Hearing the words suppression pillar from Lang Jiuchuan’s mouth, Gong Qi felt deeply unsettled. If it meant that those three thousand Fu Family soldiers truly had been deliberately suppressed and kept from passing on to the afterlife — if this was the Xuan Clan’s doing, how could they call themselves practitioners of the righteous path?

Suppressing soldiers’ souls and preventing them from being reborn, defying the cycle of yin and yang — how was that any different from wielding ghosts as tools?

And not one or two ghosts, either — but a vast multitude. Soldiers who had died for their nation, souls who carried the merit of righteous sacrifice.

Gong Qi was deeply uneasy, a guilty conscience stirring within him. He shot Lang Jiuchuan a sidelong glance and swallowed.

His heart was in turmoil. Dryly, he said: “Just from one pillar, jumping straight to calling it a suppression pillar — isn’t that a bit hasty?”

“My guess is not without foundation.”

Lang Jiuchuan spread the map out for him to see, pointing and tracing as she spoke: “Take a look at the structural layout of Eight Trigrams City, and tell me what you notice.”

People tend to be ruled by their assumptions, but Gong Qi was no fool. He had read widely in the clan’s archives, and his memory was exceptional. The layout of Eight Trigrams City — at first glance, it was clearly shaped like the Taiji and Eight Trigrams. And following along with Lang Jiuchuan’s gestures, a formation diagram was already taking shape in his mind.

“The Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation.” Gong Qi’s voice dropped slightly. “But the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation is a trapping and killing formation, used in combat, to ensnare — to ensnare…”

His words suddenly faltered, and his expression grew grim.

The Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation was not only capable of trapping living people — it was widely used to encircle and contain powerful ghosts. The Daoist school even had formation-disk magical implements designed for this very purpose, and they were exceedingly rare.

Now, an entire city had been laid out in the configuration of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation. Naturally its purpose would not be to trap the living — it was also trapping souls.

Gong Qi had nothing left to say. His heart only grew colder — colder than the north wind scraping across the plains.

Lang Jiuchuan, watching him look so guilt-ridden, said: “Right now what we can see is a formation, but who laid it is still unknown. You don’t need to overthink it. It might not have been your clan’s ancestors who did this.”

Gong Qi twisted the corner of his mouth into something that looked more like a grimace than a smile.

What a pale and empty comfort.

Great Dan had stood for two hundred years and had remained largely stable throughout. The first two sovereigns had been diligent — their rule had brought the nation to such prosperity that envoys came from ten thousand kingdoms. It was only the current sovereign who had taken to enjoying his comforts.

The realm was at peace and the people prosperous. And this Eight Trigrams City had been under reconstruction from the very founding of the nation — it had always borne this name. Who else could have laid the formation?

It couldn’t possibly be that at the time there had also been a madman like Cong Bian, planning some grand scheme stretching across a hundred years, who had started scheming and positioning himself this early, could it?

That thought made Gong Qi’s mind snap to attention. He said: “The fact that someone like Cong Bian existed in recent times — and he was taught by that demonic Kongyu Sect — could there be someone comparable to Kongyu itself, some demonic path practitioner, who is behind this sinister work?”

Noticing Lang Jiuchuan’s look of surprise, Gong Qi’s face warmed slightly. He said: “I’m not trying to cover for our Xuan Clan’s ancestors — I just thought of this possibility. After all, Cong Bian existed for a hundred years, meaning the demonic Kongyu Sect should be from roughly the same era as our clan’s forebears. Two hundred years ago, the Xuan path practitioners, masters, and diviners were extraordinarily gifted, and many of them walked among the mortal world.”

He sighed again at this. In that era, those who cultivated the Way did not have so many worldly desires cluttering their hearts — they devoted themselves single-mindedly to cultivation, and truly did attain great levels of mastery and reach the grand path. These past two hundred years, spiritual energy had diminished year by year, and the quality of cultivators had become increasingly uneven. A deep and weary sigh.

Lang Jiuchuan said: “I never meant to imply you were covering for anyone. I was simply struck by how quickly your mind moved — making connections I myself hadn’t thought to make. You’re quite remarkable.”

She said this with full sincerity, and offered Gong Qi a bow of respect — because what he had said counted as a genuine reminder to her. In all things, one must not let assumptions take root, lest the fog close in around one’s eyes and cloud one’s judgment.

She had a generally poor impression of the Xuan Clan. Upon learning that Elder Tantai Jing had built this city, she had leapt, with some degree of preconception, to the assumption that whatever had happened here, the Xuan Clan could hardly be free of involvement.

But what Gong Qi had just said genuinely reminded her: two hundred years ago, those who walked the cultivator’s path had included many outstanding figures. That the forebears had risen to greatness did not mean their heirs could carry all of it forward — yet it was equally true that the forebears had left behind a real and living flame, proof of their capability.

So the fact that today’s Xuan Clan practitioners were comparatively lacking in cultivation did not mean the old ones of two hundred years ago were the same.

And what of the others who had been their contemporaries? That demonic Kongyu Sect — though it walked the crooked path — had possessed genuine power. How many more formidable figures like that existed, unknown to the world?

So this Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams City, and this pillar monument — until the truth had been investigated and confirmed, it truly was not right to draw conclusions.

Lang Jiuchuan quietly reminded herself as well: henceforth, she must not look at people through a tinted lens. If one day she capsized in a shallow ditch because of her own prejudice, she would have brought it on herself.

When one is wrong, one must acknowledge it. When one has shortcomings, one must look to those who have gone before and learn. That is the path of genuine progress.

Her life was precious — she could not afford to let arrogance get her killed through her own foolishness.

Gong Qi was startled by the serious and solemn bow Lang Jiuchuan offered him. “You’re better off being insufferably arrogant like usual. You suddenly going all humble like this makes my heart feel even more unsettled!”

He appreciated the compliment, but he couldn’t take it.

Lang Jiuchuan: “…”

She looked again at the small pagoda at the very top of the pillar. A cold light surfaced in her eyes. “No matter who is behind this, the intent was clearly to suppress souls. If the ones being suppressed are indeed those three thousand Fu Family soldiers, then whoever did this had a purpose that was no small thing.”

They had used the Nine Heavens Soul-Subduing Spiritual Talismans — divine talismans of extraordinary power — which meant they knew ordinary soul-subduing talisman strength would be insufficient.

“So what do we do now?” Gong Qi followed her gaze upward, then said: “If we destroy this suppression pillar, won’t that free them from the soul-trapping formation?”

Lang Jiuchuan shook her head. “Without fully understanding the situation, it’s not wise to act rashly. This is only our conjecture for now. How can we be certain this pillar serves no other purpose? If it does, and we disturb it, causing harm to innocent people — that karmic debt would fall on us. We’re here to guide departed souls, but not at the cost of sacrificing innocent lives to do it.”

Gong Qi looked a little ashamed. “I was not thinking it through.”

He had thought only of the suffering the Fu Family soldiers endured — burning in what felt like hellfire — and had hoped to free them from that torment as soon as possible. He had not considered that some things cannot be driven by righteous fervor alone, that one must also think of all other living beings.

“Let’s first go into the city and look around. The purpose of this pillar — surely someone in the city will know, and the city records should have something on it.” Lang Jiuchuan looked at him. “By the way — does your Xuan Clan have no record of any of this? Rebuilding a city is a major undertaking. Surely there would be records, especially if the Xuan Clan’s patriarch was involved.”

Gong Qi said: “I’ll send a message to our young master and ask.”

Lang Jiuchuan nodded, then paused and added: “There’s no need to say anything else. Just ask whether there are any records from two hundred years ago about the construction of Eight Trigrams City. I’m not keeping him at arm’s length — it’s just that, as you know, you and he are trying to overturn the old order, to breathe new life into the Xuan Clan with blood that can actually withstand a real fight. Some things are inevitably going to run counter to what the old guard believes. I don’t want to put you in a difficult position.”

Her words were framed graciously — but there was still, at the root of it, a measure of distrust toward the majority of the Xuan Clan.

Gong Qi chose not to point this out. He had just taken out a message-transmission talisman when the rapid thud thud thud of urgent hoofbeats reached them. City guards in uniform came riding out fast from the city gate, galloping straight toward them.

“That’s them. I noticed them a while back — lurking around the Monument to the Heroic Martyrs, not offering incense or paying respects. They’re clearly up to no good. Could they be spies?” The farmer Gong Qi had sent away earlier was shouting and gesturing wildly.

Gong Qi and Lang Jiuchuan exchanged a glance.

So they were being treated as criminals now.