Formations used formation disks and formation flags as their foundation, gathering spiritual power for their own use and transforming it into countless manifestations. They could trap people, bewilder them, injure them, and even kill them.
An illusion formation was one type of formation meant to bewilder people.
Formations were divided into nine grades, with first grade the weakest and ninth grade the strongest. In Haotian Small World, the Xu family’s main residence had a fifth-grade formation, which was already quite formidable. Here in the Linyuan Secret Realm, the mountain-protecting formation outside this cave residence was said to be a killing formation, which was why no one could enter without breaking it first. Yet the situation inside the cave was far too strange. If an illusion formation had not obscured Xu Ziqing and Old He’s five senses, how else could things have become like this?
Old He nodded. “Most likely an illusion formation. You’ve got some knowledge after all, brat.”
Xu Ziqing actually knew very little. His days in the Hundred Herbs Garden were spent identifying spiritual herbs and cultivating diligently. He had only heard a little about formations when he happened to come across things like Spirit-Gathering Formations that increased the density of spiritual energy. As for how to break a formation, he knew absolutely nothing.
Old He was much older and naturally knew more about formations than Xu Ziqing did. But he was not a formation master either. Now that they had fallen into an illusion formation, he could only rely on his cultivation and spend some time wearing it down.
Xu Ziqing looked up and asked, “Steward He, is there anything this junior can do right now?”
Old He closed his eyes and shook his head. “There’s nothing you can do. Let this old man think.”
Xu Ziqing replied, “Yes.”
The two sat quietly for a while, both deep in thought.
To break a formation, a formation master could use formation disks, formation flags, and similar tools to deduce the formation’s underlying pattern, trace it back to its source, and dismantle it little by little. An outsider, however, had only two options: break the formation by brute force, or find its formation eye.
This cave residence had existed for an unknown number of years, and no one knew what sort of powerful expert had created it. With Old He’s mere ninth-layer Qi Refinement cultivation, forcibly breaking the formation would probably not be easy. That left only one choice: find the formation eye.
Old He pondered for a moment, then said, “We suspect this is an illusion formation, but no illusion has appeared yet, so at present it’s only a guess. If we trigger it and it turns out to be some other kind of formation, that would be rather risky.”
Xu Ziqing said, “This junior will follow Senior’s instructions in everything.”
Since Old He had already said as much, he clearly had a plan in mind. A formation that had not been triggered would not reveal its changes. And if they wanted to find the formation eye, they would need to experience the formation’s power firsthand, search for a flaw, and discover where that eye lay.
Once he made up his mind, Old He no longer hesitated. If the illusion formation never produced an illusion, who knew how long the two of them might remain trapped? They might as well take the risk.
Old He pulled Xu Ziqing a little closer to his side, formed a hand seal, brought two fingers together, and instantly released a technique toward a point on the stone wall.
“Explode!” he barked.
Red light flashed at once, bursting against the wall with a sharp report. Yet the art vanished like a clay ox sinking into the sea, completely swallowed by the stone. In the next instant, the scenery around them changed. Xu Ziqing hurriedly turned his head, only to discover that Old He was no longer beside him.
This is…
What is going on?
But when he saw the scene around him clearly, his pupils contracted slightly.
This place is terribly familiar.
As far as he could see, everything was white.
The room was square. Ahead stood a hospital bed with white sheets and a white pillow. A young man lay on it, tall and slender, with a calm air about him. Though handsome, his face was pale and visibly sickly.
The window was sealed tightly shut, but several pots of lush green plants sat along the sill, dotted with flower buds of vivid red and pale yellow, seeming on the verge of blooming yet still held closed.
Xu Ziqing felt as though he had become an insubstantial shadow, standing in the room in a daze.
He remembered that he had lived eighteen years, and most of that time had been spent trapped in this hospital room. At best, when his health improved a little, he could go downstairs and walk a few steps, but he had always been so weak that he needed someone to support him.
But why am I here?
Xu Ziqing suddenly realized, in a haze, that he could not remember why he had come here or why he had become this indistinct shadow. He reached out, and his fingers passed straight through the green leaves… Could I have become a ghost, wandering around the final place where I lingered before death?
While he was still struggling to understand, the door suddenly opened and two tall men walked in.
Both had strong, rugged features. The man on the left carried himself with crisp efficiency and had something of a military bearing. The man on the right wore a faint smile, but when his gaze fell on the person in the hospital bed, the same worry appeared in his eyes as in the other man’s.
Xu Ziqing heard them talking.
The man on the left said, “Dr. Huang said Little Brother’s condition has worsened again these past two days. A-Mu, aren’t there any better specialists?”
The man on the right sighed. “Big Brother, the specialists all say they’ve never seen Little Brother’s illness before. There are no prior cases to work from, so everything has to be researched as it happens. I brought in an international team of specialists last month, but there still doesn’t seem to be any progress.”
The man on the left said again, “Little Brother’s body can’t wait.”
The man on the right rubbed his forehead. “I haven’t even dared tell Mom about this… Dad said that no matter the cost, we have to keep Little Brother with us as long as possible.”
The man on the left seemed to choke up. “…This is suffering Little Brother never should have had to endure!” He clenched a fist but still did not dare strike the wall. “Damn it!”
The two put on protective clothing, opened the inner partition door, and finally approached the young man in the hospital bed.
The man on the right took a deep breath. His hand moved as though he wanted to do something, but in the end he merely tucked the blanket more securely around the young man.
“I won’t give up,” he said. “Big Brother, I absolutely won’t give up!”
The man on the left’s expression was taut. “…Mm.”
Their conversation was brief, and both of them seemed extremely busy with work. Before long, the elder brother with the military bearing left, while A-Mu remained behind, wiping the young man’s sweat and turning him over, personally taking care of everything without leaving any of it to others.
That evening, Big Brother returned and A-Mu left, and the task of caring for the young man fell to Big Brother instead.
Xu Ziqing watched silently. He desperately wanted to go over and speak to his eldest and second brothers, but even when he opened his mouth anxiously, not a single word came out.
He did not know how long he remained there. The next day, he watched a kind-looking couple arrive, both wearing worried expressions. The woman seemed somewhat frail and, before long, grew so emotional that her husband had to take her away. That afternoon, a beautiful woman also came to visit.
There was someone in the hospital room every day, but it was still his eldest and second brothers who came most often. Whether day or night, at least one of them was always beside the young man, who never once woke.
But the young man’s breathing gradually weakened…
Xu Ziqing walked to the bedside and reached toward the young man’s face.
Then a powerful pull suddenly seized him. His shadowy form was dragged forward against his will, and at once Xu Ziqing realized that his own breathing had grown weak as well, while pain filled every part of his body—
What is happening?
Xu Ziqing struggled to move, but although he finally felt as though he had a physical body again, he could not move at all. His entire body was stiff, and his thoughts and movements refused to match.
A realization suddenly dawned on him. Have I… returned to my own body?
Every sound around him now reached his ears with perfect clarity instead of seeming muffled behind a pane of glass as it had when he was only a shadow. At the same time, the emotions of those around him poured through his sharpened five senses and into his heart. His family’s worry, anxiety, urgency, pain… all of those emotions became towering waves that flooded into all seven of his apertures! Xu Ziqing tumbled within that raging sea of emotion, as though countless strands of spider silk had wrapped around him, tightening the more he struggled…
Xu Ziqing could even feel enormous emotions surging from within himself.
Regret, reluctance to part, longing…
I still want to spend more time with my family… I want them not to be so sad… I don’t want to leave. I want our whole family to stay together. I want Mom’s face to be free of tears. I want Big Brother and Second Brother not to have to work so hard. I want Dad to be proud of me too…
Elio’s Notes: The raw reads 那么 in “I want them not to be so sad,” which appears to be a typo for 他们 (“them”). I’ve followed the sentence’s clear contextual meaning rather than reproduce the typo.
I can’t accept it… I can’t accept it!
If only I could spend more time in the sun…
If only I could touch flowers with my own hands…
If only I could walk farther and see this world with my own eyes…
If only…
He even felt hatred rising within him!
I never did anything wrong, so why am I the one bedridden?
Why do I have to endure endless IV drips and surgeries, yet still never recover?
Why can even children go outside for a walk, while I get breathless after barely moving at all?
Why am I the only one who has to suffer like this!
Why! Why! Why!
Why, after trying so hard, do I still have to lose my life in the end?!
It hurts so much. It’s unbearable. I want to… I want to destroy this world!
If I can’t do these things, then no one else should be allowed to either! I have to, I have to—
…No.
It’s an inner demon!
Xu Ziqing could not open his eyes, but enormous fear suddenly surged through his heart.
These shouldn’t be my thoughts. This is an inner demon.
But what is an inner demon?
Where is my spiritual power? Why am I here? I should already be able to walk. I can walk now, I know I can!
I remember. I remember. I remember… what?
I have spiritual power… Yes, I’ve already stepped onto the path of cultivation… I-I entered a secret realm… The person with me was… was… We entered… where was it…
Xu Ziqing’s eyes suddenly flew wide open.
I’ve already been reborn. I have a complete, healthy body. I entered the Xu family’s main household and have been learning to tend spiritual herbs under Steward He. Right now, we should be inside a cave residence in the Linyuan Secret Realm!
Steward He activated the illusion formation!
Yes. Yes, that’s it. Everything is only an illusion.
It had only dredged up the feelings and images from before his death. None of it was truly happening. He had already reincarnated and was no longer that sickly person doomed to die young!
In a sudden flash of understanding, Xu Ziqing’s heavy body became light once more. He shook his head and only then discovered that he had somehow already fallen to the ground, his body leaning against the cold mountain wall.
Not far away, overlapping lights and shadows showed that people were fighting.