Chapter 115 – Mu Lin: Why Should I Go Find Him?

When speaking of the anomalies in Quanshi City, Qi Qiu seemed to recall something, a faint smile appearing on his face.

“Speaking of which, I happen to know about what happened in Quanshi City. That malevolent ghost is no ordinary foe. If your disciple lacks special means, he is in grave danger this time.”

These words caught Dongfang Ya’s attention, but knowing Qi Qiu would not share what he knew, she did not bother asking further. Instead, she focused a bit more intently on the projection.

As the two conversed, the paper figure army had already arrived at Quanshi Tavern.

Upon first seeing these pale, eerie paper figures, Wan Yangyu was greatly startled, thinking evil spirits had launched an attack.

But soon, he saw that upon encountering Mu Lin, the paper figures stood upright in unison and respectfully reported to him, “Report, the decoy squad has returned. A total of nineteen malevolent ghost attacks were lured, and thirteen malevolent ghosts were sealed.”

Hearing this, Mu Lin said nothing.

To reduce consumption, the paper figures used as decoys were not bestowed with the divine offices of Ghost Messengers or Yin Soldiers.

They were not even Yellow Turban Warriors; in essence, they were no different from ordinary farmers.

By conventional reasoning, such figures stood no chance against malevolent ghosts.

The reason for their remarkable achievements was that Mu Lin had pre-inscribed a mystical art on the paper figures—Paper Figure Soul Seal.

During his month-long secluded cultivation, although Mu Lin spent most of his time practicing the Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture and refining mana, his meridians had limited capacity. Thus, he set aside time each day to practice mystical arts or meditate.

Though this cultivation was somewhat scattered, over the course of a month, the Paper Figure Soul Seal mystical art still reached the third realm.

【Paper Figure Soul Seal: 3rd Realm Expert (493/6300), Traits: Soul Seal, Soul Suppression, Soul Expulsion】

This mystical art was similar in grade to Paper Figure Curse, and both were equally malevolent.

Yes, malevolent.

Mu Lin was unclear about the specifics of the Soul Sealing Art from other sects.

However, the ultimate goal of the Soul Sealing Art in the Yin Eight Gates Paper Artisan Lineage was never merely sealing, but rather control.

Using paper figures incurred consumption, and the more powerful the paper figure, the greater the cost—especially since others lacked Mu Lin’s Grandmaster-level Paper Folding, Master-grade Painting, and Substitute Paper Figures capable of storing mana.

These numerous deficiencies made their consumption particularly high.

Scarcity breeds innovation. The lack of mana led the predecessors of the Paper Artisan Lineage to contemplate how to reduce the demands of paper figures.

Paper Figure Soul Seal was the method they derived.

Although malevolent ghosts were aggregates of negative energy, negative energy was still energy.

By sealing malevolent ghosts within paper figures and merging them through special techniques, the Paper Artisan would no longer consume their own mana when using the paper figures but rather that of the malevolent ghosts.

Moreover, since malevolent ghosts were formed from the transformation of souls, they possessed some degree of consciousness. By sealing malevolent ghosts within paper figures, the Paper Artisan could even skip the step of bestowing consciousness.

Through Paper Figure Soul Seal, the Paper Artisans of the Yin Eight Gates Lineage could summon hundreds, or even thousands, of paper figures at once, much like necromancers.

This was also why this mystical art, along with Paper Figure Curse and Substitute Paper Figure, was regarded as one of the three foundational mystical arts of the Paper Artisan.

As for why such a powerful Mystical Art was deemed evil by Mu Lin, it was because Malevolent Ghosts were difficult to find and even harder to capture. Moreover, due to being tainted by negative energies such as evil qi, Baleful Qi, Resentment, and so on, most Malevolent Ghosts harbored hatred for everything. Even after being captured and sealed within Paper Figures, Paper Artisans like Mu Lin still had to expend immense mental effort to suppress them.

Furthermore, spending years alongside Malevolent Ghosts would gradually twist the temperament of Mu Lin and others, leading them toward corruption.

Compared to risking their lives to subdue Malevolent Ghosts and constantly resisting their influence, most Paper Artisans preferred sealing the souls of living humans.

Paper Figure Soul Seal was capable of extracting a living person’s soul and directly sealing it within a Paper Figure.

‘This art is also the reason why the Paper Artisan Lineage has a poor reputation…’

While recalling the details of Paper Figure Soul Seal, Mu Lin turned his gaze to the Paper Figure before him.

“Hum…”

“Release me…”

As Mu Lin willed it, a Paper Figure slightly loosened the Paper Figure Soul Seal, creating an opening that allowed the Malevolent Ghost within to manifest in the outside world.

The moment it emerged, the Malevolent Ghost struggled frantically, filled with hatred as it threatened Mu Lin.

“Human, release me, or else, when my master arrives, you will all die…”

“Master? So the Malevolent Ghosts in Quanshi City indeed have a source… Who is your master?”

Naturally, the Malevolent Ghost before him did not answer such a question.

What made Mu Lin narrow his eyes was that as he questioned the Malevolent Ghost, Wan Yangyu and the others nearby stood up, their gazes turning dangerous.

Clearly, they understood that matters had reached a critical juncture.

If Mu Lin could uncover the mastermind behind this from the Malevolent Ghost before him, he would have the opportunity to gather forces and eliminate the source of the Malevolent Ghosts in Quanshi City.

This would be a good thing for Quanshi City and Mu Lin, but it was not what Wan Yangyu and his group wanted to see.

Thus, they intended to obstruct.

The moment killing intent arose, Mu Lin sensed it immediately. Consequently, the Paper Figures in Quanshi Tavern all turned their gazes toward Wan Yangyu and the others.

Mu Lin’s calm, eerie voice followed.

“Do you wish to act?”

“…Not at all, I merely wish to assist.”

As he spoke, Wan Yangyu also stood up.

He still did not want to openly confront Mu Lin, preferring instead to find an opportunity to ‘accidentally’ destroy the Paper Figure and the Malevolent Ghost.

‘If no opportunity arises, we can use our hatred for Malevolent Ghosts and unwillingness to let them live as a pretext to forcibly eliminate these Malevolent Ghosts. In any case, we must not allow Mu Lin to obtain information about the mastermind.’

‘Understood, Captain.’

‘Rest assured, we won’t let him pass so easily…’

While communicating with and instructing his teammates, Wan Yangyu, now standing, began walking toward Mu Lin.

Then, just as he took his first step, Wan Yangyu smiled.

‘It seems we won’t need to intervene.’

As Mu Lin turned to look at Wan Yangyu, the Malevolent Ghost within the Paper Figure suddenly underwent a drastic change in temperament.

Originally, the Malevolent Ghost sealed within the Paper Figure was violent, hateful, shrouded in Resentment, and layered with boundless madness.

Now, although this Paper Figure was still entangled with malevolent energy and endless Resentment, it had gained a measure of rationality and even a domineering aura.

Clearly, the mastermind behind the scenes had detected the capture of their subordinate and, through some means, had projected their own consciousness onto the Malevolent Ghost.

After the consciousness transfer, the Malevolent Ghost stared directly at Mu Lin and said coldly, “Using Paper Cranes to distract attention, then luring with the old and young—your methods are clever, human. But unfortunately, your strength is too low.”

“Gushing Spring, with such strength, you cannot contend with me.”

“I offer you a chance. If you retreat now, I will let bygones be bygones. But if you dare act again, this day next year will be your death anniversary!”

“Boom!”

As the words fell, a formidable aura emanated from the Malevolent Ghost. Clearly, the source of the Malevolent Ghosts in Quanshi City intended to overwhelm Mu Lin with its presence and force him to retreat.

In reality, this might have succeeded.

A Gushing Spring facing a Spirit Pool was simply not on the same level. Even if Mu Lin left, the punishment he would receive would not be severe.

On the other hand, advancing forward would mean that a normal Qi Refiner had an eighty to ninety percent chance of losing their life.

Thus, the mastermind’s threat was not without reason.

However, this was not reality but an Illusion Realm. Here, death merely meant exiting the realm. Its threat, therefore, became a joke.

“You plan to kill me? I’m right here. Come at me.”

The fearless words caused the Malevolent Ghost’s eyes to turn icy and dark.

“You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. Human, you have chosen the path of death. At midnight tonight, I will surely kill you!”

“Bang!”

As the words ended, the Malevolent Ghost captured by Mu Lin’s Paper Figure Soul Seal instantly exploded.

And this was only the beginning. “Bang, bang, bang…” By some unknown means, the other Malevolent Ghosts captured by Mu Lin also exploded into wisps of smoke amid agonized screams.

“No…”

“I don’t want to die…”

“Save me, our master is… bang…”

In a short time, all the Malevolent Ghosts captured by Mu Lin had completely dissipated.

This scene nearly made Wan Yangyu burst into laughter, but he quickly adjusted his emotions and said with a touch of ‘sorrow,’ “What a pity, Brother Mu. You were so close to succeeding just now.”

These words did not anger Mu Lin. He glanced calmly at Wan Yangyu and replied indifferently,

“There was no ‘close.’ I have already succeeded.”

“Huh??”

Mu Lin’s response left Wan Yangyu stunned, and he instinctively clenched his fists.

If anyone else had claimed they hadn’t failed after what just happened, Wan Yangyu would never have believed it, thinking they were merely being stubborn.

But Mu Lin—his abilities were too bizarre, too mysterious and unpredictable.

If he said he had succeeded, Wan Yangyu… dared not disbelieve him.

And this made him anxious.

“Do you know who the mastermind is?”

“Not yet, but I have memorized the aura. If I want to find him, I can.”

This sounded like an empty boast, but Wan Yangyu was still willing to believe it.

Thus, he said, “Brother Mu, what skillful methods. When you go to find the mastermind later, I would like to accompany you and face the enemy together…”

Since he couldn’t stop Mu Lin from finding the source of the Malevolent Ghosts in Quanshi City, Wan Yangyu planned to seize the opportunity to cause trouble once they arrived.

At the same time, he also believed that Mu Lin would not refuse.

After all, Quanshi City was only so large. If Mu Lin were to confront the mastermind, he would inevitably gather a team.

With so many people acting together, it would be impossible to conceal the plan. By then, even if Mu Lin wanted to stop him, Wan Yangyu could still go along.

Therefore, he thought Mu Lin wouldn’t waste effort refusing.

But what Mu Lin said next was something he never expected, and even those outside the Tower of Illusory Heavens were stunned by his words.

“Find the culprit? Why should I go looking for it?”

Wan Yangyu: “…”

Qi Qiu: “…”

Dongfang Ya: “…”

(End of Chapter)