The fault of yin and yang

Chapter 11

"Hurry up," I said, handing the earphones to Lü Hantian. "Use this."

Lu Hantian looked very serious, and I didn't even dare to breathe, afraid that he wouldn't hear me.

The ghostly sound of this EVP can only be heard by blood relatives, so even if I wanted to help, I was powerless to do so.

"Did you hear me?" I asked hurriedly when I saw Lü Hantian take off her headphones.

"Fox, Darkness, Sea, Sky, Search," it seems to be just these few words.

"Oh, your hand!" Lu Hantian exclaimed when she saw my hand.

The tooth mark on my hand has turned purplish-red, and it's especially noticeable at the base of my thumb, forming tiny blood streaks.

"You eat yours," I said, shaking my hand, feeling a bit numb.

After being injured by a spirit, the wound leaves no trace and heals itself in three hours; if devoured by a demon, it leaves a mark and causes numbness, and if left untreated for seventy-two hours, it will invade the heart and soul, and then damage the main soul; the wound on my hand is clearly the latter. The ghost can even attack people, so it must have been a powerful character in its previous life.

"The earth was divided, the five thunderbolts were separated, the three elements were split, the eight trigrams were formed, ... the way of Emperor Xuanyuan, Chiyou avoided the army, quickly healed the primordial chaos, and in an instant, he became spiritually connected..." I applied a Xuanyuan divine talisman and covered it on my hand.

"Alright, I'll come see you this afternoon. Make the arrangements around three o'clock, we're going out to sea..." Lu Hantian's attention was still fixed on the talisman emitting blue smoke in my hand, and he just nodded blankly...

(IV) The Tragedy of Games, Chapter Nine: Baby Account

"Sister Weiyang, you're so amazing! You just attended a banquet yesterday, and today she's taking you out to sea on her private yacht..." Xiaoling was busy sticking magnetic strips onto the new book, and her mouth was also busy.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I have business to do. Give me the sunscreen spray, yes, the orange one." I was preparing things for my trip to sea.

"Who brings a swimsuit to do business? And a two-piece swimsuit at that? You're kidding me," Xiaoling said with a smile.

Actually, I must admit that my motives were definitely not pure. If I wanted to find traces of Lü Hantian's power, I could have just gone to the beach at night and splashed some seawater. But I really didn't want to waste such an opportunity, so I arranged to meet at three o'clock, which would be perfect for sunbathing, having dinner, and... enjoying myself on the Lü family's yacht...

"Sister Weiyang, Sister Weiyang!" Xiaoling interrupted my idyllic daydream as she pointed to a bright blue sports car parked outside the door.

The royal blue color was exceptionally dazzling under the sunlight at this time of day, shimmering brilliantly. Moreover, the sports car looked incredibly valuable; when it stopped, I recognized it as a Spyker C12 LaTurbie—a classic model of the Spyker sports car. Almost everyone in my bookstore was casting envious or jealous glances. Two of my employees even went to open the door for the man who had just gotten out of the car.

Even without seeing his face, I knew this person was—Lü Hantian. He walked into my shop with a beaming smile, and everyone's eyes immediately shifted from his car to him; it seemed everyone wanted to know, what was this person doing here…

Lu Hantian's appearance wasn't as dazzling as a movie star, nor as refined as a prince. But his angular face and large, captivating eyes gave him a unique charm, and his sporty outfit, with his exposed calves and well-defined muscles, only added to his allure…

"Your place is quite easy to find," said Lü Hantian, seemingly oblivious to the stares of others, as she walked straight over. But I deeply regretted not changing my clothes when I saw that time was running out. I was wearing the "Weiyang" uniform with flat sandals; this made me, already under 1.6 meters tall, only reach Lü Hantian's shoulder...

"Sister Ping, could you please take this gentleman to the office on the second floor to wait for me?" I called to the sales assistant in the classical literature section.

"Come upstairs and wait for me," I replied casually to Lü Hantian. This guy didn't seem to care about attracting attention; he somehow produced a beautifully packaged little box and handed it to me, saying, "This is for you. I'll wait for you upstairs."

I waited until all the customers had left before grabbing a Coke and going upstairs.

"Drink," I said, slamming the Coke down on the table.

"I've come to pick you up. Everything is arranged," Lu Hantian said, reverting to his demeanor from yesterday, his previous dashing air instantly replaced by a faint smile.

"Do you have to be so attention-seeking? Even if it's to show your brother, even if it's to prove you're a spendthrift, you don't need to use me!" I had no interest in continuing the charade.

Lü Hantian was stunned by what I said, and after a long while, she lowered her head and said, "No wonder the prince always said you were different. It turns out you really are different. I'm sorry..." After hearing Lü Hantian's words, I had no interest in pursuing the matter further; because the prince had boasted about me to his friends, this matter had become extremely important at this moment, more important than anything else...

...

"My God..." When I boarded this yacht, I was once again stunned by the Lu family's immense wealth...

Although I often go out to sea with friends, it's always in a large group. This is the first time I've ever ridden on such an exquisite and luxurious little yacht...

Yamaha's small yacht, barely ten meters long, is surprisingly spacious inside. I wasn't interested in visiting the central cockpit, nor did I understand it very well, but I absolutely loved the superb swimming platform. The living room and kitchen were spotless, and instead of the usual blinds, soft light blue curtains were used, allowing glimpses of the waves outside, instantly making the beautiful seascape appear hazy and mysterious.

"Is this made of peach wood?" I asked, looking at the living room floor.

"Yes, you really are an expert. You recognized it at a glance," Lü Hantian nodded with a smile.

“It’s not about what you see, it’s about what you feel,” I said, glancing at Lü Hantian.

I have to praise this floor. The peach wood floor has no decorations, just a layer of clear oil. The grain of the peach wood is not covered at all. The natural beauty of a land plant appearing at sea has a unique charm.

“Only my ‘Baby’ yacht has this kind of floor. I bought this yacht myself, without spending a single penny of the Lü family’s money,” Lü Hantian said, a proud look suddenly appearing in his misty eyes. This pride made me suddenly find him particularly adorable.

"Baby? What a nice name," I said with a faint smile, secretly amused. How could a grown man name a yacht like that?

...

"Get me a glass of watermelon juice," I called out to Lü Hantian, who was enjoying the sea breeze, as I lazily lay on the platform.

"Young Madam, are you here on vacation?" Lu Hantian said helplessly as she handed over the watermelon juice.

"In broad daylight, do you expect a ghost to come looking for you? You'd be more likely to hope for an angel," I said, stretching.

Lü Hantian didn't retort, because he had already lay down. We sunbathed like that until dinnertime...

"Why did you change your clothes?" Lu Hantian looked me up and down, scrutinizing me as I changed into casual clothes, her face showing some dissatisfaction.

"I've let you watch for hours, do you expect me to run around in my swimsuit all night? The sun has already set," I replied, squinting, though I was secretly laughing to myself.

"Okay, let's go watch the sunset."

Watching the sunset from a yacht is truly a different experience—the crimson sun gradually turns purplish-red, slowly retreating its halos and fading into oblivion. Below the horizon, the waves roll and surge, while above that, a tranquil afterglow lingers; indigo waves surge across the horizon, and the setting sun's fading light disappears below the horizon. Such beauty made me wish time could stand still at that moment…

"Can you drive a yacht?" I asked, pulling Lü Hantian down the stairs.

"Of course," Lu Hantian replied without replying.

"You'll be driving the yacht tonight. Tell everyone on board not to come out, no matter what they hear or see."

Lu Hantian stared at me for a while, then nodded and walked towards the cockpit.

"Switch to electronic navigation, come find me at the platform," I said, then grabbed my toolbox and ran up the stairs.

I covered the entire platform with talismans, and also put talismans to ward off evil spirits on every cabin door. It seemed that the ship's crew also knew why they were going out to sea today, because no one came out. After ten o'clock, I couldn't even hear anyone talking. The sound of the waves was so loud that my eardrums hurt.

“Weiyang…” Lu Hantian called out softly, staring at the talisman on the ground.

"Stand..." Before I could finish speaking, a sudden clap of thunder interrupted me...

(IV) The Tragedy of Games, Chapter Ten: The Dragon

A bolt of lightning ripped through the sky, as if splitting the entire heavens in two. The once clear and bright night was transformed in an instant. The countless stars, like a herd of startled horses, were driven to the horizon by the lightning, turning the sky into a pitch-black expanse.

"hiss--"

"Hiss—hiss—"

The sound lingered in my ears, refusing to leave...

"Hey—, stop!" If it had been thirty seconds later, Lü Hantian would probably have jumped off the boat.

Lu Hantian stood there, frozen in place, but her usually misty, watery eyes were brighter than ever before. Just one step away, none of this would have happened. If Lu Hantian had stood in that circle of talismans a moment earlier, I wouldn't have needed to bite my middle finger…

"Namo Buddha, Namo Dharma, Mahasattva—" The power of this thing far exceeded my imagination. It dared to appear just after midnight, which is truly not something to be underestimated.

Whether immortal or demon, once the main spirit dissipates, ninety percent of its magical power is lost. This remaining ten percent is barely enough for its primordial spirit, or "underworld soul," to maintain its "qi" (vital energy) and await an opportunity for rebirth. However, the underworld soul within Lü Hantian not only maintains its "qi," but it can also seal Lü Hantian's "power spirit," and at this moment, it can even control Lü Hantian's "human soul"! This truly astonished me…

“Wei Yang…” After releasing Lü Hantian from the immobilization spell, I was about to pull him into the talisman circle when Lü Hantian suddenly stared blankly ahead.

Even if he doesn't call me, I can still sense it...

The fishy smell in the air became inexplicably strong, and the sea breeze behind me felt like steel needles, causing a piercing pain when it hit my skin.

Turning my head, I couldn't help but take a step back. Yes, I wasn't wrong; it was an incredibly huge, invincible serpent—a python—a anaconda.

Pythons find it easier to cultivate themselves into immortals than other animals, but not all pythons can embark on this path. To my knowledge, only three types of pythons can cultivate immortality—the golden python, the ball python, and the water python. The water python is the most unique of these; it is not oviparous but is born directly from its mother's womb.

In ancient times, the water python had another name – jiao, and some people also called it "jiaolong".

At this very moment, the strange spirit before us, which made the sea breeze feel like thorns, was indeed a dragon. It stood about thirty meters tall, with monstrous horns on its head, and at first glance, it truly resembled a dragon from legend.

With the main spirit destroyed, the primordial spirit ceases to exist. This dragon is not a physical entity, and it is precisely because it has no physical form that it appears so terrifying...

The dragon stood atop the sea. At this moment, the sea was utterly silent, save for the foul-smelling sea breeze that swept past. The vast ocean surface was as still and mirror-like as a mirror. Its red tongue hissed as it extended and retracted from its mouth. The dragon, over thirty meters tall, had a head resembling a gigantic brewing vat, and its red tongue, more than half a meter long, seemed to slice through the air with each thrust. Although the entire world was as black as ink, the scales on the dragon's body were even blacker, their extreme darkness shimmering with a dazzling light that, after a while, became almost blinding…

For every inch the dragon moved forward, I couldn't help but take a step back.

Dragons have been auspicious beasts since ancient times, belonging to the same celestial beast clan as the phoenix. Although this jiao (a type of dragon) is a "fake" and cannot be ranked among the celestial beasts, it is still an inviolable divine beast in the world of cultivation. Facing such a divine beast, which may have already become an immortal, I dared not act rashly. In the time it took the jiao to spew its tongue, I had already retreated four steps.

Standing in front of Lü Hantian, I grabbed his wrist and gently touched his pulse. Although it was still a pulse that had lost one of his souls, his three spirits had not yet dispersed. It seemed that the "ghost" had only invaded Lü Hantian's "human soul" when he was not paying attention, but now that Lü Hantian was fully alert, the "ghost" had no chance to enter again.

Presumably, this dragon before us must have broken the rules after becoming an immortal, which led to its demise. Yet, it remained undeterred, and just then, Lu Hantian and his group of carefree, idle young men, obsessed with the peaceful world and the carefree life under the sun, along with a few beautiful young women eager to hook up with rich men, started playing some kind of "Ouija board." In the end, instead of summoning any "immortals," they created this very thing...

I placed a "Chizong Protector's Talisman" into Lü Hantian's hand. When Lü Hantian took the talisman, he squeezed my hand tightly; even at this moment, he was still thinking of comforting me.

"Damn it, why didn't I call my grandma before I left? Dealing with spirits can easily lead to complicated relationships," I couldn't help but blame myself.

We remained locked in this stalemate. Although I knew the importance of striking first, I was afraid that if I failed, Lü Hantian's spirit would be forever lost to the underworld.

"Hiss—", the dragon finally began to move.

Although it has no physical form and cannot attack us with physical objects, it is still an immortal dragon, and besides, Lü Hantian still has a part of his soul in its hands...

"Ah, ah, I... I... I'm not yet..." Lü Hantian suddenly clutched his head and knelt down. The "talisman" in his hand, while protecting him from the evil spirits, couldn't prevent him from harming himself. The dragon had actually controlled Lü Hantian's "power" to attack him...

"You son of a bitch, that's too much!" This dragon is so cunning, it infuriates me.

My Zuo family specializes in restoring order to the imbalance of Yin and Yang, yet this mere "spirit" of a dragon dares to disregard my existence like this...

"One Heaven Flag, Two Earth Flag, Three Talents Flag, Four Gates Flag, Five Elements Flag, Six Harmonies Flag, Seven Stars Flag, Eight Trigrams Flag, Nine Palaces Ten Heavenly Stems Flag, Twelve Earthly Branches Flag,..." I recited each phrase and threw out a talisman. With each talisman I threw out, the dragon's "ghost" flashed with phosphorescence. With each flash of phosphorescence, a thunderclap sounded in the sky.

Fourteen talismans in total. By the time I cast them, Lü Hantian's face was covered in bloody scratches, and his clothes were torn in several places from rolling around on the deck. Just as I threw out the last talisman, Lü Hantian suddenly sprang up from the ground and then fell straight into the sea...

I watched helplessly as Lü Hantian fell into the sea, unable to move an inch. By now, I had already knocked off several scales from the dragon's body, but it didn't seem to have much of an effect on it. The enormous dragon's head was already in front of me, no more than a meter away. A deathly aura permeated the entire sea surface, and I could almost feel the stench emanating from it.

"From the chaos of Pangu, Nuwa vowed to mend the heavens, the Red Lord spread the Dao, from the Primordial Beginning to the Heavenly Gate… Now, Weiyang, a disciple of the Zuo Clan, requests Your Majesty's presence to subdue the demon! So be it! So be it! So be it!" Since human power cannot subdue the demon, perhaps we can only appeal to the power of Heaven…

All the talismans on the ship instantly burst into flames and turned to ashes, and at that moment, the sky was truly split open by a bolt of lightning...

(IV) The Tragedy of Games Chapter Eleven: The Tragedy of Gods

The scene here and now was truly a spectacle that one would rarely see in a lifetime. The sky, split apart by the thunder, looked as if it had been cut by a paper cutter, a straight line. At first, the line was only as thick as a finger, but then it grew longer and thicker. Presumably, the other end of that line was the so-called horizon.

Boundless light burst forth from the crack in the sky, as if the nine suns of yesteryear had not been shot down by Hou Yi, but had all gathered here, waiting only for the sky to split open so they could leap out...

"Hiss—," the dragon paused for a moment as the sky split open. Regaining its senses, it abandoned me and instead searched for Lü Hantian, who had fallen into the sea. Presumably, it wanted to use this remaining time to retrieve the ghostly soul that had invaded Lü Hantian's body. Little did it know, a demon that contends with the heavens will surely perish.

It's absolutely not worth risking Lü Hantian's life!

The dragon swung its tail, searching the sea, constantly dodging the increasingly wide and blinding light. But I was powerless; as the light spread, everything before my eyes was a blinding white...

In the instant before I was completely enveloped by the light from the sky-shattering rift, I vaguely saw a splash of water rise in the sea, with specks of phosphorescence flashing within it. However, those phosphorescent lights no longer seemed as frightening as before; under the overwhelming light, they were as insignificant as sparks.

I know that Lü Hantian is still alive. The splashes of water and phosphorescence were the impact caused by the "Le Zong Amulet" that I had just put in his hand when he was attacked by the alien spirit.

This "Le Zong Protective Amulet" is much harder to obtain than other talismans, not only because of the restrictions on the date, but also in the location and the quantity. It can only be obtained in the fifth month of a leap year. Every year on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, at midnight, my grandmother and I would go up the mountain to set up an altar and obtain the talismans before people went on spring outings. Those who wish to obtain the talisman must fast for three days beforehand, and those three days of only eating porridge were anything but pleasant. Moreover, a maximum of seven talismans can be obtained at a time. Most importantly, the paper used to write the talisman must be leftover from burning paper offerings at new graves, so I had to go to the cemetery to collect paper whenever I had time, and I was often mistaken for a lunatic. It is precisely because of these reasons that I rarely use this talisman, and its price is naturally very high, but its efficacy is also far greater!

The instant I saw the splash of water, I seemed to hear the sound of the wind blowing, and then I could see nothing at all.