Screaming Soul Blood Silk Array

Chirping ghostly sounds rang in his ears, and the chilling wind billowed as if he had fallen into a nether prison. This time, He Ping saw clearly: what flew out from the ancestral hall's main gate were nothing but white silk ribbons of varying lengths.

"...White silk?"

The ribbons moved like living creatures, or perhaps a sky full of flying serpents, gathering and dispersing, surging out from the darkness until, in an instant, they transformed into a dense, overwhelming sea of white shadows sweeping toward him.

"The sheer number of them is just too much!!"

He didn't even have the chance to unsheathe his Milo Blade before the massive wave of silk surged before his eyes.

With a "crackling" sound like a bursting bonfire, several paper puppets holding lanterns released Cursed Spirit Flames. Suddenly, green flames shot into the sky, and several clusters of Green Phosphorus Ghost Fire ignited in response. Before the white silk could even draw near, it began to burn in mid-air.

Great swaths of Green Phosphorus Ghost Fire flew out from the white paper lanterns, their eerie, glowing hue—like molten blue glass—remaining constant. When the firelight illuminated the ancestral hall's plaque, it cast a sickly, verdant sheen across it.

Inside the sedan, He Ping's pupils were also reflected in that ghostly green light.

His ten fingers hovered in the air, plucking at countless thin, invisible threads as if playing a zither. These myriad strands extended into the void, manipulating several paper puppets to perform distinct actions.

The puppets looked comical, yet their movements were far from stiff. They acted in perfect unison, advancing and retreating with the practiced precision of a play performed a thousand times over.

The white silk ribbons that flew through the air, despite their twists and turns, could not escape the erosion of the Cursed Spirit Flames. Instead, under the illumination of the green fire, they thinned and dissipated. Amidst the "hissing" sound of them burning away, there seemed to be faint, resentful murmurs and gloomy curses.

Directly in front of the ancestral hall, the countless white ribbons that continued to fly out were either scorched or burst apart in mid-air, transforming into swarms of butterflies that fluttered gracefully, darted forward to slash at the ground, or slammed against the puppets' Armor-Clad Spirit Light, causing the air to crackle with faint "pitter-patter" sounds.

The white silk was light and soft, yet driven by a bizarre force, it drifted and roamed through the air like serpents. However, the tips of the ribbons gradually turned a dark red, as if stained with blood, and radiated a scorching heat like burning embers.

Yet, the Armor-Clad Spirit Light proved superior. Once the puppets activated the light, they not only gained a massive boost in strength but were also endowed with an impenetrable defense, allowing them to withstand these eerie ribbons head-on.

Sssssssss!

The sheer density of the white silk was overwhelming, and some had already closed in on the rear of the paper sedan. He Ping lowered the curtain, letting the ribbons pierce through the air in a sky-covering barrage.

In front of the sedan, a faint white light suddenly flared. The silk ribbons, which could pierce and shred wood and stone like rotten soil, struck what felt like an invisible wall of solid bronze.

The restriction formed by the Armor-Clad Spirit Light was stern and heavy, nearly as solid as a fortress. This was the unique aspect of the Paper Puppet Spirit Technique: once the ritual was successful, the qi of every puppet became linked, as if they had merged into a single entity.

The puppets' Armor-Clad Spirit Light was a product of this puppetry; a single puppet was not strong, but when twenty-five were gathered together, their qi connected into one. To break through this defense without completely exhausting their qi was impossible.

Furthermore, the Armor-Clad Spirit Light of these paper puppets could be imbued onto the paper sedan itself. As long as He Ping sat inside, he was protected by the "Spirit Light."

"What a pity. I wonder why this Armor-Clad Spirit Light only works on inanimate objects. If it could be applied directly to my own body, how much would my defense increase...?"

He Ping felt helpless about this. He suspected that the Armor-Clad Spirit Light wasn't meant for the living, but rather that its defensive effects would only manifest on him once he had become a living puppet himself.

In the brief moment he spent in contemplation, the many ribbons outside had been cleared away by the puppets. However, within the ancient ancestral hall's main gate, the light grew increasingly dim, and shadowy white figures seemed to drift about.

He Ping knew those white figures were the ribbons hanging from the rafters. These ribbons appeared overly aged, and some were stained with tiny, plum-blossom-like spots.

"...The Screaming Soul Blood Silk Array?"

He Ping was thoughtful.

In the past, he had heard Wu Yousheng mention a "ghost array" belonging to the heterodox paths that seemed somewhat similar to the layout of this ancestral hall.

"What did that scoundrel Wu Yousheng say before... 'The Screaming Soul Blood Silk Array must hide a fierce spirit within, using the fierce spirit to drive ghosts and ghosts to serve ghosts. Its methods are even similar to the puppetry of the Immortal Puppet Sect'..."

—Wait, could it be that this Wandering Soul Village and this ancestral hall truly have no master, but are instead an empty array that refines ghosts using "ghosts"?

"It's so powerful even without anyone presiding over the array!"

Suddenly, a sense of horror rose involuntarily in He Ping's heart. His chest felt as if it were being crushed by a giant boulder, making it hard to breathe. He abruptly raised his eyes and saw a figure in black holding an umbrella in the main hall of the ancestral hall.

He could not see the figure's face, only catching glimpses of gray-white hair appearing and disappearing beneath the rotating black umbrella.

Beneath the long hem of the black robe, the tips of withered black cloth shoes were visible. The soles stepped lightly on the ground, closing the distance bit by bit.

The white ribbons in the hall had vaguely transformed from white shadows into the figures of women. They were slender and graceful, their chins and necks hanging from the dangling white silk, their feet suspended in the air, swaying slightly.

What made it truly bizarre was that from He Ping's angle, he could only see the white shadows and the feet hanging in the air after the women had hanged themselves; he could see nothing more... but the countless figures hanging from the rafters, the groaning of the beams under the unbearable weight, and the dense forest of hanging women's embroidered shoes were enough to make one's scalp crawl.

The figures of the hanged women were shadowy like phantoms or white smoke. As the figure under the umbrella walked slowly, those illusory white shadows were instantly severed and sucked into the black-robed figure's body.

The ancestral hall seemed to have an invisible barrier; these shadows had nowhere to escape. As they were drawn into the umbrella-bearing figure, they seemed to tremble slightly, as if in great pain.

With every white shadow the black-robed figure absorbed, its form shifted from dim and hazy to increasingly solid.

On the other side, He Ping felt the pressure mount. The surrounding air seemed to grow heavy, and the pressure in front of him became as thick as a wall, making it difficult to approach... He felt a slight shock, realizing he had been locked onto by the "Screaming Soul Blood Silk Array."

"I understand now. It's not that there is no one presiding over it, but that a fierce spirit is hidden at the eye of the ghost array to act as the master. The 'Screaming Soul Blood Silk Array' is the main array, and there is a secondary array in the ghost domain of the village outside. This array is extremely vicious; any living person who enters the village will be devoured by the swarm of ghosts. Even if they escape, they will run into the main array in the ancestral hall and surely die!!"

Yet, He Ping's expression remained calm, save for his deep, dark eyes, which flashed with a cold, sharp light under the reflection of the green lantern flames.

"However, can a masterless, empty array like this really stop me?"