Just then, a cold breeze blew through. The wind chimes on the bamboo trees tinkled, and combined with the rustling of the swaying tree shadows, it would surely scare the wits out of anyone with a weak heart.
But Xiao Bao'er had died once, and she wasn't afraid of such spooky things. Instead, the clear tinkling of the wind chimes reminded her of the flower - viewing banquet at the Xiangyang Prince's Mansion and the stunning young man she'd seen there.
Perhaps because she always felt indebted to the Xie family, Xiao Bao'er couldn't help but think of Xie Yumo. Such a brilliant young man shouldn't have to bear the blood feud of his family and die like that.
He should ride his fine horse in bright clothes, galloping across the land. He could go to the battlefield to serve the country, charging forward with his spear to kill the enemy, or stroll through the mountains and rivers, living his own life...
"Sigh..."
Xiao Bao'er let out a sigh. She couldn't think too much now. She had to focus and figure out how to get out of this bamboo forest maze.
As she walked, she carefully observed the wind chimes. But to her, they all looked exactly the same, with the same size and patterns.
Xiao Bao'er remembered some miscellaneous books she'd seen in her elder brother's room. Some wandering sorcerers were proficient in the Eight Trigrams and could use everything around them to form a formation. Those who got trapped in it would be like they were in a "ghost wall," going around in circles and eventually dying of starvation.
But these formations usually had an eye. Once the eye was broken, the formation would collapse.
In this formation, the only thing that caught Xiao Bao'er's attention was the wind chimes on the bamboo trees. She had a hunch that the eye of the formation must be one of these wind chimes.
But there were at least hundreds, if not thousands, of wind chimes in the bamboo forest. She couldn't break them all one by one. Moreover, they were all hanging high up. Even if she wanted to break them one by one, it might not be done by dawn.
Besides, if she did that, she'd be clearly telling Mr. Qi that someone had come to break into his yard, and he'd quickly transfer all his important things.
Xiao Bao'er wouldn't do such a thing. So she just walked around in circles, hoping to find some flaw.
The tall bamboo forest blocked out the moonlight completely. There seemed to be a thick fog that lingered on the paths ahead and behind. Her senses were blocked, and even walking became difficult. All these signs told Xiao Bao'er that time was running out.
So, before the formation was broken, Xiao Bao'er's mental defense line cracked. She felt like she'd walked a year's worth of distance. This couldn't go on.
Wasn't the Judge supposed to say that she had the lucky koi fate? Well, she'd take a gamble. So she picked up a stone from the ground and threw it hard at one of the wind chimes.
But the stone passed straight through the wind chime and disappeared into the grass behind the bamboo forest.
Xiao Bao'er was a bit stunned. She looked at the wind chime, but there was nothing wrong with it. So she picked up the stone and threw it at the wind chime again. Just like before, the stone passed straight through.
Xiao Bao'er didn't believe it. She tried a few more times. Then she realized something was wrong. This wind chime wasn't a real object but a phantom.
That meant there weren't as many wind chimes in the bamboo forest as they seemed. Many of the wind chimes hanging on the bamboo were phantoms, not real. As long as the eye of the formation wasn't broken, the wind chimes would always be there in the sight of the intruder.
But how could she find the wind chime that was the eye of the formation?
Xiao Bao'er rubbed her sore neck. Because she'd been looking up at the wind chimes on the bamboo trees, she'd been keeping her head up while walking. She lowered her head to relax her neck and accidentally saw the swaying shadows of the wind chimes on the ground.
Phantoms don't have shadows!!
Once she figured this out, Xiao Bao'er walked forward while observing the shadows on the ground. When the wind chimes weren't swaying, their shadows were hidden among the shadows of the bamboo leaves. Just this short stretch of the road took Xiao Bao'er quite a while.
Xiao Bao'er couldn't help but sigh. What kind of person could study the mysterious formations so thoroughly?
Fortunately, not long after, she saw the most special shadow on the ground. There was a long string in the center of the shadow of this wind chime, and on the other end of the string was a big bell.
But when Xiao Bao'er looked up, all the wind chimes looked the same. Only when she saw the shadows could she tell the difference.
Xiao Bao'er took out her sleeve arrows and counted. She had three chances to shoot down this wind chime.
Taking a deep breath, she picked out the three wind chimes that were most likely to be the eye of the formation. Then she aimed and pulled the trigger of the sleeve arrow.
The first arrow... missed...
The second arrow... still missed...
Now Xiao Bao'er couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. She steadied her mind, her eyes becoming more and more determined. She squinted and aimed at the still - swaying wind chime and pulled the trigger.
"Whoosh... Thud!"
The sleeve arrow hit the rope of the wind chime that was the eye of the formation. The wind chime fell into the grass, making only a dull sound.
The surrounding environment slowly began to change. The thick fog dispersed, and the moonlight shone in. Only then did Xiao Bao'er realize that the bamboo forest in the yard wasn't actually that dense, and the exit of the path was right in front of her.
The internal structure of the Fengqi Courtyard was quite simple. After passing through the bamboo forest from the courtyard gate, there was a row of rooms at the end of the path. The biggest one was the main house, which was Mr. Qi's bedroom. Next to the bedroom was the study, and on the other side was the storeroom.
But all three rooms were locked. Xiao Bao'er carefully checked around the rooms warily but found nothing special. It seemed that Mr. Qi thought no one could pass through the bamboo forest formation he'd set up.
Moreover, this was the Xiao Mansion, guarded by servants and soldiers. There was no need to worry about any petty thieves breaking in.
But even so, the locks on the rooms gave Xiao Bao'er a headache. She should have learned how to pick locks first. After finally breaking the formation, was she really going to return empty - handed because of these three locks?
But Xiao Bao'er wasn't the kind of person who gave up easily. So she walked around the house, planning to check each window to see if any had been left unlocked.
When Xiao Bao'er came to the left side of the study, she pushed the window there and found it was loose. Her heart skipped a beat with joy, and she quickly stepped closer to push the window open with force.
But suddenly, she felt as if her toe had stepped on something. And then there came the "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" sound of something breaking through the air behind her head!
Xiao Bao'er quickly turned around and saw two small poisonous arrows shining with a green light flying straight towards her face!
It's over! She couldn't dodge!
Xiao Bao'er instinctively closed her eyes and raised her hands to block the poisonous arrows.
But the next second, there came a "clang" sound of metal colliding, and she fell into a warm embrace.