Chapter 74
Chapter 74
Xie Qingling pretended to drink a bowl of soup, using it to hide the corners of her mouth curling upward.
Oh my God.
Could she really be this lucky?
She did not have to write a self-criticism.
This was wonderful.
No one else at the table spoke. They merely ate in silence.
The festivities carried on until noon, when Xie Qingling and the others gathered in the bridal chamber for a meeting.
By then, Shen Huaizhou and Dai Xingyu had also slipped out of the woodshed.
When the guards saw them so blatantly plotting something, they feared the group meant to sabotage the ritual and tried to intervene. Shen Huaizhou sent them on their way with a single use of Flowers in a Mirror, Moon on the Water.
“Xie Qingling, you go first,” Ling Fang said. “You’ve been in the village this whole time, so the information you have is broader and more complete than mine. You’re in charge of this operation.”
Everyone from the Department froze at his words, Xie Qingling included.
Was this really the same Director Ling who was cautious to a fault, who refused to tolerate the slightest mistake and could always find some flaw to make them write a self-criticism over?
Putting Xie Qingling in charge – did he want all of them to throw caution to the wind?
Yu Wei glanced at Ling Fang’s expressionless face. “Director, isn’t this against protocol? Little Xie is still a rookie. Putting her in command is too risky. If something goes wrong, it isn’t a responsibility she can bear.”
Xie Qingling also looked at Ling Fang without speaking.
“Isn’t this already risky enough?” Ling Fang’s voice was calm, betraying neither joy nor anger. “Since we chose to charge in headfirst, we may as well see it through. Xie Qingling has led this operation from the beginning. At this point, all that remains is the final clash.”
“The arrow is already on the string. It has to be loosed. Since we’ve come this far, we press on. Replacing our leader halfway through and changing our approach would only throw off our rhythm and cost us the initiative.”
“The first beat of the drum raises the troops’ spirits; the second weakens them, and the third exhausts them. We can neither retreat nor stop.”
Ling Fang analyzed the situation with perfect calm. “At least for now, we hold the advantage and the initiative. In any case, this is my order. We all follow Xie Qingling’s lead. If anything goes wrong, I’ll answer for it.”
The others from the Department fell silent.
Who would have thought the Director could be this bold?
Wasn’t his usual preference to keep his head down and play it safe?
They were so accustomed to Ling Fang’s usual methods that even after hearing his explanation, the others still could not quite adjust.
Only Xie Qingling nodded at once. “Understood.”
“In that case, everyone will follow my orders. First, we take Crazy Wang into custody,” Xie Qingling said. “I expect him to sabotage us from the shadows. On the wedding day, we’ll have no choice but to use extraordinary measures to keep him under control.”
“Next is the village chief. He speaks for this village and commands enormous respect. He’s the head of the flock – one word from him, and every other villager will act. Shen Huaizhou needs to weave an illusion for him, keep him trapped inside it, and stop him from causing trouble.”
“If anyone in the village refuses to listen, or notices something wrong and tries to interfere with our operation, put them all inside the illusion too. If Shen Huaizhou can’t handle that many alone, Ye Anran, you drug them unconscious.”
“It doesn’t matter if the others miss the River God’s ritual. The six of us are enough.”
With a few brisk sentences, Xie Qingling had the villagers all taken care of.
Using abilities against ordinary people on such a large scale did seem perilously close to testing the limits of the rules.
A muscle twitched between Ling Fang’s brows. His face remained dark and stony, but he said nothing.
Which meant she could continue.
Xie Qingling went on. “The wedding takes place at dusk. Our advantage is that we have time to prepare. Do we have any weapons or traps designed to deal with gods? We can set those up first, then lure her into our trap.”
“The six of us will join forces to take her down. We’ll imprison the River God in the deity shrine, then cut her apart.”
When she finished, Xie Qingling looked at Ling Fang as though asking what he thought of the plan.
Ling Fang considered it for a moment, then nodded. “We’ll do as you say. Old Yu and I will head to the riverbank shortly and set up the God-Slaying Formation in advance.”
Shen Huaizhou added, “That works. My Flowers in a Mirror, Moon on the Water can weave a large illusion for roughly a hundred people at once. Ye Anran can find a way to deal with anyone left over.”
“No problem,” Ye Anran said. “I’ll drug them.”
Xie Qingling nodded. “Dai Xingyu and I will take Crazy Wang into custody.”
She turned to Dai Xingyu and warned him, “We have to be careful. Crazy Wang keeps Child Ghosts, and more than one. If you feel something climb onto your back, don’t turn around and don’t answer it.”
“Understood.” Dai Xingyu nodded.
With everything arranged, they split up and set to work according to the plan.
Ling Fang and Yu Wei went to the riverbank to set up the God-Slaying Formation.
Ye Anran found a way to control the villagers’ drinking water and laced it with drugs.
Shen Huaizhou swaggered out and dragged everyone he encountered into the illusion he had prepared.
Xie Qingling and Dai Xingyu went to Crazy Wang’s home. Xie Qingling clubbed him over the head from behind, and the two of them tied him up together.
The rope binding Crazy Wang was specially made and was itself a mysterious item.
To be safe, Xie Qingling also put the three-inch embroidered lotus shoes on Crazy Wang’s feet and draped the red bridal veil over his head, ensuring he was completely incapable of moving.
By afternoon, they had dealt with nearly everyone in the village.
When Xie Qingling and the others reached the riverbank, Ling Fang and Yu Wei had almost finished drawing the God-Slaying Formation.
Ling Fang and Yu Wei each held a bottle of some unknown concoction. They dipped their fingers into the liquid and traced streak after streak of silver across the ground.
The marks dried as soon as the wind touched them, until it looked as though nothing had been drawn there at all.
This was Xie Qingling’s first time seeing the God-Slaying Formation.
In fact, it was the first time the other members of the Department had seen it as well.
They could not help feeling curious.
Seeing their expressions, Ling Fang explained, “The God-Slaying Formation can’t actually slay gods. It’s just a name the Technology R&D Department came up with. We don’t have a ready-made formation plate in Future City, so we have to draw it ourselves. If we had one, we could deploy it directly, just like the Killing Field.”
It was exactly the sort of name the Technology R&D Department would choose: melodramatic to the point of embarrassment.
“This formation uses a ghost’s power to disrupt a god’s. Divine power is thrown into chaos when another kind of power suddenly invades it. Put simply, we strike while she’s weak and finish her off.”
Xie Qingling asked, “Gods have always been the ones who subdue ghosts. Can ghosts really disrupt gods instead?”
“Just as our power is called Spirit, gods and ghosts may inhabit the same world, but their powers are different. Even human organ transplants can trigger rejection. Divine power and the power of ghosts and monsters cannot coexist within one body.” Ling Fang continued drawing as he spoke.
The God-Slaying Formation was nearing completion.
Xie Qingling and the others nodded, now understanding how the formation worked.
Dai Xingyu asked, “Director, how do you know so much about this? I don’t remember Future City ever slaughtering a god.”
As a veteran employee who had held his post for nearly six years, Dai Xingyu could not recall a single operation involving the slaughter of a god.
So why did the Director handle all of this with such practiced ease?
“Future City hasn’t, but I’ve done it elsewhere,” Ling Fang said.
Oh, right. The Director had been transferred here from the Old Royal City.
Dai Xingyu stopped asking questions.
At that moment, the God-Slaying Formation was complete.
Ling Fang put away the concoction and stopped drawing.
He then placed two bound ghost statues at the formation’s core and secured them in place.
The statues had blue-green faces and jutting fangs. Dense ghostly energy clung to them, making them a horrifying sight.
Xie Qingling was certain she had never seen these two statues before.
“This formation must borrow the power of Generals Zeng and Sun. They were once ghost kings who committed evil throughout the mortal world. After Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva enlightened them, they took refuge under Ksitigarbha and became the bodhisattva’s two great Dharma protectors. When it comes to a ghost’s sinister aura, these two stand above the rest.”
Ling Fang then walked some distance away, found a suitable spot, and set down a lamp.
The lamp was ordinary, but the oil inside it was not.
Within the God-Slaying Formation, it served the same function as it did in the Killing Field, so there was no need to deploy the Killing Field separately.
Ling Fang said, “The formation will activate as soon as we light this lamp. Once the River God enters it, we can make our move.”
All that remained was to wait.
The Golden Crow sank in the west. Crows flew together through the cold air, and leaves rustled in the wind.
Dusk had arrived.
It was time for the River God to come claim her bride.
Ling Fang guarded the lamp. The others had each taken a corner of the God-Slaying Formation and concealed themselves.
Only Xie Qingling stood on the riverbank.
She wore a vivid red wedding robe and had an earpiece hooked over one ear, keeping her in contact with her teammates.
The wind whipped Xie Qingling’s clothes around her where she stood beside the river, as though it might sweep her away into the sky.
Listening to the river flow, Xie Qingling narrowed her eyes and gazed toward the middle of the water as she waited.
[Faced with this crude ritual and perfunctory wedding, the River God senses that something is amiss. She has no desire to answer the ritual, but before she departs, she catches a fleeting glimpse of someone who instantly captures her fickle heart.]
[The river’s waves slap against the shore like signals of the joy in the River God’s heart. Romantic feelings dormant for many years stir once more. The River God decides to come ashore and personally carry away the beautiful bride who has so thoroughly won her favor.]
The moment Xie Qingling heard the voice in her mind, she snapped to full alert and told everyone through her earpiece, “She’s coming.”
Almost everyone fell silent at once, barely daring to breathe.
The atmosphere instantly grew tense.
Xie Qingling could not help tightening her grip on Bloodsworn beneath her skirt. She waited only for the moment to draw her blade and kill the River God with her own hands.
Except…
They waited and waited. Roughly ten minutes passed. The sun sank behind the mountains, taking its golden light with it.
The stars emerged, too faint to illuminate the mountains and forest. Only darkness remained among the peaks.
The River God did not appear.
Xie Qingling still stood unharmed beside the river. Nothing had happened at all.
Ling Fang’s voice came through her earpiece. “What’s going on?”
Xie Qingling repeated what the voice in her mind had said. “The River God had no desire to answer this ritual, but before she left, she caught a fleeting glimpse of someone who instantly captured her heart. She decided to come ashore and personally carry away the beautiful bride who had so thoroughly won her favor. By all rights, she should have appeared by now…”
“A fleeting glimpse, and someone instantly captured her heart?” Ling Fang froze.
At that moment, Dai Xingyu’s shocked voice came through the earpiece. “Director, we have a problem.”
“Brother Shen is gone!”
Everyone looked toward the place where Shen Huaizhou had been. It was completely empty.
…!
The River God had taken a fancy to Shen Huaizhou!
She had carried Shen Huaizhou away!