newbobooks Chapter 49 It's all fate
Chapter 49 It's all fate
When Lin Yue arrived at Lao Xiao's office in this unusual attire, Lao Xiao was momentarily stunned, though he could still recognize her from her eyes. As Lin Yue entered the office, all ten handsome men stared at the beautiful woman. Her outfit resembled a classic Taoist robe, looking both beautiful and elegant, exuding a refined and otherworldly air.
When Lin Yue arrived, she looked at Lao Xiao and said, "Arrange a car to take these 10 people to my newly renovated villa." Lao Xiao asked, "Are you planning to hold the ceremony there?" Lin Yue replied, "Yes, because the formation there is already set up." Lao Xiao asked again, "Where on the ground?" His mind was full of questions. But Lao Xiao quickly took out his phone and called Xiao Hui, asking her to drive over in a limousine.
Ten minutes later, Xiao Hui arrived in a limousine. Lao Xiao drove, Xiao Hui sat in the passenger seat, and ten soldiers from a special department got into the car, pulling a suitcase. Lin Yue told them to go ahead and waved goodbye. Then, Lin Yue casually put on an invisibility suit, disappeared into a corner out of the surveillance cameras, quickly returned to the basement to get an electric scooter, unfastened the invisibility suit, and sped off to her new house.
The new house was only 30 kilometers from the hot pot restaurant, so Lin Yue drove straight there without taking any detours and quickly arrived at the villa. Old Xiao's car hadn't arrived yet, because the villa was strictly managed and not open to the public. Old Xiao finally managed to coordinate and drive in, arriving at the south gate. The south gate was the main entrance to the inner courtyard, while the east gate was for receiving sick cultivators, so they entered through the south gate.
Lin Yue opened the south gate, a double-leaf red-lacquered wooden door with an old-fashioned lock. She let everyone in, then closed the door with a piece of carved wood. She then led them to the front hall, where a large Bagua (Eight Trigrams) diagram was displayed. The stones forming each section of the diagram were stones that a little mouse had brought back from a rabbit hole. This formation was taught to her by the Fire Cloud Immortal Cauldron Elder. When the ground was being poured, some spirit stones were placed in those positions, which were loose enough to both remove and insert spirit stones. Therefore, some holes were currently empty. In front of the ten soldiers, Lao Xiao, and Xiao Hui, Lin Yue said, "I'm going to put these spirit stones into the holes." Xiao Hui asked, "Is there a difference? Are there any color requirements?" Lin Yue replied, "Yes, you see, I'll put one color in each area, and you all just put in stones of the same attribute according to my color."
These 10 soldiers had sharp eyes; they immediately put down their suitcases and quickly helped Lin Yue place the different colored stones into the different holes. After everyone had finished, Lin Yue held onto the last stone, not putting it in. She asked the 10 soldiers to stand beside her, and Lao Xiao and Xiao Hui also stood beside her.
Lin Yue said, "Next, each of you will enter that formation. Twelve pillars of different colors will rise up. After these pillars rise, you will sit cross-legged in the center and float in the air. This floating in the air is primarily to determine if you have already begun your cultivation path, or if you have even started cultivating. Because you entered the Dao through martial arts. I don't know your level, but the higher your level, the larger the space you can open. If you haven't reached a certain level, or haven't started cultivating, it means your space is very small, and some of you might even have to use your life force to open it, which is unnecessary. So, even if you haven't started your cultivation path, I can help you quickly begin it within this formation, so you can complete your mission. I'm just seeing things through to the end."
Ten young men answered in loud voices, "Yes, thank you very much!" Let's start with the first one. The first handsome guy to enter was indistinguishable to Lin Yue because their clothes and features were similar. She had all ten prepare and sit down one by one. The first one was fine; he had already begun his martial arts cultivation path, roughly at the third stage of Qi Refining. After entering, she had him stand aside and wait. The second one was also around the third stage, and the third, fourth, and fifth were all at the third stage of Qi Refining, their martial arts cultivation already within the third stage, around level three or five. Then there were the next five, level two and level one, and three who hadn't yet opened their paths. Lin Yue put those three in, letting them re-enter, pressing down the last spirit stone, and guiding them with incantations to open their respective cultivation paths, connecting their Qi channels and quickly gathering Qi. Soon, these three completed the first stage of Qi Refining.
The ten soldiers stood in a row, ready to go. Lin Yue said, "Now I need to ask you ten people something. What would be convenient for you to wear on your person, since this is jade and fragile? When you're on missions, what would you consider something that wouldn't be conspicuous and that you could wear long-term?" The ten soldiers began to think seriously. This matter really stumped several of them. One soldier raised his hand and said, "Can I call my superior and report this to him?" Lin Yue said yes.
Then, one of the 10 team leaders called their direct supervisor, a senior leader, to report the matter. They were asked to think of a suitable place to store the jade that wouldn't be conspicuous, wouldn't interfere with their work, and would be convenient for use during missions.
After this was explained, even the central leaders were bewildered. "Yes, this is jade! It's meant to be worn by soldiers, but it can't interfere with their missions, and it can't be too conspicuous. Where would be a suitable place to put it?" This became a huge problem.
The leaders began to discuss it. Some suggested making it into a necklace to hide under clothing, but they worried that it might be damaged during vigorous activity; others proposed making it into a bracelet, but felt that would be too conspicuous; still others suggested making it into an anklet, but that seemed inconvenient. For a time, all sorts of ideas came up, but none of them seemed to be the most perfect solution.
At this moment, the squad leader anxiously awaited instructions from his superiors, while Lin Yue, Lao Xiao, and Xiao Hui silently pondered possible solutions.
The squad leader's phone rang again, and he put it on speakerphone. The superior's voice came through: "Fellow Daoist, may I ask a question? Can this jade be implanted under their skin?" Lin Yue thought for a moment and said, "It can, but if it breaks under the skin, it might cause more harm to the soldiers. Also, if a comrade is killed during a mission, and the jade isn't removed in time, it could be taken away by bad guys and easily opened by someone else." The other party asked again, "Then can lightning be implanted?" Lin Yue said, "If they're on a mission and the jade breaks, they might not die, but the breakage could attract lightning, which could strike and kill your comrade."
The higher-ups were now at a loss, not knowing what to do. They continued to think of solutions, and Lin Yue gave them a hint: "Think about something they always carry on missions, such as a watch, belt, hat, or weapon. Ideally, it should be a small item they carry that can be incorporated into the plan."
The leaders on the other end of the phone fell into deep thought, pondering Lin Yue's suggestion. The squad leader and the other soldiers were also silently considering which small items they might have that would be suitable. For a moment, the atmosphere was somewhat tense, as everyone tried to find the most appropriate solution.
The ceremony hadn't even started when it stumped the soldiers. Because of this, several central leaders quickly convened a meeting, with all the special department personnel crammed into the office. At first, there were seats, but later there weren't any left. The ten handsome soldiers used their phones to make a video call to the other side's leaders, projecting it onto the office's large screen. This video call was with Lin Yue's permission.
When Lin Yue's image appeared on the large screen, all the leaders were startled. First, this beautiful woman possessed an extraordinary aura; second, under the sunlight, many auspicious characters appeared on her clothes, astonishing some of the more experienced practitioners in the office. Then, when the sunlight shone on her hairpin, another row of auspicious characters appeared. From a distance, Lin Yue was surrounded by so many auspicious characters that she was almost completely obscured.
The squad leader's phone was also affected by the Bagua diagram and jade stone array on the ground; the rotating characters on it appeared in the video feed transmitted to the central leadership across the street. No one had expected that simply opening a space would generate such a grand spectacle. Standing beside them were Lao Xiao and Xiao Hui. They had seen photos of these two before, but seeing them in person, Lao Xiao was imposing, still possessing the youthful charm despite being middle-aged, while Xiao Hui retained her youthful allure.
Everyone was discussing the matter in the office across the hall. When the leaders of the special forces laid out all their usual accessories on the table for Lin Yue to see, she looked them over, thought for a moment, and asked, "Leaders of the military, are male soldiers allowed to wear earrings?" The office across the hall fell silent. Soldiers allowed to wear earrings? In everyone's imagination, only street thugs or petty criminals wore earrings. This question truly surprised everyone.
The leader of one of the special personnel on the other side said, "Could we embed it into the mechanical watch that each of them wears?" Lin Yue asked, "Is this mechanical watch something you never take off once you put it on?" The leader replied, "No, you still need to take it off occasionally, like when you're taking a shower." Lin Yue immediately rejected the idea, saying, "Then forget it. Since your current equipment can't meet this requirement, I'll make a safety amulet and hang it around their necks with a specially made cord. From now on, your unit will allow special departments to wear certain special and important items, but they just can't show this to others."
Upon hearing Lin Yue's words, the leaders opposite nodded in agreement. The squad leader and the other soldiers also breathed a sigh of relief, finally finding a feasible solution. Next, Lin Yue prepared to begin making safety amulets with built-in storage for them.
Lin Yue casually tossed the box of jade the soldier had brought over into her spatial storage. Then, she took out ten imperial green jadeite safety buckles from her storage. In front of the squad leader's video call, she took out ten straps, each bearing a talisman. These were specially crafted bags by Lin Yue recently; they could cut through iron like mud without breaking easily, and wouldn't harm the soldiers. She then tied the safety buckles together, and since they were single buckles without any small beads or other decorations, she simply tied a tight knot and hung the ten on her hands.
Old Xiao watched from the side as Lin Yue pulled out a table and two chairs from her spatial storage. She sat down, neatly arranged the ten safety buckles on the table, and began performing hand seals. Because the squad leader's video was constantly projected into the central office, the image was continuously displayed. Everyone saw Lin Yue lightly pinching her fingers, channeling each seal into the ten safety buckles, taking only ten minutes. The five elements of the laws of heaven and earth had already been imprinted into the ten safety buckles; five golden lines echoed the green ones.
After finishing, the squad leader handed his phone to another team member and sat down opposite Lin Yue. Lin Yue told him to sit properly, took out a small awl for measuring blood pressure, and dripped a drop of blood from his index finger into the safety amulet. Then, she performed a spell, placing it directly on the chain. Lin Yue stood up, put the amulet around the soldier's neck, and told him, "You must not take it off, no matter what you do, whether you're showering or doing anything else. If you take it off yourself, others can take it, but if someone tries to take it without your permission, they will be struck by lightning. There's a life-saving talisman inside; if you face a life-or-death situation, this gourd contains a talisman that will protect you." The soldier was deeply grateful.
Then, ten people in turn completed the same steps. The leaders and dignitaries opposite watched the entire ceremony intently. Many of them didn't understand how it was possible to write and insert talismans out of thin air; this was truly an eye-opening experience.
The elders tried to mimic Lin Yue's hand gestures in the video to summon good fortune, but none of them succeeded. They all said, "Wasn't this spatial law supposed to have been lost long ago? Lost tens of millions of years ago? How has it been passed down to this day?" No one believed it. They had previously thought that the existence of cultivators in this field was a rumor, impossible. Until they obtained Mr. Tang's jade pendant, after examining it for a long time, they found it only contained 30 cubic meters. At first, they thought it was very large, but after much investigation, they realized the largest ones were in the hands of cultivators. Cultivators could make countless ones, depending on the size of the materials and the strength of the cultivator's spiritual power. It's laughable, really; they don't understand why it was lost. Alas, so many things have indeed been lost.
These ancient ancestors gazed at Lin Yue in the video, their hearts filled with doubt and感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing both wonder and reflection). The spatial laws they once thought were merely legends were now unfolding before their eyes, yet they themselves could not grasp their mysteries. They knew this was not merely the loss of a technique, but a rupture in history and tradition. In this complex world, how much ancient wisdom remains buried by time, and how many wondrous skills await their rediscovery?