Chapter 49 Adding to the Fun "Tingfeng knows to come with us."...

A voice that left no room for argument suddenly rang out from the entrance of Baohetang: "No."

Everyone turned around and saw Li Liuyun standing in front of the narrow doorway, with a few Taihang Dao disciples who had not yet dispersed visible behind him.

Lu Bing asked in surprise, "Didn't you all leave?"

Zhou Yaren had keen ears and had already heard that the group had returned, so she had been quietly guarding the entrance of Baohetang.

The Taihang people did intend to leave, but they all turned back halfway because they couldn't bear to leave the injured Tingfengzhi and the evil spirit among the common people.

To prevent the evil spirit from causing any trouble, the disciples decided to keep a close watch at all times.

Li Liuyun said, "Tingfeng knows to come with us."

Lu Bing turned to face Li Liuyun: "No, young friend, Ting Fengzhi is still injured. Where can he go with you?"

Li Liuyun turned his gaze to Bai Yuan on the side and answered with a clear purpose: "The Inn in the South of the City".

Zhou Yaren: "..."

Lu Bing: "..." Was this kid eavesdropping just now?!

Bai Yuan smiled silently. Could it be that these teenagers were afraid she would be lonely, so they came here to keep her company?

It was quite a novel sight to see so many heads gathered around Bai Yuan's side for the first time.

She borrowed a bamboo hat from Baohetang, the kind that medicine gatherers wore when they went up the mountain to collect herbs. It was hung in a conspicuous place in the corner of the wall. It fit Bai Yuan perfectly, and she covered her face with a veil. That's how she left Baohetang.

The streets were already bustling with people heading to the early morning market, and various stalls had been set up on both sides of the street to do business.

When the disciples of Taihang Dao saw the great evil spirit brazenly venturing into the crowd, they were terrified and rushed out in unison, crowding around Bai Yuan and completely separating her from the people who were going to the market.

Zhou Yaren wanted to stop them, reminding his fellow Daoists that there was no need to go to such lengths.

But Bai Yuan, hiding under the bamboo hat, laughed and asked the youngest disciple closest to her in a good mood, "Would I eat people?"

The younger disciple, not being composed enough, exploded after hearing the whole thing: "Don't even think about it! We would never let you harm anyone!"

"Yes." Bai Yuan nodded. "Then you'd better keep a close eye on me every step of the way."

The young disciple gritted his teeth, clearly feeling an urge to draw his sword against the great evil spirit.

The evil spirit, fearing nothing more than a peaceful world, asked: "What am I going to do when I'm hungry? You little brats, who should I eat first?"

The youngest disciple, still looking quite childish, stared wide-eyed incredulously and exclaimed, "You want to eat us?!"

Bai Yuan turned his head and stared at him: "Hmm, you look the youngest, so your flesh should be the tenderest, right?"

The young disciple, still quite immature, shuddered in fright.

The child is easily frightened, Zhou Yaren said, "Don't scare them."

"I'm not bluffing. If I eat them, I won't eat anyone else."

Li Liuyun immediately stepped forward, pulling the frightened junior disciple behind him to shield him. Facing Bai Yuan's gaze, he showed no fear: "We only let you go last night because of Ting Fengzhi. If you want to cause trouble, I don't mind casting the Punishment Cauldron again."

"You're quite arrogant. Did you cast that execution cauldron?"

The Punishment Cauldron is a government office built on the foundation of the Punishment and Prison Formation. It contains the accumulated laws and regulations of the government office over thousands of years. Even if Bai Yuan razes the Ghost Government Office to the ground, he cannot destroy this Punishment Cauldron, which is forged from the laws and regulations.

It is the soul of a government office.

Of course, he didn't forge the cauldron spirit. He was still inexperienced and didn't have that much ability. Li Liuyun said, "As long as I can make the Punishment Cauldron appear in the world, it will be enough to restrain you. If given time, I will definitely be no worse than that person."

Bai Yuan remained silent for a moment, his thoughts already wandering: "So, you activated the array beneath the foundation of the Ghost Government Office?"

"right."

Bai Yuan had no choice but to look him in the eye: "You really aren't your elders?"

"The elders did not come down the mountain."

"Oh," Bai Yuan said knowingly. Passing a steaming hot pot stall, with bubbles bubbling in the pot, she glanced at it casually and asked as she walked, "Which mountain?"

Li Liuyun: "..."

They're not bandits entrenched in the mountains, so isn't this question a bit inappropriate?

Oh, these evil spirits always thought of them as a bunch of monkeys waving flags on the mountaintop.

Li Liuyun, who was always extremely well-mannered, paused only slightly before saying, "Taihang Mountain."

Bai Yuan glanced around and saw a scene of everyday life: "Which sect or school?"

Li Liuyun gave her a strange look, but all he could see was her tattered straw hat: "Taihang Road".

The Taihang Road on the Taihang Mountains is the national religion of Daduan, so well-known that even a three-year-old child probably knows it.

However, Bai Yuan was unaware of this, so she remained unmoved after hearing about the renowned Taihang Dao. This was the first time she had integrated into the bustling streets since the birth of the Taiyin Dao Body.

A small vendor fawned over passing female customers, trying to sell them embroidered shoes from his basket.

A mischievous boy slipped and weaved through the crowd like an eel, sneaking his dirty hand into the steamer when the owner wasn't looking. But before he could grab the big, white steamed bun, the sharp-eyed owner grabbed him by the ear and threw him to the side of the road, telling the little brat to get lost.

Bai Yuan glanced at the grinning, mischievous children, the enthusiastic vendors soliciting customers, and the beaming women... His mind suddenly calmed down, and he casually asked, "What's your master's name?"

This was not a secret that couldn't be told, and Li Liuyun truthfully replied: "Celestial Master Jingzong."

Bai Yuan asked again, "What's your name?"

"Li Liuyun".

"Compared to the Celestial Master Jingzong, what are you worth?"

Li Liuyun's expression darkened slightly, not understanding why she asked such a question: "Of course, I cannot compare to Master."

"Then please ask your master to come down the mountain in person."

Li Liuyun stopped, asking warily, "What are you doing?"

“Since you are a disciple of the Jing Sect, your master must have a profound understanding of formations. I invited him down the mountain so that he could completely dismantle the formations under the foundation of the Ghost Yamen.”

Li Liuyun replied without hesitation, "Impossible."

Bai Yuan said disdainfully, "If I had the lives of you juniors in my hands, do you think your master would obediently come down the mountain?"

Li Liuyun shook his head without changing his expression: "The formation beneath the foundation of the Ghost Government Office is rooted in the Yellow River, carrying endless grievances and bloodshed. Through long-term spread and infiltration, it has taken root in the entire Beiqu. Demolishing it could very well cause the land and mountains of Beiqu to collapse. Even if all the people are relocated beforehand, it would still be destroying a city, which is far too costly. Are we going to leave all these people homeless and destitute? Most people have struggled their whole lives to finally save up a roof that shelters them from the wind and rain. Are you going to make my master burn it all down with his own hands? That would not be a natural disaster, but a man-made one. My master cannot afford to destroy the entire city of Beiqu and bear the infamy for this lifetime."

Li Liuyun was indeed frank; everything he said was true.

When Bai Yuan attempted to destroy the formation, an earthquake struck Beiqu City, causing houses to collapse. The formation then backfired, nearly tearing her to pieces and leaving her with a set of shackles that never healed.

It's like forcibly prying open a lock; the lock will break.

Li Liuyun added at the end: "You should think twice before you act, whether or not you want to disturb my master."

Every word the other party uttered hit the nail on the head, concerning the destruction of a city. Therefore, asking these self-proclaimed righteous cultivators to break the formation was absolutely impossible. In fact, if they were to be summoned, their empty rhetoric about benevolence and righteousness would be enough to annoy her to death.

Shouting to kill and exterminate evil is secondary; Bai Yuan is most impatient with that bunch of benevolence and morality, especially when the old folks start rambling on and on.

Bai Yuan pondered, "With the experience of the Jingzong sect, is there no way to do it without breaking ground? You're too young to see through it..."

"Although I am young, my master has taught me everything he knows, and I understand the key points. If we want to avoid destroying the city, we can only resolve the deep-seated grievances originating from the foundation of the formation. Only then can the resentment be dispelled. It is the same principle as the one who tied the knot having to untie it. You are trapped in it, so you should be very clear that this formation cannot be broken by force. Otherwise, it would be equivalent to destroying the city. And since you are connected to the energy of this formation, you will inevitably suffer immeasurable consequences."

Bai Yuan frowned deeply. Hadn't this brought them back to square one? Without thinking, he blurted out, "What are the consequences?"

Li Liuyun raised his eyelids and stared at her.

Bai Yuan noticed his unusual gaze: "Why are you staring at me?"

Li Liuyun hesitated for a moment before speaking, "You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"If one day this great formation is forcibly destroyed, not only will the people of Beiqu suffer, but you will also be completely devoured."

"What do you mean? I'm going to perish along with them?"

"That's more efficient; at least we can get rid of one evil spirit."

Zhou Yaren, who had been silent, finally realized that things were not so simple after hearing this. He took a step closer and asked, "Liuyun, what do you mean by that?"

Bai Yuan, however, had little patience left: "Stop talking nonsense and get to the point."

Li Liuyun then stated directly: "Laozi Yin Sui Zai Dao created a Dao-based prison, and the punishment inflicted on you is a special punishment talisman. If you are executed by the punishment, the grievance will not be cleared. You will be devoured by the grievances in the great formation and then completely become them."

His words were like a thunderbolt, as if a drop of water had been dropped into boiling oil.

Li Liuyun said, "You will no longer be you, but them."

Bai Yuan stood rooted to the spot, feeling as if a thousand-pound boulder was weighing on his heart: "What about them?"

"Back then, you sacrificed yourself to create this blood array—those who connected you to the blood array's energy, you are who they are."

Zhou Yaren's breath hitched, and her heart trembled.

Bai Yuan stood there, stunned, with a jumble of figures before him—ordinary people coming and going, each with their own unique appearance and expression.

Bai Yuan stared blankly at the countless unfamiliar faces as he listened to Li Liuyun say, "When you are completely consumed by the injustice and become one of them, you will take on their form. If there are a hundred of them, you will have a hundred faces; if there are a thousand, you will have a thousand faces. You will become any one of them, but you will never be yourself again."

So, her ultimate fate is to become one of those vengeful sorcerers?!

After a moment, Bai Yuan's blank mind regained its senses: "So that's how it is." She murmured to herself, "I am innocent, and they are innocent victims."

If the injustice cannot be cleared, the injustice will be completely swallowed up by the false injustice.

This formation is actually very simple and brutal. She should have understood it long ago, or rather, she actually understood it a long time ago. She even told Zhou Yaren herself: "The sorcerers of the Qin Dynasty used blood to make talismans and sacrificed their lives to set up formations in death row in order to seek a way to clear their names."

She was summoned by the blood array, where the sorcerer's unjust death transformed into shackles, binding her tightly. Only by clearing their names could the feud be broken.

Otherwise, a wrongful conviction will become an unjust one.

"I see." Only now did she understand the ultimate purpose of this formation and what fate might befall her. Bai Yuan repeated, her tone now calm and composed. She looked at Li Liuyun and said, "Thank you for reminding me today."

Before Li Liuyun could speak, Bai Yuan changed the subject: "I see you've already received your master's true teachings, so there's no need to trouble Jingzong to come down the mountain personally. Since the formation beneath this foundation concerns the lives and property of the people of Beiqu Mancheng, your Taihang Dao will certainly not stand idly by. Therefore, I'll trouble you and your fellow disciples to contribute your remaining strength by casting a formation around this foundation to prevent any fools from accidentally entering." At this point, Bai Yuan's tone suddenly turned chillingly murderous, "But if any reckless fools dare to trespass, I want them to never leave alive, understand?!"

Li Liuyun was stunned. He felt a chill run down his spine, like a powerful pressure. His tongue seemed to freeze, and he couldn't utter a single word of refusal.

Only when Bai Yuan turned and left did the chilling aura and oppressive force suddenly dissipate.

The disciples of the Taihang Sect, whose cultivation was shallow, all shuddered involuntarily.

Zhou Yaren hurried to catch up with her, the throbbing pain from his wound causing him to frown: "Bai Yuan, since you've seen the person who built the Yin Sui, do you know who he is and what his identity is?"

Bai Yuan paused, his tone unfriendly: "So that's why you kept coming closer to me, it turns out it's because of Yin Sui."

From the very beginning, when Zhou Yaren discovered a Taiyin Dao body submerged in the well at the Beiqu Ghost Office, he guessed that it was constructed by Laozi's Yin Sui and suspected that the Yin Sui might be located beneath the Taiyin Dao body.

However, after the Dao Body shattered, he gained nothing; Yin Sui was not under the Dao Body at all.

Zhou Yaren did not deny it, but insisted on asking, "Do you know that person?"

“I recognize him, of course I recognize him,” Bai Yuan said coldly. “I’d recognize him even if he were ashes!”

Zhou Yaren was intimidated by the violent aura emanating from the other party: "Who is it?"

Bai Yuan stared at him fiercely, his eyes filled with a deep, intense hatred.

Zhou Yaren felt a chill run down her spine as she was met with such hatred in her eyes.

The hatred in Bai Yuan's eyes surged like a raging undercurrent, as if long-suppressed words were about to burst forth. But she turned her head away, and in the blink of an eye, the surging undercurrent subsided slowly, and Bai Yuan's face was once again covered with a layer of icy coldness: "I don't know."

"But you just said you recognized him..."

"I only said I recognized them because I've seen them before. Is there a problem?" Bai Yuan gestured to the countless people walking past them. "I've seen all these people on the street before. Do I know who they are?"

Zhou Yaren was speechless, her lips turning pale.

"As for Yin Sui," Bai Yuan changed the subject, "I will search for it myself and will never let it fall into anyone's hands."

Zhou Yaren knew perfectly well that this included everyone, including him.

They had arrived at the Xiaocheng South Inn. Bai Yuan ignored the other party and turned to go inside.