Chapter 104: Earth Dragon (1 / 2)

Yin messengers, in their former lives, were often martial artists or people who once worked in law enforcement or the judicial system. Many people misunderstand them, thinking there are countless Black and White Impermanence ghosts. But in fact, there are only two true ones—Black Impermanence and White Impermanence—who hold commanding positions in the underworld hierarchy.

They are not the ferocious figures often depicted in films or ghost stories. On the contrary, they have kind, even smiling faces. White Impermanence represents wealth and fortune; Black Impermanence symbolizes peace and order. The long-tongued, terrifying versions on TV are complete fabrications.

As for Ox-Head and Horse-Face—they serve as high-ranking officers. Ox-Head is a general; Horse-Face, a strategist. The troops under their command are largely spirits of animals—beasts and poultry that have been consumed by humans. Because when humans frequently eat these animals, they form what's called a Soul-Binding Chain—a karmic tether that binds the animal to the eater's soul. To break this chain, one must destroy the body multiple times. These troops, composed of highly yin-type entities, are known as the Yin Fiend Army.

Now here comes the real problem—When the Yin guards slashed me with their ghost blades, their yin energy invaded my body.If I don't deal with it immediately, I'll either fall gravely ill—or outright die.

The chaotic shouts in the underground mall completely drowned out the small skirmish I'd just had. No one noticed me being surrounded by Yin messengers and ghost children in the dark.

I gritted my teeth, not daring to relax even for a moment. I quickly pulled out my Five Emperor Coins and hurled them, but unlike ordinary spirits, the Yin guards seemed resistant to this kind of talismanic weapon.

"Release the Dragon Maiden now," one of the guards said coldly, "Don't waste time. If the Bodhisattva becomes displeased, no one can save you."

I didn't respond. I just stared him down, ready to fight to the death.

The Yin guard snorted."Seize him!"

At his command, the eight ghost children sprang from eight different directions. In a panic, I whipped out my Seven-Star Sword, swinging it wildly to create a temporary escape path. But I had overlooked something—one of the Yin guards had flanked around toward Jiang Shiyu!

If he got hold of her, it was over!

I turned back to intercept him, throwing caution to the wind. That gave the little ghosts an opening. One grabbed my ankle. I stumbled, and three others leapt on my back, biting fiercely into me.

Meanwhile, the Yin guard drew his soul-binding chain, wrapping it around Jiang Shiyu and starting to drag her toward the palanquin. I struggled with all my might, but the weight of the ghosts on me held me down. The Yin guard lashed my back with his whip.

CRACK!It felt like my skin was being torn apart.

I screamed from the pain—so loud that it finally drew attention.

"Did someone get hurt?""Don't shove, people! Someone might be dying in here!""Call an ambulance!"

For once, the crowd stopped being chaotic. Some who had been trying to take advantage of the blackout stopped. The tension shifted—people began looking around in concern.

Because Yin messengers aren't allowed to be seen by mortals, they began retreating as the crowd noticed the disturbance.

That moment—was my narrow escape.But it wasn't what I wanted.

Looking back on my conversation with Jiang Shiyu, I realized everything had gone wrong because I desperately tried to make her remember me. And that—had drawn the Yin messengers to her early.

Regret overwhelmed me like a tidal wave.The ghost children lifted the palanquin again, fading into the distance. Their outlines became hazy.

I knew—if I didn't act now, she'd be gone forever.

So, I made a monumental decision.

In Feng Shui teachings, there are three key methods:

Laying the dragon and establishing the burial site

Flying Star Chart formations

Subduing mountains and expelling evil

Now, I was in an underground mall—essentially a man-made tunnel through earth veins, which made this place a subterranean dragon—a "Di Long".

In good Feng Shui, the dragon (earth vein) must align with the water flow, and the water must sit on one of the three auspicious positions. But this was a place where water had long been drained. I wasn't here to build a good Feng Shui pattern anyway.

I was about to unleash a Feng Shui Battle Formation—"Evil Dragon Unleashing Sha Qi!"

The Yin guards were clearing the way ahead.They had used a Soul-Binding Rope to forcibly capture Shiyu's soul.I watched helplessly as the palanquin floated away.

No more waiting.

I pulled out my Luo Pan (geomantic compass) and used the Twenty-Four Mountains and Dual-Mountain Five Element Method to align the Twelve Earthly Branches.

In layman's terms, the compass uses two rules:

Yin forces: rotate clockwise to determine fortune/misfortune

Yang forces: rotate counterclockwise

I used the Yang method—to summon Sha Qi.

I pinpointed the yin-aligned direction and pinned it down with ancient bronze coins.Instantly, the opposing yin-yang energies of the underground corridor reversed.What remained—was pure yang energy.

All the men inside this formation would suddenly feel hot, agitated, and… oddly aroused.

The Earth Dragon aligned with the mountain.The mountain invoked Po Jun (破军), the destructive star of the Northern Dipper.I reversed its flow, using yang to enhance yang, causing the energy to surge north-south—turning the place into a no-go zone for spirits.

The dragon form was set. Now I needed to finish the layout.

Using a peach pit as the formation's eye, I arranged the reversed sequence using guidance from the "Shuo Gua Zhuan" (Commentary on the Trigrams):

Heaven and Earth define positions.Mountains and lakes exchange breath.Thunder and wind clash.Water and fire avoid one another.The eight trigrams interweave.Those who know the past follow forward.Those who understand the future walk backward.Thus, the "Yi" is a reverse-counting method.

—To fight fate itself, I needed to walk backward through time.