FIMA Ch73: Methods

The sub-bureau members nearby were slightly shocked by the two’s public display and awkwardly turned their heads away.

Chen Ling watched them, feeling extremely satisfied, “Aaaahh, I shipped them again…”

Huo Yan: “…”

Never mind. It’s the most normal thing to feel flustered in front of a handsome and cold savior. There was nothing strange about it. Forget it, forget it.

Director Chen, being an old-fashioned person, couldn’t stay calm and coughed awkwardly, “Special Agent, why don’t you go back and change clothes first? It’s still quite cold, don’t catch a cold…”

“Ugh…” Everyone despised him.

However, Xie Xuanxing, who had just been displaying possessiveness and boldness, felt a bit embarrassed under their gaze and quickly agreed.

After returning, Gu Siyuan took a shower, changed out of his wet clothes, and immediately started drawing the formation he had noted down in the stone cave.

He took a photo and sent it to the main bureau, then called Director Chen to ask about the situation.

“This is the formation I saw at the lake bottom. I suspect something is wrong with it. Do you know anything about it, Director Chen?”

Director Chen quickly slapped his forehead, “I’m not very familiar with formations, but we have a young man in our sub-bureau from a formation family in Lingnan. I’ll go ask him. Special Agent, please wait a moment.”

Gu Siyuan nodded indifferently and said, “Go ahead.”

Shortly after, Xie Xuanxing came out of the shower.

He wore a loose white T-shirt and black shorts, revealing two long, pale legs. His face was slightly pink from the steam, and his short, soft black hair hung loosely, making him look several years younger, like a student.

Gu Siyuan’s heart softened. He couldn’t help but coldly command, “Come here.”

Xie Xuanxing, feeling dizzy from the hot water, immediately opened his big, bright eyes and obediently walked over, sitting on his lap with his legs apart.

Gu Siyuan held the soft, warm follower in his arms, kissed his face and neck several times, and finally felt satisfied.

He held the person’s slim waist and said in a low, husky voice, “We should have showered together earlier. It’s even better in the water.”

“…” Xie Xuanxing.

He had just come to his senses and heard these brazen words, instantly feeling so embarrassed that even his toes curled up.

Is this the true definition of a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

He thought, blushing furiously.

Gu Siyuan grabbed his chin, annoyed, “Daydreaming? What are you thinking about?”

Xie Xuanxing pouted slightly, “In the water…”

Gu Siyuan nodded, “Good idea, no wonder it’s you. Even in the critical moment of handling a case, you can think of this.”

“…” Xie Xuanxing.

How did it become his idea? Wasn’t it Gu Siyuan’s suggestion?

He just said he wanted to kiss.

Xie Xuanxing looked up indignantly, only to see a faint smile on Gu Siyuan’s usually cold face. He immediately realized that this person was teasing him.

“Always bullying me, grr, I’ll bite you…” Xie Xuanxing, embarrassed and angry, opened his mouth and lunged at Gu Siyuan.

Gu Siyuan held him steadily while jokingly saying in a serious tone, “Hmm, a little lion is good too. Next time in bed, let’s play role-playing. You can be the little lion.”

“…” Xie Xuanxing.

“Plop…”

The clear sound of a file dropping to the ground echoed at the doorway.

Director Chen, in his fifties, stared wide-eyed, mouth slightly open, with a look of disbelief.

“…” Xie Xuanxing.

Did he hear everything?

Director Chen immediately said repeatedly, “I didn’t hear anything, didn’t hear about the water, didn’t hear about the little lion.”

“…” Xie Xuanxing.

Xie Xuanxing curled up entirely in Gu Siyuan’s embrace, almost shrinking himself into a small cat, wishing he could disappear.

Gu Siyuan chuckled softly.

After a moment, he looked up at Director Chen and coldly asked, “Did you find out anything about the formation?”

Director Chen wiped the sweat from his forehead and hurriedly said, “Yes, yes, yes. At first, that colleague didn’t recognize it either, but later he asked his elders at home. Apparently, this formation was invented by a notorious evil cultivator in Lingnan. It was rampant in the Lingnan region, so some people know about it.”

Gu Siyuan nodded, “No wonder the formation was set up here. What is its specific function?”

“Possession.” Director Chen’s voice suddenly became eerie.

After everyone else had left, Xie Xuanxing bit Gu Siyuan hard before jumping off him, wishing to be far away.

Gu Siyuan glanced at him and decided not to further hurt the little follower’s fragile pride for now.

Gu Siyuan walked to a nearby cabinet, picked up the conch they found in the stone cave, which was meticulously hidden by the dead green fish man, and examined it closely.

Suddenly, his eyes brightened.

Gu Siyuan placed it back on the table, moved his hands slightly, formed a divine sense seal, and slowly guided it into the conch.

Sure enough, the next moment, a familiar voice came from the otherwise ordinary conch. It was the voice of the green fish man who had died earlier.

“I heard from the old guys that I am the only one in the clan who has cultivated into a spirit in recent years. Nowadays, spiritual energy is scarce, making cultivation extremely difficult…”

“It’s noisy outside. I heard it’s the 30th National Day…”

…

Gu Siyuan listened attentively. Most of it was trivial matters.

Until, “Today, an old human cultivator came to find me. Hmph, this old man has some skills, his pressure is extremely strong. He said he wanted to cooperate with me to create a world full of spiritual energy. And I agreed to guard the formation here for forty-nine years…”

…

“Today is the fourteenth of July. I need to go out and hunt humans born at the yin hour to sacrifice to the formation. I kill nine every year. Thirty years have passed, and I’ve already killed 270 people. I still need to continue for another nineteen years. Can it really allow even Qi Refining cultivators to possess bodies? Humans are strange. They are clearly of the same kind but still kill each other…”

…

“I thought the old man had long passed away. After all, without building a foundation, humans can only live a pitiful hundred years. It’s been more than twenty years since he contacted me. Recently, he sent someone to find me again. I thought it was because the forty-nine years were almost up and he wanted me to prepare to use the formation, but it turned out he just wanted me to kill a few humans. So boring. I might as well capture a few people to play with me.”

This was the last recording in the conch.

Sure enough, people who like to keep diaries are not serious.

Xie Xuanxing forgot his sulking and sat on Gu Siyuan’s lap again. He blinked and said softly, “Forty-nine years, what a coincidental number. I remember the half-ghost king in Luojun Mountain before. It was said that the Yin Soul Cauldron was also buried about forty-nine years ago. Forty-nine fierce ghosts fought each other inside, and the last one became the ghost king…”

“And even earlier, I heard from Brother Luo Chuan that big brother was injured in Kunlun Mountain because he went to a forbidden place that had existed for more than forty years…”

Gu Siyuan held him and squinted, “So, forty-nine years ago, someone was planning for today. According to the green fish man’s message, that person’s goal is to create a world full of spiritual energy. How does he intend to do that? Changing the spiritual energy pattern of the entire world is not an easy task.”

Xie Xuanxing pouted, “In today’s era of declining spiritual energy, cultivators cannot build foundations, so their lifespan is only a hundred years. Forty-nine years ago, this person was already an old man. Now, even if he is still alive, he probably can’t walk anymore. But being able to cause so much trouble, he must not be alone. There must be a powerful family supporting him. I suspect it’s the Han family.”

Gu Siyuan nodded and then sneered, “No matter who it is, since we know the use of the formation in the stone cave, destroying it is not a problem.”

At this moment, Gu Siyuan’s phone rang. It was He Pan calling from the main bureau, asking if their operation was successful.

Gu Siyuan said indifferently, “There’s just a bit of cleanup left. It’s almost done. However, we made some unusual discoveries this time. We need to study them carefully when we get back.”

He Pan was surprised, “Almost done? So fast?”

Gu Siyuan raised an eyebrow and coldly said, “Who do you think I am?”

He Pan sighed, “Why don’t you wait a bit? Your brother took this morning’s flight to come to you. Wait for him to come back together. Otherwise, he’ll think I tricked him, and it’ll be bad if he comes back and chops up my office.”

Gu Siyuan was slightly surprised, “He left for the southwest just a few hours before me, and the matter was resolved that quickly?”

He Pan nodded, smiling helplessly, “Yes, I initially thought the rumors about the demon sword were just a ruse by the Luo family to trick your brother into handling things. Who knew there really was a demon sword? Your impulsive sword-crazed brother, as soon as he got off the plane yesterday afternoon, rushed straight to the Luo family’s forbidden area and seized the sword causing trouble.”

“Apparently, it’s indeed a great ancient artifact. Given your brother’s temperament, having a good sword means he can’t rest until he has a fight. So, I couldn’t stop him. He bought a ticket to your place early this morning, just hoping you have a tough ghost for him to deal with. Judging by the time, he should be landing any moment now.”

“…” Gu Siyuan hung up the phone.

His family’s elder brother was truly a mix of lunatic and maniac.

Xie Xuanxing, sitting beside him, laughed softly, “That’s so like big brother.”

At that moment, Xie Xuanxing’s phone also rang.

Seeing the caller’s name, it was Luo Chuan. He must have just gotten off the plane.

“Xingxing, where are you now? Your brother and I are at the N City airport, about to take a taxi over,” Luo Chuan’s voice came clearly through the phone.

Xie Xuanxing said, “I’ll send you the address on WeChat. Let the driver navigate here.”

Thinking for a moment, he added with a wry smile, “We’ve almost wrapped things up here, so tell big brother not to get his hopes too high.”

“Alright…” Luo Chuan sighed deeply.

Having a combat-obsessed husband was truly a sweet but troublesome situation.

Xie Xuanxing hung up the phone and looked at Gu Siyuan, “Big brother just got off the plane, he’ll be here soon.”

Gu Siyuan said expressionlessly, “Let him come. I happen to need to make something to destroy that formation. If he needs to expend energy, he can take a few swings at it.”

“…” Xie Xuanxing.

Such filial piety. You’re really treating Gu Beilin as a mere enforcer.

However… the scary thing is, Gu Beilin might actually enjoy it.

About an hour later.

Gu Siyuan, with an upgraded weapon, and Xie Xuanxing returned to the shore of Qinglan Lake at Hongtan Manor.

Just as they were about to take off their outerwear to enter the water, Gu Siyuan suddenly felt a strong sense of foreboding. He grabbed Xie Xuanxing and quickly retreated while throwing a handful of talismans onto the lake’s surface.

The next moment, a loud explosion occurred where they had been standing, dirt flying everywhere.

Following that, the talismans he had thrown onto the lake’s surface also exploded.

Gu Siyuan and Xie Xuanxing stood on the grassy shore, squinting as the white spray settled, revealing a figure in gray robes. The person was dressed in classical attire rather than modern clothes, with a mask on their face.

The masked robed person looked at them, squinting their eyes and saying coldly, “Alert, aren’t you?”

Gu Siyuan stared at him coldly. The next moment, he moved his fingers, forming a spiritual attack seal.

The masked robed person’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment and then quickly began forming seals as well.

The masked robed person was evidently much more powerful than the green fish man they had encountered before. He directly blocked Gu Siyuan’s spiritual attack at the last moment, neutralizing it.

But at this moment, Xie Xuanxing threw a handful of talismans.

Anyway, the Special Supervision Bureau’s printing press was working daily. They lacked many things, but not talismans. Even if their spiritual power wasn’t as strong, they could use talismans to crush the opponent.

The masked robed person’s face turned extremely grim, but he had to dodge hastily. His spiritual cultivation was evidently a notch higher than Gu Siyuan’s and Xie Xuanxing’s, as he managed to avoid the attack just in time.

However, he realized that in this brief moment, Gu Siyuan’s next wave of spiritual attacks was coming.

Before he could stabilize himself, he had to quickly form seals to defend against the spiritual attack.

To make matters worse, Xie Xuanxing’s next batch of talismans was already flying towards him.

Two against one, especially a well-coordinated two-on-one, was indeed unfair.

The masked robed person gritted his teeth and, without hesitation, ignored the incoming talisman attack, focusing on forming spiritual seals to block Gu Siyuan’s attack.

The damage from spiritual attacks was far greater than physical attacks.

Thus, with a loud “boom,” as he blocked the spiritual attack, a batch of talismans exploded around him on the water’s surface.

With the water curtain obscuring the view, Gu Siyuan could only see the masked robed person’s figure wobble.

He was about to form another spiritual attack seal to hit a man when he was down.

Suddenly, a violent voice shouted through the water curtain, “Rise!” filled with anger and frustration.

Although it was unclear what the masked robed person meant, it was definitely not good.

Gu Siyuan and Xie Xuanxing exchanged glances and immediately retreated, only to find that after moving a few steps, they couldn’t move any further. A transparent, semi-circular barrier had risen around them.

Xie Xuanxing’s face turned icy, “We were trapped in advance.”

Gu Siyuan squinted, “This old man really went to great lengths to deal with us.”

The water curtain fell.

The masked robed person reappeared, his gray robe tattered from the talisman attack, his figure slightly hunched, and a trace of blood on his chin.

However, the robe was probably some kind of defensive artifact. Despite looking battered, he was clearly not seriously injured.

He looked at the two trapped in the barrier and sneered, “Hmph, no matter how treacherous and cunning you are, you still fell into my hands.”

Gu Siyuan ignored his taunts and attempted another spiritual attack, only to find that the seal couldn’t penetrate the barrier.

Xie Xuanxing also tried throwing some talismans. Although the barrier shook slightly, it remained intact, and the talismans nearly harmed them.

This trap formation is quite formidable.

Gu Siyuan pulled out a specially made gun, which he had previously developed at the Special Supervision Bureau. It was designed to destroy the spiritual power of cultivators and the yin energy of ghost cultivators.

He fired a shot at the transparent barrier. The bullet exploded, causing the barrier to tremble slightly and ripple faintly, but it quickly repaired itself and had no effect.

The masked robed man saw this and immediately laughed more arrogantly, “This trap formation can even confine someone at the peak of the Qi Refining stage, and you think that useless broken gun will work?”

With that, he produced a spherical object in his hand, a one-time explosive bead that compressed lightning and fire spiritual power to the extreme, capable of unleashing immense power instantly.

His face twisted with ferocity, “Hmph, I’ll send you two juniors to hell right now!”

At this moment, a familiar angry shout resounded from the sky, “Courting death!”

Then, a massive iron-gray domineering blade shadow slashed down directly towards the masked robed man’s head.

“It’s you! How did you get here!” The masked man was shocked and retreated swiftly, no longer caring about those trapped in the formation.

Gu Siyuan and Xie Xuanxing looked up. On top of a large tree, Gu Beilin, dressed in black, exuded an aura of overwhelming power with his blade, commanding the wind and clouds.

Such a show-off.

In the next moment, he slashed the barrier with his blade again. The demonic energy of the blade was extremely sinister, carrying a deathly aura. The barrier, after only a moment of resistance, began to corrode and weaken.

Xie Xuanxing took the opportunity to throw another handful of talismans, and the barrier instantly shattered into pieces, freeing the two.

Gu Beilin mocked, “This is what happens when you don’t cultivate spiritual power properly for decades. When you face a true cultivation expert, your technological methods become useless.”

With that, he no longer looked at them and went after the masked robed man.

Originally, without relying on the trap formation, the masked man had difficulty dealing with Gu Siyuan and Xie Xuanxing. Now, with Gu Beilin added to the mix, he naturally knew when to retreat and ran away.

At this moment, a helicopter rose from a nearby mountain top, clearly there to pick him up.

“…” Gu Beilin.

Gu Beilin immediately sped up his pursuit. He couldn’t let the opponent he had finally found escape so easily.

Just as he was thinking this.

In the next moment, blood suddenly splattered from the masked man’s thighs, and he fell face-first to the ground, struggling several times but unable to get up.

The helicopter could only leave without him.

Gu Beilin was stunned for a moment, then turned around.

His big younger brother, Gu Siyuan, leisurely blew on his gun, staring at him, “This is technological means.”

For cultivators with high levels like the masked man, they could use their superior spiritual awareness and physical reactions to dodge bullets in a direct confrontation. But when they were injured and being chased like a dog, it was a different story.

“…” Gu Beilin.

Having such an annoying younger brother, should he beat him to death, or beat him to death?