Chapter 1102: Chapter 1101: Break! Chapter 1102: Chapter 1101: Break! “Old Master Marquis, do you still remember how, on this winding journey, we came across several stones? How many forks in the road did we pass?”

As soon as Liu Sisi finished speaking, Marquis Yongwu immediately understood what she meant.

“On this journey, I can’t remember exactly how many stones we encountered, but I do remember the orientations of many stones at the crossroads.”

As Marquis Yongwu spoke, he picked up a pebble and began to casually draw on the sandy ground.

Soon, he had depicted the orientations of many crossroads.

Liu Sisi’s eyes fixed on those drawings for a while, then she suddenly stood up from the ground.

“This must be some kind of array. The array arranges the heaps of broken stone according to the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Positions, with numerous variations. We are trapped within the array, and whenever we lift our gaze, all we see is darkness all around, a chilling aura, and thick fog spreading everywhere. At first, we thought it was simply because the morning fog was heavy and we couldn’t find our way out. Now it seems likely that we have been trapped in this array all along, unable to free ourselves.”

“Is there a way to break this array?”

Marquis Yongwu looked at her with hope in his eyes.

Liu Sisi slowly shook her head, “All I know is that this array is most likely the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation, square in shape, with the gates of birth, death, shock, and opening. Its inner structure comprises a matrix of three rows and three columns with nine twists connecting them. The array cycles back and forth, with misleading paths emerging frequently, and if one enters the gate of death, they will die. When used to trap people, the gate of death is normally not opened, but when it is used to kill, the gate of death is wide open. It is extremely dangerous…”

Upon hearing this, the words Marquis Yongwu wanted to say got stuck in his throat.

“Then what should we do at present?”

“I’m not sure myself. This array needs someone to activate it to use its full power; otherwise, it can only trap people. If no one is controlling it right now, we might be able to escape from here. Otherwise… we wait! When the person who set up the array appears, then naturally we can leave.”

A gleam flashed in Liu Sisi’s eyes.

The small stone in her hand slid slightly, and soon, a few more characters appeared on the sandy ground.

Marquis Yongwu’s eyes flickered, and he nodded silently.

“But we can’t afford to wait right now. Why don’t we try walking again? Maybe there’s an unexpected chance. If this formation can trap people, it might also trap small animals. What do you think?”

“Old Master Marquis wants to take that one-in-a-million chance?”

“Who knows, a silly rabbit might just stumble upon us. Wouldn’t our dinner tonight then be sorted out?” Marquis Yongwu hinted with a purpose.

“Fair enough…”

Liu Sisi and two others resumed their journey along the fixed route.

Not long afterwards, when the three of them came to the umpteenth three-way fork in the road, Marquis Yongwu suddenly stopped, turned back, and gave Liu Sisi a slight nod.

Liu Sisi also nodded silently.

Marquis Yongwu continued on. Then suddenly, he turned around, raised his long sword in hand, and struck fiercely at a large rock at the fork with all his might!

Clang!

The large rock made a loud noise, but Marquis Yongwu did not stop. Instead, he continued to hack violently at the rock with his long sword.

With each attack, the large rock quickly crumbled, fragmenting and breaking apart.

It seemed as if some kind of barrier had been broken, emitting a faint crackling noise, as an invisible wave slowly spread out and finally dissipated into nothingness.

As the barrier was broken, the previously dim fog in front of their eyes slowly cleared, and suddenly everything seemed brighter, as if the sun in the sky had also come out.

“How about that? Is the formation completely shattered now?”

Marquis Yongwu hesitated a bit.

Liu Sisi’s face showed not even a hint of a smile, “Quick! Strike hard over there again, or later we’ll be caught in the formation again.”

Marquis Yongwu raised his sword and brought it down again…

Soon, a line of three people finally emerged from the haze behind them.

“We’ve finally made it out!”

Glancing back at the large array, they were surrounded by heaps of broken stones, with no sight of the original exit.

“Let’s go! Leave this place.”

Marquis Yongwu, clearly shaken, quickly led his horse and the two others away.

“Princess, how did you know that was where the array could be broken?”

“I actually didn’t know. I just saw others break through the array there before, so I followed suit.”

Liu Sisi reflected, wondering if she should thank her mom. Without her, how would she have known how to break the array?

Perhaps frightened by the array, once the three of them left, they slowly shifted towards the west and continued their journey.

While the three survived the elements and searched relentlessly for clues, several other groups were spread out searching everywhere. However, as their search area expanded and they ventured deeper, it seemed they had explored every possible place where Di Yelei might have been, yet there was still no clue to be found.

Liu Sisi reunited with Chou Chou and Gao Qi nearly one month later.

At first, when they unexpectedly encountered their own people in the desert, everyone was overjoyed. But as everyone realized that no one had discovered any clues, their spirits plummeted.

“Mom, do you think Dad might be… could he possibly…”

Chou Chou hesitated.

“Just say it. Don’t beat around the bush. Is there anything you can’t talk about in front of your mom?”

Liu Sisi’s heart began to sink, and those ominous thoughts grew heavier.

“Mom, do you think Dad might not have come to this area at all? Maybe the story about Dad being here was just made up by someone else. Maybe he is trapped somewhere right now, waiting for us to rescue him?”

Liu Sisi instinctively shook her head: “That’s impossible. Your dad’s skills…”

“If it’s a fair fight, perhaps truly no one could be his opponent. But if he were ambushed…”

“…Have you heard something?”

“No, it’s just my speculation. Mom, Chengen doesn’t believe Dad would have passed away so quietly, unnoticed. He is a hero! A real god of war! Unbeatable in battle, a god of war! The famous Hell King Di, how could he just die like that?”

Chou Chou could not accept it at all!

His eyes turned blood red, bulging. His fists clenched tightly, he swung his arms in indignant rage, unable to vent the resentment in his heart.

Among the children, Chou Chou was the naughtiest and the one who loved playing with swords and guns the most, with a passion for military and martial laws. He was the one most likely to inherit Di Yelei’s mantle, yet now, with such an incident happening, he was completely baffled and at a loss.

“Alright! As you say, take action. Chengen, remember, you have your mom always supporting you!”

Whether they failed or succeeded in finding someone, at least they had tried, right?

At that moment, Liu Sisi finally understood the anxiety in Di Yelei’s heart when he had been looking for her initially.

Ye Lei, where are you?

—-
Note: The array described in this chapter comes from Baidu.