The car drove back into town, then returned about an hour later.
Grandmaster Weng brought all his equipment. It filled up an entire crate.
The car parked near the uninhabited mountain. Grandmaster Weng got out of the car, opened the crate, and retrieved a lantern made out of paper. It looked like a sky lantern, but there were talismanic runes written on the paper.
Geomancers were not cultivators and therefore could not interact with ghosts. However, they could influence their movements. The lantern was known as the spirit seeking lantern, and it would attract nearby ghosts once it was lit.
He retrieved a special candle from his crate and placed it in the lantern, then lit it up with a match.
He carried the lantern some distance forward and placed it down again.
The light flickered in the darkness, like a firefly.
Standing next to the car, Xue Cheng and his son shuddered when they saw the scene. Xue Kai’s face turned ghastly pale.
About ten minutes later, Grandmaster Weng returned to the car.
“How is it, Grandmaster?” Xue Cheng asked.
“It’s done. Let’s go and light up another one.”
They got back into the car and drove a few hundred meters away, then placed another lantern. They continued doing so, placing a lantern every few hundred meters, until the line of lanterns reached the perimeter of the factory.
Grandmaster Weng placed the last lantern next to the walls of the factory and declared, “Alright, the spirit attracting formation is done. Next, we’ll lay the seven kill hex.”
He returned to the car and retrieved a compass from the crate. He went around the factory a few times to determine the best place to lay the hex.
Hex formations required extreme precision. He could not get it wrong even by one millimeter.
He finally found the perfect position after about half an hour. Then, he dug seven holes and placed a peach wood stake in each of them.
After that, he returned to the car.
“Alright, the seven kill hex will take effect tomorrow. The factory will be finished in a few days. It’s normal for three or five people to die.
“The spirit attracting formation will take effect soon. We can wait for all the wandering ghosts to come, then we can remove the lanterns.”
The car drove away and waited some distance from the lanterns.
The three people waited patiently in the car.
“Grandmaster, will the ghosts… actually come?” Xue Kai was getting a little impatient after seeing that nothing was happening.
“Don’t worry, they’ll definitely come. It’s not my first time laying the formation. It won’t fail,” Grandmaster Weng said calmly as he stroked his beard.
“The wandering ghosts will fill the factory with negative qi, and the seven kill hex will bring the place to ruin.”
“You’re amazing, Grandmaster Weng!” Xue Cheng said.
“Haha!” Grandmaster Weng was appeased by the flattery.
A while later, he sat up in attention. “They’re here!”
The Xue family father and son sat up in attention too. They opened their eyes wide and looked into the distance.
They only saw a patch of darkness, but when they narrowed their eyes and looked closely, they could see several vague figures appearing about ten meters away from the spirit seeking lanterns.
It was hard to see the figures clearly.
Xue Cheng and Xue Kai’s face turned pale when they saw that.
“See, it’s working! When the wandering ghosts enter the factory, we’ll take away the lanterns.” Grandmaster Weng laughed.
However, he soon stopped laughing.
The shadowy figures remained on the spot and refused to go any further.
Grandmaster Weng’s face stiffened. He was extremely embarrassed. He had boasted that his formation worked, but clearly, it did not. That was a slap to his face!
“Dammit, why aren’t they going into the factory?” He grumbled impatiently.
Xue Cheng and Xue Kai noticed that something was amiss. They turned to look at Grandmaster Weng.
“What’s going on, Grandmaster?”
Grandmaster Weng was losing his composure. “Ahem, don’t worry. They’ll go in soon.”
“Oh!” Xue Cheng and Xue Kai nodded, then turned around and continued observing the ghosts.
They continued waiting, but the ghosts never went in. The ghosts lingered around for a while more and eventually disappeared.
Grandmaster Weng went cross-eyed when he saw that.
‘F*cking hell, they ran away?’ He nearly blurted.
“What happened, Grandmaster?” Xue Cheng and Xue Kai turned around again and asked him, confused.
Grandmaster Weng laughed awkwardly. “Well… um… haha! Maybe the ghosts aren’t feeling it? That’s why they’re not very obedient today.”
Xue Cheng and Xue Kai were stunned. “Do ghosts have moods, Grandmaster?”
“Eh, of course! Ghosts are just like people. There must be days when you don’t feel like doing anything, right?” Grandmaster Weng was grasping at straws.
He was both embarrassed and confused. He had laid the spirit attracting formation multiple times, but this was the first time that his formation failed.
‘Don’t tell me there’s something wrong with this little run-down factory?’
He looked toward the factory as he thought about that.
‘It looks normal!’ He became more confused than ever.
Xue Cheng and Xue Kai looked at each other. They roughly understood what was going on, but they did not want to call him out.
“So what do we do now, Grandmaster?” Xue Cheng asked.
“Let’s collect the lanterns!” Grandmaster Weng said. “It’s fine if the spirit attracting formation didn’t work. When the seven kill hex takes effect tomorrow, the factory will go bust anyway.”
Xue Cheng agreed. He collected that lantern, then drove his car to collect the other lanterns.
Meanwhile, a figure dressed in black stood on top of the office building in the factory. He was none other than Tang Hao.
Hovering next to him was a figure dressed in red.
Tang Hao narrowed his eyes as he watched the car drive away. His eyes flashed with coldness.
‘They are truly underhanded!’ He thought.
Zhou Lingxue had noticed them when they were circling the factory. She immediately notified him.
“Follow them!” Tang Hao turned around and ordered the female ghost.
Zhou Lingxue was excited. She was bored being stuck in the factory all day. It was very rare for her to have some fun.
She shimmered and hovered away.
Tang Hao went downstairs and dug out the things that the geomancer had buried. His expression changed when he saw what it was.
He knew some geomancy, and he could recognize that it was the seven kill hex, the worst hex of all.
“How cruel!” He muttered.
“If you want to play it that way, then don’t blame me for not holding back! Since you want to harm me, I’ll be returning the favor!”
He dug out the seven wooden stakes. When Zhou Lingxue came back and gave him the directions, he went to the Xue family mansion.
He snooped around a little. After confirming that there were only the three people in the mansion, he laid the hex.
