The arrival of the two women was warmly welcomed by Ling Tian’s masters. They were well aware of the feelings these two girls had for Ling Tian, and even Old Master Wang greatly admired them, not at all worried that they would take away Ling Tian’s affection for Wang Bingxia.
Wang Bingxia was overjoyed to see her two sisters arrive and immediately pulled them to the courtyard where she was staying.
The Taoist temple on Longpan Mountain was quite large, with plenty of empty rooms.
As evening fell, several business vans arrived at the foot of the mountain. The doors opened, and over twenty men in black combat suits emerged.
Their combat suits were specially made, primarily from Kevlar nylon and high-strength rubber. These suits not only offered excellent protection but also provided very good insulation.
However, the black color of the suits made them somewhat conspicuous in the snow, so these individuals were also draped in white cloaks.
Leading them was a Japanese man in his forties. His expression was resolute, and his facial features seemed chiseled from stone.
This man was named Kurofuji Soma, a core member of Japan’s Black Dragon Group. He was the overall commander for this operation.
Beside him was a man dressed in traditional Japanese monk’s attire, wearing a sedge hat and holding a staff.
This man was named Ono Kun. Although he dressed like a monk, he was actually an Onmyoji. However, his sect did not belong to the Seimei Shrine of the White Fox Palace, nor to the Ise Grand Shrine. His Onmyo arts were inherited, belonging to a more unconventional, self-taught lineage.
His particular expertise lay in feng shui and formations.
The study of feng shui originated over a thousand years ago and had long since spread to Japan, not being exclusive to China.
Kurofuji Takumi, the leader of the Black Dragon Group, had gone to his nephew, Takagi Ryuubi, to get a detailed account of his previous encounter on Longpan Mountain. He was aware that there were formidable formations on Longpan Mountain, which was why the Black Dragon Group had gone to considerable expense to hire this Onmyoji to help them overcome the challenges posed by the formations.
The members they brought this time included not only over ten core members of the Black Dragon Group but also over ten more individuals – the mysterious reinforcements of the Black Dragon Group, the God-Bestowed Warriors!
The Black Dragon Group’s operation this time had a dual purpose: to abduct Wang Bingxia and to test the combat capabilities of these God-Bestowed Warriors.
The group moved swiftly through the snow. Their pace in the snow was even comparable to an ordinary person jogging on flat ground.
After several tens of minutes, a strange, almost imperceptible fluctuation suddenly permeated the air. Ono Kun, who was at the front of the group, suddenly raised his hand, and the entire team immediately halted.
“What is it, Ono-kun? Is there a problem?”
“It’s a barrier. There’s a barrier here, a very powerful one. If we continue forward, we might get lost!”
“How can that be?”
Kurofuji Soma scanned his surroundings, trying to locate this so-called barrier, but he found nothing unusual.
Just then, a subordinate walked over from behind, removed a night vision device from his head, and handed it to Kurofuji Soma.
The sky had already begun to darken. However, it was a full moon night, and the moonlight reflecting off the snow provided good visibility.
But for the sake of caution, everyone in the Black Dragon Group wore night vision devices, as visibility inside buildings would likely be much lower than under moonlight.
Kurofuji Soma put on the night vision device and peered around. To his surprise, the screen was filled with static, like heavy snowfall. He couldn’t see anything through the device.
“Kurofuji-sama, everyone’s night vision devices are showing the same thing. It’s definitely not a problem with the devices themselves; they’re being interfered with!” the subordinate stated with certainty.
Kurofuji Soma nodded, removing the night vision device. They had already considered this possibility when formulating their action plan.
At this moment, another subordinate handed him a GPS positioning device. On the device, the light spot representing their location was jumping erratically across the screen, making accurate positioning impossible!
Clearly, not only the night vision devices but also the GPS positioning devices were experiencing severe interference.
Ono Kun spoke up.
“Kurofuji-kun, please do not worry. There is definitely a maze barrier here. It is this barrier’s influence that is causing these devices to malfunction.”
The barriers mentioned by these Onmyoji were, in essence, formations, just referred to by a different name.
“Ono-kun, is there a way?” Kurofuji asked urgently.
“Rest assured, it’s just a minor trick,” Ono Kun said, patting his chest. He then took out a compass from his pocket. Unlike Chinese compasses, this one was marked not only with many Chinese characters but also with many Japanese letters.
The entire compass was crafted from purple copper and inlaid with several precious gemstones.
These were no ordinary gems; their purity was extremely high, containing a large amount of pure spiritual energy from heaven and earth. Each of these gemstones, if put up for auction, could fetch millions or even tens of millions of dollars!
More precisely, this compass was not merely a tool for feng shui but also a magical artifact.
Kurofuji Soma leaned in with great curiosity, watching the compass’s needle spin rapidly.
Ono Kun held the compass in one hand, formed a mudra with the other, placed his hand on the compass, and began to chant.
The next moment, the gemstones on the compass suddenly emitted light, and then the entire compass illuminated.
At this point, the compass needle stopped, pointing in a specific direction.
Ono Kun smiled and said to Kurofuji Soma, “Kurofuji-kun, I have found the way. We just need to proceed in the direction indicated by the compass.”
Kurofuji Soma looked in that direction, his face full of suspicion.
“Ono-san, there, there’s no road…”
It turned out that the direction the compass needle pointed was towards a cluster of trees and rocky ground, with no path at all. Crucially, the direction indicated by the needle was almost the exact opposite of the path they were currently on!
“No problem, I’ll lead the way. You just follow me!” Ono Kun said, holding the compass and walking directly towards the direction indicated by the needle.
Kurofuji Soma signaled his subordinates to follow closely behind him and provide protection. He knew very well that Ono was the key to their operation; without this Onmyoji to help them break the barrier, they wouldn’t even be able to get close to their target!
Soon, Kurofuji’s face showed a look of joy.