Dueling Spells

"All right, use whatever methods you like. I'll cover you. [Burning^Text^Bookstore]" I said with a smile, though I felt somewhat helpless inside. Hopefully all I had to do was cover them. If Xijun really had to act, the Soul Urn might break. Once the urn shattered, the soul inside would be destroyed—just like the Soul Urn in Grandma's trunk.

I felt as if I were walking a tightrope now, terrified that something might go wrong.

"Haha, all right. Little Brother Xia, you absolutely mustn't act this time. You have to let me show my skills. If you really step in, I'll get angry with you!" Lin Feiyu roared with laughter and patted my shoulder.

"Then just cover us. If things truly go wrong, you don't need to act either. Just protect Zhao Qian and Zhao Yi and get them out safely. The Arcane Sect's matters should be settled by the Arcane Sect. You only count as half an Arcane Sect member, so the two of us old men won't drag you into this." Uncle Hai said this as he took a palm-sized tortoiseshell from his backpack and shook it with a series of clicks.

There seemed to be copper coins inside.

I nodded and cast a grateful look at the two of them. It seemed they had seen the Soul Urn shatter just now and were giving me a way to save face.

"Brother Hai, this is a fortune-telling hexagram, right? What does it say?" Lin Feiyu rubbed his chin and stared at the turtle divination, utterly unable to make sense of it.

At the center of the tortoiseshell were three sections, representing Heaven, Earth, and Humanity—the Three Powers. Around them were twenty-four sections, representing the Twenty-Four Mountains. There could also be ten sections, representing the Ten Heavenly Stems, while the bottom of the shell had twelve sections, representing the Twelve Earthly Branches. It contained the principles of Heaven and Earth and was no ordinary object.

That was a tool of the School of Yin-Yang. Jiang Ziya of the Western Zhou and Zhuge Liang of the Three Kingdoms had often used such things. The profession of the School of Yin-Yang had already flourished before the Qin dynasty and after the Zhou dynasty. Later, its teachings crossed eastward into Japan. The Japanese had learned a bit of its outer shell, but that could only be called onmyōji.

Yet by now, the School of Yin-Yang had dwindled badly. Its numbers were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. An expert like Uncle Hai was truly hard to find in the country.

Uncle Hai studied the divination, picked up the copper coins and golden turtle, then frowned at the misty sky and said, "It's passable. Let's go."

I frowned. When I had first met Uncle Hai, his round face had always carried a healthy flush, and he had smiled with open warmth. He and the gloomy Lin Feiyu had been completely different types. But today, his expression had become just like Lin Feiyu's. It was so grave that I could barely breathe. The atmosphere was oppressive.

"Hey, what do you mean, 'passable'? Brother Hai, isn't this trip going to be dangerous?" Lin Feiyu's already pale face grew even whiter, and he looked worried.

"Little Lin, if you're afraid of dying, then hurry up and leave. I won't stop you." Uncle Hai smiled. He glanced at the sky, then took a live turtle from his mountaineering pack. A bagua was carved into its shell, and this one was far larger than his palm.

"A bagua turtle? You even brought that out this time? Brother Hai, don't tell me you're planning to fight to the death?" Lin Feiyu sucked in a cold breath.

"Is Wu Zhenghua an ordinary man? If he sees the two of us walking together, won't he fight to the death? You should have heard and seen that fellow's abilities. You should know who drove him away back then." Uncle Hai stroked the bagua turtle, forming strange seals with one hand as he muttered a few words. The bagua turtle stretched out its head and looked toward the sky.

Raindrops pelted its head, making it struggle ceaselessly.

Uncle Hai took out a needle and pricked the bagua turtle's claw. Using a paper effigy, he squeezed out a little turtle blood, then put the turtle back into his mountaineering pack.

"Give me one of your hairs." After finishing all this, Uncle Hai extended his hand and unexpectedly plucked out one of my hairs, tying it to the damp paper effigy.

A sharp pain shot through me. I didn't know what he wanted to do, but I figured he wouldn't harm me, so I waited to see what he was planning.

Uncle Hai didn't answer me. He casually tossed the paper effigy onto the ground, then continued forward.

My Wife Sister suddenly tugged at my clothes. I hurriedly looked left and right, but saw nothing, so I quickly followed. Looking back at the paper effigy as it grew farther and farther away, I asked in puzzlement, "Uncle Hai? What's this?"

"Don't look. It'll blind you." Uncle Hai didn't even turn his head as he hurried to follow Zhao Yi, who was leading the way. I could only hurry to catch up with him.

Zhao Qian was still somewhat curious, but after hearing Uncle Hai, she turned her head away.

Rumble!!

A thunderclap shook the air, and a bolt of lightning behind us struck the paper effigy! In an instant, it blasted the paper effigy into dust!

I was dumbstruck, my mouth wide enough to swallow Uncle Hai's turtle.

"Th-the Thunder Spell!" A chill rose all over Lin Feiyu's body. He patted his chest, looking extremely relieved.

"This is Maoshan's Lightning-Summoning Spell. See that?" Uncle Hai formed a hand seal and seemed to relax. "Wu Zhenghua hadn't planned to clash with you at first. But it started raining in the middle of the night, and the clouds covered the sky. That was Heaven urging your death. So he decided to risk everything, set up an altar, and invite the Five Thunders to blast you."

"Haha, I understand now. Brother Hai, your divination just now revealed that Little Brother Xia's life was in danger. Then you brought out your fated turtle to receive the living creature's energy, used Little Brother Xia's hair as a substitute effigy, and lured the lightning to strike it, right?" Lin Feiyu asked with an enlightened look. In truth, he only had a hazy understanding of the School of Yin-Yang's techniques.

"No. The divination just now really was calculating the fate of us two old fellows." Uncle Hai answered with a smile.

Lin Feiyu was instantly left speechless. Cold sweat mixed with rainwater and streamed down his face.

So this was a spell duel? It was insanely dangerous! They could summon lightning at the drop of a hat?

I could barely draw breath. Fierce yin wind also howled behind me. My Wife Sister was probably furious this time.

"Little Brother Xia, think quickly. Is there anything that old bastard managed to obtain from you? A strand of hair, perhaps, or something you used before?" Lin Feiyu looked at me, rubbing his chin anxiously as he worried that another bolt of lightning might come down.

If that happened, I wouldn't be the only one to die. He was standing so close that he'd be finished too.

I thought it over but couldn't recall anything of mine falling into Wu Zhenghua's hands. I shook my head. I was different from other people. Since childhood, even the hair and flakes of skin I shed were never left lying around. My Wife Sister kept me impeccably clean, and even my room was spotless. It was impossible for anyone to collect anything from me. Wu Zhenghua's method of finding me certainly hadn't started there.

"Little Lin, asking that is useless. We old hands don't necessarily need something from a person's body to perform a spell. I don't know his method, but he definitely isn't searching through a life-token. Heh, look at the yin energy around him—it's more than enough to locate him. Forget it. We'd better find that old bastard's ritual altar." Uncle Hai squeezed his palm and began divining again.

"Uncle Hai, thank you so much. If not for you, I would probably have been struck to death by lightning. Spell duels really are incomparably dangerous." I thanked him from the bottom of my heart. In reality, relying on my Wife Sister's prediction just now, I could also have dodged that bolt. But considering how I had often ignored her warnings in the past, it wasn't impossible that I would have been struck dead on the spot simply because I couldn't see the danger.

That made Uncle Hai's presence truly crucial.

"No need. You're Senior Zhou Xian's heir. I believe you must have your own way of dodging that Thunder Spell. I merely lent a hand." Uncle Hai waved dismissively and focused on his calculations.

What method could I possibly have? You're just giving me a little face, old man.

It seemed I truly needed to communicate properly with my Wife Sister. Otherwise, if I encountered someone alone in a spell duel in the future, I probably wouldn't even know how I died.

"Brother Tian, are you all right?" Zhao Qian asked worriedly when she saw how pale my face was.

"I'm fine. That old bastard really does have some skill." In truth, my entire body was cold with fear. I had originally planned to rely on Xijun to duel Wu Zhenghua. I had been far too naive!

Looking at the sky, dense with dark clouds and pouring rain, I couldn't help thinking that even if that bolt hadn't killed me on the spot, who knew how many more would come before we reached the ritual altar? Besides, that old bastard knew how to drive ghosts. Summoning fierce ghosts in this rainy weather alone would be enough to give me a hard time.

Of course, if Uncle Hai and Old Wu hadn't gone ahead as pioneers, given Xijun's current condition, I would never have come up the mountain to court disaster.

"Haha, now you know, right? In the future, don't underestimate us old fellows. Push us hard enough, and we can bring out all sorts of deadly tricks to play with you." Lin Feiyu rubbed his chin and cackled strangely, looking as though he had greatly boosted the reputation of their generation.

"Got it. You old fellows really are something." This time, I admitted defeat. These old men truly kept their abilities hidden. Their experience in spell duels was unfathomably deep. If I wasn't careful, I really wouldn't know how I had died.

And even the police would be helpless. If I were struck to death by lightning, could they somehow arrest Wu Zhenghua on a charge pulled from thin air?

"Much more fun now. It should be at the mountaintop, no mistake." Uncle Hai spoke as he strode toward the summit.

Zhao Yi and Zhao Qian knew the route well. They shone their flashlights along the narrow path as it wound toward the mountaintop.

The mountain road wasn't exactly rugged, but it wasn't easy to walk either. The rain had turned it muddy, and we often slipped.

Once Uncle Hai reached the mountainside, he began taking out paper effigies by the handful from his mountaineering pack and tossing them down the mountain. I didn't know why, but I assumed he had his reasons and didn't ask again.

The closer we got to the summit, the heavier the yin energy became. I didn't know whether the cold came from nearing the mountaintop, but even the drizzle was being blown askew. It was terribly strange. My Wife Sister also began tugging lightly at my clothes.

"Hey, Brother Hai, that old bastard seems to be making a move. Did you notice? The yin energy is still this heavy, and your substitute dolls haven't worked. Did he discover something?" Lin Feiyu's brows knitted into a knot. He excelled at close combat, but when it came to the underhanded methods of Uncle Hai and Wu Zhenghua, he was as helpless as I was.

"Looks like he discovered that the two of us came up the mountain. The yin energy has grown so heavy. Is he going to summon a mountain ghost?" Uncle Hai's expression grew solemn.

"What?! Summon a mountain ghost?" Lin Feiyu froze and immediately stopped. Seeing that Uncle Hai wasn't joking, he hurriedly said, "Forget it, let's go back. We can't beat him. That old fellow is risking his life. Brother Hai, this weather suits him perfectly. Whoever goes up there will probably die."

"Not necessarily. If a mountain ghost comes, how will we know unless we fight it? This is much more fun. Since that old bastard wants to risk his life, I have no choice but to show some of my own cultivation. Otherwise, he'll really think we're easy targets." Uncle Hai took the mountaineering pack off his back and carried it in front of him. He unzipped the rear compartment and began rummaging through the pile of paper effigies.

Uncle Hai had brought an astonishing amount of equipment. He had clearly come prepared. Wearing the mountaineering pack backward meant he was ready to duel at any moment. I admired his professionalism utterly. No wonder he said I was half an Arcane Sect member. Compared to him, I didn't even count as half.

"You're going to fight a mountain ghost? Seriously? That's a mountain deity who hasn't received an official investiture!" Lin Feiyu shrieked.

"If he dares summon it, I dare kill it." Uncle Hai sneered as he took out five blue paper effigies. The characters for metal, wood, water, fire, and earth were written on them, with chaotic incantations beside them.