"Meteor dust as a shield from the sky, abyssal rocks as a shield from the earth, crushed sunshine pearl to block out prying eyes, and incense of Yin-devourer grass to blind all trapped spirits..."
One by one, Han Xuhan went through the materials his minions had set up around the cabin. A vague film of red dust surrounded the cabin which one wouldn't notice unless they were in close proximity. No sounds, nor any clues would travel out as to what was happening inside the cabin.
"The highest grade of Soulshaker pill to rattle all souls, the soul purification talisman to blow them out of body..."
Han Xuhan glanced at the tiny hourglass he had placed at the edge of the formation that surrounded the cabin. It was just about time he made his entrance.
Just for good measure, he picked up a set of exploding knives to throw around in case the situation spiraled beyond his control.
"Zhanxian, Tun Shi Tian, you know what to do if you see my signals. Keep little Zhe in check."
With that said, Han Xuhan took a deep breath and stepped inside past the boundary of the formation.
The moment both of his feet touched the ground inside the formation, he felt as if the world around him had turned into a chaotic whirlpool of colors. It was akin to having a colorful hypnotic picture pasted in his visual perception, quite similar to using his secondary mode of vision, the Ghostsight.
Familiar with the dizzy sensation, Han Xuhan put his focus into changing the mode of his vision. He had practiced it several times in the last twenty-four hours. Even without any external stimulations that made his Ghostsight act up uncontrollably, he could activate it if he focused hard enough.
Slowly, the chaotic flashes of colors faded from his eyes, replaced by the constant, vibrating world of threads. Han Xuhan found himself looking at a nearly black-and-white world, and despite being very, very nearsighted in this mode of vision, he could vaguely see the outline of the cabin ahead.
Step by step, he walked up to the front door and entered the cabin with his hands outstretched like a blind man.
He stopped for a moment inside the front room, mapping out some potential traps to use on his targets. The room was empty, but the open door ahead gave him a good look at what had happened there.
Although he had heard the sounds of fighting and glimpsed some scenes through the bedroom window, the fight had been so fast that he could only guess what was going on. Only when the sounds of battle died down had he made his final move, activating the soul-trapping formation.
As he stepped into the bedroom, Han Xuhan was greeted by a rather impactful sight.
Bodies lay all over the room, crouching in humiliating positions. It was clear that none of them were conscious...and perhaps not even alive. Han Xuhan couldn't predict whether a crazy man like Fang Xie would stop himself from delivering killing blows.
Almost the entire floor was dyed with a black liquid that was increasing by the moment. After a moment of confusion, he realized that this black liquid was the blood of the combatants.
As for what this blood had been spilled by, it was obvious. His hands which were touching the door came into contact with dozens of sharp metal needles that had perforated the door, the walls, and pretty much everything in the room.
Han Xuhan felt like he was inside a sketch painting depicting the aftermath of a massacre. And the man who had committed the massacre was standing just a dozen feet away, his hands raised in a manner that signaled that he was about to throw something.
Unfortunately for Fang Xie, he could not see Han Xuhan. The formation that had been set up around the cabin had ensured this. Not a single living being inside the formation was now capable of 'seeing' in the ordinary sense. Of course, if they had auxiliary means of vision such as Han Xuhan's Ghostsight, then that would help them perceive their surroundings spiritually.
But Han Xuhan didn't find that possibility to be likely.
He stood absolutely still, taking his breathing to such a minuscule level that his chest barely rose and fell.
Yet still, Fang Xie's senses caught his position almost perfectly. The moment one of his feet placed itself past the door to the bedroom, Han Xuhan noticed a black blur whipping past his nose and sinking itself a couple of inches into the door.
A stinging sensation traveled up from the tip of his nose. Fang Xie's aim was scarily accurate. It was no wonder that all thirteen of the meat-shields he had left for him to fight had been defeated miserably. These poor fellows hadn't even been able to injure the man.
Han Xuhan brought his nose towards the door decorated with dozens of needles and sniffed the air.
Just as he had thought, Fang Xie had used some kind of poison on the needles. As for what kind of poison it could be...
Han Xuhan did not care!
He reached into the pouch on his waist and took out a couple of vials of antidote. One of them had been prepared by the best alchemist Elders of the Crimson Snow Sect. The other vial contained the antidote to the Mindkiller Poison which Master Kong Ye had given to him as a gift the other day.
He took a sip from both vials, just to be on the safe side.
As he was calmly going through the safety measures, Fang Xie perceived his movements and began to hurl needles one after another. Han Xuhan cautiously took a step back behind the doorsill and allowed the needles to crash into the door, inches from his body. Due to the inconvenient angle, Fang Xie really wasn't making it easy for himself by shooting the needles from his original position in the room. But he had his reasons not to move. Leng Qing's body was his main card in this contest. If the situation went awry anytime, he could always use the boy as a hostage to turn things around.
Especially right now, the situation really wasn't under Fang Xie's control. He had assumed that there were only 13 disciples of this sect whom he had to defeat in order to neutralize any threats to his mission. Yet, even though he had accomplished this without letting them contact anybody, someone else had barged in to interfere!
In his fury, Fang Xie began to spend the very last set of his poisoned needles to try to hit this newcomer. But despite being able to sense this person's presence right ahead, none of his needles seemed to hit him, which could only mean that the new opponent hadn't yet chosen to enter the bedroom fully. By analyzing the faint sounds of footsteps receding every time he shot a needle out, Fang Xie realized that his opponent was repeatedly cowering back inside the front room of the cabin.
In fact, now that Fang Xie rationally thought about it...this newcomer had to have been present for a while now. He was certain that the entire cabin had fallen under the effects of a highly dangerous, unstable formation. He had suddenly lost his vision, only able to see a swirling mass of colors and flashes of light. He could even feel some kind of weak spiritual disturbance in the air around him, as if the very air was trying to come into contact with his soul. The strange sensation was very much similar to the times he had spent outside his physical form when cultivating at the Soul Reformation Realm.
To set up something of such scale, one needed a lengthy period of preparation. Even if all the elements and precious materials were present, it would take a few minutes to place them in the correct positions and integrate them into one singular structure.
But Fang Xie was certain that there were only thirteen disciples....wait...
"HAN XUHAN?!"
The rage and disbelief in that roar he let out was met by silence. Just as he was about to give up on getting a reply, a meek voice floated over from the other room.
"Good guess, Inspector Xie. I sure hope you're done shooting those needles! Can I come inside and chat? The situation right now warrants a discussion!"
"Meteor dust as a shield from the sky, abyssal rocks as a shield from the earth, crushed sunshine pearl to block out prying eyes, and incense of Yin-devourer grass to blind all trapped spirits..."
One by one, Han Xuhan went through the materials his minions had set up around the cabin. A vague film of red dust surrounded the cabin which one wouldn't notice unless they were in close proximity. No sounds, nor any clues would travel out as to what was happening inside the cabin.
"The highest grade of Soulshaker pill to rattle all souls, the soul purification talisman to blow them out of body..."
Han Xuhan glanced at the tiny hourglass he had placed at the edge of the formation that surrounded the cabin. It was just about time he made his entrance.
Just for good measure, he picked up a set of exploding knives to throw around in case the situation spiraled beyond his control.
"Zhanxian, Tun Shi Tian, you know what to do if you see my signals. Keep little Zhe in check."
With that said, Han Xuhan took a deep breath and stepped inside past the boundary of the formation.
The moment both of his feet touched the ground inside the formation, he felt as if the world around him had turned into a chaotic whirlpool of colors. It was akin to having a colorful hypnotic picture pasted in his visual perception, quite similar to using his secondary mode of vision, the Ghostsight.
Familiar with the dizzy sensation, Han Xuhan put his focus into changing the mode of his vision. He had practiced it several times in the last twenty-four hours. Even without any external stimulations that made his Ghostsight act up uncontrollably, he could activate it if he focused hard enough.
Slowly, the chaotic flashes of colors faded from his eyes, replaced by the constant, vibrating world of threads. Han Xuhan found himself looking at a nearly black-and-white world, and despite being very, very nearsighted in this mode of vision, he could vaguely see the outline of the cabin ahead.
Step by step, he walked up to the front door and entered the cabin with his hands outstretched like a blind man.
He stopped for a moment inside the front room, mapping out some potential traps to use on his targets. The room was empty, but the open door ahead gave him a good look at what had happened there.
Although he had heard the sounds of fighting and glimpsed some scenes through the bedroom window, the fight had been so fast that he could only guess what was going on. Only when the sounds of battle died down had he made his final move, activating the soul-trapping formation.
As he stepped into the bedroom, Han Xuhan was greeted by a rather impactful sight.
Bodies lay all over the room, crouching in humiliating positions. It was clear that none of them were conscious...and perhaps not even alive. Han Xuhan couldn't predict whether a crazy man like Fang Xie would stop himself from delivering killing blows.
Almost the entire floor was dyed with a black liquid that was increasing by the moment. After a moment of confusion, he realized that this black liquid was the blood of the combatants.
As for what this blood had been spilled by, it was obvious. His hands which were touching the door came into contact with dozens of sharp metal needles that had perforated the door, the walls, and pretty much everything in the room.
Han Xuhan felt like he was inside a sketch painting depicting the aftermath of a massacre. And the man who had committed the massacre was standing just a dozen feet away, his hands raised in a manner that signaled that he was about to throw something.
Unfortunately for Fang Xie, he could not see Han Xuhan. The formation that had been set up around the cabin had ensured this. Not a single living being inside the formation was now capable of 'seeing' in the ordinary sense. Of course, if they had auxiliary means of vision such as Han Xuhan's Ghostsight, then that would help them perceive their surroundings spiritually.
But Han Xuhan didn't find that possibility to be likely.
He stood absolutely still, taking his breathing to such a minuscule level that his chest barely rose and fell.
Yet still, Fang Xie's senses caught his position almost perfectly. The moment one of his feet placed itself past the door to the bedroom, Han Xuhan noticed a black blur whipping past his nose and sinking itself a couple of inches into the door.
A stinging sensation traveled up from the tip of his nose. Fang Xie's aim was scarily accurate. It was no wonder that all thirteen of the meat-shields he had left for him to fight had been defeated miserably. These poor fellows hadn't even been able to injure the man.
Han Xuhan brought his nose towards the door decorated with dozens of needles and sniffed the air.
Just as he had thought, Fang Xie had used some kind of poison on the needles. As for what kind of poison it could be...
Han Xuhan did not care!
He reached into the pouch on his waist and took out a couple of vials of antidote. One of them had been prepared by the best alchemist Elders of the Crimson Snow Sect. The other vial contained the antidote to the Mindkiller Poison which Master Kong Ye had given to him as a gift the other day.
He took a sip from both vials, just to be on the safe side.
As he was calmly going through the safety measures, Fang Xie perceived his movements and began to hurl needles one after another. Han Xuhan cautiously took a step back behind the doorsill and allowed the needles to crash into the door, inches from his body. Due to the inconvenient angle, Fang Xie really wasn't making it easy for himself by shooting the needles from his original position in the room. But he had his reasons not to move. Leng Qing's body was his main card in this contest. If the situation went awry anytime, he could always use the boy as a hostage to turn things around.
Especially right now, the situation really wasn't under Fang Xie's control. He had assumed that there were only 13 disciples of this sect whom he had to defeat in order to neutralize any threats to his mission. Yet, even though he had accomplished this without letting them contact anybody, someone else had barged in to interfere!
In his fury, Fang Xie began to spend the very last set of his poisoned needles to try to hit this newcomer. But despite being able to sense this person's presence right ahead, none of his needles seemed to hit him, which could only mean that the new opponent hadn't yet chosen to enter the bedroom fully. By analyzing the faint sounds of footsteps receding every time he shot a needle out, Fang Xie realized that his opponent was repeatedly cowering back inside the front room of the cabin.
In fact, now that Fang Xie rationally thought about it...this newcomer had to have been present for a while now. He was certain that the entire cabin had fallen under the effects of a highly dangerous, unstable formation. He had suddenly lost his vision, only able to see a swirling mass of colors and flashes of light. He could even feel some kind of weak spiritual disturbance in the air around him, as if the very air was trying to come into contact with his soul. The strange sensation was very much similar to the times he had spent outside his physical form when cultivating at the Soul Reformation Realm.
To set up something of such scale, one needed a lengthy period of preparation. Even if all the elements and precious materials were present, it would take a few minutes to place them in the correct positions and integrate them into one singular structure.
But Fang Xie was certain that there were only thirteen disciples....wait...
"HAN XUHAN?!"
The rage and disbelief in that roar he let out was met by silence. Just as he was about to give up on getting a reply, a meek voice floated over from the other room.
"Good guess, Inspector Xie. I sure hope you're done shooting those needles! Can I come inside and chat? The situation right now warrants a discussion!"
