The boat they were on was returning towards the shore. Just as they were about to dock, General Black Tiger suddenly let out a cry towards the area in the middle of the river.
Zhao Yan followed General Black Tiger's gaze. She knew him well enough to know he wouldn't cry out without reason.
"Boatman, turn the boat around and row to the middle," Zhao Yan said.
The boatman acknowledged Zhao Yan and immediately began rowing towards the center of the river.
Upon reaching the middle, Zhao Yan raised her hand. The boatman stopped rowing, and the boat drifted to a halt in the middle of the water.
"Is it here?" Zhao Yan asked.
General Black Tiger cried out again. Zhao Yan took out a talisman, waved it before her eyes, and then...
A wisp of black mist emerged from the water.
Following this black mist, more black mist appeared all around, forming a cohesive mass.
It was clear that these black mists had formed a formation.
Upon closer inspection, Zhao Yan identified the formation as a Soul Trapping Array.
"This is not the work of ghosts, but of humans."
A Soul Trapping Array could trap both ghosts and people.
However, this array was set up in the water. Typically, once submerged, it would form a cage-like formation, trapping anyone inside.
Zhao Yan threw out a talisman, which instantly burned to ashes. The Yin energy within was extremely deep, indicating that the water ghosts were also imprisoned here.
"Why did this mist suddenly appear?" Zhao Yan wondered aloud.
She hadn't seen any black mist earlier.
"Boatman, let's head back," Zhao Yan said.
The boatman nodded and rowed the boat to the shore.
Stepping onto the bank, Zhao Yan happened to glance at three middle-aged men. They too had a wisp of black mist on them, identical to the mist in the water.
"Disciple, were there four people just now?" Zhao Yan asked.
Wang Xianzhi hummed in agreement. "There were indeed four people just now. The man with the cane seems to have disappeared."
Zhao Yan began to understand. The man with the cane was gone, black mist suddenly appeared on the water, and now black mist was appearing on the three middle-aged men before her.
This was clearly no coincidence.
However, the three men seemed oblivious to the changes happening to them.
Zhao Yan whispered a few words to Wang Xianzhi.
Wang Xianzhi replied seriously, "Master, do we really have to do this?"
Zhao Yan said, "Yes, let's do it this way."
Judging by the black mist on the three men, it was highly likely they had set up the Soul Trapping Array.
Zhao Yan knew how to break such formations.
From the conversations of the dozen or so Xuanmen disciples, it seemed they had taken someone else's job. In reality, it was a deliberate act by others.
Their goal was to lure the dozen Xuanmen disciples into the water, where they would be trapped by the Soul Trapping Array.
Zhao Yan's plan was to turn the tables. Tonight, she would lead these Xuanmen disciples to dive into the water.
Knowing the method to break the array, the Soul Trapping Array posed no obstacle to her.
Wang Xianzhi turned to the dozen disciples and said, "Tonight, my Master will lead you into the water. You should go prepare your diving suits first."
The dozen disciples responded and immediately turned to make their preparations.
Hearing these instructions, the three middle-aged men exchanged glances, their faces unable to hide their smiles.
"I told you this person wasn't very capable. Just like the others before, they will still fall into our trap."
"Let's head back first and come back to check after we've made the necessary preparations."
The three discussed in hushed tones and turned to leave.
"Disciple, go ask about the origins of these three men," Zhao Yan instructed, pointing at the three middle-aged men.
Wang Xianzhi hummed and went to inquire among the dozen Xuanmen disciples.
After a while, he returned. "Master, these three men are quite mysterious. I asked the people behind us, and they all said they don't know where these three came from."
"Many mysterious Xuanmen practitioners have come to Jiangcheng recently, and they don't pay much attention to the origins of these three."
Zhao Yan rubbed her temples. These Xuanmen disciples were still too young.
It was fortunate they had found her. If they had rashly gone into the water, there would have been a dozen more water ghosts below.
Zhao Yan had a persistent feeling of being watched. She wandered around aimlessly, not doing anything out of the ordinary.
Later, the feeling of being watched disappeared.
By around seven in the evening, everything was ready.
A larger boat was brought over, and it stopped in the middle of the water.
"Master, we can go into the water now," Wang Xianzhi said to Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan, wearing a diving suit for the first time, had a large lamp attached to her head, allowing her to see clearly even when submerged.
The dozen people behind her were also fully equipped.
Seeing the excited expressions on their faces, Zhao Yan remained silent and dove into the water.
Upon entering the water, she felt a chill all over her body. The large lamp on her head illuminated the surroundings.
In the middle of the water, there were more black talismans. These talismans, unaffected by the currents, floated in the middle of the water.
These talismans formed a connected network, like a cage.
Zhao Yan turned to look at the Xuanmen disciples behind her. They couldn't see the talismans.
These talismans emitted a very low Yin energy. Only when Yang energy reached a certain level could the Yin energy emanating from the talismans be seen.
As she approached the talismans, beams of light emanated from them, followed by ripples appearing on both sides.
The seabed beneath her seemed to open up, and the water became murky. Thick black water began to surge up from the bottom.
Many pale hands suddenly emerged, and then a water ghost surfaced from below.
More and more holes appeared in the seabed, and the water ghosts increased in number.
In less than a minute, over thirty water ghosts had emerged from the holes.
And the number of water ghosts was still growing.
Zhao Yan was shocked. How many people had died in this water?
These water ghosts were like zombies, devoid of reason, desperately swimming upwards from the bottom as soon as they saw living people.
Their faces were ferocious, their skin black, their Yin energy extremely heavy, and their fierce gazes seemed intent on tearing them to shreds.
The appearance of over thirty water ghosts instantly surrounded Zhao Yan and the others in a circle.
The dozen young disciples had never witnessed such a scene. Seeing so many water ghosts, they instinctively wanted to flee.
Zhao Yan dared to bring them down because she had anticipated the situation of encountering a large number of water ghosts in the water.
If they fled now, it would only lead to their deaths.
Fortunately, they looked towards Zhao Yan first.
Seeing Zhao Yan beckon them, they immediately swam towards her.
She was very familiar with the Soul Trapping Array. By modifying it with Yang energy, it could be converted into a Spirit Protection Array.