The sky was perpetually gray, with a pale, ghastly sun hanging motionless in the air.
The silhouettes of the distant ruins loomed faintly in the mist. Those broken walls and withered bones jutting into the sky had stood in silence for countless years.
Chen Zhou walked among the group, his steps calm and steady.
The entrance to the Myriad Ghost Array was not far ahead.
Chen Zhou looked up. In the distance, beneath the gray canopy of the sky, six pillars of light were soaring into the heavens.
The colors of the light pillars were intense and blinding. Six blurry figures wrapped in their respective halos were rushing toward them at lightning speed, carrying a thick, palpable intent to kill.
Plague Rat cursed under his breath. “We ran into these filthy things again. They must be guarding the entrance and exit of the array.”
The lineup was exactly the same as last time.
“Prepare for battle,” Jian Huaishuang said, drawing his sword.
But Chen Zhou waved his hand. “No need to be so tense.”
They had more than enough people this time, so there was no real pressure.
Dou Mu Xie and Mao Ri Ji would use their combined solar and lunar radiance to entangle the enemy, Jiao Mu Jiao would tie down Kui Mu Lang, Nü Tu Fu would launch a group attack on Bi Yue Wu's shadow clones, Wing-Fire Snake would pin down Zui Huo Hou, and Taotie would tank Wei Tu Zhi's snipes.
Meanwhile, Chen Zhou himself would take Shen Liang to deal with the most troublesome opponent first: Shen Shui Yuan, who had already mutated into a white form.
Once the tactical assignments were made, the entire execution took less than the time it took for a stick of incense to burn.
The joint offensive of the Six Mansions was easily repelled by Chen Zhou and his group in short order.
After Shen Shui Yuan was slain once more, Chen Zhou quickly fell back to assist. After putting down the other five Mansions one by one, he withdrew his hand and glanced at Kui Mu Lang, who was slowly dragging himself up from the ground in the distance.
“Let's go before they recover.”
Shen Liang had kept his eyes glued to Shen Shui Yuan the entire time. Hearing Chen Zhou's command, he instantly felt a wave of relief wash over him and took large strides toward the Myriad Ghost Array.
Excellent. He hadn't come into contact with Shen Shui Yuan.
He hadn't lost control.
The others followed closely behind, quickly arriving at the edge of the Myriad Ghost Array.
The outline of the array was much clearer than last time.
The realm barrier here was warped into a bizarre state. The translucent, gray membrane was covered in dense, intricate patterns, resembling a sheet of paper that had been repeatedly folded and unfolded, leaving behind countless layered creases.
Upon closer inspection, those patterns somewhat resembled writing or some kind of totem. However, most of them were lines that seemed to have no regular pattern, intertwining to form an extremely complex whole.
Chen Zhou stood before the array, carefully observing the path of those lines.
Chen Zhou's knowledge of formations could only be considered introductory. Facing the Myriad Ghost Array before him, his basic understanding barely allowed him to discern a few patterns, but that was all.
The complexity of this array far exceeded his expectations.
Chen Zhou could only tell that it was not a standalone array, but rather composed of multiple nested sub-arrays.
The outermost layer was a trapping array, the middle layer was a killing array, and the innermost layer had sealing and weakening functions.
The transitions between these sub-arrays were incredibly well-hidden; touching any single part would affect the entire structure, making it rather tricky to handle.
Taotie and Shen Liang had already entered the array and were clearing out the dead souls surging from the realm barrier.
Those dead souls were even more frenzied than last time. In their thousands and tens of thousands, they crawled out of the gray membrane, reaching out with ghostly hands to claw at Chen Zhou's group.
Taotie swung his Severed Thought warhammer, scattering a swath of ghostly figures with every single strike.
Shen Liang's floodwaters swept over the dead souls, dragging wave after wave of malevolent ghosts into the depths to drown.
However, the speed at which they killed could not keep up with the rate at which the dead souls emerged.
Once dispersed, the dead souls would re-condense inside the gray membrane and crawl out again, crop after crop, impossible to fully clear.
“My Lord, are you ready yet? There are too many ghosts here!”
Plague Rat unleashed Great Plague Heaven around the perimeter of the array. A gray-green toxic mist blanketed the area, corroding the emerging dead souls into ashes.
However, using it this way consumed his death qi rapidly, and he wouldn't be able to sustain it for long.
Chen Zhou withdrew his gaze.
He stopped letting himself be distracted by the dead souls and focused all of his attention on the patterns of the array.
His fingertips slid slowly across the gray membrane as his perception traced the lines inward.
The first layer was the trapping array, with twelve nodes distributed around the perimeter.
The second layer was the killing array, with its core at three central points.
The third layer was the sealing array, and the place where the energy flow was most dense was...
As Chen Zhou searched, his fingertips stopped at a certain spot. The patterns there suddenly became extremely dense, like countless threads tied into a single knot.
That was likely the core area of the sealing array.
But as for how to dismantle it, he couldn't quite figure it out.
“My Lord!” Plague Rat shouted. “Not ready yet?”
“Almost,” Chen Zhou replied.
He raised his hand, condensing a stream of gray-white death qi at his fingertip, and jabbed it fiercely toward the knotted pattern.
The death qi pierced through layers of patterns, striking the core area.
A ripple spread across the surface of the barrier. The array runes flared briefly before dimming, and the blocking layer cracked open to reveal an extremely thin seam.
Chen Zhou channeled his death qi, slipping through the crack.
His perception passed through the crack, reaching behind the barrier.
Before him lay a massive array core, where countless streams of light intertwined and darted about like a giant spiderweb.
The streams of light possessed different colors: some glowed earthy yellow, some flickered ghostly blue, some shone with a blinding golden light, and others were as black as ink.
The various colored streams of light tangled together within the core, working in unison to maintain the operation of the entire array.
Chen Zhou counted them, confirming his suspicion.
Seven star-like points of light floated within the core, each emitting a different colored glow.
A thread of light extended from each point, connecting to a specific direction along the core's perimeter.
Chen Zhou's gaze fell upon the seven points of light.
He understood.
Those seven points of light were the true bodies of the Western Seven Mansions.
The light points for Lou-Metal Dog and Shen Shui Yuan had already turned white, indicating they were fully converted. Meanwhile, the other five Mansions were still in the process of conversion, relying on the energy of the Myriad Ghost Array to sustain varying degrees of transformation.
As long as these seven points of light were destroyed, the Seven Mansions outside would perish completely.
Chen Zhou also noticed that the arrangement of the seven light points was rather unusual; they were not evenly distributed.
Instead, they formed a structured array diagram, with a very faint shadow lying between them, subtly emitting a trace of dark light.
Chen Zhou stared at the dark light for a moment, a sudden realization striking him.
The color of that dark light was almost identical to the residual energy fluctuations of the shattered dead souls within the realm barrier outside.
“Found it,” Chen Zhou said, withdrawing his perception and opening his eyes.
He pointed toward the core of the array. “We enter from here.”
Shen Liang looked in the direction he pointed, but saw nothing but a gray, hazy membrane.
Yet, he didn't ask questions, simply nodding. “This subordinate will clear the way.”
The floodwaters beneath his feet surged violently, transforming into a wave that crashed against the membrane.
The moment the wave hit, ripples spread across the membrane's surface, and it split open to reveal a gap just wide enough for one person to pass through.
“In,” Chen Zhou said, taking the lead and stepping inside.
Taotie followed closely behind, Shen Liang brought up the rear, while Jian Huaishuang and Plague Rat secured the flanks.
Once everyone had passed through, the membrane slowly sealed shut again, locking the frenzied dead souls outside.
The world behind the gray membrane was quite different from what Chen Zhou had expected.
It was a shattered space.
Countless scene fragments floated in midair like shards of a broken mirror, each reflecting a different image.
Streets, residences, palaces, and farmlands were layered and intertwined, blending illusion and reality as they flickered in and out of existence.
Standing at the entrance, Shen Liang looked up at the fragments, his face suddenly turning pale.
“Is this...”
“Southern Tang?”
His gaze fell upon a fragment not far away. It depicted a small alley by a river. An old locust tree grew at the entrance of the alley, its dense branches and leaves casting shade over a bamboo chair placed beneath it.
He recognized that place.
Linhe Town. In the past, he would pass by that alley every day after work. During the summer, he would sit beneath the locust tree for a while, enjoying the river breeze and watching the sunset glow.
Shen Liang's Adam's apple bobbed. He didn't speak, but a faint flicker of emotion stirred within his pale eyes.
“Don't get distracted.”
Chen Zhou glanced at him. “The space here is highly unstable. If you step in the wrong place, you might get sucked into a spatial crack in the array.”
Shen Liang snapped out of it and gave a quiet assent. “Yes.”
Taotie didn't care about the shattered scenes around them in the slightest. He was greedily gulping down the ambient ghost qi floating in the air, his cheeks puffing out and collapsing as an expression of pure bliss spread across his face.
“This place is great!” Taotie smacked his lips. “The ghost qi is so thick and pure. It's perfect for ghost cultivators!”
Chen Zhou looked up at the floating fragments, carefully examining how they were connected.
Though the fragments seemed to float at random, Chen Zhou's close observation revealed a certain underlying logic to their arrangement.
An extremely thin thread of light extended from the edge of each fragment, connecting it to neighboring pieces and weaving an invisible net.
And the density of those light threads was visibly higher in certain areas than in others.
Chen Zhou condensed a wisp of death qi at his fingertip and reached toward the nearest fragment, which depicted a paddy field.
The moment the death qi touched the edge of the fragment, ripples washed over its surface. A slight repulsive force then surged from within, pushing his death qi back.
Chen Zhou frowned and tried a different direction, reaching toward a fragment that looked like a schoolhouse.
He met the same repulsive force.
These fragments seemed to be protected by some force, preventing outsiders from easily touching them.
“My Lord,” Plague Rat sidled up to him. “Did we take a wrong turn? This place all looks the same. Which way is the array core?”
Chen Zhou shook his head. He closed his eyes, channeling the breath of the River of the Underworld within him to expand his perception to its absolute limit.
His Ghost Domain unfolded, blanketing all the fragments within several hundred feet and sensing the flow of energy between them.
The direction of that dark light should be deep within this shattered space.
But he couldn't pinpoint exactly which fragment held it.
There were too many fragments, and the light threads were woven too densely. Every single piece emitted a similar energy fluctuation, blending together so thoroughly that it was impossible to distinguish the primary source.
As Chen Zhou pondered a way to break the deadlock, a faint auspicious cloud suddenly manifested above his head, spinning frantically as if unable to find its bearings.
Chen Zhou raised an eyebrow slightly.
This was Jiu'er's destiny and fortune at work. Could there actually be someone with a special destiny inside the array?
However, the auspicious cloud seemed to be disrupted by something, unable to discern the direction of the special destiny.
But he truly had no other options.
The subtlety of the array far exceeded his current capabilities. If he wanted to find the true bodies of the Seven Mansions among this intricate web of fragments, his meager knowledge of formations would be of little use.
Chen Zhou quietly looked at the auspicious cloud above his head and decided to trust Jiu'er's luck.
With his Guardian Auspicious God Destiny, his luck shouldn't be too bad.
Since the auspicious cloud had appeared, the person with the special destiny shouldn't be too far away.
Chen Zhou simply chose the nearest fragment.
The group followed Chen Zhou inside, and the surrounding space warped violently.
It was a palace engulfed in raging flames.
Crimson tongues of fire spat from every window of the palace, licking the carvings on the pillars. Billowing black smoke rose to obscure half the sky.
Before them stood a massive altar.
Constructed from dark, bluish-black boulders, the altar was perfectly square. A stone pillar stood at each of its four corners, carved with intricate patterns that had been blackened and blurred by the fire.
In the center of the altar was a copper pillar, and bound to it was a charred corpse.
The corpse's face was completely burned away, leaving only a human outline that resembled a lump of charcoal. Its limbs were bound to the copper pillar with copper chains, and its head hung low, hiding its face.
Its clothing had also burned to ash, skin and fabric fusing into a charred crust that made it impossible to discern its original appearance.
The surrounding palace burned fiercely, smoke billowing and heatwaves rolling.
Yet, as Chen Zhou stepped onto the altar, he felt no heat whatsoever.
The ground beneath his feet was cold.
“An illusion,” Chen Zhou concluded.
He reached out to touch the charred corpse's arm. His fingertips met a cold, smooth surface, completely devoid of any heat.
The inside of the corpse was hollow; with a gentle squeeze, his fingers sank right in.
“Shen Liang.”
Shen Liang stood below the altar, staring at the burning palace. Though his gaze was somewhat dazed, his emotions remained stable.
He hadn't smelled that strange scent, which allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.
However, he recognized the appearance of the palace. Although ruined by the fire, its outline remained. The style of the overhanging eaves and bracket sets was unique to the Southern Tang royal family.
“This is... the royal city's Heaven-Sacrificing Altar,” Shen Liang said softly.
“Our Southern Tang was always protected by the Oasis Goddess. All the subjects of Southern Tang were her believers.”
“Every year, during the spring and autumn sacrifices, the ceremonies for the Goddess were held here.”
“What offerings did you usually present to the Goddess?”
Shen Liang recalled, “Fruits, rice, and freshly brewed wine.”
“Southern Tang enjoyed favorable weather for thousands of years. The Goddess never demanded live sacrifices. Every year on the day of the spring sacrifice, she would send down sweet rain to nourish all living things.”
“Graced by her benevolence, the people would bring their finest harvest to the altar during the autumn harvest.”
As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the charred corpse, and his brow furrowed.
“Using human sacrifices for the heavens... is something that has never happened in Southern Tang.”
Chen Zhou walked around the altar, then looked at the charred corpse once more.
The body was bound extremely tightly by the copper chains, limbs spread-eagled in a posture that strongly resembled a victim bound for some sacrificial ritual.
Yet Southern Tang had no tradition of live sacrifice.
So who was this person? Why were they bound here? And who were they being sacrificed to?
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