Chapter 1160 - 1157: Breaking the Formation
Just as the peach wood was about to hit the ground, Qin Fang dashed forward and caught it in his hand. Unfortunately, Zhao Zhibing also pounced forward to catch the peach wood at that moment, accidentally bumping into Qin Fang, causing the peach wood to tumble onto the ground with a snap.
Originally, when Lin Chuan picked the peach wood, the surrounding environment began to change quietly; everything seemed to become clear. But the moment the peach wood hit the ground, there was a rumbling sound, and the entire forest seemed to start shaking.
Qin Fang's expression changed dramatically, reaching down to pick up the peach wood. At this moment, Lin Chuan flew down from mid-air, looking at Qin Fang's startled face and asking, "What happened?"
Qin Fang took a deep breath and said, "The Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation has been triggered again. We're done for. We're likely trapped here and can't get out."
Feeling deeply guilty for his mistake, Zhao Zhibing looked at Lin Chuan and Qin Fang with a face full of remorse and said, "It's all my fault. I, I..."
Having just chatted with Zhao Zhibing earlier, Lin Chuan knew he wasn't a bad person and smiled, saying, "You two don't worry. We'll find a way out eventually."
Qin Fang took the peach wood and silently walked to the side, flipping through the pages of the book again.
The Nine Palace Diagram is derived from the changes in plum blossom numerology. To break the Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation again, it is necessary to first figure out the layout and positions of the Nine Palaces.
The sky gradually darkened, and Qin Fang still hadn't found a way to break the formation.
At this moment, Zhao Zhibing stood up silently, glanced at Lin Chuan and Qin Fang, suddenly jumped and disappeared behind a tree.
Before Lin Chuan could react, Zhao Zhibing's figure had already vanished.
Seeing Zhao Zhibing suddenly disappear, Lin Chuan had an inkling—could this fellow have deliberately lured him here, intending to trap him with this Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation?
He started to feel regret; had he known, he might as well have eliminated Zhao Zhibing outright.
But now it was too late. Zhao Zhibing's figure had disappeared, and trying to find him in this maze-like Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation was easier said than done.
"Lin Chuan, look at this passage." Qin Fang suddenly said, holding the book.
Lin Chuan took the book from Qin Fang and carefully examined it, finding records of the origin of the Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation.
The book states this formation was created by Lu Dongbin among the Eight Immortals, which is certainly nonsense. In folklore, the Eight Immortals actually represent eight kinds of people, male and female, young and old, poor or wealthy, corresponding to the Eight Diagrams. Lu Dongbin is known as the Pure Yang Taoist, representing the Qian Trigram in the Eight Diagrams, while Fairy He, the only female immortal among the Eight Immortals, naturally corresponds to the Kun Trigram. The others are not elaborated on here.
The Eight Immortals corresponding to eight kinds of people are: male Lu Dongbin, female Fairy He, old Zhang Guolao, young Lan Caihe, poor Zhongli, humble Iron Crutch Li, wealthy Han Xiangzi, noble Imperial Uncle Cao.
The Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation is a type of array derived from the Eight Diagrams, which requires the geographical terrain and timing of heaven to operate. In the Eight Diagrams, the Qian and Kun Trigrams represent the yin and yang of heaven and earth—heaven is yang, earth is yin.
Heaven and earth's yin and yang are originally one; with heaven, there is earth; with yin, there is yang. By utilizing changes in timing and covering the heavenly yang, and then using changes in terrain, this array can be established.
To break the Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation, first, the hidden Qian Palace must be found. In the Nine Palace Diagram, there are two places for the Qian Palace: one is the Second Palace Qian, and the other is the Sixth Palace Qian. Their positions are Southwest and Northwest respectively.
After locating and confirming these two places, one must wait for the sunrise at the Hour of Chen, using the Li Fire to attract sunlight to break the Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation.
After reading, Lin Chuan handed the book back to Qin Fang and asked, "Then how can we find these two places?"
Qin Fang relayed the method recorded in the book to Lin Chuan and finally said, "Lin Chuan, while it's still light, we must first find the positions."
"Qin Fang, according to what you said, these two positions are Southwest and Northwest. Is there any marker?" Lin Chuan asked Qin Fang.
This stumped Qin Fang; the book didn't provide explicit records. But since positions were mentioned, it was better than wandering aimlessly.
"Well, I'm not sure either. Let's have a look first." Qin Fang said somewhat helplessly.
The situation was far more complicated than the two anticipated. The Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation was a maze; being within it, even the direction couldn't be figured out. Lin Chuan and Qin Fang wandered for about an hour, circling without knowing which direction was Southwest or Northwest.
"Lin Chuan, we can't just wander blindly like this. We've been at it for half a day and still can't identify a direction." Qin Fang complained and plopped down on the ground.
Lin Chuan was also dizzy; night had fully descended, plunging the forest into pitch darkness.
Neither Lin Chuan nor Qin Fang had brought fire, and in the darkness, despite being close to each other, they could hardly see one another. A sharp sound came from somewhere not far away.
Qin Fang, after all, was a girl; her courage was large yet, she screamed in fright: "Lin Chuan, what was that?"
Before the sound of words faded, Lin Chuan smelled a waft of fragrance, and Qin Fang's body leaned against his.
The sound gradually approached the pair, and Qin Fang tightly wrapped her right arm around Lin Chuan's body, nervously saying, "Lin Chuan, could it be a snake?"
Lin Chuan felt his heart flutter too, unsure of how to comfort Qin Fang as the sound zipped past beneath their feet, likely some kind of mouse or bug.
"Qin Fang, don't worry. It was probably a mouse." As the sound ceased, Lin Chuan comforted Qin Fang, who was clutching his arm tightly.
Qin Fang softly murmured, appearing slightly bashful. Lin Chuan's earlier tension had eased somewhat; smelling the fragrance from Qin Fang and feeling her body lean against his sparked a peculiar feeling within him.
This feeling made Lin Chuan feel embarrassed, questioning his lack of resolve—had he not seen women before?
Qin Fang was hugging Lin Chuan's body but soon realized her impulsiveness, quickly pulling away, thankful for the darkness that concealed her reddened face from Lin Chuan's view.
Qin Fang was mistaken; Lin Chuan had cultivated to a realm where he could see everything clearly at night. Observing Qin Fang's shy face, Lin Chuan's odd feeling resurfaced.
Neither spoke further, silently sitting there. Around half an hour passed before Lin Chuan said, "Qin Fang, let's first find the positions mentioned in the book and wait for tomorrow morning's sunrise."
Qin Fang responded softly. In the night, fearing losing sight of Qin Fang, Lin Chuan proactively took her hand.
Qin Fang's heart raced. She didn't dislike this man, though neither did she feel strongly towards him. Now he had taken her hand, yet why was her heart pounding so?
Generally, the simplest way to determine direction is to observe the position of the sun, moon, and stars. But now, none were visible: no sun, no moon, no stars.
The Compass is one of the treasures of yin and yang, primarily used for direction identification. But I don't have a Compass now. Yet these absence of tools doesn't hinder me because I have another method.
This method is quite simple: using trees for navigation. No matter where, the sun always rises in the East and sets in the West. Trees generally exhibit branches or nodes on the side facing the sun, due to absorbing excessive sunlight on the sunlight-facing side, gaining more nourishment, and thus fostering branches. Additionally, bugs or insects like to nest and settle on the sunlight-facing side, contributing to more nodes.
Lin Chuan, trained as a special forces soldier, was well familiar with this.
In the night, able to see anything clearly, Lin Chuan located a tree and observed the trunk periphery, noting the side with more nodes. He continued finding several more trees, finally identifying East and West.
With East and West determined, North and South naturally ensued.
Having ascertained direction, Lin Chuan disclosed the East, South, West, and North positions to Qin Fang.
Following the book's guidance, Qin Fang led Lin Chuan around.
The Second Palace Qian was in the Southwest position. Adhering to the method of left nine steps and right three steps, they headed Southwest. Turning left and right, without knowing how long they circled, eventually perceiving a glimmer of light. Amazingly, they unwittingly spent an entire night in this forest.
After walking a while longer, the light grew increasingly brighter. At a location, Qin Fang guided Lin Chuan to the Second Palace Qian's position—a half-dry wood tied with a red string.
Qin Fang went over, pulled out the piece of dry wood, untied the red string, and cast it aside. Then, using the same method, located the Northwest's Sixth Palace Qian, again finding a dry wood tied with a red string.
When Qin Fang extracted the dry wood from the Sixth Palace Qian position, the entire environment started changing; everything transformed around. The previously blurred forest gradually sharpened, followed by clear mountain paths.
This Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation was finally broken by her.
With the Nine Palace Dragon Trap Formation broken, distant peaks became visible, and mid-hills possessed a red-brick, green-tile building resembling a temple.