Chapter 464

Over the past year or more, I have endured too many partings and deaths.

Even most of the time, I didn't have a chance to say a single "goodbye."

Yu Nian's "dead ashes rekindled" and "reborn transformation" were a tremendous source of encouragement for us, making everyone feel as if they had come back to life in an instant.

The four of us cried uncontrollably.

The guilt, Suppression, and anxiety of this period were all released without reservation at this moment.

After everyone finally calmed down with difficulty, Li Qingying hurried to cook porridge, Tang Tang went to check the small stove for simmering medicinal food, which she was already adept at.

I kept Yu Nian company in conversation.

She first brought up some matters concerning Hu Shan on her own initiative.

"I know Hu Shan can keep me safe, but Xiao Jiu, if I wanted to merely drag out a miserable life, I would have fled Huicheng long ago; why wait until now?"

This is Yu Nian.

Outwardly she appears extremely frail, but her disposition is stubborn to a frightening degree, and she is especially opinionated.

"Since they have set their sights on me, deeming me useful, I will become this bait; they are gambling that using me in an experiment will succeed, and I too want to take a gamble—I want to see what trick they are really up to."

"But it's too risky, Senior Sister; they almost killed you by mistreating you!"

"I never even thought about wanting to live." Yu Nian replied bluntly, "From my grandmother's generation to my mother's and then to mine, we three generations have guarded Huicheng, which is actually just guarding a Chaos evil formation; I have countless times felt I touched it, but the next instant it vanished."

Xiao Jiu, actually we were all wrong; the Chaos ferocious beast itself is a hybrid entity, it excels at creating chaos, disrupting order, it is ever-changing! It constantly breaks the rules.

And what does the rule of a formation revolve around? It's the Zhènyǎn!

Therefore, the Zhènyǎn of the Chaos evil formation is constantly changing every moment; what can we use to fight it? We simply have no starting point!

Yu Nian's words struck at the essence, leaving me speechless.

She smiled: "During the time I worked with Aunt Tang, she gave me much help, and in the art of feng shui she also gave me many pointers; I suddenly realized our thinking had been confined to the Chaos evil formation itself, but in fact we need to step outside to see more."

I asked doubtfully, "Step outside to look?"

"Yes, step outside to look." Yu Nian said, "The Chaos evil formation keeps changing, but no matter how it changes, it remains entrenched on Wangting Mountain; you say why is that?"

I thought for a moment and said, "Back when the evil monk was selecting a chief deity, he first chose the fox immortal, was rejected, and then chose Second Master Liu; we had previously guessed that what the evil monk favored should be Yin Mountain and Wangting Mountain, meaning the Chaos evil formation actually depends on such a mountain to exist, right?"

"Exactly! More precisely, the Chaos evil formation survives by consuming the mountain's Spiritual Qi." Yu Nian said with a little pride, "So before leaving Hu Shan, I asked the Seven Halls Yama to insert my Thousand Soul Banner on the life aperture of Wangting Mountain."

The life aperture Yu Nian referred to is the place where Wangting Mountain's Spiritual Qi is most abundant.

"I placed a forbidden seal on the Thousand Soul Banner; besides me, no one can open it. Once I die, the seal will be lifted, and the thousands of ferocious ghosts and yin spirits imprisoned inside will be instantly released, rampaging in the life aperture, and the whole Wangting Mountain will have to be buried with me!"

This is a move that kills a thousand enemies while damaging oneself eight hundred.

Moreover, if Yu Nian does not perish utterly, the karmic obstacles she has created would be enough for her to drink a pot.

She fully understood the consequences, yet she went ahead without hesitation!

Such courage and strategy inevitably inspire admiration.

Speaking of this, she sighed again: "However, things did not develop as I had anticipated, and I ultimately never managed to come into contact with their experiment."

"Senior Sister, I want to apologize first," I said hesitantly.

I must tell her about the Pawn Ticket transaction, after all, I have to send her to Yin Dang Hang on the fifteenth of next month.

"Is it about saving me?" Yu Nian, unexpectedly perceptive, said, "I know that, given my condition, wanting to rescue me and restore me to this state, you must have paid a great price, Xiao Jiu; no matter what you did, it was all to save me, so what right do I have to blame you?"

I took her hand, saying it was impossible not to be moved.

I asked, "Just now in your nightmare, you kept shouting 'Don't entangle me'—what exactly was entangling you?"

Upon mentioning this, Yu Nian's face darkened: "It's a head engulfed in flames; that thing is strange—I clearly saw a skull with a crimson hue, but the burning flames wrapping the skull also formed a face; it kept sticking to me, when I ran east it followed east, when I ran west it followed west—very frightening."

A skull with a crimson hue?

Head engulfed in flames?

My hand clenched suddenly as I asked, "Do you still remember what the surroundings were like in that nightmare?"

Yu Nian thought seriously and said, "I was too panicked then; I only felt that the whole space was fire. Oh, right, I could also clearly smell a strong incense aroma."

I asked, "Did you hear an ancient-sounding bronze bell?"

Yu Nian shook her head: "The time was too short, so I didn't hear that."

"Senior Sister, this nightmare is probably not actually a nightmare; you may often see that skull in the future."

I told Yu Nian everything about Yin Dang Hang, what happened on the night of the fifteenth of last month, the cinnabar spirit bones, and the Pawn Ticket transaction.

After listening, Yu Nian pondered and said, "So, was it the skull's vertebral bone that saved me?"

It is obvious that the crimson-hued skull is also the cinnabar spirit bones.

He is very likely the person who traded with Feng Wu Jiu back then, and also the one trading with me now.

He has countless connections with Yin Dang Hang.

He might even be the steward of Yin Dang Hang, and also the master that the strange person is guarding!

I nodded and said, "Senior Sister, it's already the end of the month; on the fifteenth of next month I will send you to Yin Dang Hang, and according to our agreement, you will stay there and reopen Yin Dang Hang."

"Stay there?" Yu Nian puzzled, "The Ghost Market opens to the outside only on the fifteenth of each month; one must leave within the allotted time, lingering inside will cause trouble, Xiao Jiu, are you sure I can stay?"

I cannot give Yu Nian a definite answer, after all, no one has experienced these things.

But...

"There's still a strange person living on that street of Yin Dang Hang," I said. "He's probably been there for many years, still alive, just rather unkempt."

Yu Nian raised her eyebrows: "Huh? There's a living person? Then it's fine, Xiao Jiu—this Yin Dang Hang, I'll open it!"