A Full Moon on the New Moon!

With black roof tiles and gray walls, the pagoda had an austere, solemn build. Across its ground-floor gate were two massive characters: "Qiongze." At the base stood a stele, inscribed with the names of donors filled in with red lacquer. He Lingchuan looked first at the pagoda's name, then at the stele's inscription, before clapping his hands together. "Just as I thought!" Wu Jinsong looked as well, but remained bewildered. "What is?" He Lingchuan only smiled without answering, wary that the mastermind behind the scenes might be watching their every move. The characters on the pagoda name and the stele were all oriented correctly, unlike those in Wuze County. So the Wuze County he had just been in was an inverted reflection cast by a mirror, while this battlefield was not? Or rather, taking a step back, was the reflection of Wuze County the scene easiest for the mastermind to control, which was why He Lingchuan had landed there right upon entering? And later, after realizing his soul could not be reaped, did the mastermind throw him onto this battlefield to kill him using the sheer chaos of war? At that thought, the tension gripping his heart actually eased. If the mastermind could not control this battlefield, then he, Wu Jinsong, and the others were comparatively safer. The only course now was to find a way out. Where would the exit be? He switched his vision back to the eyeball spider, but unexpectedly faced pitch blackness. Yet in his ears came the muffled, resonant voice of Third Master Gan, echoing as if from far away: "You even have surveillance tricks like this? I'll seal your ears and eyes and see what you can do then!" Damn, in just this short time, the eyeball spider had been discovered? He Lingchuan had a bad feeling. Right then, the guard standing behind Wu Jinsong, Xu Dongdong, suddenly spoke up: "Today should be the new moon." "And?" Xu Dongdong looked up at the moon. "The new moon is supposed to be the dark of the moon, yet the moon in the sky is still so round!" Everyone looked up. Sure enough, a full moon hung high in the sky—large, round, and brilliant. He Lingchuan remembered that Wuze County earlier had also been bathed beneath just such a full moon. Yet when he had brought Third Master Gan to Mochou Lake to find the Spirit Medium, rain had clearly been falling from the sky. Indeed, this was the glaring incongruity! He had been searching high and low before, completely overlooking what had been blatantly hanging in the sky all along! He channeled true power into his eyes. The sesame-seed-sized shadow inside the full moon grew clearer and clearer, until it looked like... ...the furnishings of a small two-story building. He could even vaguely make out Third Master Gan sitting before a mirror, staring intently in their direction. It was just that the distance between them was so immense that under normal circumstances, even if there was a blemish on the moon, no one would look up at it closely. He Lingchuan immediately leaned in and whispered into Wu Jinsong's ear, "I think I have a way out." He even cupped his hand over his mouth as he spoke to prevent Third Master Gan from reading his lips or overhearing. After hearing the plan, Wu Jinsong nodded. "Understood. We'll follow your lead." Before the mirror, Third Master Gan had indeed strained to listen, but their voices were too faint. Enraged, he slammed his fist on the table. "Curse them!" The four doubled back, quietly making their way toward the center of the city. As they passed a burning residence, a stone tiger standing before the entrance suddenly spoke: "He Lingchuan." Wu Jinsong and the guards froze. He Lingchuan's eyes shifted slightly. "Third Master Gan?" He recognized Third Master Gan's voice. Furthermore, a small evil spirit was crouched behind the stone tiger; the human voice actually came from it. Because He Lingchuan could see the creature, the speaking stone tiger was not mysterious at all—in fact, it was almost comical. An idea struck He Lingchuan. Without making a scene, he took off the divine bone necklace and dropped it onto the ground. The very next instant, the small evil spirit vanished from his sight. Hah, just as he thought. Since when had the divine bone necklace allowed him to see demons and spirits? Did this change happen because he had fed Zhu Erniang's molt to the divine bone not long ago? The stone tiger didn't know what he was doing, nor did it care. "Hand over the Transit Pass, and I will let you all out." "Hand it to whom?" He Lingchuan waved the small cloud brocade pennant, while retrieving a small bottle and handing it to Wu Jinsong. "One pill each. Swallow them." Trusting him without question, Wu Jinsong and his men tipped out the small red pills and swallowed them. The moment the pills went down, their eyes burned, their noses stuffed up, their mouths soured, and their bodies shuddered with chills... just like catching a sudden cold. But immediately after, all three paled and took two steps back in quick succession. They had seen the evil spirit crouched on the stone tiger as well. These pills were Soul-Shielding Powder. Ingesting it allowed a person to perceive unclean entities for a short period and temporarily masked their life flame to conceal their living aura—though it would wear off the moment they entered combat. By now, the stone tiger had opened its mouth wide. "Just drop the Transit Pass inside." "How do I know you'll keep your word?" He Lingchuan smiled. "Let us out first." "You are trapped here. Even if you aren't slaughtered, you will eventually starve and die of thirst." There was no food for humans in this place. "Very persuasive. But your own plight has taught me never to strike a deal with the Spirit Medium." With that, He Lingchuan's blade swept across the back of the stone tiger, slicing through the small evil spirit. He fed some Soul-Shielding Powder to the three steeds, then popped one into his own mouth. Shivering as the medicinal potency spread through him, he lowered his voice. "Follow me. Remember: no matter what you hear or see, do not look back!" Otherwise, the concealment shielding their life flames would weaken. Four men and three horses returned to the battlefield. The necklace naturally returned to He Lingchuan's neck on its own, never staying away for long. Wu Jinsong and the guards gripped their weapons, prepared to fight at the drop of a hat. To their astonishment, as they passed ordinary folk, soldiers, and demons, none of them so much as turned around. Those fighting kept fighting; those fleeing and screaming kept fleeing and screaming. Not a single glance was spared for them. Such was the effect of Soul-Shielding Powder. In a world crawling with evil spirits, as long as they didn't look back carelessly, they were virtually invisible. Only after confirming that the evil spirits in this war were wholly immersed in their combat and would not obey Third Master Gan's commands did He Lingchuan feel confident enough to try this. He Lingchuan suddenly murmured, "These don't seem to be evil spirits. They're resentful souls." Solitary souls that had perished bearing deep resentment. From ahead, more civilians came fleeing for their lives, pursuers hot on their heels. The four carefully dodged to the side, dreading that an accidental collision might blow their cover, all while avoiding explosions and falling beams from the burning ruins... Approaching the city center in this manner, He Lingchuan muttered, "From what I saw, it should have landed right around here." They finally located a small drill ground situated right next to a river. The layout was somewhat reminiscent of the Martial Review Hall in Panlong City, likely used in normal times for soldiers to drill and spar. Now heavily guarded by General You's troops and furiously assailed by enemy forces, the combat here was the fiercest across the entire battlefield. He Lingchuan and the others didn't dare rush in, afraid of getting caught in the chaotic crossfire of supernatural abilities. Repeating their earlier tactic, they climbed a large tree a few dozen feet away to observe. Coincidentally, this vantage point had also caught the eye of archers, so they had to silently assassinate several bowmen before securing the prime viewing spot. Looking down from above, Qingxu and several other sorcerers stood at the four corners of the drill ground, each holding a bronze mirror to pin down the scarlet bird. The demon bird's size had shrunk to a fifth of its former mass, measuring only about twenty feet long now; whether that was its true form or the work of the mirrors was anyone's guess. The mirrors in their hands looked somewhat familiar to He Lingchuan. Thinking back carefully, wasn't this the exact design of the bronze mirror he had seen on the Spirit Medium's table when he first stepped into the bamboo lodge? The golden light cast by the mirrors illuminated the scarlet bird, rendering all its struggles utterly futile. Moreover, He Lingchuan noticed that the fletched arrow remained lodged in the root of the great bird's wing. It repeatedly tried to lower its head to pluck it out, but the immobilizing power of the mirrors was so strong that it couldn't even bow its neck. The arrow gleamed with purple light; clearly, the origin power in it was suppressing the bird as well. Together, the mirrors and the arrow held the scarlet bird firmly in check. He Lingchuan also noted that whenever the scarlet bird gave a violent heave, it would cause the mirror-bearing sorcerers to stumble. Evidently, the strain on them was severe. This sort of deadlock consumed true power at an alarming rate, and it was hard to tell who would prevail in the end. He Lingchuan did spot two sorcerers produce profound crystals, quietly refining them to replenish their qi. Those were deep-red profound crystals—a mouthwatering sight. Fortunately, he understood that everything here was an illusion and none of it could be taken with him; otherwise, He Lingchuan would have seriously tried to swipe a few before leaving. Meanwhile, the endless waves of enemy attacks were aimed squarely at freeing the scarlet bird to throw it back into the fray. Archers in neighboring trees fired as well, but a shimmering curtain of cyan light enveloped the drill ground, deflecting all arrows outside. Sure enough, a tactical formation was deployed here too. This scarlet bird was He Lingchuan's objective, yet it was trapped in the clutches of Qingxu and his cohorts. He Lingchuan didn't think leaping down recklessly was a good idea; that warding formation was no joke. Fortunately, he had anticipated this situation. The best option right now was to wait for an outside stone to strike this jade—an external force to shatter the stalemate. Before long, that "outside stone" arrived. He Lingchuan and his companions had actually passed it on their way here, though without alerting anyone— At the far end of the street, a colossal monstrosity appeared: an enormous ox draped in heavy barding, standing over thirty feet tall. Its horns were tiny, but its forehead was round and domed, as though a giant drum were strapped over its brow. He Lingchuan breathed a sigh of relief. "The dome-headed ox is finally here." He had guessed this beast was on its way to crash General You's party. So many exotic beasts appeared in this mirror illusion that even the long-extinct dome-headed ox had shown up. Of course, that was merely the nickname later generations gave it; the beast had a proper name: Xuguang, "Rising Dawn." The long avenue provided the perfect runway to build momentum. Once it broke into a thunderous charge, Wu Jinsong and the others instantly realized how its true name had come about: Its swollen dome began to glow. The faster it ran, the brighter it shone. At full tilt, Xuguang hit like a runaway locomotive. No one dared stand in its path. General You's men tried desperately to obstruct it, but were either sent flying through the air or trampled into bloody pulp, while the behemoth didn't lose a shred of momentum. The drill ground's main gate was heavily garrisoned, but watching the creature charge in like an earth-shattering landslide, the defenders' faces turned pale, and they dove clear at the very last second. With an ear-splitting crash, the colossal ox rammed into the gate, bursting with blinding light. The glare was so dazzling that even He Lingchuan and his companions up in the tree averted their eyes immediately, terrified of going blind. This fierce flash was itself one of its offensive weapons: any enemy daring to clash head-on risked being blinded, and when breaching fortifications, while the defenders scrambled to shield their eyes, the ox bought precious seconds to wheel around for another charge. The cyan light flickered violently as the defensive tactical formation shuddered and warped under the impact. This brute was far deadlier than any battering ram, naturally endowed with the ability to turn around and strike again. The city's main gates had been battered down by it; now that the enemy had unleashed it on a mere gate to a drill ground, how could it possibly fail to smash through?