Chapter 12: Mohist Mystery City
Chu Yun and Li Ge left the land temple. It was already dawn, and the bewildered townspeople outside the mass grave had stumbled back home after a period of chaos. Most of them did not remember what happened last night, and just thought it was a nightmare. The crisis in Qingxi Town was temporarily resolved. The two did not return to the town, but took a detour to the official road outside the town. "Those children..." Chu Yun finally couldn't help but ask as they walked on the road. "The souls have returned to their places." Li Ge's answer was still calm, "When I rescued them, I used the Requiem to stabilize their souls. Now they just need to rest for a few days, and they will wake up as normal." Chu Yun paused. He did not expect Li Ge to be able to handle it so thoroughly under such circumstances. The slight doubt in his heart also dissipated. "And what about those comatose townspeople?" Chu Yun continued. "The curse marks on them..." "The source has been destroyed, and the curse will no longer drain their energy," Li Ge said. "The remaining power of the curse will keep them asleep for another day or two, and then it will dissipate on its own. They're not in danger of dying." Chu Yun breathed a sigh of relief. This meant they had resolved all of Qingxi Town's concerns and could immediately set out to uncover the truth. The two men stopped at a dilapidated pavilion beside the official road. After a night's journey and a fierce battle, even Chu Yun felt a hint of fatigue. He pulled out the tattered animal hide evil talisman and the intact black jade pendant from his bosom again. "Take another look at this," Chu Yun handed the evil talisman to Li Ge. Li Ge took it, but this time, instead of feeling it with her hands, she brought the paper close to her eyes, carefully examining the runes painted with an unknown pigment. "The structure of these runes is very strange." Li Ge frowned slightly. "It has both the 'talisman eye' used in Taoist talismans to draw the vital energy of heaven and earth, and the 'heart seal' used in Buddhist mantras to imprison the spirit. But what connects the two is something I have never seen before." She extended a pale finger and touched the connection between the runes. "Look here, and here. These lines look like brush strokes, but in fact, the energy flow within them is more like a...conduit." Chu Yun leaned forward and focused the newly restored strength in his body into his eyes. In an instant, the world in his eyes changed. He could see that the small piece of talisman paper was shrouded in a faint aura composed of various energies. Among them was the evil spirit...
Chu Yun and Li Ge left the Earth God Temple. Daybreak had already begun, and after a period of confusion, the bewildered townspeople outside the mass grave had stumbled back home. Most of them had no recollection of what had happened the previous night, believing it was simply a nightmare. The crisis in Qingxi Town had been temporarily resolved.
Instead of returning to the town, the two men took a detour and headed towards the official road outside the town.
"Those children..." Chu Yun finally couldn't help but ask while walking on the road.
"Their souls have returned to their places." Li Ge's answer was still calm. "When I rescued them, I used the Requiem to stabilize their souls. Now they just need to rest for a few days, and they will wake up as normal."
Chu Yun paused for a moment. He hadn't expected Li Ge to handle the situation so well. The slight doubt in his heart also dissipated.
"And what about those unconscious townspeople?" Chu Yun continued, "the curse marks on their bodies..."
"The source has been destroyed, and the curse will no longer absorb their energy." Li Ge said, "The remaining power of the curse will make them sleep for another day or two, and then it will dissipate on its own. There is no danger to their lives."
Chu Yun breathed a sigh of relief. This meant they had resolved all of Qingxi Town's worries and could immediately set out to uncover the truth.
The two men stopped at a dilapidated pavilion beside the official road. After a night of travel and a fierce battle, even Chu Yun felt a little tired. He once again pulled out the tattered animal hide evil talisman and the intact black jade pendant.
"Take another look at this." Chu Yun handed the evil talisman to Li Ge.
Li Ge took the evil talisman. This time she did not use her hands to feel it. Instead, she brought the talisman paper directly to her eyes and carefully observed the runes painted on it with unknown pigments.
"The structure of these runes is very strange." Li Ge frowned slightly. "It has both the 'talisman eye' used in Taoist talismans to draw the vital energy of heaven and earth, and the 'heart seal' used in Buddhist mantras to imprison the spirit. But what connects the two is something I have never seen before."
She extended a pale finger and touched the connection between the runes. "Look here, and here. These lines may look like strokes, but the way the energy flows within them is more like...conduits."
Chu Yun leaned forward, channeling the newly restored strength into his eyes. Instantly, the world before his eyes shifted. He could see a faint aura lingering around the small piece of talisman paper, composed of various energies. There was the cold resentment of the evil spirit, and the faint vitality of the talisman itself. But as Li Ge had said, beneath these two auras lay a third energy—a delicate chain of energy, composed of countless tiny, icy-glowing energy particles. These energy currents forcibly and perfectly linked all the different systems of power within the talisman.
"It's a mechanical device." Chu Yun said in a deep voice, stating his previous judgment.
"Are you sure?" A hint of surprise flashed in Li Ge's eyes.
"I'm sure." Chu Yun nodded. "There are sporadic records in the secret texts of the Evil Suppression Bureau. They say that the Mohist mechanical skills are not just the skills of ordinary craftsmen. Their most core inheritance is a method of arranging 'energy circuits'. They can use this method to forcibly 'assemble' any power from different sources and properties together, making them operate according to their will." He paused, his voice becoming a little dry. "It's like... assembling a machine."
For the first time, a truly solemn expression appeared on Li Ge's face. "If that's really the case..." she muttered to herself, "Then the person behind this is truly terrifying."
A person who is proficient in the core techniques of Taoism, Buddhism and Taoism, and has mastered the long-lost mechanical techniques of the Mohist school, no matter who this person is, his plans are definitely not just for a few small villages and towns.
Chu Yun remained silent. His gaze fell on the intact black jade pendant, which he turned over. On the back, besides the character "Chu," there was another half-circle of runes, smaller and more intricate, that he hadn't noticed before. These runes were identical in style to the evil talisman in his hand; they also… represented the Mohist energy circuit.
"This jade pendant..." Chu Yun's heart began to beat wildly again. "Why is my father's jade pendant related to the Mo family?"
"Perhaps, your father's investigation back then wasn't limited to the destruction of the Evil Suppression Division." Li Ge's gaze also fell on the jade pendant. "He might... have also found clues about the Mo Clan."
"My father..." Chu Yun's mind once again flashed back to his father's face, blackened by flames and thick smoke. He had always believed his father's death was simply due to his protection of the Evil Suppression Division and him. But now, he suddenly had a new, chilling suspicion—perhaps his father's death was more directly related to the jade pendant in his hand, and to this long-lost Mohist mechanical technique!
"No." Chu Yun suddenly thought of something. He stared at the dense energy circuits on the jade pendant and muttered to himself, "No, no..."
"What's wrong?" Li Ge asked.
"These energy circuits..." Chu Yun's voice was a little dazed, "Their structure is different from what I saw on that evil talisman just now."
"What's the difference?"
"The energy circuit on that evil talisman gives me a cold, lifeless feeling. It exists purely for 'utilization' and 'confinement,'" Chu Yun struggled to organize his words. "But the energy circuit on this jade pendant... although equally sophisticated and complex, it gives me a feeling of... gentleness, full of vitality, and exists for 'guidance' and 'protection.'"
He raised his head and looked at Li Ge, his eyes filled with great shock: "These are two... completely opposite Mohist mechanical techniques!"
Li Ge was also stunned. She obviously didn't expect things to take such a turn again.
"you mean……"
"I don't know." Chu Yun shook his head, his mind completely confused. "I only know rumors that the Mohist School was wiped out by the Suppression of Evils Division because their ideologies were at odds with those of the current dynasty. But my father's notes clearly state that the first generation of the Suppression of Evils Division and the first generation of Mohist masters were allies, sharing life and death." He paused, a slight tremor in his voice that he himself was not aware of. "Now, two completely opposite Mohist mechanical techniques have appeared... One represents destruction, the other represents protection. What exactly happened behind this?"
No one could answer his question. Both of them fell into a long silence. Outside the dilapidated pavilion, the occasional caravan passed by on the official road, bringing bursts of noise, but none of this had anything to do with them. They seemed to be completely separated from this normal world by an invisible barrier. After a long time, it was Li Ge who spoke first: "What else did your father's notes say?"
Her voice regained its composure.
"Not much." Chu Yun shook his head. "When I escaped thirteen years ago, I only managed to take a few fragments with me. Besides recording that the Evil Suppression Division and the Mohist School were once allies, it also mentioned one other thing."
"What's up?"
"It's said that the first generation of Mohist masters helped the first generation of the Evil Suppression Bureau to jointly create an item... 'The Artifact of Suppression'. It's said that this item is the key to suppressing a great ancient demon."
"The instrument of the way..." Li Ge repeated the name, as if thinking about something.
"But the note ends here." Chu Yun's voice was filled with resentment. "The rest of the story about the whereabouts of this item and why the Mo family turned against the Evil Suppression Division is completely gone."
Li Ge didn't say anything. She just looked at the jade pendant and evil talisman in Chu Yun's hand quietly. After a long while, she suddenly called his name: "Chu Yun."
"Um?"
"I think we know where to go." Li Ge said slowly.
Chu Yun raised his head and looked at her.
"Whether you want to find the source of the evil spell, solve the mystery of your father's death, or find out what happened to the Mo family back then..." Li Ge's eyes became extremely deep. "All the clues point to the same place."
Chu Yun's heart skipped a beat. He already knew what she was going to say.
"The one that was long abandoned in the legend..."
"The ancestral land of the Mohist school."
"The maze of mechanisms."
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