Chapter 98

Chapter 98

After eliminating those fifty men, everyone Xiao Che had brought gained something valuable. Their confidence soared, and morale rose sharply.

Lu Dachang would soon discover that his vanguard was missing, so they needed to hurry to the next location and prepare another ambush.

At that moment, Jin Bao suddenly looked in one direction within the forest.

“Daddy, I think I see Uncle Ye Qi and the others.”

Ye Qi was one of the Xiao Family’s Shadow Guards. They had become separated from Xiao Che because of the White-Hair Howl. When they later caught up, they discovered that Xiao Che’s group had already left the Garrison. Fortunately, Xiao Che had left secret markings along the way, and the Shadow Guards had followed those signs here.

Xiao Che was elated. It seemed the heavens truly did not intend for him to perish. Having the Shadow Guards find them at this moment would provide tremendous assistance.

“My good daughter, where are they now?”

Jin Bao scratched her head. A different scene had appeared in her mind: Ye Qi and a group of Shadow Guards were walking in circles among a field of boulders. Nothing was blocking them, yet they could not find their way out. Jin Bao found it very strange.

“Daddy, they’re twenty li away. There are lots of rocks and a little mist, but it’s really strange. Why do they keep going around and around?”

“Walking in circles?”

Old Han’s expression changed at once. “This is bad. They’ve encountered a Ghost Loop. Someone must guide them out, or they’ll be trapped inside until they die.”

The Ghost Loop Old Han mentioned was not the supernatural phenomenon of legend but a formation. Someone had actually arranged a Qimen Dunjia formation inside this forest.

“Grandpa Han, what’s a Ghost Loop?”

Jin Bao was curious.

“A Ghost Loop is actually a formation set up by Daoists who cultivated in this place.

I’d only heard about it before and assumed it was a rumor. It turns out to be true. This formation must have been left here long ago. Unfortunately, no one among us understands such things.”

Xu Huaijin hesitated before stepping forward. “I know a little. Years ago, when I traveled to the Capital for the imperial examination, I fell gravely ill. A Daoist saved me, and I stayed in his temple for some time.

I’m not skilled in Qimen Dunjia, but guiding people out should not be a problem.”

“Very well. Go with my daughter. I’ll have to trouble you, Mr. Xu.”

Xiao Che gave Xu Huaijin a cupped-fist salute.

“Rest assured, Marquis. I will do everything in my power.”

Jin Bao was growing anxious because she saw Lu Dachang accelerating toward them. She needed to rescue Ye Qi and the others as quickly as possible.

“Uncle Xu, let’s hurry! That big bad man is getting closer and closer!”

Everyone’s expression changed dramatically. Though Old Han and Xu Huaijin did not know how Jin Bao understood everything happening in the forest so clearly, she had never once been wrong.

Perhaps everyone had secrets of their own, and it was not their place to ask.

Without waiting for Jin Bao to urge him again, Xu Huaijin nodded to the others and climbed onto a sled.

The Snow Mastiffs they had captured now served them.

Xu Huaijin placed Jin Bao in front of him. As soon as he tugged the reins, the Snow Mastiffs raced forward.

Jin Bao kept pointing the way. Before long, the two reached the place where the Shadow Guards were trapped.

Jin Bao knew this place. The map told her it was called Boulder Ravine.

On the map, Jin Bao could see Ye Qi pacing anxiously among the boulders. Yet even though they were only a short distance apart, Ye Qi seemed unable to see her.

This formation truly was incredible.

“Miss Bao, I will break the formation now. Please wait here.”

Jin Bao nodded obediently. “Uncle Xu, Baby won’t run around.”

Xu Huaijin did not dare enter rashly. Someone had used the boulders, deadwood, energy from the earth, and the mist of Boulder Ravine to create a Deathtrap Formation.
Ye Qi and the others must have stumbled inside by accident. With no knowledge of formations, they were caught like insects in a spiderweb, unable to advance or retreat.

Xu Huaijin observed that the mist remained condensed instead of dispersing, gathering into a wall of white fog.

To break the formation, he had to locate the Life Gate. Otherwise, entering would only trap him alongside everyone else.

Jin Bao kept craning her neck to watch. When Xu Huaijin remained motionless for a long time, she became anxious.

She saw that Lu Dachang’s troops were only an hour away from Xiao Che.

“Uncle Xu, Baby can help! Baby can feel that some rocks are sleeping and some are breathing. In some places, the wind twists and moves, but in other places, it doesn’t.”

Xu Huaijin was overjoyed. Jin Bao was describing living energy and dead energy. As long as they could identify the direction in which living energy flowed, breaking the formation would be easy.

“Miss Bao, you truly are a genius. Please enter the formation with me.”

Jin Bao hurriedly nodded. “Okay, okay!”

Xu Huaijin lifted Jin Bao into his arms and slowly entered the formation.

Mist instantly surrounded them. Vague shapes loomed on all sides, impossible to distinguish as people or stones.

Jin Bao repeatedly heard the harsh sound of metal scraping across rock. It was probably Ye Qi and the others striking boulders with their sabers.

“Miss Bao, can you tell me which rocks are breathing and which are sleeping?”

Jin Bao opened her eyes wide and blinked twice. After sensing carefully, she pointed northwest.

“That big rock is breathing, and twisty wind is coming from there.”

Xu Huaijin immediately began moving with peculiar steps, sometimes muttering, “Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun, Dui… Life Gate turns to View Gate…”

Sometimes he walked straight ahead, sometimes diagonally, and sometimes circled a boulder.

As he moved, their surroundings began to change.

The condensed mist gradually dissolved, dispersed, and gathered again.

Places that had appeared blurry slowly grew clear.

“Uncle Xu, the twisty wind changed direction! It went that way!”

Following the direction of Jin Bao’s finger, Xu Huaijin continued muttering and moving with those peculiar steps.

After repeating the process three times, Xu Huaijin finally spotted a human figure ahead.

At the same time, Jin Bao cried out delightedly, “Uncle Ye Qi!”

Hearing the familiar childish voice, Ye Qi turned and saw a man holding a fair, tiny dumpling of a child. He knew that little dumpling. Could he be dreaming?

Ye Qi hurriedly rubbed his eyes and discovered that it was no illusion.

“Young Miss? You aren’t an illusion?”

Jin Bao lunged over and pinched Ye Qi’s cheek hard.

“Hurt?”

Ye Qi groaned, tears already welling in his eyes.

“It hurts-Young Miss, you’re incredibly strong.”

Ye Qi spoke through a mixture of pain and joy.

Jin Bao patted Ye Qi’s shoulder. “Good-that’s supposed to hurt! Baby’s reminding you that Baby isn’t an illusion. You’re saved!”

Ye Qi had walked countless circles without finding a way out. The people who had entered with him had disappeared too. He had thought he would die trapped here, only to be rescued by his Young Miss.

“Ye Qi pays his respects to the Young Miss. Thank you for saving me.”

“It’s okay. Easy-peasy! Baby’s really amazing. Oh, and Uncle Xu helped too. Without Uncle Xu, Baby couldn’t have found you.”

Ye Qi looked at the unfamiliar man and bowed to him.

“Thank you.”

Xu Huaijin nodded. “It was nothing. I was merely following the Marquis’s orders. There’s no time to lose. Let’s find the others.”

With Jin Bao’s guidance and Xu Huaijin’s knowledge, they quickly led all the Shadow Guards out of Boulder Ravine.