Chapter 184: Breaking the Formation

Hearing Xi Yu say this, Shang Qinghua frowned deeply.

If that was the case, then once they entered the attack range of this mechanism, it would surely be a dead end.

If this were purely a mechanism designed solely for killing, there would have been no need to arrange it according to the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams at all, just releasing poisonous smoke would have caused even greater damage.

Meanwhile, Yue Mingxuan, listening to Xi Yu’s description, felt a strange thought rise in his heart.

The iron-rod-like hidden weapon Xi Yu mentioned sounded more and more like the type of dum-dum bullets that had long been banned in his previous life.

Shaking his head, he forcefully tossed this bizarre thought aside and began recalling the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams he had once learned.

In the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, Kun represents earth, Zhen represents thunder, Li represents fire, Dui represents marsh, Qian represents heaven, Xun represents wind, Kan represents water, and Gen represents mountain.

Judging from the fact that a large pit had collapsed when the mechanism was activated earlier, they were currently positioned on the western side of the formation.

In other words, they were at the Jing Gate among the Eight Gates.

The Jing Gate was one of the three inauspicious gates.

To break this mechanism, they would have no choice but to force their way through.

If nothing unexpected happened, after passing through the Jing Gate, they would encounter the two auspicious gates, Kai and Xiu, and then reach the Sheng Gate.

However, the Jing Gate was also connected to the Si Gate; a single misstep could lead them straight into the Gate of Death.

After pondering for a moment, Yue Mingxuan said, “Since we can’t escape anyway, we might as well gamble. Let’s go west.”

Shang Qinghua looked at Yue Mingxuan in surprise.

He had originally planned to suggest heading west himself, but he had not expected Yue Mingxuan to say it first.

“You also understand the arts of Qimen Dunjia?”

Yue Mingxuan nodded.

His family elder had been an expert in this field.

Since childhood, he had grown up learning the Five Elements, Eight Trigrams, and Qimen Dunjia.

This sort of small mechanism could not stump him.

It was just that breaking through the Jing Gate was not something he was particularly skilled at.

Seeing that both people beside him understood Qimen Dunjia, Xi Yu felt somewhat more at ease.

Back when his master had taught these things, he himself had been too free-spirited by nature and had not learned much.

He could barely calculate a Bagua, but when it came to Qimen Dunjia, he was clearly lacking.

Since both Shang Qinghua and Yue Mingxuan believed they should head west, he did not hesitate at all and immediately took the lead, walking toward the western side.

As the three proceeded along the way, they did not encounter any particularly formidable mechanisms.

Ordinary flying arrows and fishing nets were cleared away by Xi Yu in just a few swift moves.

Watching Xi Yu’s martial prowess, Yue Mingxuan recalled the things Xi Yu had said before, and a wave of lingering fear surged up in his heart.

To dare act arrogantly in front of such an assassin was truly like courting death.

After passing through the Jing Gate area, the scenery suddenly changed.

Rows upon rows of pavilions and towers appeared, and in the middle stood a towering pagoda that was especially eye-catching.

With just one glance, Yue Mingxuan was certain that the pagoda was the key point of this mechanism, the so-called formation eye.

Now the problem laid out before them was how to pass through these pavilions and towers and reach the pagoda.

Xi Yu looked at the pavilions and towers before them and frowned. “Are the two of you really capable or not? We’ve walked back here again. If we run into guards, I can handle ten or so, but if there are more than that, I won’t be able to fight them.”

Yue Mingxuan and Shang Qinghua exchanged helpless looks.

Some things simply could not be explained to a single-celled creature like him.

Had he not noticed that this place was deathly silent, without a single person in sight?

“We should pass over this cluster of pavilions from above,” Yue Mingxuan said after thinking for a moment. “Right now it’s the Qian trigram, also the Kai Gate. Qian represents heaven, so there’s no other way except to pass through the air.”

Xi Yu glanced at Shang Qinghua.

Compared to Yue Mingxuan, he was more willing to trust Shang Qinghua.

Seeing Shang Qinghua agree with Yue Mingxuan’s assessment, Xi Yu shook his head helplessly. “If it were just me, I could make it across alone. Carrying a small guy like him wouldn’t be impossible either. But the injury on my back hasn’t healed yet. Carrying a grown man, I can’t manage that, let alone taking two of you across at the same time.”

After pondering for a moment, Shang Qinghua said, “You take him first. After you’re out of danger, come back to get me.”

Yue Mingxuan quickly grabbed Shang Qinghua’s sleeve. “Please, can you use your brain a little? Don’t you know that once you break through one gate of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, you immediately enter another? By then, without martial arts, if you’re left behind in the Jing Gate, you’ll definitely be throwing your life away.”

Shang Qinghua shook off his hand. “I’ll handle my own affairs myself.”

Seeing Shang Qinghua acting as if he didn’t care about his life, Xi Yu let out a sigh.

“You’re the one who asked me to bring you here to save him. There’s no way I’m leaving you behind just to rescue him. If Master finds out, even if he gets out, he’ll still be as good as dead and probably suffer a fate even worse than dying inside the mechanism.”

Shang Qinghua knew Xi Yu was speaking the truth, and for a while he had no idea what to say.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep