Feng Shui - Chapter 6
At this moment, the tent was once again filled with the fragrance of flowers, a vibrant scene of spring. Tonight, the peach blossoms were in full bloom, and the lovers in that tender embrace were even more affectionate, making others envious...
2004-12-7 15:53:00
Chapter Ten: Jade Pool Yearns for the Spring River
"On the night of the bright moon over the Twenty-Four Bridges, where is the beautiful maiden teaching the flute?"
September 20th, the seventh day of the eighth lunar month.
Suitable activities include: traveling, making friends, erecting pillars, and bathing.
Avoid activities such as breaking ground, offering sacrifices, making transactions, and receiving money.
Auspicious and inauspicious directions: God of Happiness is in the south, God of Nobility is in the northeast, Five Ghosts is in the northwest, and Death Gate is in the east.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of the School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Jiang Yao, as the president of the student union, naturally has to take the lead in preparing for the celebration. Having served as the president of the student union for two consecutive years, and with her graduation next July, this anniversary celebration can be seen as the last opportunity for her to hone her management skills and the last cherished memory of her four years of university life.
Jiang Yao sat casually by the dormitory window. Her roommates had all gone out with their boyfriends, and she was the only one who could enjoy the afternoon sun shining through the window, casting a soft, graceful shadow on the ground.
A pair of bright, watery eyes, fair skin that could be broken with a flick of a finger, a slender yet not bony figure, and exquisite features that resemble Baochai from Dream of the Red Chamber, evoking a sense of classical and nostalgic beauty.
As the student council president position, which has bound him for many years, is about to end, it's time to let the next president experience the challenges that come with it, which also adds a bit of pressure.
Looking at everything familiar on campus, Jiang Yao was filled with emotion. She had lived here for four years without ever truly appreciating the beautiful scenery. Ironically, this was a medical school, and Jiang Yao's dormitory was located directly opposite the most taboo place on campus: the morgue.
Sometimes Jiang Yao really wondered what the designer who built this school was thinking. Why would he place the morgue in the middle of all the student dormitories? And of course, the school has sixty-four buildings, and from the air, the morgue is right in the center of all sixty-four buildings.
But Jiang Yao never imagined that these sixty-four buildings were arranged according to the positions of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, naturally forming a primordial array to suppress the morgue.
Just then, the dormitory door was suddenly pushed open, and a muscular boy with a face full of acne walked in. Jiang Yao recognized him; he was Li Zhanghao, the next student council president. Jiang Yao greatly admired Li Zhanghao's personal abilities, but she disliked his eyes. She always felt she couldn't see through them; they seemed profound, yet unsettling.
"President, everything is ready. Would you like to check and see if there are any areas that need to be rearranged?" Li Zhanghao said with a smile.
"No need, I trust Vice President Li to handle things. Is there anything else I need?" Jiang Yao asked softly.
"We have everything we need. I just hope the school anniversary celebration goes smoothly," Li Zhanghao suddenly said vaguely.
"Does Vice President Li think that this school anniversary celebration cannot proceed smoothly?" Jiang Yao asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Hehe, it's not that it can't proceed smoothly, but that it can't end smoothly." A strange smile suddenly flashed in Li Zhanghao's eyes as he whispered.
"Why would you think that?" Jiang Yao sensed something was off about Li Zhanghao's words.
"Hehe, it's nothing, I just jinxed it. By the way, I remember there's a girl named Li Qiu in your dorm, right?" Li Zhanghao asked.
"Yes, but not just one, there are three. Three girls from our school named Li Qiu all lived in this dormitory room, but they've all gone out now. Is there anything I can help you with?" Jiang Yao asked.
"Hehe, it's nothing, it's just that one of my roommates wants to talk to Li Qiu about something," Li Zhanghao said.
"Someone actually dares to live in your dorm room?" Jiang Yao said, somewhat surprised.
"Hehe, although there are many rumors about our dormitory, I think as long as we don't believe them, all rumors are naturally unreliable," Li Zhanghao said, staring at Jiang Yao.
“Since your roommate needs to see Li Qiu, let him come at six o’clock tonight. I think Li Qiu and the others should all be back by then, but not too late.” Jiang Yao disliked the way Li Zhanghao stared at her and said unhappily.
"Okay, I'll be going now. Please feel free to contact me if you need anything, Chairman." Li Zhanghao smiled, turned around and left.
Jiang Yao felt uncomfortable every time she saw Li Zhanghao staring at her, perhaps because he was the only one who dared to live in that rumored haunted dormitory. However, Jiang Yao wasn't a superstitious person. Nevertheless, she didn't have a very good impression of Li Zhanghao.
At this moment, Jiang Yao was alone in the dormitory again. A gentle breeze blew through her hair, giving her a light and airy feeling that made her feel extremely comfortable.
Picking up her guitar, Jiang Yao began playing Jay Chou's "The End of the World" by herself. Crisp and beautiful notes flowed slowly from Jiang Yao's slender fingertips, rippling in the leisurely space and gradually spreading to the surroundings.
Immersed in her own musical world, Jiang Yao was unaware that evening had arrived. Her roommates still hadn't returned, and she wasn't particularly hungry. She also thoroughly enjoyed playing the piano alone. So, Jiang Yao's music continued to resonate.
As another piece ended, the sunset on the horizon was so magnificent that it seemed to be applauding her music. Suddenly, several rounds of applause rang out from behind Jiang Yao, startling her and immediately pulling her out of her own reverie.
A boy with an oddly permed hairstyle and a baby face appeared behind Jiang Yao. Although Jiang Yao was a little annoyed that the boy had startled her by appearing behind her without warning, she couldn't show it. After all, she was the school's universally acknowledged model of ladylike conduct.
"Why didn't you knock before coming in?" Jiang Yao asked, somewhat angrily.
"I knocked, but you ignored me, so I had to come in myself," the young man said, sounding somewhat aggrieved.
"Maybe I got too engrossed in playing. Who are you looking for?" Jiang Yao realized she had lost her composure and quickly regained her ladylike demeanor as she asked.
"Are you Li Qiu?" the big boy asked.
"Oh, you must be the roommate Li Zhanghao mentioned who was looking for Li Qiu." Jiang Yao remembered the person Li Zhanghao had told her about.
"Yes, hello, my name is Cao Hui. Are you Li Qiu?" Cao Hui asked politely.
"Li Qiu and the others haven't returned yet, and I don't know if they'll be back tonight. Is there something urgent?" Jiang Yao asked.
2004-12-7 15:55:00
"I have something urgent to discuss with her. I need to see her tonight. Could you tell me when they will be back?" Grass Ash asked anxiously.
"I can't say for sure. They went out with their boyfriends and might not be back until very late. If you need anything, just tell me, and I'll pass on the message when they get back," Jiang Yao said.
"Well, well, I'll wait here," Grass Ash said somewhat awkwardly.
"Boys aren't allowed to stay in the girls' dorms past seven o'clock, and it's already sixty," Jiang Yao said jokingly, glancing at her watch.
"I see. Then I'll trouble you. Please give this to Li Qiu. Please make sure you give it to her. This is very important to both of us," Cao Hui said earnestly.
He took out a blue brocade pouch from his pocket and handed it to Jiang Yao. Jiang Yao took it and pulled out the emerald inside. She immediately felt a cool sensation that made her feel refreshed.
"This jade is so beautiful. What's your relationship with Li Qiu?" Jiang Yao asked Cao Hui, looking at the emerald in her hand.
"She's just a friend. My friend asked me to deliver this jade to her, but it seems I won't be able to wait for her to return. So I'm troubling you. Please, you must deliver it to her personally," Cao Hui said cautiously.
"Hehe, I will definitely help you return such a valuable item intact, so don't worry. My name is Jiang Yao, and I am the president of the student council. I always keep my word, so you can rest assured," Jiang Yao said.
"Then I'll leave now, thank you very much," Grass Ash said sincerely.
Without lingering any longer, Cao Hui tactfully left. At that moment, Jiang Yao suddenly realized she seemed to have forgotten something; she had forgotten to ask Cao Hui which of the three Li Qiuzhong's should receive the emerald. It seems women have such low immunity to jewelry and jade; any woman seeing jewelry will have her IQ drop to below thirty.
However, Cao Hui had already left, and Jiang Yao figured she could just ask Li Qiu and the others when they returned, so she didn't chase after him. Instead, she began to examine the emerald.
The emerald was truly exquisite, captivating Jiang Yao. However, while she played with it, she wasn't greedy. Jiang Yao ran her finger along the "wind" character on the emerald, and suddenly, a faint, ripple-like light flashed across the character. Jiang Yao was startled; she sensed this jade was no ordinary piece. She dared not handle it any longer, fearing she might accidentally break it and be unable to explain herself to Cao Hui. Jiang Yao hung the emerald around her neck, hoping to forget about it later, but a deep sleepiness slowly crept over her, and she unknowingly fell asleep.
The emerald hanging around Jiang Yao's neck flashed once more in the blue brocade pouch, but only for a fleeting moment.
Cao Hui walked alone on his way back to his dormitory. It was getting dark, and the students on the road were already heading towards their respective dormitories. Only Cao Hui was alone in his dormitory.
When Cao Hui saw Jiang Yao just now, he felt a sense of déjà vu, but he couldn't remember where he had seen her before. However, Cao Hui had known countless people over the past three thousand years, so forgetting one or two was not surprising, and he didn't take it to heart.
As he passed the morgue, Cao Hui couldn't help but glance at it a few more times, noticing that the Yang attribute of the "Six Yang Sealing Ghost Formation" had weakened somewhat, while the Yin energy within the formation was leaking out even more heavily.
"It seems the thing trapped inside is about to break free. I didn't expect it to be so soon. I hope Li Qiu can get his hands on the jade from the boss and find it useful so he won't be affected by this thing's negative influence," Cao Hui muttered to himself.
After walking for about five minutes, a distance that usually takes Cao Hui no more than a minute to walk from the morgue to the dormitory, he still hadn't reached his destination. An ominous feeling startled him.
"I'm lost. No, not lost, I've been tricked." Grass Ash realized that he had been trapped in a formation set up by a master.
With over three thousand years of cultivation, Cao Hui was astonished that he felt nothing at all. Although Cao Hui's cultivation level wasn't very high, it was still beyond the capabilities of ordinary cultivators in the mortal realm. The fact that he had unknowingly fallen into a trap set by someone else made him realize that he had finally encountered a true master.
"Extreme Demon Realm, endless cycle, annihilation array." Grass Ash actually used the strongest array-breaking technique he had mastered since he began cultivating demons.
Cao Hui knew that if he didn't break the maze in one go, the rebound force within the maze would cause the formation to change again. At that point, the maze's properties would become chaotic, and he would sink deeper and deeper into it, possibly dying inside.
All that could be seen was that Cao Hui's curly hair moved on its own without any wind, scattering behind his head, and a faint purple halo appeared on his body. Cao Hui stretched out his hands, and fifty lotus-shaped light and shadows transformed from the illusionary spirit spells shot out into the surrounding space.
However, these lotus flower shadows vanished as quickly as they appeared, and at the same time, thick white mists surged in from all directions without leaving a trace, enveloping the space within Cao Hui's sight. A series of powerful pressures also came from the white mists and assaulted Cao Hui's body.
"It's the reverse regeneration method," Grass Ash thought to himself.
(Reverse generation method: This refers to a method of using external forces to reflect the power released from the outside world and then feeding it back to the source of power with ten times the force of the external force.)
"Assimilate!" Grass Ash shouted.
At the same time, Cao Hui's body dissolved into the soil and assimilated with it, becoming part of the soil. Meanwhile, a series of powerful shockwaves generated by intense energy collisions appeared where Cao Hui had just stood, and the ground was blasted into a half-foot-deep crater by these shockwaves.
Chapter Eleven: Forbidden Artifacts
September 21st, the eighth day of the eighth lunar month.
Suitable, but not suitable for anything else.
Taboo, none.
Auspicious and inauspicious directions: Auspicious deities are hidden in the world; Five Ghosts are due south, northeast, southeast, and Death Gate is due north.
The morning sun was shining brightly. All the faculty and students of the medical university were gathered in the school auditorium, listening to the president's somewhat clichéd speech about the upcoming anniversary celebration. This morning, Jiang Yao had planned to gather the student council members for a brief "meeting," but she discovered that Vice President Li Zhanghao was inexplicably absent. Jiang Yao considered sending her subordinates to Li Zhanghao's dormitory to find him, but found that none of them were willing to go to that rumoredly haunted room, so she had to give up.
Jiang Yao noticed that not only was Li Zhanghao absent today, but even Cao Hui was missing. Today was a day when the entire school was required to attend, yet these two were the only ones missing. However, such a large "production team" wouldn't be short of one or two people.
Jiang Yao woke up late this morning. Normally, she would be the first one up in the dorm. When she woke up, her roommates had already left. However, she felt that this last night's sleep was the most restful and comfortable she had ever had. This was because, ever since birth, Jiang Yao had a recurring dream: a young man with a warm smile watching her. Jiang Yao didn't know who this man was, but she always felt that she and this man had a deep connection, perhaps a predestined relationship from a past life.
Stopping her thoughts, Jiang Yao felt a refreshing and comfortable sensation in her chest, making her feel invigorated and completely relaxed. The emerald with the character "Wind" on it flashed again.
After a busy morning, Jiang Yao didn't have time to find her three roommates, Li Qiu, and give the emerald to one of them. Jiang Yao thought it wouldn't be too late to give it to them after the school anniversary celebration. Actually, Jiang Yao had a slight greedy thought, because the emerald gave her a very special feeling, and she was a little reluctant to part with it. However, she wouldn't keep something that wasn't hers to herself.
Sitting in the first row of the auditorium, the principal's ramblings flowed on and on like a never-ending river, leaving the students yawning incessantly. Even more outrageous, just as the principal finished a long speech, another student stood up and said, "Let me add a couple more points."
The students were already in a daze from listening, and when the principal finished speaking, they thought it was over and were going to give him some applause. But when the principal stood up to add a few more words, the students stopped applauding.
These two sentences took longer than the principal's speech, which suggests that this comrade has the potential to become a future principal, since he is the vice principal.
The speech on stage continued, but Jiang Yao, seated below, suddenly felt uneasy. The emerald in the blue brocade pouch hanging around her neck began to ripple with light. Jiang Yao quickly covered it with her hands, afraid the blue light would disturb everyone's vision and hearing. As the leader's speech drew to a close, Jiang Yao's feeling grew stronger, as if something ominous was about to happen. She had never felt this way before, but it was exceptionally clear and intense.
The leader's speech finally ended, and the meeting adjourned. The students rushed towards the auditorium doors, only to find they wouldn't open. Jiang Yao, sitting in the front row, was unaware of the situation at the entrance. Suddenly, the lights and air conditioning in the entire auditorium failed, and the ominous feeling in Jiang Yao intensified, completely overwhelming her. Her scalp tingled, and her body trembled uncontrollably. However, because the auditorium was dark, those around her couldn't see her reaction. Just then, all the glass at the auditorium doors shattered, and screams echoed throughout the hall. A ghastly green aura rushed into the auditorium with lightning speed, causing all the teachers and students to inexplicably collapse. The aura gradually moved towards Jiang Yao. Watching her classmates and teachers fall one by one, Jiang Yao was terrified, her face pale, on the verge of a terrifying breakdown. The aura completely enveloped her, turning the dark auditorium into a scene of hellish darkness.
Jiang Yao felt her consciousness growing increasingly blurred, gradually realizing that her soul had detached from her body and was floating. She saw an endless black tunnel appear out of thin air at the exit of the auditorium, and strong forces were drawing her soul towards it. Suddenly, a bright azure light flashed from Jiang Yao's body, forming a gigantic "Wind" character. This character imprinted itself on her soul, forcibly pulling it back into her body. Jiang Yao's consciousness cleared again, but she couldn't move her body at all. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw that the black tunnel at the auditorium entrance was still there, and countless pale green spirits were wailing and howling inside, ultimately all being drawn towards the tunnel.
Jiang Yao was completely stunned by this unprecedented and unheard-of scene, unable to believe whether what was happening was real or not. Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared at the entrance of the black tunnel. This person appeared there without any warning, holding two samurai swords similar to those used by Japanese samurai, and even had another one clenched in their mouth. This person leaped and bounded back and forth in front of the black tunnel, as if dodging something, or perhaps chasing something. This person's figure was as fast as a shooting star, and the eyes could not keep up with their trajectory. Suddenly, a pale green star-shaped object appeared from the entrance of the black tunnel, rapidly striking towards Jiang Yao. Jiang Yao felt an incomparably powerful force that she could not resist. A sense of terror from the depths of her soul completely overwhelmed Jiang Yao, making her unable to bear it. Jiang Yao closed her eyes, preparing to await death to greet her arrival.
"One-Sword Style, Thirty-Six Reverse Wind Slashes!" At this moment, Jiang Yao faintly heard a strange, incomprehensible Japanese voice coming from in front of her.
Jiang Yao gently opened her eyes and saw a burly man with his back to her. The man held two samurai swords, the blades glowing with a deep blue-purple light. He only swung the sword in his left hand, and it was impossible to tell how many times he swung it. The sword shadow completely transformed into a ball of blue-purple light, which struck the pale green star-shaped object.
"Boom!" A loud explosion rang out as the blue-purple ball of light collided with the pale green star-shaped object, creating a massive explosion. Instantly, the entire dark auditorium was dyed blue-purple, and the shockwave from the collision of the two forces blew all the seats in the auditorium into the air, creating a crater with a radius of fifteen meters at the point of impact.
Jiang Yao was completely shocked. This scene, which could only appear in horror science fiction movies, was happening in front of her. Anyone with a normal mind would be completely shocked by what was happening.
However, it wasn't over yet. Two more pale green star-shaped projectiles shot out from the black tunnel at the auditorium exit and hurtled towards Jiang Yao.
"Dual-wielding, Seventy-two Moon Shadow Slashes!" came another incomprehensible Japanese phrase.
The man before Jiang Yao brandished his swords, the blades transforming into a silvery-white spectacle that split into seventy crescent-shaped beams of light, striking the two incoming, ghastly green star-shaped objects. This time, the impact of the collision was even greater, the continuous, deafening explosions causing Jiang Yao's eardrums to temporarily lose sensation. A massive hole was blasted through the auditorium's roof, revealing the pitch-black sky outside.
The man with three knives quickly picked up Jiang Yao, who had fallen to the ground, hoisted her onto his shoulder, and began to spin rapidly. It was as if only the shadows of the knives could be seen, and the man himself could not be distinguished at all.
“Three-sword style, floating boat extreme spin!” The man said another sentence in incomprehensible Japanese.
Their entire bodies flew like meteors towards the hole pierced through the top of the auditorium. At the same time, several pale green star-shaped beams shot out from the black tunnel at the auditorium's exit, heading towards them. However, all of them were deflected by the Three-Sword Style's Floating Disc Extreme Spin and exploded. The entire auditorium was completely destroyed by the impact of the explosion.
The man carried Jiang Yao on his shoulder and sped through the campus. Jiang Yao, who was being carried on his shoulder, could not see the man's face, but could only sense that he was someone she knew.