Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Water West Gate - Part 2 [Censored Words]

The Water West Gate was formerly known as the Three Mountains Gate.

It was one of the city defense boundaries of Jinling during the Ming Dynasty. The area is densely interwoven with waterways, and the changes in Feng Shui are swift and capricious.

In modern times, when building subway stations, the distance between two stations is generally not very long.

Especially since both the Second Mountain Gate and the Third Mountain Gate are ancient city gate ruins with scenic views, they should have formed a cluster. Although the design and construction process is still ongoing, in order to facilitate subway construction and new housing sales, the traffic management financing added one more station.

However...

Even at its closest, it’s still about one kilometer away.

Yan Jun and Qin Lin were running wildly through the fields, following Chen Wuqi, feeling more anxious than they ever did during the men's 1000-meter run.

Their lung capacity was insufficient.

They also had to worry about whether their classmates would be burned alive by the Yang energy.

Chen Wuqi, who was no doubt an elite who transitioned from the industry to academia, had excellent physical fitness. The two students could only watch as Chen, their teacher, gradually left them further behind.

Qin Lin: "..."

Yan Jun: "..."

Yan Jun gritted his teeth and said, "I’ve decided, starting tomorrow, I’ll run 10,000 meters."

Qin Lin chuckled bitterly: "Let’s make it a date, junior."

In the distance, they saw the light band expanding, the golden liquid fire reflecting in Chen Wuqi’s Yin-Yang eyes, which looked even more terrifying than the hellish flames of karma.

The Water West Gate faces four water channels, with deep, wide waters, and the environment is perpetually damp and dark. The clear, cold Yin energy floats lazily on the river year-round, accompanied by water ghosts and floating corpses.

Now, things have changed. The Yang energy fire has arrived, but no one knows which fool made such a reckless move, summoning the blazing sun talisman right away!

If this were in the Taklamakan Desert, the blazing sun talisman wouldn’t have such a dramatic effect.

On the other hand, if it were in a deep underground reservoir with no one around, that same blazing sun talisman would show you what it would look like to have the reservoir filled with dead fish and bloated bellies overnight.

The reason is simple.

This talisman feeds on Yin energy, and it is very easy to trigger physical flames. Once a pure Yang environment is created, even a spark will ignite a large fire.Looking again at the Water West Gate, this kind of dark and eerie place was perfect for making feed.

Chen Wuqi grew more anxious the more he thought about it.

There were still 300 meters left to the Second Mountain Gate station.

Chen Wuqi could clearly see the subway cars, one by one.

The last car was enveloped in the yellow glow of Yang energy, and the windows displayed chaotic human figures—

These figures seemed to be frantically trying to peel off the window... were they looking out?

Chen Wuqi: "..."

Chen Wuqi: "?????"

What the heck?

The Yang energy fire had already leaped five meters above the train’s roof, and these students were still... still staying put obediently?

Either run or put out the fire!

Chen Wuqi was so angry that his liver hurt.

When they reached the base of the Second Mountain Gate subway station, Chen Wuqi made a big jump, leaping over the one-meter wide small tributary of the Qinhuai River in front of him. He fumbled in his pocket for a Yin talisman, quickly calculating the order of use in his mind—

Before he could finish thinking, someone rushed toward him at high speed from twenty meters ahead, almost as if she were stepping on wind fire wheels. She shouted:

"To all the ghost brothers and ghost sisters up ahead, the road is slippery and dark, my eyesight is bad, please forgive me for any offense!"

"I'm in a hurry to put out the fire, can't apologize face-to-face now!"

"Sorry for blocking the way!"

Chen Wuqi: "..."

Chen Wuqi stared at the approaching figure, trying to recognize her.

Wasn't this Ming Yue?

She was running awkwardly, bending over while looking back, not even afraid of tripping and falling on her face.Chen Wuqi took another careful look.

It turned out that Ming Yue was bending down with a bottle of Nongfu Spring water in her hand.

A fine stream of water was flowing out of the punctured bottle, winding into a bright, crystalline line, connecting back to the Second Mountain Gate station behind her.

Chen Wuqi furrowed his brows and moved aside, watching as Ming Yue rushed past him, not sparing a glance for him, the teacher.

The waterline flowed just a meter in front of Chen Wuqi.

He turned to look back at where Ming Yue had come from.

As expected, the moist soil retained the fullness of the waterline. Water can condense Yin energy, concentrating it to ten times the surrounding air’s density in a very short time. The effect of the blazing sun talisman would always follow the area with the highest Yin energy density—meaning this waterline.

Ming Yue whizzed past, and behind her, the Yang energy fire caused by the blazing sun talisman followed her like a hunting dog, rushing toward her. In the blink of an eye, the waterline turned into a bright line of fire!

It was like the fuse igniting before a bomb detonates.

Immediately after, Chen Wuqi watched as Ming Yue braked sharply in front of the small tributary she had just crossed. She dumped the rest of the Nongfu Spring water into the river, and then swung something in her hand.

With a crisp snap, the waterline jumped into the river, and the fireline followed closely behind, making a "puff" sound as it jumped in too.

A moment of silence.

Ming Yue was sweating profusely, rolling up her sleeves and squatting by the river to watch.

In his Yin-Yang vision, the swirling Yin energy rose from the river, and in an instant, its concentration exploded, devouring the Yang energy fire.

Chen Wuqi's heart tightened.

What if it didn’t go out?

What if it went out of control?

However, nothing happened.

The magnificent Yang energy fireline that had jumped into the river disappeared as if it were a fart, and could no longer be seen.

The Yin energy slowly crawled up from where it had burned.

The air suddenly became damp.

Chen Wuqi: "......"Teacher Chen immediately turned back to look at the Second Mountain Gate station.

As expected, the train cars were as usual, and the blazing sun talisman had been extinguished.

Chen Wuqi felt it was unbelievable.

At this moment, Ming Yue finally saw Chen Wuqi and quickly greeted him:

"Hello, Teacher Chen!"

"Sorry, Teacher, we’re late..."

"Really, the setting sun is a bit far from here."

"No problem, that’s not important."

At the moment, Chen Wuqi didn’t have the energy to pursue their lateness. He squinted at Ming Yue and asked, "How did you extinguish the Yang energy fire just now?"

Ming Yue looked at Chen Wuqi’s two differently colored Yin-Yang eyes, stood straight, and answered, "Teacher, you must have been too anxious."

"Water extinguishes fire, it’s that simple."

Chen Wuqi sneered: "Don’t try to fool me."

"How could Yang energy fire possibly be extinguished by solid or liquid water?"

Ming Yue opened her right hand, lit a lighter, and the orange flame flickered in the darkness:

"Water can’t extinguish Yang energy fire, that’s true."

"But water can extinguish real fire." And real fire can devour Yang energy fire, after all, this is the land of the living, and the mysterious ghost fire can’t compete with the blazing fire of the living.

"I used the water flow to draw the Yang energy out of the train, creating a decoy effect."

"I was counting on the fact that there was a tributary here."

"That’s why I said you must have been too anxious earlier, and didn’t look carefully."

"One second before the water was poured into the river, I used the lighter to ignite that fireline."

Fire burns Yang energy; it's definitely a great strategy against Yin energy.—But, what if it’s real water?

Saying this, Ming Yue flicked her lighter again, and with a crisp "ka-da" sound, she added:

"If you don’t believe me, Teacher, you can cover your Yin eyes and look at the traces left by the fire..."

"...It will definitely be real fire ash."

"......"

Chen Wuqi stared at the lighter in Ming Yue's hand. After a moment, he said: "You really have guts."

"Aren’t you afraid that your reaction speed can’t keep up with the Yang energy fire’s speed?"

Ming Yue rubbed her nose. "I am afraid, but there’s nothing I can do."

She gave an awkward smile. "I have to clean up the mess I made."

"You have to take responsibility for what you do." Fortunately, her reflexes were fast. If the Yang energy fire really burned up all the Yin energy on the train, and someone in another car lit a cigarette, with a spark flying... it would have been a disaster.

This sentence carried quite a bit of weight.

Chen Wuqi froze for a moment, then his face turned red with anger: "You were the one who used the blazing sun talisman!"

"Come here!"

Ming Yue: "......"

Ming Yue sighed, deciding to memorize the book her older brother gave her another ten times when she got back.

She would never use it recklessly again, sob sob sob.

When Liu Tianran and the others arrived, Chen Wuqi’s thunderous reprimand was nearing its end.

Ming Yue had her head lowered, enduring the scolding like a rotten potato.

Yan Jun and Qin Lin stood by, unsure whether to intervene or not.

"Causing trouble, always causing trouble," Chen Wuqi huffed, glaring at Ming Yue with eyes full of frustration, both angry and helpless."How can the Ming family trust you with this generation if you continue to be so careless?"

Ming Yue heard this and her eyes reddened. She bowed deeply, took a deep breath, and said:

"I'm sorry, Teacher."

"I really didn’t expect the Yin energy to be so heavy on the west side of Jinling."

"This is the first time I’ve used the blazing sun talisman, and I didn’t control it well, I’m sorry."

She bowed once more after speaking.

The second-year students, feeling sorry for their junior, tried to explain:

"It’s really not our junior’s fault, Teacher Liu."

"A sudden wave of Yin energy appeared on the road, it surged unexpectedly. We just thought of dispersing it, after all, there are still living people here."

"At first, the talisman was really useful. The Yin energy density wasn’t that high, and it was extinguished after a while—who knew that by the fifth-to-last stop, the Yin energy suddenly surged up."

"—That blazing sun talisman seemed like it was on steroids," Liu Tianran added as a conclusion.

"Yes, yes," a bunch of second-year students chimed in.

"On steroids."

Chen Wuqi couldn’t help but laugh in anger at the comparison.

"Alright, stop explaining," he said, not really angry. "If you keep explaining, no one will attend class anymore, and you 17th-year students will be knocking on my door in the middle of the night."

"Move it, all of you, go to the bottom of the Water West Gate station."

Standing on the old bridge, looking down, even at night, the scenery was beautiful.

The gentle stream flowed into four paths, shimmering with silver light. On the left, there was Water West Gate station, and on the right, fields of rapeseed flowers, with varying heights creating a picturesque view.

In the southeast corner, there was a dense cluster of black dots. Located in a sunken area, behind the vegetable fields in a visual dead zone, you wouldn’t notice it unless you looked closely.

Under the bridge, several water channels flowed continuously, and the sound of ducks calling came from the distance—quack, quack, quack.The season was approaching, and it was once again the time when all the gates were tightly shut, and live ducks couldn’t get out of Jinling City.

At night, the ducks were driven, which wouldn’t interfere with the daytime fishing work.

The duck farmers used sticks to beat the water, driving the strong ducks from the river. The ducks, coming from distant places, were trained to become strong and muscular, waiting to be sold at a good price, plucked, and served on tables.

"It looks good, just a little messy," Ming Yue said, standing at the edge of the bridge with her hand shielding her eyes from the moonlight, amidst the quacking sound.

"Class monitor, what’s that black spot over there?" She poked Yan Jun, who was comparing data beside her.

Yan Jun snapped back to attention and looked in the direction Ming Yue pointed at:

"That’s a mass grave."

"Lots of stone tablets stuck in the ground. We just went to check it; the Yin energy concentration is very high."

Ming Yue rubbed her chin, confused: "Why would they build a cemetery next to the vegetable fields? Is there some reason for that?"

"......" Yan Jun flipped a page of his notes without raising his head. "Maybe the deceased didn’t want to leave their own land."

"An obsession with the land over time. This is on the outskirts of the city, and the proportion of farming households is still quite high."

Ming Yue's thoughts jumped like a wild dog. She stared at the ducks swimming below the bridge, even more puzzled. "This is strange, in the past few years, Jinling City has been strict with compensating farmland and turning it into commercial real estate."

"Water West Gate station and Second Mountain Gate station are built so close together. Isn’t that just to make money from real estate?"

"If the compensation isn’t enough, will the newly built houses on this land even sell well?"

Yan Jun smiled lightly: "You worry about a lot of things."

"There’s a housing complex behind Water West Gate, but it’s hard to see clearly now with it being dark. It’s a little further west, very remote."

"By the way, did you look at the PDF I sent in the group?"

Ming Yue nodded and showed her phone’s screen to the class monitor, with the PDF open on it.

The other screen displayed Ming Yue’s recent search on Baidu about the haunting at Water West Gate station.

"Is it just about the strange noises at night, the construction progress not going smoothly, and the bones being dug up?"

Yan Jun: "……"

Yan Jun chuckled. "Just that?""Ming Yue, this isn’t an anomaly exposed in front of us, it’s exposed to the public."

"You have to understand, this level of anomaly is already enough to scare the surrounding residents."

They really are a bit fragile.

Ming Yue scratched her head, a little confused: "But, the ghostly wails at midnight could just be cat calls/spring sounds, the construction not going smoothly might be because someone is pocketing money, and the human bones dug up could be from the souls of the dead at Third Mountain Gate."

"Water West Gate is an old city gate, Jinling has such a long history, countless wars, isn’t it normal to dig up bones? Maybe that old guy is even a martyr."

Yan Jun didn’t deny her statement: "That makes sense."

"But look at the part of the Yin and Yang energy contour lines that we’ve mapped."

"The Yin energy concentration here is indeed very high."

While the two were discussing, the quacking sound grew louder.

It was like yellow water had burst its dam, several water channels being gradually covered by yellow fur.

A bunch of furry yellow ducks swam past under the old bridge. Ming Yue watched, thinking about petting them.

She thought about Yan Jun’s words in her mind, trying to find a point to counter, but the scene in front of her made her freeze.

"Class monitor, look—"

Ming Yue pointed to the leftmost water channel under their feet, "Why won’t the ducks swim in this waterway?"

Yan Jun, puzzled, looked down.

Sure enough, of the four water channels, three were full of ducks, but this one, no matter how much the duck farmers tried to drive them, the ducks refused to go in, quacking wildly, desperately trying to squeeze into the other three channels.

The night was dark, and the Qinhuai River water was especially cold.

Yan Jun: "……"

Yan Jun exchanged glances with Ming Yue, "You’re really sharp, Ming Yue."

—Why wouldn’t the live ducks swim into this waterway?—There’s only one explanation: this waterway has heavy Yin energy.