Just now, when the umbrella was flicked open, it deflected much of the formation's power, indicating that it wasn't just any ordinary umbrella.
As for Huang Jiu, his fate was predictable. A single cold glance from the Plague God had him scrambling back, his hands and feet in disarray as he retreated with his tail between his legs.
With the Plague God's help, the little girl's situation was no longer a major concern.
The Plague God was somewhat antisocial and sat far away next to Auntie, away from the rest of us.
Zhan Ling quietly asked me, "You don't even know him, and you're letting him stay with you?"
I whispered back, "His intentions have nothing to do with me. Any other matters, we'll let Hu Wenhui deal with them when he returns."
Upon hearing this, Zhan Ling didn't say anything further.
Auntie's face was pale from the shock earlier. Though she was obviously scared, her concern for her daughter still drove her to approach me.
I knew what she wanted to say, so I spoke first, "Auntie, find a place nearby to wait for news. By tonight at the latest, I will bring your daughter back."
Auntie's lips trembled, unsure whether it was from excitement or something else. Her eyes were teary, and her expression was exhausted as she left.
Once it was just the few of us remaining, I spoke up, "Auntie said her daughter has a Nine Yin Destiny. This is the first time I've heard of it. I've only ever heard of bodies with extreme Yin energy, born on the Yin year, Yin month, or Yin day."
Zhan Ling replied, "I've never heard of that either."
Then, we fell silent. The intention was clear—we were waiting for the Plague God to speak.
As expected, the Plague God finally broke the silence, his voice cold as ever: "It's simple. The Four Pillars belong to Yin."
Zhan Ling asked, "The Four Pillars consist of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, which make up the Eight Characters. But that only represents Yin energy in the body, doesn't it have much to do with destiny?"
The Plague God responded, "Destiny can be changed, for better or for worse. Naturally, Yin can be changed into Yang."
I was waiting for him to elaborate, but he stopped and didn't say anything more. After a while, when he remained silent, I couldn't help but ask, "Is that all?"
The Plague God answered, "As long as you know its origin, the rest wouldn't make sense to you anyway."
That stung a little.
I asked, "So, if destiny can be changed from Yin to Yang, how exactly does one go about doing that?"
The Plague God replied, "It has to do with the ancestral grave. But from what I can see, Auntie has a widow's fate. Her daughter's Nine Yin Destiny should have been influenced by her father."
His words made me realize something. The so-called Nine Yin Body wasn't just a person with a Yin-based Eight Characters. It was further compounded by the Feng Shui of the ancestral grave, which pressured the Yin energy, thereby affecting the destiny.
People with extreme Yin energy in their Eight Characters were often sought after by major sects. With a sect backing them, the Feng Shui of the family wouldn't be a problem.
That's why I had never heard of the Nine Yin Destiny before.
Thinking quickly, I immediately got up and said, "I'll go find Auntie."
The Plague God knew what I was planning and scoffed, asking, "You plan to change the little girl's destiny by breaking the Feng Shui?"
I nodded and said, "Auntie said they've been setting up her daughter's fate. If I change the girl's destiny, their plans will fall apart on their own."
The Plague God said, "Do you think others are fools?"
I was stunned by his words.
The Three Yin Sect, which had even schemed against Mr. Jiang, would they really overlook such a simple fact?
If there were more time, I might have tried something risky. But there was no time to waste.
Without hesitation, I directly asked, "Plague God, no, Mr. Hu, what should we do?"
The Plague God twitched his mouth in a smirk and said coldly, "Simple. Find the house, break the formation."
"Mr. Hu is brilliant!" Huang Jiu immediately flattered him.
At these words, the Plague God's face twitched again.
I said, "Auntie said she didn't know the location and left it up to me to find. I have no clue where to start."
The Plague God replied, "The Nine Yin Destiny has a special use. It can trigger the malicious energy in an Empty House to its extreme, gathering an enormous amount of Yin spirits and vengeful ghosts. In a city, to find even one such house is an extraordinary occurrence."
An Empty House!
My brows furrowed at the mention of this. Such a house was even more cursed than haunted houses or ghost towers.
An Empty House refers to a house located on the "Empty Line" in Feng Shui.
In the 24 mountains of Feng Shui, each mountain is spaced 15 degrees apart, and the eight directions are further divided into eight trigram positions, each 45 degrees. The junctions between these positions are known as the Great Empty Line.
The boundaries between the 24 mountains are referred to as the Lesser Empty Line.
As the saying goes: "A house built on the Empty Line leads to family destruction and death."
To put it bluntly, an Empty House is a portal to the underworld.
If someone with a Nine Yin Destiny resides in such a house, it's not just wandering spirits and ghosts that will gather, but potentially entities from the Yin realm as well.
No wonder Tang Quan had died.
Huang Jiu, now in the form of a weasel, crouched on the tea table and said, "Why not just forget about it?"
If we ignored it, then nothing would happen.
We could just wait for the Three Yin Sect to show up, and the initiative would be in my hands.
The Plague God also said, "I think ignoring it is best."
I glanced at the Plague God. With just this statement, he was already worse than Hu Wenhui.
If it were Hu Wenhui, he would never have said such a thing.
The two of them were so different—one righteous like a little sun, the other cold and dark like...
Suddenly, my pupils shrank, and I looked at the Plague God in shock, asking aloud, "You and Uncle Hu Wenhui, one is a Sun Body, the other a Moon Body?"
"You're twins!"
The Plague God snorted.
He remained silent, as if to admit it.
I stuck out my tongue. In my heart, I was deeply impressed by their mother.
A pure Yang Sun Body, a pure Yin Moon Body—each of these is a rare occurrence, and yet, both were born in one family...
They had both the Sun and Moon.
But of course, this was something I dared only to think about in my heart, not say out loud, or I might be killed for it.
The Plague God said, "Instead of thinking about others, why don't you focus on your own problems? Trouble's coming your way again!"
Hearing this, I looked toward the door and saw Lai Youwei sitting in a wheelchair, with He Xiaolong pushing him. Two young men were accompanying them.
One of them looked unremarkable, probably Liu from Laoshan, the one Huang Jiu couldn't remember.
The other, at first glance, exuded a majestic aura, with a red glow surrounding him, his forehead marked with a dark red spot. He was in the prime of his life.
I didn't need to ask—he was definitely the Nine Paths Champion.
Their arrival didn't surprise me. After all, the main purpose today was to wait for them. The Three Yin Sect was just a stroke of luck.
Now we could deal with it all at once.
Huang Jiu jumped onto my shoulder and squinted, saying, "Grandson, you show up, but you also bring friends along? You really know how to make your grandpa proud!"
Lai Youwei, who had been acting like a coward before, now looked completely different. He was strutting with confidence, no longer even acknowledging me or Huang Jiu.
What a transformation.
The Nine Paths Champion stepped forward and, looking at me and Huang Jiu, arrogantly asked, "Are you Li Yang?"
I just grunted in response, disdainfully.
The Nine Paths Champion continued, "I am the Nine Paths Champion from Longhu Mountain. I've come here today to challenge you."
Using a title as a name, clearly trying to make sure everyone knew.
A challenge!
I raised my brow, a plan forming in my mind.
But before I could think it through, Huang Jiu interrupted, "What's with this day and age, still going on about champions and top scholars? Why don't you just call yourself a... butt-eye..."
I quickly covered Huang Jiu's mouth and forced a smile. "Sorry, Nine Paths Champion, for the embarrassment."