Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 23

When Su Zeyang heard the name Feng Tiansheng, he lifted his head and looked toward Wen Heyi.

Wen Heyi’s expression didn’t change much. He only glanced in Huo Fenghua’s direction, then walked the other way. At the spot directly opposite Huo Fenghua, he lowered his head and felt around until he found Feng Tianzong’s name, then said, “Come here.”

Su Zeyang stood up and walked to Wen Heyi’s side. Bending down, he saw the name: Feng Tianzong.

“What does it mean?” Huo Fenghua raised a hand and scratched his chin.

Su Zeyang crouched again and, following the dark red lines on the ground, roughly traced the formation with his finger. Then he stood and fell into thought.

Gu Guangji liked to study these unorthodox arts. When Su Zeyang was young, he often taught his disciple things like this, but Su Zeyang’s interest wasn’t there. He’d stayed single-mindedly devoted to swordsmanship. Even so, from what he’d seen and heard over the years, Su Zeyang still understood formations and talismans far better than Wen Heyi did.

Wen Heyi asked, “Well?”

Su Zeyang stepped along one of the lines to the center of the formation, crouched, and used his finger to mark out the ground. He shifted only two small steps, then stopped, rubbing the dirt with his fingertip. “This spot’s been dug up.”

Even though several candles were lit, the cave was still dim. The ground had been dug and then carefully filled back in. If Su Zeyang hadn’t searched closely, you wouldn’t be able to tell at a glance.

Wen Heyi walked over and crouched beside him. “Dig it up and take a look.”

The three of them dug into the dirt. When they’d gone nearly a foot down, Huo Fenghua’s fingers touched a wooden box first. He said quickly, “There’s a box.”

Su Zeyang brushed away the soil around it, lifted the box out, set it on the ground, and opened the lid.

It wasn’t large, only one layer inside. Three slips of paper lay on top, each with a talisman pasted over it.

Su Zeyang peeled off all the talismans at once and saw that each slip bore a different person’s birth data. His finger touched the one on the far right. “This is Tianzong’s birth data.”

“Oh?” Wen Heyi asked. “What about the other two?”

Su Zeyang looked at the middle one, then the far left. “I’m not completely sure, but judging by the year and month, the left one should be Tianzong’s elder brother’s birth data. I don’t recognize the one in the middle.”

Wen Heyi propped his cheek on one hand. “I thought this formation was only aimed at Feng Tianzong. Now it looks like it targets the Feng family. So what kind of formation is it?”

Su Zeyang’s eyes narrowed slightly, his voice icy. “A curse formation.”

“A curse?” Huo Fenghua was startled. “Cursing him with what? Cursing him to die?”

“I’m not sure,” Su Zeyang said. “But I have a guess. Based on how the lines run, I think someone may be trying to curse the Feng family into having their line die out.”

Huo Fenghua froze. His first instinct was to say that if Feng Tianzong married Su Zeyang, wasn’t that already “dying out,” but then he remembered Feng Tiansheng. He also recalled something and grabbed Su Zeyang’s sleeve. “Senior Brother, didn’t Feng Tiansheng’s wife miscarry recently?”

Su Zeyang’s expression turned even colder.

Wen Heyi said, “Maybe it’s just a coincidence. That kind of formation-cursing nonsense isn’t something I believe in.”

Huo Fenghua thought about it and felt Wen Heyi had a point. He’d grown up with modern scientific education and didn’t believe in this either, so he said, “Senior Brother, are you sure? I also think it might just be a coincidence.”

Su Zeyang said, “Either way, this is definitely a curse formation targeting the Feng family.”

Huo Fenghua had ridden hard for days and trekked through the cave passage for a long time. He was tired now, so he simply sat down, resting his shackled hands on his knees. “This is Xichou. Feng Tianzong brought troops and destroyed Xichou. It’s normal for Xichou people to curse him.”

“Cursing a whole family to die out is too vicious,” Wen Heyi said, lowering his head and tracing the carved patterns on the wooden box with his fingers.

Huo Fenghua gave a short, mocking laugh. “Don’t your emperors wipe out nine clans? If one day Feng Tianzong’s whole family fell into Shao Feijie’s hands, you think he’d dare spare even one?”

“That’s different,” Wen Heyi said. “This sort of curse is sinister and poisonous. It can’t be tolerated.”

Su Zeyang hadn’t spoken. He stared at the middle slip, trying to recall whose birth data it was. But the Feng brothers were orphans. As children, they’d drifted in from elsewhere to Yujing and been taken in by the Grand Tutor* He. One went into civil office, one into the military, and together they rose through the ranks. The person on that slip was still young, judging by the year and month. Grand Tutor He had no sons or daughters. Feng Tianzong had no other brothers besides Feng Tiansheng. So what connection could this person possibly have to them?

*[Taifu] (太傅) One of the Three Ducals, the Grand Tutor is charged with educating the monarch (princes and crown prince).

“Wait,” Wen Heyi suddenly said. “This curse formation might not have been set by Xichou people at all.”

Huo Fenghua asked at once, “What do you mean?”

Su Zeyang also looked over.

Wen Heyi smiled, tipped the wooden box over, and said to Su Zeyang, “Look at the patterns on the box.”

Su Zeyang ran his fingers over them. After a moment, he said, “This is a box made by the Yu family, Donglin’s famous master woodworkers.”

“And these patterns aren’t something ordinary households can use,” Wen Heyi said. “It should be tribute.”

If it was tribute made by the Yu family of Donglin, then the only possible recipient was the Donglin royal house.

Wen Heyi suddenly burst out laughing. In the cave, his laughter sounded especially sharp and grating. He laughed until tears came out, then pressed a hand to his chest and said, “Feng Tianzong fights south and north for Donglin and earns countless military merits. The Donglin emperor can’t kill him and shouldn’t kill him, so he uses this method to curse the Feng family into dying out. Hahaha. Isn’t it hilarious?”

As he laughed, he lifted a hand and slapped Huo Fenghua on the shoulder, almost knocking him sideways where he sat.

Huo Fenghua said irritably, “Martial Uncle, stop acting crazy.”

Su Zeyang’s expression was icy.

Huo Fenghua was afraid Su Zeyang might get too worked up, so he said, “I don’t think so. If the Donglin emperor wanted to kill the Feng brothers, it’d be easy. Why make it this complicated? And if he was setting a formation, why deliberately use royal tribute? Isn’t that asking to be found out?” Then he suddenly grew suspicious and looked at Wen Heyi. “Martial uncle, this isn’t some scheme of yours to sow discord, is it?”

Wen Heyi kept that gentle smile on his face. “It’s just a wooden box. Who would notice something like that? And this valley is so deep. When the formation was set, they never expected it would be discovered.”

“And yet you discovered it,” Huo Fenghua said. Wen Heyi still felt dubious towards him. He edged closer to Su Zeyang and said, “You pretend you found it by accident and bring us here, then you want my Senior Brother to tell Feng Tianzong. Feng Tianzong gets furious and switches sides, and you and your lover Shao Feijie sit back and reap the profit.”

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