Chapter 357 - 369: Mister’s Relics
An Ning’s destination was clear. After hearing Feng Xiaoyu’s father’s legend about the Immortal, she was even more certain that her master had once lived here.
She was very curious.
It wasn’t just curiosity; she felt a natural sense of affinity for this place.
"My father always brought me here at night. He had a little notebook with the dates we were allowed to visit written inside."
Feng Xiaoyu became more talkative, explaining that if a date wasn’t written in her father’s notebook, they wouldn’t be able to come here.
"It’s amazing. If we came on a day that wasn’t appointed, the island would be completely shrouded in a thick fog, and boats wouldn’t be able to get through."
"The people in our village always said this island was unlucky, that it had a malevolent aura. But my dad told me that wasn’t true. He said the one here was our family’s benefactor."
Feng Xiaoyu continued to lead the way, while An Ning, walking behind her, constantly pinched her fingers, performing calculations. She had found the connection to her master through Feng Xiaoyu.
Of course, Feng Xiaoyu’s words also confirmed this.
"We’re here."
Feng Xiaoyu stopped at the edge of a flat expanse of ground. An Ning took a step forward and knew at a glance that she had come to the right place.
It was surrounded by small hills, with a clearing of about a hundred square meters in the center, covered in lush green grass.
Upon closer inspection, the entire clearing was perfectly circular.
"Taiji, yin and yang."
"What?"
Feng Xiaoyu glanced at the murmuring An Ning, then looked back at the clearing, confused. She didn’t understand what An Ning was seeing.
"My dad and I would always stand right here. He said we were the caretakers of this place, that someone would eventually come to see it."
Feng Xiaoyu’s gaze fell upon An Ning. An Ning nodded. "That’s right. I came for this place."
"Then... do you know the Immortal’s name?"
Feng Xiaoyu asked cautiously, wanting to confirm An Ning’s answer.
"Shou’an."
A look of joyous relief washed over Feng Xiaoyu’s face as she heard the answer she’d been hoping for. Her entire body relaxed as she murmured, "Finally... someone has come."
"Feng Xiaoyu, thank you and your family."
"Don’t thank us. My dad said it was the master who saved our family and gave us the means to build a life for ourselves."
Feng Xiaoyu nodded to An Ning, showing no intention of prying. She backed away, leaving the area and An Ning by herself.
An Ning followed Feng Xiaoyu with her spiritual power, and only after confirming that she had truly left did An Ning step down into the clearing.
To an outsider, it looked like a simple clearing, but it was actually a Feng Shui Formation.
In An Ning’s eyes, the entire clearing transformed into a black-and-white chessboard of flowing energy.
She was the player, and her opponent was the master.
’So this is the final game of chess the master spoke of.’
With a sense of fond nostalgia, An Ning began to move. With each step she took, the surrounding energy field shifted.
The chessboard seemed to come alive, its patterns shifting with mechanical precision.
Countless streams of energy swirled overhead, coalescing into a series of images.
An Ning looked up.
"Master..."
In the images, it was him—the master, when he was young.
He wore a long gown, his long queue cut short. He took up arms, fighting amidst a sea of blood. He sat desolate in the pouring rain, his eyes lifeless. He traveled a thousand miles, crossed the ocean, and went alone to the island nation to exact his revenge. He returned, covered in wounds, and stayed in a small fishing village, setting up a formation in a land of superb Feng Shui to heal.
The images flashed past, one after another. An Ning’s gaze shifted to the distance.
Under the sun’s rays, the surrounding peaks cast a shadow that formed a thin path. As the light and shadows shifted, this path, which had been but a line, transformed into the shape of a sharp sword.
The sword’s point seemed to pierce through the mountain, stabbing toward the other side.
That direction...
’Master, you...’
That was no longer Huaxia.
’My vision was too narrow after all. Master, what righteousness.’
An Ning understood. The master had burned his own life force to set up this Feng Shui Formation, and its target was a place hated by this generation, and by all generations of Huaxia before them.
The chess game was set. The images vanished.
Two round holes appeared on the once-flat ground, perfectly matching the eyes of a taiji symbol.
An Ning descended into the hole on the yin side, following a set of stairs down to a small door.
Old memories surged within her. A unique knocking pattern allowed An Ning to open the door with ease.
After she stepped inside, the hole on the yin side vanished, along with the door and the stairs.
An Ning, now inside, continued down another set of stairs. With every step she took, a Jade Pendant on the wall would light up. As she passed it, the Jade Pendant would shatter.
An Ning took a few steps, then suddenly stopped, gazing thoughtfully at the Jade Pendants on the wall.
With a flip of her wrist, the Jade Pendants the master had left for her appeared from her storage space. Their shape and size were identical to the ones on the wall.
’Master... your cleverness is honestly terrifying.’
’Good thing I’m not stupid either.’
An Ning casually placed one of the Jade Pendants from her hand onto the spot on the wall where one had just shattered.
With each new Jade Pendant she installed, the tunnel remained brightly lit, sustaining the great Feng Shui Formation.
An Ning continued replacing them, but eventually, she ran out of the Jade Pendants the master had left her. So, she simply took out the Jade Pendants that had been sent via interstellar transport. With the precise control of her spiritual power and by manipulating the flow of energy, she fashioned them into Magic Artifacts identical to the master’s.
Thanks to An Ning’s "cheating," the great formation was unexpectedly revitalized.
After descending for several dozen meters, An Ning finally reached a platform. Beside it flowed an underground river.
There was a cave, fresh water, and a stone bed.
The wall next to the stone bed was covered in the master’s handwriting. Compared to his current notes, this writing had a sharper edge, filled with more hatred.
An Ning stepped forward to read.
A few minutes later, An Ning let out a little "Oops," stuck out her tongue in embarrassment, and said, "I got it wrong."
It turned out the master had indeed set up the Feng Shui Formation here. Years ago, he had leaked a secret, which led to the massacre of a village. Drowned in regret, he chose to take revenge.
But even after getting his revenge, he couldn’t vent the gloom in his heart. Young and impetuous, he had poured his very life force into creating this Feng Shui Formation.
He had expected to die here, but just as the Feng Shui Formation was completed, the master unexpectedly broke through to a higher realm and survived.
After his breakthrough, the master’s understanding of all things had deepened. But the Feng Shui Formation was already complete and had a time limit, so he didn’t alter it, intending to let it fade away on its own over time.
Of course, the master had also left quite a few things here for his descendants.
However, the master never intended for his descendants to repair the Feng Shui Formation; he knew how difficult a task it would be.
He just never expected that the person to come after him would be An Ning—a very wealthy An Ning.
She hadn’t just restored the Feng Shui Formation; she’d strengthened it.
An Ning shrugged and lifted the stone bed with one hand, revealing several chests underneath.
"All I can say is, some places are just unlucky. They ran into me, and my reading comprehension is terrible."
An Ning opened one of the chests. It was filled with jade and porcelain artifacts, as well as some antique calligraphy and paintings.
According to the writing on the wall, these were things the master had brought back from across the sea. They were all his family’s possessions, so there was nothing to be ashamed of in taking them back.
After stowing everything away, An Ning destroyed the writing on the wall and went up a different set of stairs on the other side.