Inside the farmhouse, the room was a mess. Pots, pans, a broken table, and stools were overturned on the floor, dust filling the entire space.
Upon rushing in, Nangong Mo and Ouyang Qinglin only saw an old woman, her hands bound, lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious.
Gu Qianying was nowhere to be found in the room.
Nangong Mo and Ouyang Qinglin exchanged grave glances. One began scanning the surroundings while the other attempted to wake the fallen old woman.
"Wake up!"
When the old woman awoke, Ouyang Qinglin and Nangong Mo both asked, "Where is the young lady who lives here?"
The old woman tremblingly pointed a finger towards the outside of the window. A small piece of soft gauze hung from the open window. Nangong Mo walked over, took it in his hand, and his heart tightened. His voice was quite cold, "This is from the girl."
At the farmhouse, Nangong Mo and the other two had not revealed their identities. Gu Qianying was referred to as "girl" by one and "little thing" by the other.
Ouyang Qinglin strode over, looking out the window into the dark wilderness. He frowned, "That's a wild forest. Could it be that the little thing was abducted?"
"Chase!"
Nangong Mo leaped through the window without hesitation, following the direction the old woman had pointed.
Ouyang Qinglin did the same.
Both were extremely worried about Gu Qianying. How could they not panic if Gu Qianying had been abducted?
However,
Their concern made them careless. Neither of them noticed that as their figures receded into the distance, the old woman still sitting on the ground in the room had stood up. Her cane was gone, her legs moved nimbly, and her body straightened. After feeling along the edge of her face, she tore off a human skin mask, revealing her original appearance.
Her features were delicate and her appearance handsome. How could this be the appearance of an old woman?
"Nangong Mo, we will meet again soon. You will soon be mine!"
In the wilderness, there was a trail of footprints. Ouyang Qinglin and Nangong Mo followed them.
They encountered no living creatures along the way.
At this hour, though it was late at night, some animals were active. Wolves, owls, and other creatures typically appeared in the dark to hunt.
Yet, they encountered nothing, let alone any living person.
Besides, some things that are too smooth often hide anomalies.
"Have you seen the old woman's son and daughter-in-law?"
Nangong Mo stopped and turned to Ouyang Qinglin, asking this question.
Something felt very strange.
Ouyang Qinglin shook his head, "No, why?"
"No! Something is very wrong!"
Seeing Nangong Mo's suspicious attitude, Ouyang Qinglin paused and began to reconsider the events.
"We haven't seen the old woman's son and daughter-in-law. Furthermore, although the room is messy and disorderly, there are no signs of a real fight. Moreover, the little thing is highly skilled, and ordinary people cannot harm her. If she were truly taken hostage, there would be bloodstains left from a struggle. Therefore... we have both been deceived!"
As he finished speaking,
Ouyang Qinglin turned and saw that Nangong Mo had already returned the way they came.
He followed suit, returning along the same path.
The two returned to the farmhouse, one after the other. The old woman who had fallen on the ground had long since disappeared. They also searched all the other rooms carefully but found no useful information.
Thus, the old woman and Gu Qianying vanished into thin air, leaving no trace.
What exactly had happened just now, no one knew.
"No, if that girl left, she would definitely leave some clue."
Unable to find Gu Qianying, Nangong Mo felt uneasy. The more he felt this way, the more he forced himself to calm down.
Only by being rational and calm could he find the girl sooner.
After searching the room again thoroughly, Nangong Mo found a crumpled piece of paper under the edge of the bed. He quickly unfolded it. The paper contained a line of text: "The Qimen Dunjia is guided by the eight gates."
"Qimen Dunjia is guided by the eight gates? Does the girl mean..." Nangong Mo murmured the words on the paper.
As soon as he spoke,
A large iron cage suddenly descended from above, trapping him securely.
Glancing towards Ouyang Qinglin,
"Bang!"
The thatched hut exploded.
Several arrows shot out simultaneously, heading straight for Ouyang Qinglin.
Beneath his red sleeves, Ouyang Qinglin quickly struck out with his palms, dodging and flipping. Each time, he avoided the arrows. However, beneath the barrage of arrows, there were also dense poisonous creatures at his feet. A patch of blackness, several venomous snakes, poisonous spiders, and scorpions were all attacking Ouyang Qinglin.
At this moment,
What was strange was that Ouyang Qinglin was struggling to cope, while Nangong Mo was completely still, merely trapped by the iron cage.
Little did they know, the large iron cage trapping him was coated with a powder that repelled poison.
As for the several arrows, if one looked closely, there were faint characters the size of a palm on the ground where Ouyang Qinglin had been standing.
Nangong Mo looked quickly. The patterns formed by the characters resembled the Bagua diagram.
Qimen Dunjia!
"Ouyang Qinglin, listen. The phenomenon of Qimen, the eight gates listed, Zhi Fu and Teng She along with Tai Yin are the fierce gates. The nine palace positions are lower left."
Hearing Nangong Mo's words, Ouyang Qinglin quickly understood that this was a formation combining Qimen and the eight gates, a hint left by the girl before her disappearance.
Following Nangong Mo's instructions, Ouyang Qinglin stepped in an orderly fashion.
"Liu He, Bai Hu, Shen, Xuan Wu, Jiu Di are the Jing gates, the nine palace positions are upper right. Jiu Tian, Shen Ci are the Xiu gates, the nine palace positions are directly above. Tian Ying, Mu Huo..."
As Nangong Mo uttered the directions, Ouyang Qinglin stepped accordingly. The arrows disappeared, and the poisonous creatures crawling rapidly at his feet also vanished at the same moment.
Silence descended.
"Move aside!"
Ouyang Qinglin struck the iron cage with his palm.
Nangong Mo had saved him. To reciprocate, it was only natural for him to save Nangong Mo. Even though Nangong Mo's internal energy was equal to his, after this exchange, neither of them owed the other anything.
With someone lending a hand,
Nangong Mo naturally would not refuse.
He took two small steps back.
"Bang!"
Under the impact of a powerful internal force, the iron cage shattered and dust swirled around.
Nangong Mo emerged,
His demeanor noble, his clean white robe unstained.
"Next, it is my turn to act!"
Leaping into the air, Nangong Mo hovered, stepping on a small leaf. He flicked his sleeve and struck out with his palm, causing the wilderness to erupt with resounding noises.
Beneath the mountains and forests, in the darkness, the seemingly idyllic scene transformed instantly.
Dead leaves withered, the surroundings became desolate. In the center of the wilderness was a large pit, its edges tangled with branches. A faint dim light flickered from below.
Nangong Mo descended from the air and, without a second thought, leaped directly into the pit.
In the Bagua formation, the gates of life and death, as well as the gates of exit and entrance, were all a matter of a single thought.
His girl had not only given him the connection between Qimen Dunjia and the eight gates but had also told him where she truly was!
After Nangong Mo jumped into the pit, Ouyang Qinglin followed.
At the bottom of the pit,
There was a large arena.
On the arena, Gu Qianying was fighting a hundred poisoned individuals.
Yes, that's right, poisoned individuals, emitting green smoke from their bodies, their eyes devoid of their original expression, yet moving agilely. They were all like skilled zombies, living dead who obeyed only one person!
At the top of the arena sat a handsome woman in green. Her gaze was sinister, and she looked at Gu Qianying as if she wanted to kill her immediately.
But a death more pleasing to her than immediate death was to be slowly tormented to death by these living dead poisoned people she kept!
"Gu Qianying, today, I will see how you beg for life but cannot die, how you are gnawed to death by the poisoned people! Hahaha!"