Editor: meowmiao
External forces. Once he heard this word, Gu Yan instinctively frowned but almost immediately, two pale fingers pressed against his temples, preventing him from furrowing his brows.
After being interrupted by his lover, Gu Yan couldn't stay upset. By the time he regained his calm, his cheeks were already being kissed by the man behind him and then, there was an additional weight on his shoulder.
This way of calming down another person was against the rules, but its effectiveness couldn't be doubted.
At the start, Gu Yan never thought about the possibility of external forces. After Xu Qiu reported his lack of knowledge regarding this matter, Gu Yan assumed it must have been a traitor who went behind his Qiuqiu's back when he was away. It appears that the situation was different from what he had thought.
"Kun Yi Mountain has a dragon vein?" Having grasped the main point, Gu Yan wanted to confirm it.
If it was a regular matter, Gu Yan wouldn't have wanted to probe further as a member of the organisation who existed in name. But now, it involved the dragon vein. As someone who also lived on this land, he couldn't just ignore it.
Gu Yan was the author who created the 9×9 dragon veins setting. This included its effect on the country. But if you delved deeper, he hadn't specified the exact locations of these 81 dragon veins, so he didn't know either.
"It's the most annoying one." He had probably been persuaded by his disciple. Grandmaster Zhao's voice returned to normal but his anger towards the external power couldn't be concealed.
The capital itself was the most prosperous area of China, which was directly related to China's history. The Purple Emperor Star had a lot of influence over this land, and the dragon vein that had the biggest effect on the nation appeared here.
However, Kun Yi Mountain was situated far from the city and the specific location of a dragon vein was always top secret. Only particular departments and people would know of it. This time, external powers had set their sights on it. Internal investigations had ruled out the possibility of a mole so the only other explanation was that the other side had planned this for a long time. After lying low for so long, they had finally decided to strike.
Master Zhao's willingness to answer this question showed his immense trust towards the youth. This matter was very tricky. He actually thought of asking the dark-haired youth for help because everything else aside, the ghost standing by the youth's side could easily solve all their problems.
But this matter concerned the interests of two nations. It was a conflict within the human realm and since the youth desired to not interfere with their affairs, he dared not disturb the latter.
"If Senior doesn't mind, please tell me the situation." With these words, Gu Yan expressed that he wanted to take things into his own hands. Even if he was generous enough to not cause trouble for the external powers, he still had to solve the problem of evil spirits gathering on Kun Yi Mountain for his family's Qiuqiu. Moreover, Gu Yan wasn't magnanimous to be indifferent to those who wanted to touch his country's dragon vein.
The other side had already come knocking on their door, he had to let them leave in tears.
This matter wasn't too complicated. The crux was that there was someone on Kun Yi Mountain utilising the terrain to lay an enormously complex array. This had gone undetected until the effects alerted the different departments.
According to Grandmaster Zhao's explanation of this formation, the seniors in the department could not figure out its source. This array was extremely vicious. It would attract misfortune and evil spirits. Meanwhile, the gathering of these ghosts and spirits would increase the accumulated grievances.
If it was allowed to grow, the mountain range where the dragon veins with excellent Feng Shui was located would eventually lose its power due to excessive pollution. When spiritual energy is exhausted, the dragon vein will naturally cease to exist. This was probably the ultimate goal of the enemy.
Array. Everything else aside, Gu Yan was the most confident when it came to arrays.
Speaking of books, there was nowhere that could be compared to the ghost king's study. It contained ancient records of all categories since time immemorial, such as the array records Gu Yan had learnt from.
As far as Xie Lan was concerned, his collection of ancient records related to spiritual arts was just to know thyself and thy enemy. Later, when spiritual arts gradually declined, these ancient books basically lost their purpose, until they were given to the youth.
These ancient books and classics related to array formations were internalised by Gu Yan. He could understand the spells of certain complex arrays even if he was unable to use them. Since he said that he was confident in his knowledge of arrays, this confidence didn't come from nowhere.
At present, the divination masters in the particular departments of the country were still caught up with dealing with this array. They were using means to mitigate its effect rather than solving its cause. Each and every one of them was focused on clearing the ghosts and spirits attracted by the array because they hadn't found a way to break it.
After learning that everyone would attempt to break the array for the first time the day after tomorrow, Gu Yan expressed his interest in joining in. He finally ended the call after obtaining Grandmaster Zhao's consent.
"The passage between the two realms is now closed, we can't send any reinforcements over." The ghost king rested his chin on the youth's shoulders and spoke slowly. His words gradually became normal, "Qiuqiu will accompany Ah Yan."
It can't actually be called 'accompany', since it was he who wanted to go with him. It was to prevent the youth from leaving him behind.
"I wasn't planning to leave you behind..." Gu Yan sighed unconsciously and turned his head to kiss the corner of his lover's slightly narrowed eyes. "I won't leave you behind."
His lover always seemed to remember what happened in the first world. Since then, if he wasn't stuck firmly beside him, he would show evident signs of insecurity and a lack of reality.
This was one of the rare times Xie Lan did not respond. After listening to the youth's words, he merely tightened the hand wrapped around the youth's waist and remained silent.
A person was more likely to remember the pain they felt compared to joy, which was why people always remembered painful things more deeply. Repeated recollection made it easier to deepen this painful memory and eventually, it becomes deeply imprinted in one's mind.
Just a little more, as long as he could achieve enough power to always have this person, Xie Lan would feel a sense of security. But now was not yet the time.
"Qiuqiu, be good." A kiss at the corner of his eyes made the ghost king relax a little, so Gu Yan continued kissing him.
As a result, the cold indifference on the ghost king's pale and handsome face gradually relaxed. In the end, his lashes trembled. Xie Lan gave a small 'en', as he drew the young man's left hand closer. He returned a kiss on the youth's ring finger.
"Several seniors have already gone to Kun Yi Mountain to explore. We need to work hard too." Cold lips fell upon his ring finger. Gu Yan had just begun to feel a ticklish sensation before his fingers were firmly grasped.
A sense of security can't be formed in a day, but over time. Coincidentally, Gu Yan had inexhaustible patience for his lover.
Kun Yi Mountain was remote. To what extent, you ask? Even if you found ten drivers extremely familiar with the capital, there wouldn't be a single one who knew where it was.
After arriving at their destination, Gu Yan discovered that the entire mountain had been cordoned off. If his license hadn't been delivered in time, he would not be able to enter the periphery of Kun Yi Mountain.
"They say that the effect of this array can extend to a hundred miles." Gu Yan was observing his lover for any changes while they were on the road, but fortunately, the array did not seem to have any effect on him.
Gu Yan could feel the array once he was near the periphery of this mountain. Even if he had mentally prepared himself, he couldn't help being a little intimidated. The person who laid the array nearly turned the entire mountain into its foundation .
If this wasn't an enemy, Gu Yan really wanted to find this person for an in depth discussion of arrays. Unfortunately, it was an enemy.
After obtaining information on the situation, the staff at the fence brought Gu Yan to the seniors who had arrived earlier
"There's no use in finding the eye of the array. This person hadn't even attempted to conceal it, he's confident we won't be able to break this array." Despite having found the eye of the array, they were still unable to do anything about it for two days. Grandmaster Luo couldn't help gnashing his teeth as he said this.
At this time, Grandmaster Luo looked up and saw the dark-haired youth being led by their department staff... along with a ghost. His expression instantly relaxed as he waved. "Grandmaster Zhao informed me you would come."
"Senior Luo, can you bring me to take a look at the eye of the array you mentioned?" Having the eye of the array was the biggest clue to breaking it. If it was an array he had read about in the ancient records, Gu Yan was confident in breaking it.
"Sure." Grandmaster Luo agreed without thinking.
The eye of the array wasn't too far from where they had been. It was just about a hundred stairs down.
"Nine Temple Zhoutian Array..." Just as he came before the eye of the array, Gu Yan was stunned by the familiarity of the array. But he quickly reacted, "No. Not right. This is the opposite of the Nine Temple Zhoutian array."
It was originally a complex array used to ward off and exorcise spirits. But now, it was the opposite. One could imagine its effects.