God pity me, I lost a lot of blood when dealing with the snake demon before. Until now, my tongue and middle finger still hurt!
Truly the most poisonous creature on earth, here I am in such a sorry state, and she still has the heart to make me "bleed"?
"I'm done! You sit there and rest for now!"
I don't know what kind of "sorcery" she used, she actually managed to squeeze out nearly half a bowl of blood from my middle finger. It was estimated that this "virgin's blood" was enough to draw the symbols, so Xia Xiaoyi nodded in satisfaction and let go of me.
Completely ignoring my pitiful look, Xia Xiaoyi directly added cinnabar, saltpeter, and other substances, and started mixing again.
Sigh! I say, sister, I've lost so much blood, couldn't you say a few words of comfort to me?
Glancing at Xia Xiaoyi resentfully, I walked to the edge of the bed, and sat down with a sigh, unable to help muttering, "Damn, sooner or later, I'll make you bleed too..."
"What did you say!"
"Nothing..."
Seeing Xia Xiaoyi's murderous look, I couldn't help but shiver, hurriedly shook my head, and said with a wry smile, "I just wanted to ask if the blood was enough, if not, I'll bleed a bit more..."
"Hmph!"
The only response I got was a cold snort from Xia Xiaoyi.
Ah, it truly doesn't get worse than this...
At this point, I regretted it so much that I turned blue. If I had known, I should have done something to her when she was in a coma.
"Hmph, don't let yourself fall into my hands, or else...hehe..."
Whether it's due to excessive blood loss or having just experienced a big battle, I found myself dozing off on the bed in a daze.
When I woke up, it was already dark outside, and as soon as I opened my eyes, I smelled a delicious aroma of food. To my surprise, I saw Xia Xiaoyi wearing an apron and cooking!
This violent girl can actually cook? That's really unexpected. But, seeing her wearing the apron and sweating while being busy, she really did have a bit of the "good wife and mother" look.
"What are you staring at? Get up and help already!"
Alright, the whole "good wife and mother" thing was just my imagination...
...
"Let's go! It's almost time, now is the active time for the 'evil spirit of the ghost mother'."
After quickly finishing our meal, Xia Xiaoyi promptly handed me the seals she had previously prepared, and she pulled out a palm-sized compass for herself.
Following the compass's direction, we headed straight towards the back mountain.
The so-called compass, also known as a Luo Compass, or Luo Jing, is the predecessor of the modern compass.
It originated back in the time of the Yellow Emperor over four thousand years ago, and after undergoing improvements based on the principles of the Book of Changes and the River Luo, with references to the movements of the sun, moon, and stars, it eventually took its current form.
It's commonly used for orientation and topographic surveying, and is indispensable for geomancers, serving as their most relied upon tool.
In simple terms, it's actually a compass, just more sensitive than the usual one. Apart from being able to detect the presence of static electromagnetic fields, it can also capture extremely subtle biological magnetic fields, such as vengeful spirits or evil energy.
"Stop! Something's up!"
Just as we entered the back mountain area, Xia Xiaoyi suddenly stopped, staring intently at the compass with a serious look. "Be careful, that thing could be nearby!"
Hearing her, I couldn't help but glance at the compass and noticed that the pointer was indeed continuously spinning.
Even though I didn't know how to use a compass, I still knew that a spinning pointer definitely indicated the presence of something significant nearby! Ordinary stray spirits would not emit such a strong biological magnetic field.
Around the school, the only two possibilities for causing such a strong reaction in the compass are the "shadow woman" or the "evil spirit of the ghost mother." Whichever it was, we needed to be extremely vigilant. Otherwise, if something went wrong, the consequences could be dire!
Without any hesitation, I quickly applied seven or eight "life-sealing seals" onto myself and handed the remaining ten to Xia Xiaoyi. "Use these too!"
"I can't believe it..."
Looking at me covered in "life-sealing seals," Xia Xiaoyi couldn't help but chuckle, but then she took two "life-sealing seals" from me and stuck them to her chest and back.
With the compass in hand, Xia Xiaoyi cautiously circled the area a couple of times, then stopped and excitedly pointed at an open space ahead, "Great! This is a natural sunspot; it's perfect for setting up a Yang-gathering formation!"
"Quick, get everything out, we're running out of time!"
"Okay..."
Hearing her words, I didn't dare hesitate, and took out the prepared items from my bag.
Although the ominous aura of the "evil spirit of the ghost mother" had diminished after Feng Chen's death, Xia Xiaoyi and I still didn't have much confidence in dealing with it. If we could set up a "Yang-gathering formation" now and consume its strength as much as possible, that would be great.
With limited time, the items we prepared were actually mostly left by Lao Zhang.
As I took out various items from my bag, Xia Xiaoyi brought many different-sized rocks from nearby and started arranging them on the ground.
Since I had only recently started learning, I hadn't studied any systematic formations, but occasionally I had seen some descriptions in books. The arrangement of the rocks by Xia Xiaoyi seemed chaotic, but it actually followed a certain pattern.
From my position, I could see that the rocks Xia Xiaoyi placed were divided into three layers, with the size decreasing from the center outwards and the quantity increasing. In the center, there were five larger rocks, roughly forming a pentagon, hinting at the Five Elements. The smaller rocks on the periphery were arranged in eight directions, clearly depicting the Eight Trigrams. As for the outermost circle, the rocks were even smaller, totaling twelve, forming a large circle, resembling the "Twelve Celestial Palaces."
"I'll help you!"
Since she roughly laid out the initial shape of the "Yang-gathering formation," I naturally couldn't just stand there, so I quickly stuck "Yang-gathering talismans" on the rocks she arranged.
Of course, that alone wasn't enough.
In a standard "Yang-gathering formation," besides the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, the outer circle also needed twenty-eight "Yang men" sitting around, each corresponding to one of the twenty-eight constellations. Their yang energy would be guided into the "Five Elements and Eight Trigrams Formation" to gather yang energy effectively.
However, according to Xia Xiaoyi, this place was a natural "sunspot," so we didn't need twenty-eight "Yang men" to provide yang energy. Instead, we just needed twenty-eight coins to stand in for "Yang men" as the base of the formation, aligning them with the twenty-eight constellations.
The choice of coins was also significant.
First, the coins were firm and belonged to the Metal Element, capable of effectively dissolving malevolent energy. Additionally, the "round on the outside and square inside" shape of the coins implicitly embodied the traditional idea of the spherical sky and square earth, with the emperor's reign inside representing humans. By embodying the "Heaven, Earth, and Humans," it naturally had the ability to reverse the universe.
Due to their circulation in the market for decades or even centuries, the coins had absorbed yang energy from many different people. In a way, they could indeed act as substitutes for "Yang men."
After affixing the talismans, I quickly took out a handful of copper coins from my pocket, ready to arrange them in a large circle around the periphery. However, Xia Xiaoyi stopped me and scolded me, "Idiot! The coins are meant to trap souls! You've sealed the formation, how will the 'evil spirit of the ghost mother' enter now?"
"Oh..."
After she explained it, I finally realized and put away the coins. It seemed that the coins had to be scattered only after the "evil spirit of the ghost mother" entered the formation. Otherwise, the "Yang-gathering formation" would be useless...