Chapter 245 - Patching Up The Formation
Chapter 245: Patching Up The Formation
When he heard those words, Jiang Shuxuan was taken aback. The corner of his lips turned downwards, though it was gone as soon as it appeared.
In regards to Gu Xiqiao’s whereabouts, he only pinpointed that she was in N City, but he didn’t know what she was up to. However, he didn’t have any intention of telling that to Yi Tong. Seeing that Yi Tong didn’t have anything else to report, he raised his hand to hang up the call, looking unusually calm.
“Hey, Boss! Wait a minute!” Yi Tong realized that Jiang Shuxuan was going to hang up for real, and he immediately collected himself. “Miss Cecily and Mr. Ying are gone.”
“Gone?” Jiang Shuxuan’s fingers halted, and his brows furrowed.
Yi Tong was slightly concerned as he continued, “We made an appointment to meet here, but I haven’t seen a hair of them until now.”
Jiang Shuxuan nodded, indicating that he understood, and hung up the video call.
Yi Bing hurried stepped forward to show him a message that he just received. “Boss, Miss Cecily has just sent a message asking for help. The signal isn’t strong, but we can probably pinpoint a location.”
Jiang Shuxuan gave a glance at it, and said lightly, “Send it to Yi Tong.”
“We’re not going to save her?” Yi Bing asked, his eyes wide.
“No.” Jiang Shuxun lowered his eyes, looking away and heading towards the top of the mountain.
Yi Bing almost choked on his saliva over the shock, and he mulled over Jiang Shuxuan’s words for a while, trying to decipher whether there was any hidden meaning behind it. Finally, he sent the coordinates to Yi Tong, and added: Yi Tong, don’t say that I didn’t remind you. If you get into trouble, go and find Miss Gu!
After receiving the coordinates from Yi Bing, he waved his hand in a wide arc, signaling to the big group that he was leading to head deeper into the mountain.
“Yi Tong, we’re not going to greet Miss Gu?” Jiu Tong said as he turned to look at the thin, slender figure.
Yi Tong didn’t reply, nor did he turn back. He fiddled a little with the compass in hand after about ten steps, before he replied, “No need, she knows we’re here.”
“She does?” Jiu Tong couldn’t help but turn his head again. “She seems to be concentrated on painting, and doesn’t seem like she noticed her surroundings, or us.”
“Are you nuts?” Yi Tong glanced at Jiu Tong, looking at him like he was the dumbest idiot in the world. “Miss Gu has such powerful mental strength, everything within ten miles of her wouldn’t escape her, and you still think she uses only her eyes to see us? Do you think she’s weak like a chicken, like you?”
Jiu Tong was silent after that, recalling how the cave had disappeared into thin air the other day. He shook his head, wiping the expression off his face, no longer feeling any doubt at Yi Tong’s words.
Three minutes later, he finally realized what the other had said about him. “… Are you trying to pick a fight with me, Yi Tong!”
Yi Tong: … This complete idiot!
***
“Sister Gu, those people are weird. They keep turning to look at you.” Shi Tou sat beside Jiji, staring hard at it while he spoke.
Gu Xiqiao raised her head, looking at him. “Those people?”
Shi Tou pointed to Yi Tong and the others who were leaving. “Those.”
“How can you see them?” Gu Xiqiao was surprised, Yi Tong and the others were at least two kilometers away from where they were seated, how could Shi Tou see them? Was his eyesight so great?
Shi Tou said slowly, “Jiji showed me.”
Gu Xiqiao lowered her head, seeing Jiji raise its mechanical hand, a display on its palm. This had been specially installed by Gu Xiqiao, and you could see the group of people leaving on the screen, being led by Yi Tong, as well as Jiu Tong, who kept turning to look back at Gu Xiqiao who was drawing.
Hearing Shi Tou’s words, Jiji glared with its mechanical eyes. “Don’t call me Jiji, call me Master System.”
Shi Tou: “Understood, Jiji.”
At this time, a middle-aged man holding a basket of vegetables saw them, and greeted, “Good morning, Miss Gu, Shi Tou, Master Jiji. Miss Gu, Manager Liu is looking everywhere for you.”
Jiji: “… !” I said don’t call me Jiji!
Jiji, who had been happily playing with Shi Tou suddenly stopped, turning to Gu Xiqiao and said, “Beauty Qiao, someone has touched your formation.”
Gu Xiqiao packed away her drawing things, and got up to head into the village. “Don’t bother, let’s go find Manager Liu.”
***
At the same time, Yi Tong had already reached the coordinates that he had received from Yi Bing. However, all he could see were trees in the deep mountain, and no sight of a single person.
“It should be here, according to this. Why is there no fluctuation of chi or anything?” He fiddled with the compass again, walking a circle, but there weren’t any clues to be found.
“Could it be that there’s an array?” Jiu Tong said. “San Tong, you’ve researched this matter, go and see if there’s anything that’s unusual around here!”
San Tong stared at the vast mountain forest ahead of them. After a long while, he reached out to pick up a stone from the ground, and threw it in a direction. The stone disappeared out of thin air, and his expression was surprised. “There’s an array here, for sure. But there’s no trace of it at all, and I’ve never seen this happen before!”
In regards to formations masters in the ancient martial arts world, the Baili family would definitely take the top spot. However, no matter how formidable they were, their formations still had traces that could be spotted, which can be seen through fluctuations of energies. He had never seen this kind of formation, where no fluctuation could be felt nor seen, as though it had been completely hidden!
If it was any other time, he would be enthusiastic and spend a lot of time studying it, however he had to resist the urge due to the situation on hand.
“I’ll ask Young Master Baili about it.” San Tong said, picking up his communicator to contact said person.
Baili Bin was a recognized formation genius in the ancient martial arts world, and San Tong admired him greatly.
Yi Tong saw San Tong’s solemn state, and knew that things weren’t that simple. Their small team had been established for so many years, and this was the first time he had seen such a look on San Tong’s face.
Baili Bin’s voice came through soon enough, and San Tong briefed him on the happenings.
“This formation composes of nine different formations linked together in a chain, each of them connected to the next one.” Baili Bin’s voice was grave. “I’ve read about it before in an ancient text, regarding how to hide all traces of a formation. This method is recorded in the ancient texts, and I’m guessing it’s a formation left behind by an ancient warrior. Don’t do anything rash, San Tong. Wait for me to come!”
Yi Tong looked at the disappearing trees in front of them, and he muttered under his breath, “… too late.”
They had already fallen into the trap.
The golden-haired Cecily was sitting on the ground, meditating. Her clothes and hair were in a mess, and when she saw Yi Tong, she got up immediately. Even though she had fallen into such a place, there was no fear on her face at all. “Was what Baili Bin said true?”
At the same time, Ying Xu and the others who were sitting a little way off also stood. He stared at Yi Tong for a long while, before opening his mouth, “Mr. Yi Tong, so you all have also fallen into the trap.”
Among the people in the formation group, apart from Ying Xu, their clothes and state had seen better days.
“Not out of your expectations, Young Master Ying.” Yi Tong nodded his head, then looked down at the communicator that had lost its signal.
“Mr. Yi Tong, the other communicators are useless in this place.” Cecily stored over, her red skirt swaying in motion with her hips. She took out her own communicator, handing it to him. “Only mine is able to contact the outside world, try and see if you’re able to get hold of Young Master Jiang.”
“As expected, the technology of America is good.” A flat-headed man beside Ying Xu remarked, looking at his own completely useless phone. “Any sort of communication device is useless in this place.”
Yi Tong glanced at the communicator in Cecily’s hands, and he asked, “Miss Cecily, this communicator was given to you by the elder, right?”
Cecily nodded. “Yes, it’s good.”
“Jiu Tong, get your communicator out,” Yi Tong said with a matter of fact expression.
Jiu Tong took out his treasured communicator and passed it to Yi Tong.
After taking it in his hands, he immediately gave a call to Yi Bing. The call went through immediately, and not only that, it was a video call that wasn’t affected in the slightest by the signal problem. “Oh Yi Bing, we’re all stuck in this d*mned place now!”
“Boss said find your own way out.” Yi Bing said sympathetically, before hanging up the call.
Cecily looked at the communicator in Yi Tong’s hands. “Your communicator is clearly better.”
“Of course, this is a product of Nine Heavens. Miss Cecily, the one in your hand is also one.” Yi Tong paused for a while, then continued, “But the R&D department of Nine Heavens produced only twenty units before feeling that it wasn’t worth their time, and went to continue their research on the virtual world instead. They stopped producing it after that.” He had never seen such a company before.
Cecily: “…”
Ying Xu looked up in a direction suddenly, and said, “It’s coming.”
“What’s coming?”
“A killing formation. This time it’s even stronger,” Ying Xu said, a serious expression on his face. “If we follow what Baili said, this is the ninth array since we came in, which is also the last. We might not make it through this.”
As soon as he said it, the faces of his subordinates and Cecily changed. They had been in this d*mned place for the entire night. The first formation had not affected them much, but there was a wave every two hours, and each one was more terrifying than the previous ones. If it wasn’t for Ying Xu’s guidance, they would have already been killed by the waves.
“Everyone, follow behind me!” Ying Xu suddenly shouted, retreating back quickly.
Yi Tong and the others quickly followed his instruction, following behind him tightly. A sea of fire suddenly appeared in the center of the area with heat surging in the air.
“Don’t get close to the fire! It’s a beast fire!” Yi Tong had seen Xixi breathe fire before, and whatever it hit, whether it was mountains or rocks, instantly became soot. The fire he was seeing now was similar to Xixi’s.
A sea of fire, turbulent winds, and even spatial cracks followed one after another.
Ying Xu looked at the space above the sea of fire that had the spatial crack, and it was still expanding. The aura it exuded felt as though it was swallowing them, and if anyone touched it, they would be shattered immediately!
“What do we do now, Mr. Ying?” Cecily and Yi Tong stood at his side, doing their best to hold back the heatwave.
The protection treasures that everyone else carried were taken out and used, their life depending on it. If now wasn’t the time to use it, then when would it be?
“Using heaven and earth as the medium, we can only… give up our life as sacrifice to the heavens,” Ying Xu said as he slowly approached the ever-expanding spatial crack.
***
“Miss Gu, the profit statements are all here. Do you want to have a look at it?” Manager Liu said respectfully, handing the report to Gu Xiqiao.
Gu Xiqiao took it, and just as she was halfway through it, she suddenly raised her head.
“What’s wrong, Miss Gu?” Manager Liu thought that something was wrong with the accounts, and he asked in a hurry.
“It’s nothing. I need to go out for a while, I’ll be back later at night.” Gu Xiqiao walked to the bathroom after saying that. The moment the door closed, her entire person vanished.
The next second, she appeared beside the spatial crack.
“Watch out!” Ying Xu was holding a dagger, blood flowing down his arm. When he saw the person appear, his eyes widened with surprise.
Yi Tong’s eyes widened when he saw who it was. “Miss Gu, hurry and dodge!” He was dead, he had cursed himself when he mentioned Miss Gu just now, and if something really did happen to her, Boss Jiang would definitely skin him and cut him to pieces! He’d even raise him from the dead to do it if he didn’t survive this!
But in the next moment, he took a breath of relief.
The person in the air stood calmly, her black hair flowing down her back like a waterfall, and a cold glint in her eyes. She raised her hand, the white slender contrasting against the dark, black cracks.
The scorching heat came wave after wave, but it didn’t seem to affect her at all.
Yi Tong and his team felt like they would never forget this scene. That slender hand grabbed the crack in the space, and closed it up with her bare hands. The crack that seemed to shatter everything it touched had no effect on her.
The method she used was simple and rough.
“Oh Yi Tong, I think I’m still not awake,” Jiu Tong said, his voice low.
Yi Tong took another deep breath. “That was more powerful.”
“Don’t be stunned there, hurry and go.” Gu Xiqiao pointed in the direction of the door, her voice indifferent.
San Tong tried, he really did try to hold it in, but in the end, he couldn’t. “Miss Gu, was this formation your work? If it is, it’s extremely terrifying!”
“It’s not.” Gu Xiqiao shook her head.
Hearing those words, San Tong breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could finish breathing though, Gu Xiqiao continued, “This was an incomplete formation left behind by an ancient warrior. I patched it up, and was using it to hold people in. I didn’t expect you guys to enter this place by mistake. Entering was one thing, but you didn’t even manage to get out either.”
There was a disappointed look on Gu Xiqiao’s face as she said this.
San Tong suddenly halted in his steps, his hands trembling to the point that he couldn’t get any words out of his mouth. What the flying f*ck, patching up an incomplete formation was even more terrifying, okay?!