Just now, I was trying to uncover the secrets of the Chen family while Ye Yang was still leading the ghost deity in circles above.

I didn't understand Ye Yang's intentions at the time, but Feng Ruoxing saw the whole process clearly. Ye Yang was already at his limit just by holding off the ghost deity. However, Ye Yang was still trying to fight back.

Ye Yang's killing move wasn't hidden in his sword, but in his feet.

Ye Yang's footprints were of varying depths. Given enough time, he could stamp a trapping formation into the ground, trapping the ghost deity again. At that point, Ye Yang could slay the deity with a single sword.

After Ye Yang spat out his heart's blood, he reached the end of his rope. The ghost deity had just escaped and hadn't recovered to its peak state, which created a balanced state between the two sides.

When I sneaked under the cliff, Ye Yang's trapping formation was nearing completion, and Feng Ruoxing's attention was mostly drawn to Ye Yang.

Chen Xiaobao, who was clutching the corner of Feng Ruoxing's clothes, was gradually losing his breath. His neck drooped limply as if it couldn't support the weight of his head.

After a few seconds, Chen Xiaobao raised his head, but his eyes were already glazed over with the deathly aura of a ghost. The hand gripping Feng Ruoxing's clothes began to tighten gradually, while the other hand quietly reached into his pocket, silently pulling out a knife.

Chen Xiaobao was tugging on Feng Ruoxing's clothes to distract her, hoping to stab her silently.

However, Feng Ruoxing was focused on the battle in the arena while also guarding against the mountain ghosts. Even if Chen Xiaobao hadn't tugged on her clothes, her attention wouldn't have been on Chen Xiaobao.

A moment later, Ye Yang, who was still retreating, suddenly stamped his foot on the ground and thrust his sword outward, directly attacking the palm of the ghost deity. This strike was as fast as lightning and as heavy as a thousand jun (a unit of weight), striking the palm as if a boulder had been thrown into a river, violent and unmatched. Even a being as powerful as a ghost deity was forced back several chi (a unit of length) by that sword strike.

Taking advantage of the deity's retreat, Ye Yang turned and thrust his long sword into the ground: "Qianshan Kun Shen (Thousand Mountains Trap Deity Formation), activate!"

Countless sword energies vibrated in all directions, bursting from the ground and soaring into the sky with the roar of a dragon, causing the mountains to resonate. Illusory mountain ranges pressed towards the arena from all directions, crashing into the ghost deity one after another.

Although they were just illusions of mountain peaks, they pressed down on the deity with the force of Mount Tai, crushing the deity within. In just a few seconds, they suppressed the deity's form.

Ye Yang didn't know how to play with formations, but he understood feng shui. He had created a grand feng shui formation. Once the formation was complete, the opponent within would be fighting against the feng shui power of the surrounding several li (a unit of distance), or even hundreds of li. For a human to fight against the power of heaven and earth was destined to fail.

Feng shui formations, although terrifying, had a major limitation: they required favorable terrain. Without a suitable location, even a top feng shui master couldn't easily set up such a formation.

Ye Yang's ability to suppress the ghost deity with the formation this time could only be described as a coincidence.

I heard the loud noise, which was the sign that the feng shui formation had been activated. I didn't have time to think about anything. I grabbed the clock mallet with both hands, poured true energy into my arms, and slammed it against the bronze bell with all my might.

But I forgot that this was a mountain cave. The dead weren't affected by the sound of the bell, but the living certainly were.

The earth-shattering sound of the bell exploded in my ears, and I immediately felt dizzy and disoriented, my mind going blank.

Two illusory images of the swaying bronze bell appeared before my eyes. I tried to grab the clock mallet again, but I missed it twice in a row.

By the time I regained my balance, there was no more movement on the mountaintop. I was so scared that I dropped the clock mallet and climbed back up the same way. When I got there, Ye Yang was standing motionless in the middle of the clearing, holding his long sword. A set of armor wreathed in green flames lay discarded on the ground in front of him.

It seemed that Ye Yang had pierced the ghost deity's head with his sword the moment the bell rang.

But why was he standing there motionless?

I glanced at Feng Ruoxing and, seeing that she was safe, quickly ran towards Ye Yang, "Leng Gou (Cold Dog), what's wrong?"

"I have no strength left..." Ye Yang said before falling backward.

"Hey, hey..." Before Ye Yang could fall, I quickly lowered myself and slipped under him, hoisting him up. Realizing that wasn't right, I changed my posture, letting him lie on my back, and carried him towards Feng Ruoxing.

The mountain ghosts that had surrounded Feng Ruoxing had long since turned into patches of phosphorescent fire scattered on the ground. Chen Xiaobao also lay on the ground with his eyes wide open, unwilling to accept his death. There was a sword wound between his eyebrows.

It was a mark left by the Shura Swift Sword.

Feng Ruoxing sighed softly, "Chen Xiaobao thought I didn't know what he was doing behind me. Unfortunately, he overlooked the mountain ghosts in front of me."

"Those mountain ghosts were all smirking at me as if they were watching a show, which means they saw someone playing tricks behind my back. Without those mountain ghosts wanting to watch the show, Chen Xiaobao would have succeeded."

"I should have spared his life. He was still so young."

I glanced at the corpse, "Let's go, let's go down the mountain and find Lao Liu (Old Liu)!"

I turned to look at Feng Ruoxing, "Don't feel sorry. Chen Xiaobao, aside from being a bit annoying, really didn't deserve to die. But it wasn't you who killed him, but Chen Xuelin."

After I explained the situation, I said, "I estimate that he was already a dead man when he prepared to act. Chen Xiaobao was the type who talked big but was actually timid. Without being controlled, he wouldn't even have had the courage to stand here. He should have died then. If you don't believe me, see if he has any signs of poisoning or a curse on his body."