Chapter 446 This formation is specifically designed to kill the swordsman.
Ouyang Rong's arrival brought a moment of silence to the old courtyard.
Upon hearing Rongzhen call out "Prefect Ouyang".
The woman with the mole on her eyebrow glanced at him sideways and began to sized him up.
The man with the mole on his eyebrow suddenly said, "The Imperial Observatory is handling official business; all unauthorized personnel should step aside."
It was as if they didn't know who the visitor was.
Ouyang Rong ignored him, not even glancing at him, and instead looked around the courtyard, his gaze finally settling on the cold, palace-dressed girl.
She smiled and said, "It's been a while since I've seen you, Lady Historian. So you've been busy with that case. What brings you here all of a sudden? Have you made any new discoveries?"
Rongzhen nodded: "There are some new discoveries."
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Rong raised an eyebrow: "A new discovery, here? Hmm, if there's anything I can help you with, Lady Historian, please don't hesitate to ask."
"good."
Watching this handsome, unexpected Chief Secretary chat with Rong Zhen as if they were having a casual conversation, and even speaking in a familiar tone.
The eight Qi cultivators from the Imperial Observatory in the courtyard exchanged glances.
The woman with the mole on her eyebrow tilted her head slightly to look at the man with the mole on his eyebrow. Seeing his expressionless face, she gave a half-smile.
The man with the mole on his eyebrow suddenly said:
"You must be Ouyang Lianghan, the Prefect of Jiangzhou, right?"
"Hmm." Ouyang Rong smiled.
"I've heard of you. When you first took office in the capital, you dared to defy the Emperor to gain a good reputation. You're really bold. I admire you."
Ouyang Rong looked a little embarrassed: "I'm just an ordinary person, there's no need for you to blindly worship me."
The man with the mole on his eyebrow: "?"
The lady with the mole on her eyebrow chuckled softly.
The man with the mole on his eyebrow remained unfazed.
"What worship? You're dreaming. Hmph, back then it was just because His Majesty was kind and benevolent. If it were us in the Imperial Observatory, we wouldn't have tolerated you. Today is the same. You're just a lowly magistrate. Since we didn't call you, stay away. Don't come here unannounced. There's no honor for you to play fishing here."
Ouyang Rong looked at him and politely asked, "Which little cookie are you?"
"nonsense."
The man with the mole on his eyebrow frowned and shook his head. Chao Rongzhen said earnestly:
“Rongzhen, if we keep wasting time with these idle people, the thief will get away. I used to think you were quiet, but when did you start liking to talk nonsense with these kinds of people? It's such a waste of time…”
"Alright, stop arguing." Rong Zhen suddenly interrupted.
She first turned her head and said to the man with the mole on his eyebrow who had kept his mouth shut:
"The plan will proceed as scheduled. However, today's matter does require the cooperation of Chief Secretary Ouyang and the Grand Secretary of Jiangzhou to send state troops to seal off the city, in case that the thief has accomplices in the city. Let's talk to him about it."
Before the man with the mole on his eyebrow could answer, Rong Zhen turned her gaze to Ouyang Rong:
"You've come at the right time. Our Imperial Observatory has found a way to catch the thief. As long as this thief is still in the city, he will surely be exposed."
Ouyang Rong immediately asked curiously, "Oh? It's only been a few days, why are you so certain, Lady Historian?"
At this point, he couldn't help but glance at the honest-looking little boy standing as punishment on the stone table next to the man with the mole on his eyebrow.
Wearing a lotus crown, dressed in a dark Confucian robe, and holding a golden alms bowl and a white whisk, this little female Taoist priest, besides being incongruous, is most eye-catching because she is only the size of a palm.
Ouyang Rong had been secretly watching from the moment he entered the courtyard.
"Who is this little person... cough, not an insult, but this female Taoist priest is indeed quite petite..."
"A mere ink spirit, not very powerful."
Rong Zhen answered concisely and directly:
"I am certain because I was lucky enough to discover this little thing; it was a stroke of good fortune."
“It’s not just one, nor is it an Ink Spirit, it’s… it’s an Ink Fairy.” A weak voice came from the stone table next to the man with the mole on his eyebrow.
Never forget to stubbornly correct.
Ever since Ouyang Rong came in, she has kept her head down.
I don't look much, I don't say much, I don't know why.
However, Miao Si was timid by nature, with a clear sense of foolishness in her eyes, so Rong Zhen, the man with the mole on his eyebrow, and others didn't pay much attention to her.
"A spirit? Or a black spirit...?"
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but take another look.
Seeing the surprise and wonder in the eyes of this handsome chief clerk, who seemed to have never seen the world before, the man with the mole on his eyebrow chuckled.
Rongzhen looked up at the sky and decided not to delay any longer.
He turned and explained the general situation of Huang Xuan and Miao Si to Ouyang Rong, then, without giving him much time to process it, he said directly:
“Prefect Ouyang, you have a connection with Huang Xuan, as you have interacted before. She seems to trust you completely. It’s a good opportunity for you to accompany her so that she won’t be suspicious. This action will certainly not harm you.”
"good."
Ouyang Rong turned his head and smiled at Huang Xuan:
"It's been a long time. I regret that we parted ways at Xunyang Tower last time, but I'm also very grateful to you all."
The two of them, of course, knew what gratitude meant, and it was an unspoken understanding.
However, the little girl in the red coat did not reply to Ouyang Rong's gentle greeting. She silently turned her head away and did not look at him, her ears turning slightly red.
Knowing the young girl to be quiet and aloof, Ouyang Rong didn't interact with her much. Suddenly, he turned to her and asked:
"Is the method of investigation that Lady Historian mentioned truly harmless to her?"
"I guarantee it." The young woman in palace attire stood with her sleeves folded, nodding slightly.
Ouyang Rong looked relieved: "That's good."
"Does Chief Secretary Ouyang have any other questions?"
No, that's all.
Ouyang Rong glanced around at the courtyard, which was surrounded by Qi cultivators, smiled, and reiterated his stance:
"I have no further questions."
Miao Si, who was pretending to be an ostrich, couldn't help but raise her little head and glance at Ouyang Rong, who was chatting and laughing as if nothing was wrong.
Rongzhen nodded: "Okay, let's begin."
"However, Lady Historian hasn't yet revealed what the method is," Ouyang Rong asked with a smile.
Rong Zhen remained silent, standing with her hands clasped in a gesture of independence. She turned her head slightly and glanced at the eight Qi cultivators from the Imperial Observatory, led by the male and female officials with moles on their eyebrows.
"Yan Zhang, Lian Qing, let's begin."
The male historian with a mole on his eyebrow, known as "Yan Zhang," glanced at a handsome chief historian who had become an extra in the courtyard, and his expression was slightly displeased.
However, when Rong Zhen, who was subtly leading the group, looked over, he turned and followed the lady with the mole on her eyebrow named "Lian Qing" to lead the group into action.
Ouyang Rong looked around curiously and saw that they moved in perfect unison, taking out one strange item after another and arranging them in the small courtyard. Their movements and placement seemed to be quite deliberate.
This bustling scene made Ouyang Rong, Rong Zhen, and Huang Xuan, who were standing in the center of the courtyard, seem like idlers.
Huang Xuan looked around.
Seemingly noticing the worry in her eyes, Rong Zhen explained without turning her head:
"Setting up an array will not damage this courtyard, because once we find the culprit with your spiritual eyes, we will use the shifting stars to personally go and kill the thief, and we will not fight in your courtyard."
Huang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "That's good."
"Borrow eyes? How do you mean?" Ouyang Rong raised an eyebrow.
Rong Zhen extended an index finger from her sleeve and pointed it at Huang Xuan's eyes:
"This eye is rare. In Taoist secret texts it is called the Dharma Eye, in Buddhist scriptures it is called the Wisdom Eye, in Confucian classics it is called the Heavenly Eye, and we in the Imperial Observatory and most people on the mountain call it the 'Innocent Spiritual Eye'."
"The Innocent Eyes can see through illusions and phantoms. This little ink spirit should be the one she first discovered and rescued with these eyes, and fed with ink. It can be said that it is fate."
Ouyang Rong nodded slowly, chewed for a moment, and then asked:
"But she doesn't seem to have any Qi cultivation level, so how can we find her?"
"That's why we need to set up an array, using these 'innocent and spiritual eyes' as the array's core, and leveraging the little ink spirit's innate ability to sense literary energy as a medium."
"In addition, this piece of writing, 'Butterfly Loves Flowers,' written by this thief, is so magnificent that tracing its origins, we can pinpoint the location of this thief."
"Once this formation is successfully set up, as long as this thief remains within a hundred miles of this compound, that is, within Xunyang City, we will be able to control him."
"So even if he doesn't reveal any literary aura or other energy, and even if he uses some strange object like a bronze mask to conceal his aura or change his appearance, the activated 'Innocent Spiritual Eyes' will see through him and force him to reveal himself!"
Rong Zhen narrowed her eyes and uttered cold words, one by one.
Ouyang Rong's eyes widened slightly, and he gasped, "Wow, that's amazing."
Yan Zhang, who was setting up the formation on the side, curled his lip and looked at Ouyang Rong as if he were a country bumpkin:
"Heh, this is nothing. Let me tell you, the formation in this courtyard today never kills nameless people, but only sword wielders. It is one of the three secret formations of the Imperial Observatory... According to the records of the Imperial Observatory, this formation has successfully killed two sword wielders, with an impressive record."
Ouyang Rong chuckled and shook his head, his eyes suggesting disbelief, but he remained silent.
It seemed like they were being polite and didn't want to point it out.
"You don't believe me, do you?" Yan Zhang immediately questioned.
Ouyang Rong shrugged:
"Is it really that powerful? I've heard my junior sister talk about the swordsman's fearsome reputation. He's extremely powerful, especially with his Dingjian Divine Power, which makes him the most lethal."
"This boy is wicked and despicable, but he is by no means an ordinary person. He is quite strong and should not be underestimated."
"So go ahead and brag. What good is finding him this way? Besides, if he's far away, by the time you get there, he'll be long gone."
"You're just a frog in a well, yet you accuse others of bragging. You're such a lowly official, how laughable!"
Yan Zhang sneered, and as expected, pointed to his feet, saying arrogantly:
"Who says we can't get to him in an instant if we run there on foot?"
"Arrived in an instant?" Ouyang Rong asked suspiciously.
The man with the mole on his eyebrow suddenly fell silent, his eyes filled with disdain, but he just wouldn't say anything, a smirk playing on his lips.
"It's not teleportation." Rong Zhen shook his head, then nodded. "It's actually earth magic."
She pointed to a thin, curved, yellowish-brown root that the woman with the mole on her eyebrow, Lianqing, was carefully taking out of a gold box; it looked like an old tree root.
"This is the whisker of the Xuanhuang Earth Dragon. The Xuanhuang Earth Dragon is ranked among the five great ancient strange insects, along with the Tortoise Shell Longhorn Beetle and the Six-Winged Summer Cicada."
"Legend has it that those who consume the Xuanhuang Earth Dragon can gain the supernatural ability of earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of teleportation technique), and as long as the spiritual energy allows, they can travel underground indefinitely..."
"This is also a characteristic of the Xuanhuang Earth Dragon itself, which is why it is the rarest and most difficult to catch among the five great strange insects..."
Ouyang Rong interrupted, "Wait, aren't earthworms slippery creatures? How come they have whiskers?"
"Who says the Xuanhuang Earth Dragon can't have whiskers? You've seen them."
"Uh, I've seen ordinary ones, but I've never seen anything like the Xuanhuang type. Adding two words, it's really a dragon?"
Yan Zhang said coldly on Rong Zhen's behalf, "If you haven't seen it, then don't interrupt. Although rare insects are hard to find, the Imperial Observatory currently has two dragon whiskers. They were presented to us by a declining Yin-Yang family that had been passed down for three hundred years during the Northern and Southern Dynasties after His Majesty established the Zhou Dynasty at the beginning of the Holy Calendar. This is one of them."
"If it weren't for the fact that this unknown cauldron sword and its wielder involve the rebel Li Zhengyan and the front lines, and also threaten the Donglin Buddha, the Grand Master of Fate would not have approved the allocation of one of the swords out of the palace, because the two Xuanhuang Earth Dragon whiskers were previously kept by the Emperor in the palace..."
"With the help of this, we can teleport once within a hundred miles using earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic or teleportation technique). "
"We just need to pinpoint the thief's location, then we can go there immediately and arrest him on the spot."
"Arrested on the spot? That's impressive."
Ouyang Rong was somewhat astonished. He stroked his chin, lowered his head in thought for a moment, and then a look of worry appeared on his face.
"But what if we can't win after we get there? Although..."
He glanced at Rong Zhen:
"Although the ladies are all top-notch mid-level Qi cultivators, the other party may possess a peerless sword and a unique skill. What if they also have some other extraordinary technique? Could it be that it's just handed to them?"
Rongzhen took out a golden mask, wiping it with her sleeve as she lowered her eyes and said:
"Leaving aside whether his spiritual energy is sufficient, the reason why this formation can specifically kill the sword wielder and become the Astronomical Bureau's trump card to break the sword wielder system is because it uses the square face as another array eye to isolate the spiritual energy inside and outside."
"Isolating internal and external spiritual energy?"
"The swordsman needs spiritual energy to activate the cauldron sword and kill people with it. However, there is a spiritual energy vacuum within ten feet around this formation. Even if he has the cauldron sword, it cannot enter. If it dares to enter, it will lose its connection because the supply of spiritual energy will be cut off."
Ouyang Rong countered, "But when we use Earth Escape to get there, everyone is still in the formation, and aren't we also isolated from spiritual energy, unable to use our spiritual energy cultivation within ten feet?"
“That’s right, but there are many of us and he’s all alone. We can just draw our swords and kill him without using our spiritual energy.”
"Based on what I saw at Dagushan last time, the sword technique used by this thief should be the legendary sword technique of the 'Hanshi' sword from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, named Guiqulaixi."
"Coincidentally, this formation is also the best counter to this move. Of the two swordsmen I have killed, one of them had also used the 'Return to the Past' technique. If he dares to use the Ding Sword, I will make sure he never returns."
Ouyang Rong sighed, "That makes a lot of sense. None of us have any special talent; even two fists can't fight four hands."
Lianqing smiled and murmured:
"Once this formation is set up, the earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique used in astronomy) will move the enemy to within ten feet of him, and he can raise his hands and wait to die in peace. Soon, the third sword-wielder to die under this secret formation in the nearly one hundred years since the establishment of the Imperial Observatory will be born."
"Prefect Ouyang's timing is perfect; it is an honor to witness this today."
Ouyang Rong looked around and nodded solemnly:
"It's truly an honor. This intricate web is so thick that even earthworms passing by would be cleaved vertically."
"What honor or not? This is no child's play. He, a mere junior official, shouldn't go along; it would only cause trouble."
After Yan Zhang finished speaking coldly, Chao Rongzhen softened her tone and earnestly suggested:
"Rongzhen, have him send men to seal off the city gates and temporarily prevent pedestrians from entering or leaving. Also, have him lead the state troops to help capture the thieves."
"Can."
At this moment, the girl in the cold palace dress, who had been nodding, seemed to remember something, and a glint of cunning flashed in her eyes.
"You won't be able to escape this time..."
She raised her head slightly, narrowed her eyes, and gritted her teeth.
Ouyang Rong carefully looked around again, and sighed somewhat:
"This time it will definitely be a tough run."
Here it is!
(End of this chapter)
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