Chapter 41 Qing Shui Town 13

  Qin Fei's phone was unreachable, and Gu Wenkai changed to Zhang Zhixin's phone number, but the situation on Qin Fei's side was the same, with no one answering.

  Gu Wenkai put his phone back in his pocket, pacing back and forth in the room anxiously for a couple of rounds before finally deciding: "We'll head to Xizhen immediately. I'm going to apply to the captain for permission to investigate the suspect."

  Gu Wenkai finished speaking and walked out of the rest room, then went to the adjacent office.

  ……

  A half-moon hung in the sky, barely illuminating the outline of the gravel path. Two figures walked along the path, one after the other, heading towards the back mountain of Qing Shui Town.

  Zhou Tian Tong walked ahead, hunching his back and muttering to himself. In his right hand he held an oil lamp, not for lighting the way but as a tool to lure out the living soul. He cupped his left hand over the lamp's mouth, carefully protecting the small flame inside from being extinguished, and wisps of strange fragrance wafted out from the wick. Qin Fei gazed ahead with unfocused eyes, following the scent, slowly trailing behind Zhou Tian Tong.

  Zhou Tiantong led Qin Fei to the foot of the mountain behind, Zhang Zhixin was squatting on the ground smoking, in front of him a flat empty space had already been drawn with a borrowed momentum array.

  Zhang Zhixin heard the footsteps, turned his head to look, and saw Zhou Tiantong carrying an oil lamp. He also saw Qin Fei following behind Zhou Tiantong with a lifeless gaze. The moment he saw Qin Fei, Zhang Zhixin's face stiffened, and then he hastily turned his head away.

  At first, he stayed by Qin Fei's side, his original intention was not to see him end up like his own grandson. Of course, there were also personal motives, he also wanted to use Qin Fei to find the murderer who killed his own grandson, but he never thought of involving Qin Fei in his own private affairs. But at this moment, in front of his desires, he personally destroyed his original intention, destroyed his principles.

  Zhou Tian Tong ignored Zhang Zhi Xin, carefully placing the Soul Lantern on the ground and letting Qin Fei stand in place. Then he walked to the Borrowing Array, picked up the ancient book that Zhang Zhi Xin had thrown on the ground, and began to inspect the array. With the help of the two oil lamps placed symmetrically on the ground, the complex array pattern was fully revealed before Zhou Tian Tong's eyes. Zhou Tian Tong carefully inspected it three times before nodding in satisfaction.

  After confirming that the formation was correct, Zhou Tian Tong returned and picked up the Sheng Hun Lantern on the ground, ready to lead Qin Fei into the formation.

  "Wait a minute!" Zhang Zhixin blocked Zhou Tian's way, "Are you sure this borrowed momentum formation won't harm Qin Fei?"

  Zhou Tiantong looked at Zhang Zhixin with his deep-set eyes, then said in a low voice: "I guarantee that this formation will not harm him."

  Zhang Zhixin's mouth twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything else, and silently let it go.

  Zhou Tian Tong led Qin Fei into the formation, then took out the seven black porcelain bottles from the cloth bag on his back, and placed them in the formation according to the positions written in the ancient book. After that, he blew out the Soul Lantern.

  When the lantern of life was extinguished, Qin Fei's figure flickered in the array, and his consciousness awakened from a state of confusion. Qin Fei looked at Zhou Tian Tong and Zhang Zhi Xin in front of him with a dazed expression, somewhat unclear about what had happened. He wanted to ask questions, but found that he couldn't make a sound, and his feet seemed to be nailed to the ground, unable to move an inch.

  "Let's get started."

  Zhou Tian's low, hoarse voice fell, and a gust of evil wind suddenly rose, swirling around the borrowed momentum array, forming a strange whirlwind. On the ground, seven black porcelain bottles shook violently, and soon, the corks were knocked open, and seven fierce ghosts broke out of the black porcelain bottles, transforming into a cloud of black mist that enveloped Qin Fei entirely.

  Through the dark fog, Zhang Zhixin saw Qin Fei's eyes that had just gained focus, his pupils suddenly shrinking, revealing a fear of death. His body trembled slightly, his lips without any blood color, his face pale and white.

  "Qin Fei, what's wrong with him?" Zhang Zhi Xin grabbed Zhou Tian Tong's arm and asked, staring at him, "Didn't you say you wouldn't harm him? But now he looks like he's in agony!"

  "It's just a look...” Zhou Tian Tong didn't struggle free from Zhang Zhi Xin's grip on his arm, nor did he turn to look at him. He continued to stare straight at Qin Fei in the array, his eyes revealing a hint of crazed fervor.

  Very soon... very soon... his little Qing will be found! She is his own granddaughter, after all! Even if she's dead, he can't let her soul fall into the hands of some unknown person! He can't let his only granddaughter die and not even rest in peace in the underworld!

  Xiao Qing, wait a little longer... Grandpa will find you soon... Even if Grandpa's soul is scattered, he will still find you and send you to reincarnation, let you have a peaceful rebirth!

  Zhang Zhixin stared blankly at Zhou Tiantong, looking at the flickering madness in his eyes, and muttered: "Old Zhou, you deceived me..."

  Zhou Tiantong finally turned his gaze and swept a glance at Zhang Zhixin, "What did I deceive you of?"

  "You son of a bitch lied to me that you wouldn't hurt Qin Fei!" Zhang Zhixin grabbed Zhou Tian's collar and shouted angrily.

  "It's your fault for being too gullible." Zhou Tian Tong pushed Zhang Zhi Xin aside, his gaze refocusing on Qin Fei in the array. "Borrowing someone's luck isn't something you can do just by drawing an array. Your connection with him isn't deep enough; his luck won't protect you. A person with great merit and virtue, who has done great good deeds for ten lifetimes, still won't have their luck fall upon someone with whom they don't have a deep enough affinity. So if you want to borrow his luck, you must push him to the brink of despair, force his luck out, and then kill him in that instant. That way, his luck will be mine."

  "You...you..." Zhang Zhixin pointed at Zhou Tian Tong, took two deep breaths, and suddenly turned his head to rush towards Qin Fei in the array.

  Zhou Tiantong only gave him half of the ancient book, and that half was also incomplete. Many places were not explained, but Zhang Zhixin knew that since this borrowed momentum formation had not been fully activated yet, he could try to forcibly pull Qin Fei out.

  Zhang Zhi's new idea was theoretically feasible, but he miscalculated the evil and overbearing nature of that formation. As soon as he touched the edge of the formation, he was attacked by a fierce ghost that burst out from inside, biting off two pieces of flesh from his arm and abdomen, and then he was knocked flying out by a powerful force.

  Zhang Zhi Xin crouched in a place not far from the Borrowed Power Formation, covering his bloody wound, and shivering with pain. Apart from the pain, there was also a cold and bone-piercing chill that was seeping into his body, which was the evil spirit's venom, if not treated in time, it would be fatal.

  But now Zhang Zhixin had no time to care about these things, he was touched by those fierce ghosts and that's it. What about Qin Fei who was surrounded by a group of fierce ghosts?

  Zhang Zhixin struggled to get up, wanting to run back to the Borrowed Momentum Formation. At this time, Zhou Tian Tong's hands shook, and two white ghost shadows shot out from his sleeves, quickly pouncing on Zhang Zhixin, pressing him firmly to the ground, not letting him move.

  After subduing Zhang Zhixin, Zhou Tiantong walked a few steps closer to the Borrowed Momentum Formation, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Qin Fei who was shrouded in rolling black mist within the formation. The person appeared to be in great pain, but that was only due to the malevolent aura of the fierce ghost; he had not yet suffered any direct harm. Zhou Tiantong couldn't help but furrow his brow, leaning in closer for a more detailed look, and discovered that those black mists did not actually come into contact with Qin Fei, as if they were being separated by something invisible.

  What's going on? Zhou Tian Tong furrowed his brow and thought for a moment, quickly understanding the reason. Qin Fei had a protective charm on him, which he forgot to remove when he lured him into the formation. However, even if it wasn't removed, its impact on the outcome would only be a matter of time; no matter how powerful the charm was, it would eventually be rendered useless with enough time.

  Zhou Tiantong no longer worried, turned his head to look towards the back mountain. From now on, as long as he could lure those vengeful spirits from the back mountain into the formation, this Borrowed Momentum Soul-Seizing Formation would be thoroughly completed.

  ……

  He walked across the stone bridge over the Clear Water River, through two fields, and stood in front of a desolate piece of land - the killing field left by the Wan Gui Tong Ku Array was just one step away from him.

  Shao Guan stood two steps behind Gu Yin with his head bowed, silently waiting for Gu Yin's instructions.

  After confirming that the victim in H City's residual case was a result of ghost-raising technique, Gu Yin could almost be certain that the person who intended to take his life 17 years ago had appeared. This ghost-raising technique of taking human lives to make fierce ghosts has been very distant for many years and is now almost lost. Even if many people know about this ghost-raising technique, not everyone knows the specific method of casting the spell. Those who know this ancient curse, apart from the person 17 years ago, have a style similar to that of the Wan Gui Tong Ku Array.

  There is only the clue of ghost cultivation, and there is no way to find out who that person was seventeen years ago. However, since that person used a ghost cultivation technique to stir up an entire city, this matter won't be settled with just a few deaths; there will definitely be bigger moves ahead. As for what that person's actions were intended to achieve, it wasn't within Gu Yin's consideration; his goal was simply to use this opportunity to investigate who that person was. Therefore, during the time Gu Yin came to Qing Shui Town, he hadn't made any moves because he was waiting - waiting for the chess pieces manipulated by that person to appear.

  Gu Yan looked far away at the mound behind Qing Shui Town, which in the deep night color only appeared as a black patch, and nothing else could be seen.

  Suddenly, a gust of dark wind rose, and the air suddenly became cold. The distant tomb mountain, which was originally black, actually produced wisps of white smoke.

  Gu Yin's face changed: "It seems that the chessboard chosen by that person is not here."

  "Master Shao looked at the strange mound behind Qing Shui Town and asked, "Young Master, what's next?"

  "You wait here for me," Gu Yin said, and then ran towards the direction of the grave mountain.