Chapter 100: The Sevenfold Northern Fiend Formation

Without further ado, the two rushed out. Cui Yue had originally intended to drag Zhang Hao along, but the latter offered a string of excuses and absolutely refused to budge.

"Look, the first time I saw the woman in green, she popped out of this large stone millstone."

Following Cui Yue's gesture, Master Huo looked toward the millstone at the village entrance. Curiously, it showed no signs of spiritual energy; it was just a plain, large rock.

Master Huo took a quick step, paced out a sequence of one and three toward the east and west, then six and nine toward the north and south, circling the millstone several times.

Cui Yue watched with astonishment, wondering if the old man was just bluffing—he didn't even have a compass. He began to harbor serious doubts about the man's abilities.

In truth, anyone with expertise would recognize that Master Huo was treading the "Seven Stars," positioning himself at the vital point of the feng shui formation, which secretly aligned with the numbers of the Nine Palaces. His keen eye alone was enough to prove he was a master of his craft.

Master Huo suddenly stopped, his expression grave.

"There is a major problem with the feng shui layout here!"

"A problem? What kind of problem? Uncle, can we focus on the task at hand first?"

Cui Yue was bewildered. He had counted on the man to catch ghosts and subdue demons, not to start critiquing the local feng shui. Was this some kind of occupational hazard?

"Calling you ignorant would be a compliment. Don't think that just because you carry a wooden sword, you can roam the world subduing demons. You, kid, still have a long way to go."

Master Huo cast a contemptuous glance at Cui Yue, his disdain evident.

Cui Yue’s face flushed with anger, yet he refused to back down. *Hmph, don't think you can show off just because you know a little more. I've never been afraid of anyone; I've faced the Painted Skin ghost and the headless blood corpse, and I still handled them!*

Master Huo seemed to read his mind, let out a cold laugh, and muttered to himself.

"I know what you're thinking. If not for that thing inside you, you would have died countless times by now. But it is precisely because of that thing that you are destined for disaster!"

"What does this feng shui have to do with the woman in green?"

"What does it have to do with her? This is the 'Seven-Fold Northern Malice' formation. Simply put, seven cursed objects have been buried in this village to form an array of concentrated evil. This formation is sinister; it harvests the souls of the living villagers to nourish its dark energy. Do you understand now?"

Cui Yue gasped. Good heavens, was this old eccentric serious? Using the entire village as a sacrifice to cultivate dark energy—wasn't that just cold-blooded murder?

"Hmph, brat, now you see how dangerous the feng shui here truly is."

Master Huo snapped his fingers, his face darkening.

"Cui Yue, step back five paces, then go three paces south. See if you can dig something up there."

Cui Yue, half-doubting, followed Master Huo’s instructions. He borrowed a shovel from Chen Sanwa’s house and quickly dug into the ground.

Within the hole, an object emerged. He scooped it up, dirt and all.

It was a headless black crow!

"This... this is a crow!"

Cui Yue felt nauseated and confused. Who could have buried this here? Based on Master Huo’s words, this formation shouldn't be recent, yet the crow looked as if it had been buried just moments ago.

"Indeed! Just as I suspected, someone has tampered with Shangwan Village, setting up the Seven-Fold Northern Malice formation."

This formation involved burying seven types of malevolent objects in specific directions, tapping into the earth's veins. With the seven evils aligned, it became an endless, self-sustaining loop. Because of the circulation of the earth's malignant energy, the crow's carcass remained uncorrupted.

Seeing the headless crow, Master Huo reached a conclusion, but a troubling question remained: what was the connection between the woman in green and this formation?

The formation was clearly man-made, but what about the ghost? Could someone be deliberately raising spirits? It was a possibility Master Huo dared not contemplate.

"Cui Yue! Our priority now is to join forces and break this formation!"

"Understood!"

Cui Yue realized this old man truly had skill. To identify the cornerstones of the formation with the naked eye alone was far beyond the level of his uncle, Li Jianguo.

"Next, the southeast, the northwest..."

By midday, Cui Yue and Master Huo had unearthed the remaining six malevolent objects hidden beneath Shangwan Village. The items were bizarre and chilling.

There were owls, yellow-faced foxes, and most terrifying of all, a stillborn fetus with needle-sharp teeth.

"Is this one of the seven evils too?"

Master Huo sneered.

"This is called a 'Yin-Malice Fetus.' It is induced at seven months, treated with dark sand and other materials, placed in a jar, and buried in a mass grave for forty-nine days to become the most venomous of the seven."

Master Huo felt a surge of anxiety. Whoever could craft such a thing and set up this formation was no small-time player.

"Cui Yue, time is of the essence. It is high noon, when the sun's energy is strongest and the malevolent spirits are dormant. Light the fire! Let’s burn it all to ash!"

Cui Yue hurriedly doused the pile of cursed objects with gasoline and set them ablaze.

The wind fanned the flames, growing into a roaring inferno. A crackling sound echoed from the fire, like popping beans, interspersed with faint, mournful wails and piercing shrieks.

The fire was so intense that Cui Yue stepped back three paces. Suddenly, he saw the stillborn fetus, engulfed in flames and baring its teeth, leap out of the fire!

It lunged directly at his head.

Cui Yue was terrified—how had this thing come to life?

"Get off!"

In a panic, he swung his shovel, swatting the fetus back into the pyre!

Yet, the burning fetus simply rolled over and bounced out again like a rubber ball.

"Move!"

Master Huo shoved Cui Yue aside.

Master Huo formed the "Demon-Subduing Seal" with his left hand. The tattoo on his arm pulsed, and the ring on his finger erupted in golden light as he threw a punch!

*BOOM!*

With a thunderous crash, the fetus was enveloped in golden light, transforming into a lump of black flesh in mid-air before falling back into the fire, where it was soon reduced to cinders.

"That was close!"

Cui Yue swallowed hard. He had let his guard down, and the fetus had nearly claimed him. It was truly the most venomous of the seven evils.

Master Huo hadn't expected the fetus to be so potent, which only confirmed that the person behind this formation was exceptionally dangerous.

"It is done. The Seven-Fold Northern Malice formation has lost its foundation; the formation is broken."

Hearing this, Cui Yue finally let out a long sigh of relief. The sinister, poisonous feng shui had been dismantled at last.