When the character panels were inserted, a muffled humming sound emerged from inside the box, like old gears meshing and turning. Soon, this layer of the bottom panel split from the middle and receded into the four sides of the box walls. Another bottom panel rose and stopped.
This box had been designed with elevator-like principles—one layer withdrawing, another replacing it. Seeing this, Cao Yanhua couldn’t help but silently criticize Lu Ban for keeping his innovations to himself.
This layer was slightly deeper, visibly about 10cm deep, with a piece of brocade silk folded inside. On the bottom panel, there were still two square recessed kite patterns, each about one square centimeter.
Luo Ren initially found it strange that this layer had only silk brocade and no character panel—how would they activate the mechanism? Then it occurred to him: the first character panel hadn’t been put back, and the individual character blocks would probably need to be selected for use.
Shen Gun reached out to take the silk brocade. Cao Yanhua tensed up: “Mr. Shen, be careful! That’s fabric.”
After all these years, wouldn’t the fabric have decayed? Would it turn to dust at the slightest touch, like in those exploration films?
It didn’t. Not only did it not disintegrate, but Shen Gun was surprised when he touched it: “It feels new, not like something from thousands of years ago.”
Indeed, as soon as he unfolded the first layer, they saw a line of ink characters: “The silk book has decayed, copied in the same style, left for future generations to see. Signed, Zhao.”
Mu Dai’s heart stirred: Could this “Zhao” refer to Plum Blossom First Zhao? Back then, after they opened the box and found the original silk book severely decayed due to its age, did they make an exact copy?
She urged Shen Gun: “See what’s written inside.”
The silk brocade slowly unfolded, densely covered with characters. In the center, a perfect circle was left empty, containing a diagram titled “Seven Stars Killing Formation.”
The Big Dipper in the sky, the Big Dipper diagram below—in the earthly diagram, each of the seven stars was drawn like a small person from primitive cave paintings or pottery art. The proportions were elongated and imbalanced, the postures strange, with arms exaggeratedly stretched toward the sky. Beside each small figure were two circles: the inner circle contained people—or more precisely, dead people, seven of them—while the outer circle featured various sacrificial animals like cattle, pigs, and sheep.
Yi Wansan blurted out: “The Tengma Diaotai!”
He quickly explained: “I’m not saying this killing formation is the Tengma Diaotai, just that it gives off the same sacrificial feeling. In ancient sacrifices, didn’t they always kill pigs and cattle?”
Luo Ren pointed to the dead people in the inner circle: “There were human sacrifices, too. Seven of them.”
Human sacrifices? How cruel, thought Yan Hongshu, shuddering.
Shen Gun, however, found it unremarkable: “Actually, in ancient times, not just in China but worldwide, the live slaughter of humans for sacrifice was quite common. Someone has calculated that during the Shang Dynasty, at least 14,000 people were killed for divination and sacrificial purposes. Little Wansan and Little Luo are right—inner and outer circles, human and animal sacrifices, and those small figures with arms raised toward the sky were likely the presiding priests.”
Mu Dai asked: “Could they possibly be the malevolent bamboo slips?”
She stared at the small figures, which looked remarkably similar to the elongated, disproportionate black shadows she had seen in her dream, the ones who had pushed and whispered, “Hide it away.”
Luo Ren nodded: “They could also be the so-called ‘Star Lords.’ Moreover, seven stars in heaven, seven figures in the earthly diagram, and seven human sacrifices—this also fits the ‘seven times seven’ number mentioned by Ya Feng.”
Cao Yanhua quickly interjected: “Also, Cheetah’s ancestor committed all seven crimes, which seems to have completed one-seventh of this Seven Stars Killing Formation. Mr. Shen, let’s see what’s written in the silk book.”
The account in the silk book was somewhat obscure. Reading it in full would take a long time, so Shen Gun took a different approach this time. He read one sentence at a time, explaining each as he went. When they encountered something unclear, the group discussed it together. This way, by the time one person finished reading, everyone understood.
The Seven Stars Killing Formation told a vast, complex story.
People of that era, limited by technology and cognition, could only describe it using terms like “mystical,” “destiny,” and “otherworldly power.” But in modern times, human vision, aided by various instruments, can project into the depths of space. Perhaps using modern language would make it easier to understand.
In the universe, there exist various rays containing large amounts of high-energy charged particles. Scientists jokingly refer to them as “endless showers pouring down on Earth every day,” among which are harmful rays.
The most common type is ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Excessive ultraviolet rays entering the body can cause skin cancer.
Research suggests that cosmic rays may have strange connections with human cell mutations. One major lethal threat faced by astronauts in space is cosmic radiation—it can damage and recombine DNA, transforming living organisms into unprecedented monsters, or cause inexplicable deaths.
Fortunately, thanks to Earth’s magnetic field, the direction of charged particles in cosmic rays is altered, like a hurricane dispersing dust. Thanks to the atmosphere, particles violently collide, are absorbed, and dissipate. Thanks also to the vastness of the universe, many deadly rays, after traversing billions of years, arrive at Earth as spent forces, barely able to scratch the surface.
For most people living on Earth, the terror of cosmic rays is less threatening than internet outages, salary cuts, or being late for work.
The Big Dipper, like a massive dipper handle, spans across the sky above countless living beings. For billions of years, it has been like a narrow-open eye in the heavens, calmly gazing at this blue planet.
The special rays from it, almost negligible, mostly lose their energy through Earth’s multiple barriers. Until one day, they are received by suitable carriers—those people with initial evil thoughts, those whose “evil” genes are infinitely amplified.
The silk book stated: “The power of the seven stars transforms the human heart, devours goodness while promoting evil, strengthens the body, makes one quick in action, and even revives life, causing the ancients to fear and submit.”
Primitive ancestral worship was often based on the unknown, fear, reproduction, and the avoidance of death. All of this was enough to make the seven stars a totem—”even revives life,” something only deities could accomplish.
The worship of evil originated here, accumulating from initially minute energies, gathering thought power and worship, ultimately forming seven inexplicable malevolent forces.
The earliest written records of the seven crimes on tortoise shells and animal bones were elevated as carriers of this power. Worship of the Star Lords emerged like sparks on the ochre earth, showing its first signs.
Small-scale sacrifices, adulation, and following began. Perhaps some witnessed the “miracles” of those possessed and, for various reasons, became intoxicated, yearning for it, and then vigorously promoting it.
But the harsh living environment at that time limited tribal activities, restricting this “evil” and its followers to certain places, valleys, or basins. Moreover, in the beginning, human sacrifice was too common—death and bloodshed weren’t unusual. At most, some innocent people might find it terrifying, feeling that those who had contact with the tortoise shells and animal bones seemed controlled by vicious energy, their personalities drastically changing.
Over time, as the territory of evil worshippers expanded and civilization developed, more people felt it was ominous, believing these oracle bones had the power to bewitch minds. Later, when they sacrificed to various gods and prayed to heaven through shamans, they divined that in future generations, a person of great virtue would appear to end this ominous viciousness.
Laozi’s era was the late Spring and Autumn period. Society then saw population growth and frequent cultural exchanges. Knowledgeable individuals emerged in abundance, even establishing different schools of thought. The worship of malevolent bamboo slips began to face powerful enemies, and the seven malevolent slips encountered their first sealing.
The legend of “Laozi passing through Hangu Pass” briefly stated: “Laozi drew seven inauspicious forces into seven malevolent bamboo slips, using three types of bronze clasps—phoenix, male phoenix, and simurgh—to seal them.”
At that time, could it be that under Laozi’s gathering, the first five-person team appeared, braving life and death, traveling thousands of miles, and finally fulfilling their mission?
And what power did Laozi use to counter the “death-ruling” seven stars? Were they the five elements of ancient Chinese cosmology—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—or the five solar system bodies closest to Earth? And the phoenix and simurgh always remind one of the firebird in the sun. Could the power of the phoenix and the simurgh clasps originate from there?
All these details have been submerged in the untraceable past.
After Laozi, Mozi, and Lu Ban became the second batch to glimpse the secret. These two made indelible contributions, as the black box, Four Archways, silver-eyed bat, and a series of designs all came from Lu Ban’s hand. As for Mozi, the discovery of the pit in Cao Village was enough to show that organized worship of the malevolent slips was crushed by the Mohist School in one fell swoop, never again gaining momentum.
Perhaps they should all thank the Mohist School, since the Little Shang River incident, in each dangerous encounter, they had only dealt with people possessed by the malevolent slips, without much exposure to organized scheming and planning. What if, from the beginning, countless calculating eyes had been pushing waves in the dark?
It was truly chilling.
That confrontation to eliminate the worship of malevolent spirits must have been extremely brutal, yet it failed to eliminate the root cause.
The heart is a strange organ. In the past, people spoke of “a thought arising in the heart” or “the heart thinking,” but later discovered these were functions of the brain.
Interestingly, there are also expressions like “black-hearted,” “kind-hearted,” and “vicious-hearted,” seemingly aligning with Laozi’s theory: the essence of a person is the heart, which is like a yin-yang taiji—good and evil thoughts, equally balanced, with identical foundations in all people, only differing in the degree of activation.
“The power of the seven stars devours goodness and promotes evil.” Using an imperfect analogy, if good and evil are innate factors in the human heart, then the power of the seven stars is like a virus or radiation. It can massively devour good factors, activate evil thoughts, and even transform good into evil, causing the territory of the human heart to instantly lose balance, no longer in equal proportions.
Luo Ren pointed to the diagram in the silk book: “The Seven Stars Killing Formation consists of three parts—heaven, earth, and humanity. Heaven refers to the Big Dipper, which has been there for billions of years. Earth refers to the distribution of the Big Dipper’s pattern on land, and the size of its distribution determines the range of influence of the Seven Stars Killing Formation.”
“Humanity refers to people possessed by the malevolent slips, continually reenacting the crimes of the past. After committing all seven crimes, a person’s heart might be transformed—but as Yan Hongshu said, it’s only in a half-activated state. Full activation awaits the complete fulfillment of the Seven Stars Killing Formation.”
Mu Dai pondered: “So far, only Cheetah’s ancestor has been half-activated?”
Luo Ren shook his head: “Not just him, there’s another.”
“Who?”
His gaze fell on Cao Yanhua.
Cao Yanhua initially smiled foolishly, then gradually panicked: “Me… me? Brother Luo, you can’t joke about this.”
“Not you, but the person who escaped from the pit at the end of the Qin Dynasty and then established and propagated Cao Village.”
“Remember when we asked Ya Feng why she chose Qingshan? Do you recall how she answered?”
Cao Yanhua frowned.
He remembered—she had answered: Because he’s different from you all. Many people in Cao Village are different.
Luo Ren continued: “The current residents of Cao Village can’t all be that person’s descendants, but some are. They are naturally different because they have blood inheritance. This point is similar to Cheetah’s situation.”
Cheetah’s ancestor had killed seven people in Stone Bridge Town, completing one-seventh of the Seven Stars Killing Formation, and was essentially “half-activated.” Cheetah inherited this bloodline, and compared to Cao Village’s bloodline spanning over two thousand years, her lineage was shorter, so she more easily merged with the malevolent slips. The sacrificial images drawn with her blood, when burned at the former dwelling place of the malevolent spirits, could even be sensed by them.
What would happen after the Seven Stars Killing Formation was fully completed?
The silk book stated: When the seven stars converge, the sacrifices are completed, the killing formation is fulfilled, and the ghostly vicious energy rises greatly, there may be tribal destruction and mourning.
This “ghostly vicious energy” wasn’t supernatural—thankfully, Shen Gun had read a lot of books. He explained that in ancient China, there was a habit of referring to plagues and epidemics as “ghostly vicious energy.”
Luo Ren speculated that after the Seven Stars Killing Formation was completed, the person possessed by the malevolent slips would be “activated,” equivalent to gaining the ability to infect and radiate.
In other words, it was like the outbreak of a plague. After the fermentation and arrangement in the early stages, seven mobile infection sources would be created, no longer needing possession by the malevolent slips. Those carrying the malevolent slips could easily infect the next person they contacted, who in turn could infect the next.
From point to line to widespread coverage.
Yan Hongshu was stunned listening to this: “What does the Big Dipper hope to achieve by doing all this? It’s just cosmic radiation…”
Yi Wansan corrected her: “All of this wasn’t created by the Big Dipper. It’s like ultraviolet rays shining on people—they don’t intend to harm humans, that’s just their natural radiation. How would they know that excessive exposure causes cancer?”
The radiation from the Big Dipper was the same. Perhaps from a scientific perspective, it just happened to devour certain factors in the human body, manipulating them to reverse, while also strengthening the physical body, allowing those on the verge of death to return to life.
Those who wanted to arrange the Seven Stars Killing Formation weren’t the Big Dipper stars, but people.
That portion of evil worshippers hoped the world would operate according to their logic, without constant restraints. Even through infection, they hoped more and more people would become like them, until they controlled everything.
No wonder Ya Feng had said, “In the end, you will become like us. Everyone will be the same.”
Ya Feng bet they wouldn’t succeed. If they didn’t succeed, the ancient rituals and mechanisms would be fulfilled, and this invisible disaster would quietly spread.
Greed, forceful taking, plundering, occupying, selfishness, exclusivity—all would take root and sprout because of the power of the malevolent slips, projecting into all aspects of social life.
Hospitals wouldn’t be tense; social media would only criticize the declining morals and lack of traditional values; there would be disasters, disorder, conflicts, and even destruction.
Laozi perhaps foresaw this disastrous outcome and sealed the malevolent slips when he left through Hangu Pass.
Mozi and Lu Ban may have seen even further—the human heart has no bottom limit. That activated, minute blood essence, given the right opportunity, would breed again, immediately resonating with the malevolent bamboo slips.
So the two collaborated: one ordered Juzi to lead the Mohist School to defeat the malevolent slips and their remnants, while the other cleverly designed mechanisms to hide and perpetuate this secret in the most concealed manner.
They made arrangements so that if one day the malevolent slips emerged again, there would be a system and people to operate it, and actions to capture the malevolent slips could be immediately initiated.
The last sentence of the silk book read: The malevolent slips are initially arranged in star positions, the observatory’s seven stars shine continuously, the situation is urgent, death squads should be dispatched, one after another, to resolve this predicament.
However, this time there was a small deviation. Mu Dai should be that “dispatched death squad,” but by the time she saw all this, she had already been entangled in this muddy water for a very long time.
…
Suddenly, Cao Jiefang’s bright “ko… do… lo…” came from outside the tent. Yan Hongshu opened the door to look and was surprised to find that dawn was approaching.
Mist filled the valley, meeting the rising morning light.
Cao Yanhua coughed twice and said, “Brother Luo, can you explain something to me? This ‘death squad’ isn’t what I think it is, right?”
He smiled nervously: “I… I started on this path to help my Little Master, and later… later to help Brother Wansan. I never wanted to be part of a death squad and never set out to die.”