That wretched vixen has disguised herself as my wife!

One of the puppets still had a dagger she had thrown stuck in its back. At that moment, she saw the puppet pinning a Divine Guard to the ground, and in her panic, she picked up the dagger and threw it fiercely.

She was naturally skilled at throwing, as she relied on skill to overcome strength. However, although she did not seriously injure the puppet, she did make it turn around and look around in confusion, which allowed the Divine Guard to escape.

"Yes, apart from himself, there are a total of six puppets."

Jiang Jingming said calmly.

In the chaotic battle just now, he killed far more than six puppets, but these things have come back to life, like a pack of indestructible mad dogs.

"What are they trying to do by setting up this strange formation now?"

Lu Zhao gritted his teeth, tore a piece of cloth from his outer robe, and wrapped it tightly around the knife wound on his shoulder.

Although the bandage was crude, it allowed him to temporarily regain his fighting ability and wield his sword.

Surrounded by fallen comrades, even if he becomes disabled for the rest of his life, he will fight to the last moment.

Fang Zhiyi walked to Jiang Jingming's side, looked up and saw six puppets arranged on both sides of the real body, suspended above Tingpu Villa.

"It looks like some kind of formation."

"indeed."

Jiang Jingming turned the hilt of his sword and narrowed his eyes slightly:

"No matter how effective the formation is, we can't let it take shape. I'll go and take care of one."

"it's useless."

Fang Zhiyi reached out and grabbed his wrist, shaking her head:

"Such a formation cannot be destroyed unless you successfully kill the core of the formation."

"And they just happen to survive?"

"Yes, and they just happen to be immortal."

Fang Zhiyi smiled, a hint of helplessness in her expression.

Jiang Jingming, however, could vaguely read a hint of schadenfreude in her expression.

I wonder if this divine healer is too insensitive. If this formation has some kind of world-destroying, all-encompassing effect, then everyone would be dead here in about half an incense stick's time.

"Isn't there any other way?"

Lu Zhao leaned on his sword, pacing back and forth, looking around, feeling very unwilling.

"Look! Haven't the expressions on these puppets' faces changed?"

As Xie Yunqi was speaking, he suddenly shuddered for no apparent reason.

expression?

It's hard to imagine that these puppets, with their blue faces and fangs, could make "expressions".

Jiang Jingming looked up at the sound and saw that the puppet closest to him had bared its fangs and a fierce look on its face, clearly showing extreme anger.

On the other side, above Aqing's head, the puppet's mouth turned down, and several lines of bloody tears flowed from its empty eyes, making it look very sad.

Everyone looked up to observe, and saw that each puppet had a different expression; some were worried, and some were terrified.

The sorcerer standing in the middle maintained his smile, a smile that was both eerie and tinged with joy.

"Joy, anger, worry, thought, grief, fear, surprise..."

Wen Fuxiao stroked his beard, paced back and forth in deep thought, and finally clapped his hands:

"Seven Emotions Devouring Heart Formation!"

"What kind of formation?"

Xie Yunqi frowned, not having heard the tongue-twisting name clearly.

The surrounding mountain breeze stilled for a moment, and Wen Fuxiao took a deep breath:

“Look at the expressions on their faces; they correspond to seven different emotions. Ancient texts record that this formation is actually an illusion formation, not meant to kill with swords, but to destroy the heart.”

"To strike at the heart? That sounds better than a giant rock falling from the sky or a rain of knives, doesn't it?"

Lu Zhao scratched his head, trying to comfort himself by saying such things.

"No, the terrifying thing about the illusion array is that there is no rain of knives falling from the sky, but you can really feel the sharp blades piercing your heart."

Wen Fuxiao stroked his beard, shook his head and sighed.

"In addition, be careful not to reveal your inner thoughts within the illusion array."

Fang Zhiyi chimed in at the opportune moment, smiling leisurely:

"Otherwise, what you fear, what is most vulnerable in your heart, your regret and your fear, will all be exposed in the formation, and you will experience something ten thousand times more terrible than death."

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone turned ashen-faced.

"Are there any countermeasures?"

Jiang Jingming tapped the scabbard lightly with his fingers, and Wujiu responded with a faint clang, which allowed him to remain calm for the time being.

"No."

Fang Zhiyi closed her eyes, a slight smile playing on her lips:

"If I had a jar of 'Heart-Intoxicating Wine' and drank myself into a deep sleep, it might be useful."

"Sister Fang, do you have any sleeping pills or anything like that? If all else fails, poison will do too. Just give me a quick death!"

Xie Yunqi's face was pale.

She has never been a person with a strong will since she was a child. She couldn't even endure being forced to kneel for half an hour as punishment by her father. Now, she has even less confidence to withstand this so-called "Seven Emotions Devouring Heart Formation".

Gradually, the shadowy figures retreated and circled the edge of the manor.

All that remained were the sorcerers and puppets floating in the air casting spells, and the people trapped in the center.

“Miss, there’s no need to panic. You are Xie Jichuan’s daughter, and you should never doubt your own conscience.”

Chen Sha sat on the ground and spoke quietly.

He could no longer lift his arms, and his palm techniques were no longer usable. He was now no different from an ordinary person.

But there was no fear in his expression, only calmness and an indomitable will.

Jiang Jingming felt the coolness of the scabbard in his palm and silently pondered that perhaps Chen Sha was the least afraid of the so-called illusion array here.

Anyway, he himself was still somewhat afraid.

With such a psychologically manipulative formation, he could almost guess what awaited him.

Since what one fears most is what comes to pass, what he can see must be related to the people of the Crossing Moon Sect.

The sorcerer opened his eyes, a smile spreading across his pale face, and the mountain winds that had quieted down began to howl again.

He suddenly raised his hands and began to loudly recite strange words in a shrill, hoarse, and eerie voice.

The puppet also raised its hands, its limbs and body twisting stiffly together, like some ancient sacrificial dance.

The shadowy figures surrounding the mountain responded in a low voice, as if thousands of people were whispering at the same time, causing the entire mountain to tremble slightly.

Jiang Jingming slightly bent his knees to steady his center of gravity.

He couldn't understand what the sorcerer was chanting; it sounded almost entirely unlike the language of the Central Plains, and coupled with his sharp tone, it was even more obscure and difficult to comprehend.

"There seem to be a few Buddhist verses."

Fang Zhiyi listened attentively, and after a while, she turned her head and spoke.

"Buddhist verses?"

Jiang Jingming was slightly taken aback.

"Yes, it comes from fragments of some very ancient scriptures—but read backwards."

Fang Zhiyi smiled as she finished speaking.

Jiang Jingming stroked the hilt of the knife, finding it not funny at all.

Reciting scriptures backwards sounds really eerie.

Just like the inverted cross is the symbol of Satan, it is absurd and bizarre.

The more the sorcerer chanted, the more frenzied his expression and movements became. Standing in mid-air, he couldn't help but dance wildly.

"If a troupe singing folk songs in a restaurant performed like this, I would definitely smash the stage to pieces."

Xie Yunqi was clearly terrified, his face pale, but he still had the composure to say such things.

"It's not good to vandalize and cause trouble."

Lu Zhao clutched his sword, trembling, but couldn't help adding at the end:

"But if it were me, I wouldn't pay for the tea either."

Jiang Jingming listened to the two talking and couldn't help but chuckle.

In such a desperate situation, where he might die at any moment, he actually felt that dying with this group of people seemed not so bad.

Thinking this, he couldn't help but look at Aqing.

Aqing was standing alone on the other side, her expression as quiet as ever, lost in thought.

Why are you spacing out at a time like this?

Jiang Jingming wanted to call Aqing over and have her stand beside him, but his throat was too dry to make a sound.

The wind around us had stopped sometime ago, leaving only a deathly silence.

Jiang Jingming turned around and looked around, only to find that his vision was covered with thick ink, and he couldn't see anything clearly.

The bluestone slabs under my feet are no longer those of Tingpu Villa, and the people around me have all disappeared.

Xie Yunqi, Fang Zhiyi, Lu Zhao, Chen Sha, and Wen Fuxiao all disappeared from his sight in an instant.

"Aqing?"

Jiang Jingming shouted in his heart, but his voice seemed to fall into an empty valley, without any echo.

......

Xie Yunqi walked in the pitch-black night, feeling a little cold.

She couldn't remember why she was walking at night; she never liked walking at night, always feeling that something ghostly was there.

She thought of the ghost stories her classmates at the Imperial College told each other, saying that if you were walking alone at night and heard someone calling your name from behind, you should never turn around.

Because it's right behind you, if you turn around, you'll be face-to-face with it.

Thinking of this, Xie Yunqi suddenly felt very scared, so he started to run, with only the sound of his own rapid breathing in his ears.

This road at night seemed endless, its length unknown.

"Xie Yunqi".

She suddenly heard someone calling her name.

Xie Yunqi was so frightened that he almost screamed, his steps feeling as heavy as lead.

"Xie Yunqi".

The person behind her was still calling, but the voice was very soft, as if whispering in her ear.

Xie Yunqi squatted down with his eyes closed, hastily covering his ears.

“If you look back at me, you won’t be afraid anymore.”

The man was still talking.

Xie Yunqi suddenly felt that his voice was very familiar, as if it had come from many years ago.

She opened her eyes blankly, not knowing where this feeling came from.

"Xie Yunqi, have you learned that Flowing Clouds Chasing the Moon move yet?"

The person behind him even spoke with a hint of amusement.

Xie Yunqi suddenly froze. She hesitated for only a moment before turning around and looking back.

At the end of the long road stood a blurry figure.

"Su Heng?"