Heaven's Formula

"Is there any benefit in putting it in?"

"Under that disk... hides a dark river, the current is fast, and no one knows where it flows. And this disk... will be pushed by the current, and it will be emptied every seven days, and all the people inside will be killed Rush away, never to be seen again."

It turned out to be an underground river?

Xia Fan and the others looked at each other, and suddenly realized that the strange rustling sound did not come from some creations beyond the times, but from the turbulent water hitting the river channel. It was only blocked and differentiated by the disc, and became It's not that thick and shocking.

But this alone cannot solve the doubts that Xia Fan has been harboring all along.

"Bringing people here just to throw corpses quietly? Who are you bluffing! Just take this mountain as an example, just throw it in a hidden place, and the corpses will be eaten up by wild beasts in a few days , why bother to choose such a place?"

In this era, as long as you leave the city, the outside is basically a blind area. If you just want to dispose of the corpse, there is no need to bring it to the grotto.

And the bronze disc, obviously it can't be made casually, and such a large facility is built underground, just to flush the corpse every seven days?Xia Fan felt that this made no sense at all!

"It's not a corpse, it's a living person..." Du Mingjin emphasized, "Although some people were already dead when they were transported here, we will put them in, but it is mainly used to release the living! And, and..."

"And what?"

He gritted his teeth, "And there is a quantity requirement when putting it in. It is said that this disc may attract evil spirits, and when it is filled with [-]%, it can make the evil spirits appear. The more you install, the more terrifying the evil spirits will be!"

As soon as these words came out, both Wei Wushuang and Wang Renzhi showed expressions of disbelief.

"How come..." Xia Fan murmured puzzled, "This thing can produce evil spirits? Doesn't evil spirits need restless energy to form... How does it do it?"

Du Mingjingang opened his mouth, but before he could answer, a deep roar resounded throughout the cave!

The ground beneath his feet began to tremble.

"What happened again?"

"Look at Yuanpan!" Wang Renzhi exclaimed, "Yuan, Yuanpan is moving!"

how is this possible?Such a big bronze vessel, who can push it?

Xia Fan fixed his eyes and found that the other party had read it right—the thing was trembling slightly closing, compressing the hexagonal space little by little.Such a huge casting is not a whole, but a movable "apparatus"!The sidelines of each opening are converging synchronously, and there is obviously an extremely delicate transmission device underneath it.

After vibrating for a few minutes, the disc stopped closing, as if what they experienced just now was an illusion, but Xia Fan knew that it was not an illusion. After simple finger gestures, the size of the opening had been reduced from the initial forty centimeters to 35 or so, and the interval between the "honeycombs" has become significantly wider.

"I... Where is this? Damn, hello! Is anyone there!"

The shock just now also brought Du Mingyin back to life. Before he saw him, his voice had already come from the hole.

"Brother Yin!"

"Brother, where are you? Help me! My leg is stuck, it hurts—"

"That's enough, you two stop yelling!" Shangguan Cai interrupted sharply, "The phenomenon just now is the shrinkage you mentioned? How far can it be received in the end?"

"Received... There is no gap." Du Mingjin closed his eyes with difficulty.

"Doesn't that mean—" Wei Wushuang gasped, "The people inside will be squeezed to death?"

"You mean, this thing is a torture tool?" Wang Renzhi asked incredulously.

"No... its original intention is not to use torture, but to inflict endless fear and pain on the dying." Xia Fan said suddenly, "I understand everything."

"Brother Xia?" Wei Wushuang looked at his fellow countryman unexpectedly.

"It won't kill immediately, it will only reduce the size of the opening a little bit. The power probably comes from the undercurrent below. It should be some kind of energy storage device. When enough energy is accumulated, it will push the spring to move and move the disc. .This kind of operation takes seven days as a cycle, and it starts again and again.”

"The people who are put in have no chance of escaping. They can only be imprisoned in this square inch. They can't even raise their hands or turn their bodies. This kind of small and dark space will cause great panic to people. Don't It has been said for several days, even one or two hours will cause people to collapse."

"But this is not the most fatal. As the contraction continues, the space inside the disc is no longer enough to fully accommodate the next person. At this time, the arms will be squeezed into the abdominal cavity, and it will be difficult for the chest to expand. The person inside must do everything possible Only then can they take a breath of air. And such painful breathing can’t last long, at most a few hours, they will die completely—it’s just that before they die, what they feel is extreme despair.”

Xia Fan's voice became deeper and deeper, "With corpses and strong aura, the birth of ghosts is a matter of course. At the same time, because the dead were imprisoned in this immovable container during their lifetime, the ghosts who appeared in Gaoshan County It will be Yuan Gui!"

"What about the other female ghost?" The second son of the Wang family asked subconsciously.

"I'm afraid that one of the people who were thrown into the disc was pregnant." Xia Fan walked slowly to Du Mingjin, stared at him and said, "After one cycle, the body that has not been absorbed by the ghost will be pregnant." will be thrown into the water, and the ghost will go to Gaoshan County following the breath of the living. The evil spirits we eliminated are not naturally formed, but someone deliberately created resentful spirits. Just like this, you still want to save your brother? Don't take a good look, how many people's blood is stained on your hands!"

"I, I was just forced to be helpless, my lord!" Du Mingjin wailed, "All of this was forced by Huzhi County to our brothers! He never told me that this evil thing would produce evil spirits. This is all a little bit of our own thinking It came out! We don't want to have anything to do with Xie Chong, and please spare our lives!"

"Thirty percent of the installation is also figured out by you yourself?"

Du Mingjin stretched out his hand tremblingly, pointing to a corner of the grotto.

Xia Fan walked in the direction he pointed, and found something engraved on the wall.

After he patted off the dust on the surface with his sleeve, a pattern similar to the example appeared in front of him, and the writing on it seemed familiar.

After thinking about it for a while, he realized that the font here was exactly the same as the one on the Qingshan Town knife coin!

Chapter 71 Variables

Although I can't read the text, the illustration is clear enough.

On the left side of it is a hexagonal honeycomb, which obviously refers to the bronze disc; on the right side is engraved with a humanoid symbol, which probably refers to evil spirits.

From top to bottom, the number of solid honeycombs increased successively, and the number of human-shaped symbols also increased, until all the honeycombs in the last row became solid, but the right side was scraped off by a sharp instrument, leaving only a deep scratch.

Below the pattern is a large version of ancient text.

The beginning of each line is composed of several simple horizontal or vertical bars. Considering the continuity of the text, Xia Fan thinks that it should be a number like date, year and month.

Likewise, many parts of it have been deliberately destroyed, as if someone did not want the records of this place to be leaked.

Even Mengtao guessed the engravings on the entire wall, and an extremely shocking picture appeared in Xia Fan's mind.

This underground facility built in the Yongguo period may be a place for researching evil spirits!

The illustrations show that they not only confirmed the characteristics of the formation of Yuangui, but even advanced to a deeper field.What exactly did they see when the holes in the disk were all filled?Or rather—what was produced?

Xia Fan only felt that his mouth was a little dry.

When he realized that most people's knowledge of evil spirits was still blank and the Privy Council monopolized all knowledge about alchemy, he didn't feel anything wrong.Restricted by the times, it is normal for ideas to be backward.

But now he discovered that the ancients may have gone a long way in the study of evil phenomena.

"Brother Xia, what should we do next?"

Wei Wushuang's shout interrupted his thoughts.

That's right, these issues can be studied later, and he must first deal with the difficult problems in Gaoshan County at this time.

Xia Fan returned to Du Mingjin, "Where did you send those people you murdered?"

"I don't know, I really don't know, my lord!" The latter shook his head again and again, "Every time I was notified by Huzhi County, I went outside the county to pick up people."

"Only rely on you two brothers?"

"If there are too many people, they will help. But they are basically all dressed in black with hoods on their faces. I really can't see where they are from!"

"In addition to sending people, did they send anything else?"

"There was a gift of money, a big box and a big box, and the money was put into Mr. Hu's mansion, and our brothers could only get some fractions! By the way, they also sent a woman in Hu Zhi County, a Pretty woman, that's all I know!"

Xia Fan looked at Shang Guancai, who spread his hand, saying that he had nothing to add.

"Whether you have concealed it or not, someone will check later." He checked the rope on the opponent's body, and lifted it vigorously, "Come with us."

"You, where are you taking me?"

"Jinxia City, State Shepherd's Mansion."

"My lord, I will die if I go there!" Du Mingjin's face changed drastically, and he struggled to kneel down again, "I always obey orders, please spare my life!"

"Listen well," Xia Fan said sharply, "Your only way to survive is to report the magistrate of Gaoshan County, Hu Huairen. There is no other way to save your life! In addition, even if you are doomed, you can at least catch up with Yuanpan completely. Before closing, let the people from the government fish out your brother—you don’t want him to suffer enough torture here, and finally turn into an abyss ghost, don’t you?”

Du Mingjin's body softened, as if he had lost all his strength.

Xia Fan didn't want to waste his time talking, so he grabbed him and walked out of the grotto.

The return journey was much faster, and in less than an hour, the five of them had reached the foot of the mountain.

However, just when Gaoshan County was looming, something unexpected happened.

Du Mingjin's complexion became as pale as paper, and foam overflowed from the corner of his mouth.

A group of people had to stop to check his condition.

"What's wrong with this guy?"

"I'm afraid he was poisoned." Shangguan Cai pressed his pulse, "I guess he won't be able to make it to the city."

Her words were quickly fulfilled. In less than a quarter of an hour, Du Mingjin's condition deteriorated sharply, his whole body was shaking non-stop, and the foam turned into bloodshot streaks.

He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end Xia Fan only heard the words "that bowl of wine".

After a few breaths, Du Mingjin completely stopped shaking.

"He's dead." Shangguan Cai shrugged.

This is... silence?Xia Fan couldn't help clenching his fists. Since the opponent had left such a hand on Du Mingjin, there was no reason to let Du Mingyin go alone.

In an instant, they lost two witnesses, and the originally good situation suddenly turned around.

"As long as the grotto is still there, we still have a chance." Wei Wushuang comforted.

"That's not necessarily the case." Xia Fan shook his head, "The poison may be just a precautionary measure. If the Du brothers can return to the county on time, they may not even realize that they have been poisoned. If he fails to go back, In addition to killing people, this medicine can also provide a warning signal for the poisoner."

"You mean... we were discovered?"

"I'm not sure, but there is a possibility." Xia Fan felt his brain running fast, and the information in this short day almost hit his cognition like a storm. It was a bunch of weeds, but when he actually experienced it himself, he was still greatly shocked. "If this is the case, Hu Huairen will definitely send another group of people to seal the grotto. The worst result is that there will be no witnesses or physical evidence left."

"Then what should we do?" Wei Wushuang asked worriedly.

"I need a person to go to Jinxia City to report. It's best to travel lightly, the sooner the better." Xia Fan looked at Wang Renzhi, "Young Master Wang, you are the only one who can enter the city at night and can enter the city at night."

"Oh, after all, I still have to step in." Wang Renzhi suddenly regained his spirits, "Don't worry, with my Wang family's status in Jinxia, ​​they will never dare to ignore my news. Then I will go first!"

After the other party left, Xia Fan turned his gaze to the other two, "As for you two—can you hold this intersection for me? If Hu Huairen sends people over again, at most they will be government servants and arresters. And the alchemist is Eighth-rank officer, delaying for a while should not be a big problem."

"I should be fine," Wei Wushuang nodded, "Brother Xia, how about you?"

"I want to go to the magistrate's residence in person." Xia Fan said decisively. "Only by controlling Hu Huairen can the physical evidence of the Grotto be guaranteed. What's more, he is also the biggest witness in the whole incident—in other words, if he can't move, we can take the initiative! Even if he doesn't confess anything , at least it can prevent him from transferring the stolen money, I think Huzhi County must not be able to explain why there is so much cash hidden in his mansion."

"Sorry, I quit." Shangguan Cai said suddenly.

"Hey..." Wei Wushuang didn't react for a while, "Why?"

Shangguan Cai ignored him, but stared at Xia Fan and said, "Do you know what you are doing? Although the county magistrate is not of high rank, he is also a chief official in the Ministry of Officials. If something happens to the second son of the Wang family, he will Or you failed to control Huzhi County, resulting in no evidence at all, and you, an eighth-rank alchemist, probably did it too."

"Of course, it's fine if it's just like this. But have you ever considered a possibility—why the Privy Council prohibits alchemists from interfering in this matter? There is really no other reason except that it is inconvenient to intervene in the affairs of the government?" Here Shangguan Cai paused, "Do you think they really don't know the reason behind the frequent appearance of evil spirits?"

Chapter 72 Confronting

Wei Wushuang's face froze suddenly, he looked at Shangguancai, then at Xia Fan, not knowing what to say.

"No." At this point, Xia Fan had nothing to hide. "I have thought about this question. Even if the Privy Council doesn't know the specific situation, it can definitely guess."

The formation of evil spirits is related to strong qi. Since qi is the will of living beings, it is an obvious inference that there are a large number of abnormal deaths in Gaoshan County.Even he knew this, and it was impossible for the Privy Council to be unaware. In fact, when he was having a conversation with the Ministry of Command, he had already sensed that the other party was trying to divert the topic to another direction, but at that time he did not have any evidence, nor There is no real assurance, so I did not refute it on the spot.

After all, there is no right to speak without investigation.

The fellow townsman was surprised, "Then why didn't the Privy Council pay attention to this? Even if you can't interfere in government affairs, it's still feasible to inform the State Shepherd's Office and let them investigate?"

"I think... I'm afraid they don't want to ban evil spirits."

"Hmph," Shangguan Cai chuckled, "So you've noticed it too."

"What do you mean?" Wei Wushuang asked puzzled.

"Think about what the judge said." Xia Fan sighed, "That's the answer."

——"Civilian promotion depends on political achievements, what do we rely on? Isn't it the credit of these monsters and demons?"

"If the evil spirits in a place are wiped out, wouldn't the alchemists just sit in the mansion and waste time?"

"Days with evil spirits are good days!"

He didn't take it seriously at first, alchemists like meritorious deeds of eliminating evil, just like sergeants love military exploits, there is nothing wrong with their mentality.But the deeper the investigation, the stronger the uneasiness in his heart, and the Privy Council may have crossed that bottom line.

The reason for the upper echelons to sit idly by is precisely this achievement - it can bring promotion and maintain the influence of the Privy Council.

"No way..." the fellow villager could only murmur.

Xia Fan thought more deeply.

He still remembered the cause of death of the former magistrate mentioned by the old man of the Zhou family.

Being entangled in something unclean... and finally died of illness.

For example, the ghost he had encountered before.

If the handler is professional enough, this kind of invisible evil can completely drain a person's vitality without knowing it.

"It's okay to offend the magistrate, but if you offend the Privy Council, I'm afraid the rest of your life will be very miserable. You don't want to live the life of wandering like before, do you?" Shangguancai said frankly, "The only way to pay off now is to stop. In time - the Privy Council is still not aware of this matter, and for Huzhi County, it is just the death of two subordinates. If you don't go to him, he will definitely not provoke you in turn. In short, I finally became a As an alchemist, I don't want to give up this great future, so... I quit."