Yang Yitian said, "Let's try a different question. Ask him, why is it so deserted at night?"
Qi Zhiheng: "...Isn't it normal that no one's around at night?" he said uncertainly.
Yang Yitian: "It's normal to have few people, but it's a bit much that there's no one except the night watchman."
Qi Zhiheng nodded and went back to continue Wen Xiaoer's question: "Why do no people in your city go out at night?"
The waiter replied as if he had received a command: "There are evil spirits in the village that will attack the city at night."
Qi Zhiheng continued his question-and-answer session with the other party: "If there really are evil spirits, then hiding inside the house won't help."
Waiter: "With the protection of immortals, evil spirits cannot enter the house."
Yang Yitian and Qi Zhiheng exchanged a glance.
Yang Yitian asked, "Did you sense any traces of evil spirits last night?"
After Qi Zhiheng finished, he used his soul power to completely cover the entire city and investigate it. He immediately replied, "There is no trace of a soul. Either the people in the city have exaggerated the truth because of some dubious things, or the so-called evil spirits know that we two are a great threat, so they have hidden themselves."
He continued to ask the waiter, "When did the evil spirits you mentioned begin to exist?"
Six months ago.
"Six months ago?" Qi Zhiheng thought to himself, perhaps this evil spirit is related to Yang Yitian. Yang Yitian sensed something unusual a few months ago, which may be related to this incident.
Half a year is indeed a long time for an average person with an average age of sixty. That's why when he asked about the recent situation, the other person felt that what happened in the past six months was not "recent".
Under Qi Zhiheng's control, Xiao Er clearly explained the ins and outs of these events.
Several years ago, a mass shooting occurred in the city. More than 10,000 people died in that incident.
It was an unexpected disaster. In this small town of mortals, due to the scarcity of spiritual energy, even cultivators at the Qi Refining stage would disdain to land here.
It was in this very city that, a year ago, two immortals fought in the sky. A fireball descended from the heavens, smashing a corner of the city to pieces, affecting an area that comprised 30% of the entire city. The attack resulted in the deaths of over 10,000 residents, while the enemy's forces numbered 30,000.
The city lord spoke, saying that the city's residents had angered the immortals by showing them insufficient respect, which had brought about this great calamity.
Upon hearing this, Qi Zhiheng guessed that this was probably why the residents were so panicked about the arrival of cultivators.
The city lord's explanation was easy to guess. The city was full of ordinary people, and the city lord was helpless against such an undeserved disaster. However, he could not take the blame himself either, so he could only use the residents' disrespect for the immortals as an excuse to completely shirk his responsibility.
After the city was destroyed, the two immortals left, leaving behind a mess. The dead had nowhere to turn and could only let the matter pass.
Qi Zhiheng frowned and said to Yang Yitian, "These two cultivators are a bit strange."
"What's so strange?" Yang Yitian knew the power of cultivators; killing an entire city's inhabitants wouldn't be difficult for them.
Qi Zhiheng said, "Killing ordinary people will incur karma, which is not conducive to cultivation. In severe cases, one may be directly struck into ashes during the tribulation."
Yang Yitian slapped his forehead, realizing he had almost forgotten the rules of the cultivation world.
"So the fact that these two would start fighting without caring about the mortals below is not in line with the behavior of cultivators." Qi Zhiheng had a guess: "Those two might be demonic cultivators."
However, they had no objections to any further discussion about the two monks who had already left.
After that, the city was rebuilt, and the matter seemed to have passed.
From what Qi Zhiheng saw of the city yesterday, everything seemed to have returned to normal.
But the truth is not so. Half a year ago, ghost stories began to appear in the city.
Some people encountered people who died in that accident in the middle of the night, and there was more than one! Some even heard knocking on the door in the middle of the night.
These ghosts will knock on the door, but they cannot enter unless the door is opened.
After that incident, the people in the city stopped venturing out at night. Staying home saved them a lot of trouble, and no more strange occurrences happened afterward.
After clarifying the matter, Qi Zhiheng dismissed the waiter.
The waiter, having completely forgotten what had just happened, said goodbye and left carrying two empty buckets.
After discussing it, Qi Zhiheng and Yang Yitian decided to go out again that night to see if anything had happened.
So when night fell, neither of them went back inside.
As night fell, the owner of the wonton shop was packing up when he saw that Qi Zhiheng and Yang Yitian had not yet returned. He kindly reminded them, "Young masters, it's getting dark. It's not safe to be out at night."
"Thanks for the reminder, boss. We'll head back now," Yang Yitian said, pulling Qi Zhiheng toward the end of the street.
go back?
Going back is out of the question. Yang Yitian is planning to start his nightlife with his Daoist partner, so how could he possibly go back?
The two wandered aimlessly through the city as the streetlights gradually went out.
The two walked for an hour but couldn't find anything unusual.
"Should we try summoning the spirit?" Yang Yitian kicked a small pebble at his feet, somewhat bored.
Qi Zhiheng said, "I didn't sense any trace of the soul remaining, so summoning the soul might not be effective."
"So we're just going to leave it like this? We've been walking around without finding any clues." Yang Yitian was even considering giving up. Why did he come to this godforsaken place? Even if he missed an opportunity, he could still break through smoothly. He didn't know what had gotten into him that made him want to come and investigate.
Qi Zhiheng could see his irritability and comforted him, "Anyway, there's nothing else to do. Find something to do to pass the time."
Sometimes Qi Zhiheng felt that Yang Yitian's patience was too short and he really couldn't understand how someone like Yang Yitian could cultivate so smoothly.
Upon hearing Qi Zhiheng's words, Yang Yitian laughed and said, "Perhaps I am the adopted son of the Heavenly Dao." In truth, he was quite surprised by his smooth progress in cultivation, but he was also quite pleased with himself for it.
Yang Yitian didn't stop kicking; he kicked another small stone, which flew in an arc and hit a stone tablet with a "thud".
Qi Zhiheng's ears twitched, and he looked at the stone tablet: "The sound is not right."
Yang Yitian followed his gaze and saw an ordinary stone tablet next to a dilapidated house.
"What kind of stone tablet is this?" Yang Yitian walked over, squatted down in front of the stone tablet and looked at it. There were patterns drawn on it, but they were meaningless.
However, erecting such a meaningless stone tablet in front of a house is inherently illogical.
Yang Yitian tapped it with his finger and looked at Qi Zhiheng, saying, "It seems to be hollow inside."
Qi Zhiheng also walked over and squatted down: "Want to open it and take a look?" He gathered his strength in his hand, preparing to take action.
Yang Yitian quickly stopped him, saying, "Wait a minute! There's something on this ten-fold thing."
"What?" Qi Zhiheng examined the stone tablet carefully but couldn't figure it out.
“There are array patterns on it.” Yang Yitian explained, “The array patterns were not drawn with materials that had obvious colors, so they were overlooked before.”
"What do the array patterns on the stone tablet mean?" Qi Zhiheng had to admit that he really knew nothing about talismans and arrays.
Yang Yitian explained, "This seems to be only a part." He stood up and looked at the surrounding terrain and layout to deduce possible formations.
Qi Zhiheng stood aside, watching Yang Yitian's actions.
Yang Yitian: "This should be part of the Soul Imprisoning Formation." He walked to a rock not far away, moved the rock aside, and began to dig at that spot. He dug down nearly a meter before unearthing a wooden box.
"There really is something there." Qi Zhiheng was already thinking about whether he should go back and force himself to learn some knowledge about formations and talismans, otherwise he would be completely clueless if he encountered this situation alone in the future.
Yang Yitian wanted to open the wooden box, but he didn't know how. He complained, "Holy crap! This wooden box actually has a password?" Password is another way of saying it, but it's similar in meaning.
"Can't open it?" Qi Zhiheng took the wooden box, but the runes-like markings on it made him give up...
I've confirmed that the box is one I can't open myself.
Yang Yitian snatched the wooden box back and looked at it over and over again, saying, "It's not that it can't be opened, it just takes a little time."
"Is this the thing you sensed?" Qi Zhiheng thought to himself. If this matter were to end like this, then the incident would have taken quite a short time.
Yang Yitian shook his head and said, "It's not that simple. This is just something I saw by chance, and it may not be related to what I sensed."
Qi Zhiheng really didn't know what to say. After all this time, it seems that these two things might not be related?
Yang Yitian, carrying the box, walked back to the original stone tablet and said, "This might be something more than just an array. However, it might contain treasure, otherwise the other party wouldn't have locked it in a wooden box."
It's something used for setting up formations, but we don't know what's inside.
After thinking for a while, Yang Yitian put the wooden box away, then used his spiritual power to smash the stone tablet with the array patterns on it.
I knew from the sound that it was hollow inside. After smashing it open, I found a hollow interior with a wooden box that was half the size of the previous one.
Yang Yitian picked up the wooden box and muttered, "Another one that requires a password. Troublesome!"
"If I open it and the contents aren't good, I'll be at a huge loss." Yang Yitian put the wooden box away without any hesitation.
"Is this only part? Are there more?" Qi Zhiheng knew that to form a large formation, there shouldn't be only these two locations where things were hidden.
Yang Yitian did not deny it; "The formation here is quite large, it may encompass the entire city."
He thought of these treasures that served as his trump card and felt a surge of excitement, planning to go treasure hunting.
Even if he didn't find the reason that had drawn him here, the trip wouldn't have been in vain. Although cracking the code seemed somewhat difficult, it was only a matter of time; he was confident in his abilities.
The two then went to other locations that Yang Yitian had calculated. Looking at the incomplete array patterns, he could only deduce some locations that he didn't know were real or fake, since he couldn't be sure what kind of array the other party didn't know.
The stone tablet clearly indicates that it is a Soul-Binding Array, but he is unsure whether the array has been altered. Moreover, the Soul-Binding Array is only a small part of it; it could be a more complex array.
He could only deduce it from the simple formations first.
After Yang Yitian deduced a formation, he dragged Qi Zhiheng to the calculated location to search for it, but unfortunately the location was wrong, so he could only continue with the second deduction.
Yang Yitian listed a total of twenty-seven formations. Each formation had more than one supporting position. Fortunately, it was not necessary to check them one by one. Generally, if it was confirmed that three supporting positions of a formation were wrong, then the formation was considered wrong.
After making several trips, Yang Yitian eliminated several formations.
After arriving at the location of the eighth array, Yang Yitian couldn't help but curse: "Damn it! The guy who set up this array is too cunning! He actually set up a fake array to deceive people!"
Yang Yitian watched as Qi Zhiheng crushed a wooden box that looked similar to the one they had found before.
It was crushed so easily, so it's highly likely that it was a fake support position.
Qi Zhiheng used his soul power to see the broken wooden box wrapped around it and frowned, saying, "The situation is not good. There is the other party's soul power mark on this box. I'm afraid this place has been targeted."
Yang Yitian was a little confused: "What? Even a trash can has an owner?"
“I suspect there are soul power imprints on other boxes as well, but those imprints are inside the boxes, which is why you couldn’t notice them.” Qi Zhiheng threw the rotten box back into the pit.
The other party will likely create a false impression and delay them, and the owner of the box will probably arrive soon.
Upon learning that the other party might come, Yang Yitian exclaimed excitedly, "That's perfect! I was just afraid he wouldn't come. If he does, he can help me open the wooden box."
Looking at Yang Yitian's enthusiastic expression, Qi Zhiheng really didn't know whether to say that it was good that he was carefree. What if the other party was in the Nascent Soul stage?
Well, he has no fear even of cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage!
Thinking this, Yang Yitian pulled him toward the next predicted location: "Let's hurry and find the other wooden boxes. When that person arrives, we can ask him to help me open them."
Qi Zhiheng said, "Then why didn't you wait for them to arrive so we could dig the wooden box out together?"
Yang Yitian said, "Who knows if there are other tricks in his formation? What if he has set up a Blood Sacrifice here? Wouldn't I be buried with the entire city if I stayed in his formation? Of course, we should break his formation as soon as possible, and then catch him off guard when he comes over! We can also make him open the box for us!"
Qi Zhiheng: "..." Okay! The box is still the most important!
Yang Yitian followed Qi Zhiheng and quickly destroyed one array eye after another, regardless of whether they were real or fake.
Before they knew it, half of the place Yang Yitian had designated had been demolished.
Just then, the three men arrived. The sound of the night watchman striking the gong came from afar.
Hearing this sound, Yang Yitian's heart started pounding again, and his blood seemed to flow several times faster!
It's quite unusual for him to experience such accelerated blood flow, especially since he wasn't injured.
"It's started again?" Qi Zhiheng knew what Yang Yitian had experienced last night and was also aware that something might have changed.
"Do you think there might really be ghosts?" Yang Yitian took out a talisman and said, "Isn't midnight a time when yin energy is strongest?"
The talisman in his hand was activated and dissipated in the air. Apart from his heartbeat quickening, nothing else happened to Yang Yitian.
"Could I have guessed wrong?" Yang Yitian spun around in place. He had just used a soul-summoning talisman. If there were really wandering ghosts around, at least one or two should have been attracted over.
Qi Zhiheng reached out and smoothed the wrinkles on Yang Yitian's brow: "Your guess might be right. The strangest thing about this city is that there are no souls in it."
Logically, in any city, there would be some people who were unwilling to accept their death. Some might stay because of hatred, others because of injustice, and so on. But in this city, not a single ghost could be found, which is the strangest thing.
Something flashed through Qi Zhiheng's mind! He quickly grasped it, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "The cultivators above the city last time, could they be demonic cultivators?"
"You mean... the disappearance of the remnant souls here is related to that demonic cultivator?" Yang Yitian seemed to have thought of something as well. Indeed! Demonic cultivators like to use human souls to cultivate and refine demonic artifacts. He had never come into contact with demonic cultivators, but in stories about demonic cultivators, there were many mentions of demonic artifacts like the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner! These artifacts required the collection of a large number of dead souls.
He excitedly shared his thoughts with his Daoist partner.
Qi Zhiheng was somewhat embarrassed to refute him, but he was still afraid of misleading him, so he said tactfully, "Most of what's written in storybooks is just overly imaginative." This meant that Yang Yitian shouldn't believe too much in storybooks. Many of the contents might seem exciting, but if applied to cultivation, they could really kill him!
Upon hearing Yang Yitian's words, Qi Zhiheng began to worry about his son. Erbao was utterly obsessed with those storybooks; if he were to cultivate immortality in the future and follow their example, he might suffer a cultivation deviation!
The two discussed the matter of demonic cultivators while digging out the hidden wooden box, and time passed by unnoticed.
As dawn approached, Yang Yitian yawned: "Looks like they're a bit far from here. It's been almost all night, and they still haven't arrived."
They have now dug out many of the locations he calculated, and most of the formations have been destroyed by him. He has also deduced a possible correct location from them.
Looking at the crowd gradually appearing on the street, Yang Yitian said to Qi Zhiheng, "There really is a Soul-Binding Array here."
"I guess so too," Qi Zhiheng said calmly.
"Shall we go and see where those souls are imprisoned?" Yang Yitian suggested.
Qi Zhiheng asked, "Have you dug up all your wooden boxes?"
"Not yet, but we should be able to dig up quite a few along the way. Let's go take a look." Yang Yitian felt that he had already come this far, and he wouldn't be satisfied without seeing the final destination.
Moreover, he had a premonition that something related to him might be imprisoned within that Soul-Binding Array.
When Qi Zhiheng thought about things related to the soul, his thoughts inevitably wandered, and he would always connect these remnant souls with Yang Yitian's missing divine soul.
The two headed towards the imprisonment location of the Soul-Binding Array, digging at the wooden box as they went. An hour later, they arrived at the location where the Soul-Binding Array imprisoned the souls.
This place was very familiar; it was the very spot where they had found the stone tablet.
Next to the stone tablet was a dilapidated house, and this house was the perfect place for souls to be imprisoned!
Qi Zhiheng said in surprise, "I didn't expect that something so far away would be so close at hand." He hadn't even noticed the existence or anything unusual about these souls while he was right next to the Soul Imprisoning Array.
Yang Yitian raised his chin: "Shall we go in and take a look?"
"How powerful is this Soul-Binding Array? Will you suffer any damage if you go in?" Qi Zhiheng remembered that Yang Yitian's soul was not stable at the moment, and there was a risk of accidents if he rashly entered the Soul-Binding Array.
Yang Yitian took out two talismans and stuck them on his body: "Alright! I'm fine now that I've used them." One of the talismans was to prevent his soul from being harmed by those spirits. Back in the Ten Thousand Souls Forest, his soul had been injured by a remnant spirit, so he couldn't be careless this time.
The other one is to isolate the formation from harming him, making the formation temporarily ineffective against him.
As for the Soul-Binding Array here, he cannot break it directly. No one knows what the remnant souls inside are like. Perhaps they have already been controlled by demonic cultivators. If the array is opened, the remnant souls might escape and harm innocent people, which would be bad.
Qi Zhiheng cast a small spell to make the people around him who had already started walking ignore him and Yang Yitian. Then, led by Yang Yitian, they walked through several twists and turns on the floor before finally pushing open the door that had not been opened for a long time.
The courtyard inside was overgrown with weeds. Yang Yitian closed the gate of the mansion and began to survey the surroundings.
This is a two-courtyard house, and the area it occupies is not too small. Even if it were to be sold, it could fetch some money. It's just that I don't know what the original owner's mentality was, that he actually let the house fall into disrepair.
The two walked inside. Yang Yitian's goal was very clear. He led Qi Zhiheng directly into a small courtyard. Standing outside the courtyard, his heart was beating even faster.
After mentally preparing themselves, the two went inside!
The scene here looks no different from the outside, but that's only in the eyes of ordinary people.
What Qi Zhiheng and Yang Yitian saw was a group of souls tearing each other apart...
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