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墨書 Inktalez
I found a corner and laid down some Grave Soil to create a space, then placed a bronze mirror on top of it and lit nine Short Incense sticks. I set some offerings beside it and used Ink Fight Line to encircle the area, leaving an opening. Then I took out a Soul Guiding Talisman and stuck it on the bronze mirror, while secretly holding another Soul Guiding Talisman in my hand, beginning to chant the Soul Guiding incantation.
This Soul-Trapping Formation has its intricacies; the Grave Soil serves as a reminder that it is already a Soul, and this corner is its rightful place. The oil lamp is meant to stabilize the soul; as long as the lamp remains lit, it will stay peacefully in that spot and not wander around spreading Yin Qi. I did not use any aggressive items for this Binding Formation because even if I did, the effect would not be good and could provoke it instead. Therefore, the only factor supporting this formation is that oil lamp, which must not go out. Moreover, I lit Short Incense, which is an ancient measurement unit; the burning time of this incense is only five minutes. If the incense goes out, the formation fails, meaning I must successfully guide the Yin spirit into the formation within five minutes. If I fail, not only will I be unable to contain it, but I will also suffer backlash from the Yin spirit. Before this Soul-Trapping Formation successfully Traps the Soul, there is another term for it called Gathering Yin Formation.
When I set up this formation, I felt very conflicted inside. I couldn't guarantee complete safety, which troubled me greatly. I had been backlashed by a Yin spirit before and knew what that felt like. However, there was no turning back once the bow was drawn, and a powerful belief supported me: what my master told me over the phone—"You can handle this."
Once everything was ready, I walked to the opposite corner of the formation and began to step through Gangbu while chanting to drive away spirits. Although it was called driving away spirits, I was actually just driving away Yin Qi. I couldn't determine its exact location, but I could gradually expel the Yin Qi from within the room, leaving only that corner's Yin Qi behind; naturally, it would move toward the Soul-Trapping Formation. This was a clumsy method but ensured success without fail; it just required some time pressure. Fortunately, since the room wasn't large, by the time I finished everything, four of the nine Short Incense sticks had already burned out. Thankfully, I successfully guided the soul into the formation and finally breathed a sigh of relief. After sealing off the formation, I refilled the oil lamp with oil; this lamp was specially made to last for one hour with one full tank of oil. This meant that every hour and a half, I needed to add more oil; if too much time passed without adding oil, the wick would burn too short. Once that happened, adding oil wouldn't fill it up completely again; only a little could be added at a time. If this cycle continued without proper maintenance, the lamp would extinguish quickly. This type of lamp cannot have its wick replaced midway because the wick is a focal point for Yin spirits; any change would awaken them and allow them to break free from the Binding Formation—rendering all efforts futile—and trying to Trap Souls again would be nearly impossible.
After refilling the lamp with oil, feeling somewhat weak, I turned around and knocked on Holy's door, casually saying "Open up." Once the door opened, I hurried inside without caring much about anything else and collapsed onto Holy's bed. Seeing me looking exhausted, Holy nervously asked if everything was settled. Xiao Chen was quick-witted enough to grab my feet hanging off the edge of the bed and began gently massaging them with surprisingly skilled hands; who knew he had such talent?
I reassured them that everything was fine and told them to wait a moment. After resting my eyes for about fifteen minutes or so, I sat up to stretch my limbs and stood up to ask: "Did that master call you back?" Holy shook his head in response. "Then just wait a bit longer; I've set up a Trapped Soul formation outside. That Yin spirit is currently trapped inside it, but maintaining that formation requires an oil lamp that needs refilling every ninety minutes; timing must be precise—if it goes out... well, that would be serious."
At this point, Xiao Chen laughed heartily and said: "That's amazing! Just like what they show on TV!" I shot him a glare and told him to be serious before getting up and leading them into the living room where I turned on the lights. I brought them over to that corner and pointed at the formation saying: "The lines surrounding this area must not be disturbed; that oil lamp needs constant refilling." Before I could finish my sentence, Xiao Chen interrupted again: "What about that red candle? It's almost burnt out—should we replace it?"
I replied that there was no need; they just needed to ensure that oil lamp stayed lit. Just as I finished speaking, Holy's phone rang; he quickly handed it to me saying: "It's the owner of that bronze mirror." Taking it from him, I pressed speakerphone without having time to speak before a mocking voice came through: "Heh heh! Are you going crazy? But at least you're clever enough to find my number and ask for help. You thieves deserve whatever comes your way! Hahaha!"
After hearing this, I felt somewhat moved—yes, they truly deserved retribution—but resolving things this way wouldn’t solve any problems either. In a deep voice, I replied: "Those who cultivate should maintain a clear mind and few desires—not merely claiming compassion for all beings while allowing spirits to harm others. You only know of others' retribution but fail to see how you indulge such vicious spirits tormenting an ordinary person—what kind of retribution awaits you?"
Upon hearing my words, there was an evident pause on their end before they asked: "Are you one of those thieves' friends? No wonder your voice sounds different." They continued: "I never intended for spirits to harm anyone; it's just that I've been unable to locate that thief for some time now and had no choice but to use certain methods in hopes he would come find me."
I responded: "Now you've been found; can you assist me in sending away this Yin spirit? I'm unsure about your incantations or talismans—they won't completely resolve this matter. Please lend me your help."
Seeing my earnestness made their tone soften immediately as they said: "I can help you but cannot disclose any incantations or talismans—you know how things work in our field. Please understand I'm not in Guangzhou right now; I'll come over tomorrow morning and should arrive by afternoon. Of course, all expenses will have to be covered by that thief."
I said, "Of course, see you tomorrow. Wait for your call." After finishing, I hung up the phone directly. Holy looked at me and weakly asked, "Brother Liu, how much does he want? Can you give me an idea so I can gather the money?" Xiao Chen chimed in, "What money? If you don't have enough by then, I'll lend you some."
I nodded and said, "I'm heading home now. You two remember not to let the oil lamp go out; otherwise, even the King of Heaven can't save you. As long as the lamp stays lit, that spirit can't do anything to you." Of course, I knew my words were a bit harsh, but given the seriousness of the situation, it was justified.
They quickly stood up. Holy said, "Brother Liu, why don't you just stay here tonight? I'll give you my room. In case something goes wrong, you'll be able to respond in time." Xiao Chen agreed, saying, "Yeah, Brother Liu, you can sleep in my room if you want."
I replied, "This is your trial; you need to bear it yourselves. If you can't handle this matter well, then it's not worth my continued help. Take this talisman; use it when adding oil to the lamp. Add oil with your right hand and hold this talisman with your left hand. There won't be any problems. I'm leaving now and will come back tomorrow afternoon. Remember what I said and follow my instructions strictly. Do you understand?"
Seeing them nodding, I picked up the Cloth Bag and turned to leave.
After getting home, I didn't think much about it. I thought that if they couldn't even face this situation properly, then it really wasn't worth my help. That night, I went to bed early because I had sustained a lot of damage from the Soul-Trapping Formation and needed rest. When I woke up the next day, it was already noon. This wasn't surprising; I had been somewhat affected by Yin Qi and had walked for a long time on Gangbu. Sleeping this long was completely normal. After getting up and grabbing a quick bite to eat, I noticed many missed calls and messages on my phone. Most were from Xiao Chen's brother. I called back immediately, and Old Chen answered urgently, saying, "Where are you? They are going crazy looking for you."
"I'm at home; didn't we agree I'd come in the afternoon? Why are they looking for me now?" I replied with some confusion.
Old Chen said, "I'll send you his number; just call him yourself."
When I dialed the number and said hello, Xiao Chen's anxious voice came through: "Brother Liu! It's bad! You need to come over quickly; it's really bad!" I jumped up from my chair so fast that my knee hit the corner of the table with a sharp pain. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I hurriedly asked, "Did the oil lamp go out? How's Holy?"
Xiao Chen replied from the other end, "No! It's that the oil you left is almost gone. We just added oil for the last time; once it's burned out, that's it." I sighed in relief and rubbed my aching knee while gritting my teeth and saying, "If it's gone, then it's gone; what's there to panic about?" After hanging up the phone, I finished eating and tidied up before heading to Xiao Chen's place.
Upon entering their house, both of them rushed over like they had been parched for ages—clearly exhausted since they hadn't slept all night. Xiao Chen said to me, "Brother Liu! If you hadn't come sooner, we would have run out of oil! We would all be dead!" A cold sweat broke out on me; how could they all be dead? It seemed like something I had told them earlier. Not wanting to expose that fact, I nodded instead and took out the compass as I walked over to the corner where the Soul-Trapping Formation was located. Checking the compass's reaction confirmed that the spirit was still within the formation and in a stable state. In fact, if we didn't add more oil right away, that lamp could still burn for at least half an hour.
I asked if anyone had called the owner of the bronze mirror yet. When they shook their heads in response, I took out a small bottle of oil from my Cloth Bag and filled the lamp's reservoir. Clapping my hands together as I walked over to sit on the sofa, I said, "Let's call him; he said he'd arrive in Guangzhou this afternoon. One of you should go pick him up at the station; that's what you're supposed to do."
Holy hurriedly took out his phone and dialed a number before handing it to me. I quickly pushed it back towards him: "You go face him yourself if you're truly remorseful."
After the call connected, Holy respectfully said, "Hello, where are you? I'm calling a cab to pick you up at the station." A faint voice came from the other end, "I've arrived in Shaoguan and will reach Guangzhou South Station in about an hour. Whether you want to pick me up or not is up to you. Do you really think this will end so easily? Be prepared, thief." With that, the call ended, and the tone was quite unfriendly.
His words left me feeling somewhat bewildered. Wasn't our conversation fine yesterday? How did his attitude suddenly take a complete turn? Did he have some ulterior motive? Xiao Chen and Holy looked a bit anxious as well, nervously glancing at me without daring to speak. But like me, they were certain that the owner of the bronze mirror was not someone to be trifled with.
I remained silent, but an inexplicable pressure weighed on my mind. If he came and insisted on controlling the spirit to do something, I wasn't sure I could protect him because that spirit indeed belonged to him. If he had raised it and his Dao Heart was not righteous, then this situation would truly become troublesome.
Seeing my serious expression, Xiao Chen opened his mouth to speak, but I raised my hand to stop him. After pondering for a moment, I said, "Holy, you should go pick him up. I'll head home first to grab some things. Just in case he comes and seeks revenge on you, I need to be prepared. At least I want to prevent any loss of life or for him to drive you insane. He'll be arriving soon; hurry up and go. I'll make it back before you get home. Xiao Chen, just stay here and keep an eye on the oil lamp; don't let it go out."
Seeing how serious I was, they became even more anxious and agreed readily. We split up; in the next moment, Holy and I each headed out while Xiao Chen stayed inside to watch over the oil lamp.
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