Soul Devouring Array -4
Ji Wang suppressed the urge to act immediately.
He knew that he might be able to save some of the refugees and destroy part of the array at this moment, but he could never destroy this evil array that was already nearly complete.
If he were to alert the enemy again, putting Bian Yueya's already uncertain situation in an even more passive position, or even prompting the enemy to launch a more extreme countermeasure, then he would probably hate himself to death.
He forced himself to memorize the key patterns of the array, the rules for attaching the talismans on the stone cauldron and the unique patterns of the core ones, the specific points at which the refugees were settled, the patrol routes of the corpse-sniffing demons... He quickly memorized all the information.
When Ji arrived at the agreed location, Bujiu was already waiting there.
Behind Bu Jiu, several children, no more than seven or eight years old, were huddled together, their clothes tattered and their faces dirty.
When he saw that Ji Wang had arrived safely, Bu Jiu breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to let Ji Wang see the child behind him: "Bianyue Cliff is not the core of the formation or a hiding place for troops. The cliff and the nearby caves are crowded with people, all of which are guarded. After I sneaked in, I subdued a lone guard, did some investigation, and questioned a few people who could still speak."
He didn't brush away the child's hand that was tugging at him. Instead, he picked up the youngest child and gently patted his back: "They said that they spontaneously gathered at Yinchen Temple to survive because of the natural disaster. Until a few hours ago, demons suddenly broke in, drove most of them away and held them captive in the Bianyue Cliff area, leaving only a few people to watch. They didn't know the reason, only that those who resisted or tried to escape were all fed to the demons on the spot."
Bu Jiu turned his head slightly, subtly dodging the child's outstretched hand that reached for the fox's ears, and continued, "Most of the refugees are elderly, weak, women, and children. They are terrified and powerless, and the guards are tightly deployed. A large-scale organized escape would be easily detected. These children's close relatives secretly pleaded with me to take the children away from danger first. After weighing the options, I can only... take them out first."
Making this choice meant temporarily abandoning the people on the cliff. Bu Jiu didn't say it aloud, but Ji Wang understood the helplessness in his words.
"You did the right thing," Ji Wang said, which was both a decision to forgive and punish and a way to soothe any self-blame that might arise in his heart.
Ji Wang crouched down, at eye level with the children huddled together, and placed the dry rations and water pouches from his bundle in front of them: "Don't be afraid, we're here to drive away those bad guys. Tell your brother, are any of those bad guys particularly fierce-looking or different?"
The children looked at him timidly, then turned to look at Bu Jiu. Only when Bu Jiu nodded did one of the bolder girls sniff and begin to describe the scene haltingly.
Ji Wang listened carefully, combining every detail he had seen and recorded, and quickly pieced together and deduced all the clues, gradually revealing a more complete picture of the enemy's situation.
He stood up, took the child from Bu Jiu's arms and placed him on the ground. With his other hand, he quickly made a hand seal, setting up a barrier that served as both concealment and protection around them: "Listen to your brother, stay here. Unless you see me coming, no matter what sound you hear or what you see, absolutely do not go out, understand?"
The girl nodded vigorously and hugged her younger siblings tightly.
Ji Wang raised his hand, ruffled the child's hair, gave him a reassuring look, and then pulled Bu Jiu a few steps toward the darker woods beside them.
After stopping, he quickly said, "It's the 'Hundred Ghosts Devouring Souls Formation'. This formation is insidious, and its weakness lies in the spiritual energy conversion hub between the two core formation eyes: 'Gathering Yin' and 'Extracting Souls'. One hub is underground, located directly below the alchemy furnace, and is directly connected to the Yin energy of the earth's veins. The other hub is in mid-air, maintained by the few blood-red talismans on the alchemy furnace, about three inches above the ground."
He gathered a faint light at his fingertips and quickly outlined a simple yet precise array in the void between them, marking several key paths for the flow of spiritual energy:
“If only one point is destroyed, the formation will stagnate. If both key points are destroyed at the same time, it will go out of control and backfire on the caster and the formation itself. This is a risky move, but it is also the fastest way to break the deadlock at present.”
Bu Jiu stared intently at the array diagram drawn by spiritual energy and said in a low voice, "How do you plan to destroy both places at the same time? The location of that suspended talisman is delicate and protected. Ordinary attacks may not be able to reach its core, and the underground node is buried deep in the soil and rocks."
“I have a plan,” Ji Wang said calmly. “How to proceed and when to act are up to me.”
He stepped forward and grasped Bu Jiu's forearm: "At Bian Yue Cliff, your safety is our top priority. Saving people is a noble cause, but the prerequisite is that you must be unharmed. If things become impossible, we will immediately abandon the assault and find another way. We must not let you get into a situation where you are doomed."
“This is a sure way to die…” Yin Jun stared at the formation and said coldly, “But they haven’t arrived yet after the formation has been set up for so long. You probably don’t know your brother very well, do you?”
"Understand?" Ling Gu retorted. "What do I need to understand about him? Understand how he guarded Ji Wang for three hundred years, turning himself into an empty shell? Understand how he now grovels before a reincarnated person, treating that laughable tenderness as a lifeline?"
His tone was undisguised in its contempt, yet it carried a bitterness that even he himself was unaware of.
Yin Jun's voice was particularly grating at this moment: "I think he's more sensible than you, his elder brother. At least he knows what he wants, dares to fight for it, and dares to protect it. What about you? You hide in His Majesty's shadow, and don't even dare to speak your true feelings."
"Whoosh—!" The sound of something cutting through the air was sharp and short.
A dart grazed the falcon's ear and embedded itself deeply in the dead tree trunk half a foot away.
"Provocation won't work on me, Yin Jun." Ling Gu withdrew his hand, his sleeves remaining perfectly still, as if the swift and deadly blow had nothing to do with him. "As for Bu Jiu... what he wants and what he protects will soon become unimportant."
Yin Jun glanced at the poisoned dart that was inches away, but instead of getting angry, he chuckled: "Getting angry out of embarrassment? Did I hit a nerve? Ling Gu, when you see him acting like a fool, risking his life for others, don't you really have any other thoughts in your mind? Like... envy?"
envious?
Listening to the bone froze for a moment.
He recalled a long time ago, when he wasn't yet "Listening to Bones," and he and Bu Jiu were just two young foxes struggling to survive in the mountains. He had been the older brother, naturally protecting his frail younger brother behind him, sharing limited food, and driving away dangerous wild beasts.
When did that laughable tenderness die? Was it when he tasted blood and power for the first time in order to survive? Or was it when he knelt at Yue Yuan's feet, offering his loyalty and name, receiving the code name "Ling Gu," and completely stripping away everything from the past?
Perhaps, it was earlier, on that cold night.
He dragged his hind legs, which were torn and bleeding from the monster's attack, and huddled in the cold crevice of the rock. Bu Jiu stood guard outside, his small body trembling violently, yet he stubbornly refused to leave, trying to scare away a non-existent threat with his childish whimpers.
Through his bloodshot eyelids, he watched his younger brother's trembling back and realized for the first time with crystal clarity what he needed.
"Let your guesses run wild. Right now, what His Majesty needs is Ji Wang." Ling Gu withdrew his thoughts and ignored Yin Jun's probing gaze. "As for Bu Jiu... whether he lives or dies is none of my business. If you want his life, I will not stop you."
Yin Jun took half a step forward, his shoes crunching over the fallen leaves with a soft sound: "Oh? I've heard that your brother cherishes his fur the most, especially his tail... If I were to cut off his tail in front of him, would you just watch?"
Listening to the Bone's posture remained unchanged, and even the frequency of his breathing was not disrupted.
"As you wish." Ling Gu repeated the two words, "As long as it does not interfere with His Majesty's important business, you and His Majesty can do whatever you want with his skin, bones, and soul."
He even turned his head and glanced at Yin Jun without any emotion. "Do you need me to hold him down for you?"
These words were so cold and absolute that Yin Jun was momentarily speechless. He stared at Ling Gu for a few moments, then sneered, "Fine, fine. Ling Gu, your bones are probably colder than the Xuanbing beneath the Venerable One."
Seeing that Ling Gu had closed his eyes again, he stopped trying to make things awkward and picked up the soul-summoning banner beside him, walking towards the formation: "Since you said so, then I'll go take another look at that formation and try to make sure your brother's death isn't too painful."
These words were like a poisoned hook, casually tossed over, deliberately meant to stir up some commotion in Ling Gu's heart.
Ling Gu didn't open his eyes, only letting out a very soft "tsk".
The voice was too short to tell whether it was annoyance, disdain, or something else.
Yin Jun didn't seem to expect any reaction, so he let him continue to rest with his eyes closed.
Near the center of the formation, several severely wounded refugees were imprisoned in rough wooden cages, unable to move. They huddled in the cages, their eyes vacant, having lost even their fear.
A carrion-sniffing monster, about the size of a calf, was circling one of the cages.
Inside the cage was a middle-aged man with a broken leg. The wound was untreated, and the smell of blood was particularly strong. The carrion demon drooled, its eyes fixed on the wound, but it seemed to be restrained by something, only growling anxiously and not immediately pouncing.
Yin Jun strolled over, first glancing at the desperate face of the refugee, then at the restless Corpse-Sniffing Demon, and casually patted the ugly head of the Corpse-Sniffing Demon, the action even carrying a hint of approval.
"Eat up," Yin Jun said lazily. "There are still so many people around, it doesn't matter if you eat one or two."
The corpse-sniffing demon understood the command, and its low growl suddenly turned into excitement. It opened its huge mouth, filled with messy fangs, and lunged at the man in the cage who was so frightened that he couldn't even utter a sound.
In an instant, a streak of light, moving at a speed too fast for the naked eye to detect, pierced through the gaping mouth of the Corpse-Sniffing Demon with unparalleled precision, penetrating the back of its neck and bringing out foul-smelling black blood.
The corpse-sniffing demon's lunge and bite froze in mid-air. Its massive body convulsed violently before crashing to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Only then did the shimmering light reveal itself. The longsword nimbly turned in the air, shaking off the blood, and flew back to its master's side, hovering silently.
Ji Wang's figure emerged from the night. He spoke in a familiar tone, as if greeting someone: "You two are both here, which saves me the trouble of looking for you everywhere."
As soon as he finished speaking, the longsword hovering beside him rang out, its tip slightly raised, pointing directly at the Yin Falcon.
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