Chapter 1464: Finding Soil Acupoint Locating Formation
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Chapter 1462: Finding Soil Acupoint Locating Formation
The Yin Qi just now was extremely heavy with Resentment, chilling one to the bone.
Although Iron Mountain Tiger and the others couldn’t see it with their naked eyes, they could sense that the Yin Qi seemed to contain some unknown, malevolent aura of Evil Spirits.
Under the Cultivation System established by the Dao Court, ordinary cultivators had almost no defensive capabilities against such formless, Yin-based Evil Spirits.
For the past twenty thousand years, the Cultivation World had been peaceful, living beings had multiplied, Demon Sects had retreated into hiding, and Evil Spirits avoided the light.
Under the clear sky and bright sun, the vast majority of cultivators would never encounter formless Evil Spirits in their entire lives. Even if they did, their naked eyes couldn’t see the Yin-based malevolence.
If the eyes couldn’t see it, they treated it as non-existent.
The Divine-Sense of ordinary cultivators also found it very difficult to “perceive” Evil Spirits.
Therefore, while most cultivators in the world knew of Demonic Cultivators and Yao Cultivators, they had no clear concept of formless Evil Spirits, Yin Ghosts, or Deities.
Iron Mountain Tiger and his two companions were a bit different from ordinary people.
They were Tomb Raiders, dealing with things underground all year round, so they believed a little in the “evil.”
They knew that in this world, there were some terrifying ghostly entities that couldn’t be seen with the naked eye and couldn’t be sensed by Divine-Sense.
And these weren’t “Earth Ghosts.”
Although Earth Ghosts were called ghosts, they ultimately still had form.
What was truly terrifying were certain ghosts that transcended physical form, the formless ones.
Right at that moment, Mo Hua, wearing the Ghost Mask, turned his head to look at the group, especially glancing at Zhōu jǐn.
Zhōu jǐn felt as if he had seen a Living Wúcháng, his entire body trembling slightly.
Iron Mountain Tiger and the other two, however, were more concerned about Mo Hua and asked, “Big Brother, are you… alright?”
Mo Hua nodded, “I’m fine.”
“Just now…” Iron Mountain Tiger looked Mo Hua over, shocked, “That ferocious Yin Qi from the coffin didn’t harm you?”
Mo Hua nodded, pointing to his Ghost Mask, and said, “This Ghost Mask of mine is a treasure; it can block Yin Evil.”
Hearing this, Iron Mountain Tiger and the other two were stunned for a moment, then they all breathed sighs of relief, clicking their tongues in admiration:
“As expected of Big Brother Black-Faced Fiend, you really have many methods.”
“Bright Fire can ward off ghosts.”
(TN: Reference to Chapter 1450: Extermination)
“Ghost Mask can block evil.”
“We’ve learned something.”
Zhōu jǐn looked at these men with a bewildered expression, not understanding what nonsense they were spouting.
Mo Hua, however, didn’t say much more at this point. He just looked at the opened coffin, his brows slightly furrowed beneath the mask.
The others also realized the key was that coffin and stepped forward one after another, lowering their heads to look inside.
At this sight, they all gasped, then covered their noses and mouths.
“A corpse?”
“What the hell… is this corpse? Why is it so fragmented, so many pieces? And so many tails?”
“Is this… rats?”
Inside the coffin was a pile of dead rats, a dense mass of rotten flesh filling the entire coffin, emitting a foul stench.
“Was Old Rich Zhou’s corpse eaten by rats?” Pangolin asked.
Iron Mountain Tiger took out a spare spear and poked at the rotten meat in the coffin, shaking his head. “There are only rats, no human bones.”
“So that means…” Skinny Cicada said, “This coffin wasn’t meant for burying a person; it was originally used to bury dead rats?”
The men looked at each other.
At that moment, Zhou Jin muttered softly, “Five granaries… a treasure-gathering arrangement…”
Though his voice was low, Mo Hua still heard it and asked, “What arrangement?”
Zhou Jin initially wanted to say “nothing,” but under Mo Hua’s gaze, his heart felt heavy, and in the end, he didn’t conceal it, saying: “Five Granaries Gathering Treasure… is a Feng Shui arrangement.”
“‘Granary’ refers to rats. To avoid taboo, some traditions revere rats as the ‘Granary God.'”
“And rats, burrowing into the earth to make their homes and stealing grain to survive, are parasitic creatures skilled in theft.”
“Parasitism and theft—this is the Dao of a rat’s nature.”
“Thus, there are those who use rats… to set up Feng Shui arrangements. They let the rats act on their behalf, stealing others’ wealth and fortune to ‘bring blessings’ upon themselves.”
Zhou Jin’s face turned pale. “To set up this Feng Shui arrangement, one must first trap the rats in narrow coffins and subject them to cruel torture, transforming the rats’ resentment into a kind of ‘Yin Evil.’ Then, through some unknown method, it is guided. Once this ‘Rat Balefulness’ is cultivated, it can independently steal the qi and fortune of the living and spread calamities and plagues.”
“Once a living person is touched by this Rat Balefulness, they will likely fall ill for no reason. Since it is an intangible balefulness, the afflicted person generally won’t know where the illness came from or where the root of the disease lies. In the end, they can only die miserably amidst torment and suffering.”
As Zhou Jin spoke to this point, he seemed to recall how his parents and younger brother had suffered such agony before their deaths. He couldn’t help but clench his fists, his eyes bloodshot.
Iron Mountain Tiger and the others, upon hearing this, were greatly outraged and cursed:
“That Old Dog Zhou, he’s truly wicked!”
“Even we tomb raiders are wicked enough, but no matter what, we only seek the wealth of the dead—wealth the dead can no longer use, which we take for ourselves.”
“But this Old Dog Zhou, in pursuit of blessings, actually used such sinister methods to bring disaster upon an entire village. He truly deserves to die!”
Mo Hua’s gaze was equally cold and stern.
However, he glanced at Zhou Jin and suddenly had a thought, somewhat surprised as he said, “You know… quite a lot.”
Zhou Jin actually recognized the Feng Shui pattern of the Five Granaries Gathering Treasure.
Zhou Jin smiled bitterly and sighed, “After learning from that geomancer that the deaths of my closest kin had hidden circumstances, I exhausted all my efforts to study the knowledge of Feng Shui for a long time. Much of what I know was also learned from that geomancer… However, in the end, I only grasped the surface and couldn’t uncover Old Rich Zhou’s true roots.”
Zhou Jin wore a look of deep frustration.
Mo Hua nodded slightly.
Iron Mountain Tiger turned to Mo Hua and said, “Big Brother, what do we do now? Should we dig up the other four coffins?”
“Could Old Rich Zhou be buried in one of those coffins?”
Instead of answering, Mo Hua looked at Zhou Jin and asked, “What do you think?”
Zhou Jin thought for a moment and shook his head: “Unlikely. Five Granaries Gathering Treasure, as the name suggests, involves five rat coffins. So, the five burial sites discovered likely all contain rats.”
“Old Rich Zhou’s actual coffin should be hidden elsewhere.”
Mo Hua pondered for a moment and said, “That may be true, but we still need to dig up these rat coffins to verify their authenticity.”
Zhou Jin nodded, “Yes.”
Afterward, Mo Hua took the lead and had Iron Mountain Tiger and the others work together to dig up the remaining four rat coffins.
Mo Hua had the four men step further away, then opened all four dark damp iron coffins himself.
Inside the coffins were indeed all rotting dead rats, with an extremely heavy Yin Baleful Qi.
However, this Yin Baleful Qi could not harm Mo Hua in the slightest.
Iron Mountain Tiger suppressed his disgust as he examined the coffins, his frown deepening and his confusion growing: “My brothers and I have already searched every place in this vicinity where the Earth Qi is Yin-heavy and corpses might be hidden.”
“But aside from these five rat coffins, there’s nothing else.”
“Where on earth could Old Rich Zhou be buried?”
Not only Iron Mountain Tiger, but Skinny Cicada and Pangolin were also at a loss.
As for Zhōu jǐn, if he could have found Old Rich Zhou’s grave, he would have dug it up and whipped the corpse long ago, and certainly wouldn’t have called Mo Hua and the others.
After pondering for a moment, Mo Hua said to the group, “Spread out, go farther away, and look for any other clues.”
Iron Mountain Tiger and the others nodded, “Yes, big brother.”
Zhōu jǐn glanced at Mo Hua but said nothing.
Afterward, the men dispersed.
Once everyone had moved far enough away, Mo Hua took out some Spirit Ink, found a clear patch of ground, and drew a series of ghostly talisman-like patterns on the earth.
These patterns were precisely the half-baked “Imperial Decree to Ghosts” document he had learned by imitation.
But after drawing for a long time, there was still no movement from beneath the earth—no ghosts appeared, nor did the Earth God he had been longing for.
“The decree is useless… is there no local Earth God?”
“Or perhaps I drew this ghostly talisman wrong again?”
After all, he was essentially drawing blindly, and the patterns he produced each time were somewhat different.
Surely… the Earth God isn’t avoiding me, is he?
Mo Hua shook his head, feeling somewhat regretful. It seemed his plan of “when in doubt, ask the Earth God” wouldn’t work for now.
Since there was no Earth God to help, he could only rely on himself.
After some thought, Mo Hua smeared away the “ghostly talisman” Imperial Edict Document on the ground. Then he took out a bottle of Third-Grade mid-tier Earth-Element Goldthread Spirit Ink and, using Divine Sense Ink Control, began drawing a slightly peculiar yet resonating Variant Formation on the ground that corresponded with the Earth Qi:
Third-Grade Finding Soil Acupoint Locating Formation.
This was also one of the Top-Secret Earth-Ground Formation Inheritances Mo Hua had obtained from that Shadow Division Formation Master.
The Finding Soil Acupoint Locating Formation could determine the gathering and dispersion of Feng Shui and the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of the terrain by analyzing the land’s configuration and the flow of Earth Qi.
This was Mo Hua’s first time drawing such an Earth-Ground Formation, but the effect turned out to be surprisingly good.
After Mo Hua finished drawing, he used the changes in the various Formation Patterns within the array to perceive the flow and trends of the Earth Qi throughout Little Zhou Village and the nearby barren hills.
In his mind, he compared this with the Feng Shui terrain, each reflecting the other.
A certain profound insight regarding Earth Qi flowed through Mo Hua’s heart.
Mo Hua immersed himself in this state, unaware of how much time had passed. His eyes slightly opened, with faint golden-yellow light flickering in their depths, giving him a sense of clarity, as if clouds had parted to reveal the truth.
When he looked around again, Qi and form merged, the formation and reality fused.
The Earth Qi, terrain, flow of Feng Shui, and shifts between auspicious and inauspicious in Little Zhou Village all leaped vividly before his eyes, clear in every detail.
“So this is… the ultimate unique art of the Earth Sect.”
No wonder the Earth Sect kept such formations so deeply hidden, never passing them on.
In a sense, these Earth-Ground Formations were practically “cheating.”
Mo Hua had only used it for the first time, yet he already gained such a profound and penetrating sense of the flow of Earth Qi, truly feeling it was beyond comprehension.
Moreover, this was only the first Earth-Ground Formation, relatively conventional.
There were still many Earth-Ground Formations that sounded even more sinister, like the “Murky Soil Spiritual Disrupting Formation,” “Earth-Breaking Mountain-Splitting Formation,” “Sinking Soil Life-Slaying Formation”… none of which he had tried yet.
“The Earth Sect has nurtured so many people over the years, built such a large influence… they truly possess genuine substance and excellent heritage.”
In his heart, Mo Hua also felt deep respect for the Earth Sect.
Then he looked at the ink bottle in his hand and sighed slightly.
Although Third-Grade Formations were excellent, the consumption of Spirit Ink was substantial, and the cost was high.
Especially for these Ultimate Unique Earth-Ground Formations of the Earth Sect, their grade wasn’t particularly high, but the consumption was immense, and they were very particular about the Spirit Ink used.
Ordinary Earth-element Spirit Ink simply couldn’t capture the essence of the Earth-Ground Formation.
The Earth-Element Goldthread Spirit Ink in Mo Hua’s possession was also given to him by his little senior sister, essentially obtained by “living off her generosity,” it was by no means cheap.
Precisely because of this, he thought it would be very convenient if he could ask the Earth God for directions, saving himself some Spirit Ink.
After all, all this Spirit Ink was given by his little senior sister, and Mo Hua felt pained using it.
But under the Imperial Decree, not even a shadow of the Earth God appeared, leaving Mo Hua quite helpless.
Mo Hua reviewed the Finding Soil Acupoint Locating Formation once more, firmly memorizing the details of its application and the changes in Earth Qi.
Afterward, he completely erased the traces of the formation on the ground.
Having done all this, Mo Hua tossed a simple fireball into the sky.
In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Iron Mountain Tiger and the other three returned, asking in confusion: “Big Brother Black-Faced Fiend, what’s the matter?”
Mo Hua didn’t explain, only saying, “Follow me.”
Then Mo Hua walked ahead, with the tall and burly Iron Mountain Tiger, along with Zhōu jǐn and the others, silently following behind him.
The group left Little Zhou Village, headed south for a while, reached a desolate mountain, circled around its base a few times, and finally stopped at a small mountain hollow.
Mo Hua pointed at an unremarkable spot at the foot of the mountain and said, “The tomb entrance is right here. Dig down.”
Skinny Cicada sniffed the air, not out of doubt, but purely out of curiosity, and whispered, “Big Brother, this… doesn’t seem right, does it? There’s no Corpse Qi here.”
Pangolin tasted a bit of soil and also said, “The soil is fine too.”
Mo Hua shook his head. “The situation is different. Usually, when searching for tombs, you look for places with heavy Corpse Qi. But this Old Rich Zhou set up a wealth-gathering setup, stealing others’ fortune to nourish his own family’s feng shui. That means the place he’s buried must have good feng shui, a location rich in Earth Qi.”
Mo Hua pointed around: “I just calculated it. This mountain hollow is where Earth Qi converges, and it’s sufficiently hidden.”
“If I were to set up such a deranged Five Rats Treasure-Gathering Setup, I’d probably bury myself in this spot too.”
Iron Mountain Tiger and the others were taken aback, their expressions slightly subtle, feeling that this “Black-Faced Fiend” big brother had an indescribable eerie aura, his presence both righteous and sinister.
Although what he did seemed to be good deeds, the things he said occasionally sent chills down their spines.
What did he mean by “if I were to set up this deranged setup”…
Iron Mountain Tiger swallowed and said, “Let me try digging.”
Whether it was true or not, since Big Brother Black-Faced Fiend had spoken, they had to follow his instructions.
Iron Mountain Tiger was well aware in his heart that without Big Brother Black-Faced Fiend, they would have died in that tomb long ago.
Now, the fact that they could even have a meal to eat was all thanks to Big Brother’s care.
Otherwise, as outsiders and tomb raiders, how could they have found any reliable work so easily in this unfamiliar and expensive Houtu City?
If they were careless, they could easily be tricked or killed.
Now, Big Brother was taking them tomb raiding, giving them an opportunity.
Since Big Brother had spoken, they naturally had to put in their utmost effort.
Without another word, Iron Mountain Tiger channeled his Golden Core Strength, his muscles hardening like refined iron. Following Mo Hua’s instructions, he forcefully split the rocks and began digging deep into the mountain hollow.
When Iron Mountain Tiger grew tired, he would come up to rest, and Pangolin, along with Zhōu jǐn, would take turns digging.
After digging for half an hour, they had excavated most of the mountain hollow and indeed uncovered a tomb passage.
Iron Mountain Tiger threw a punch, blasting open most of the passage.
Inside the tomb passage, there was indeed no intense Corpse Qi. Instead, a faint yellow aura floated within, looking just like a treasure-gathering site.
Seeing this, everyone’s expressions shifted slightly.
Iron Mountain Tiger was even more startled in his heart. He glanced back at Mo Hua, recalling some past events, and couldn’t help but feel that this “Big Brother” Black-Faced Fiend was truly unfathomable. Every judgment he had made along the way had been almost entirely correct.