Chapter 21: In the blazing forest of locust trees, various wails echoed back and forth. The corpses burned by the fire had an eerie appearance, like a hell on earth. Nan San didn't expect that one talisman could cause such a huge fire. He could only pray that the fire would be extinguished as soon as possible, otherwise it would spread to the surrounding area, and he would become a sinner.

  Even so, Sanhe and Xizi were still splashed by the flames, unable to bear the pain and let out a groan. They didn't stop until they reached the edge of the pagoda tree forest, where they turned back to look at what was behind them. Xizi's face was full of shock: "Third Brother, is this place hell? Why are there so many ghosts?"

  Nan San's eyes sank into deep thought, and he shook his head saying: "Don't say anymore, let's find a way out first!"

  But as they looked ahead, Nan San was stunned, and the scene in front of him made his head ache. At the edge of the pagoda tree forest, a strange scene made the two dare not move. Nan San had originally thought that after going out, it would definitely be deep mountains and old forests, and then find a way back to Yinyang Village, but what exit was this? Row upon row of stone pillars, as tall as one person, stood upright.

  This pillar was eerily tight, about half a meter thick, with all sorts of intricate symbols painted on it. Upon closer inspection, there were eight such pillars, connected by iron chains, surrounded by a muddy swamp. San's eyes were fixed tightly on the pillar, and he discovered that not only were the symbols painted on it, but they also presented five different colors, intersecting each other.

  Xi Zi carried a large knife and said valiantly: "Third Brother, what is this pillar thing? It can't be a tombstone, can it?"

  "It's not a tombstone," he said helplessly. "This is the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams Formation, which is described in the Book of Changes."

  Xi Zhi didn't understand what formation it was, seeing this strange thing, she couldn't help but ask what the Post-Heaven Eight Trigrams Formation was. Nan San Da also calmed down and began to explain.

  Originally, the Eight Trigrams Array is divided into Pre-Heaven and Post-Heaven. The "Qian Wen Yan" says: "Pre-Heaven and Heaven does not cover, Post-Heaven and follow Heaven's timing". Pre-Heaven is naturally formed, heaven and earth are fixed, mountains and rivers communicate with each other, thunder and wind interact, water and fire do not shoot at each other. Post-Heaven is the work of man, emperor emerges from Zhen, equalizes in Xun, sees each other in Li, dedicates to Kun, speaks in Dui, fights in Qian, labors in Kan, completes speech in Gen.

  So these eight pillars, three in the south, can be seen as the Eight Trigrams of the I Ching at a glance. The reason is none other than that each of the eight pillars has a sentence written on it. He pointed to the pillar and said to Xizong: "You just look at the words on these eight pillars, and you'll understand!"

  Xi Zi heard Nan San's words and was already in a daze, but when she took another look, the pillar indeed had a sentence written on it. She strained her eyes under the firelight to make out the characters, which read: Qian three connected, Kun six broken, Zhen upside down, Gen overturned, Li empty inside, Kan full inside, Dui above lacking, Xun below broken.

  "What does this mean?" Xi Z asked, Nan San lightly laughed: "This is the Bagua song key, it seems that we are trapped here today!"

  What's so mysterious about the so-called acquired Bagua position, Xizi was just about to ask when suddenly, in this swampy muddy ground, blood-colored bubbles surged out like boiling water, spreading rapidly, with faint wailing sounds. The pink smoke emitted by the bursting bubbles spread out, and upon seeing it, Nan San hurriedly shouted: "Quick, suffocating!"

  After finishing, the two held their breath, but in just a few dozen seconds, Jizi's face turned bright red from lack of oxygen. She took a fierce gasp of air and said resentfully: "This is too damn uncomfortable."

  "Second idiot, hurry up and pee!" Nan San's face didn't turn red or breathe heavily, this pink smoke was toxic gas, inhaling it would probably poison him. Xi Zi reminded him of this, and he reacted quickly, not minding the shame at all, since there was only Nan San around, he pulled down his pants, wet himself, and even said: "Third brother, if you want some, I'll tear off a piece for you!"

  Nan San hastily shook his head, a scholar of the Tao, who needs this thing. He quickly shifted his attention to the front, but saw that the water bubbles in the swampy mud were "popping" incessantly, and at the same time, the eight connected iron chains on the pillars made a rattling sound.

  In a daze, Nan San seemed to see something wriggling in the swampy mud, rushing towards them, and hastily shouted: "Xi Zi, retreat quickly!"

  As soon as the words fell, the muddy ground of the swamp suddenly churned violently, and a huge centipede stood up from the mud, more than half a meter high. Nan San and Xi Zhi hastily retreated several steps, and when they saw clearly that it was a centipede, Xi Zhi exclaimed in terror: "Damn it, has this centipede become a spirit?"

  Nan San was also intimidated by the centipede in front of him. Although it was enormous, what was terrifying was its feet, which were like human hands and feet, crossed over each other, giving off an eerie feeling no less than seeing a thousand-year-old demon. Perhaps this was indeed a demonic creature that had become a spirit. Nan San held up his wooden sword on guard, while Xi Zi also grasped a large knife in vigilance.

  After the centipede crawled out of the swampy mud, its feet kept shaking, as if it had set its sights on them, slowly moving towards them. Seeing this, Nan San didn't want to wait for death, and with a Peachwood Sword, he chanted an incantation, then threw a Five Thunder Talisman at the centipede's body, causing a small thunderclap to explode. The centipede's leg was severed by the talisman, enraging it, causing it to let out a mournful cry and roll up large amounts of mixed blood bubbles and mud to attack them.

  Nan San flashed to the side, his peach wood sword raised again, and solved another hand on his foot. He dodged an attack and hid. Xi Zi was also busy at this time, as the centipede had too many hands and feet. His knife chopped fiercely, but soon got stuck in the bone and couldn't be pulled out. Along with the person, the knife was thrown backwards, and he fell to the ground.

  "Alright, Xizi?" Nan San saw Xizi lying motionless on the ground and was shocked. He hurried over to support her, but saw that she had spat out blood and couldn't help but curse: "Damn it, this centipede has too many legs, can't even finish chopping them off."

  Nan San also knew that this matter was troublesome, and his face showed a hint of anxiety. He didn't understand why the Eight Trigrams Array, which was supposed to suppress evil spirits, allowed evil creatures to stir up trouble in this place. It really made no sense. After re-examining the eight pillars again, Nan San suddenly discovered that something was off about this Eight Trigrams Array.

  The so-called Bagua refers to Qian, Dui (metal); Zhen, Xun (wood); Kun, Gen (earth); Li (fire); Kan (water), also known as the Five Elements. All things in the world are interdependent and mutually restrictive, with the Five Elements never leaving their respective categories. However, at present, these eight pillars are arranged in a circular formation, connected by eight iron chains. But there's a problem with the pillar in the Li position - more than half of the symbols on top have been chiseled off, leaving it damaged and incomplete.

  Look at that pillar, Nan San also understood, thinking in his heart, he hurriedly shouted to Xi Zhi: "Xi Zhi, you hold back this centipede first, I'll go to the marsh and must find a way to subdue it."

  Xi Zi saw the centipede and felt a chill in her heart, but she gritted her teeth and said: "It's nothing, I can take it!"

  Nan San nodded three times, and the Five Thunder Talisman appeared in his hand. He threw it in Xi Zi's direction, then jumped up and grabbed the iron chain, crawling towards that location. The iron chain was also strange, shaking violently, and Nan San almost couldn't hold on to it. After finally climbing onto the pillar, Nan San looked down and found a pair of eyes staring back at him from beneath the swamp, silent and soundless.

  Those eyes seemed to appear out of thin air, yet they also seemed to have been there forever. Extremely cold, they made Nan San feel a chill in his heart and a thread of coldness rose up from behind him. Just like that, quietly gazing at him, those eyes silently sank into the swamp again. Nan San came back to himself, still immersed in the shock he had just felt. He never got a clear look at the whole thing, only those eyes.

  At this moment, a miserable cry suddenly came from Xi Zi's side. Nan San hastily turned his head to look, and with one glance, he became anxious. Xi Zi was suddenly grabbed by a giant centipede's human-like hand and hung upside down like a rice dumpling, with fresh blood still dripping from the corner of her mouth.

  Nan San took out the yin-yang pen and hastily continued to extend the original symbol's trajectory on it, which was a test of his Taoist skills. As he perfected the symbol, fine sweat seeped from his forehead. Perhaps due to exhaustion or the suspension of blood circulation in his body, a mouthful of fresh blood spurted out, gradually staining the pillar.

  Nan San coughed and, without paying attention to his body, hastily continued to complete the next symbol. After finishing the last stroke, Nan San turned around to see that the centipede suddenly let out a mournful cry. Its body quickly retreated into the swamp, while the originally trembling iron chain also returned to stillness. In a daze, Nan San felt a hint of Daoist aura.