Chapter 197 – The Fake Paper Artisan

“Go!”

“Get out of this Black Mist first!”

While maintaining the Great Sun Mirror’s Domain, Yan Zhanpeng led his subordinates, swiftly charging outward.

They intended to shake off the entanglement of the Black Mist and then plan their next move carefully.

Since the monster reflections could only exist within the Black Mist, and the Great Sun Mirror could evaporate the mist, preventing the reflected monsters from entering, their chances of a successful escape were quite high.

However, just as they were straining every nerve to break free, a voice suddenly rang out beside them.

“Need a ride?”

Following the sound, everyone discovered that, at some unknown moment, a carriage had stopped by the roadside. An expressionless coachman was raising his hand, beckoning toward Chu Hongxuan and the others.

In this eerie place, a human suddenly appeared, and that human was going about his work as if nothing were amiss. This scene seemed utterly bizarre no matter how one looked at it.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, Chu Hongxuan and his group would have ignored it.

Yet, something strange occurred. As the coachman waved, someone in Chu Hongxuan’s team seemed to lose their soul, walking straight toward the coachman.

“Yuan Lu, what are you doing? Come back!”

“Be careful, this is also an Anomaly!”

“Pull him back, let’s go quickly!”

“Pure Yang Flame, burn!”

Without any intention of confronting the Anomaly, Chu Hongxuan’s group relied on the Pure Yang Flame, which repels all evil, to cleanse their subordinate’s soul-loss affliction. Then, they continued charging forward, leaving behind the coachman, whose eyes were filled with resentment, glaring fiercely at them.

As they departed, the Black Mist soon enveloped everything.

“Whew, we finally shook it off…”

“There are so many Anomalies in this city.”

“It’s not that there are many Anomalies; it’s that Mu Lin is too terrifying. He can actually manipulate Anomalies.”

At this point, many Disciples of the Jade Lake Dao Academy were trembling. The horrifying Mu Lin had stripped them of any desire to contend with him.

This low morale was not what Yan Zhanpeng wanted. Therefore, as everyone’s fighting spirit waned, he stepped forward proactively and spoke with a light laugh:

“Those who provoke taboos will inevitably be tainted by them… Anomalies are not so easily controlled. As long as we persist long enough, Mu Lin will suffer backlash. By then, without us even lifting a finger, he will meet his own end.”

“You’re right. Those who attempt to harness Anomalies are bound to face misfortune…”

“Everyone, need a ride?”

Yan Zhanpeng’s words gave some courage to the ordinary Disciples of the Jade Lake Dao Academy.

But just as their courage began to rise, a familiar greeting sounded beside them once again.

Then, those ordinary Disciples discovered in horror that, at some unknown moment, the eerie coachman had actually appeared ahead of them, beckoning to them again.

“?!?!”

“How are you here?”

“Monster, let’s go quickly…”

The coachman’s second appearance made everyone at the Jade Lake Dao Academy sense something amiss.

And soon, they realized their guess was correct—something truly unfortunate was happening.

As the Black Mist pressed in relentlessly, the coachman continuously appeared ahead of them, waving his hand.

And each time he waved, someone would walk toward him as if they had lost their soul.

Of course, if it were only this, they wouldn’t have been afraid.

What terrified them was that, after the coachman, one bizarre incident after another kept occurring around them.

“Brother, let’s play catch with the ball.”

A blood-red head, like a ball, abruptly emerged from the Black Mist and was thrown toward Yan Zhanpeng and the others.

If they caught the ball and threw it back, everything would be fine. But if they failed to catch it, someone in Chu Hongxuan’s team would immediately reach out with trembling hands, filled with terror, and begin to pull at their own head.

They intended to tear off their own head and throw it back as a ball.

“Save me!”

Fortunately, Qi Refiners possessed Mana, allowing them to resist to some extent. Moreover, Yuan Ce’s Pure Yang Flame was indeed a natural counter to Evil Aberrations. Even the peculiar Anomalous power that manipulated the human body could be incinerated by Yuan Ce’s Pure Yang Flame.

Yet, in the end, that person still died.

The Anomalies targeting Chu Hongxuan and his group were not limited to the Ball Anomaly alone.

As Yuan Ce walked, he could constantly hear footsteps echoing behind him. When he walked quickly, the footsteps quickened; when he slowed down, the footsteps slowed as well.

Although their movements were somewhat synchronized, the footsteps always remained slightly ahead of Yuan Ce’s pace. Before long, Yuan Ce would inevitably be overtaken by the Anomaly behind him.

Of course, Yuan Ce was not afraid of these footsteps.

But when he turned to rescue someone, he inadvertently looked back.

This single glance triggered the Anomaly’s killing mechanism, allowing it to invade Yuan Ce’s body.

Although he ultimately incinerated the Anomaly attempting to control him with his Pure Yang Flame, in that brief moment, his subordinate had already torn off their own head and thrown it back into the Black Mist.

“Bastard!”

“Brother, let’s play catch with the ball.”

“Need a ride?”

“Zhan Peng, I’m your mother, save me…”

“Kill them first, otherwise we won’t be able to escape!”

The Carriage Anomaly, the Footsteps Anomaly, the Ball Anomaly… along with the boundless Black Mist Anomaly—these things were already difficult to deal with, making escape nearly impossible. As a result, some were already considering fighting the Anomalies here.

But soon, they abandoned this idea.

Yan Zhanpeng and the others discovered, with grim expressions, that this was only the beginning.

While Yuan Ce used his Pure Yang Flame to eliminate the Ball Anomaly and pursued the Carriage Driver Anomaly, other Anomalies began to wander over from all directions.

Dark shadows silently spread, pulling Chu Hongxuan’s subordinates into the darkness.

Strange houses, with their doors wide open, blocked their path ahead, waiting for them to enter.

Even the roads could become Anomalies. At one moment, as they stepped onto a street, Chu Hongxuan suddenly narrowed his eyes.

“Wait, something’s wrong. Haven’t we passed this intersection before?”

“Have we?”

“I think I remember it too. We definitely passed through here.”

“A ghost wall?”

Unable to escape this street, no matter how fast Chu Hongxuan and the others ran, they would always return to the same intersection.

What made it even more frustrating was that this time, not everyone was trapped on the street—only a few were caught in this predicament.

They… had been separated.

“Damn it, how did that Mu Lin do it? How is he controlling so many Anomalies?”

Anger, helplessness, frustration, and disbelief—these were the emotions Yuan Ce and the others felt.

They could not understand how Mu Lin had orchestrated the attacks of so many Anomalies against them.

Regarding this, Mu Lin only wanted to say that things weren’t as difficult as he had imagined, and at the same time, he wasn’t controlling all the Anomalies himself.

Since Anomalies lack human intelligence, they can be lured.

Earlier, Mu Lin had the Paper Figures emit the aura of living humans, luring some Anomalies to the vicinity of Chu Hongxuan and the others.

Once there, Mu Lin didn’t need to do much more. Upon Sensing the aura of living humans, those Anomalies would take the initiative to attack.

Aside from using Paper Figures to lure them, Mu Lin also discovered that Anomalies could be used to transport other Anomalies.

For example, the Coachman Anomaly wasn’t just a coachman—it also had a carriage.

After barely managing to control it, Mu Lin could use the coachman’s Soul Summoning ability to make some Anomalies board the carriage. Then, through the carriage, he could transport the riding Anomalies to the front of Chu Hongxuan and the others.

With this “ride-hailing” method, Mu Lin found over a dozen playmates for Chu Hongxuan and the others.

“I hope you all have fun and enjoy yourselves thoroughly. But if you don’t, that’s fine too—there are still plenty of Anomalies in the city. You can play for as long as you want.”

While watching Chu Hongxuan and the others struggle amidst the horde of Anomalies, Mu Lin also realized something.

Previously, he had completely misunderstood the combat style of the Paper Artisan Lineage.

The fake Paper Artisan hides in the shadows, using Paper Figures to confront enemies and employing curses to harm others covertly.

The true Paper Artisan uses Paper Figures to disguise, sows discord, and pits enemies against each other—driving wolves to devour tigers.

To deal with enemies, Mu Lin didn’t need to lift a finger himself. Luring enemies to fight one another—that was the true essence of the Yin Eight Gates.

PS: During the May Day holiday, guests arrived early at home. I spent the whole day hosting them and had no time to write. My apologies to everyone.

I’ll try to resume updates tomorrow.

(End of Chapter)