Ita Era

Chapter 132 Eight Trigrams Formation

Ding Shi crawled through a large hole in the well and climbed up the slope, quickly leaving the water, but everything was pitch black. Ding Shi pulled out a torch and found that the cloth at the end of the torch was soaked. So he untied the cloth, and the torch was not greatly affected. He tried to light the torch with a few matches, and then Ding Shi was able to walk out of the waist-deep water.

He didn't have time to scout the surroundings. He turned the torches into a small fire, dried the other torches, took off his shirt, wrung it out, and put it back on. Luckily, he found a rotten plank at the edge of the firelight. He used his bare hands and knees to split the plank into small pieces and lit them on the fire.

Just then, Cao Ying emerged from the water, saw the firelight, and exclaimed in delight, "You guessed right!"

Ding Shi said, "Come and help."

Cao Ying, dripping with water, walked to Ding Shi's side. Ding Shi handed Cao Ying a torch: "Go scout ahead and bring back anything you find that can be burned."

Cao Ying didn't refuse. She took off her tight-fitting hoodie, wrung it out, and tossed it to Ding Shi: "Thank you." Underwear is invincible; it can't be damaged if it's not dirty or wet.

Ding Shi caught the hoodie, his eyes full of disdain. He glanced at Cao Ying and said with feigned disgust, "What do you get out of a woman developing eight-pack abs?"

Cao Ying said, "Your focus is really interesting." She stepped forward, her shoes soaked with water, and held a torch to probe the way.

Ding Shi scoffed, and after Cao Ying walked away, he took off his pants, wrung them out, put them back on, and checked the remaining torches. They weren't bad; they could still be used after being heated a bit more.

Ding Shi removed a few pieces of wood to save fuel and reduce the firelight. His body blocked the firelight, casting a dark shadow. A dark hand reached out from the shadow, steadily approaching Ding Shi. When it was 20 centimeters away from Ding Shi's left leg, the light was too strong, and it could not go any further.

But it's not in a hurry.

A minute later, the fire dwindled, and the black hand was about 10 centimeters from Ding Shi's left leg. Ding Shi glanced in the direction Cao Ying had left and added a small piece of dry wood to the fire. Suddenly sensing something, Ding Shi turned to look into the darkness, pulled out the burning wood, took two steps into the darkness, and observed the darkness at the edge of the firelight.

Having found nothing from the observation, Ding Shi turned back, put the wood back into the fire, and took out an oil paper package from his pocket. Inside were several Golden Thunder Talismans and a few small pebbles wrapped in Golden Thunder Talismans.

The fire gradually subsided. Ding Shi suddenly turned around, his hands forming a hand seal, activating a row of golden lightning talismans placed on the ground. Bolts of lightning appeared out of thin air. Then Ding Shi saw smoke rising, the white smoke quickly disappearing into the darkness. Ding Shi threw a pebble at the smoke, detonating it at the perfect moment. The smoke grew even larger, frantically moving in a zigzag pattern in the darkness.

Ding Shi watched for ten seconds, then threw out another pebble. The black hand tried to dodge, but the space was too small, and it was struck by lightning again, turning the white smoke into thick white smoke.

Before Ding Shi could make another move, Black Hand finally dived into the water to extinguish the white smoke and gave up the hunt.

A short while later, Cao Ying returned, dragging back two pieces of wood. Seeing Ding Shi looking at her, Cao Ying explained, "They're for the support at the entrance of the cave."

Ding Shi asked in surprise, "The support structure at the top?"

Cao Ying chuckled and asked, "Scared?"

Ding Shi didn't answer: Idiot, what's there to be afraid of in a dungeon where you can resurrect?

Cao Ying explained, "The entrance to the cave was recently reinforced, and the wood that was originally intended as a support is now just for decoration." She put one end of the wood into the fire and roasted it.

Cao Ying unbuckled her belt, took off her pants, wrung them out, turned around and saw Ding Shi looking at her. She said in a flat tone, "It's not like you haven't seen it before."

Ding Shi handed over the hoodie: "I just don't understand why you're so... open-minded."

Cao Ying retorted, "Open-minded? Just look through your phone, there are plenty of people more open-minded than me. I just don't want to get sick."

Ding Shi said, "Aren't you afraid of danger doing this with the phone screen on?"

Cao Ying asked, "You just asked me why I have eight-pack abs?"

Ding Shi nodded: "Mm."

Cao Ying said, "You can only look if I show it to you, and you can only sleep with me if I sleep with you. But eight-pack abs give me the power to say no."

Ding Shi smiled in response and moved a stone to the side.

"Thank you!" Cao Ying sat down, dried her pants over the fire, took off her shoes, poured out the water, and put them aside. She said, "Can you tell me the truth? Why did you kill Jiao Jiao?" Jiao Jiao was her god-sister's name.

Ding Shi replied, "According to the investigation, Jiao Jiao is a very shrewd businesswoman. In just one year, she established an entire chain of interests in City B. She is very intelligent, has a very good grasp of the limits, and understands human nature and the law very well. She never leaves any evidence of her crimes."

Ding Shi added, "The law can't do anything to her, but I can. Because my Fenghuo Hall never listens to the law, we can kill whoever we want."

Cao Ying still didn't understand: "You're right, and that's why Jiao Jiao can help you when you encounter difficulties. You can even threaten her life to demand information from her. When the Dragon Gang is thriving, you should be cooperating and achieving mutual benefit."

Ding Shi looked at Cao Ying with a smile and said, "But I'm an undercover agent."

Cao Ying stared at Ding Shi for more than five seconds, utterly shocked and incredulous, and said, "You're an undercover agent? Are there really undercover agents like you in the world? Don't you know how many bad things you've done? Don't you remember how many lives you've taken? You're an undercover agent, and I'm the Virgin Mary."

Cao Ying snapped, "You even... ah..." After her outburst, Cao Ying fell into deep thought. She recalled how she had thrown herself into Ding Shi's arms, how she had seen the surprise in his eyes, and how at the time she had assumed he harbored ill intentions towards her. Now, thinking back...

Cao Ying angrily asked, "You deliberately made me steal the information of Yixia Company, and you used me to destroy Yixia Company... What's most despicable is that you not only used me, but also took my virginity."

Ding Shi sighed, "You really are willing to go all out. To cheer you up, my conscience has been aching all night."

Ding Shi thought Cao Ying was about to explode, but to his surprise, she just looked at him quietly. After a long time, Cao Ying sat down without saying a word and continued to dry her pants.

Ding Shi asked, "Are you alright? Don't stab me in the back later."

Cao Ying: "I'm fine, but it's a bit of a pity."

Ding Shi was puzzled: "Regret?"

Cao Ying said, "Since you are an undercover agent, then you were the winner in our last encounter, and I was the loser. Instead of resenting you, I should learn from this experience and defeat you in the future. What I regret is that I no longer have a platform to defeat you."

Ding Shi said, "Perhaps we'll meet again in other instances."

Cao Ying: "Dungeons? Heh, with the safety net of immortality, the safety net of the Four Symbols City, and the safety net of resurrection dungeons, how can they compare to the real world where a single misstep can lead to certain death?"

Ding Shi didn't see Cao Ying as a bad person. Her goal was to avenge her adopted sister, which might have been somewhat wrong, but she did things that leaned towards a righteous outcome. Through a humanity test, she used Wang Meng to eliminate several key members of the Dragon Gang. She destroyed the Shrimp Company. This created a rift between Wang Meng and Ding Shi, severely impacting the local smuggling industry.

Ding Shi felt no guilt whatsoever about exploiting bad people. And exploiting good people? At least so far, he hasn't used the kindness or other virtues of good people for evil. Regardless of the evil he's committed over the past six years, a seed of justice still resides within him.

Ding Shi sighed and said, "Why don't you beat me up? After all, the pain is real."

Cao Ying countered, "You feel guilty? Have you been feeling guilty all along?"

Ding Shi admitted, "Perhaps you are the only person who makes me feel guilty."

Cao Ying then countered, "What if it wasn't my first time?"

Ding Shi shrugged and replied, "That means everyone gets what they need."

Cao Ying gave a mocking smile and said, "It's the 21st century now, why are you still wearing your braid? Besides, I just said that you can only do it if I want you to. Maybe you don't understand, but your guilt really insults me, and I'm very angry right now." Ding Shi stood up, bowed, and apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Cao Ying waved her hand, deciding it was best not to change other people's opinions. She wasn't bound by traditional views on chastity, nor was she influenced by the idea of ​​open sexual relations. Most importantly, the issue of having two wives wasn't important in her life. She understood that people enjoyed discussing topics related to two wives, but no one seemed to realize that she had absolutely no interest in them.

After that, the two had nothing to say to each other and quietly sat around the fire, drying their clothes.

……

At one o'clock in the morning, the originally colorless air took on a faint blood-red hue, with a blurry black line pulsating irregularly in every square meter, just like the impurities in an 80s movie.

Cao Ying stood up and, while putting on her clothes, said, "The ceremony has begun. Although I don't know what's ahead, would you like to come and take a look?"

Ding Shi asked, "What is our relationship?"

As Cao Ying put on her shoes, she pondered and said, "Limited cooperation, no underhanded tactics, no kicking someone when they're down."

Ding Shi: "I like this model." Simply put: Husbands and wives are like birds in the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly away separately.

Ding Shi wanted to walk in front, but Cao Ying was unhappy and pushed him to the back. The two of them carried torches to the cave entrance, but the scene inside did not surprise them.

This was a 500-square-meter underground stone chamber illuminated by many torches. In the center were two stacked, round platforms, one large and one small, on which Wang Yi sat. Large amounts of crimson air continuously surged towards Wang Yi from all directions, and with each breath, he inhaled the crimson air into his body.

Wang Yi stood at the center of the Bagua diagram, which flickered between light and darkness. Within the diagram, dozens of player corpses knelt, worshipping Wang Yi like devout believers. Their bodies emanated a blood mist that spread outwards with the flashing of the Bagua array, but because each of the eight entrances was blocked by well water, no blood could leave this space.

Cao Ying took a step back and whispered in Ding Shi's ear, "We can't beat them."

Ding Shi took out a pebble and threw it at Wang Yi. Wang Yi remained motionless, meditating with his eyes closed, seemingly unaware of anything. Just as the pebble was about to hit Wang Yi, a black line moving in the air struck the pebble, causing it to bounce back. Ding Shi crouched down and dodged it.

Cao Ying studied it carefully for a while: "Is this an incantation?" The black lines weren't lines; they varied in length and seemed to be a sentence composed of very small characters. She reached out and touched the black lines, her hand passing right through them.

Compared to Cao Ying's earnest exploration, Ding Shi took a deep breath and said with some regret, "We can't inhale it."

They had been standing at the cave entrance for three minutes without being attacked.

Cao Ying drew her dagger and walked towards the Bagua formation. Suddenly sensing something, she turned around abruptly, only to see Ding Shi looking at her like she was an idiot. Ding Shi quickly forced a fawning smile.

Cao Ying snorted, turned her head, and stepped into the Bagua formation.

The next second, a pair of scarlet eyes appeared above Wang Yi, staring straight at Cao Ying. Cao Ying met its gaze for a few seconds, then the dagger fell to the ground. Cao Ying then slowly knelt down, blood pooling around her body. If left unchecked, she would quickly become like the other corpses.

Ding Shi reached into the Bagua Formation, grabbed Cao Ying by the back of her collar, and yanked her out of the formation. As Cao Ying left, her scarlet eyes closed, as if she had never existed.

Ding Shi dragged Cao Ying a little further away, stretched his limbs, grabbed Cao Ying by the collar with his left hand and lifted her up, then slapped her ten times in quick succession with his right hand: "Look how arrogant you are, look how arrogant you are, look how arrogant you are..."

It has to be said that the slapping method was very effective. Cao Ying grabbed Ding Shi's wrist and said viciously, "That's enough."

Ding Shi smiled sweetly and helped Cao Ying up: "You're welcome."

Cao Ying: "It was really fun."

Ding Shi: "My pleasure is my business, but you can't ignore my life-saving grace just because I'm having fun." Is this fallacy? Of course not, it's logic. Helping the weak brings satisfaction, but does that mean you can shirk your gratitude just because I feel satisfied? Isn't that pure nonsense?

Cao Ying rubbed her cheeks for a while, then gritted her teeth and said, "Thank you."

Ding Shi pressed his advantage, saying, "You owe me one." He wasn't going to be polite.

Cao Ying: "Okay, I owe you one. Now it's your turn."

Ding Shi: "Do you think I'm stupid? But the fact that they haven't chased after you despite all this trouble means they can't attack creatures outside the Bagua diagram during the spellcasting phase. We should break the formation."

Cao Ying asked, "How do we break this formation?" Break the formation? Break the Eight Trigrams Formation? Even Lu Xun couldn't break it, how could you?

Ding Shi's eyes flashed with wisdom as he said, "The Eight Trigrams Formation has a Gate of Life and a Gate of Death. As long as we attack through the Gate of Life, we can defeat the opponent."

Cao Ying asked, "Which one is the gate of life?"

Ding Shi said, "I don't know about that." He really missed the "three missing one" skill, dragging the evil spirit and Wang Yi to play mahjong together, wondering what would happen.

Ding Shi paced back and forth around the Bagua formation for a while and said, "My friend said that filth can break the spell, such as sanitary napkins and urine and feces."

Cao Ying was speechless and said, "You're supposed to be someone important, can you please stop spouting nonsense like poop and pee?"

Ding Shi said, "No, there are many folk tales about using unclean things to break spells. For example, crawling through a woman's underwear can lower one's luck, and there's also the use of a child's urine..."

Cao Ying interrupted, "Go ahead and pee, it's not like I haven't seen it before."

Ding Shi chuckled sheepishly, indicating that he shouldn't look.

Cao Ying turned her head to the side and asked, "Can you shoot directly at Wang Yi?"

Ding Shi was exasperated. He didn't want to deal with this unreasonable woman; he wasn't a fire hose! He zipped up his pants, and a waterfall of water rushed into the Bagua formation.

The Bagua formation flickered again, but this time, an area that should have flickered didn't because of Ding Shi's disruption. Then, the blood mist began to surge wildly, darting left and right within the Bagua formation, no longer behaving obediently.

Ding Shi, having accomplished his mission, retreated, zipped up his pants, and said, "Let the bullets fly for a while."

Cao Ying was quite surprised by the changes within the formation and tried to understand, asking, "Could it be that the formation has really been destroyed?"

Ding Shi's curiosity was: "What exactly is Wang Yi inhaling?"

Cao Ying: "Blood!"

Ding Shi: "Some people have been dead for 24 hours."

Cao Ying: "This formation is designed to get the blood flowing."

Ding Shi: "Look at your worthless, pretentious, and stupid self."

Cao Ying: "Aren't we discussing this?"

Ding Shi: "We're discussing the Bagua Formation now? Is that something you or I can understand?"

(End of this chapter)