Vallée de l'étrange

Chapitre 4

The little boy ran up a small hill, panting, and said to a young man who was working hard in the fields, "Brother Hui, there's something wrong on the other side of the river!"

The young man looked up and asked, "What is it?"

Someone! Someone has fallen into the river!

"What?!" The young man threw down his hoe and ran towards the river. When he got there, he saw a person lying on the opposite bank. Judging from the posture, it seemed unlikely that the person had survived.

He took off his jacket, splashed some water all over his body to prevent cramps, and then plunged into the middle of the water. Without taking a breath, he began to swim vigorously towards the opposite bank. The riverbank was littered with jagged rocks. When the young man turned Jin Hong over, he gasped in horror. Jin Hong's face was as white as paper, devoid of any life. But that wasn't all; a sharp rock was deeply embedded in Jin Hong's body, and blood had flowed down the rocky bank, turning it red!

With a sense of urgency, the young man carried Jin Hong and risked his life to swim back to shore. Jin Hong's injuries were too severe, and the young man carefully supported his body, daring not to make any sudden movements. After setting Jin Hong down, he instructed the other children, "Quickly, fetch the village doctor!"

The young man wiped his damp hair and dried himself off. It had been a close call in the icy water; he wouldn't have jumped in if he hadn't been so desperate to save someone.

Lying on the ground, Jin Hong groaned, perhaps from the pain in his wounds. He slowly opened his eyes, trying to speak, but could only open his mouth without making a sound. The young man said, "My name is Jin Hui. Don't speak now, the doctor will be here soon!" Jin Hong reached into his pocket to retrieve something, but found his hand wouldn't obey him, and he fainted again.

Just then, the doctor arrived. This was the village's barefoot doctor. The village was located in a remote area, and there was no hospital. Usually, the barefoot doctor, who practiced both traditional Chinese and Western medicine, would prescribe some medicine to treat illnesses.

When the doctor arrived, he looked at Jin Hong's face, then pulled back his eyelids to examine him, took his pulse, and felt his arms and legs. He said, "It looks like he fell from a great height. It's lucky he wasn't completely shattered from that height, but all four limbs are broken! He also has a broken rib. You can take him back." Several people busied themselves around him, while the little dog barked happily around Jin Hong. Jin Hui called out, "A-Tu, stop making trouble, come here!" The little dog let out a pitiful whimper, its big black eyes looking innocently at Jin Hui.

After carrying Jin Hong to the village, the doctor treated him with some simple methods and then said, "Let's send him to the hospital. If we delay any longer, he could die."

This doctor was known in the village as "Doctor Bu San" because he had a habit of saying that minor ailments would be cured in three days. It was quite miraculous. Seeing his serious expression, Jin Hui remained silent, gathered a few people, and prepared to take Jin Hong to the hospital.

At this moment, Jin Hong woke up and spoke in a low voice.

Jin Hui couldn't hear clearly, so he put his ear close to Jin Hong's mouth to hear him. Jin Hong said, "In my right pocket, there's an envelope. Inside the envelope is an address book and a piece of cloth. Take this cloth and go find the first person in the address book. It's extremely urgent, go quickly!" After saying that, he lost consciousness again.

Jin Hui indeed found an envelope in his pocket, but it had been soaked in water and blood, and the address book and cloth inside were now illegible. Taking it out, he carefully separated the pages that were stuck together, barely able to make out the writing: Jin Yan? Then, he unfolded the blood-stained cloth and found a strange pattern on it, which he couldn't decipher. But hearing Jin Hong still thinking about it even in this critical moment, he had no choice but to hurry to the station. The little dog had been squatting beside them, watching them thoughtfully.

Because the village was located in a remote area, it took Jin Hui more than two hours to reach the station. When he arrived at the station, he discovered that Atu had followed him all the way there. He tried to send it back, but it refused to go back, so Jin Hui had no choice but to take Atu with him.

When Jin Hui boarded the bus, the ticket seller stopped him and said that pets were not allowed on the bus. Jin Hui pleaded with her and even offered to buy an extra ticket before the ticket seller finally agreed to let him bring his dog onto the painting.

Jin Hong never expected that getting on the train would take him to Fuyang, Hangzhou! Jin Hui finally arrived after a long and bumpy night's journey, but finding someone in this huge city wasn't easy. After a night of commotion, A Tu seemed too weak to walk. Jin Hui held A Tu in his arms, standing on the edge of this unfamiliar city, unsure of where to begin.

Everything in the room was spinning, and as Bai Fang watched, her head grew increasingly dizzy. It felt like being inside a centrifuge, endlessly spinning, her head heavy, and all the blood in her body rushing backward. Just as she felt she couldn't hold on any longer, Bai Fang cried out in her heart, "Jin Yan, come quick! I can't take it anymore!" At that moment, all the blood rushed to her head, and with a deafening boom, Bai Fang felt as if a thunderbolt had exploded above her head. Suddenly, a clarity returned, and she felt a warm, comforting sensation slowly flowing down her body, like being in the winter sun, a gentle spring breeze, or a cool summer wind. Bai Fang felt an urge to burst into song. But she was already exhausted, and before she could even feel joy, she lost consciousness.

When she woke up again, she was startled awake by a series of loud knocks on the door. Bai Fang looked and saw that the light was still on and there was a person standing outside, who turned out to be Jin Yan.

It turned out that after returning home, Jin Yan was lost in thought, pondering the incredible events of the day, unable to sleep. Suddenly, he felt an overwhelming sense of urgency, like a soldier facing imminent battle. Just as he was wondering what was happening, he seemed to hear Bai Fang's voice calling his name. Without hesitation, he jumped on his bike and rushed towards Bai Fang's dormitory. Although he had never been to Bai Fang's dormitory before, at that moment, as if possessed, he didn't consider the route. When he stopped, he realized it was Bai Fang's school. The old man at the gatehouse was already asleep. Jin Yan sneaked in through the side door, not wanting to disturb anyone. When he arrived at Bai Fang's dormitory, he found it brightly lit, everything in disarray, and Bai Fang seemingly collapsed on the bed. In a panic, he quickly knocked on the door, not caring if the noise would disturb anyone. Fortunately, it was already midnight, and the campus was quiet, with only the cold moonlight shining on the half-withered grass on the playground. Although his voice was loud, it didn't wake anyone.

Bai Fang got up and opened the door, asking Jin Yan, "What are you doing here so late?"

Jin Yan said, "I think I heard you calling me, and it was very urgent, so I rushed over." Bai Fang glanced at the time and realized that only a little over an hour had passed since the dizzying moment. She then remembered calling for Jin Yan in her panic. Of course, she wasn't entirely clear why she had called for him at the time, but now she understood. She smiled and said, "I'm fine. I encountered some danger earlier, but I'm alright now. Why don't you go back to sleep? We have distinguished guests coming tomorrow."

After seeing Jin Yan off, Bai Fang sat down to meditate and regulate her breathing. After circulating her Qi for a week, she felt completely comfortable, and all the anxiety and fright she had felt in the past few days disappeared.

Bai Fang saw that it was still early, so she turned off the lights and went to rest.

While asleep, he unconsciously began to practice his skills again. His entire body shimmered with a precious light, and from a distance, Bai Fang seemed to be no ordinary person! The entire room, which was originally pitch black, was illuminated wherever the precious light emanating from Bai Fang reached!

On his way back, Jin Yan pondered his actions again, utterly astonished. Why did he seem to hear Bai Fang calling him? The voice was clear and distinct; Jin Yan knew it wasn't a hallucination or a dream. Even stranger, how did he know where Bai Fang lived? This city wasn't particularly large, nor was it small; finding a school wasn't easy. Furthermore, finding a teacher's dormitory in such a vast campus wasn't simple either. How could he have found it so easily, as if by magic?

Considering what happened this afternoon, Jin Yan felt increasingly perplexed. Could it be that what Jin Hong and Bai Fang said was actually true? Was all the scientific and cultural knowledge he had received over the years not entirely accurate?

Then, recalling Bai's mysterious smile from earlier, I couldn't help but want to turn my bike around and go back to find out what was going on! After walking a few steps, I remembered that it was late at night, and such an action would be inappropriate, so I had to suppress my curiosity and ride my bike back.

After lying down, Jin Yan, despite his good constitution, was exhausted from a long day and quickly fell asleep. He vaguely wondered who it could be, as Bai Fang had said a distinguished guest would be coming tomorrow. Then he drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up, it was still early. Because I was so nervous, although I was very sleepy, I couldn't sleep for long. Seeing that my parents were still sleeping, I quietly got up and went out for my morning exercise.

He had just reached the door when he found Bai Fang standing outside, smiling broadly, her demeanor and bearing seemingly quite different from yesterday. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was different.

Before he could ask a question, Bai Fang smiled and said, "Come on, let's go pick up the guests!"

A guest? Jin Yan was confused as Bai Fang dragged him toward the station.

After Jin Hui got out of the car, he looked around, unsure of what to do, when he saw two people approaching from the opposite direction, a man and a woman, seemingly heading towards him. The man looked a little confused, seemingly clueless, and was clearly very strong. The woman was tall and slender, appearing rather quiet, but her bright eyes smiled at him, making Jin Hui feel somewhat awkward. A-Tu, on the other hand, didn't seem unfamiliar, barking and rushing towards Bai Fang. Its two cute little paws landed squarely on Bai Fang's pants, leaving several marks. Bai Fang smiled and squatted down, stroking the dog's curly fur, but her eyes were fixed on Jin Hui. Jin Yan looked at the boy before him, still somewhat confused as to why Bai Fang had asked him to pick him up so early in the morning. Jin Hui had fair skin, thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a head of thick, black hair. His most striking feature was his elegant and composed demeanor; even after a night's journey, he still appeared so carefree and energetic. Jin Yan felt a pang of jealousy; how could someone be so elegant when they were both men?

Bai Fang stood up, holding Atu, and said, "What are you all standing there for? Let's go."

Jin Hui hurriedly asked, "Who are you? Why are you here to pick me up?"

Bai Fang laughed and said, "I'm a genius; I knew today that a big fool named Jin Hui would come looking for Jin Yan."

"What?" Jin Hui and Jin Yan exclaimed at the same time, and then asked Bai Fang in unison, "How did you know?"

Bai Fang smiled and said, "Let's go back first. Don't make a fuss here and attract attention." Jin Yan turned around and saw that, sure enough, the few people at the station were all looking in this direction.

The three of them got into a taxi and headed towards Bai Fang's school.

As they looked at the scenery on both sides of the road, Jin Hui gave a brief explanation of the situation. Upon hearing that some strange patterns had appeared on the cloth, Jin Yan couldn't help but say, "We didn't see anything like that when we looked at it at home," and urged Jin Hui to take it out and have a look.

Jin Hui reached into his pocket, just as he took out the cloth and unfolded it, before he could even examine it closely, a gust of wind blew in from afar. Bai Fang cried out, "Watch out!" and reached out to protect the cloth, but before her hand could even reach it, the wind suddenly swept the cloth up from inside the carriage and carried it away into the distance. A Tu also kept shouting at the wind.

Bai Fang lowered her head, pondered for a long while, then told the driver to stop and got out of the car. A-Tu kept barking, so Jin Hui had no choice but to let it out, and he and Jin Yan went back to school first. Bai Fang found a secluded spot, found an old-looking willow tree, pricked her finger, and used her blood to draw a fire pattern on a branch. Then she used her internal energy to force the blood deep into the bark. A-Tu silently squatted under the tree, obediently watching Bai Fang's every move.

Bai Fang continued to circulate her energy, and her body emitted a dazzling golden light that was impossible to look directly at. To prevent others from accidentally entering, a barrier had already been set up around the area to prevent humans from entering.

The brighter the light, the more violently the willow branches and leaves twisted, until gradually even the leaves seemed to wither!

As the leaves hissed and emitted white smoke, a cry of pain rang out, and Liu Hong appeared beneath the tree, pale and writhing in agony. Bai Fang said, "Hand over that painting!" Liu Hong shook her head, too pained to speak. Bai Fang was furious. "It seems I must use the Samadhi Fire to refine you into ordinary wood before you tell the truth!" Liu Hong's face was filled with pain and despair, still unable to utter a word.

Bai Fang was truly enraged; the mole between her brows seemed to blaze like a flame, threatening to burn Liu Hong to ashes. "Amitabha!" A Daoist chant rang out, and in a flash, an old Daoist with white beard and eyebrows appeared before Bai Fang's eyes. Bai Fang quickly bowed and asked, "May I ask what brings you here, sir?"

The old Taoist priest said, "This time, you've wronged Liu Hong! That Five Elements Formation Diagram wasn't taken by Liu Hong." "Then who was it?" the old priest chuckled. "This person has quite a history with you! Do you remember the person who trapped you yesterday?" Bai Fang nodded. The old priest said, "That's the person who took the diagram. But don't worry, he had no ill intentions in taking it."

Suddenly, A-Tu barked again. It turned out that Liu Hong was lying on the ground, groaning incessantly, her breath growing weaker. Bai Fang knew she was also one of the Five Elements, and that she had acted this way because the white horse had corrupted her nature. She smiled at the old Taoist priest and said, "Wood generates fire, and fire overcomes wood. To save her, we can only use the element of water!" Unfortunately, the water was trapped, and they hadn't yet thought of a way to rescue her. What could they do?

The old Taoist chuckled, tapped Bai Fang's head, and said, "You little rascal, you've taken a fancy to my Ganlu again? Aren't you being far too biased towards Liu Hong? She's caused you so much trouble, yet you want to help her?"

Bai Fang smiled and said, "Great Bodhisattva Guanyin, please have mercy on me!"

The old Taoist priest laughed loudly, then turned around, revealing himself to be the Bodhisattva Guanyin of the South Sea, a savior from suffering! With a light tap of her willow branch, Liu Hong instantly regained her vitality and radiated energy, clearly demonstrating that her power had increased several times over! Liu Hong rose and slowly bowed to the Bodhisattva, expressing her gratitude for saving her life!

The Bodhisattva said, "This is not my doing; you should thank Bai Fang!" Liu Hong sighed helplessly and turned to bow to Bai Fang again. She had understood earlier that the Bodhisattva's blessing of the nectar belonged entirely to Bai Fang, and she was quite grateful. The Bodhisattva looked at the two of them, smiled, and disappeared.

Bai Fang said, "Good sister, let's not stand on ceremony. Right now, rescuing Jiang Hong is the priority! Let's find a place to discuss this properly." With that, she and Liu Hong started walking away, with A Tu barking happily behind them.

Back in the dormitory, Jin Yan and Jin Hui were sitting there staring at each other, lost in thought. Bai Fang led Liu Hong into the room, and A Tu, without any hesitation, jumped onto Bai Fang's bed and left several dirty footprints on the mosquito net. Bai Fang was both amused and exasperated. She made a few cups of tea, and then they all sat down around the table.

Bai Fang asked Liu Hong, "Do you know who took the Five Elements Formation Diagram?" Liu Hong replied, "It might be my second uncle." "Your second uncle?" the three asked in surprise.

Liu Hong nodded. It turned out that when she descended to the mortal realm, she had inadvertently been reborn in Baima Town. Baima, already restless, ordered Hu Chengtian—the ghost who had trapped Bai Fang at Jin Hong's house that day—to steal Liu Hong away. Liu Hong's parents, unable to find their daughter, gave up. Liu Hong grew up under Hu Chengtian's care, and out of fear of Baima's power, she addressed Hu Chengtian as her uncle. Because of their different circumstances, Liu Hong's magic had become quite advanced, and because of Baima and Hu Chengtian's kindness in raising her, she had committed many heinous acts for Baima. Now, there was no area in the city that Baima's influence couldn't reach! Wherever there were trees, souls could come and go freely. So many students who had accidents at the school had their souls absorbed by the trees and were now at Baima's mercy. Bai Fang asked, "Weren't there only two students who were unconscious?" Liu Hong looked ashamed and said, "Now, the entire Baima Village is completely under Baima's control!"

Bai Fang sighed, unable to bear blaming Liu Hong.

Looking at the two people in front of her who were still clueless, Bai Fang couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Jiang Hong's whereabouts were still unknown, as were Jin Hui, Jin Yan, Jin Hong lying in the hospital, and Fenghuang, who was on the verge of death. Bai Fang felt utterly overwhelmed. Suddenly, the phone rang. It turned out that the rat-eyed Principal Zhang wanted to see her again. Bai Fang didn't want to go, but she was still worried about the students. In the current situation, she couldn't afford to fall out with him. So, she patted Liu Hong on the shoulder and said, "I'm leaving things here in your care!" She winked and pointed to Jin Hui and Jin Hong.

A-Tu didn't know where Bai Fang was going, and barked happily, wanting to follow her out. Jin Hui stopped A-Tu.

Bai Fang's dormitory was in a corner of the campus, right next to the playground. Usually, besides morning exercises and students playing soccer after class, it was rarely there. Further west from the playground was the office building. A few students were walking behind her, and Bai Fang heard one of them say, "Have you ever been to the sixth floor of the office building?" The others replied, "No." Bai Fang found this strange and slowed her pace. She heard the student continue, "I don't know why, but every time someone goes up, they get scared and run back down. Once, the entire fifth-grade class went up, but they still didn't dare go in."

Bai Fang was quite puzzled. Could it be that things were already quite unsettled on campus?

Principal Zhang, still the same as always, asked insincerely, "How's work going? Are you satisfied? Are you getting used to life in Baima?"

Bai Fang said, "It's alright, it's pretty good." But in her heart, she wished she could kick him through the glass and send him flying downstairs.

After going around in circles, Principal Zhang finally said that he didn't know what had happened, but everyone who returned from Baima, except for Bai Fang, had fallen into a coma and was currently hospitalized. The doctors couldn't find the cause. Bai Fang had been to Baima and knew the situation well, so he hoped she could assist in the investigation.

Bai Fang nodded in agreement and went back to her dormitory.

As night fell, Jin Yan took Jin Hui home to rest, while Liu Hong also slipped away to avoid arousing Bai Ma's suspicion and prompting him to act prematurely.

After eating a bowl of rice noodles at a stall outside the school gate, Bai Fang returned to her office to surf the internet. Her office was on the fifth floor; the top floor, the sixth, was empty, and she hadn't heard of anyone going up there—she wondered what it was for. Before she knew it, it was almost midnight. Suddenly, Bai Fang heard a clattering sound from upstairs, like a chair being dragged. Bai Fang thought, "Oh, maybe they're tired of watching TV and are just moving their chair to change positions." Just as she was vaguely thinking this, she suddenly had a jolt of realization: Wait a minute, the floor upstairs is empty! How could someone be dragging a chair like that?!

She hurried downstairs. The night air was thick with yin energy, and Bai Fang felt quite apprehensive. Suddenly, she heard the clatter of slippers outside, and Bai Fang broke out in a cold sweat. Facing the computer screen, she suddenly felt a strange sensation behind her, especially a chill running down the back of her head. Bai Fang dared not turn around, silently chanting, "Demons arise from the heart; may all strange phenomena vanish quickly!"

The feeling was gone, and Bai Fang quickly went outside. Nothing seemed amiss. She didn't dare take the elevator, so she hurried down the stairs. Reaching the half-open door on the second floor, a black cat with bright green eyes suddenly darted out with a whoosh. Bai Fang felt a gust of cold wind, and then all the lights went out. Luckily, the emergency exit indicator was still on, and she was already on the second floor. Bai Fang ran down the stairs as fast as she could. Even after she was a distance away, she was still shaken.

They were almost at the dormitory when Bai Fang looked back at the office building and saw the sixth floor. Yes, it was the sixth floor. A green light flashed!

Bai Fang didn't dare to linger and rushed back to her dormitory!

Bai Fang returned to her dormitory, feeling utterly exhausted. After a long day, she was truly weary and wanted to rest early. However, worried that something might disturb her sleep, she rummaged around the room and found a Bible, a Tao Te Ching, and a Diamond Sutra. Bai Fang smiled; this was the benefit of having a wide range of interests. She placed a Diamond Sutra on top of her bed, a Bible under her pillow, and a Tao Te Ching on the table beside her bed, then peacefully drifted off to sleep.

Unexpectedly, she couldn't sleep soundly. As soon as she drifted off to sleep, she vaguely found herself back in that vast expanse of white fog. Bai Fang looked around, but all she could see was the endless white fog. With that in mind, she wasn't too panicked.

Another thicker fog rolled in, and Hu Chengtian appeared. Bai Fang took a few steps back warily. Hu Chengtian smiled sadly, "You don't need to hide from me. I treated you that way the other day out of desperation. Now that I know your identity, how could I possibly harm you again?" He then extended his hand. Bai Fang noticed that his little finger's knuckles were also turned outwards. She asked, "Could it be that you were also disobedient as a child and got your hands slapped by your teacher too many times?"

Hu Chengtian smiled bitterly, "Back then, being able to eat my fill was a great blessing, how could I possibly go to school?" Bai Fang asked, "Then, how did your fingers get like this?"

Hu Chengtian laughed and scolded, "Silly girl, do you really think your finger was hit by the teacher? Do you even remember what your mother's hand looks like?"

Bai Fang recalled carefully that her mother's hands seemed very rough, and the joints of her little fingers appeared to be slightly turned outwards. Looking at her own hands, she noticed that the joints of both little fingers were also turned outwards, and exclaimed in surprise, "Could you be my great-uncle?"

Hu Chengtian nodded with tears in his eyes.

It turned out that after the Battle of Huangqiao, Hu Chengtian had come to this place with his troops. Unexpectedly, while crossing the river, he was struck in the chest by shrapnel. He didn't die instantly but was carried to Baima Temple. Due to a lack of medical supplies, he suffered for a long time before finally dying. None of his brothers who fought that day survived. After their deaths, they were buried not far from Baima Temple, but the temple seemed to be haunting them, trapping their souls and preventing them from being reborn, turning them into puppets of Baima. "Poor thing, separated from their hometown for decades, they can't even go back to see their parents in death!" Hu Chengtian said, tears streaming down his face. Among these soldiers, Hu Chengtian held the highest rank. To win their hearts, Baima had him become sworn brothers, and at Baima's behest, he stole Liu Hong and trapped water, one of the five elements. That day, he was ordered by Baima to end Bai Fang's life, but Hu Chengtian recognized him as his brother's junior and spared Bai Fang's life.

Upon hearing this, Bai Fang had no more doubts and exclaimed, "Grandpa!" Hu Chengtian was also moved to tears, unable to contain his excitement.

Bai Fang, recalling what had just happened, asked again, "Was it you, sir, who was on the sixth floor of the office building?" Hu Chengtian seemed completely unaware and shook his head in denial. Hu Chengtian then urged Bai Fang to tell the story of her parents and maternal grandparents, and Bai Fang recounted everything she could remember.

As dawn approached, Bai Fang remembered something else and asked, "Was it you who took the Five Elements Formation Diagram from that day?"

Hu Chengtian quickly took out the cloth and handed it to Bai Fang. Bai Fang unfolded the Five Elements Array Diagram. It turned out that this diagram was woven from a rare fabric, and the images were drawn on it using a special material that required soaking in human blood for the images to become visible. Seeing that the images were still unclear, Bai Fang gritted her teeth, pricked her finger, squeezed out some blood, and smeared it on the drawing. Finally, the images gradually became clear, and strange characters appeared. Bai Fang couldn't recognize a single one and was extremely anxious.

Music started playing over the loudspeaker outside, and Hu Chengtian got up to say goodbye. Bai Fang was about to try to stop him when she tripped over the table, stumbled, and woke up instantly. At first, she thought she was dreaming and tried to get up, but then she felt a sharp pain in her finger. She had accidentally touched the spot where she had just cut herself. Looking down at her right hand, she realized she was holding the Five Elements Array Diagram!

Bai Fang quickly unfolded the picture, and it turned out to be exactly the same as what she had seen in her dream!

I quickly and carefully drew down the text, intending to study it further after meeting other people.

As soon as it was light, Bai Fang hurried out to find Jin Yan and Jin Hui. There weren't many pedestrians on the road yet, and no one noticed Bai Fang going out.

When they arrived at Jin Yan's house, they found the door locked, so they had no choice but to wait outside. After all, it wasn't very polite to knock on the door so early in the morning.

A moment later, the door opened. It turned out that Jin Yan's parents were going to their early shift and were pushing their bicycles out. When they saw Bai Fang, they smiled knowingly at her. Bai Fang's face turned red instantly, but fortunately, she wasn't the type to have a very delicate face, so she just smiled and it passed.

Upon entering, they found the two of them still fast asleep, only A-Tu jumping around excitedly when he saw Bai Fang arrive. Bai Fang looked around and spotted a copper basin in the corner of the room. She picked it up and slapped it a few times, mischievously shouting, "The Japanese have entered the village!" They jumped up as if they'd heard a thunderclap. This time, it was Bai Fang's turn to feel embarrassed.

After the two had dressed and washed up, Bai Fang spread out the writing she had drawn, and the three of them sat down to look at it. As soon as Jin Hui saw the writing, he asked, "Where did you get this?" Bai Fang smiled and said, "It's from the piece of cloth that Jin Hong asked you to bring."

Jin Hui didn't inquire about the reasons and began to study them carefully. It turned out that although Jin Hui was born in a remote mountain village, his ancestors had once held high-ranking official positions. Later, due to their integrity and uprightness, they were framed by treacherous officials, which led them to live in seclusion with their families, finding joy only in teaching their children to read and supporting themselves through farming. Their life was simple but stable. Therefore, Jin Hui came from a family with a strong scholarly tradition and was quite knowledgeable about these ancient characters. Moreover, his own ambition was archaeology, so he became completely engrossed in looking at these characters.

Seeing him like this, Bai Fang and Jin Yan didn't disturb him. Bai Fang started talking about the strange things that happened last night, and Jin Yan was also puzzled. As the two were talking, Jin Hui suddenly laughed and said, "I understand!" Bai Fang quickly asked him what he understood.

Jin Hui chuckled and said, "I don't know who wrote this. The writing is a bit disjointed. It says something about how the White Horse rebelled before, but it was eventually quelled. If the White Horse were to rebel a third time, it would be unstoppable. Only the Five Elements Master could subdue it by setting up the Five Elements Formation." It also included an explanation of the diagram, how to set up the formation, and how to operate it. Bai Fang thought, "That's exactly it." But she had a question: "What kind of script is this? Why don't I recognize it?" Jin Hui smiled and said, "It's written in a long-lost script called Nüshu. Nüshu was created by women in their boudoirs, but fewer and fewer people knew it, and it eventually became lost. I still have a scroll written in Nüshu at home, with Chinese annotations next to it, so although no one taught me, I can recognize the characters."

Bai Fang thought to herself, "What a close call! If Jin Hong hadn't encountered Jin Hui in danger and hadn't been able to send the array diagram back, this hurdle would have been much harder to overcome!"

However, although the array diagram has been found and the text has been deciphered, there are still a few people who do not yet know magic, so the array still cannot be set up. He himself was fortunate to have survived countless hardships and dangers without being crushed; instead, these dangers awakened his dormant potential, restoring his magical power. So how can he awaken the potential of the others?

Having racked her brains but unable to come up with an effective solution, Bai Fang had no choice but to put the matter aside for the time being. She said, "Jin Hui, you're new here, let me take you to try some of the famous local snacks." Then she said to Jin Yan, "You call this morning tea, right?" Jin Yan smiled.