Chapter 5: Heaven-Defying Formation

  Inside the Qingyuan Xiaoju, the lights are dim and distant, reflecting a patch of cold and clear flowers and trees. Please remember the website: Guanhua Juwang. Although winter is approaching, the tree is evergreen, with dense branches and leaves, and the flowers are in full bloom, with purple and red hues, shining with a dreamy light under the lamp.

  There were two tall iron gates at the entrance of the small residence, next to which was a small gatehouse with two guards on duty, gazing around listlessly. Suddenly, one of the guards' eyes stared blankly into a corner.

  Another one chimed in, "Adé, your eyes are wide open, what's wrong?"

  "Ade scratched his head and said, 'A Zhi, I just saw someone staring at me with shining eyes. When I turned my attention away for a moment, they disappeared! I'm suspecting... but where can hallucinations be so real?'"

  "Azhi laughed and said, 'You must have seen a beauty, right? She looked at you with that captivating gaze, and as soon as you were distracted, she disappeared, didn't she? It's better to have fewer daydreams like this!"

  Adie listened and blushed, smiling: "I'm talking seriously! You shut up! Do you think everyone is like you, loving to daydream?" The two of them started teasing each other, saying some nonsense.

  It turned out that Adie hadn't misseen, the person was indeed Wu Xin. Wu Xin arrived at this place according to the calculated path in the divine calculation, and saw this small residence. After being seen by Adie, Wu Xin immediately hid his figure with an array method and moved forward slowly, so as not to alarm anyone.

  Wu Xin avoided the main gate and came to a high wall on one side, where he faintly saw the buildings inside. He immediately jumped over the wall and entered. The building was not tall or large, but small and exquisite, with lights shining everywhere. Wu Xin knew that rushing in would be useless, so he circled around the house without finding anything. After standing still for a long time, Wu Xin thought carefully and came up with an idea.

  Wu Xin hid his body and circled around several times, carefully observing the light and shadow of the surrounding flowers, trees, and grass. After memorizing everything clearly, he began to make detailed calculations. He calculated for nearly half a day before stopping. Then, he jumped onto a tree and cut off 64 small branches, each about three inches long and roughly the same size. Once prepared, he used his house as the center and the three-inch branches as command flags, dividing the surrounding area into eight regions. Depending on the terrain, light, wind direction, and other characteristics, he walked around and scattered the command flags, setting up a small array of eight gates: "Dun" (Seal), "Sheng" (Life), "Shang" (Injury), "Du" (Poison), "Jing" (Scenery), "Si" (Death), "Jing" (Shock), and "Kai" (Open). The array was constantly changing, and could be transformed into more complex patterns based on factors like light and wind.

  The eight arrays were formed, but Wu Xing was not satisfied. The power of these eight arrays was inferior to Zhuge's Eight Arrays Diagram, and they could only make small changes. Moreover, the moment of change was precisely when the array was weak. Although it was a powerful array method, it was also an easy-to-break array method. Therefore, Wu Xing added another layer of protection at each gate of the eight arrays. In order, they were: Tian Fu Array, Di Zai Array, Feng Yang Array, Yun Chui Array, Long Fei Array, Hu Yi Array, Niao Xi Array, and She Pan Array. Each array was protected by eight small flags on each side, which could cover up the changes of the original eight gates. The weak points of the original eight arrays were moved outside the array, while the strong points were trapped inside the array. The changes were clever and different from the previous eight arrays, neither simultaneous nor synchronized. After everything was set up, Wu Xing let out a breath and then deployed several more arrays outside to prevent outsiders from breaking through the array method.

  After everything was set up, Wu Xing was already drenched in sweat, and at that time the sky was about to brighten. With this confidence, Wu Xing quickly drilled into the formation, crossed over the formation method, and arrived at the front door, standing still for a moment, looking inside, with his fingers wrapped around the strings, instantly making another qin, then using his true energy to infuse the air, controlling the air with his mouth, playing this infinite mysterious sound!

  There are four main properties of sound: high and low, strong and weak, long and short, and timbre. Among them, the height and length of sound are the most important. If you can adjust and drive them properly, you can freely manipulate them, either lingering or turning, elegant and distant, enthusiastic and stirring, or depressed and hesitant, in harmony with the five elements, generating and overcoming each other, exhausting the mysteries of change, controlling people's hearts and minds. This infinite mysterious sound is played according to this principle, requiring the player to have extremely high musical attainments, able to operate skillfully and freely, changing with the situation, reaching the wonderful effect of bewildering the mind and defeating the enemy.

  As the sound began, a low and muffled noise was heard, making people feel as if they were in an extremely hot and airless iron box. The heat emanating from it enveloped everyone tightly, suppressing them. At this time, a faint ringing sound was heard beside the ear, very light and clear, yet pleasant to the ear, making people who were feeling suffocated suddenly feel a coolness, a surge of joy in their hearts, and a glimmer of hope and comfort. This tiny bit of hope and comfort soothed people's senses, enticing them, making them float with ideas, their emotions surging, their breathing gradually becoming more rapid, unable to help but want to dance and shout... But this hope and comfort were too little, too insufficient; it was like a bait that although sweet, had thorns; it was like tobacco or opium, which after bringing comfort, also brought dependence; it was like money, beauty, fame... These were the things people dreamed of, never tired of talking about, these pursuits that were never enough, not even until death. It seemed to be within reach, yet couldn't be grasped. This was a fatal temptation, making people's blood surge, their hearts beat rapidly, and involuntarily become excited...

  When Wu Xin first played the piano, the surroundings were quiet. Only after walking for about ten minutes, the room was filled with the sound of gunfire and explosions, and many people rushed in from outside. Wu Xin's heart was clear and calm, continuing to focus on playing the piano, standing still in the same place.

  After a burst of crackling sounds from inside the small room, it fell silent again. A boy of fourteen or fifteen years old walked out, and he was Xiao Jian.

  Xiao Jian still looked nonchalant, with a smile on his face, and walked out of the room in a leisurely manner. He smiled slightly at Wu Xin, who was standing, and said: "Who are you? Why so enthusiastic? Have we met before?"

  Wu Xin stopped and smiled lightly at him, not daring to relax his demeanor. He said calmly, "Why must we have met before? I just happened to get a wonderful tune and improvised it on the spot. Seeing your face turn slightly red, I suppose you were also deeply moved by the music."

  Xiao Jian smiled lightly and said indifferently, "I was sleeping soundly, so even the slightest noise or cool breeze could have entered my dreams. It's not a big deal! I don't know what urgent matter brought you to my home?"

  Wu Xin said calmly: "I'm just here looking for someone, a girl who was taken away by force!"

  Xiao Jian listened and burst out laughing, saying: "Brother, you're really something! I suggest you go to a hair salon or hotel to find that kind of girl. They're everywhere there! Do you want me to introduce you to one? I guarantee they'll all be great!"

  Wu Xin's heart was extremely annoyed, but his face remained calm and expressionless as he said: "The girl I'm looking for is not your sister or younger sister, she's only here with you!"

  Xiao Jian's face turned red as he listened, and he laughed fiercely: "Was it Wu Xin who called you here? Who are you exactly? How come I've never seen you before?" His expression was indescribably ferocious and terrifying.

  Wu Xin knew that he had changed his appearance and was not recognized, so he thought to himself, perhaps this would have some unexpected uses in the future. He also heard Xiao Jian's words and smiled faintly: "I'm just looking for someone, as long as I find him, it's fine, why bother whether he has a heart or not?"

  Xiao Jian saw that he had lost control of his emotions for a moment, and hastily smiled faintly: "Brother! Wu Xin is a weak and incompetent person, following him will only bring you harm. Why not join me instead? We can become sworn brothers, and in the future, what great things won't we achieve?"

  Wu Xin smiled faintly and said: "You're speaking very well, I like listening to it, but I've already said that I'm just here looking for someone, can't you hear?"

  Xiao Jian listened, smiled awkwardly, but his face remained calm and collected. Just as he was thinking about whether to take action, two people rushed out from inside, holding guns and staring angrily at Wu Xin. Meanwhile, more than ten people had already surrounded the area outside, all wearing straight suits and holding guns, waiting for Xiao Jian's order.

  Xiao Jian smiled faintly and said to the two of them, "Zhou Guan Jia, Huang Guan Jia, you go in and receive the guests. Since they have come from afar, I should at least see them off properly! Isn't that right?" After finishing speaking, he looked at Wu Xin.

  Wu Xin smiled faintly and said: "You really have a lot of dogs!"

  Those two stewards, upon hearing this, had their faces swell up like pig's liver, gradually turning a deep purple. One of them couldn't bear it any longer and suddenly threw down the long spear in his hand, its momentum fierce as he charged towards Wu Xing. Xiao Jian hesitated for a moment, not stopping him, but instead watched to see how Wu Xing would react.

  Wu Xin saw that the steward, although old, was not at all slow on his feet and knew he was a capable person, but didn't even give him a glance, instead looking at Xiao Jian. Xiao Jian's face flashed with a hint of surprise, but it immediately disappeared, showing calmness.

  That housekeeper had just rushed out, and suddenly saw a flower in front of him, and Wu Xin's figure was lost. He was puzzled, and suddenly felt a strong wind coming from behind, and his heart was shocked. Could it be that Xiao Jian was angry? He quickly dodged to the side and made a flip. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he felt another sharp sword rushing towards him from the front, fast as lightning. He secretly admired Wu Xin's ferocity, and rolled on the spot to avoid this head-on attack, while using the Whirlwind Sweeping Leg technique to launch a direct attack on the front. As soon as his foot came out, there was a clanging sound on the left side, as if a knife or sword had pierced through the inner force. The housekeeper didn't dare to be negligent, and only then did he realize Wu Xin's ferocity. He quickly rolled to the right side, jumped out of the danger zone, and immediately stood up. But when he looked around, he didn't see anyone, and his heart was in a panic, not knowing where this kid had gone. As soon as he thought about it, he suddenly felt a strong killing intent surging from above his head, like Mount Tai pressing down on him. The housekeeper's face turned white, and big drops of sweat appeared on his forehead. He wanted to dodge, but couldn't; he wanted to counterattack, but knew the outcome would be the same. For a moment, his heart was dead, his mind was blank, and he was stunned, allowing himself to be slaughtered. His eyes were wide open, and his body slumped softly to the side, with black blood gushing out of the corner of his mouth...

  Everyone around was stunned for a moment! At first, everyone saw the butler dancing wildly by himself and thought he was exercising, but later they saw that his movements seemed to be fighting with someone else, and they knew something was strange. By the time his body went limp, they were all staring at Wu Xing in horror, wondering what kind of sorcery he had used.

  Xiao Jian was also shocked, knowing the power of the formation. His face couldn't hide his emotions as he stared at Wu Xin and exclaimed: "You! Are you from Wujimen? Who are you exactly? And who is your master?"

  Others and Wu Xin were also shocked by these words. Wu Xin thought to himself, the preface of the Tian Xuan Scripture had mentioned the Wujimen, but he had never heard his master mention it before. Were these the skills of the Wujimen? Did that make him a member of the Wujimen? Thinking this, Wu Xin calmly said: "I don't know what you're talking about, I just said I'm here to find someone!"

  Xiao Jian immediately realized his mistake and leaked the secret of the martial arts world. He quickly regained his composure and calmly told the onlookers, "All of you, leave! If there's anything, I'll naturally call for you!" Everyone nodded in agreement and quickly dispersed, leaving only Wu Xin and Xiao Jian on the scene.

  Xiao Jian said coldly, "I know you were sent by Wu Xin! Go back and tell him that as long as he brings the Carefree Treasure Manual, I guarantee he'll find the person he's looking for, without losing a single hair!"

  Wu Xin was shocked again, when did he know about the Xian Yao treasure book, this is the first time he heard of it, could he be deceiving him? He coldly laughed and said: "I don't care if you're joking or not, if you don't hand over the person, don't blame me for being impolite!" At that moment, he clenched his fist and slowly advanced forward, thinking that speed is crucial in battle, if it's prolonged, changes will occur, so he mustn't miss the opportunity.

  Xiao Jian sneered, "Haha! You're quite arrogant, who do you think you are?" He took a step forward with his right foot, and with a slight swing of his body, an iron fan appeared in his hand. With a swift dance, the fan flew towards Wu Xin like a cloud.

  Wu Xin sensed something was off, but he didn't know what technique was hidden behind the fan. So, he took a step forward, his left fist flying out with seven punches, three real and four fake, testing Xiao Jian's reaction.

  Xiao Jian surprisingly saw through the real and fake moves, ignoring Wu Xin's four fake punches, and quietly guarded against Wu Xin's three real punches that aimed at his vital points. The iron fan hummed and floated lightly, yet seemed extremely heavy, making it hard to distinguish between reality and illusion.

  Wu Xin's three substantializations of the void, his left fist lightly raised, subtly both attacking and defending, waiting for an opportunity to move. His right palm issued a dragon hum, wanting to control Xiao Jian's iron fan. Xiao Jian's iron fan was being controlled, but it didn't tilt to one side; instead, it borrowed Wu Xin's force and turned to attack Wu Xin himself. Wu Xin couldn't change his move in time and was shocked for a moment. His left fist slanted into a palm strike towards the back of the iron fan, but was caught by Xiao Jian's hidden palm behind him. The two exchanged palms in an instant.

  This exchange, Wu Xin did not expect Xiao Jian to counterattack with Shaolin's ultimate skill of capturing the dragon, and when changing moves in a hurry, he couldn't see the situation behind him, so he suffered some losses. His left wrist was hit hard, his fingers were almost broken, but fortunately, his internal strength was much higher than Xiao Jian's, so he didn't suffer any major injuries.

  Xiao Jian was secretly shocked, thinking that this move would surely defeat the opponent. He didn't expect the opponent's Qian Long Gong to be so rare and powerful, although he could borrow his internal energy by force, but in the end, his own internal energy was also consumed. The left palm sneak attack was about to be used when it was suddenly changed, and unexpectedly, his internal energy was even stronger than Wu Xin's, making Xiao Jian take advantage of the situation but gain nothing, and instead being lightly shaken by a palm. But he didn't know who this person was, or when Wujimen had such a powerful disciple?

  Both of them were shocked in their hearts, but their faces remained calm and expressionless. A contest between masters is not only a comparison of skills, but also a test of psychological quality. As long as the mind is slightly weak, it's possible to lose a good game completely.

  Wu Xin's heart was even more cautious, thinking about how to lure him into the formation so that he could enter the house and search for people in a dignified manner.

  Xiao Jian smiled lightly and said with a magnanimous tone: "How is it? Is your hand still sore? Do you want to take a rest?"

  Wu Xin smiled lightly and said: "I was worried that you were injured! Since nothing's wrong, let's fight again!"

  The two of them launched their attacks at the same time. Wu Xin had no weapon and was fighting with his bare fists.

  Wu Xin and Xiao Jian exchanged several moves, with neither gaining the upper hand. Wu Xin had a high level of internal energy, but his martial arts skills were shallow, with great power that couldn't land a solid hit; Xiao Jian's martial arts skills were extremely refined, but his internal energy was inferior to Wu Xin's. Although his techniques were ingenious and fast-changing, he couldn't land a decisive blow on Wu Xin. After exchanging so many moves, both of them only suffered minor skin injuries, and they both secretly felt anxious.

  Xiao Jian's subordinates were all watching, but couldn't help. Because the two of them were like a pair of shadows, suddenly on the left side of the door, and suddenly on the right side of the door, it was impossible to tell who was who. Wu Xin always wanted to lure Xiao Jian into the formation, but Xiao Jian also knew the danger, and would always stop in time. As long as Wu Xin retreated, he would not pursue again, and the two of them just kept circling each other.

  After a brief fight, Wu Xin let out a cold laugh and suddenly stopped, leaping into the air with his sleeves fluttering in the wind. His movements were incredibly beautiful. Xiao Jian saw this and also let out a cold laugh, spiraling upwards to a height slightly above Wu Xin's, his movements even more elegant and free than Wu Xin's. Wu Xin was enraged by this, slapping his palms together as he used the Drunken Yin-Yang Palm technique, one palm heavy and one light, cycling through changes in a perfect circle that enveloped Xiao Jian.

  Xiao Jian sneered and said: "What's wrong? Are you out of tricks, Qian Liu? You've used this move twice already, are you going to use it again?"

  Wu Xin didn't say anything and just calmly faced off against him.

  Xiao Jian's words were light and easy, but his hands didn't dare to be careless. If Wu Xin hit him with a normal move, it would still cause great harm. As soon as Wu Xin's palms faced Xiao Jian, Xiao Jian's body floated like a feather, lightly sliding to the right side like a fish. At the same time, he pushed both hands towards Wu Xin's right shoulder, borrowing the force of Wu Xin's internal energy to jump up, his feet rotating in a whirlwind motion, using the "Ethereal Leg" technique with no shadow or trace. For a moment, a series of leg shadows kicked towards Wu Xin.

  Wu Xin was shocked and took a step back, but since he was in mid-air, it wasn't easy to move around. He leaned back and his body fell downwards. Xiao Jian secretly let out a breath of relief and didn't hesitate anymore. With full force, he chased after Wu Xin.

  Wu Xin stabilized himself and saw the situation without panicking. His hands moved in a linked motion, mutually responding to each other, while falling down and being on guard.

  Xiao Jian accelerated his pace, his speed astonishing, the wind and thunder roaring beneath his feet. He aimed a vicious kick at Wu Xin's weak shoulder, but just as his foot was about to make contact, Wu Xin dodged it with a light flick of his body, escaping like a fish.

  Xiao Jian saw Wu Xin escape and a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, knowing that something was wrong. At this moment, he felt his senses sharpened several times over, and as soon as he landed, Xiao Jian only felt a dizziness around him, and knew that he had fallen into the array set up by Wu Xin. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he felt a killing aura rushing towards him, and his heart was in a panic, his body rapidly retreating. Before he could calm down from the shock, a light sword came slashing from the right side, cold and chilling, with a sharp blade that seemed to be able to cut through hair. Xiao Jian naturally dodged again, at the same time using his iron fan to block the path of the sword.

  Wu Xin saw Xiao Jian in the formation, frantically waving his arms and legs, and calmly said: "You play slowly, I also want you to taste the taste of heartbreak and despair!" Then he walked into the house. The few people in the house were knocked unconscious by Wu Xin with a few light blows. The subordinates outside saw Xiao Jian panicking in the formation and rushed to his aid. Some subordinates who didn't know the danger saw that Xiao Jian was only a few meters away from them, clearly visible, so they hurriedly ran over, resulting in a group of people falling into the formation. Those trapped in the formation were like extremely weak-minded people, seemingly drunk, twisting left and right, constantly frightened and at a loss, like fools. Others dared not approach, watching the scene in horror, unsure what was real or illusory.

  Xiao Jian dodged and weaved in the array for a while, then heard Wu Xin's sentence and knew that Wu Xin must have entered the house. He thought to himself that he shouldn't be in any danger, so he ignored these strange and bizarre hallucinations. At this moment, he suddenly stood up, and the people around him applauded loudly. Xiao Jian only heard the applause but couldn't see anyone, so he shouted: "How do I get out? Tell me the way!"

  The onlookers suddenly came to their senses and shouted: "Go forward, keep going forward!"

  Xiao Jian took a step forward, but then heard someone shout: "Wrong! It's going forward, not turning right!" Xiao Jian then walked to the left, thinking that he might be going in the opposite direction, but unexpectedly heard someone say: "Wrong again, it's not circling around!" Xiao Jian was secretly frustrated, knowing that his sense of direction had been disrupted by the formation and that front, back, left, and right were all mixed up. He shouted: "Shut up, everyone!" and then squatted down to think quietly to himself.

  At this moment, the spiritual machine suddenly moved, and the surroundings changed unpredictably. Why not take to the air at all times? Xiao Jian was overjoyed and thought to himself, "Can you still set up the formation in mid-air?" At this moment, Xiao Jian leaped into the air, but just as he felt himself a few feet off the ground, he was struck on the head by something with a loud crash. Dizzy and disoriented, he fell back down. The others saw Xiao Jian fly out at an angle, hitting another person in the formation with his head, and were shocked, but before they could react, they saw Xiao Jian fall to the ground and didn't dare make a sound. Xiao Jian had suffered a setback and knew it was useless; for the time being, he had no solution.

  Wu Xin searched the house for half a day, but didn't see any sign of Huang Xiuying. He was furious and smashed everything in the house, but still couldn't find any hidden room or person. After being angry for a long time, he felt unbearable pain and wondered what had happened to Huang Xiuying. He gritted his teeth and went out the door, saying coldly to Xiao Jian in the courtyard: "Where did you hide her? If you don't tell me, don't blame me for taking drastic measures!"

  Xiao Jian smiled wryly and said: "I don't know what you're talking about! First, dispel this broken formation, let's have a good talk!"

  Wu Xin said coldly: "You're wrong, if you don't speak up now, I'll enter the formation and comfort you well, then treat your family well, not missing a single one!"

  Xiao Jian listened, his whole body trembling with fear, yet he dared not lose face, and smiled faintly: "I'm afraid it's not necessarily so! We'll do business as usual, otherwise you won't be able to find what you're looking for!"

  Wu Xin coldly snorted and said: "You think I really don't dare?! Haha, I'll give you five seconds to consider! Five...!"

  Xiao Jian heard Wu Xin's cold laughter, and his heart became flustered. Had he really abandoned her? What was the relationship between him and Wu Xin anyway? Xiao Jian didn't know, but he listened intently to what he had to say.

  "Four!......" Wu Xin counted slowly and calmly, neither too fast nor too slow, without any panic or confusion.

  Xiao Jian's mood was tense for a moment, and sweat had already seeped out of his forehead.

  "Three!......"?

  Xiao Jian could no longer bear it and hastily said: "Teach me the way out of the formation!"

  Wu Xin let out a cold hum, but didn't say anything, yet it was clear that he had agreed.

  "She... she was seriously injured! She's being treated at home right now! Her dad is by her side, and once she recovers, she'll go back to school!" Xiao Jian calmed down a bit.

  Wu Xin listened and turned around to leave.

  Xiao Jian hastily asked: "How can I get out?"

  "Just keep walking forward, and you'll naturally break through the formation in a month!" It was Wu Xin's cold voice.

  Xiao Jian's lungs were about to explode with anger, his teeth clenched tightly, but he had no choice, how could he get out of this situation? Was he really helpless?