Trapped Here
As some of the participants who had already obtained the guide's location began to converge on the area where the guide was located, at the northern end of Nanshui Town—
The mottled courtyard wall was a deep gray, and the heavy door knocker was decorated with intricate gold patterns. A heavy and old atmosphere permeated the courtyard gate, making it hard to breathe.
The gilded plaque was quite expensive to make, and although the ink on the two dignified characters "Fang Mansion" had faded, they still retained their powerful and vigorous style.
The frost and snow melted quietly at the courtyard wall, and the surroundings were covered in silver. Only the treetops extending from inside the Fang Mansion were bare, like sharp thorns.
Standing Fang Mansion residence, the Meng Dao could see these branches as soon as it looked up. The sight of them reminded it of its ordeal outside the town, and the thought made its whole body ache and almost tremble.
He gripped the twin swords tightly, wiped the fresh blood from his cheek with the back of his hand, and a shadowy glint flashed in his eyes.
However, this time the dark thought that flashed through his mind was no longer directed at Yu Xing, but rather at the flower seeker who had tricked him into making the move, and at the ghost wall he was currently trapped in, unable to escape its maze-like state.
"Yan Li, have you found the core of the formation yet?"
Not far behind the Meng Dao, Medusa sat with her legs together on a fallen, thick tree trunk, admiring the deep red nail polish on her newly painted nails while glancing impatiently at Yan Li, who was squatting on the ground fiddling with something.
Her thin clothes accentuated her figure perfectly, and her long, ankle-length black hair cascaded down to the ground behind her, like a willow fairy in human form.
Beautiful as it may be, this talk-only attitude of doing nothing is still quite annoying. Yan Li maintained her squatting position and turned around irritably, saying, "Either have your little boyfriend come and help, or shut up and stop bothering me."
The "little boyfriend" Lan Wu stood silently behind Medusa, his fingers twitching slightly in his sleeve as he stared blankly at the back of Medusa's head.
He knew he had no right to speak at a time like this.
Sure enough, Medusa chuckled, lowered her hand, and casually rested her arms on the rough bark of the tree trunk, saying, "What nonsense are you talking about? Lan Wu is not my boyfriend. You know this fact, yet you still insist on bringing it up. Are you jealous?"
"President Medusa is overthinking it." Yan Li turned her head, looking at the array calculation marks he had left on the ground, frowned, and added another mark with a pebble. "It's just that your little boyfriend has a very special calculation ability, which can be of help to me at this time."
"In order for us all to find our way out as soon as possible, I would like to ask President Medusa to reluctantly lend me Lan Wu a while."
Lan Wu help but step forward, about to say, "How can I help you?", when Medusa raised her hand to stop her.
Medusa curled her bright red lips into a haughty smile, toying with a strand of her dark hair. "The mighty 'King of Hell,' the strongest strategist, surely can't even break through a ghost wall, and needs to borrow my people?"
"Lan Wu still very weak. His mental strength probably can't withstand the torment of the King of Hell. Now that I've lent it to you, do you expect me to be burdened by his coma for the rest of the time?"
Yan Li's face turned cold, and he remained silent.
Lost in Meng Dao couldn't help but say, "Even if he were awake, wouldn't he still be a burden?"
Lan Wu's face turned pale, feeling as if the Meng Dao's blunt words had pierced his knee.
Medusa laughed out loud, saying with delight, "That's different. When Lan Wu is awake, he'll follow me around on his own. I can see his face as soon as I turn my head—how pleasing to the eye!"
"President," Lan Wu lowered his head in submission.
He seemed completely unconcerned about what others thought of him, nor about Medusa treating him as a plaything based on his looks. After all, he had gained his current status and resources precisely because of his appearance, so what right did he have to deny it?
Medusa stared at him for a couple of seconds, and sure enough, he seemed to be in a better mood. Then, remembering that someone was still squatting nearby, she snorted sarcastically, "If Lan Wu has nothing to watch, am I supposed to watch Yan Li who always has a serious face? I'm afraid I'll hurt my eyes."
Yan Li's temple throbbed with veins. He interrupted the conversation with a hint of helplessness, saying in a conciliatory tone, "Fine, don't lend it then, but at least don't disturb me while I'm breaking the formation. Keep it quiet."
The scene indeed quieted down.
Xue Shouyun tightened the snow-white fox fur coat with red marks on his shoulders, listening closely to the barbed exchange between the two association presidents, with no room to interject.
According to her, the situation is far from optimistic; the story dates back to just over an hour ago...
Many divination practitioners became aware of the Fang Mansion's special nature, and people came to investigate one after another.
Strangely enough, none of those who managed to sneak into the Fang Mansion compound by any means ever came out.
Xue Shouyun came with a member of the Hourglass Guild. The member entered the Fang Mansion but did not respond. As time went on, she had no choice but to go in herself to check the situation.
It wasn't until she entered that she realized the Fang Mansion was completely empty.
That's not quite right either. The mansion just didn't contain the people the townspeople were talking about, like Master Fang, the eldest son of the Fang family, and the nanny. Xue Shouyun did find the bodies of several diviners in the mansion, though.
It's hard to imagine that on the very first day of the divination, several diviners investigating the Fang Mansion had died, including one of her fairly strong members from the Hourglass Guild.
The member stood in the empty Fang Mansion garden, his lower body transformed into hard wood, while his upper body remained flesh and blood, limply folded backward, his terrified eyes staring at the gray sky, silent and eerie.
This is not the Fang Mansion at all.
At least, it's not the Fang Mansion that the Fang Mansion are talking about.
As Xue Shouyun walked through the mansion, aside from occasionally passing by the corpse of a diviner, she always felt that someone was watching her, invisible and intangible, but she could not shake it off no matter what she did.
Then, she was attacked. A disheveled woman in a white dress, carrying a knife, rushed out from the corner with a sinister laugh. Incredibly, Xue Shouyun's attacks couldn't land on the woman in the white dress at all, and she could only passively run away.
She ran to a room in the Fang Mansion, where the woman in the white dress vanished without a trace. Inside that room, she encountered Yan Li, Medusa, Meng Dao, and Lan Wu.
Yan Li Medusa was alright, Lan Wu was pale, and his Meng Dao was stained with fresh blood again, some from his own wounds and some from others.
After exchanging information, Xue Shouyun learned that a total of twelve divination experts, some strong and some weak, had sneaked into the Fang Mansion, and now only the five of them remained alive.
This Fang Mansion is full of strange occurrences. In the garden, one might accidentally trigger the rules and turn into a withered tree. Along the way, there will be women in white dresses, indistinct chunks of bloody flesh, and invisible death curses. Most importantly, they have no way to resist these things; at most, they can only avoid them.
Those who have advanced to their level of divination each possess their own methods of psychic communication, unlike newcomers who lack the means to contact spirits. It has been a long time since they have encountered such a situation.
Moreover, there's no way to get out of this eerie Fang Mansion; every time someone rushes out, they get lost in a maze and end up back inside.
However, the mansion was indeed too dangerous, so the five of them decided to move to a small open space outside the main gate of the Fang Mansion, where Yan Li, who was proficient in formations, would calculate the location of the gaps in the ghost wall.
Yan Li had been calculating and drawing on the ground for twenty minutes, and seemed to have encountered difficulties, but he had made progress.
Xue Shouyun's biggest worry was that they would be stuck here and miss the 3 o'clock tour group meeting.
It's already 2:45.