Talisman Array
The day before going to Zuihualou.
As the sun set, Jiang Nian stood in front of the mansion and counted the clothes that the maids would bring and the things needed for relationship management.
Although it is a cult, it is still acceptable for the people in it to do some small things occasionally as long as they don't do anything out of line.
There is not much difference from the outside.
Jiang Nian lowered her head and put the toiletries into the wooden box one by one. Because she kept her head down, her neck felt a little sore.
I looked up and stretched my limbs, looking at this room where I had only lived for a few days, and suddenly I realized that time passed very quickly.
Starting from Pingzhou, he went to the sect to meet Miss Tao, then took the ferry to Chimen to meet Meng Zheng, and then went to Cang County to meet Commander Yu and Mr. Xi.
During this period, we also saw the library and storage room of Xiao Yingzhu's parents in the State Guest House.
…
I always feel tired during this period, as if I am living in an endless cycle without a day off.
I didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, I would have to say goodbye to Youguan Mansion and head to my last journey in Cang County.
Rubbing her sore neck, she sighed softly and finally looked at the last item on the table that had not been packed into the wooden box after all the supplies had been put away.
The sky outside the window gradually darkened, and the candlelight became brighter and brighter.
This book that had been with her all the way also temporarily ended its mission at this time.
...If you go to Zuihualou, you don’t need to bring this notebook with you.
If we are discovered by the enemy, it will be a waste.
Jiang Nian rubbed the wrinkled cover of the book with his fingertips for a while, and finally decided to give it to Xiao Yingzhu for safekeeping.
After her trip to Cangjun is over, she wants to keep this notebook as a souvenir.
Every line of words inside is proof of her coming.
There are no photos to archive here, but I can use this notebook to recall the past.
However, most of the records inside are clues from conversations. Even if they are not used in the future, Xiao Yingzhu is more likely to destroy it directly rather than return the notebook to her.
Thinking of this, Jiang Nian's mind emerged the indifferent and cold look on Xiao Yingzhu's face when she lowered her eyes to read the documents.
If he heard that she wanted to take the notebook back to Pingzhou and keep it in the Jiang family mansion where the security was not very good, he would probably look at her indifferently for a moment, and then say, "It's useless except giving the enemy a handle."
Then, with a faint smile, he stretched out his hand to her and asked her to hand over the notebook.
Then they threw the body into a fire that had started somewhere to destroy the evidence.
Then, she could only stand silently in the sea of fire which had turned into a sea of fire at some point in time, watching the book burn to ashes in the sea of fire and silently remembering it.
“…”
Jiang Nian sighed and stopped the images in his mind from inexplicably growing in a bizarre direction. He subconsciously flipped through the notebook that he had opened several times during conversations recently, and looked at the wooden box that was about to be closed.
After hesitating for a moment, she left the notebook on the desk.
After all, there is nowhere else to put it except here.
—
After closing the wooden box, I was struggling over whether to wait for Xizhen's reply inside or go and say goodbye to Qin Lan first, when there was a knock on the door.
The maid's muffled voice came from outside the room.
"My lady, the invitation from Xi Changshi has been delivered. He is currently waiting in the flower hall in the outer courtyard. He has been led to the nanmu chair on the west side of the door."
As luck would have it, just as I was hesitating, someone brought me a pillow.
Jiang Nian immediately put down the wooden box in his hand and turned around to reply, "Got it. Let the kitchen serve the rose shortbread first. I'll change my clothes and come over."
After listening to what Xiao Yingzhu said about the talisman formation yesterday, she went back to her room and wrote a letter, asking someone in the mansion to deliver it to Zhu Xizhen.
I didn’t expect Xizhen to come in person.
But before, he said that he would attend together... This visit should be to explain the next matters.
Jiang Nian picked up the ice silk gauze on the rack, and his fingertips brushed across the edge of the gold-woven scroll grass pattern. He glanced at his appearance in the dressing mirror and saw that his black hair was not messy and the collar of the plain gauze was neat. After he felt that there was nothing wrong, he opened the door and walked out.
—
On the way to the main hall, the maid who came to the courtyard with an envelope hurriedly saw Jiang Nian and hurriedly called her.
"Miss, there's a letter sealed with vermilion lacquer handed to me at the door. It's said to be about you."
Seeing the envelope in the maid's hand, Jiang Nian paused for a moment, then reached out to take it and thanked her.
I had previously told the servants that letters concerning her could be delivered directly to her room, so there was no need to go to the mailbox to pick them up.
The maid leading the way continued walking forward in silence.
With the help of the lanterns hanging outside the corridor, Jiang Nian could clearly see the handwriting on the envelope.
As expected, it was sent by Meng Zheng.
...But what will this explain?
This should have been discussed yesterday morning.
Jiang Nian put the letter away and then walked into the flower hall with the maid.
—
Xizhen had already been sitting inside. When she saw Jiang Nian coming out of the house, she smiled gently at her.
He changed his hairstyle again today.
Qingmo's hair cascaded down to her waist, not curled at all by the usual bunting. The back of her head was tied into a loose high ponytail with a silver thread inlaid with a jade ring.
The dark green color at the end of the eye is still bright.
"Miss Jiang."
Jiang Nian politely replied, "Master Xi... are you visiting today to discuss the matter of Zuihualou?"
Xizhen curved her eyebrows in pleasure and turned the warm porcelain cup in her hand slightly.
"Exactly."
"I wanted to tell you by letter, but I was worried that words wouldn't express my meaning, so I thought it would be better to tell you in person."
Jiang Nian stopped looking at Xizhen's outfit and sighed inwardly that she was indeed the most fashionable person she had ever met. Every time she dressed up, her eyes would light up.
It's really ahead of its time.
Coming to her senses, she sat down opposite Xizhen.
They have to set off for Zuihualou tomorrow morning. Even though the journey is not far, in order to avoid any mistakes along the way, Jiang Nian has agreed to set off one hour earlier than the previous time for the Huachao Meeting.
Then let's skip the formalities and get started.
"Well, that's good. I happen to have a set of blueprints for Zuihualou right here. Would you like to take a look at them first?"
Jiang Nian got the drawings from Lan. He thought that there was not enough time, so if he could meet Xi Zhen inside Zuihua Tower, he would give the drawings to him for review.
Now that we can meet, I'll take the opportunity to show him.
Xizhen seemed a little surprised at the blueprint that Jiang Nian had produced from nowhere, and even his light-colored pupils shrank slightly.
“Is this what it is now?”
Jiang Nian pushed the blueprint in front of him and replied, "Yes, I asked that soldier for it before."
Hearing the word "soldier", Xizhen's surprised expression suddenly became meaningful, and his eyebrows slightly curved.
"I see, then we have to thank him."
Why does this sentence sound weird?
Jiang Nian blinked, not thinking too much, and just nodded in agreement: "Yes, sir, let's take a look first."
He came to visit Youguan tonight mainly to tell her what the Wu Mi Zhongli Talisman Array was used for, where it was usually set up, and what role it played.
Now that he had a diagram of the interior of Zuihua Tower, even if the exact location of the talisman array was not drawn out, it would be convenient for Xizhen to make a guess.
Taking the drawing from the table, Xizhen lowered his eyes and looked at it for a while, then his gaze fell on the top pavilion.
"This side... turns out there's a compartment similar to a darkroom."
Following his words, Jiang Nian immediately glanced there: "Well, is there any problem here?"
“…”
Xizhen stayed there for a while, then closed his eyes, smiled slightly, and said with a helpless tone: "Nothing, just thinking about her... Life is pretty good."
?
Jiang Nian was stunned, thinking back to how she had been hiding from Meng Yao's spies, how she had been carefully talking to Meng Zheng to prevent him from guessing her identity, how she had been holding endless meetings day and night, and how she had been running around...
Xizhen watched Jiang Nian's expression change slightly several times, and then smiled very brightly: "Indeed, all you need to do is sit in the top pavilion and play chess."
Creek pillow:?
After a subtle silence, he curved his brows and smiled softly again. On his beautiful facial features, this smile was rare and pure, unlike before when it always carried a cold and icy aura.
"Miss Jiang is right. Then... let's take a look at this drawing."
There was a candlestick in the corner of the hall, and a small candle lamp was burning on the table. Even at night, it was still as bright as day.
Xizhen smiled and pointed at the corners on both sides of Zuihualou with her slender white fingertips.
"Their talisman formation should be set up here."
Jiang Nian looked at these two unremarkable places and asked in surprise, "Why are they here?"
These two sides are remote corners and few people go there usually.
But shouldn’t the talisman array be used to make it convenient for people to detect the aura and judge where the person is going?
Xizhen glanced at her, his eyes bent thoughtfully, and began to explain, "Miss Jiang may not know the specific usage of the talisman formation yet. I will explain it first."
Since he had no ink or pen, he just drew a circle on the drawing with his fingertips.
"Talisman arrays have different functions."
"Although they look similar, their specific functions should be determined by the talisman paper integrated into the talisman array."
He paused for a moment, then gave an example: "Miss Jiang, you should know that I found those people who were sacrificed by the goddess?"
It's an experimental subject.
I don’t know why… maybe it’s because she’s used to talking about experimental subjects, but everyone around her is led astray by her.
Jiang Nian gathered his suddenly scattered thoughts, nodded, and replied seriously, "Yeah."
Seeing that there was no problem, Xizhen continued, "The talisman formation at that time was the one left for the members of the Wu Mi Clan."
"You can understand it as... the powder you gave Qin at that time."
After he explained this, Jiang Nian immediately understood: "Is this a talisman array that only the people within the Wu Mi tribe know how to track?"
Xizhen nodded: "Yes."
"But besides the talisman array that leaves a signal for companions, there is another type, which is the talisman array for observers."
"If you go to Zuihualou, that's the Wumi clan's headquarters. The people inside will give you incense, and that incense is a signal for observers."
"As for the observers... you can understand them as monitoring whether you are doing anything, whether you have any intention of escaping, whether you are lazy, or whether you are violating the rules of the sect."
Jiang Nian responded thoughtfully.
They are probably the same kind of people who watch surveillance cameras in modern times.
Thinking about the function of this talisman array, Jiang Nian thought of another question: "Then these talisman arrays should leave traces when we walk through them, right?"
After all, there is no direct connection between incense and talisman arrays.
Xizhen looked at her for a while, then laughed leisurely.
"That's not the case. Miss Jiang doesn't have the analytical acumen to speculate on these tools."
He pointed at the two talisman arrays he had just pointed out.
"These two are the talisman arrays that the observer will use to monitor you."
"We only need these two to cover the entire Zuihua Building."
"?"
Jiang Nian was shocked for a moment, not quite understanding the principle behind it.
"This is……"
She paused for a moment, thinking of some inspiration to answer this question, and then continued:
"Could it be that when those incense were given to us... they left traces on the talisman formation?"
Xizhen propped up his wrist, tilted his head and looked at her thinking seriously, then chuckled slightly indulgently and said:
"Miss Jiang's guess is correct. But there's one thing she didn't expect..."
He shook his finger and said word by word, "The incense they gave to their servants was always different."
“Everyone is different.”
"So if someone disobeys and disappears inexplicably..."
Xizhen laughed happily, as if thinking of a fun game of cat and mouse: "Then all we need to do is search for traces of the incense in any random array in Zuihualou."
“…”
Jiang Nian frowned.
This would make hiding more difficult.
She would then need to think of a suitable identity to enter the top pavilion where the goddess was.
Xizhen watched her frown in thought, with a serious look on her face, tapping her fingertips lightly on the table.
"Let me think..."
"Does your maid's uniform have a place to store things?"
Jiang Nian paused for a moment, realizing that his reaction seemed a bit obvious, and then he smiled helplessly and said, "How come Xi Changshi even knows this?"
Xizhen curled her eyes and gently shook her slender fingers again, and the ends of her long hair that fell from her shoulders to her waist also swayed.
"Miss Jiang, you forgot that Xiao, Qin, and I are from the same side."
"It's just that it's with Crane now for a special reason."
“!”
Too.
Things have been piling up these days, and every time she saw Xi Zhen, she was walking side by side with Yu He. She almost forgot that Xi Zhen was Xiao Yingzhu's subordinate.
The conversation, which had strayed slightly from the topic, stopped here, and Xizhen raised her hand slightly to signal Jiang Nian.
"Could you please ask the servant outside to bring me some paper and pen?"
Meeting Jiang Nian's questioning gaze, Xi Zhen smiled and explained, "This humble official has his own uses."
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