Chapter 31 – She Knows Formations?
There were many things to be done at Marquis Jingyuan’s House. Luckily, right now Ning Xuemo had the money and the capable Old Zhong, who handled every small task on her behalf. The big matters, on the other hand, were to be reported to Ning Xuemo.
All the pavilions in the Marquis’s House were repainted. Each one of the newly hired servants completed their duties under the leadership of Old Zhong; the result was organized chaos.
Old Zhong, originally dispirited and depressed, seemed to regain his youthful vigor. His waist and back became perfectly straight, and his steps were vigorous like he had wind under his feet. After misfortune had befallen his young miss, it seemed as if she had made a complete transformation! She finally had the demeanour of a general’s daughter. In the future, their Marquis’s Mansion would not be bullied by anyone ever again!
Even more importantly, the young miss had learned some form of medical practice, that could be called miraculous, from somewhere.
Old Zhong has had a hunchback for many years, but Ning Xuemo merely inserted a few needles into his back and unexpectedly managed to cure him! Old Zhong felt ten years younger. His voice also became more sonorous. He felt even more grateful towards his young miss! After sorting out various matters, the activity within the Marquis’s Mansion in ten days of hard work had returned to the same level as at its peak.
During these few days, Ning Xuemo did not idle either. She concocted all kinds of medicines, bought an assortment of useful tools, and of course, refined a batch of poison…
Her body was weak, and her cultivation was shallow. Although on the surface everything might seem fine in the Marquis’s Mansion, who knew how many hidden dangers lurked in the shadows and how many people would love her to be dead and buried. Hence, she would have to prepare a few extra methods for protection. In the situation where she is weak, the poison will be indispensable and will play a vital role in protecting her…
Of course, in her spare time she trained her skills. Because the way she trained was unique, she did not want others to see her train. Fortunately, she prepared a specialised quiet room for her to practise in, and she did so for at least four hours every day.
Because the Marquis’s Mansion became more populated, to be able to train in peace was even more complicated than before. Furthermore, there were people outside observing, waiting for a chance to snoop around. Therefore, to prevent people from trespassing into her practise room and medicine room, Ning Xuemo placed Zhuge Liang’s Eight Trigrams formation[1] outside those rooms…
This continent only focused on cultivation and most likely had neglected formations. Even when two armies fought, they would use the most basic and commonly seen formations, knowing almost nothing about the more profound ones.
Hence, even if it was that shadow guard who seemed to have many skills, he would not even be able to get within 16 meters of the two rooms…
As a result, the report that Ji Yunhao received went like this, “Today when Miss Ning woke up, she entered an octagonal pavilion and spent six hours there. Afterwards, she entered a small building surrounded by greenery and stayed there for six hours. Outside those rooms, some formations were set up. Every time this one attempts to enter, this one would experience hallucinations and would be unable to go in to have a look.”
‘Formations?!’
Ji Yunhao inhaled sharply, his eyebrows furrowing.
In this world, only those who reached the third level in the Earth realm of psychokinesis and cultivated as a conjurer could create a formation to trap people. In Chang Kong Country, those who could set up these kinds of formations were very scarce; there were only around three or four. One was His Highness the Crown Prince, while the others were all employed by those large sects and would not easily leave their mountains.
That waste could set up formations?! This- This is too heaven-defying!
“You’re sure you didn’t see incorrectly? There really are formations?” He asked in a low voice.
“This…” The shadow guard searched his memory for a bit before saying honestly, “It’s similar to a formation but not quite. In legends, formations were powered by psychokinesis, using talismans as the medium. Apparently, those who have just entered the formation would be injured by the spell, while being unable to tell north from south. Miss Ning’s formation however, seems to draw its power from plants combined with the placement of the boulders. It makes it impossible to tell which way is the real one. This one thinks that if we could use psychokinesis to destroy all the plants, the formation will be destroyed. However, if that is done, it would surely alert the people in the Marquis’s Mansion, hence this one did not dare to be hasty…”
[1] Zhuge Liang is an important character who lived during the Three Kingdoms period and often depicted as a godly strategist in many Three Kingdoms’s fictions. The formation mentions here is a type of maze formation which Zhuge Liang set up based on the concept of the Eight Trigrams. More infos, here, and a picture of what it might look like, here.