noveltune Chapter 43: The Three Talents Formation
Chapter 43: The Three Talents Formation
At 11 p.m. that night, all the lights in the eastern part of Panjiayuan went out.
Miao Daqing accepted the two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes and a bottle of Wuliangye liquor handed over by Master Ma. Without saying a word, he transferred the night shift security guard to the West Gate duty room, citing the reason that the East District water pipes were under repair and the construction company required the site to be cleared.
Cheng Xiaojin squatted behind a tin cabinet at a stall fifty meters away. To his left was Tieguai Li, and to his right was Zhou Banxian.
Zhou Banxian had a bottle of Red Star Erguotou in his pocket, but he didn't open it tonight.
Tang Wanqing had already set up her defenses next to the well with the most serious damage.
The moon rose from the southeast corner, seven-tenths full, its light illuminating the stone slabs around the well, giving them a bluish-white hue.
The compass was placed due north of the well opening, with the copper side facing upwards, and the pointer gleamed with a faint yellow hue under the moonlight.
The copper coin sword was stuck diagonally south of the well opening, with thirty-six copper coins strung on a red thread. The tip of the sword was pointing to the ground, and a circle of vermilion cloth was wrapped around the hilt.
The Bagua mirror is placed due west of the well opening, with the mirror face facing the well opening and the back of the mirror facing the moon.
The three ritual implements were arranged in an equilateral triangle, surrounding the well opening in the very center.
Tieguai Li lowered his voice: "What's the intricacies of this formation?"
Zhou Banxian squinted at it for a while and said, "The Three Talents Formation occupies one position each for Heaven, Earth, and Man. The compass corresponds to Heaven, the copper coin sword corresponds to Earth, and the Bagua pound corresponds to Man. It is the signature technique of the orthodox Zhenlong lineage. Using it to deal with ordinary Yin Sha is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut."
"So tonight's isn't ordinary?"
Zhou Banxian didn't reply. He took out a wine flask from his pocket, unscrewed the lid, smelled it, and then screwed it back on.
Cheng Xiaojin stared at Tang Wanqing's back.
She sat cross-legged on the east side of the well, a copper coin sword resting on her knees, her hands forming a hand seal that Cheng Xiaojin had never seen before, her lips moving as if she were chanting something.
The sound couldn't reach her, but Cheng Xiaojin saw that her back was straight, and the collar of her cheongsam remained motionless in the night wind.
"No matter what, this is quite intimidating." Tieguai Li patted the dirt off his prosthetic leg.
"What's the point of putting on a show of force?"
Zhou Banxian's voice was muffled.
"Orthodox methods are enough to deal with ordinary Yin energy, but the Yin energy leaking from the bottom of this well is not ordinary Yin energy."
"What is that?"
"Six hundred years."
Zhou Banxian stretched out his hand and gestured a six.
"The Zhenhai Iron has been pressing down on that water outlet pile for six hundred years. The yin energy of the earth veins for six hundred years was locked at the bottom of the water by the suppressing object and could not rise. Now that the pile has been pulled out and the opening has been opened, do you know how terrifying the yin water evil accumulated over six hundred years is?"
Cheng Xiaojin swallowed.
"Trying to block the Yellow River with the Three Talents Formation is like trying to catch the floodwaters from a breach in the Yellow River with a basin. The formation itself is not wrong, but the scale is wrong."
Tieguai Li glanced at Cheng Xiaojin: "Then why didn't you tell her beforehand?"
"Would she listen if I told her?"
Zhou Banxian put the wine pot back into his pocket.
"These people from orthodox backgrounds have a problem: they think their methods are the best in the world, and they won't turn back until they hit a wall. If you tell them this in advance, they will only think that you are a self-taught person questioning their lineage."
"So, are we really going to let her hit a brick wall?"
"Let her try it; she'll know how deep it is after she tries it."
Cheng Xiaojin didn't speak, his eyes never leaving the well opening.
Tang Wanqing's recitation could be faintly heard; the words were indistinct, but the rhythm was steady, each word distinct and deliberate.
The compass needle began to slow down.
The previous frantic spinning slowed down, changing from high-speed circling to gentle swaying, and finally almost stopped, pointing due north.
"There's movement." Tieguai Li leaned forward.
The color of the well water is changing.
Under the moonlight, it was clear that the grayish-black steam rising from the well was fading, layer by layer, like ink being diluted with water.
"It seems to work." Tieguai Li's voice carried a hint of surprise.
Zhou Banxian didn't respond.
Cheng Xiaojin noticed that Zhou Banxian's hand was gripping the wine pot, and his knuckles were white.
Tang Wanqing leaned forward slightly, quickening her recitation. The red thread on the copper coin sword trembled gently in the night breeze, and the thirty-six copper coins made a soft tinkling sound.
The surface of the Bagua mirror reflected a blurry light, not the color of moonlight, but a cold white.
"Ten minutes have passed." Tieguai Li glanced at his watch.
The gray color of the well water continued to lighten, almost returning to its normal color.
Cheng Xiaojin's heart skipped a beat.
However... in the blink of an eye, all signs of improvement reversed in an instant.
When the cold air shot out of the well, Cheng Xiaojin could feel it even from fifty meters away. It was a real chill, like someone suddenly yanking open a freezer door in his face.
The hem of Tang Wanqing's cheongsam was lifted up by the airflow.
The compass needle started spinning again, faster than before, so fast that the markings on the bronze dial became a blurry golden line.
The copper coin sword trembled.
The sound of red threads snapping exploded one after another, snap, snap, snap, as dense as firecrackers.
The copper coins flew off the broken red thread, clattering and clanging as they hit the stone floor.
One of them was embedded directly into a wooden pillar three meters away, more than an inch deep, and the copper surface was still buzzing and vibrating.
Tieguai Li cursed and pressed Cheng Xiaojin's head down: "Don't peek out."
The cold white light on the surface of the Bagua mirror grew brighter and brighter until it became blinding. Then, with a "poof," a crack appeared in the middle of the mirror, and light leaked out from the crack, hitting the ground and burning a scorch mark on the stone slab, with blackened edges and wisps of smoke rising from them.
Tang Wanqing let out a muffled groan.
Cheng Xiaojin saw her body lean back slightly, her right hand bracing herself on the ground to steady herself, her left hand still gripping the broken hilt of the copper coin sword, and a dark line trickling down from the corner of her mouth.
"It's over." Zhou Banxian stood up.
Cheng Xiaojin stood up and ran towards the wellhead.
"Don't go over there, it's dangerous!" Tieguai Li shouted from behind.
Cheng Xiaojin ignored her and ran to Tang Wanqing's side, squatting down and reaching out to support her shoulder.
Tang Wanqing slapped his hand away: "Don't touch me."
"Your mouth is bleeding."
"It's a minor injury, you don't need to worry about it."
Tang Wanqing pushed herself up and stood up. She swayed for a moment, the heels of her high heels hitting the stone slabs, but she regained her balance.
She looked down at the cracked Bagua mirror and the copper coins scattered all over the ground.
Cheng Xiaojin couldn't quite describe the expression on his face. It wasn't surprise or fear, but rather a stubbornness that came from being slapped in the face but still holding his head high.
The cold air was still seeping out of the well, and Cheng Xiaojin's breath condensed into a cloud of white mist in front of his eyes.
Even in the sweltering summer heat, he got goosebumps all over his body.
Tang Wanqing bent down to pick up the compass from the ground, but stopped halfway through her reach.
The compass was still spinning, and the needle showed no signs of slowing down. A fine ring of scratches had been worn into the surface of the bronze disc by the needle.
Give me a day.
Tang Wanqing's voice became hoarse.
"Rearrange the formation, double the size of the copper coin sword, replace the red thread with a composite thread of silkworm silk twisted with copper wire, and replace the mirror with a pure silver mirror."
"Increasing the size won't help."
Zhou Banxian walked over, carrying a wine pot, but he didn't drink it.
Tang Wanqing turned to look at him: "What did you say?"
"Increasing the strength won't help. It's not a problem with the formation's strength; the approach is wrong."
"What makes you think I'm on the wrong track?"
"Your formation is flawless, your technique is flawless, and your lineage is flawless."
Zhou Banxian squatted down next to the well, took out a cigarette from his pocket, put it in his mouth but didn't light it.
"But you made a mistake. You treated the Yin Water Sha as a wall and tried to block it with the Three Talents Formation."
"What if there's no traffic congestion?"
"It can't be stopped..."
Zhou Banxian took the cigarette out of his mouth and pointed towards the well.
"The evil energy flows along the water veins. Water is extremely soft and can penetrate everywhere. If you use a rigid magic weapon like a copper coin sword to block the evil energy of water, the more force you use, the faster it will dissipate."
He tucked the cigarette back between his fingers and rubbed it.
"It's the same principle as hitting cotton with a hammer. When you hit the cotton, it doesn't budge at all; all the force is absorbed."
Tang Wanqing pursed her lips into a thin line.
"The first ten minutes may seem effective, but that's not because you've suppressed it; it's because the evil energy is testing you. Once it figurees out your formation structure, it will launch a counterattack and overturn you."
"You!" Tang Wanqing took a step forward, her high heels clicking on the stone slabs.
Cheng Xiaojin quickly reached out to stop him: "Miss Tang, Uncle Zhou didn't mean anything by it."
"Do you think I can't understand? What he's saying is that the orthodox methods of my Zhenlong lineage are no good, isn't it?"
"It's not impossible."
Zhou Banxian's tone was unusually serious.
"It's not the right way."