Chapter 172 Cultivating an Undead 2
Ye Shaoyang politely replied, "That's really generous of you. Thank you."
Wu Mei smiled, "You are most welcome. The village head gave me the order to make you as comfortable as possible here. After all, you guys are our only hope to save the dam. As long as you can save it, it is worth it."
Ye Shaoyang awkwardly smiled. This girl had a really straightforward personality. It was pleasant to have such a person around.
Zhou Jingru liked Wu Mei too and insisted that she sit down and join them for lunch. Three of them had a feast of local delicacies prepared by Wu Mei.
After lunch, Wu Mei made them a pot of tea, and they all chatted happily while enjoying the beverage.
Zhou Jingru had a sweet tooth, so she yearned for candy while drinking tea. Since there was no candy in the guesthouse, she took out some Ferrero Rocher chocolate and shared with the group.
Wu Mei took a bite and found the chocolate delicious. She curiously said, "It seems like things in the city are always better. Even this chocolate is so much better than the sweets sold in our village. Miss Jingru, how much does this chocolate cost?"
Zhou Jingru thought for a while, "They sell these by the box, so I never really counted. Around fifty yuan per piece, I guess? I buy whatever is available; I don't really buy expensive ones."
Wu Mei almost choked upon hearing this. She was bewildered, "Seriously? But this is just a piece of chocolate! It costs even more than one hen in our village!" She couldn't accept the fact that the piece of chocolate in her mouth was worth as much as a hen. She couldn't even swallow the chocolate.
After a few sips, Ye Shaoyang suggested that they should check around the dam. So, he called Li Laoxing to request his guidance. Afterall, a local would be more familiar with the area himself.
Ye Shaoyang went up to his room to quickly pack some sorcerer's weapons. When he came out of the room, Zhou Jingru was standing in the common area with a troubled look on her face.
She frowned as she said, "Brother Shaoyang, I'm sorry, but I have to go. There's an urgent matter I need to attend to at the company. I'm really sorry that I can't be here."
Ye Shaoyang reassured her that it was not a problem.
Before Zhou Jingru left, she took time to remind Ye Shaoyang that he had her support anytime he needed it, especially when it came to money.
Once Xiao Ma was ready, the trio left the guesthouse together. They bumped into Wu Mei at the door. Zhou Jingru bade her farewell and gave Wu Mei a whole box of chocolate. Wu Mei was overwhelmingly touched by the parting gift. According to the village's custom, gifts had to be repaid with gifts of equivalent value. Thus, Wu Mei had to repay Zhou Jingru with two hens in the future.
Zhou Jingru was caught in the situation. She did not want to accept the gift, but it was hard for her to reject it. So, she came up with a brilliant idea.
She pointed at Ye Shaoyang, "Okay, just give the hens to him before he leaves the village. It's the same as giving it to me."
Wu Mei laughed with her hand covering her mouth, "Understood. Whatever is yours is also his. You are a couple."
Zhou Jingru's tongue was tied up in awkwardness. Ye Shaoyang almost choked hearing this too. Before he could even explain, the village head, Li Laoxing had arrived. Zhou Jingru had to wait for her chauffeur's arrival, so Ye Shaoyang left with Xiao Ma and Li Laoxing to the dam.
Once they arrived at the dam, Ye Shaoyang took out his Yin Yang compass and checked the surroundings with it. They soon arrived at a hilltop. From there, they could see the entire the dam. However, they noticed that the dam was covered with a thick layer of black mist.
Ye Shaoyang observed the view with a stern expression. He turned back to the forest behind the hilltop and paced in the forest. Finally, he returned back to the hilltop and carefully observed the forest from there. He came to a conclusion, "This whole place is one big formation."
Xiao Ma, being the smartass, asked, "Didn't you tell us this before? The Five Spirit Moving Mountain Formation, right?"
Ye Shaoyang shook his head, "Nope. I mean this forest itself is a formation. The Five Spirit Moving Mountain Formation is a kind of Yin Yang Formation. The two formations we encountered previously were both Yang formation. To put it simply, they both used the geographical position of the four spikes on the dragon's tail and the Dragon Qi to form a barrier of Evil Qi on the ground. However, this barrier can only bind to stationary objects like the village or hospital. This is different. Water is a moving element. To seal it, you have to cut off the Qi completely. According to the nature of elements, Water gives rise to Wood, thus…"
While Ye Shaoyang was trying to explain the situation, he suddenly noticed that both Xiao Ma and Li Laoxing's eyes were fixated on him, but they seemed out of focus.
Ye Shaoyang paused and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Nothing. Please go on," Xiao Ma awkwardly faked a laugh. "We don't really understand, but it sure sounds awesome."
Damn, it's like I was howling at the moon.
Ye Shaoyang glared at Xiao Ma. Ye Shaoyang immediately regretted wasting his effort to explain the situation. However, he was already halfway through, so he figured that he might as well finish what he started. He tried to put it as simply as possible as he pointed at the forest,
"These rows of willow trees are to stationarize the water. This forest is the focal point of this formation. However, if you look at the height of the trees, they are at least ten years old. Li Laoxing, had these trees been moved here or have they been here all along?"
Li Laoxing explained, "These trees were moved here about a year or two ago. It was because some of our villagers encountered an undead, and a few of our villagers died. Then, we hired a sorcerer. He was quite capable. He killed the undead and told us that there was another undead hiding in the village. So, he led the villagers in a search for the undead. In the end, they found a grave on the hilltop.
"He told us that there was a thousand-year-old undead inside which was too powerful for him. It was daytime, so he had us to cover the grave with quartzite. He completed some ritual, which we didn't really know anything about. Then, he had us change the course of the stream, so that the stream passed through the grave. Lastly, he instructed us to gather willow trees that were at least ten years old and plant them here. That is how this forest was created."
Ye Shaoyang's heart almost jumped out of his mouth when he heard this. He could smell something fishy. He quickly asked, "What did the sorcerer look like?"
Li Laoxing thought for a while, "He was in his forties with dark skin and a flat face. He… he didn't look like a person of Han descent."
Ye Shaoyang's eyes widened as he heard this. He met Xiao Ma's gaze, and Xiao Ma immediately knew what he was thinking. They suspected the same thing. Xiao Ma took out his phone and showed Li Laoxing a picture of a man.
"Uncle, was it this guy?"
It was a picture of Jin Shuai that Xie Yuqing had previously sent to Xiao Ma.
Li Laoxing jerked in surprise when he saw the picture, "That's him! Mr. Ye, you both are sorcerers. Do you know him?"
"Yes. Of course, I do," Ye Shaoyang smiled coldly. It was just as he suspected. Ye Shaoyang thought for a moment before he asked, "Do you remember where the grave is?"
"It's easy to remember. It is right between the two cypress trees in front."
Li Laoxing led the duo to the stream. They walked along the stream until they saw two cypress trees standing on either side of the stream. The trees stood majestically. Their leaves overlapped and formed a spot of shadow on the ground where the grave lay.
Ye Shaoyang walked to the spot. There were a total of eight pieces of quartzite. The one in the center was the largest and cut into the shape of a maple leaf. The rest were cube-shaped. The stream flowed through the gaps between the quartzite pieces.
Ye Shaoyang concluded, "That's it! The maple leaf is a totem of the Miao. This must be the work of that ugly face." Ye Shaoyang tried to move the quartzite but to no avail. He turned to Xiao Ma, "Go get me a hammer. We need to smash this quartzite apart."