Chapter 226: Enchanted by the Middle Ages

“Hey! Come quick.”

Ghost Mother suddenly shouted, calling Siyuan over who was inspecting another corner.

“What is it?”

“Come, look.”

Ghost Mother held a rusty lump of iron in front of Siyuan. Because the light was dim, Siyuan couldn’t make out what it was at first.

“Silly.” Ghost Mother dusted off the iron lump. “Look closely. This is a 1994 model Plum Blossom watch. It rusted because this place is dark and damp. But listen!”

After placing the lump near his ear, Siyuan actually heard a ticking sound. Unexpectedly, this watch was still running… which was very unusual.

“For a typical mechanical watch, running for three days without winding is already excellent. For quartz watches, the good ones last longer, about three years or so. This Plum Blossom watch is a 1994 model. It’s been ten years now. It was one of the few quartz watches made by Plum Blossom. This model currently sells for a little over fifty thousand.”

“Wait…” Siyuan turned to look at Ghost Mother. “Don’t tell me you’re an ancient person anymore, okay? Where did you learn all this stuff?”

“I’ve lived with you for so long. If I still acted like an ancient person all the time, either my intelligence would be in question, or I’d be deliberately acting cute, right? And as a sophisticated woman like me, common knowledge about luxury goods is essential. Otherwise, how could I chat with others?” Ghost Mother said somewhat dismissively. “Well? After all that, do you have any thoughts to share?”

“Thoughts… I just think you’re getting cuter.” Siyuan pinched Ghost Mother’s cheek. “Satisfied?”

“Satisfied, satisfied. But is that all?”

“What else?” Siyuan blinked. “How else do you want me to praise…”

“Praise?” Ghost Mother pinched Siyuan’s lower back hard. “Forget it… I won’t stoop to your level. Didn’t you really notice anything?”

“What?”

“This watch! It’s still ticking! It didn’t stop!”

Reminded by Ghost Mother, Siyuan’s mind suddenly cleared. He slapped his forehead. “Right! Doesn’t that mean someone has been here within the last couple of years?”

“Yes, someone. And?”

“And?” Siyuan scratched his head. “What else? Just say it directly. This isn’t a detective TV show.”

Ghost Mother gave a mysterious smile, spread her hands, and looked around. “Look around you. This place has no exit except for a few air vents even a fist can’t fit through. And besides that stone door you broke, there’s no way in. There’s a flashlight from the sixties, clothes from hundreds of years ago, and a watch from a couple of years back. You tell me, where did they come from?”

“From… thrown down through the air vents?”

“Really?”

Really? Of course not. Siyuan had already located the air vents. Their diameter was only about five centimeters at most. They kept the air fresh here, a hundred meters underground. Whoever said ancient foreigners were stupid? Such clever design still seems quite advanced even now.

“This probably uses the mill on the stream above to constantly pump air.” Siyuan stroked his chin. “Hmm… a very good design. If this could be used as a shelter, it would really… wait, shelter?”

At this point, the word suddenly appeared in Siyuan’s mind because he noticed the layout here was very similar to the Special Cases Division’s underground shelter. Except the Special Cases Division’s shelter didn’t have so many strange things.

So he began investigating the place again, this time much more carefully and thoroughly. To his surprise, once he looked closely, he actually discovered quite a few new things.

First, the length, width, and height of this place were equal. But it wasn’t a cube; it was a parallel hexagon. This layout was very rare. Second, the soil here was definitely not native to this place, but had been brought from elsewhere. As for this soil, Siyuan had actually felt something was off as soon as he entered. He didn’t know what this soil was called overseas, but in China… it was called Soul Gathering Soil.

This kind of soil was rare because its formation conditions were complex. Firstly, it required the cleanest fine sandy soil, without a single trace of grass roots. After obtaining it, it still couldn’t be used directly. It had to be left outside during thunderstorms to be cleansed dozens of times, then dried over charcoal fire. Only then could the resulting soil be used.

This soil had no other purpose but to preserve corpses, keeping them from rotting for a hundred years. Of course, under the right coincidences, it could also form a unique resonance on stormy, windy nights, replaying the scenes it had witnessed. The Japanese owner of that estate was probably scared stupid by these images and quickly sold the house.

“So that’s it. Preserving corpses.”

Ghost Mother nodded silently. Then she and Siyuan froze at the same time… Without another word, they both crouched down and started digging. They didn’t dig deep, only about ten centimeters, before a clump of hair appeared before them.

As they dug deeper, the corpse beneath the soil gradually revealed itself. From the gaps, they could see there was definitely more than one corpse…

So Siyuan simply stood up, spreading his hands flat. “Five Elements Reversal!”

With the casting of this simple little spell, the sand and soil on the ground whooshed upwards, all floating in the air, revealing the truth underneath.

When this truth was revealed, even someone like Siyuan, who was used to seeing corpses, couldn’t help but feel his skin crawl. Because beneath this layer of soil… corpses were piled layer upon layer, neatly arranged and interlocking, forming a whole structure made of corpses. And Siyuan and Ghost Mother were standing right on top of this pile of corpses.

“Six layers… a full six layers.” Ghost Mother looked at Siyuan’s profile. “Six layers of corpses…”

Siyuan nodded silently. From their clothing, these corpses clearly weren’t from the same era. They were neatly arranged on the ground. This definitely wasn’t done by the corpses themselves; it was one hundred percent man-made.

“What is this for?”

“It looks like a Formation Array.” Siyuan stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Look at the shape of this place, a hexagon… When I was researching, I read many books about Western magic and Formation Arrays. Almost all their Formation Arrays use this hexagonal pattern.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure. But with this arrangement, it should indeed be a Formation Array. But what is this Formation Array for?” Siyuan waved his hand, making the sand and soil cover it back up. “Most of these corpses died naturally, but all their blood was drained. What did the person who set this up plan to use it for? So many corpses… the Soul power gathered here is shockingly powerful.”

Siyuan fell into thought. Although one could tell what this was at a glance, the essence nurtured by each civilization definitely wasn’t something to be understood casually. Just like the Formation Arrays he himself was proficient with—two arrays with completely different purposes might only differ by a few strokes, or even just one or two subtle marks.

“But the activation method is the same, right?” Ghost Mother suddenly smiled. “How about… we activate it and see?”

The method to activate a Formation Array, regardless of the type, essentially used Spiritual Power. Spiritual Power had already been analyzed by the Special Cases Division’s R&D department as an energy system. As for those chants? Frankly, they were just aids to focus the mind and concentrate energy. So those who thought you couldn’t cast spells without shouting incantations or chanting were just amateurs. The reason Siyuan now felt the need to shout something every time was because he thought it looked much cooler than silently casting a spell…

“Are you crazy… We’re inside the Formation Array. If we activate it… who knows what might happen?”

“You scared?” Ghost Mother tilted her head at Siyuan. “Little bro… something this exciting, don’t you want to try it?”

“I’d have to be insane.” Siyuan touched the soil beneath. “No matter what the person who set up this Formation Array intended, just looking at the scale shows it’s nothing trivial. If it’s really activated, who knows what might happen? It’s better to just destroy it.”

“Destroy it?” Ghost Mother thought for a moment. “Fine, let’s destroy it then.”

Destroying a Formation Array wasn’t complicated for Siyuan, but this was his first time encountering one made from corpses. So he was momentarily at a loss, unsure how to proceed.

“Then let’s dismantle it forcefully. It’s just a Formation Array that’s been abandoned for who knows how many years.” Ghost Mother crossed her arms. “Consider it helping Ning Qingyuan clean up her house.”

Siyuan thought it over and found it reasonable. If someone came regularly to maintain or replace the corpses, and if Ning Qingyuan happened to stumble upon them one day, with her limited skills, it could be real trouble. Something dangerous might happen. Given that, Siyuan figured he might as well take the trouble upon himself…

So, he took off his jacket and placed it in Ghost Mother’s hands. Then he casually broke off a piece of stone from the wall and wrote a line of crooked characters on it: “Qi Siyuan, Special Operations Agent of the Greater China Region Special Cases Division, was here.” After writing, he threw the stone aside, walked to the entrance, looked back at the dark cave, took a deep breath, and said, “I’m getting ready to start.”