Chapter 107: Perilous Encounter

“Just watch, I have my own way to handle this.” Yi An was fully prepared. As Yan Chixia had said, their biggest problem was dealing with the aura they carried.

If they failed to do so, it might provoke all the creatures here to rise against them. The power of heaven and earth could intimidate for a while, but it was not a long-term solution. After all, Yi An could not truly harness the full force of heaven and earth. As the saying goes, even a cornered rabbit will bite. If they were discovered, their situation would become extremely precarious.

At that point, merely leaving safely would be a luxury beyond reach.

Yi An took out brush, ink, paper, and inkstone from his bag and concentrated deeply. This method was his first attempt. Although it made sense in theory, the outcome would only be clear once he finished.

He began to write—strong and vigorous strokes, flowing like clouds and water, tracing the characters from memory. Soon, the first character was completed.

Yan Chixia looked on with a puzzled expression, unable to understand why Yi An was writing such strange symbols.

The characters were neither letters nor drawings, bizarre to the extreme. They resembled talismans, but Yan Chixia quickly dismissed that thought; talismans were not drawn on rice paper, nor did rice paper have the power to summon spirits.

Still, he trusted that Yi An’s actions held some deeper meaning—these strange characters might be unfathomably profound.

Before long, Yi An finished the second character. On the surface, it still appeared ordinary, without any apparent mystical power, as if written casually.

In fact, as Yan Chixia suspected, these characters were neither letters nor paintings, and certainly not talismans. They were ancient runes inherited from a powerful being of antiquity. Such runes perfectly aligned with the ultimate truths of heaven and earth, capable of communicating with the cosmos, gathering its energy, and channeling it into oneself to mask one’s aura—a subtle and wondrous art.

Though Yi An was inexperienced and his strokes looked somewhat awkward, they were sufficient to deceive lesser spirits and demons.

However, this was only part of his plan. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be called a first attempt, and he wouldn’t say whether it would work.

This place was a realm of ghosts and monsters, where everyone carried some trace of yin energy. Even if they could hide their yang energy, having no aura at all would be suspicious, appearing just as out of place as before.

Therefore, Yi An wondered if he could infuse a trace of yin energy into the runes during their inscription. In this way, the concealed aura of heaven and earth would naturally carry a hint of yin energy. Though still different from genuine spirits, it would be enough to pass unnoticed.

When he first infused the yin energy, he clearly felt the surrounding air freeze, the temperature dropping several degrees, sending a chill through him.

He knew this was a strange phenomenon caused by his alteration of the runes, but given the current situation, it was not too bad; there was no sign of failure yet.

Yi An quickly steadied his mind and focused, beginning the next step of infusing yin energy. Now that the arrow was on the string, he had to release it; stopping now would mean all his efforts were wasted.

His gaze grew serious—the matter was more complicated than he had imagined. He distinctly felt the sudden temperature drop, the cold wind howling, his entire body shivering.

“Brother Yan, help me resist some of this yin wind. We must hold for ten breaths,” Yi An said in a low voice, then immediately focused all his attention on the rice paper, writing swiftly. This was a critical moment, allowing no mistakes.

Gradually, large beads of sweat slid down his jaw. His once pale arm revealed faint blue veins, as if bearing immense pressure, nearly suffocating him.

Yet Yi An refused to give up. Deep inside, a voice comforted him: just hold on a little longer, only a few more breaths until success.

He was pioneering a new application of ancient runes.

“Almost there! Almost there!”

“Only three breaths left, Brother Yan, you must hold on!” Yi An glanced sideways at Yan Chixia, who was also struggling. Anxiety crept in—if Yan faltered, all the pressure would fall on him alone, and he would surely break under the weight, failing at the last moment.

He could not allow that to happen now.

“Concentrate!”

No sooner had Yi An spoken than Yan Chixia, unable to bear the strain any longer, collapsed heavily to the ground, gasping for breath, cold sweat pouring from his face. His previously tense expression finally relaxed somewhat.

Yan Chixia was only at the Return to Origin stage, slightly weaker than Yi An. Moreover, he was relying solely on his physical body without any defensive means.

For him to endure this far was no small feat—a severe test of both body and will.

Yi An slowly opened his eyes and looked at the runes he had inscribed. Each stroke shimmered with a clear radiance, tightly locked with yin energy, not dispersing. Though plain in appearance, he couldn’t help but smile knowingly.

“It’s done!” Yi An chuckled. Fortunately, everything had gone without major incident. Though the process was arduous, it was ultimately successful.

Next, Yi An followed the original procedure to perform the ritual. Using the runes as a medium, he drew in the energy of heaven and earth, blending it with the yin energy he had infused. After a few breaths, a faint trace of yin energy settled on their bodies.

Then the runes on the rice paper vanished in an instant, leaving the sheet as pristine and white as snow, as if nothing had ever been drawn—like a mirage.

The two exchanged a glance, then observed their surroundings. Besides a desolate mountain, there was only a ghost city about the size of two or three villages.

Apart from the Orchid Grove Temple, the mountain held no other notable features.

They exchanged a look and vanished toward the ghost city.

…

The wind stirred, making the distant trees ripple like waves. Drawing nearer to the ghost city, beneath a certain mansion, in a hidden underground chamber—

At the chamber’s bottom lay enormous, tangled roots. Above them stood a towering ancient tree, its lush branches intertwining to shroud the entire chamber like a dense net, blending with the surrounding darkness. Except for a faint glimmer near the entrance, the chamber was engulfed in gloom.

Inside, an old ghost stood in the center, looking timid and anxious. Around him, several scantily clad and enchanting female ghosts stood solemnly and silently.

“Sir, it’s bad—there are outsiders who have broken in,” the old ghost said anxiously.

His expression was full of helplessness. If the earlier humiliation were to spread, he would become the entire ghost city’s object of scorn.