He was right. This arrangement was unscientific. All magical formations should follow certain rules and orientations, absorbing spiritual energy to harness the power of location and timing. It wasn’t about having more patterns making it stronger. This looked like pure nonsense.
Surprisingly, Luo Yingbai softly said, “It can work.”
Wei Shou was astonished and was about to continue observing when Luo Yingbai added, “This formation method is something I found. Normally, it wouldn’t work, but it can be effective only in places with particularly abundant living or dead energy.”
He muttered to himself, “I once taught someone…”
Wei Shou was stunned, suddenly recalling a name, and immediately fell silent, wishing he hadn’t spoken.
Peng Xuan, the person Luo Yingbai mentioned, could only be him. Although Luo Zhiao had already warned them before, seeing Peng Xuan’s handiwork in this situation was still deeply unsettling.
Even now, Wei Shou couldn’t understand why Peng Xuan would betray his sect, attacking his master and senior brother. Not just him, he believed Xia Xianning, and even Luo Yingbai himself, didn’t understand.
The aftermath of that year’s incident had hit Luo Yingbai the hardest. His father and fellow disciples knew his personality was soft on the outside but tough inside. He seemed carefree, but actually preferred to keep things to himself. They wouldn’t ask about his injuries but would secretly monitor his condition. The old events were rarely mentioned in front of him, but Wei Shou knew many clues had already been investigated.
The mastermind Ge Panming had been pursued and hunted down after his rebellion and always viewed the entire geomancy world as his enemy.
Since he was clearly not a good person, his motives for harming others were irrelevant.
Rumors suggested that despite his ruthlessness, Ge Panming was eloquent and beautiful, a charismatic individual. Wei Shou remembered that after Luo Yingbai left, Xia Xianning had mentioned to Luo Zhiao that during his investigation, he discovered another expelled disciple, Zhu Caiwei, had been frequently and intimately associating with a man whose appearance closely resembled Ge Panming.
So Zhu Caiwei’s collaboration with Ge Panming to harm Luo Yingbai could be explained, but Peng Xuan’s subsequent deliberate attempt to kill Luo Yingbai remained incomprehensible.
With many disciples and limited teaching time, the master would often have Luo Yingbai and Xia Xianning, who entered earlier, help with instruction. Xia Xianning was serious and taciturn, making many junior disciples afraid of him. So when encountering difficulties, most preferred to seek Luo Yingbai’s guidance.
Peng Xuan came from a poor background. At fourteen, after losing his parents to malevolent spirits, he joined the Changliu Sect for revenge.
Wei Shou remembered clearly that it was Luo Yingbai who took off his outer coat and gave it to Peng Xuan. From childhood, Peng Xuan had been particularly fond of following Luo Yingbai and had benefited greatly from his guidance.
So why would he harm Luo Yingbai? It seemed inconceivable.
But now wasn’t the time to reminisce. Since Luo Yingbai confirmed the formation was related to Peng Xuan, they might finally trace his whereabouts—it had been a year!
Luo Yingbai seemed to share Wei Shou’s thoughts, but whether due to his eagerness for revenge or the sight of the formation, he moved closer and touched a carved sword on the coffin with his finger.
Wei Shou was startled, quickly grabbing Luo Yingbai’s shoulder and pulling him back, shouting, “Senior brother, be careful!”
Fortunately, besides him, there was Xia Xianning, who always kept half his attention on Luo Yingbai. He set up a barrier when he heard Wei Shou’s cry. He saw the formation erupt, with clusters of black qi rushing towards Luo Yingbai!
Xia Xianning reacted quickly. While turning, he raised his hand to cast a spell. The sword was like lightning, sweeping across the sky, instantly dispersing the black mist.
As the long sword fell, Xia Xianning had already arrived.
He gripped the sword and turned back to pull Luo Yingbai, asking, “Are you okay?”
Luo Yingbai gave a bitter smile, “I’m fine… I’m sorry, I was really muddleheaded just now.”
Xia Xianning kept hold of him and looked at Wei Shou, who quickly said, “I’m fine too.”
After speaking, he looked at Luo Yingbai and hesitated before quietly saying, “Senior brother said… this formation should be from Master Peng… from Peng Xuan.”
Xia Xianning was stunned, and then his expression changed. This was the first time Wei Shou had seen such a clear look of hatred in his senior brother’s eyes. All along, Xia Xianning had always seemed emotionless and impartial, with no personal preferences except for being particularly close to Luo Yingbai.
But at this moment, the Xia Xianning gripping the sword hilt with bulging veins was almost unrecognizable to Wei Shou.
“Peng Xuan,” Xia Xianning’s tone didn’t change, but it seemed like each word was ground out from between his teeth, “Very good, very nice. I’ve long wanted to meet him.”
“
Though the words sounded harsh, something caught in his throat after speaking.
Xia Xianning closed his eyes and gently patted Luo Yingbai’s back, softly saying, “Senior brother, it’s okay, don’t worry.”
The initial surge of emotion upon seeing an enemy had somewhat subsided. Luo Yingbai noticed that Xia Xianning seemed even more agitated than himself and called out in surprise, “Xianning…”
Xia Xianning responded and kept holding his hand gently, while his other hand stretched out, summoning the long sword. The sword’s brilliance erupted three zhang high, silver and dazzling, cutting down towards the coffin!
The wind rose sharply, everything desolate. This sword was named “West Land Extending Wilderness”, its spirit like an autumn day – bleak, sorrowful, and murderous, perfectly matching Xia Xianning’s current state of mind.
The sword struck, emotion reaching its peak, with unmatched grief and anger directly targeting the formation’s heart. Complex patterns instantly shattered, and the surroundings exploded, breaking the formation.
As the formation broke, everyone felt their bodies lighten, the oppressive force around them disappearing. Simultaneously, whatever was in the coffin could no longer be contained. With High Xiang’s horrified scream, the coffin lid exploded, and something jumped out.
Xia Xianning didn’t even look, immediately throwing his sword to pin the thing to the ground, causing cracks to spread around the surface.”
The surroundings fell silent. No one from the special investigation team dared to speak to Xia Xianning. Gou Songze quietly patted Luo Yingbai.
Luo Yingbai said, “Xianning.”
Xia Xianning turned to look at him and after a moment, responded with an “Mm”, which made many people breathe a sigh of relief.
At that moment, a strange sound suddenly came from somewhere, continuously ringing, almost drowning out Luo Yingbai’s voice.
He stopped talking abruptly, and everyone looked at each other in confusion. After a moment of silence, someone from the special investigation team tremblingly said, “That sound… seems to be coming from under the coffin.”
Xia Xianning and Luo Yingbai’s gazes simultaneously fell on the incomplete coffin board, discovering that it was indeed slightly shaking.
Someone couldn’t help but cry out, then quickly covered their mouth. The most terrifying thing in the world is the unknown. If there were truly ghosts at work, with so many people present, their magical artifacts should have warned them in advance, yet now there was no reaction from anyone.
Chapter 99: The Inside Story of a Ghost Marriage
Moreover, the coffin had been lying there for a long time.
