Chapter 27: The Devil Bird Wú Jiāng

  Listening to their conversation, I felt a subtle undercurrent of mutual probing and testing. Finding it uninteresting, I focused on eating and didn't participate in the discussion. However, I heard Murong Xuanfeng say: "Master, I've heard Su Shao mention that they originally planned to head towards the border of Qi and Lu, but were delayed due to their visit to Qiantang. Would it be possible for my family, the Murongs, to provide a boat to send them on their way?"

  Sui Feng was taken aback, not expecting to be implicated even though he hadn't said anything. Liang Tou'er gave Sui Feng a sideways glance and looked at Mu Rong Xuanfeng again, saying: "Actually, I don't have any urgent matters, just some private affairs. However, you also know about the changes in Yangzhou's Sui family, so we plan to head to Mount Tai to find that Central Plains Alliance leader, Hua Jiugong. The Mu Rong family has disciples all over the world, surely news from around the world wouldn't escape the Mu Rong family's ears? Does the master know where Hua is hiding?"

  Murong Yu smiled and said, "Noble nephew, you're overpraising me. I'm not as perceptive as all that. The Murong family is just barely holding on, and I haven't left the house in a long time. As for Master Hua, I only met him when he was young, but I truly admire him greatly. If Young Master can become his disciple, it would be a great fortune."

  As the wind blew, Liang Tou'er deliberately brought up Hua Jiu's name, perhaps with a hint of intimidation. The worry in his heart grew heavier, and he didn't interrupt, just listening to their conversation back and forth. At this point, the banquet had lost its meaning, and it wasn't long before they dispersed. Sui Feng and the others bid farewell to Mu Rongyao and returned to their rooms to rest.

  Looking back on the past days and nights of rushing about, looking at the present comfort. With the wind, I couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy, and at the same time, I felt more strongly the importance of increasing my strength. Only when I become strong myself will others truly respect me, and only by becoming strong can I avenge my parents and rebuild our family, making it not just empty words. Feeling the Heavenly Dao technique in my chest and the surging energy in my dantian, on one hand I feel the hope for tomorrow, and on the other hand, I also feel the long and arduous growth that is still lacking today.

  He no longer dared to waste time, so he hurriedly sat down cross-legged and continued his practice from the morning. He spent the entire afternoon practicing qigong meditation, and the true energy in his dantian was more abundant than before. His mastery of the Xī Tiān Fǎ Jué (析天法诀) and the application of Tiān Suàn (天算) had also improved a bit. He slowly withdrew from his practice, exhaled deeply, and muttered to himself: "According to the records in the Fǎ Jué, I need to practice until my energy is full in the dantian before attempting to open up the Small Heavenly Cycle meridian. But at my current speed, it'll probably take three months. Father said that with good aptitude, one month would be enough. Why am I so slow? Am I using the wrong method?"

  At present, he can't solve it even if he doesn't understand it. No matter who asks him, the secret of the Analytical Heaven will be exposed. He had to calm down and wait until he found Hua Jiu Gong before making a plan. So for now, he could only keep practicing to make up for his slow speed. Like this, one sitting lasted till afternoon, hastily going out for dinner and then returning to the house to continue his cultivation for the day. Outside, the lanterns were just lit, but the beautiful scenery of West Lake didn't enter his mind.

  Only when the meridians all over his body were sore from the true energy that had been shuttling back and forth did he stop. He then turned to practicing the Phantom Step that Liang San had taught him. It seemed that today's true energy was even more abundant than yesterday, and the Phantom Step made even greater progress, becoming increasingly pure and proficient.

  "Bang, bang!" The door creaked twice, scaring Su Feng so much that he almost fell to the ground. Only then did he realize it was already deep into the night and many people had long fallen asleep. "Who is it?" Su Feng suppressed the unease in his heart and asked in a low voice.

  "Little Wind, open the door, it's me." A faint whisper, as soft as a mosquito's hum, reached her ears, and it was Liang Ze's voice.

  "It's so late, what did he come to me for?" Fang Feng wondered in his heart, but still opened the door.

  The door had just opened a small gap, and before he could see the figure outside clearly, Liang Tou'er slipped into the house quickly, hastily closing the door as if someone was following him.

  Liang Ze said in a low voice, "I just sneaked out of the house without wanting to disturb Murong Xuanfeng that kid, and almost got seen by him. I had to come to your room first to avoid him."

  Dazed for a moment, she subconsciously said: "What are you afraid of being discovered by him? You didn't steal anything from the Murong family, did you?"

  As they entered the house, Liang Ze also let out a sigh of relief and said: "Although in terms of pure strength I am not much inferior to Murong Xuanfeng, but after all he is an existence close to Innate, it's extremely difficult to deceive him. Do you still remember that this morning I told you that the flowers and trees of the Murong family are strange?"

  He didn't understand what he meant, so he just nodded.

  Liáng Tuō ér said: "This Mù Róng Yù is not simple at all, he can actually guess that I am proficient in Feng Shui and geomancy. Today, at the wine table, he deliberately asked me questions on purpose. This precisely shows that the Mù Róng family is not ordinary, it's likely that they are hiding some great secret, which may be related to the auspicious sign from before."

  "It turns out that's the case, no wonder I felt your conversation wasn't so simple. But even if you're hiding a big secret, what can we do? We don't know where to hide either."

  Liang Ze laughed and said, "Wrong! Murong Yu is worried because he's afraid I'll figure out some clues from the terrain. But in fact, I really did see through the nine-step circular array here. Today, after walking around with you in the Murong family mansion, the entire mountain villa was hidden among the flowers and trees, leaving only small paths connected. With the nine-step circular array, I guessed that the secret hidden by the Murong family is actually within these flowers."

  "What do you think it is?"

  Liang Ze shook his head and said, "The technique of Kan Yu can only roughly see the direction of the terrain, I'm not a god, how would I know everything? However... if you want to know what this secret is, wouldn't it be clear as soon as you see it with your own eyes?"

  "Are you going to go see? Do you know where it is?"

  Liang Ze smiled slyly and said, "Do we need to guess? Once this nine-step ring formation is broken, everything will be clear. You wait here first, I'll go out and scout around." After finishing speaking, his figure flickered and disappeared, and the sound of the door creaking was heard. As for him, Feng Ru had long been accustomed to his ghostly footsteps and sat down calmly to wait patiently.

  "Could it be that the divination I did today is related to what happened tonight?" Suddenly, this sentence popped up in Feng's mind, and he just stood there thinking about it, not even noticing when the door opened.

  "Hey, what are you thinking about, so absorbed?" Liang Tou'er pushed him and said.

  Startled by the wind, he jumped up and saw that it was Liang Ze, so he calmed down. He asked: "How is it? Have you finished scouting?"

  Liáng Tuó'er sneered and said: "Investigation is done, Mù Róng Yù this old rascal, you'd better behave yourself in front of me!"

  Seeing him so excited, it's not good to pour cold water, so he urged: "Then let's go quickly, if we stay here for too long, we might be discovered by passing disciples."

  Liang Zei responded with a single sound, snapped his fingers to summon the wind, and heard a muffled noise. The candle went out in response. He and Sui Feng tiptoed out of the room and walked outside.

  Liáng Tuō's expression changed, and he said seriously: "This nine-step circular array is also limited in my knowledge. Later, you must remember to follow my footsteps closely, not a single step can be wrong, otherwise you will get lost in this dense forest, and it will be difficult to find you again."

  "Why don't we use a rope to tie you and me together?"

  Liang Ze's expression suddenly changed, his eyes widened, and he said in an extremely ominous tone: "That's because you'll find that the other end of the rope has somehow become something you don't know at some point." As he finished speaking, a cold breath sprayed onto Suifeng's face. Suifeng was startled to the point where he almost let out a loud cry.

  Liang Ze's expression was somewhat comical, but he still spoke seriously: "The formation method is a mysterious thing, it has been a divine object since ancient times. Remember not to measure it with ordinary thinking, otherwise there will be a disaster of blood and light. Alright, I'm leaving now. The outer layer of this formation is not complicated, just to prevent ordinary people from entering, and there aren't many changes. At most, it will make you difficult to find the exit, and you'll be trapped for a while. It's said that the extreme circular formation method is step-by-step thrilling, with every step being a risk, and if you take a wrong step, there's no possibility of escaping the formation, and you'll be trapped forever, which is terrifying."

  Liang Zei spoke as he walked along the small path, constantly calculating something with his fingers. After about a quarter of an hour, Liang Zei suddenly turned around and pointed to the gap between two flowering trees by the side of the road: "We'll go in from here, remember my footsteps, don't take a wrong step. Tonight is good, it's a full moon night, but the shadows may be unclear, I'll walk slowly, you must follow closely."

  Liáng Tuó ér certainly underestimated Suí Fēng, he didn't know that for the past few days Suí Fēng had been practicing his skills every day and had also practiced the Phantom Step he had taught him. Originally Liáng Tuó ér was walking slowly, Suí Fēng took advantage of this opportunity to drive the Phantom Step, step by step following behind.

  Liang Ze's servant led the way, but he had a hard time speaking. Although he said that he had read through all the mysteries of the formation of heaven and earth, when it came to actual practice, there were still many ambiguous places in the book. Every time he encountered such situations, he would have to observe the direction of yin and yang in this place, using Feng Shui to distinguish between good and bad luck. Therefore, the two walked slowly, stopping frequently, taking a long time to cover even a short distance.

  Unconsciously, a long time has passed. As I lift my head to look at the sky with the wind, the moon is already in the middle of the sky, and it's probably midnight. The night was originally quite chilly, and walking outside at midnight always gives me a bit of a creepy feeling. With the wind, the image of that white-clad female ghost from Luoyun Pavilion suddenly appeared in my mind again, and I couldn't help but shiver.

  Just as I was getting anxious and distracted, I suddenly heard a low shout from Liang Ze's direction: "Not good, it's the Black Widow!"

  As the wind quietly lifted his feet, he glanced over at Liang Ze's shoulder and took a peek. He only looked for an instant, but almost stumbled backwards. On the flower tree in front of them perched a gigantic black bird with eyes as large as bright pearls, shining with a deep crimson glow, staring straight at Su Feng and Liang Ze.

  Liang Ze also felt a little afraid, took a step back and stood beside Su Feng, whispering: "I didn't expect that such a bird really exists in the world. It's said that the Black Crow is the descendant of the Golden Crow, but later it was corrupted by the devil's blood and fell into the devil's path. I thought this was just an ancient legend... Unexpectedly... According to legend, the Black Crow not only contains deadly poison, which can kill instantly upon contact with the skin, but also has a body made of sharp iron feathers, making ordinary swords useless against it. Its eyes even have the ability to capture one's soul and spirit! We're in big trouble now, we mustn't look into its eyes!"

  Liang Ze stared intently at the large black bird, but avoided its eyes. The man and the bird were locked in a stalemate.

  For some reason, the crow did not move at all, staring at the two people. Liang Tou'er said in a low voice: "Fortunately, the formation ends here. After passing this bird is where we want to go."

  He nodded slightly, at first he was still a bit afraid of being said by Liang Touer, but seeing that the bird had not moved for so long, he vaguely felt that it might not be as terrible as the legend. He couldn't help but wonder: "You say, this bird doesn't attack us, is it because it's afraid of something on our bodies?"

  Before the words had fallen, a sudden earthquake shook the mountain, and an unmatched momentum swept across the sky. The sound in his ears was like thunder, as if heaven and earth were about to return to chaos. Liang Tou'er's eyes widened to the size of copper bells, and he exclaimed: "This is... dragon energy!"

  A flower appeared before my eyes, a dazzling light burst to the extreme and soared into the sky, piercing through the entire heaven and earth. In mid-air, two purple and blue columns of light were left behind, two halos faintly merged, gradually evolving, and finally transformed into a large Taiji diagram in the vast universe, lingering for a long time without dispersing.

  Liang Ze's eyes stared blankly into the air, motionless as if he had lost his senses. All that could be heard was his murmuring to himself: "Yin and Yang are mysterious and profound, Taiyi is infinite... Does such a divine object really exist in this world?"

  "Ah!" A shrill cry like a ghostly howl rose, and with the wind, I was stunned to see that the black bird that had been perched on the tree earlier had charged right in front of me, its dark beak only three inches away.