Chapter 194 - 193: Not Very Smart

Chapter 194: Chapter 193: Not Very Smart

Not wanting to look out of place, Elder Miao took out his long-stemmed pipe, and Miao Yan produced some beef jerky...

In any case, they all had something to do, and time flies when you’re busy.

After Gu Qingyin finished her cake, she took out a thermos. The moment she opened the lid, the sweet, refreshing scent of fruit tea wafted out.

Gu Qingyin took a sip. Her mouth was instantly filled with a sweet and sour flavor. ’Mmm... A completely different kind of enjoyment from the cake.’

Before she could finish her drink, a RUSTLING sound reached them.

Gu Qingyin put away her thermos and glanced at the time. Not even twenty minutes had passed. ’They’re pretty fast.’

In the distance, Chen Ling and Dongfang Ran were helping each other along, walking slowly. They had been running for so long without any decent means of transport that even Heavenly Masters like them were exhausted.

Before they got close, Chen Ling suddenly stopped. She glared at the large tree ahead and said hatefully, "How are we back here again! This is the fourth time!"

Dongfang Ran’s expression was just as grim. "Should we keep going?"

Chen Ling sensed the baby ghost’s position, and a venomous glint flashed in her eyes. "No, we’ll stop here." She sneered. "This is the burial ground heaven has chosen for them."

’Eh?’ Gu Qingyin raised an eyebrow. ’An unexpected bonus.’

Dongfang Ran gave her a skeptical look. Chen Ling had been just as confident back at the ruined house, and the result... was best left unmentioned.

At this thought, Dongfang Ran couldn’t help but feel a pang of bitterness. If she hadn’t disrupted her master’s plan, she wouldn’t have ended up in this situation, with no one to even back her up.

’Master couldn’t have really given up on me, could he?’

"What are you spacing out for? Come help." Chen Ling had already taken out her tools.

Two shovels and four meter-long peach wood stakes.

"First, dig the holes." Chen Ling paced out the distances to choose the spots. "Dig a hole here first, about half a meter deep."

Dongfang Ran resignedly walked over and took a shovel.

At this point, the two of them were in the same boat. She couldn’t do anything on her own, so she could only count on Chen Ling.

Chen Ling walked to a spot five meters away from her, rolled up her sleeves, and started digging. She didn’t forget to urge Dongfang Ran on. "Hurry up. We need to get this set up before they catch up to us."

Dongfang Ran didn’t say a word, just rolled her eyes.

As luck would have it, Gu Qingyin was right above her.

As she was digging, Dongfang Ran’s nose twitched. She suddenly paused, looking up suspiciously. "Chen Ling, do you smell something?"

Chen Ling kept digging, one shovelful after another, without even lifting her head. "My nose is full of the smell of dirt right now. If you can smell anything else, it just means you’re not digging hard enough."

Dongfang Ran glanced at the shallow pit in front of her, feeling a little guilty. "Can’t we use talismans to dig?"

"No. There can’t be any residual power in the holes."

Dongfang Ran shut her mouth and picked up the shovel again. After just two digs, she paused once more, instinctively twitching her nose.

It wasn’t her imagination. She really could smell cream!

Dongfang Ran swallowed. She sniffed again carefully. The smell of cream was gone, replaced by a sweet, refreshing fruit scent, tangy and sweet, that made her mouth water even more.

In the middle of nowhere, the sudden appearance of this scent was too strange.

Dongfang Ran looked left and right. There was nothing but trees. She subconsciously started to look up...

"Dongfang Ran!"

Chen Ling’s sharp yell made her jump.

Dongfang Ran whipped her head around and shouted back, "What!"

"You have the nerve to ask me that? Look, I’ve already finished one hole! Where’s yours?!" Chen Ling’s tone was completely blunt. "A dog could dig faster than you!"

Dongfang Ran’s face flushed with anger, but comparing the hole Chen Ling had already finished to her own small pit that was less than a third done, she knew she had no ground to stand on. She could only swallow her anger and hurry up with her work.

Up in the tree, Gu Qingyin had been ready to give Dongfang Ran a sharp blow to the head the moment she looked up, but... she didn’t know whether to call Dongfang Ran’s luck good or bad.

So far, none of the four people in the tree had been exposed. They all watched from their high vantage point as Chen Ling and Dongfang Ran bustled about below.

In less than ten minutes, the four holes were dug. The two then worked together to plant the wooden stakes, burying them halfway.

Once the stakes were planted, Chen Ling took out a coil of talisman rope. She wound it tightly around the stakes, one by one, and tied it off at the end.

There were three ropes in total. After winding them around the stakes to create three rows, Chen Ling let out a breath. "Alright. Now we wait for them to arrive."

Dongfang Ran looked around. "What is this?"

The people in the tree wanted to ask the same question. Hearing her, they all perked up their ears to listen.

Gu Qingyin had an excellent master and had been well-read since childhood. The Miao Family was also an ancient Heavenly Master Family, and Elder Miao was old and knowledgeable. Liu Ergou hailed from Wudang Mountain, which had a history of several thousand years.

For none of them to recognize what Chen Ling was setting up, how could they not be curious?

Chen Ling announced mysteriously, spitting out three words, "Demon Suppression Array!"

A flicker of confusion crossed Gu Qingyin’s eyes. ’The Demon Suppression Array I remember doesn’t look like this. Could she be talking about a different one?’

Gu Qingyin frowned, studying the setup. She stared at one of the talismans, her brow furrowing deeper and deeper the longer she looked. Then, in a certain moment, it dawned on her.

’This damn thing is a complete fake! The talismans on the rope have no power at all!’

But then, Gu Qingyin couldn’t help but doubt herself. ’Could it be because the Array hasn’t been activated yet? Or maybe the talismans are of such a high grade that I can’t see through them?’

After all, Chen Ling wasn’t an idiot. She wouldn’t really use a fake to confront them, would she? ’Does she have a death wish?’

Just then, Dongfang Ran also realized something. Her face instantly darkened. "Is this really a Demon Suppression Array? This thing can suppress demons?"

"Of course it can!" Chen Ling said decisively. "I paid a high price for this from an expert! It’s something that can save our lives in a critical moment!"

Seeing how certain she was, Dongfang Ran also fell into self-doubt. ’Could it be that I’m just too inexperienced?’

’I’m not sure. I’ll take another look.’

She squatted in front of the rope, staring at a talisman to study it closely.

’It’s a very ordinary Demon Suppressing Talisman. The drawing isn’t wrong, but it looks incredibly rigid, like a mass-produced fake from a factory.’

"Where did you meet this expert?" Dongfang Ran couldn’t help but ask. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

Chen Ling recalled, "In a funeral supply store deep inside a morning market. I spotted it and wanted it right away."

Dongfang Ran’s expression turned even uglier.

Chen Ling scoffed. "I know what you’re worried about. I was the same way at first. After looking at it closely, I thought it was a fake. But I’m not an idiot. I definitely confirmed it was real before buying it."

’You really aren’t that smart,’ Dongfang Ran thought. "How did you confirm it?"

"I tested it with Spiritual Power, of course. The talisman rope reacted to it."

Hearing this, Dongfang Ran’s expression relaxed a little. At this point, she wasn’t even hoping for it to be effective; as long as it was real, that was enough.

Gu Qingyin, however, remained skeptical. ’If this is real, then I’ll have really learned something new today.’

’But if it’s fake...’ Gu Qingyin broke into a silent, wide grin.

’The area they’ve cordoned off is just big enough for two burial mounds.’