Chapter 1684: Pit

Everyone was speechless for a long moment, their eyes turning to Bai Shiqi. The latter confidently declared, "This 'one' has already moved into the Serenity Formation!"

The Serenity Formation was left by True Master Qianhuan.

"Alright, then we shouldn't be referencing the Spring Formation, but the Serenity Formation!" Both formations on the ground had reverted to their 36-count configurations. Bai Ziqi re-added a tree seed to the Serenity Formation, declaring, "It should be—in this very position!"

"..." What kind of convoluted trick was this? Everyone felt their heads throb.

It was too agonizing. To break the formation set by He Xiao, they actually had to go beyond the formation itself and seek the hidden answer within True Master Qianhuan's ancient formation! This problem was beyond their scope; only Envoy Bai could solve it.

A page boy, however, voiced a doubt: "Envoy, could the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation on White Hair Mountain also be bait laid by He Xiao?"

"That's impossible, how old is he?" Bai Ziqi suddenly trailed off.

Indeed, He Xiao appeared to be in his early twenties, with clear, energetic eyes, not at all like an elderly person. But what if his intellect, experience, and abilities truly didn't match his youthful exterior? The world had seen so many secret arts; for example, some ancient immortals had employed the art of "soul transmigration." And in the present age, there were also monsters whose appearances remained perpetually young—wasn't Qingyang a living example?

Causing havoc in the Celestial Palace, single-handedly building his own forces and expanding them across most of the Glimmering Gold Plains, transforming into Emperor Jiuyou, instigating civil strife within the Yao Kingdom—Anyone who could accomplish even one of these feats would be considered a great talent, with enough to boast about for a lifetime. What if all these feats were the work of a single individual? Even if He Xiao achieved these things with the support of the spiritual mountain behind him, "astonishingly brilliant" would still be an understatement. Such immense power and great fortune truly rivaled those of the Mou Kingdom's founding emperor. Could he be an old monster who had cultivated for a thousand years, sporting the face of a young man? Thinking this way seemed to be the only plausible explanation.

Bai Ziqi temporarily dispelled these distracting thoughts and focused on the present. Following the clues from here on would be much simpler.

According to the position Bai Ziqi had calculated, everyone set off from Apricot Grove Terrace, walked forty paces east, and found an abandoned stable behind a dense forest. It was unknown which previous owner of Spring Mountain Manor had left it there. He Xiao hadn't bothered to clear it out, leaving it as it was. As the manor master, if he didn't order the stable's demolition, no one else would touch it. Spring Mountain Manor was vast and had been established for many years; there were countless abandoned structures, and tearing them down one by one would simply be a waste of time.

The stable covered an area roughly the size of three or four small huts, and its dilapidated state almost blended into the surrounding landscape. Was this the "one" that had disappeared from the Spring Formation?

"This should be the place." Bai Ziqi led the group around the area. Just as he was about to enter the stable, he suddenly paused, gestured to Bai Shiqi, and whispered, "Crimson Trap Formation." He wanted to see how He Xiao intended to trick him.

Bai Shiqi understood, his expression hardening. He called over four or five White Guards, handed each a bronze talisman, and gave quiet instructions. The White Guards then dispersed to various points around the stable.

Only then did Bai Ziqi enter the stable. Inside, he saw only a mess of miscellaneous items: rusty pitchforks, oddly shaped wooden fragments, and a pile of broken earthenware pots in a corner. Of course, there was also a bluestone trough for watering horses. As someone approached, two rats scurried out from under the trough, squeaking indignantly as they fled.

Bai Ziqi looked around. "Hidden within the dense forest, yet there are no weeds on the ground?" At his prompt, everyone's gaze fell to the ground, and they immediately noticed something amiss: The stable was almost completely obscured by the surrounding trees, receiving little sunlight even during the day. Yet, the ground neither grew grass nor mushrooms?

Bai Ziqi's gaze quickly landed on the bluestone trough. "Move it aside." A normal person wouldn't even think of moving a watering trough in an abandoned stable. The others tried to move it, but the thing was incredibly heavy and stubbornly stayed put. Two of Bai Ziqi's guards, possessing astonishing strength, simultaneously pressed against it and gave a powerful shove—

With two dull rumbling sounds, accompanied by what seemed like the grinding of machinery, the trough slid away, revealing a large hole in the ground! Two others, caught off guard, plunged right in. With two thuds, the two landed. From the sound, the hole wasn't deep.

The two at the bottom of the hole took out luminous spores to light it up. Bai Ziqi looked down: the cavern was only about eight or nine feet deep, but it was remarkably wide! The voices of the two men came from below; they explored and reported simultaneously: "Envoy, this hollow space might be naturally formed, later widened and reinforced!"

Meanwhile, Bai Ziqi observed the mechanism behind the stone trough in the stable. "The stone rails are covered in moss. This secret chamber has existed for a long time; He Xiao didn't dig it. Hmm, it might belong to a former owner of this manor."

The two guards in the hole continued, "There are some supplies by the rock wall, long since moldy and rotten, emitting a horrible stench... so foul. Oh, there's an underground passage here! The latter half seems to have been newly dug, ah!—"

The two suddenly screamed. Bai Ziqi thought they were in danger and was about to send reinforcements, but then the two immediately shouted: "So big, such a big fish!"

"No, no, such a big fish head!"

Just as they raised the luminous spores in their hands, they caught sight of a massive dead fish eye! The eye, reflecting the light, stared fixedly at them! Terrified, the two drew their swords with a clang, only to then realize that a dead fish was sprawled on the ground in front of them. No, it was actually less than half a fish, only the smaller front section, which was also the most frightening part. But even that half a fish was enough to almost block the entire passage.

"Fish?" Bai Ziqi's mind stirred. Could it be? "What color, what appearance?"

"Dark red, with spots. The mouth is so huge, several people could fit inside!" The guard spoke, holding his nose, as the passage was filled with the stench of the fish carcass.

"It's Cao Wendao's demonic puppet." Its distinctive appearance matched that of the missing fish carcass by Peach Creek. Bai Ziqi murmured, "Did he specifically drag Cao Wendao's demonic puppet under the stable?" By now, everyone knew "he" referred to He Xiao. This man was deeply cunning; why would he hide the fish carcass?

At this moment, the strong fishy stench also overflowed from the tunnel entrance, spreading outwards from the stable. The guards in the secret passage shouted again to elaborate: "This fish carcass, ugh, the latter half of the fish carcass is gone, there's only a huge fish head and the smaller front half!"

Hearing this, Bai Ziqi simply jumped down into the hole, wanting to observe it firsthand. Earlier, when he broke the formation and calculated the location of True Master Qianhuan's cave, he had been overjoyed. But as the evening breeze cooled him down, he felt a certain unease. He thought he had perfectly deciphered He Xiao's formation, but in reality, it was merely a deliberate link left by the other party.

Here at Spring Mountain Manor tonight, He Xiao and he were engaged in a remote confrontation! Bai Ziqi didn't feel he had won; at best, he hadn't lost.