Stepdaughter of a wealthy family? The little darling of a Beijing tycoon

Ye Shuang rapidly formed hand seals, attempting to deduce a way to break the stalemate, but found the array patterns to be chaotic and disorderly, intertwined and restraining each other, making it impossible to find a starting point. She said in a deep voice, "It's a living array. The array's path changes at any time, with no fixed pattern. Conventional methods of breaking the array are useless."

Chen Hai's expression grew increasingly grave: "Be careful, everyone stay on high alert."

Just as the group was on high alert, Shen Jingshu, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke softly, her voice clear yet firm: "Don't panic, this isn't just a simple natural trapping formation. There are signs of human manipulation. The person who set up the formation didn't intend to kill, but to nurture evil spirits."

Upon hearing this, Chen Hai and the other two were all taken aback.

Nurturing evil spirits?

In other words, the six villagers who have disappeared in the past six months, as well as the two team members who have lost contact, were all sacrifices used by the other side to feed the formation and nourish the evil energy!

"Nurturing evil spirits?"

Chen Hai's face suddenly darkened, his eyes filled with coldness. Having been involved in special affairs for many years, he knew better than anyone the insidious nature of the Nourishing Fiend Array.

Ordinary formations either trap or injure people, but man-made formations that nurture evil spirits use the souls of living people as nourishment, nourishing the evil spirits of the mountains and forests day after day.

Over time, the evil energy in the mountains takes shape. Once it gets out of control, not only this deep mountain, but also the entire village at the foot of the mountain, and even half of the city, will be infected by the evil energy, causing great disaster.

Lin Feng's expression also turned serious: "No wonder the formation pattern is completely irregular. It turns out it's a deliberate manipulation. The person who set up the formation has been secretly controlling it and changing the formation patterns at any time. No wonder our team members lost contact as soon as they came in."

Ye Shuang rubbed the faint spiritual energy condensed in her palm with her fingertips, her cold gaze sweeping over the vast white mist around her: "The formation is of an extremely high level. Our deductions have been completely disrupted. What we see with our eyes and hear with our ears is most likely an illusion."

The four of them were now completely enveloped in thick fog, the surrounding white fog as thick as cotton, with visibility less than two meters.

The once lush and verdant forest became twisted and grotesque under the shroud of mist, its trunks dark and gloomy, its branches bared and clawed, like countless ghostly claws reaching into the air.

The surroundings were deathly silent, and a suffocating chill seeped into every limb and bone.

The group dared not relax, and walked side by side in pairs, slowly venturing deeper into the forest following the faint signs of life.

However, after walking a hundred meters, the surrounding fog suddenly began to churn gently, and the chilly atmosphere in the air abruptly changed.

The once deserted forest was suddenly filled with faint, intermittent sobs—the sobs of an old man, the wails of a villager—that drifted through the air, yet precisely reached everyone's ears.

"It's an illusion created by the lingering spirits of the missing villagers," Ye Shuang immediately warned. "The formation is using the resentment of the dead to create an illusion and disturb our minds."

As soon as he finished speaking, the white mist in front of him suddenly twisted and reformed.

The next second, the scene in front of them completely changed.

The once deep and desolate forest has disappeared, replaced by a lively and vibrant forest that was just six months ago.

Sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves, dappling the forest floor. The grass and trees were lush and green, and wildflowers bloomed everywhere. Several villagers carrying bamboo baskets chatted and laughed as they bent down to pick wild mushrooms and vegetables from the ground. Their cheerful voices were clear and genuine, without a trace of pretense.

Several of the villagers looked exactly like the missing persons listed in the police records.

Lin Feng's pupils contracted slightly. He immediately steadied his mind and began to perform the array incantation: "It's a high-level illusion array that can replicate past scenes and immerse the mind in a deceptive way! Once the mind is lost, one will be completely trapped in the illusion, forever confined to the mountains and forests, and become nourishment for the array."

He and Ye Shuang immediately joined forces to form hand seals, and two weak spiritual energy barriers enveloped the four of them, attempting to resist the erosion of the illusion.

But the next second, the barrier trembled violently and shattered instantly!

The power of this Demon-Nourishing Formation far exceeded their expectations; with their mastery of formations, they were utterly powerless to resist it.

The illusion unfolds layer by layer, and the scene changes again.

The villagers who had been laughing and joking suddenly froze, their faces turning deathly pale and purplish-blue at a visible speed, their eyes rolling back, black blood seeping from their seven orifices, their faces filled with extreme fear and pain.

They all turned their heads stiffly, their empty eyes staring straight at the four people, and slowly stretched out their rotting, blackened hands, slowly approaching the group.

The piercing cries suddenly amplified, making one's eardrums ache and one's mind reel.

Chen Hai, who had dealt with supernatural cases for many years and whose mental capacity far surpassed that of ordinary people, was now also experiencing mental turmoil and a tightness in his chest. Lin Feng and Ye Shuang were also sweating profusely, gritting their teeth to keep their minds from being swallowed by the illusion.

"I can't hold on any longer, this illusion is too strong!" Lin Feng shouted in a low voice.

Just as the three were about to be completely engulfed by the malevolent illusion and lose their minds, Shen Jingshu, who had been calm and silent all along, finally raised her eyes.

A clear, cold light flashed in her eyes. Her calm gaze swept over the grotesque and terrifying illusion before her. Her red lips parted slightly, and she uttered two words in a soft voice: "Break."

There were no complicated techniques, no surges of powerful spiritual energy.

With just one simple word, the entire billowing white mist abruptly stopped the moment it was uttered.

The eerie ghostly figures, the bloody scenes, and the mournful wails before my eyes were like shattered mirrors, breaking into pieces and vanishing without a trace.

The thick white fog in the mountains and forests dissipated almost entirely in an instant, and the oppressive and chilling aura vanished with a roar, restoring the forest to its original desolate and lifeless state.

The illusion that had enveloped the four of them vanished in an instant!

Lin Feng, Ye Shuang, and Chen Hai felt a sense of lightness wash over them, their chaotic minds instantly calmed, and they were drenched in cold sweat as they looked at the girl beside them with shock in their eyes.

They fought desperately against the high-level illusionary realm of demonic cultivation, but Shen Jingshu easily broke through it with just one word.

At this moment, all of Chen Hai's probing and inquiries turned into shock.

What does it mean to have a smattering of knowledge?

This is clearly top-tier strength that far surpasses all of theirs!

The illusion completely dissipated, and the oppressive, suffocating, and chilling aura in the forest also faded considerably.

Lin Feng stared blankly at Shen Jingshu, all his previous probing intent vanishing completely, replaced by utter awe in his eyes. He considered himself quite knowledgeable about formations, but that high-level illusionary formation was not only difficult to break, but even holding out for a moment was extremely challenging.

Shen Jingshu effortlessly broke the deadlock with a single word, making the difference in their abilities immediately apparent.

A hint of surprise flashed across Ye Shuang's cool and aloof eyes as she glanced at the composed girl standing beside her, silently overturning all her initial perceptions of the "specially appointed consultant."

Chen Hai took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart, and quickly regained his composure. He said in a deep voice, "Thank you, Miss Shen. If it weren't for your help, we probably would have been caught off guard."

If all of them were to fall into the illusion and get lost in the mountains, they would only repeat the mistakes of the previous team members, completely lose contact, and become nourishment for the formation.

Shen Jingshu shook her head slightly, her gaze sweeping over the overgrown forest path, her tone calm: "This illusion array is just a minor outer trick; the real killing trap lies deep within the mountains. Just now, when the illusion dissipated, the array patterns loosened, revealing traces of a human-made array."