"Ghost Tattoos?" Dai Jieying frowned, looking like the term was somewhat familiar. She began thinking seriously, and then her gaze suddenly cut through the crowd and locked onto me.
"Is it him?" Dai Jieying murmured, her expression one of surprise.
The Old Taoist Master nodded, "Yes, Ghost Tattoos. A thousand-year-old tattooing technique, highly powerful. But this art has nearly died out. I once knew someone who practiced it, but I believe he's already withdrawn from the world of yin and yang, his whereabouts unknown."
"Damn, you?" Su Qing was even more shocked than Dai Jieying, unable to stop herself from exclaiming in disbelief.
The Old Taoist Master and the other experts couldn't solve the problem, but I could? Su Qing was as surprised as if she had eaten something unpleasant.
Just at that moment, the Old Taoist Master’s ears twitched, and Su Qing’s face immediately darkened. She muttered, "Uh-oh!"
Su Qing quickly darted away like a rabbit, retreating behind the crowd.
"Qing'er, come out!" The Old Taoist Master called.
Su Qing stiffened, realizing she couldn't escape, so she had no choice but to sulkily walk through the crowd to stand before the Old Taoist Master.
"Master…" Su Qing spoke, her tone a mix of apology and coquettishness, but the Old Taoist Master’s face was as dark as coal, and her attempts to appease him seemed to have no effect.
"What are you doing here tonight? Why didn’t you come for your practice on the weekend? You see how far you’ve fallen behind Su Yu," the Old Taoist Master scolded.
"Well, I... I’ve been busy with school, and, um, well... wait, Master, don’t be mad, let me introduce someone. He’s the heir to the Ghost Tattoo technique," Su Qing, not wanting to face the scolding, shamelessly pushed the blame onto me.
"Tang Hao, come here!" Su Qing waved her hand at me.
With no choice, I walked out with Ai Zixing and made my way to the Old Taoist Master. The crowd was completely stunned, whispering among themselves.
"Damn, it's this kid? He’s so young, no way!"
"His hair hasn’t even grown out, and he’s going to break the Seven Killing Formation? I’m going to livestream this!"
"I thought we were going to see some expert, but it’s just a little kid. What could he possibly do? All of us old guys can’t handle it."
"Ghost Tattoos? What’s that? Can a tattoo really break the formation? Never heard of it!"
Everyone looked at me with derision, their expressions a mixture of mockery and disbelief. I didn’t look the part of someone with real power—after all, in the world of yin arts, the older you are, the more skilled you become.
"Ai Zixing?" The Old Taoist Master turned to Ai Zixing.
"Greetings, Old Taoist Master." Ai Zixing made a gesture of respect, indicating they had met before, possibly when the Old Taoist Master had known my grandfather.
"Since Ai Zixing is with you, you must be… Tang Yun’s grandson?" the Old Taoist Master asked.
I nodded, and the Old Taoist Master laughed heartily. He turned to Dai Lao Ye and said, "Dai family is saved. No need for sacrifice. The Ghost Tattoo technique should break the Seven Killing Formation."
"Really… he can break the Seven Killing Formation?" Not just Dai Jieying, but even Dai Lao Ye began to doubt me.
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Aside from my young age, they had never heard of Ghost Tattoos and saw them as a low-level technique. Could something like a tattoo really undo a deadly formation? How could an untested kid solve a problem that so many experts couldn’t?
Dai Lao Ye was skeptical, and everyone else seemed doubtful too. Dai Jieying was half-convinced, but only because I was her last hope. If I failed, her life was forfeit.
The Old Taoist Master didn’t address the others but instead asked me directly, "Kid, do you have the ability to break this Seven Killing Formation?"
I shook my head, "I don't have a solution yet."
At that moment, murmurs filled the air, and Dai Jieying’s emotions sank again. She looked at me with disappointment, murmuring, "I knew it. A tattoo artist, how could he possibly break such a complex formation?"
"But I can alter the feng shui of this tomb without moving the coffin or the body," I replied.
The Old Taoist Master’s frown relaxed when he heard that.
However, the others still didn’t believe me, especially Wang Jian, who thought I was just trying to outshine him and take his one million. He wasn’t going to let that happen.
"Impossible! To reassemble the feng shui, you need to move the coffin and the body," Wang Jian objected.
I shook my head. "That’s not necessarily true. Just because other techniques can’t do it, doesn’t mean mine can’t."
"All I need to do is tattoo the body with Yang tattoos. Then, the feng shui of this mountain will come back to life. I’ve never tattooed a corpse before, but I can do it."
"Tattoo a corpse? What kind of technique is that?" Wang Jian asked in disbelief.
Even Dai Lao Ye was confused, questioning the Old Taoist Master, wondering if I was a fraud. There wasn’t anyone this young on the guest list, so maybe I had snuck in as some kind of con artist.
The Old Taoist Master trusted me, even though this was our first meeting. He assured them, "The kid can do it. Besides Ghost Tattoos, there is no other art that can break this Seven Killing Formation."
The Old Taoist Master’s words carried weight, and Dai Lao Ye, although still uncertain, started to believe me a bit. He said that if I could solve this, it would be the best outcome. However, if I failed, he would still have to resort to Wang Jian’s plan.
Dai Jieying immediately looked at me, her expression and demeanor completely changed. It was as if she was placing all her hope on me. The icy beauty had finally melted because I was the only one who could save her.
I still didn’t acknowledge her, just like how she had ignored me before.
Dai Lao Ye then asked me, "How are you going to break this Seven Killing Formation? Can Ghost Tattoos really work?"
I said, "Of course it can. The effect of Ghost Tattoos can even replace the mountains, rivers, and streams in feng shui, making the entire tomb mountain come back to life."
In feng shui, the surrounding mountains are crucial to determining the quality of the energy flow. These mountains are known as "sand." The most important ones are the Four Divine Sands: the Green Dragon, White Tiger, Red Bird, and Black Tortoise, which correspond to the four directions surrounding a feng shui site.
The tomb mountain of the Dai family had lost these energies, causing the nearby river to flow backward. The true dragon vein had been severed, and the feng shui was completely destroyed.
But, if I tattoo the corpse with the Four Divine Sands—Green Dragon, White Tiger, Red Bird, and Black Tortoise—on the corresponding directions, the Four Divine Sands will come alive again.
Even without the true dragon vein, the feng shui will still be good, though not as powerful as it once was. Once the feng shui is repaired, the tomb’s energy will return, and the Seven Killing Formation will be broken.
After hearing my explanation, everyone was speechless. It seemed that I made sense, but they were still unsure whether the Ghost Tattoos would actually have the desired effect.
I asked for two days to complete the tattoos. It wasn’t easy to tattoo four divine beasts, especially on a corpse. But if I had two days, I could restore the feng shui to about 70-80%, and the Seven Killing Formation would collapse on its own.
Dai Lao Ye agreed, giving me two days. During this time, I would have full access to the tomb mountain with someone always accompanying me. If I succeeded, I would receive two million and Dai Jieying, the famed "Ice Mountain Beauty," as promised.
The old men looked at me with envious eyes. Just moments ago, they all mocked me, but now they all wanted to be in my shoes.
However, for me, this was a huge pressure. The Four Divine Beasts Ghost Tattoos were not easy to complete.
Since everything had been decided, the group began to disperse, and now all I had to do was wait for the results.
But the Old Taoist Master didn’t leave. He said he wanted to visit my tattoo shop with Chen Xiezi to talk to me about something.
Reluctantly, I agreed. The Old Taoist Master looked around my shop, and seemed a bit emotional. He remarked that after my grandfather passed away twenty years ago, he had thought he would return. But instead, it was me who had returned.
At that moment, I couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. The Old Taoist Master seemed to have known my grandfather very well.
After a brief moment of reflection, the Old Taoist Master and Chen Xiezi mysteriously pulled me upstairs. Su Qing and Ai Zixing tried to stop me, but they said they had something important to discuss—about my grandfather and... my parents.