Chapter 1 The Stunned Mo Caiwei

Mo Caiwei looked up at the nine blood-red water columns, stunned. In a few short seconds, her expression shifted from solemn to bewildered.

I suddenly turned back and slashed at the Skin Peeler behind me. As the blade energy of midnight surged outwards, I didn't bother to look at the result of that slash. I grabbed Mo Caiwei's arm and plunged towards the wildly swirling water column.

I was still in mid-air when the overwhelming power of ghosts and gods surged from behind me.

With one hand, I pushed Mo Caiwei towards the center of the water column. With the other, I formed a fist and slammed it back.

The power of the ghosts and gods behind me was too violent. Moreover, it was divided into four streams, impossible to block with a blade. I could only turn and throw a punch to minimize the damage.

The true energy from my fist had just burst out when it collided with the oncoming power of the ghosts and gods. I felt like I'd been hit by a car, and my body flew backward, crashing into the water with a thud.

Just as the bloody river water covered my eyes, I felt myself sinking, only to be held up by a hand in the water.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a woman with a pale face. Before I could make out her features, she lifted me to the surface.

The wildly swirling water columns on the river had vanished without a trace, but eight paper bridges had appeared on the water.

In paper effigies, burning paper bridges for the dead allows their souls to cross the river and enter the gates of hell. However, the paper bridges on the water were not anchored to either bank, and instead spun around like rudderless ships.

By the time the woman had pulled me to the surface, the eight paper bridges had begun to revolve around us. Through the gaps between the bridges, I saw the Skin Peeler, Bone Scraper, and Blood Drencher standing side by side on the bank, their faces grim as they stared at me, motionless.

The Skin Peeler, his right hand injured, raised it a few times before letting it fall. "I shouldn't have listened to you. With the Eight Bridges Sealing the River, can we cross?"

The Bone Scraper hissed, "We have to. If we lose Mo Caiwei, who else can get the Blood-Soaked Paper Puppet?"

"If we can't get the secret technique, how do we explain it to Zhinan?"

"If we can't get the secret technique of the living, Zhinan won't let us go. We'll only be walking to our deaths. We'll only have a chance if we get the Paper Puppet secret technique. In a moment, release these people. We'll go into the water in our true forms. I refuse to believe that the four of us ghosts and gods can't take down a mystic realm."

The Bone Scraper turned to the Skin Peeler. "Skin Peeler, you'll come down with us in a moment. We won't go back on our promise to you. If you don't, don't blame us for being untrustworthy."

The Skin Peeler's face was ashen, his eyes darting around, unsure what to think.

The Blood Drencher said in a low voice, "What about that Li Po?"

"Ignore him!" said the Bone Scraper. "He's not from the Mo family, so he can't enter the mystic realm. Didn't you see that the tomb guardian ghost sent him out? He'll be thrown out soon enough. Let him fend for himself!"

The Skin Peeler said, "Aren't you afraid he'll run?"

The Bone Scraper sneered, "After being hit by all four of us, he would have been torn to pieces long ago if the tomb guardian hadn't protected him. Just watch! As soon as he floats out of the water, his flesh will disintegrate and turn into a pile of rotten meat. Let's think about how to get into the Secret Burial!"

The Skin Peeler said in a deep voice, "Who does Mo Caiwei care about the most? Use them to threaten her. Bone Scraper, don't you know the Nine Earth Transmission? Let Mo Caiwei know that we're killing people."

The Bone Scraper laughed. "Good idea. If you ask who Mo Caiwei cares about the most, it has to be her master. Blood Drencher, you do it!"

The Blood Drencher took a few steps forward, and then the Bone Scraper's voice seemed to travel through the water from a distance: "Mo Caiwei, I know you've entered the mystic realm, and I know you can hear me. If you don't want to see your master die without a complete corpse, how about coming out and chatting?"

The Bone Scraper's voice wasn't loud, but I could feel the river water trembling slightly with his voice. This was the ghost god's transmission.

As soon as the Bone Scraper's voice faded, I felt the female ghost holding me tighten her hands slightly behind my back—was she Mo Caiwei?

When I subconsciously turned to look at the female ghost's face, I felt a sharp pain from my scalp to my neck, as if I had been cut with a knife, and my heart sank slightly.

I had underestimated the ghosts and gods.

I thought that once I entered the Transcendent Realm, I could face the ghosts and gods head-on, but I forgot that the power of the ghosts and gods was not only absolute strength, but also their bizarre and unpredictable powers.

Although my punch had blocked most of the power of the four great ghosts and gods, preventing me from being blasted into a bloody mist on the spot, it had allowed the power of the ghosts and gods to invade my body. Skin Peeling, Flesh Cutting, Blood Drenching, Bone Scraping. Once these four powers exploded inside me, my flesh would fly everywhere.

I was careless!

I didn't expect the Bone Scraper and the other three ghosts and gods to act like experienced schemers, setting up a trap without any regard for pride.

They didn't need to occupy anyone's body to run rampant in the Paper Effigy Village in their true forms. However, they put on a show of weakness, allowing Mo Caiwei to enter the forbidden area behind the mountain to find the paper effigy maker's inheritance.

The Skin Peeler's appearance here was coincidental. Her collision with the three ghosts and gods on the mountaintop was real, but trapping them was an illusion.

The real outcome should have been that after I jumped off the cliff, they stopped fighting and reached some kind of agreement.