The Dragon

Stone Maiden Ancient Formation

After a narrow escape from death, Gu Fuyou was exhausted. As she sat by the fire, her eyes grew heavy, feeling like they were glued shut. She leaned against her sword embryo and dozed off for a while.

Time passed indistinctly until the frost covering Zhong Michu began to thaw. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. As she gazed at the icy ceiling of the cave, she struggled to understand what had occurred.

She closed her eyes again, pondering for a moment before remembering the events before she passed out.

When Zhong Michu opened her eyes again and sat up, the clothes that were covering her slipped off. She grabbed them with one hand, and with a glance, noticed someone beside her. Instinctively, she called out, “Gu Fuyou.”

She turned her head to look, only to see Gu Fuyou sitting next to the fire wearing only her undergarments, with her shoes taken off, revealing a tight waist, toned legs, and well-proportioned feet. Her skin, originally fair, was flushed with a charming warm red under the heat of the flames.

Gu Fuyou’s head kept nodding as she dozed off, looking adorable as she fought sleep.

Zhong Michu was momentarily stunned, unsure of what to say next.

Yet, it was her voice that roused Gu Fuyou. Startled, she sat upright and rubbed her eyes, murmuring, “Senior Sister Zhong.”

Her voice was thick with sleepiness, signaling she hadn’t completely awoken.

Seeing Zhong Michu propped up and looking at her, Gu Fuyou realized she wasn’t imagining things. Zhong Michu was indeed awake.

Gu Fuyou’s heart leaped with joy, and she was fully awake now.

Though she saw that the frost had completely melted from Zhong Michu’s face, the previous sight of her bleeding from the mouth and nose was terrifying. Now, seeing her still pale, Gu Fuyou couldn’t help but worry. “How do you feel? Are you any better?”

Zhong Michu handed her clothes to her, replying, “I’m alright now. You should get dressed first.”

Gu Fuyou felt slightly relieved hearing this. She took the clothes and started putting them on. As she did, she noticed Zhong Michu pursing her lips and turning her head slightly.

Gu Fuyou had thought that since they were both women, and there was no one else around, there was no need for modesty, especially given the circumstances. However, realizing that Zhong Michu, with her strict upbringing and limited social interactions, might feel uncomfortable even among women, made her feel a bit awkward. She quickly put on her innerwear.

Her outer garment was still under Zhong Michu. After hesitating for a moment, she said, “Senior Sister Zhong, could you please…”

Following her gaze, Zhong Michu realized she was sitting on Gu Fuyou’s clothes. As she moved hurriedly to retrieve them, Ah Fu tumbled out of her arms.

Zhong Michu handed her the clothes, and Gu Fuyou took the outer garment, brushed off the dust, and put it on.

Ah Fu, who had been nearly frozen to death by the frost on Zhong Michu, had just warmed up and fallen asleep. The commotion woke it up, leading to a series of annoyed chirps.

When Gu Fuyou picked up Ah Fu, she was pleasantly surprised to see its eyes open. She couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination, but it seemed to have grown a bit larger as well.

“Senior Sister Zhong, look! Ah Fu has opened its eyes!”

Ah Fu blinked his large, watery eyes at Gu Fuyou, looking a bit dazed. He let out a couple of soft cries.

It felt like he was calling for his mother, making Gu Fuyou so happy that she petted him affectionately. She wanted to show him to Zhong Michu, but Ah Fu kept squirming and rubbing against her shoulder.

Noticing the bloodstain on Gu Fuyou’s shoulder, Zhong Michu’s brows frowned slightly. She knew it was from Gu Fuyou’s wound, which seemed to have scabbed over, but she still asked, “How’s the wound on your shoulder?”

Ah Fu clung to Gu Fuyou’s shoulder, refusing to get down. No matter how Gu Fuyou tried to coax it, Ah Fu wouldn’t budge. Hearing Zhong Michu speak, Gu Fuyou replied, “Huh? Oh, it’s fine now.”

Zhong Michu reached over, grabbed Ah Fu by the scruff of his neck, and lifted him up.

The moment Ah Fu was in Zhong Michu’s arms, he quieted down immediately.

Gu Fuyou was speechless.

With Ah Fu quiet, the cave became silent again. The initial awkwardness from earlier, when she was dressing, seemed to return, making it difficult for Gu Fuyou to speak.

After a long pause, Zhong Michu said softly, “Thank you for saving me.”

Gu Fuyou counted on her fingers and said, “It’s nothing. You’ve saved me many times, Senior Sister Zhong. If we were to compare, I should be the one thanking you.”

Zhong Michu shook her head. “When I saved you, I did so effortlessly. It was nothing. But when you saved me, you risked your life. It’s not the same.”

Gu Fuyou felt embarrassed by her serious words, her smile turning shy. “After all, it was my idea to bring you to Xian Luo, causing all this trouble. I’m just glad you’re not angry with me.”

Zhong Michu stroked Ah Fu’s fur. Ah Fu curled up on her lap, purring softly as he fell asleep again. “Did you break the formation?” Zhong Michu asked.

Recalling the situation, Zhong Michu remembered how they had entered the icy chamber in confusion. As soon as she regained her senses, she was hit by a restriction spell, her legs freezing and making her kneel on the ground. Gu Fuyou was also struck soon after.

If Gu Fuyou had tried to carry her out immediately, they wouldn’t have made it to the door before the formation turned them into ice statues. But now they were safe, indicating that Gu Fuyou had chosen to break the formation first.

Gu Fuyou poked the fire, adding a couple more logs. When she heard the question, she replied casually, “Yeah. It was really close. We almost didn’t make it out.”

Zhong Michu stared intently at Gu Fuyou, the reflection of the firelight making her light-colored eyes shimmer, “How did you find the formation’s weakness?”

Smiling, Gu Fuyou explained, “It was luck. At the time, we were both under the restriction, our bodies frozen. But I noticed that Ah Fu had no frost on him. I wondered what made him different from us and why he wasn’t affected.”

“There were two differences. First, Ah Fu is a spirit beast, and we are humans.”

Zhong Michu’s calm gaze wavered slightly, her hand gently stroking Ah Fu’s back. “And the other?”

Gu Fuyou continued, “Second, Ah Fu had just been born and hadn’t opened his eyes yet. Considering the first point, there are some formations targeting specific races, but they are rare. So, I focused on the second point. As it turned out, there is an ancient formation similar to the one in the ice chamber.”

“Senior Sister Zhong, have you heard of the ‘Resentful Woman Formation’?”

Zhong Michu’s brows frowned, unsure if she was pondering what kind of formation it was or why it had such a crude name.

Gu Fuyou continued, “Or you might know it as the ‘Stone Maiden Formation.'”

Suddenly, recognition flashed across Zhong Michu’s face, “I’ve heard of it.”

Legend has it that this formation was created by a couple. This couple, both powerful immortals, were once deeply in love, promising to be together for life.

The wife’s celestial beauty, once as enchanting as a fairy, became tiresome to her husband. He began seeking other women.

Initially, the wife hoped to win back his affection. Once, when he went to secretly meet his lover, she invited two of their friends to help persuade him to return.

But the husband, humiliated and angry, argued that many men had multiple wives and concubines. Although he had taken another lover, he hadn’t brought her home. His wife was still his only official spouse, so he felt he wasn’t being too unfaithful.

She, on the other hand, had aired their private affairs to outsiders, which he felt ruined his reputation. Any remaining guilt dissipated, leaving only resentment. He publicly scolded her as a “resentful woman” in front of his lover and their friends, even resorting to physical violence.

The wife was a proud woman who couldn’t tolerate deceit. She had tried to persuade him only for the sake of their long-standing relationship, but his reaction left her heartbroken and resolute.

The deeper the love, the deeper the hatred, and now she wanted revenge.

While the husband was more powerful, the wife was a master of formations. She painstakingly created a formation specifically for him.

The unique aspect of this formation was its deeply hidden nature, yet the key to it—the formation’s core—was placed in the most obvious location.

Once someone entered the formation, their attention would be drawn to the formation’s core. Just a glance would trigger the restriction spell, causing the body to gradually turn to stone from the legs up, eventually becoming a complete statue.

The wife used a beautiful woman as the core of the formation. The husband, seeing a beauty, would naturally lower his guard. The formation was so powerful that he unknowingly fell into the trap, unable to escape, turning into a stone statue, and the wife took her own life afterward.

Though the formation was passed down, it was rarely used due to its malicious nature. The name “Resentful Woman Formation” stuck, but later, finding it too crude, people renamed it “Stone Maiden Formation.”

The icy chamber was filled with ice sculptures, with a breathtakingly beautiful woman lying at its center. Anyone who unknowingly wandered in would be on high alert, their senses heightened, observing every strange detail.

The ice platform and the woman in the center were the most peculiar and eye-catching. Even a casual glance would draw their attention, ensuring they couldn’t avoid her gaze.

Gu Fuyou and Zhong Michu had seen her, hence the frost on their bodies. It was precisely because Ah Fu hadn’t seen it that he avoided the trap.

Furthermore, all the ice statues were facing that woman. Clearly, after seeing her and falling into this trap, they were unable to flee in their panic and were frozen in place.

Gu Fuyou remarked, “The Stone Maiden Formation is very similar to the one in the ice chamber, differing only in their elements—one freezes, the other petrifies. Such formations focus all their power on the core, which is both the strongest and weakest point. It has the most potent attack and the weakest defense. Once the core is broken, the entire formation collapses.”

After finishing, Gu Fuyou glanced at Zhong Michu, who had her head slightly lowered, her long eyelashes casting shadows under the firelight.

Zhong Michu said, “But the core wasn’t the woman.”

Even though she was in a daze at that time and saw things hazily, she had heard the sound of jade breaking when Gu Fuyou broke the formation.

Gu Fuyou rested her elbows on her knees, her face in her hands, and said, “The core doesn’t necessarily have to be the woman. Anything that catches the intruder’s eye could serve as the core—like the gold phoenix crown or the green feathered robes on the woman. As long as it’s noticeable, it works.”

“How did you identify the core?”

Instead of answering directly, Gu Fuyou playfully dodged the question, asking, “Senior Sister Zhong, did you figure out the identity of that woman?”

The fire cracked, and a log at the bottom snapped with a loud bang.

Zhong Michu looked up and said, “The Azure Phoenix Clan.”