Chapter 12: The Departure of the Escort (Part 2)

  Two days later, Xīao Sì, Yì Bó and Gěng Shǎohuá led more than a dozen escorts and over thirty porters carrying the medicinal herbs from Fú Cí Táng, leaving Cháng'ān for Tài Yuán.

  Also present were Mrs. Geng, Wan'er and Fang Xuanling who said "one must read ten thousand volumes of books and travel ten thousand miles", but Bu Suanzi was not seen.

  He left without saying goodbye on the same night he talked to Xiao Si, leaving behind only those materials and a book of his life's work, "Unseen Writings", as well as a voucher for retrieving items stored at the "Old Knife Ironwork Shop" in Chang'an City.

  Received the news, Xiao Si stomped her feet and scolded Lao Mangzi for an entire afternoon. Then she rushed to Lao Dao's ironwork shop to retrieve the item and hid it in her belt. She also instructed Xia Peihe and Yu Linglong that if Lao Heshang came looking for them, they should say that Lao Mangzi had returned to the Long River Twelve Ring Caves and tell him to jump into the water to search for him.

  Before leaving, Xiao Si received another news that Duan Zhen Tian, the head of Guanluo Guard Bureau, was still a man of his word and would retire from Jianghu on May 8th.

  Xiao Si's mood was particularly poor. On the day of departure, he ordered someone to buy ten strings of firecrackers and hang them at the entrance of Liu Yuan, making a loud cracking sound to dispel the bad luck.

  Because this shipment has a lot of precious and rare medicinal materials worth a city, Old Master Hou brought two young servants to escort it personally.

  The crowd hired ten large ships to load all the medicinal materials, with a guard and three porters on each ship. Xiao Si rode in the main boat with Yi Bai leading the way, while Geng Shao Hua and his wife, as well as Wan Er, brought up the rear.

  The fleet sailed slowly eastward along the Wei River and arrived at Hua County in the evening, dropping anchor for the night.

  Because they were guarding the heavy luggage, everyone didn't have the heart to go ashore and stroll around, so they just bought some wine and dishes and sat in the cabin to eat.

  The boatman pulled out a few carp from the river, cleaned and scaled them, then stir-fried them with sugar and vinegar, which made for a decent dish to go with their wine.

  Wan'er said: "Looking at this dish of sweet and sour fish, I think of Jiangzhou's pickled mustard green fish and boiled fish slices."

  Geng Shaohua smiled and said: "Actually, there are many delicious foods in Chang'an City too, such as boiled dumplings and mutton steamed buns."

  Yi Boda said: "There is also jellied pork and calabaza head, which are also the best in Guanzhong."

  Everyone was also afraid of drinking too much and making mistakes, so they sat around the table chatting and passing the time.

  Old Hou was just talking about his strange experience of collecting medicine in the Western Regions last year, when suddenly someone outside the cabin said: "Report to the three leaders of the escort, fog is rising outside."

  Xiao Siyi immediately recognized the voice as Qin Qiong's, and called out his alias with a smile: "Qin Er, it's normal for mist to rise from the water at night, no need to be alarmed. Why don't you come in and join us for a drink?"

  Qin Qiong replied: "However, this fog is coming somewhat strangely, it's best if the several leaders of the escort come out and take a look."

  Xiao Si's expression changed slightly, and he was surprised. He wanted to know that Qin Qiong wasn't an ordinary thug. He was a hero who had conquered three states and six prefectures, and his horse had tread on both banks of the Yellow River. If he thought it was strange, there must be a reason for it.

  This was his first time walking on thin ice, so being more careful wouldn't be a bad thing. He got up and headed towards the outside of the cabin.

  As soon as the curtain was lifted, Xiao Si suddenly shivered inexplicably. Outside, a thick white fog rolled in like boiling milk, bringing with it a hint of chilliness that seeped into his bones.

  "Hmm?" A faint sense of foreboding rose in his mind as he stepped out onto the deck.

  Qin Qiong stood at the bow of the boat, next to him was the old boatman holding a long pole. Xiao Si came to their side, gazing around, but all he saw was the thick fog shrouding the river, and only the lights on the boats behind them were visible. Within a hundred paces, not a sound could be heard, the river had become eerily quiet, and except for the gentle lapping of the water against the shore, almost no other sound could be detected.

  A vast expanse of white stretches out above, and tonight's moonlight can no longer be seen. It's as if the entire sky has been shrouded in this sudden white mist, leaving one standing in a completely different world.

  "What a thick fog," said Old Hou, standing outside the cabin. His voice was right next to my ear, but it seemed to come from a very distant place: "I just came out to relieve myself and could still see the moon."

  Fang Xuanling said: "Such fog is rare in Guanzhong. Moreover, I observed the sky at dusk and there will be no thick fog within three days."

  Xiao Si remained silent, staring intently at the river surface shrouded in thick fog. Suddenly, he bent down to pick up a fishing spear and with a swift motion, hurled it into the heart of the river.

  "Whoosh——" In the sight of everyone, this harpoon had just flown out for a few feet before it started to deviate, drawing an eerie arc in the air before suddenly disappearing.

  Mrs. Geng just wanted to say something, when she heard a "whoosh" sound, and the fish spear flew back from the direction of the ship's stern!

  "Halt!" The harpoon shot into the hull, the shaft vibrating with a loud humming noise that was eerily jarring in the dead silence.

  "Wan Er exclaimed in surprise: 'How did it fly back?'"

  "It's a ghost hitting the wall, it must be a ghost hitting the wall!" The old captain cried out in terror.

  "It's not a ghost hitting the wall, we've fallen into the ambush of the Qimen Dunjia formation!" Yi Bo's eyes flashed with cold light as he shouted loudly: "Which friend on the Tao is playing tricks on us with the Tonghu Bureau, please show yourself!"

  His voice echoed in the fog, as if thousands of people were constantly shouting: "Show yourself... show yourself..."

  However, after waiting for a moment, there was no response from around, and everyone's face gradually became serious.

  Geng Shaohua asked: "Fourth Uncle, can you recognize what formation this is?"

  Xiao Si's eyes narrowed as she gazed into the distance, vaguely sensing that deep within the white mist, there was a faint purple glow flickering in and out of sight, like a sparse silk net drifting in the wind.

  He thought to himself: "Old Yi was right, someone had calculated that we would moor our boat here for the night and set up a strange array in advance. They took advantage of the darkness to launch a surprise attack. If Qin Qiong hadn't been vigilant, we'd still be in the dark. That purple silk glow is probably an array symbol used to drive away the fog and seal off the river surface. But what kind of ghostly array is this? Unfortunately, Old Blind Man has left, otherwise he would definitely know."

  But seeing that everyone was looking at him, if he were to bluntly admit that he didn't know, wouldn't that be very embarrassing? Thinking of this, he hesitated and said: "The art of Qimen Dunjia is ever-changing, the subtlety of its application lies in one's heart. Just like the misty array before our eyes, at first glance it seems chaotic and boundless, yet it also has the signs of yin and yang, four symbols and five elements. If we look even closer, the fog that fills the river is just like the Eight Trigrams and Nine Palaces formation, corresponding to the heavenly gnomon above and the earthly grid below, truly a very dangerous and sinister formation...

  He talked endlessly, and Geng Shaohua and others looked confused, apparently no one understood. Only Yi Xiao felt that he owed 400,000 to 500,000 taels of silver, so he nodded continuously regardless of anything else.

  Xiao Si Zheng felt speechless and hastily asked: "Yi Teng, what do you think?"

  Yi Yun exclaimed sincerely: "Fourth Master's insight is high, and it has suddenly opened up my narrow-mindedness. I think the master of the main formation must be a senior expert in Taoism."

  Wan Er couldn't bear it anymore and said: "You've been talking for half a day, what is this formation after all?"

  Xiao Si glared at the girl with great dissatisfaction and said, "Nonsense, if I knew, why would I bother explaining all this?"

  Everyone was stunned, and Mrs. Geng said: "That is to say, no one knows what kind of formation this is?"

  Geng Shaohua shouted: "Quickly send a lantern signal, ordering all ships to gather together and be tied up with iron chains!"

  Qin Qiong suddenly spoke out to stop them, saying: "Wait a minute - can you all recall the fish spear that was thrown by Xia Zhi just now?"

  Mrs. Geng was taken aback and asked: "What does it mean?"

  Qin Erge's meaning is that, for now, all the boats are anchored and unmoving, able to remain unchanged in response to countless changes. But once they're allowed to draw near, who knows, they might end up like that fish spear, wandering around lost in the fog.

  "Wan'er suddenly exclaimed: 'Quickly look, a boat's lights have all gone out!'"

  Everyone looked in the direction she pointed, and vaguely saw that there was a gap between the fourth and sixth ships. The fifth ship, which should have been lit up, had disappeared.

  Yi Baihan said: "It's not that the lights went out, but this boat has been towed away!"

  "It's not human, it's a water ghost from the river..." The old boatman said in a trembling voice.

  Geng Shaohua pointed at the old captain of the boat and said in a low voice, "No time to think about that now, give the order for all boats to come over!"

  A bodyguard hastily jumped onto the mast and swung the lantern in his hand to send a signal.

  Xiao Si raised his head to gaze upwards, the fog was thick and heavy, the figure of the spear master couldn't be seen clearly, only a blurry yellow lantern could be vaguely seen dancing.

  Suddenly, the lights went out, and the dart master seemed to disappear into thin air in the thick fog, without a sound.

  "What's going on here?"

  No one answered on the boat, and a chill rose from the bottom of everyone's heart.

  "Qian Chen!" Qin Qiong shouted the name of that halberd master, his foot tapped on the mast and he sprang up, stretching out his arm to grab into the fog.

  "Bang!" He let out a muffled groan, as if he had exchanged a palm with someone, and fell back onto the deck. His left hand grasped half of a crimson sleeve, silently swallowing a mouthful of congealed blood. It was an unhealed wound that had been exacerbated by his forced exertion to save his comrade, causing his vital energy to recoil.

  Geng Shaohua said: "This dress is not Chen Qian's!"

  The fleet behind had received the signal and was slowly approaching, but in the blink of an eye, two ships seemed to have sailed into another void and disappeared without a trace.

  "My boat..." Old Hou, a man as thin and agile as a monkey, gazed out at the deathly still river surface and muttered: "You few escorts had better think of something fast, that's tens of thousands of taels of silver we're talking about!"

  "Hou Lao Ban, don't worry. Your boat hasn't been lost, it just sailed into the maze and can't be seen for the time being." Xiao Si said: "The immortal board is really unlucky! I've never had a robbery on my first trip out with the dart, this is terrible! It seems that not enough firecrackers were set off in the morning."

  He looked at Qin Qiong and said: "Qin Er, did you see clearly the face of the person who just fought with you?"

  Qin Qiong suppressed the surging energy in his chest with a deep breath, shaking his head as he said, "I was only using my spiritual awareness to sense my surroundings, but everything around me was shrouded in mist and I couldn't see anything clearly. I vaguely sensed that someone was sneaking up behind me, so I turned around and struck out with a palm, incidentally bringing down half of his sleeve. What's strange is that after our palms met, the person somehow retreated forward again."

  Xiao Si's eyes lit up and he said, "Are you sure you want to retreat?"

  Qin Qiong nodded and said: "It won't be wrong, I originally wanted to chase up and add a palm, but feared falling into the maze, so I had to retreat back."

  Xiao Si yelled: "Bring the lamp over!" He squatted down, picked up a piece of charcoal used for burning fire at the bow of the boat and quickly drew with it.

  Fang Xuanling stood behind Xiao Si's back with a lamp in his hand and asked: "Brother Xiao, are you using the Eight Trigrams to deduce?"

  "It's not Bagua, but the reverse of Bagua. Clouds gather without rain, wind blows over water - damn it, this is a formation that reverses yin and yang!"

  The words had hardly fallen from his lips when Old Hou was wailing again: "My boats! Two more are gone!"