At this moment, in the deepest part of the manor, a heavy bronze door slammed shut, completely isolating the outside world.
This was the underground labyrinth of Yuqing Villa, an ancient formation constructed three hundred years ago. White jade lamps were embedded in the stone walls, their cold light streaming down layer by layer, illuminating the enormous square chessboard in the center.
The chessboard is thirty feet square, and the ground is made of black and white jade stones in grid pattern, which is clearly the base map of a large game.
On top of each grid, there is a two-meter-high stone statue standing neatly: there is a white-haired old woman, a child who has not yet grown out of his childishness, and even handsome young men and women, with different expressions and lifelike.
Two hundred stone statues seal more than a thousand cat souls.
There was a faint smell of blood in the air, as if the cat souls were still crying softly in the dark.
Su Yao stood at the easternmost side of the chessboard, her eyelashes slightly drooping, her snow-white skirt dragging a silent shadow on the ground.
Two steps behind her, Li Wangchuan also stood, his dark suit well-tailored, shoulders straight, like a tranquil bamboo. Under the white jade lamplight, his features were clean and handsome, his noble aura even colder than the gloomy air.
Qiao Yingxiong stood with his hands behind his back, wearing the dark gold tail ring he always wore. His eyes slowly swept over the two men, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of his lips. "Director Su and Master Li, please, within one stick of incense, find the two cat souls with the Nine Yin and Seven Evil Fates hidden within these two hundred stone statues. No matter what means you use, the premise is..."
He paused, then lightly traced the air with his slender fingers: "No, it won't harm the cat spirit in the stone statue in the slightest."
After saying that, he pointed his fingertips, and a very short red incense stick lit up with a "pop", and the smoke was winding.
Time began to pass.
No one spoke first.
Liu Yuting and Su Ziyun both stood in the corner and did not disturb them.
Su Yao raised her eyes slightly, and countless abysses seemed to be reflected in her eyes. She slowly raised her hand and took out a copper hexagonal magic disk from the Nine Lotus Jade Bone Ring. In the center of the magic disk was a translucent obsidian.
"Soul-locking disk."
Her voice was very low, like a whisper.
The hexagonal magic disk shook lightly in her palm, and hundreds of extremely fine golden threads shot out from the air like spider silk, slowly spreading out on the chessboard... The golden threads intertwined, touching each stone statue precisely and silently, as if sorting out the chaotic soul breath for her.
Li Wangchuan stood on the west side without even looking at her.
He quietly took out a paper talisman sealed in a white jade box and gently shook it. The talisman floated in the air, and dozens of small, pale gold seal characters emerged from the paper, hanging in front of him like an unfolding talisman array.
"Pulse-finding Talisman."
His voice was lower than hers, but it revealed a clear and restrained power.
He raised his right hand, put two fingers together, and gently pointed at the air. The pale golden symbol instantly dispersed, transforming into countless tiny fragments of light that sank into the stone statues.
The yin energy around the chessboard seemed to be attracted by the two people's magic weapons, and a very slight fluctuation surged.
Su Yao lightly pressed the soul-locking plate with his fingertips, closed his eyes, and chanted a spell in a low voice.
The voice was extremely soft, so soft that it seemed as if he was just talking to himself, but each syllable carried an irresistible power.
"There is a reason for locking souls, and there are traces for observing fate. The Nine Yin and Seven Evils have appeared to me."
The obsidian in the center of the magic plate suddenly emitted a very dark green light.
In an instant, the souls of every stone statue on the chessboard vibrated for a moment like plucking strings. Countless soul threads emerged from the golden thread, some bright, some dark, some long, some short, revealing their respective destinies.
She opened her eyes and her cold gaze swept quickly across the chessboard.
[Three Yin and Two Evils...incompatible]
[Pure Yang Fate... does not match]
[The Five Yins and Five Evils... do not match]
Her mind was as cold as ice, without a trace of emotion.
Elsewhere, Li Wangchuan tilted his head slightly, the pale golden light casting a halo under his eyes. He looked like a gentle breeze at the end of a deep winter alley, even his breathing revealing a silent calmness.
With a slight movement of his fingertips, the meridians of each stone statue on the chessboard were revealed bit by bit by the meridian-finding talisman.
I saw thousands of cat souls struggling and floating in the stone statue, and I also saw that each ray of soul light was covered with dense marks of fate curses.
His eyes remained still as he whispered, "The fate of the Nine Yins and Seven Evils should have a soul pattern in the shape of a lotus, with nine layers of Yin light, seven evil spells, and a blue fire at the end. All others are false."
As she finished speaking, the pale golden talisman light and her golden thread intertwined in the air, but did not collide, as if they were each going their own way, yet in natural harmony.
One third of the incense in the center of the chessboard has burned out.
Su Yao's slender white fingertips brushed the edge of the Soul Locking Plate and said lightly, "Those who can see the lotus's dark light..."
Purple eyes raised slightly: "No."
Li Wangchuan slowly withdrew his fingertips, his eyes carefully scanning each stone statue. After a long moment, he nodded gently: "None."
Qiao Yingxiong raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at them.
Su Yao closed the Soul Locking Plate and said calmly, "Among the two hundred stone statues, there is no cat soul with the Nine Yin and Seven Evil Fates."
A strange silence fell around the chessboard.
She suddenly walked down from the chessboard, her long skirt dragging a white trail on the jade floor. Her steps were silent, but with a sense of certainty.
The smile on Qiao Yingxiong's lips froze for a moment.
Su Yao stopped in front of him, looked up, and the hint of coldness in her eyes was like a deep pool.
"The aura of the Nine Yin and Seven Evils fate is not on the chessboard, but on you."
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