying old ox?"

I shook my head, correcting: "No, it's Chaos! An ancient... ferocious beast that resembles an ox and a tiger!"