Chapter 121: The Stone Wall Formation

Everyone quickly walked toward the stone wall. The closer they got, the more distinct the red glow became. It looked like countless rubies embedded into the wall—dense and numerous enough to make one’s skin crawl.

They examined it for a long time but still couldn’t tell what was special about this wall. Finally, they turned to Yun Jiao.

“Fellow Daoist Yun, could it be that the vitality of West City is hidden inside this wall? Then should we—”

He was just about to suggest breaking the wall apart when Jiao Hengyi’s expression suddenly darkened.

“No!” he said sharply. After studying the densely packed red lights in silence for a while, his brows furrowed even deeper, and he said hesitantly, “Judging by the positions of these red lights, they seem to form a formation. Let’s make sure before we act.”

After speaking, he glanced uncertainly at the others.

“It does look like a formation,” Yun Jiao confirmed with a nod. But this was one she had never seen before. She couldn’t tell at first glance what kind it was. “I’ll calculate it.” She studied the positions of the red lights carefully and began to deduce in her mind. After a moment, she said, “This formation is quite complex. It’s not just a single array. So far, I can tell that the top layer is a guiding formation that draws in all vitality, but there should be other layers hidden beneath it.”

“So it really is here!” Everyone’s expressions darkened. Jiao Hengyi stepped forward and said urgently, “Fellow Daoist Yun, time is short. We should break the formation and release the vitality at once.”

The people in the city couldn’t hold out much longer.

Yun Jiao hesitated briefly, then nodded. “All right, let’s break it first.”

Knowing how cunning the demon Chi Xiao was, Jiao Hengyi suspected there might be traps left behind. He turned to the others and said, “I’ll break the formation alone. Everyone else, stand back—just in case.”

No one objected. They all stepped back a few paces. Other than Yun Jiao, only Captain Jiao was truly proficient in formations.

He pulled out several talismans and walked toward the stone wall, forming seals with his hands as he began breaking the array.

In less than a short while, the wall emitted strange noises. Cracking sounds echoed as something inside seemed to splinter, and the entire cave trembled. The stone wall began shedding layers like peeling skin, chunks of stone falling in a loud cascade.

“Watch out for falling rocks!” Master Xu shouted to Elder Jiao. Fortunately, Jiao Hengyi reacted quickly—he pulled out a defensive talisman, and in the next instant his body was covered in white light, avoiding the falling stones.

The others also dodged around to avoid the debris. Dust filled the entire cave, thick with the smell of grit—and something else.

A chilling coldness.

Wait.

Coldness? Yun Jiao froze, realization flashing through her mind. She suddenly looked up toward the wall in front of Jiao Hengyi and shouted,

“That’s not red light! Captain, get away from there!”

Jiao Hengyi was startled, and in the next instant he saw the red lights around him flare up. A piercing, bone-freezing aura surged toward him. He had no time to react before a black shadow lunged straight at him. His defensive barrier lasted only a heartbeat before shattering! Luckily, his reflexes were quick—he pulled out another weapon to block the blow and leapt backward, retreating from the wall.

What on earth was that thing, that it could so easily break through a defensive talisman?

“What… what is that?!” an elder cried, staring ahead in disbelief.

Everyone turned instinctively to look. The stone wall, now stripped of its outer layer, finally revealed its true face. Those “red lights” weren’t lights at all—they were countless crimson ghost eyes covering half the wall, with hideous, distorted faces faintly visible beneath them.

“It’s a Hundred-Ghost Formation,” Yun Jiao said grimly. After glancing at the sea of red eyes, she added in a deeper tone,

“A Hundred-Ghost Formation set by ghost soldiers.”

The words made everyone gasp. The Hundred-Ghost Formation itself wasn’t terrifying—they were all experienced elders, and dealing with a few spirits was nothing to them.

But these weren’t ordinary ghosts. They were ghost soldiers.

No wonder when Chi Xiao wreaked havoc in West City, she had done it alone. The ghost soldiers had all been left here.

Ghost soldiers were far beyond normal evil spirits—releasing even one could cause an irreversible disaster.

Master Xu’s heart sank as he immediately shouted,

“Everyone! While it’s still daylight, we must not let these ghost soldiers escape!”

The others recovered from their shock, suppressed their fear, and quickly drew their weapons and talismans to subdue the ghosts.

Because of Jiao Hengyi’s earlier breaking of the array, the ghost soldiers were now freed from the wall and rushed toward them in waves.

Terrifying shrieks of the undead filled the air, and the cave plunged into darkness.

There were only six of them, while the enemy numbered over a hundred. At first, they managed to hold their ground, but as the fight dragged on, they became overwhelmed. For now, it was still noon—strong yang energy outside was in their favor—but if they delayed too long, escape would be impossible.

Yun Jiao’s heart sank. She had just fused with her Profound Veins yesterday and hadn’t begun training yet. She had almost no combat power and could only rely on a few talismans for protection. After scanning the ghost soldiers around, her gaze fixed on the stone wall again.

Judging the distance, she grabbed Jiao Hengyi, who had just retreated back, and said,

“Captain, that wall was able to seal the ghost soldiers earlier—there must be another array on it. Let’s check!”

“Alright! I’ll take you there.”

Without hesitation, he swung his sword, forcing back the ghosts in front of them, and pulled Yun Jiao toward the wall. The ghost soldiers, sensing their intent, charged after them.

Jiao Hengyi’s situation grew more dire. Although he was a Third-Rank Celestial Master, his focus had always been on formations; his spellcraft wasn’t as strong.

The distance was only a dozen meters, yet it took him nearly a quarter of an hour to reach the wall.

Trusting Yun Jiao completely, he endured several claw wounds from ghost soldiers but stubbornly pressed on.

“Fellow Daoist Yun, it’s up to you now! I… can only hold on for about fifteen minutes more.”

“Good enough!” Yun Jiao said, quickly examining the wall. Without the distraction of those countless ghost eyes, the structure of the formation became much clearer.

At a glance, she saw it was layered with seven or eight overlapping arrays—including a demonic summoning formation for the ghost soldiers—and the final layer seemed to be connected to something else entirely.

Without wasting time, she began dismantling and rewriting the formation.

If this array could summon ghost soldiers, then it should also be able to send them back. Even if the original formation didn’t have that function, she would force it to.

Jiao Hengyi’s injuries worsened; his body and face were covered with bleeding claw marks, looking even more dreadful than the ghosts themselves. The other four were also in terrible shape. Seeing that his last defensive talisman was about to be used up, he couldn’t help shouting,

“Fellow Daoist Yun—”

“It’s done!” Yun Jiao turned her head and pointed to a spot in the lower right corner.

“Channel your spiritual energy here!”

“Ah?” He froze.

“Quick!” Yun Jiao’s tone sharpened—there was no time for explanations.

“O-okay!”

Jiao Hengyi pressed his palm to the spot she indicated.

(End of chapter)