Chapter 98 – The Truth Revealed

The moon had gradually climbed to the center of the sky. In most places, this would be the time for deep night and silence, but near the train station, there was no true “night” to speak of. A constant stream of people continued to pour out of the station, with those picking up passengers and soliciting business coming and going without end. Even the nearby hotel street was far from quiet, with fragmented conversations, footsteps, and even the occasional moan mingling together like the incessant buzz of mosquitoes.

However, it wasn’t these sounds that woke Zeng Jingxuan. At three in the morning, his eyes suddenly snapped open, and he grabbed the compass he kept by his pillow. At some point, the needle inside the compass had begun to tremble, its fine tip swinging wildly and floating erratically in the center of the Heavenly Pool. In the art of compass divination, this was a classic sign of “Tang Needle Encountering Evil,” an omen of encountering a malevolent force. His compass was a treasured heirloom from the Zeng Family of Sanliao Village, long imbued with spiritual energy, and it had never been wrong in detecting malevolent entities. With such a reading, it was highly likely that something unusual had appeared within a radius of a hundred zhang, and it was most likely man-made.

But this was near the train station. The chaotic energy of the area should have blocked most Yin-based formations. How could someone be casting such a sinister spell here? Zeng Jingxuan hesitated for a moment. The spell clearly wasn’t directed at him—it was just a coincidence that he had encountered it. In normal circumstances, he would have gone to investigate, but now, with enemies on his tail, could he afford to waste time on such an anomaly? He wasn’t a true Yin-Yang master, just a feng shui practitioner, and dealing with such malevolent formations was already a challenge for him. What if he got caught up in it?

After only a brief moment of hesitation, Zeng Jingxuan sighed softly, got up, and picked up his travel bag. He walked to the window and pushed it open. This was a back alley, and there was no one passing by below. With a light push against the windowsill, he jumped directly from the second floor. Despite being in his forties and having one injured arm, his movements were flawless, as agile as a young man’s.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, he took out the compass again and, under the moonlight, confirmed the direction. He then ran in the direction the needle pointed. Behind him, the empty room showed almost no signs of disturbance, as if no one had been there at all.

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The next day, Wei Yang woke up early, his eyes opening before dawn. Beside him, Zhang Xiuqi was still in a deep sleep, his breathing steady, his hands resting flat on his abdomen as if he were focusing his qi into his dantian even in his dreams. This should have been an awkward sleeping posture, but Wei Yang felt no discomfort at all. Instead, he felt a deep sense of security, knowing that the man had safely made it through another night, holding onto his fragmented soul.

As he looked at the man’s lowered eyelids, the memories of the previous day flooded back. The “physical exchange” in the bathroom had been nothing like what he had imagined. Who could have guessed that losing the Heavenly Soul would have such an effect on a person? But at the same time, the Little Celestial Master’s “blank slate” state had completely drawn him in. The feeling of slowly leaving his mark on his lover, stroke by stroke, was utterly intoxicating. Desire was like a bottomless chasm; every time he thought he wouldn’t go any further, he found himself falling deeper. Wei Yang had never experienced such a feeling before, but he didn’t dislike this kind of surrender.

Counting the seconds in his heart, he quietly waited for the other man to wake up. Outside, the twilight finally faded, and the rising sun broke through the night, revealing its light. The man on the bed seemed to be awakened by something in the sunlight, his eyelids fluttering slightly before opening.

Wei Yang didn’t miss a beat. He immediately reached out and wrapped an arm around the other man’s shoulder, his thumb brushing over his neck in a teasing manner. Feeling the lively pulse beneath his fingertips, he smiled and leaned in closer. “Brother Qi, did you sleep well last night?”

Zhang Xiuqi didn’t respond immediately. The hand on his neck was warm, but what he found even more comforting was the faint pulse he felt from the spot between Wei Yang’s left thumb and index finger. That pulse seemed to cleanse his mind, creating a ripple in his otherwise placid thoughts. He didn’t know what it meant, but he liked it when Wei Yang touched him, liked opening his eyes and seeing him by his side.

After carefully studying Wei Yang’s face for a moment, Zhang Xiuqi didn’t answer. Instead, he leaned in and kissed Wei Yang’s lips directly. This reaction caught Wei Yang off guard, but he didn’t hesitate to kiss back. The gentle kiss quickly heated up, turning into a passionate one that could easily ignite desire. However, after just five or six minutes, Wei Yang struggled out of the other man’s embrace, shaking his head with a bitter smile. “Brother Qi, you might not react, but I’m a normal man…”

In just those few minutes, his already alert little brother had fully awakened, standing stiffly against his lower abdomen. But he had already made plans with Heipi the night before—they had to head to Jieshui Studio early in the morning. If they kept this up, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to bring himself to leave the bed.

Zhang Xiuqi clearly didn’t understand the implication of Wei Yang’s words, but he seemed dissatisfied with his retreat. He reached out and grabbed Wei Yang’s left hand, rubbing it against the spot between his thumb and index finger. His demeanor was affectionate, but his expression remained unchanged, almost like a stoic German Shepherd silently asking its owner for attention. Wei Yang’s breath hitched, and he leaned down to kiss Zhang Xiuqi’s lips again. “Let’s go find Uncle Qi first. When we come back…”

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed the rest of his sentence. He hadn’t expected the Little Celestial Master to enjoy physical contact so much. Although the meaning might be different, with such beauty before him, he couldn’t bring himself to act like a saint. Who knew how long it would be before they had to “meet the parents”? He didn’t want to miss any opportunity to be alone together. But not now.

With a smile, he withdrew his arm and patted the top of Zhang Xiuqi’s head before getting up and walking to the outer room. Seeming to understand that there were still things to do, Zhang Xiuqi didn’t try to stop him. He just lay in bed for a moment, waiting for the strange heat in his body to completely dissipate before slowly sitting up. At his feet, Lao Ye had also woken up and was now crawling majestically toward the living room, the black patterns on its shell completely hidden. Zhang Xiuqi casually stroked its shell, but before it could turn its head to bite him, he stood up and walked to the bathroom.

Breakfast was dealt with quickly and efficiently. After feeding Zhang Xiuqi, Wei Yang didn’t delay any longer. He drove the car with Zhang Xiuqi to Jieshui Studio. The BMW that Director Sun had given them finally came in handy. Wei Yang parked the car at the back door of the courtyard and knocked on the large iron ring on the gate.

At the sound of the knock, light footsteps came from inside the courtyard, followed by Heipi’s voice. “Ah Yang? Wait, I’m coming!”

As soon as the door opened, Heipi didn’t see the person first but instead noticed the car parked at the entrance. “Wow, you’ve upgraded your ride? Where’d you get it?”

“It’s from that big job I told you about. Besides the car, I got a lot of other stuff too. I’ll have to trouble Brother Ming to take a look at them later.” Wei Yang smiled without hiding anything, leading Zhang Xiuqi into the courtyard.

His attitude and expression were natural, but Heipi, walking beside him, raised an eyebrow in surprise. It had only been a few days since they last met, but he felt that this little charlatan had undergone some subtle changes. Had something happened during his trip home? However, someone like Heipi would never bring up such things directly. He just smiled and played along. “That’s great. You’ll have to bring them over for me to see.”

As they chatted, the three of them walked into the workshop together. Inside, Uncle Qi was still the same as ever, seemingly absorbed in something on the workbench, so focused that he didn’t even hear the sound of their footsteps. Heipi coughed awkwardly. “Uncle Qi, Ah Yang and the others are here.”

This finally snapped the old man out of his trance. Without paying attention to Heipi, he opened a drawer in the workbench and took out a box, turning to Wei Yang. “Ah Yang, come here. Take a look at this.”

Wei Yang hadn’t expected there to actually be something, so he quickly walked over. Uncle Qi carefully placed the box on the workbench, put on a pair of clean white gloves, and then opened the lid. Wei Yang had thought it would be some kind of treasure, but it turned out to be just a yellowed thread-bound book. Uncle Qi didn’t care about the surprised looks around him. He carefully took out the book and laid it flat on the table.

“Didn’t I tell you before that I have an old friend who’s quite knowledgeable about Water Script? This is something he recently acquired. He didn’t want to lend it out at first, but I managed to borrow it. It has a lot of Water Script patterns and some historical records, which are of great archaeological value.”

The old man’s voice was tinged with excitement, and Wei Yang’s heart couldn’t help but race. If Uncle Qi had called him here, it must be because there was something related to the Bone Formation in the book.

Sure enough, Uncle Qi didn’t rush to open the book. Instead, he smiled and asked, “Ah Yang, do you remember what I told you about Water Script before?”

“I remember. It’s said that Water Script is a type of writing left behind by ancient shamans, the last legacy of the Wu Family.” Wei Yang’s memory was excellent, and he repeated what Uncle Qi had told him almost verbatim. After a moment of thought, he added, “Does my Bone Formation have some direct connection to the Wu Family?”

The Bone Formation was inscribed with the unique script of the Wu Family, and the man surnamed Xu had directly called it “Witch Bone.” Combined with Uncle Qi’s question, the answer was practically obvious.

Sure enough, Uncle Qi’s face showed a look of approval, and he nodded. “Exactly. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about today. This book happens to document some things about Water Script and Daoist techniques, and the most noteworthy part is its discussion of ‘Witch Bone.'”

As he spoke, he flipped through the book and stopped at a specific page. “As the book says, ‘Witch Bone’ is a type of ritual tool commonly used by the Wu Family. It’s made from the bones of ancient shamans, combined with certain shamanic rituals. It might sound barbaric, but it aligns with the core beliefs of the Wu Family—revering heaven and following ancestral traditions. It’s said that every generation of great shamans possessed immense spiritual power, and Witch Bone is somewhat similar to Buddhist relics in that regard. Based on the text and images here, the Bone Formation you dug up from Miaotou Mountain is likely a piece of Witch Bone.”

He pointed to a section of the book that included both text and illustrations. Indeed, there was something resembling the Bone Formation. Wei Yang couldn’t help but frown. “But if this thing really is connected to the Wu Family, why can’t others sense the power within it?”

Someone like Master Chizhi, a highly accomplished monk, had touched the Bone Formation without any reaction. Yet, when the Bone Formation was used against the fox demon or the Soul Doll, its effects were anything but ordinary. How could it be that in the hands of others, it didn’t display its true power?

Uncle Qi chuckled. “You’ve hit the nail on the head. Here, keep reading…”

As he spoke, he handed Wei Yang another pair of white gloves and placed the book directly in front of him.