Chapter 147

Chapter 147

The Classic of Mountains and Seas contains records of the Qiongqi, but the descriptions differ from one section to another.

The Classic of the Western Mountains describes the Qiongqi as resembling an ox, with fur like a hedgehog’s quills, and says that it eats people.

The Classic of the Northern Regions Within the Seas, however, describes the Qiongqi as a winged tiger that likewise devours humans.

No matter how its appearance changes, two things always remain the same.

First, the Qiongqi is one of the Four Great Fiends of Antiquity. Second, it likes to eat people.

Of course, this mountain wasn’t a real Qiongqi. It merely represented a particular feng shui configuration.

And that configuration was extremely ominous!

Even more terrifying was the fact that the mountain crouched facing the prison. Every inmate there was on death row, and the execution ground lay directly beneath the Qiongqi’s head.

It just so happened to love eating people!

Had the prison been built there by chance, or had someone deliberately placed it there?

If it was the latter, just how terrifying was the person who had set up this formation?

I pinched the bridge of my nose hard, struggling to steady my panicked emotions.

A large hand settled on my back. Liu Junyan patted me gently and said, “Xiao Jiu, things aren’t nearly as dangerous as you’re imagining. This feng shui configuration has existed for at least several hundred years. There are still living creatures on the mountain and at its foot, aren’t there? That proves it can be controlled.”

“Maybe it could be controlled before, but that might not be true anymore,” I said. “Guo Zhen received a betrothal gift. That’s a form of Sacrifice, which means the death row inmates in the prison can no longer satisfy its appetite. Even worse, I can’t be sure Guo Zhen was the first. If she wasn’t, then when did this kind of Sacrifice begin?”

At the very least, the black mist that had suddenly appeared tonight and bewitched both Li Qingying and me was proof that it wanted the two of us to be offered up in Sacrifice as well.

At that thought, I asked, “Did you investigate that Temple? Where did the Ascetic Monk come from? How many years has he been cultivating in the Temple? Are there any other monks there?”

One question after another poured out of me, my entire body wound tight.

“Hey, little sis, slow down,” Hui Moqiong hurriedly interrupted. “Don’t push yourself too hard. You’ll only cause yourself problems. Relax. Even if the sky falls, your husband is still here to hold it up for you, isn’t he?”

But my mind was in chaos, countless questions tumbling through my head without end.

It seemed that ever since the character ‘Slave’ had appeared on my cheek, my emotions had constantly hovered on the verge of collapse.

I had become especially prone to anxiety and fear.

Fortunately, whenever that happened, Yu Nian’s words would surface in my mind just in time: “Xiao Jiu, only by saving yourself can you reach the other shore.”

Only by saving myself… Only by saving myself…

Yet the farther I went, the more mysteries I encountered. I knew nothing, so how was I supposed to save myself?

“Xiao Jiu, calm down.”

Liu Junyan waved a hand. Hui Moqiong immediately understood, rolled up the parchment, and led Li Qingying away.

Liu Junyan wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly against his chest. “Don’t be afraid, Xiao Jiu. I’m here.”

“But why did you appear there tonight?” I asked again. “Where did that parchment come from? And how did you find that place?”

Liu Junyan’s body stiffened slightly.

I pressed him relentlessly. “The Qiongqi is one of the Four Great Fiends, while our Pawnshop is shaped like a Pixiu that only takes things in and never lets them out — a divine beast. Liu Junyan, tell me, is there some connection between the two?”

I felt like I was going insane.

I wished my mind weren’t so sharp right now. Couldn’t I just think a little less?
But I couldn’t control myself.

As my emotions grew more unstable, a bone-deep pain suddenly stabbed through the area beneath my right cheek. I clutched my face and cried out.

Liu Junyan hurriedly carried me to the sofa and settled me against his chest.

Holding me close, he gently covered the character on my cheek with his broad palm and channeled True Qi into it to suppress the pain. At the same time, he soothed me in a quiet voice. “Xiao Jiu, ever since the door to the West Room opened, I’ve been much the same as you. Things I’ve never encountered before keep surfacing in my mind without warning. They leave me lost and uneasy, yet compel me to investigate and explore.

“The deeper I dig, the more problems I uncover, and the more unsettled I become. Only by calming my mind and meditating can I regain my composure.”

I stared at him blankly.

So that was why he meditated in the West Room whenever he had time.

I’d thought it was simply another method of cultivation.

No — it was a method of cultivation in its own right. Maybe I could try it too.

“You’re very perceptive. The more you glimpse of what’s behind all this, the more afraid you’ll naturally become,” Liu Junyan continued. “But what I feel isn’t fear. It’s a powerful sense that I’ve walked this road before — that I was always meant to walk it. And no matter how many trials and obstacles stand in my way, I must continue down this path.”

Liu Junyan’s voice was calm and steady, and there was something deeply reassuring about the chest beneath my cheek.

Curled up in his arms, I breathed in the faint scent of agarwood clinging to him and listened as he laid bare his innermost thoughts. Somehow, my emotions gradually settled as well.

“I know what frightened you just now,” Liu Junyan said, looking at me. “A Pawnshop shaped like a Pixiu was already enough to rob you of your peace. Now there’s a Qiongqi as well — and an ancient ferocious beast at that. Who wouldn’t be afraid?”

I nodded over and over. At that moment, it felt as though the breath trapped in my chest had finally escaped.

Liu Junyan understood me.

But his very next words made me tense up all over again.

“Xiao Jiu, what if I told you that this enormous feng shui layout isn’t limited to Wufu Town and Xucheng? It may also encompass Huicheng — and an even greater expanse beyond that. Would you be afraid?”

I stared at him in shock.

“And what if I told you that this place we’re in — this Pawnshop-may be the Formation Eye of that vast feng shui layout? That it may be a needle driven into the heart of an extremely ominous feng shui configuration? Would you be afraid?”

I could no longer speak.

Liu Junyan lowered his head and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes instinctively.

With my eyes shut, all I could feel was Liu Junyan’s cool breath. It was as though the entire world had fallen still at that moment.

A thought flashed through my mind.

If only time could remain frozen like this forever.

Something cool was slipped around my neck. When I opened my eyes, I saw a Golden Copper Coin secured on a Red Rope resting against my chest.

A Golden Copper Coin… This was the magical artifact Liu Junyan had obtained only after making a deal with the Copper-Coin Figure.

I had seen Liu Junyan use the Copper-Coin Formation to suppress the Black Coffin and create a Seal over the Ghost Soldiers in the Zhu Pan River.

I had also seen the Copper-Coin Formation cut into Bai Xian’er’s corpse after her death and force the White Immortal to retreat.

And now, Liu Junyan had placed a Golden Copper Coin around my neck.

“Xiao Jiu, wear it. Feel it,” Liu Junyan said solemnly. “As long as you have it, it will be as though I’m always by your side. It can keep you company — and perhaps one day, it may even become a weapon in your hands.”