Chapter 30: External Spirit Control

“Grandpa, what should we do now?”

Shui Miao asked anxiously, his heart pounding. At the same time, he really wanted to share the final words Sun Jihong had spoken to him, but he feared his grandfather’s scolding and thus hesitated to speak.

Xiong Ying frowned, stroked his beard, and then shook his head. “There’s no choice but to insist that the female ghost has already been killed by us. Logically, since the ghost was attached to Sun Jihong, her resentment should have dissipated after his death. But just to be safe, we must return to the Sun family villa now. If the ghost has returned, we must do everything possible to eliminate her.”

“But what if she hasn’t come back or is hiding somewhere?” Wang Yong had great difficulty forcing the ghost out from underground. Now it was deep into the night, and they had no idea where the ghost was hiding, making it impossible to even begin searching.

Xiong Ying dropped his hand and stood up. “Then we’ll set up a Feng Shui formation to turn the Sun family villa into a purely Yang place, making it impossible for the ghost to return.”

“Hmm! That’s actually a good idea. By the way, I still have a few talismans here…”

Wang Yong wanted to help, but Xiong Ying waved him off. “Forget about those. If Sun Jijun notices any signs, we won’t be able to explain it. Leave the formation to me.”

Setting up a Feng Shui formation to transform a place into a purely Yang environment was something Shui Miao had never heard of before. He was extremely curious and eager to learn exactly how his grandfather would use the five elements and Yin-Yang energy to change the villa’s Feng Shui structure. He also kept a sharp eye on things. His grandfather usually never mentioned anything about Feng Shui formations, so this might be his secret, well-kept technique. For safety’s sake, Shui Miao decided to keep quiet for now and just observe.

Considering Sun Jijun’s likely emotional state, Xiong Ying asked Wang Yong to send him a message summarizing the situation.

The message read:

“Mr. Sun, we’re very grateful for your generosity and kindness toward us. We feel helpless that we couldn’t do much to help with Jihong’s incident tonight. Master Xiong is a man who sees things through from beginning to end. Since he promised to stay the night, he insists on fulfilling his word. We’re sending this message not for any other reason, but to do our part. At least when your father comes back, you won’t have to worry about the villa anymore.”

After sending the message, the three immediately rushed to the Sun family villa.

Upon arrival, two bodyguards sent by Sun Jijun also showed up. These guards had been assigned by Sun Jijun to monitor Xiong Ying and Wang Yong’s every move. Remaining calm, Xiong Ying entered the house and sat directly on the sofa. He asked the two guards about the arrangements for the aftermath and made some small talk before falling silent and pretending to fall asleep on the sofa.

Wang Yong randomly grabbed a few chairs to make a bed and fell fast asleep on them.

Shui Miao sat on a single sofa, playing with his phone.

Seeing nothing unusual, the two bodyguards went outside to call Sun Jijun, and then found a place to sleep themselves.

Once the two guards were asleep, Xiong Ying opened his eyes.

Shui Miao also put his phone down…

Xiong Ying approached Shui Miao, lowered his voice, and told him to keep an eye on the two guards while he went out alone.

Shui Miao wanted to follow, but since his grandfather had said so, he had no choice but to stay inside.

However, Shui Miao couldn’t possibly stay calmly beside two sleeping “pigs”…

So he activated his martial arts energy and opened his Yin-Yang eyes to secretly watch from afar.

He saw his grandfather placing something immovable at each of the eight directions around the villa—stones, railings, or other objects—and then injecting spiritual energy into each of them, particularly a large amount of white Yang energy.

“How did Grandpa do that? Why can he separate different types of spiritual energy?” Shui Miao was very curious but couldn’t figure out how the energies could be separated.

Xiong Ying worked quickly. After injecting spiritual energy into all eight directions, he swiftly returned inside and began meditating and channeling energy on the upstairs balcony…

Shui Miao watched as spiritual energy from the eight directions turned into mist, enveloping the entire villa. For more than ten minutes, the mist slowly began to swirl, centering around the balcony and gathering without dispersing. The air was filled with the energy of Yin-Yang and the five elements, and the surrounding spiritual energy was drawn in from all directions.

Watching his grandfather meditating calmly on the balcony, Shui Miao thought to himself, “Grandpa’s method is so strange! Normally, when cultivating energy, you absorb the surrounding spiritual energy into your body, but he’s not only not absorbing it, he’s making it swirl around. How does he do that? How can the energy around his body be controlled by him?”

As Shui Miao was pondering, Xiong Ying stood up. He went out again, injecting more spiritual energy into the objects at the eight directions. After finishing, Shui Miao saw the colorful mist growing thicker and more vivid.

“Haha, it’s done!”

Xiong Ying chuckled and turned back into the house.

Shui Miao quickly returned to the sofa, pretending to play with his phone. Seeing his grandfather walk in with a cheerful expression and sit beside him, Shui Miao pretended to ask curiously, “Grandpa, how did it go?”

“All set. As long as the foundation of the formation isn’t destroyed, it will keep running automatically and grow stronger over time.” Xiong Ying said casually. Seeing Shui Miao’s curiosity, he felt proud and added boastfully, “There’s no one else in the world who knows this Feng Shui formation. You’re lucky, kid. I’ll teach you someday.”

“Someday?” Shui Miao scratched his head. “How about you tell me the principle now? Then after I’ve practiced a bit, I can ask you more questions. That way, I’ll learn twice as fast.”

“Hmph!”

Xiong Ying snorted, clearly annoyed. “You’re worried I might die halfway, aren’t you?”

“Uh…”

Caught red-handed by his grandfather, Shui Miao was momentarily stunned. After an awkward moment, he waved his hands frantically. “No, no, I would never think that! Grandpa, you’re going to live a long, long life—definitely over a hundred years old. How could you possibly die?”

“Hehe…”

Xiong Ying smiled faintly, clearly enjoying the compliment about living a long life. “Alright then, I’ll explain it to you…”

He hadn’t expected his grandfather to fall for flattery!

Shui Miao was amazed. He had never known before that his grandfather liked being praised, but now he finally understood.

Xiong Ying spoke calmly and slowly, his voice low. “Actually, this Feng Shui formation is quite simple. Compared to energy cultivation, it’s just a different way of channeling energy. Normally, when cultivating energy, you first recite the incantation silently, and then begin cultivating, absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy. This method, however, cannot be used for setting up a formation.”

“So then, what do you do when setting up a formation?” Shui Miao asked eagerly.

Xiong Ying grinned. “Actually, it was a coincidence. Once, while cultivating energy, I forgot to recite the incantation, and I noticed that the surrounding spiritual energy was swirling around and couldn’t be absorbed. Later, I carefully studied it and realized that controlling spiritual energy outside the body is even more amazing than controlling it inside. Just imagine—if you could control a large amount of water energy and display it to the world, wouldn’t you be like a god? This might be directly related to the Buddhist technique of teleportation. If you could control a large amount of wood energy outside your body and move a small stick from afar, wouldn’t that be amazing?”

“…”

Xiong Ying’s words sparked endless imagination in Shui Miao.

It was as if many doors and windows had suddenly opened before him, expanding his vision.

“But Grandpa, you’ve been cultivating for so many years. Why have I never seen you teleport anything from afar?” To Shui Miao, his grandfather should have reached a very high level of cultivation. Controlling weightless spiritual energy seemed trivial.

“It’s not that easy!” Xiong Ying shook his head helplessly. “Life is short, and nowadays spiritual energy is scarce. To reach such a high level of cultivation, one would probably have to be seventy or eighty years old. I’m going to Kunlun Mountain with some old friends soon. On the surface, we’re going to search for dragon veins and enjoy the scenery, but in reality, I’m going there to find spiritual energy.”

Xiong Ying had no reservations with Shui Miao and inadvertently revealed the true purpose of his trip to Kunlun Mountain.

Hearing his grandfather speak so sadly, Shui Miao became emotionally stirred and couldn’t help but reveal his secret: “Grandpa, actually, there are still many things in this world with spiritual energy, like wild animals…”

“No! You must never think like that!” Xiong Ying immediately interrupted Shui Miao, his tone turning serious. “I know more about Taoist cultivation than you do. If you don’t want to go mad and lose control, you must cultivate honestly and never eat too much meat. If something goes wrong, it will become my sin, and you will bring me down with you.”

“…”

Shui Miao was stunned, unsure how to respond.

What was going mad and losing control?

He had absorbed yin spirits and eaten a lot of meat, yet not only had nothing happened to him, his power had greatly increased. This clearly had nothing to do with going mad and losing control!

Could it be… that going mad and losing control could erupt unexpectedly?

Shui Miao became uncertain and even frightened, no longer daring to eat meat.

Xiong Ying got up and went to sleep on the three-seat sofa, refusing to talk any further about the Feng Shui formation. This left Shui Miao filled with regret. If only he hadn’t spoken so carelessly—he felt awkward and remorseful now!

Shui Miao secretly decided that from now on, unless absolutely necessary, he would never again tell his grandfather about his cultivation practices.

※※※

That night was peaceful.

At dawn, everyone left the Sun family villa.

Wang Yong reminded Shui Miao to come by once before leaving, though he didn’t explain why.

Xiong Ying gave Wang Yong a bank card containing 100,000 yuan, with the password being Wang Yong’s birthday. Wang Yong was deeply moved, feeling that he hadn’t chosen his godfather in vain. Touched, he handed the card back to Xiong Ying, asking him to keep it for emergencies during his trip to Kunlun Mountain, as a gesture of filial respect.

Xiong Ying nodded meaningfully and accepted the card without saying much.

Then, Shui Miao rode his bicycle back to the village with his grandfather.

Besides the 40,000 yuan he had won himself, Xiong Ying gave Shui Miao not a single penny.

Xiong Ying had his own plans. Shui Miao was still young and had a long road ahead. But Xiong Ying himself was old and needed to travel far to search for places rich in spiritual energy. If he was lucky enough to find such a place, he would settle there and spend his final years peacefully, without returning to the village.

Before dying, an old man must settle things with himself.

Shui Miao didn’t mind that his grandfather gave him nothing. He felt his grandfather had no obligation to give him money. Even if he did, he wouldn’t accept it, because his grandfather was going to Kunlun Mountain, a long and arduous journey where money would be needed. Shui Miao had hands and feet—he could support himself. Taking money from his grandfather would be against his conscience.

When they got home, his grandfather immediately went to find his old friends to gamble.

This time, however, Xiong Ying brought Shui Miao along.