"Old thing, how about I switch you to a new jar?" Zhang Chen patted the jar.
"What are you planning to do?" The Great Freedom Celestial Demon felt a sudden sense of foreboding upon hearing Zhang Chen’s words.
Zhang Chen directly pulled out a thumb-sized porcelain bottle from his chest, then opened the seal on the jar: "So, do you want me to put you in, or will you go in yourself?"
"Such a small bottle, how can I fit in there?" The Great Freedom Celestial Demon instantly became unhappy, starting to resist, his words full of refusal.
"Hmm?" Zhang Chen elongated his tone: "Given our current relationship, you wouldn’t make me do it myself, would you?"
Facing Zhang Chen’s dominance, how could the demon not bow when under someone’s roof? With no choice, the Great Freedom Celestial Demon turned into a wisp of black smoke and entered the bottle, which Zhang Chen promptly sealed with a runic lid.
The next moment, Zhang Chen transformed into a bat and vanished among the mountains.
The weather in the Northern Land was getting drier, with more and more moisture missing from Heaven and Earth, making life increasingly harder for the people.
Zhang Chen arrived at his secret base, checked the gunpowder he had prepared, and found that no one had been there, yet the number of hornets had increased, likely reaching tens of thousands.
"Could it be that all the hornets within a hundred miles have gathered here?" Zhang Chen manipulated an underground Great Snake to crawl out, directly feeding it to the hawks and hornets, then headed into the mountains to look for a flaw in the Feng Shui Grand Array.
But though Zhang Chen had mastered Divine Techniques, he was not omniscient, unable to sense the Feng Shui before him. In his Dharma Eye, the surrounding mountains appeared ordinary, with nothing worth noting. If he hadn’t personally dug the True Dragon Tomb and known the location of the Empress Tomb, he wouldn’t believe that such Creation could be buried here.
Zhang Chen opened his Dharma Eye, scanning all directions of Heaven and Earth, not seeing any mysterious flow, and felt slightly more at ease.
Since Xie Lingyun appeared in front of him, Zhang Chen had been suspicious, thinking Xie Xuan had done something to him; otherwise, how could Xie Lingyun conveniently show up in the Daoist Temple?
Unknown to Zhang Chen, he had indeed misunderstood Xie Lingyun, who went to Huangli Temple because its disciples were spreading the Way at the foot of the mountain, enticing him there when he had nowhere else to go.
"Even if I open my Dharma Eye, I can’t see any trace of the Feng Shui Grand Array here. If I can’t see the Grand Array, how can I find the location of the Empress Tomb?" Zhang Chen felt a bit troubled.
"As for the location of the Twelfth Tier mystery that might be connected to the Empress Tomb, in my memory, the Empress Tomb is filled with various methods personally arranged by an unknown ranking Divine Being. Even the major burial chambers are made into Copper Wall and Iron Wall through Turn Stone into Gold, with the Feng Shui Grand Array shrouded over and a variety of mysterious destructive forces. The best way for me to enter the Empress Tomb is to find the entrance."
But the entrance is not easy to find.
When Zhang Chen was at a loss, suddenly a scream came from afar, stirring his heart. He transformed into a wisp of mist, shuttling among branches, inconspicuous thanks to the cover of the big trees in the mountains.
Upon approaching the source of the sound, Zhang Chen metamorphosed from mist into a stream of water, rolling under dead branches, soon nearing the source of the scream, which turned out to be an old acquaintance of his.
It was the old village chief and the Feng Shui Master named Chen Xu.
However, now the Feng Shui Master Chen Xu was having a tough time. Once invited by the old village chief with much pomp, now he was in a sorry state.
In front of a dirt pit, Feng Shui Master Chen Xu, with bruised eyes and a swollen face, sat in the big pit. His eyes were filled with horror, and he spoke with a certain slur: "Village Chief, give me one more chance, I assure you I will find water for you."
Upon hearing Chen Xu’s words, the old village chief stood in front of the pit with a cold smile: "Chen Xu, I didn’t give you a chance? I’ve given you plenty of chances. We’ve been digging pits with you for months, nearly dozens by now. How can you say I haven’t given you an opportunity? It’s your own lack of grasp, can’t blame me."
"Over this past month or so, I haven’t skimped on good food and drink for you, have I? All kinds of meat dishes and liquor, didn’t all that go into your belly?" The old village chief squatted in front of the pit, looking at Chen Xu within it:
"During such a drought, you bathe at your leisure. We chew on chaff and vegetables while buying you venison as beverage accompaniment, even finding women to serve you. Haven’t we treated you generously? And how have you repaid us? Following you, we’ve dug dozens of wells in the mountains without finding a drop of water. How can I give you another chance?"
"Village Chief, it’s not that I’m incapable. Every place I marked was a water vein node, but who knew that Dragon Absorbing Water was too strong, sucking all underground water away before we could reach it," Chen Xu defensively explained: "Even if you invited someone else, they’d be at a loss with dried-up underground water. We possess skills to slay dragons, but there’s no True Dragon in this world."
Chen Xu felt truly wronged. Was it his lousy pointing skill?
The absence of water underground made all his skills futile.
"As per our agreement, if you fail to find water, you can either pay to compensate for our months of food and drink losses, or we bury you alive here as retribution. Can you pay?" The old village chief queried with a smile.
"Where would I get the money? Trust me one more time. Although I’m penniless, I know there’s a Feng Shui Grand Array in the mountains, and surely a grand tomb within. Listen to me, open that tomb and you won’t worry about food and drink for generations," Chen Xu begged from within the pit, sensing danger looming.
He originally intended to keep the Feng Shui Grand Tomb to himself, planning to excavate it for personal prosperity after leaving the village. But now the villagers were ruthless, refusing to let him go without water.
With the entire land in drought and famine, where was he to find a water source?
Most critically, with these ruthless people wanting to leave him here without finding water, how could he not panic?
"A grand tomb? Keep it for yourself, to die here and accompany your grand tomb," The old village chief dismissed, skeptical of Chen Xu’s many failed assurances of finding water, leaving people digging like moles.
"Bury him!" The old village chief stepped back, instructed nearby rogues: "Trying to freeload here, you think I’m free charity?"
"Wait! Why can’t you trust me once more? I’m a dead man anyway, those silver coins, food and drink, I can’t repay you. Why can’t you gamble one last time? If we succeed, you’ll recoup all losses, and even if not, you’re no more out of pocket," Chen Xu desperately appealed from the pit, alarmed as shovels started pouring down earth.
"One last time! Just one last time! If it doesn’t work out, I accept being buried alive without resentment." Feng Shui Master Chen Xu gave impassioned guarantees.
Seeing the village chief hesitated by the plea, realizing it’s just one more try with nothing much to lose, was moved to relent.
"Pull him up." After brief contemplation, seeing no falsehood in Chen Xu’s desperately spoken words, the chief decided to take the chance.
A group of ruffians stopped and used ropes to pull Chen Xu from the pit. Afterward, Chen Xu lay on the ground gasping deeply, grateful for surviving another ordeal.
The village chief, staring at Chen Xu, prompted: "Hurry and find the spot."
Upon hearing, Chen Xu hurriedly rose, not daring any delay, leading the villagers through the mountains, ultimately arriving at a low-lying area:
"Dig here!"
The old village chief smirked coldly:
"This time, as agreed, one last chance. If successful, we’ll write off all past debts. But if not, consider it your burial site, hoping you rest in peace."