Chapter 94: The Fate-Swapping Formation Map
“Recuperating?”
“Mm, a few months ago, I went to Shahe to deal with something. A team member was injured, and I took her to the hospital. I happened to run into Xia Changqing. I thought something had happened to her, but she didn’t say when I asked. It was a rare meeting, so we had a meal together. After a few too many drinks, Xia Changqing let it slip. Although she didn’t directly say that it was Gu Changning who was sick, I felt it was very likely.”
Shen Lan shook her head. “It seems to be quite serious. Otherwise, Xia Changqing wouldn’t have been drinking so sullenly that day. When I first met her, she was a teetotaler. She said it was to keep her mind clear for learning incantation law. This is similar to Hua Changge. Hua Changge also doesn’t drink much when she’s learning spiritual medicine.”
“It’s a pity. Now that Gu Changning is sick, she probably won’t have the chance to advance to ten-coin.”
“It seems I’ve gone a little off-topic,” Shen Lan said, looking at Sang Jing. “Why did you suddenly want to ask about these old matters of the Xuanmen?”
Sang Jing: “I’m a little curious. Then do you know what crime the new chairman who was nominated had committed?”
Shen Lan shook her head. “I don’t know about that. The Xuanmen has no record, and some of the seniors of Tianji don’t know the inside story. I remember that person was a Ghost Master, right? She was in the limelight at that time, a very talented person. It seems she was also from your Sang… from the Sang family.”
Thinking of the relationship between Sang Jing and the Sang family, Shen Lan changed her words in a timely manner.
The Sang family had only produced two geniuses in these few decades. Shen Lan asked in a low voice, “Are you related to that person?”
“Mm, she is my mother. Her name is Sang Cixin,” Sang Jing said calmly.
She knew the rules of the Xuanmen. Anyone who joined the Xuanmen, for whatever reason, would have a clear information file. Even if they were expelled, there would be a classification. And her mother had been nominated by everyone to be the new chairman at that time, but in the end, not even her name was left. There was only one reason: her information had been deliberately erased.
Shen Lan was a little surprised, but she also felt it was reasonable. Only such an outstanding mother would have an equally outstanding daughter.
Now she knew why Sang Jing had asked her these things.
“I’m done eating,” Sang Jing said, putting down her knife and fork and politely thanking Shen Lan. “Thank you.”
Her face, which had been flushed from the two sips of red wine, was now serious as she thanked her for a meal. Shen Lan’s heart itched, and she wanted to reach out and pinch her cheek. If it were a little girl in her team, she would definitely have kneaded her flat and round. Unfortunately, according to seniority, Sang Jing was her little master ancestor.
Forget it. It’s better not to be disrespectful.
“Then let’s go,” Shen Lan said, her eyes filled with anticipation.
Walking the Ghost Gate. Other Xuan Masters would probably only have one chance to walk the Ghost Gate after they died.
“Here.”
Sang Jing gave Shen Lan a talisman.
“What?”
“After the Ghost Gate is the Yin Road. The yin energy is heavy. It’s easy for a living person to get hurt and have their lifespan shortened when they enter the Ghost Gate. It’ll be a little better with this talisman.”
Shen Lan took the talisman and put it on her properly, then she saw Sang Jing take out the Wuchang warrant and cover it with her palm. The surroundings suddenly became cold, and a white mist spread out. A Ghost Gate rose from the cold mist.
A strange thought popped up. Is this Wuchang warrant fingerprint-certified?
Following Sang Jing through the Ghost Gate, Shen Lan understood what she meant by heavy yin energy. It felt like being thrown into a snowfield in a short-sleeved shirt on a hot summer day, and then having a basin of cold water poured on her.
Shen Lan couldn’t help but shiver and hug her bare arms. She was wearing a sleeveless, high-necked top today, which showed off her large chest and thin waist, and her hot figure. But now she only wanted a cotton-padded jacket and pants.
Xie Yu turned her head and glanced at the freezing Shen Lan, then turned to look at Sang Jing.
“Aren’t you cold?”
Shen Lan was also curious. She looked up and had an answer.
Sang Jing was wearing a coat, but she couldn’t be so calm, right!?
“It’s fine once you get used to it,” Sang Jing said, turning to look at Shen Lan. “Are you very cold?”
Shen Lan sniffed and looked at her gratefully, nodding.
What’s wrong? Is she so nice that she’s going to give her her coat?
Sang Jing pursed her lips. “Just bear with it a little longer. We’re almost there.”
Shen Lan: “…”
Xie Yu lowered her head and tried to hold back her laughter.
She knew that the reserved person was not so helpful.
Thinking of what Sang Jing had said to Shen Lan before they had walked through the Ghost Gate, Xie Yu asked her, “Will it really shorten your lifespan? Then you’ve walked it so many times. How many years of your life have you lost?”
The corners of Sang Jing’s lips turned up, and she answered with a straight face, “I’ll probably only live to my thirties.”
“Huh?” Xie Yu’s voice suddenly rose, and she frowned. “Then we won’t walk the Ghost Gate anymore.”
“I’m not even scared. Why are you so nervous? After I die and become a ghost, won’t I still be with you?” Sang Jing was stunned for a moment after she finished speaking. Her mouth was faster than her brain.
Xie Yu hadn’t reacted yet. She bent down and hugged her arm, humming, “I still want to see what you’ll look like when you’re old. You can’t die so early.”
“Wait, did you just say that you’ll be with me even after you become a ghost?”
“You heard wrong.”
Shen Lan, who was following behind, felt her teeth ache.
They weren’t so lovey-dovey before. How long has it been?
Soon, the Ghost Gate opened near the main Sang family.
As soon as she came out of the Ghost Gate, Shen Lan felt that she was alive again.
What a warm world. It was good to be alive.
Seeing the plaque on the main gate of the Sang family, Shen Lan was a little surprised. “Here? Do you need me to do anything?”
Sang Jing shook her head. “No need. Just stand by my side.”
Shen Lan: “Oh.”
So she needed her, the chairman of the Xuanmen, to back her up.
The two of them came to the main gate of the Sang family. Sang Lingfei was just walking out. When she saw Sang Jing, she froze and asked in a cold voice, “What are you doing here?”
She turned her eyes again and saw Shen Lan beside her. Her attitude changed again, and she even knew to bow. “Chairman of Tianxuan.”
Sang Jing said directly, “Chairman Shen has taken a liking to Sang Lingxi and wants to take her back to Tianxuan.”
“Sang Lingxi?”
With Shen Lan present, Sang Lingfei’s attitude was a little more restrained, but not polite. “She was sent back to Donglai a few days ago. You’re in the wrong place.”
With that, Sang Lingfei nodded at Shen Lan and was about to go out.
Her peripheral vision caught sight of Sang Jing about to walk into the Sang family’s courtyard. Sang Lingfei quickly stopped and, not caring if Shen Lan was there or not, frowned impatiently. “I told you she has already been sent back. She’s not at our house anymore.”
Shen Lan, who was beside Sang Jing, spoke at the right time. “I have something to discuss with the head of the Sang family.”
Sang Lingfei was immediately at a loss for words.
Sang Jing and Shen Lan entered the Sang family. Sang Lingfei followed behind them and had already secretly sent a message to the second master of the family.
The Donglai Sang family was indeed not comparable to the main family. The layout and style of the main family were more exquisite, and even the internal room layout had referenced the Bagua diagram. As a famous Metaphysics family in Liangshui, besides the Sang family members, the Sang family also had many disciples.
Walking along the long corridor, one could see the disciples in the schoolroom learning metaphysical arts.
“It’s quite similar to the schoolroom set up by the Xuanmen,” Shen Lan commented.
Sang Jing: “The Xuanmen also has one?”
Shen Lan: “Of course. But only those with top talent can enter the Xuanmen’s schoolroom. Hua Changge and Xia Changqing came out of the Xuanmen’s schoolroom. Oh, and also Wei Qingyun from the Special Investigation Team. Hey, did you know that the three of them were once students of Gu Changning?”
Sang Jing: “I know.”
As the two of them were talking, a person came from the other end of the corridor.
The second master of the Sang family, Sang Wanning.
“Chairman of Tianxuan,” Sang Wanning nodded at Shen Lan. “I wonder what business the chairman has at the Sang family?”
As she spoke, Sang Wanning glanced at Sang Jing.
“Where’s your head of the family?” Shen Lan turned to look at the schoolroom. “I want to pick a few talented children to go to Tianxuan. Let the head of the family come and talk to me.”
Sang Wanning’s expression did not change. “The head of the family went into seclusion a few days ago. I can accompany the chairman to look at these students.”
There was nothing wrong with her words. Shen Lan nodded. “Alright.”
When she turned around, Shen Lan glanced at Sang Jing.
The corners of Sang Jing’s lips turned up. She looked at Sang Wanning. “Can I look around?”
Sang Wanning couldn’t refuse. She nodded. “Of course.”
With that, she looked up at Sang Lingfei. “Just have Lingfei accompany you.”
Sang Lingfei was not happy, but when she met Sang Wanning’s eyes, she didn’t dare to say “no.”
She could only say, “Yes.”
Shen Lan held Sang Wanning back.
Sang Jing acted as if she really wanted to look around, taking Sang Lingfei here and there, almost making her dizzy.
This layout of the Sang family, if nothing unexpected happened, would be changed every once in a while. Even if Sang Lingfei had grown up here, she couldn’t guarantee that she wouldn’t get lost. But now, Sang Jing was walking in front as if she were returning to her own home, even more familiar than her.
After another circle, Sang Lingfei couldn’t take it anymore. She wanted to vomit.
She went to the side and held onto a pillar. Sang Lingfei closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Hmm? What’s wrong with you?” Sang Jing asked with concern. “Low blood sugar? Actually, I can look around by myself.”
Sang Lingfei: “…”
Low blood sugar from lowering her head.
Sang Lingfei looked up and glared at Sang Jing. “Did you do it on purpose?”
Sang Jing was an eight-coin Celestial Master, more powerful than the head of the family and the second master of the family. She must have known that the layout of the Sang family was an evolution of the Bagua.
Sang Jing laughed in front of her. “Not so stupid.”
“You—!”
Before Sang Lingfei could get angry, a hand was on her forehead, and her consciousness instantly became hazy.
“Where is Sang Lingxi?”
A voice that was sometimes near and sometimes far fell on her ear. Sang Lingfei couldn’t tell whose voice it was and subconsciously answered her question. “She was sent back to Donglai.”
It seemed she was not lying. At least in her eyes, Sang Lingxi had already been sent back. But if she had really been sent back, Sang Ciying would not have come to her for help.
“Where is your head of the family in seclusion?”
“I don’t know. The second master of the family changed the layout before the head of the family went into seclusion. No one knows where the head of the family is except her.”
Sang Jing squinted her eyes.
Just in seclusion, and so cautious?
After thinking for a moment, Sang Jing asked again, “I’m asking you, do you know Sang Cixin?”
“I know.”
“Tell me everything you know.”
“…Alright.”
At the mention of Sang Cixin, Sang Lingfei was instinctively disgusted. Even though she was being hypnotized and controlled, she couldn’t help but frown and say, “She came to the main family from the Donglai Sang family more than thirty years ago. It is said that her talent was very good, and she entered the Xuanmen at a very young age. But she raised a ghost, and in the end, she instigated the ghost she was raising to do something treasonous and was expelled from the Xuanmen. The Sang family was also implicated because of this and was rejected by the Xuanmen.”
Instigating a ghost to do something treasonous…
Sang Jing didn’t believe it.
“Then did she leave anything behind in the Sang family?”
“Her room was sealed by the then head of the family a long time ago. I don’t know if she left anything behind.”
“Where is her room?”
“I don’t know.”
She doesn’t know anything.
Sang Jing didn’t waste any more time on her. With a flick of her finger, Sang Lingfei closed her eyes and fell down.
Just now, when she had been walking with Sang Lingfei, Sang Jing had already memorized the current layout of the Sang family.
A Bagua formation. It had hit a wall.
Her fingertips tapped on the side of her leg. Sang Jing laid out the entire formation in her mind and quickly found two extreme points.
The two points of yin and yang. One was the point where the luck of the entire formation gathered, which could be said to be a blessed land. The other was a barren yin land in all aspects.
If the head of the Sang family were to go into seclusion, it was obvious which point would be more beneficial.
The moment she took a step towards the yang land, Sang Jing paused.
She thought she should go to the yin land.
Without any hesitation, she turned around. Sang Jing had always trusted her intuition.
The current layout of the Sang family was already imprinted in Sang Jing’s mind. She followed the fastest route she had set and headed for the yin land. Halfway there, she suddenly found that something was not right.
The layout had changed.
For a family as large as the Sang family to frequently change its layout in a short period of time was impossible with just manpower.
As expected of a Metaphysics family, to have such a large mechanism system supporting it.
What a pity. It couldn’t trap her.
The five elements and eight trigrams were also in the metaphysical arts. Her teacher’s wife had taught her these, and she had learned them quite well.
The original Bagua formation in her mind began to change. Sang Jing changed the formation in her mind as she walked. Before long, she had found the pattern of the change.
As long as she moved fast enough and reached the yin point before the next Bagua formation was formed, she would not be trapped.
The Ghost Gate opened and closed, and Sang Jing appeared on the Yin Road.
Xie Yu immediately came down from the ear cuff and said nervously, “Why are you walking the Ghost Gate again?”
Sang Jing said as a matter of course, “It’s so convenient. Why not use it? By the time I run over, the food will be cold.”
“Won’t that shorten your lifespan?”
“I was lying to you.”
“…”
Using the Ghost Gate to find the yin point, it was a somewhat old room.
Sang Jing subconsciously felt that this was where her mother had lived when she was here.
She reached out to push the door, and her palm was suddenly burned by fire. She looked down and saw that dense blood spots had seeped out.
Xie Yu immediately held Sang Jing’s hand and lowered her head to blow on it in pain.
A cool wind blew, and the burning sensation subsided a lot.
“Come here.”
Sang Jing held Xie Yu’s wrist and pulled her behind her. With her other hand, she threw out a few talismans that landed on the door. A puppet thread split into dozens of thin threads and fixed themselves on the wooden door.
Her fingers wrapped around the puppet thread and pulled hard. The talismans glowed with a golden light, and wisps of it clung to the puppet thread.
“Bang—!”
The room door was directly pulled open, and debris flew.
Xie Yu watched this scene from behind Sang Jing, feeling like her heart was about to grow and then jump out.
Stepping on the shattered main door, Sang Jing stepped into the room, and her gaze instantly froze.
Two overlapping formations were laid out in the room, and two people were sitting cross-legged in them.
One was the head of the Sang family, and the other was Sang Lingxi.
Her gaze swept over the formation on the floor, and Sang Jing’s breathing became a little heavier.
The talismans in the two formations were all filled with the two’s Bazi.
Xie Yu blinked her eyes. She vaguely felt that this scene was a little familiar.
So familiar that it made her want to be angry, but she didn’t know what to be angry about.
“Xie Yu,” Sang Jing suddenly said.
Xie Yu looked down at Sang Jing. “What’s wrong?”
“Turn your back. Don’t look.”
“Alright.”
Xie Yu turned her back. She felt something wrap around her wrist. She lowered her head slightly and saw the puppet thread that was loosely draped over her wrist bone.
Sang Jing saw a formation map on a table on the side. She took it and saw the familiar, neat and small characters.
It was her mother’s handwriting.
Half of the map was missing, but the formation drawn was complete. The missing half seemed to be an annotation, and a few sentences were left.
“With this formation map, one can swap fates…”
