Chapter 197
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Chapter 197: The False Paper Folder
“Go!”
“Get out of this black fog first!”
While maintaining the Great Sun Magical Mirror’s domain, Yan Zhanpeng rushed toward the outskirts with his subordinates. Their plan was to break free from the fog’s grip and regroup later.
Since the shadow monsters could only survive within the black fog, and the mirror’s power evaporated the mist to block their approach, escape seemed likely.
But just as they strained to flee, a voice cut through the air:
“Need a ride?”
They turned to see a carriage parked nearby, its driver—a man with empty eyes—gesturing stiffly at Chu Hongxuan’s group. A human working calmly in this cursed place felt utterly unnatural. Normally, they’d ignore it.
Yet something twisted happened. As the driver waved, one of their own—Yuan Lu—stumbled toward the carriage like a sleepwalker.
“Yuan Lu! Stop!”
“It’s another cursed thing!”
“Drag him back—move!”
“Pure Yang Flames—burn!”
Chu Hongxuan’s group had no interest in fighting. They cleansed Yuan Lu’s dazed state with the evil-repelling flames and bolted, leaving the driver seething behind them. Soon, the black fog swallowed everything again.
“We made it…”
“This city’s crawling with horrors.”
“Not just horrors—Mu Lin’s the real nightmare. He commands them.”
Trembling Yuhu Academy students exchanged fearful glances, their rivalry spirit crushed.
Yan Zhanpeng frowned at their defeatism. He stepped forward, voice steady:
“Fools who meddle with taboos drown in them. Controlling cursed beings always backfires. Hold out long enough, and Mu Lin will rot from within. We’ll watch him destroy himself.”
“True… no one tames the cursed forever—”
“Friends! Need a ride?”
The driver’s hollow voice sliced through their conversation. Students screamed—somehow, the carriage now blocked their path ahead, its driver reaching toward them.
“?!!”
“How?!”
“Run—it’s here!”
The reappearance of the driver filled the people of Yuhu Academy with unease.
Soon, their fears proved justified as ominous events unfolded.
While retreating from the encroaching black fog, the driver kept materializing ahead, beckoning to them.
Each wave of his hand caused someone to trance-walk toward him.
This alone might not have terrified them.
What truly frightened them were the cascading bizarre incidents that followed the driver’s appearances.
“Big brother, let’s play ball.”
A bloodied head suddenly rolled out of the fog like a leather ball, bouncing toward Yan Zhanpeng’s group.
Catching and returning it caused no harm, but failure meant immediate consequences – someone from Chu Hongxuan’s team would claw at their own skull in terror, attempting to rip it off as replacement.
“Save me!”
The Qi Practitioners’ magic offered temporary resistance, while Yuance’s Pure Yang Flames proved particularly effective against evil spirits. Even the body-controlling strange powers could be burned away by his flames.
Yet the victim still perished.
The ball-game spirit wasn’t their only pursuer.
As Yuance moved, echoing footsteps haunted him – speeding when he hurried, slowing when he paused. Though nearly synchronized, the steps always stayed half-beat faster, threatening to overtake him.
Normally unfazed by such hauntings, Yuance made fatal contact when turning to rescue a subordinate.
This accidental glance activated the spirit’s killing mechanism, allowing invasion of his body. Though he purged the possessing force with Pure Yang Flames, the brief delay proved deadly – his subordinate had already torn off his own head and lobbed it into the fog.
“Bastard!”
“Big brother, let’s play ball.”
“Need transportation?”
“Zhanpeng! I’m your mother! Help me…”
“Kill them first or we’ll never escape!”
Between the coachman spirit, stalking footsteps, and bouncing skulls – compounded by the ever-present black fog – some considered making a final stand against the encroaching horrors.
They soon reconsidered.
Yan Zhanpeng’s ashen face revealed their grim realization: this was merely the prologue.
While Yuance incinerated the ball-game spirit and chased the coachman, fresh horrors emerged from all directions.
Inky shadows swallowed Chu Hongxuan’s subordinates without sound.
Abandoned houses yawned open along their path, inviting entry.
Even the streets turned against them. Chu Hongxuan narrowed eyes at familiar crossroads.
“Wait – haven’t we passed this intersection before?”
“Did we?”
“I recognize these buildings.”
“Ghost-blocked path?”
No matter their speed, the group kept returning to the same junction. Worse yet, their numbers had dwindled – the street had separated them.
“How is Mu Lin controlling so many spirits?!”
Fury, despair, and bafflement warred within Yuance’s group. They couldn’t comprehend Mu Lin’s manipulation of multiple horrors.
Had they asked, Mu Lin would have clarified: control wasn’t required.
Spirits lacked human cunning – they could be baited.
His paper figures exuded the vitality of the living, drawing horrors toward Chu Hongxuan’s group. Once lured, the spirits attacked autonomously.
Moreover, Mu Lin discovered spirits could transport other spirits. The coachman spirit’s carriage became his delivery system – using its soul-summoning ability, he loaded passengers into the ghostly vehicle, ferrying them straight to his targets.
This "spirit ride-sharing" service provided Chu Hongxuan’s group with over a dozen supernatural "playmates".
"Enjoy yourselves. Don’t worry about running out – the city’s full of partners for your games."
Observing their struggles, Mu Lin reassessed his craft.
Fake paper folders hid in shadows, using paper dolls to curse enemies.
True masters manipulated appearances, sowed discord, and turned foes against each other.
Why fight directly when you could make enemies destroy themselves? This revelation embodied the true essence of the Yin Eight Sect.
