Chapter 92 Chapter 92 Imaginary Drama...
The imagined pain did not come.
Jiang Wan's skirt dropped—the surging energy behind her vanished. The pillar of Qi dissipated, transforming into tiny specks of golden light.
She raised her head in confusion and met the trace of pity in Boss Xuan's eyes that had not yet disappeared.
Did he just withdraw his internal energy?
But the sword in his hand didn't move at all, and he continued to output his internal energy. And even if she didn't notice the obvious change of withdrawing internal energy, then Boss Xuan's fellow disciples would definitely notice it.
But a closer look at the eight people opposite them revealed a look of shock and panic, completely unsure of what had gone wrong. The fifth man even began to check the direction of his internal energy, suspecting he had gone possessed.
"The formation has failed! We've practiced the Tiangang Bagua Formation countless times, and this has never happened before!"
"Did someone use the wrong mental method?"
“I definitely didn’t use it wrong!”
"Neither do I!"
Jiang Wan patted Wen Shen and gave him a questioning look. He bit his lip tightly, his body tense, as if trying to suppress some complex emotion. Only after she patted him did his muscles gradually relax, and he lowered his head and shook it.
In other words, the formation's collapse wasn't caused by the Black Iron Eight Heroes' operational error. There could only be one reason: she had accidentally destroyed the center of the formation!
She knew no martial arts, and hadn't attacked the Eight Heroes, which meant that the key to breaking the formation wasn't physical strength. This meant that this was a unique formation, and the true core of the formation wasn't a specific individual, but rather a kind of "Tao." This Tao resided within the hearts of the Eight Heroes; if their hearts were broken, the formation would be broken.
The moment she pounced on Wen Shen just now, the "Tao" of one of the Eight Heroes was broken.
So what could this "Tao" that supported the core of the formation be? Jiang Wan instinctively recalled the trace of pity that had just flashed across Boss Xuan's face.
"Little girl, don't waste your energy. You can hold them back once, but can you hold them back again?" Boss Xuan advised. "You hold no official position, and have no connections to the court. If you stay out of this and stay away from Lin'an, I'll let you go."
Jiang Wan carefully observed the other person's expression and said, "What if I refuse to leave?"
"You have a family and an apprentice, why would you risk your life here for a man?!" Boss Xuan was anxious, "Can't you just run your shop properly?"
Jiang Wan had a flash of inspiration, as if he had grasped a clue.
"Boss, why are you wasting your time talking to her?" Xuan Lao Er said in a hoarse voice, "If the formation happens again, I don't believe it's all accidents!"
Boss Xuan looked at Jiang Wan for a long time. Seeing that she was indifferent, he could only sigh: "Alright. This little girl is very smart. I dare not say anything more. Let's make a quick decision."
The eight of them resumed their cultivation, but Jiang Wan suddenly smiled brightly, his tone filled with gratitude: "Thank you so much for this time, otherwise I really wouldn't have been able to find it in these deep mountains. Lord Shen is almost here, so we'll go meet him first. You can continue your performance for a while."
After hearing this, the eight people across from him exchanged glances, suspicion clouding their faces. Jiang Wan, however, ignored them. He took Wen Shen's hand and gently squeezed his knuckles. Wen Shen understood, sheathed Shanhe, slung it onto his back, and headed straight down the mountain with Jiang Wan in tow.
"Don't run!" Xuan Laowu shouted, "Set up the formation!"
The eight men immediately drew their swords and directed their Qi towards the center of the formation. Just like before, eight streams of internal energy passed through the center of the octagonal formation, but no Qi column appeared.
"What's going on, what's going on!" Xuan Laowu exclaimed.
Xuan Lao Er was calmer than him and soothed him, "Don't panic, you might have been too nervous just now. Let Lao Qi take the lead."
The eight people set up the formation again in the same way, but the Qi column still did not appear.
Xuan Laoqi was almost crying: "It's over! The formation has been broken!"
"Impossible, they clearly didn't do anything!" Xuan Lao Ba said angrily, "From what that little hoof said, there's a spy among us. Someone deliberately used the wrong mental method to disrupt the formation!"
"But I remember she was looking at you when she said thank you." Xuan Lao San muttered softly.
Xuan Lao Ba shouted angrily: "You're talking nonsense! I've been wholeheartedly working for Xuantie Sect all these years, how could I be a spy!"
Xuan Lao refuted: "Among the eight of us, who hasn't fought for our lives together? Who hasn't risked their lives for Xuantie Sect? In terms of time, you are still the last to enter the sect."
Xuan Lao Ba stamped his feet in anger: "I told you it wasn't me! I dare to take responsibility for my actions. If I betray Xuantie Sect, I, Lao Ba, will be struck by lightning and never be reborn!"
…
The failure of the formation made the Eight Heroes of Xuantie believe in the existence of a "spy", so they quarreled more and more fiercely, leaving Wen Shen and Jiang Wan aside.
In their opinion, Jiang Wan, a woman who didn't know martial arts, and Wen Shen, a wounded man who was exhausted, with injuries on both hands and even put away his sword, posed no threat at all.
Therefore, when Xuan Lao Ba, who was making the most noise, was pierced through the heart by a sword, he even thought it was done by a "spy". He only had time to say "dog spy sneak attack--" before he died.
The other seven heroes finally reacted and rushed to meet the enemy. However, without their most powerful Tiangang Bagua Formation and the loss of one member, their strength was greatly reduced.
Wen Shen wielded the sword with his right hand, which was less injured, at a speed that left an afterimage. Even with his injuries, the strength he displayed, enhanced by the potion of vitality, was even greater than when he faced the bandits on the Wusun Ancient Road a few months ago.
Before Jiang Wan could see his movements clearly, a group of people had already fallen to the ground. Four of them were fatally wounded and died soon after; the other three also fell to the ground and could not get up.
Wen Shen breathed a sigh of relief and cut the tendons of the three men's hands and feet to keep them for interrogation.
After doing this, he glanced at the sundial. It was approaching the hour of Xu, and the sound of horse hooves could be heard faintly from the foot of the mountain.
Jiang Wan came to the edge of the cliff and looked down. He saw thousands of horses galloping between the two mountains in the southeast, and the lights formed a flowing river.
The person coming was still too far away to be seen clearly, but the signal smoke from the Jinyiwei who were waiting at the foot of the mountain indicated that the person coming was a friend, not an enemy.
Jiang Wan finally passed this hurdle.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Boss Xuan propped himself up and sat up, asking, "Let me die knowing full well. How on earth did you break the formation?"
"Of course I found the center of the formation." Jiang Wan said.
Boss Xuan raised his head unwillingly: "The core of the Tiangang Bagua formation can be changed at any time. Even if you find it, you can still restart the formation."
Jiang Wan tore off his sleeve to bandage Wen Shen while explaining, "Every formation has weaknesses. The core of the Tiangang Bagua Formation is a special kind. It's not the person you think it is, but the inner Dao of the eight of you. Only when you share the same goal can the power of the formation be unleashed; if you doubt each other, the formation will naturally collapse. To break this formation, you don't rely on force, but on the heart."
"I see. After all this time spent studying formations, I still didn't know anything about it. So there's no spy among us, right? That was just your way of making us suspicious of each other."
Seeing Jiang Wan nod, Boss Xuan smiled bitterly: "I admit this, but when you blocked the Qi column for Master Wen, we didn't doubt each other, so why was the formation broken?"
Jiang Wan squatted beside Wen Shen and bandaged his wound to stop the bleeding. After the bandage was completed, she slowly walked over to Boss Xuan and asked, "Why was it able to break? Don't you know in your heart? What were you thinking when I blocked that attack?"
"I... I just felt a little sorry for you, a little girl. What's the big deal? So many heroes have perished under the Tiangang Bagua Formation in the past. I felt sorry for them before they died."
"No, that's different." Jiang Wan squatted down and stared at him. "You want me to stay alive, take care of Chen Xi, and help her make the embroidery branch famous, right?"
Boss Xuan clenched his fists, a murderous glint in his eyes. If he had known this teenage girl was so formidable, given his style, he would have killed this hidden danger as soon as possible. Now that her tendons have been severed, he wondered if he would regret underestimating her.
He stared at Jiang Wan for a long time, finally lowering his head with a wry smile: "You guessed it all. In fact, the current Eighth of the Black Iron Eight Heroes only joined ten years ago. We once had an old leader, but he died fifteen years ago."
"Back then, we were young and thought that if we worked hard under the Marquis, we would surely be granted a title of nobility and become a prime minister, bringing honor to our family. We killed many people for the Marquis, but suddenly one day, the leader said he didn't want to kill anymore. He had fallen in love with an embroiderer, and the woman was pregnant with his child. He said he wanted to accumulate some blessings for the child and wanted to live in seclusion to spend more time with his wife and children."
Hearing this, how could Jiang Wan not understand? This child was Chen Xi. Chen Xi's father was killed by Jing'an Hou because he knew too many secrets, and Su Xiu Niang must have been implicated.
Recalling the tragic experience of Su Xiu Niang, Jiang Wan felt a little sad.
"It's ridiculous. The Marquis killed the Sect Master, yet I still worked for him for so many years. In the end, I had no fame, fortune, or status, and ended up like this." Boss Xuan collapsed on the ground with his eyes closed. "I often go to your Qingjiang Residence. Xixi has a great talent for embroidery. She looks a lot like her mother, except for her nose and mouth, which are similar to the Sect Master. You can see that she is very dependent on you."
"It's okay that I failed. If you survive, at least Xixi won't be sad, and I'll have done one less thing to let you down." Boss Xuan said this with one breath, then his head tilted and he passed out.
Jiang Wan stood in silence for a few seconds, then whispered, "Master Wen, please tell Lord Shen that since he still has some regard for Xixi, he should suffer less after he confesses."
Not hearing Wen Shen's response, she turned around curiously, only to see him sitting on the ground with his knees hugged, looking angry and aggrieved.
Well, it looks like a big golden retriever that has been locked up at home for three days.
Jiang Wan couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth and walked over: "What's wrong? Is the wound still hurting?"
Wen Shen turned his head away from her. After a few seconds, he hummed softly, "Why did you block me just now?"
"Ah?" Jiang Wan was stunned.
"Uh...well, I saw you couldn't dodge it, so I blocked it. If you died, how could I overturn the case?"
"But that's very dangerous!" Wen Shen suddenly raised his head, "What if the core of the formation is not broken? Isn't your own life a life?"
He practically roared the last sentence. The young general, who had remained calm under the mountain-piercing Qi column, now had red eyes and glared at her stubbornly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
