The Formation Traps the Heroes

Ye Yun slipped silently to the mouth of the cave, and the sight before him made his pupils contract.

Beneath the moonlight, the hollow in Black Wind Ridge had become a slaughterhouse. Blades flashed and swords clashed, fierce energy swept in every direction, and each collision of weapons erupted in a deafening boom. The gale they kicked up scraped a thick layer from the ground.

The experts from the Six Doors were clearly well trained. Five of them formed a mysterious battle formation, covering one another with both offense and defense. Mufeng's twin blades fluttered like butterflies among flowers, every strike aimed precisely at an enemy's vital points. The chubby youth, meanwhile, swung a pair of copper hammers with tremendous force, each blow shaking the earth.

But the bandits were even more ferocious! Especially their scar-faced leader. His ghost-headed saber swept in an impenetrable arc, the blade wreathed in eerie black mist, and he was actually evenly matched with Zhuge Qing!

Zhuge Qing's long sword and the leader's ghost-headed saber crashed together again. The shock wave sent several people nearby staggering backward. Ye Yun saw clearly that Zhuge Qing's swordsmanship was upright and proper, every stroke carrying a grand, righteous aura. The leader's saber technique, on the other hand, was sinister and vicious, attacking from impossible angles. It looked more like some kind of unorthodox martial art.

"Zhuge Qing! The Six Doors have stuck their noses too far into our business!" the leader snarled. He reversed his grip and slashed, the blade tracing an eerie arc straight toward Zhuge Qing's ribs.

"Youming Saber Technique?" Zhuge Qing scoffed. Three feet of azure light suddenly burst from his sword tip. "So you really are remnants of the Youming Sect!"

Sword light and saber energy collided once more. This time, the shock wave shattered a nearby boulder! Ye Yun hastily circulated his energy to steady himself, stunned. So this is the true power of a fifth-rank expert!

Elsewhere, Mufeng's twin blades spun like wheels as she fought a thin, wiry man wielding judge's brushes. His movements were uncanny, and his brushes targeted acupoints, forcing Mufeng to defend more than she attacked. Suddenly, she left an opening, luring him into an all-out attack. Then her blades crossed, and she unleashed a move called Soul-Severing Cross!

Shhk! The thin man's sleeve was slashed open, revealing a savage ghost-head tattoo on his arm!

"So you really are from the Youming Sect!" Mufeng cried, her blades striking with even greater speed.

The chubby youth was even more fearsome. His pair of copper hammers whistled through the air, driving back a bandit wielding a chain spear. The bandit's attacks were vicious and unpredictable, but at every crucial moment, lightning suddenly burst from the copper hammers and broke his assault. The chubby youth was actually a rare Lightning Spirit Body!

The constables from Chun'an County had retreated far away, unable to join the fight at all. Chen Qingzhou, enduring his injuries, directed the others in forming a perimeter to keep the bandits from escaping. Yan Xiao Liu was so anxious he scratched his head, but he knew that at this level of combat, charging in would only get him killed.

"Brother Ye, what do we do now?" Yan Xiao Liu hurriedly asked when he saw Ye Yun emerge.

Ye Yun's gaze was sharp. "Guard every exit. Don't let a single one of them escape!"

The battle gradually turned in their favor. The Six Doors had the numbers, after all, and as an organization specializing in hunting down martial-world outlaws, they soon gained the upper hand.

The leader was fierce, but Zhuge Qing's steady, methodical swordsmanship gradually exposed his weaknesses. Mufeng had already defeated her opponent and was now joining another Six Doors expert to attack the bandit with the chain spear. The chubby youth was even more ferocious: one hammer sent his opponent's weapon flying, and the other followed close behind!

The bandit with the chain spear took a hammer blow to the chest. He flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashed into the stone wall, and slid limp to the ground. He was clearly dead.

Seeing this, the leader roared. The black mist around his ghost-headed saber suddenly surged, forcing Zhuge Qing back for the moment. "Second! Do it!"

The effeminate man who had been lurking outside the battle sprang into action at the sound of his voice! He swiftly pulled four small command flags from his robes. The flags were blue, red, white, and black, each embroidered with intricate symbols in gold thread.

"Heaven and earth, limitless and eternal—the Four Symbols Locking Spirit Formation!" the effeminate man chanted, throwing the four flags toward the east, south, west, and north.

The moment the flags hit the ground, the entire hollow fell silent! It was as if some invisible force had swallowed every sound. Then the four flags lit up at once, blue, red, white, and black light shooting into the sky and weaving together into a vast canopy that enveloped the entire battlefield!

"A formation!" Zhuge Qing's expression changed. "Break it, quickly!"

But it was already too late! The multicolored canopy rapidly shrank, finally forming a barrier ten zhang in diameter. Inside it, everyone from the Six Doors felt their bodies grow heavy, as if an invisible mountain were pressing down on them. Their movements slowed several times over. Worse, the Essence Qi within their bodies became sluggish; they could use, at most, six or seven tenths of their full strength!

The bandits, by contrast, seemed unaffected. If anything, they were like fish in water, their attacks growing even more fierce!

"This is... the Four Symbols Locking Spirit Formation!" Mufeng cried. "An evil formation that suppresses a martial artist's Essence Qi!"

The leader burst into laughter. "Zhuge Qing, today I'll show you what the Youming Sect can do! Brothers, retreat!"

The bandits immediately broke away from the fight and headed for the Life Gate they had left open in advance. The effeminate man stood by the Life Gate, forming hand seals to maintain the formation, a smug, mocking smile on his lips.

"You think you can leave?" Zhuge Qing roared. He pointed his long sword at the sky, his fierce energy surging around him. "Watch me break your evil formation!"

But just as he prepared to break the formation with all his might, it suddenly shifted! The four colors whirled faster, and the pressure inside the barrier doubled. Several of the weaker Six Doors constables spat blood and collapsed on the spot!

"My lord! Don't force it!" Mufeng hurriedly warned him. "The formation will retaliate against anyone trying to break it!"

Seeing this, the leader grew even more pleased with himself. "Zhuge Qing, until we meet again! Next time, I'll have your head!"

With that, he led the bandits swiftly into the depths of the forest. Only after his companions had gone far did the effeminate man calmly change his hand seals, preparing to retrieve the flags and withdraw.

At that critical moment, Ye Yun moved!

He had been watching the formation in secret and noticed that although the four-colored light flowed without pause, it hesitated for the briefest instant each time it passed the black flag. The pause lasted only a split second, but it was long enough for him to seize the opening!

As luck would have it, he had seen a record of a similar formation in the True Martial Secret Manual. The Four Symbols Locking Spirit Formation was powerful, but it had one fatal weakness: the four symbols had to remain balanced. If even one flag was damaged, the entire formation would collapse on its own!

"Yan Xiao Liu! Attack the black flag!" Ye Yun shouted, his body shooting like lightning toward the blue flag in the southeast.

Yan Xiao Liu didn't understand why, but he trusted Ye Yun completely. He immediately nocked an arrow and shot at the black flag!

The effeminate man's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly altered his hand seals to repair the formation, but it was already too late! Ye Yun's long saber, wreathed in brilliant golden light, struck the blue flag with pinpoint accuracy!

Crack! The blue flag snapped in two!

Almost at the same time, Yan Xiao Liu's arrow hit the black flag! It failed to break it, but the Essence Qi clinging to its tip disrupted the flow of energy through the flag!

With the four symbols thrown out of balance, the entire formation began to shudder violently! The other two flags flickered, and countless cracks appeared in the barrier!

"Now!" Zhuge Qing's eyes blazed. He raised his long sword overhead, gathering all his fierce energy at its tip.

A purple sword beam as thick as a child's arm shot into the sky, crashing into the barrier's weakest point like thunder from the heavens!

Boom—!!!

Amid a deafening roar, the Four Symbols Locking Spirit Formation shattered! All four flags exploded at once, and the resulting shock wave sent the effeminate man flying backward, spitting blood.

At Zhuge Qing's command, the Six Doors men charged after the fleeing bandits like tigers bursting from their cages.

But they were a step too late. The bandits had clearly planned ahead. As soon as they left the battlefield, they scattered into the dense forest and vanished without a trace. Only the effeminate man had been badly injured by the formation's backlash, and Mufeng captured him with ease.

"What a pity." Zhuge Qing stared at the endless sea of trees, his expression dark. "I didn't expect them to have an expert in formations."

Ye Yun walked over to the black flag that had been struck by the arrow and examined it closely. It was made of neither metal nor wood, and felt cold to the touch. The symbols on it were cryptic and hard to decipher. It was clearly no ordinary object.

"This flag was forged from Youming Cold Iron." Zhuge Qing had come up beside him at some point. "The Youming Sect must have spared no expense for this operation."

Mufeng brought over the effeminate man. "My lord, what should we do with him?"

Though injured, the effeminate man still sneered. "Kill me if you want. You won't get a single word out of me!"

Zhuge Qing wasn't angered. He merely said, "Take him back to the county yamen and treat him well."

Just then, Chen Qingzhou came over with the constables to confess his failure. "This subordinate was incompetent and let the bandits escape. Please punish me, my lord."

Zhuge Qing waved a hand. "It's not your fault. These bandits were more difficult to deal with than we expected." He gave Ye Yun a particular look. "But I have to say, young Brother Ye, you were able to see through the formation's weakness. That's truly impressive."

Ye Yun answered humbly, "I was just lucky. I once read about a similar formation in an ancient text."

Zhuge Qing smiled knowingly but didn't press him. Instead, he said, "Clear the battlefield and see if there are any other clues."

Everyone immediately got to work. Before long, they found a number of important items deep inside the cave—including several chests of jewelry they hadn't had time to fence, some confidential documents, and, most importantly, a list!

"This is..." Zhuge Qing studied the list, his expression growing grimmer by the moment. "I never imagined they even had people inside the prefectural government offices!"

Ye Yun leaned in for a look, and his heart shook. Several familiar names stood out on the list—all important officials in the prefectural government! No wonder the bandits had escaped capture time and again. They had an inside man!

"My lord, what do we do now?" Mufeng asked.

Zhuge Qing pondered for a moment. "Send a carrier pigeon to Kyoto at once and request reinforcements. Until they arrive, we'll hold our position, lest we alert the enemy."

He looked at Ye Yun. "Young Brother Ye, you've rendered great service this time. Once this matter is settled, I'll petition the court to reward you."

Ye Yun clasped his hands. "It was my duty."