Chapter 671
"Soul-absorbing formation?" Fu Shaoping's eyes suddenly sharpened, "and it has been improved to avoid ordinary detection."
Nangong Wan nodded, took out a bamboo scroll from her sleeve and unfolded it: "In the past seven days, I have compiled a list of all the monks who have shown symptoms." Her slender fingers ran across a string of names, "They have one thing in common - they all bought the magic tools of the Golden Toad Chamber of Commerce."
Fu Shaoping walked to the map on the wall and drew a circle around the golden tent with a red pen: "How long has the Chamber of Commerce been here?"
"Ten days." Nangong Wan stood beside him, bringing with her a cool plum fragrance, "On the first day, they only sold ordinary talismans, and three days ago, they suddenly launched this batch of 'ancient relics'." She sneered, "They said it was a rare item that could increase the speed of cultivation."
There was a cheer outside the window, and more monks gathered in front of the golden tent. Several members of the Chamber of Commerce in golden brown robes were holding up a magic weapon and loudly promoting it. Under the sunlight, the golden toad badges on their chests flashed a strange light.
"We can't just seal it up." Fu Shaoping stroked the hilt of his heavy sword. "First, there is no solid evidence. Second, if we alert the enemy, we might hurt the townspeople whose spirits have been sucked away."
Nangong Wan gently brushed away the non-existent dust on her sleeves: "I have managed to purchase three different instruments, and found that they form a complete system for absorbing spirits." She took out three drawings from her bosom, "The jade pendant is responsible for absorbing, the ring is responsible for transferring, and the last one is this incense burner."
Fu Shaoping took a closer look and saw that the third drawing showed an exquisite bronze incense burner with runes as thin as hair engraved on it.
". Responsible for purifying the absorbed spiritual energy and then transporting it to a certain place." Nangong Wan's voice turned cold, "Like the center of a spider web."
The two looked at each other and thought of something at the same time. Fu Shaoping walked back to the table quickly and flipped through the neighboring town report he had received a few days ago: "Recently, there have been reports of cultivators in Sanhe Town and Qingluo Town losing their spiritual power for no apparent reason."
"More than that." Nangong Wan took out seven pieces of iron in different shapes from the brocade bag on his waist and put them together to form a golden toad pattern. "Seven towns, same technique."
The room was silent for a moment, with only the sound of sparks popping in the charcoal basin. Fu Shaoping stared at the seven towns marked on the map. They formed a winding curve, like a giant python about to devour Qingyun Town.
"Spirit Devouring Sect." Nangong Wan suddenly said, "This is a branch of the evil sect that was wiped out by all the major sects thirty years ago. It specializes in stealing other people's spiritual power." She tapped the golden toad badge with her fingertips, "This is their mark transformation."
Fu Shaoping drew his heavy sword three inches from its sheath, and the cold light reflected on his angular face: "We need a chain of evidence."
"I have a plan." Nangong Wan took out a letter from her sleeve. "The Chamber of Commerce will hold a treasure appraisal meeting at Zuixianlou in three days, and all major families are invited to participate." She raised her lips slightly. "It just so happens that my father's 'distant niece' is visiting recently."
Fu Shaoping looked at her eyes which had suddenly become cunning, and suddenly realized something: "What do you need me to do?"
"Shou Fu is good at tracking, isn't he?" Nangong Wan handed over a jade slip, "Here is a list of all the suspicious Chamber of Commerce personnel. I need to know where they transferred the spiritual power they absorbed."
Three days later, the snow stopped. Zuixianlou was decorated with lanterns and colorful lights, and luxurious carriages were parked in front of the door.
Nangong Wan was wearing a rouge-red long dress with gold weaves, and the twelve golden hairpins in her hair jingled with her steps, which was completely different from her usual simple and elegant image. Behind her were eight servants holding gift boxes, and they pointed at the Chamber of Commerce manager with their fans in a proud manner: "Take out all your best treasures, I have plenty of spiritual stones!"
Fu Shaoping, who was hiding in the teahouse opposite and observing, nearly choked on his tea - the domineering appearance of this "Miss Nangong" was so lifelike.
The blue-robed manager of the Golden Toad Chamber of Commerce smiled so hard that his teeth were exposed: "Miss, you came at the right time. A rare treasure just arrived today." He held out a brocade box mysteriously, "The jade pendant used by the legendary Green Lotus Sword Immortal can increase the speed of cultivation by three times!"
Nangong Wan covered his lips with his fan and chuckled: "Really? My father said that most of these treasures are fake."
"Miss, you will know after you try it!" The steward handed over the jade pendant attentively, "You only need to infuse a little spiritual power into it."
Fu Shaoping, who was observing secretly, saw Nangong Wan pretending to be curious when she took the jade pendant, and a faint light flashed on her fingertips. She suddenly widened her eyes: "Huh? It's really extraordinary!" She turned around and waved to the servant, "Buy it! If you have any other good stuff, take them all out!"
In the next hour, Nangong Wan spent money like water and bought almost all the "treasures" displayed by the Chamber of Commerce. Every time she touched a magic weapon, Fu Shaoping could see an almost imperceptible silver light flashing across her fingertips - that was the "Tracing Origin Technique" of the Nangong family, which could leave a tracking mark without alarming the magic weapon.
At sunset, Miss Nangong boarded the carriage with a full load. When the curtains were lowered, she instantly regained her usual cold expression, took out a talisman from her sleeve and wrote quickly. The talisman turned into a stream of light and flew out of the window, quietly falling into Fu Shaoping's hands:
"All magic tools are marked. Tracking will start at midnight. Pay special attention to the east wing on the third floor. There is an abnormal flow of spiritual energy."
At midnight, the Golden Toad Chamber of Commerce headquarters was completely silent.
Fu Shaoping crept into the shadows along the wall, his heavy sword wrapped tightly in black cloth. The jade slip hanging from his waist was glowing faintly, showing the seven tracking marks left by Nangong Wan. Six of them were scattered throughout the warehouse, and only the brightest mark pointed directly to the third floor of the main building.
Suddenly, the jade slip flashed violently - that was a signal from Nangong Wan, indicating that she was in position. Fu Shaoping took a deep breath, deliberately kicked over the wine jar beside the courtyard wall, staggered to the front door, and began to shout loudly:
"Open the door! You... you profiteers! You're selling fake goods!" He deliberately made his voice unclear and burped loudly, "All my spirit stones... have gone to waste!"
The guards were indeed alarmed, and two burly men came out holding lanterns: "Where did this drunkard come from? Get out of here!"
Fu Shaoping grabbed one of them by the collar and said, "Who are you in charge of? Call him out!" He secretly used his internal energy, and his palms became slightly warm, which the guards mistook for the temperature of a drunken man. "If you don't give me an explanation today, I'll tear down this crappy store of yours!"
Just as the guards were trying to carry the "drunkard" away, a muffled sound suddenly came from the backyard. Fu Shaoping caught a glimpse of a white shadow flashing across the wall - Nangong Wan had successfully sneaked in.
"What's going on?" The window on the third floor opened, revealing the vigilant face of the blue-robed steward.
Fu Shaoping took the opportunity to break free from the guards and staggered into the courtyard: "Swindler! Give me back my spiritual stones!" He deliberately knocked over several rows of shelves, causing even more noise. The guards blew their whistles, and more Chamber of Commerce personnel poured out from all over.
In the chaos, Fu Shaoping keenly noticed a detail: no matter how chaotic the scene was, there were always two purple-robed monks guarding the stairs. He pretended to be drunk and rushed in that direction. At the moment of contact, the two purple-robed men suddenly attacked, and the palm wind was so fierce that it didn't seem like an ordinary vendor.
"There is something strange indeed." Fu Shaoping thought to himself, and pretended to be knocked down by the wind, but in fact he used the force to roll behind a column. He quickly took out a paper crane from his arms and blew on it. The paper crane flapped its wings and flew into the night sky, which was a warning to Nangong Wan.
At the same time, Nangong Wan had sneaked to the outside of the east wing on the third floor.
She used a silver needle to easily pry open the copper lock. The scene in the room made her pupils shrink slightly - seven incense burners of different shapes were arranged in a circle, and a fist-sized blood-colored crystal was suspended in the center, greedily absorbing the spiritual energy wafting out of the incense burner. "Soul-gathering blood crystal." Nangong Wan's heart trembled. This is indeed the secret treasure of the Soul-devouring Sect. She quickly took out the image stone to record the evidence, and suddenly her ears moved slightly - hurried footsteps came from the corridor.
A paper crane flew in through the window and burned into four words in front of her: "There is an expert, retreat quickly"
Nangong Wan took out three copper coins calmly and placed them on the ground according to the three elements of heaven, earth and man. At the moment the door was kicked open, she pointed with her fingertips and the copper coins suddenly glowed with golden light.
"Who is it!" The purple-robed monk who rushed in shouted, but he was blinded by the golden light. When the light faded, the house was already empty, with only the curtains on the windows swaying slightly.
In the courtyard, Fu Shaoping saw a white shadow floating down from the third floor and knew that Nangong Wan had succeeded. He pretended to be subdued by the guards and suddenly vomited all over the guards with a "wow" sound.
"Bad luck!" The guard let go of his hand in disgust. Fu Shaoping took the opportunity to stumble and knock open the door, then staggered away into the night.
At dawn, the town hall was brightly lit.
Nangong Wan placed the image stone on the table, and the picture clearly showed the process of the Soul Gathering Blood Crystal devouring spiritual power. Fu Shaoping spread out a map, which marked the final destinations of seven stolen spiritual powers - the Black Mist Canyon a hundred miles away.
"The remnants of the Soul Devouring Sect are obviously preparing for some kind of large-scale ceremony." Nangong Wan analyzed, "By placing soul-sucking instruments in various towns, they are secretly gathering enough spiritual power."
Fu Shaoping slammed his sword heavily on the ground: "Closing the net immediately?"
"No hurry." Nangong Wan took out a brocade bag, "I have mixed a tracking symbol into the blood crystal, and we can follow the clues to find the mastermind behind the scenes." She rarely showed a trace of cunning, "In addition, those 'purchased' magic weapons have been tampered by me, and will backfire on the user at a critical moment."
At daybreak, the town guards raided the Golden Toad Chamber of Commerce. The blue-robed steward, seeing that his plan was exposed, crushed a poison pill and committed suicide. The two purple-robed monks tried to resist, but were subdued by Fu Shaoping in three moves. During the interrogation, they confessed a shocking piece of news:
"The master has awakened. The spiritual power of the Seven Towns is just an appetizer. The real feast is the Qingyun Earth Vein."
Before he finished speaking, the two men suddenly died with blood gushing out of their seven orifices. After checking, Nangong Wan's face was solemn: "It's the heart-eating poison. It seems that the person behind the scenes is ruthless."
That night, the town hall held a celebration banquet as an exception.
Nangong Wan changed back into her elegant moon-white dress, but she rarely raised her glass: "Today I finally know Fu Zhenshou's acting skills." She took a sip, and her jade-like cheeks flushed slightly. "Those hiccups were so lifelike."
Amid the laughter of the whole room, Fu Shaoping laughed heartily: "Miss Nangong is no less lavish in spending money." He raised the jar of wine and drank it all in one gulp, "The words 'I've bought them all' are really generous!"
As everyone was toasting, Fu Shaoping noticed that Nangong Wan had quietly left the table. He followed her into the courtyard and saw her staring towards the northeast, which was where the Black Mist Canyon was.
"Worried about the Soul Devouring Sect?"
Nangong Wan sighed: "Although we won a small victory today, the enemy has been planning for many years and will not give up easily." She turned and looked at Fu Shaoping, "I'm afraid what will happen next..."
"When an enemy comes, we will stop him." Fu Shaoping drew his heavy sword half an inch from its sheath, and the cold light illuminated the faces of both men. "You are in charge of strategy, and I am in charge of killing. What is there to be afraid of?"
Under the moonlight, two wine glasses clinked gently. In the distance came the sound of the night watchman's clapper. The night in Qingyun Town was exceptionally quiet.
At 12:30 a.m., Qingyun Town was still shrouded in morning mist, but Fu Shaoping was already standing at the corner of the town hall. He hooked one foot on his chiwen, with his heavy sword resting across his knees, and his eyes swept across the gradually awakening streets. When the first ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds, his pupils suddenly shrank - on the golden tent of the Golden Toad Chamber of Commerce, the eyes of the three bronze toads were glowing with a strange red light.
"The fourth one." Fu Shaoping bit his fingertips and drew a bloody mark on the scabbard. In the past seven days, he secretly marked the positions of all the toad carvings, and when they were connected, it turned out to be a variation of the "Three Corpses Locking Spirit Formation" recorded in the "Disha Records".
There was a quarrel in front of the hall. Zhou Zhubu was stopping a monk with disheveled hair and said, "Fellow Daoist Li, are you really going to quit your job at the Town Affairs Hall?"
"I haven't been practicing well recently." The monk's eyes were distracted, and his right hand was nervously rubbing the jade pendant on his waist. Fu Shaoping squinted and saw spider-web-like black silk oozing out from the edge of the jade pendant.
An hour later, Nangong Wan walked into the side hall on the ground covered with cotinus leaves. She was wearing a man's hair crown today, and her rouge-red skirt was exposed under her snow-white Taoist robe. Seeing Fu Shaoping staring at her cuffs, she explained calmly: "I just finished setting up the Xunfeng Formation in the east of the city, and got some cinnabar on it."
“Is there anyone else who got infected?”
"The seventh one." Nangong Wan unfolded the map, and seven silver needles were nailed in seven directions. "They are all people who have had contact with the Golden Toad Chamber of Commerce in the past ten days." She suddenly used a tea whisk to pick up the jade pendant on Fu Shaoping's waist, "You have also been marked."
The back of the jade pendant was covered with golden lines at some point, forming a miniature toad pattern. Fu Shaoping's eyebrows were raised, and the heavy sword was about to come out of the sheath with a buzzing sound, but was pushed back by Nangong Wan: "Don't alert the enemy. This mark can sense in both directions, just in time to attack them."
On the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zuixianlou was decorated with lanterns. Nangong Wan's fingers, wearing gilded armor, stroked the bronze tripod on the exhibition stand, secretly practicing the Tracing Source Technique. The sight of spiritual power feedback made her spine cold - in the mine cave late at night, the controlled monks were watering some blood-colored crystal clusters with blood.
"Miss, you have good eyesight!" The blue-robed steward said with a flattering smile, "This is a ritual vessel used by the Zhou emperor to offer sacrifices to the heavens."
"Fake." Nangong Wan suddenly changed his face, and the armor flicked open to reveal the delusion-breaking talisman between his fingertips. The manager's face suddenly changed, and she turned around like a whirlwind and pointed to the copper incense burner in the corner: "That one is quite interesting."
The manager was sweating coldly: "This, this is not for sale"
"Pah!" Nangong Wan slapped a bag of high-quality spirit stones on the table. When her hand pretended to casually touch the manager's wrist, the Source Tracing Technique captured a more horrifying scene: in the depths of the Black Mist Canyon, twelve mummies wearing the costumes of various sects sat in a formation. (End of this chapter)