The village chief looked me straight in the eye, "I want to ask Hall Master Li to lure out Bo Pi, so we can complete the secret art and leave this exiled land."

I said, "Why should I help?"

The village chief said, "Hall Master Li, cooperation is a win-win for both of us. You have offended Bo Pi Ke (Skin Peeler), and he has come looking for you. Only by joining forces can we capture that ghost god."

I stared intently at the village chief and said, "How do you know that Bo Pi Ke came looking for me?"

The village chief waved his hand outward, and the palm wind that traveled through the air immediately blew away the white cloths covering three corpses.

The three corpses opened their eyes at the same time, their gazes cold but with a hint of sinister laughter as they looked at the village chief.

Only then did I notice that all seven orifices of the three corpses, except for their eyes, had been sealed. In particular, their mouths were tightly sewn shut with hemp rope. Moreover, the thumbs of the corpses' left hands had all been cut off flush with the palm.

"Jin Hun (Soul Imprisonment)!" I subconsciously blurted out.

"Hall Master Li has a good eye!" The village chief raised his thumb and said, "The last step of creating a living puppet is to let the puppet contain a soul. A puppet without thoughts can never become a living person."

"However, the soul and the puppet cannot be perfectly integrated. Even if there is only one percent... no, one-thousandth of a flaw, the puppet will suddenly collapse one day, let alone deceive the discerning eyes of a top-notch sorcerer."

The village chief pointed to the three corpses and said, "After the Mo family village's ghost god gave us three corpses, we discovered that the Jin Hun technique on the corpses was beyond the scope of our village's understanding. Therefore, we have also been constantly researching the secret techniques on the three corpses."

"Until a year ago, when the three ghost servants we had suppressed suddenly broke free from their restraints, we inadvertently discovered that these corpses could suppress ghost gods. So, we re-imprisoned the ghost gods in the corpses."

The village chief paused and said, "According to my speculation, the ghost god's riot was the result of Bo Pi Ke luring the ghost god from outside. That time, it can be said to have been Bo Pi Ke's test."

"I also suspect that Bo Pi Ke has never left the village in the past year. Moreover, he has been probing the village's reality."

"Until three days ago, I noticed that the three corpses were moving again. Only then did I determine that Bo Pi Ke had reappeared. And you, coincidentally, also came to the village."

The village chief said solemnly, "Although the three ghost gods are showing signs of movement again, there are no signs of them breaking free from their restraints. This shows that Bo Pi Ke is not fully prepared yet."

"However, I didn't expect that Bo Pi Ke's hatred for you was even greater than his desire to rescue his companions. He actually disregarded the risk of exposing himself and attacked you first. I think this is an opportunity."

The village chief bowed deeply to me, "Hall Master Li, the opportunity for Paper Village to break free from its century-old predicament lies with you. Please, Hall Master, help Paper Village."

Jiu Ci also stepped forward and bowed deeply, "Hall Master Li, I apologize for my previous superficiality and recklessness. Please help Paper Village."

I looked at the village chief and said, "I can help, but I have three conditions. If you can't do them, then there's no need to say anything else."

"First, I won't help for nothing. Asking for some reward isn't too much, right?"

The village chief nodded, "It should be, it should be... No matter how much reward Cai Wei gives you, we will triple it."

"Great!" I raised my thumb. "The second condition is that I will direct how to deal with Bo Pi. If you can't do that, then forget about everything."

"This..." Jiu Ci interjected, "This is not very appropriate, is it?"

The village chief thought for a long time, "I can agree to it."

A hint of a smile appeared on the corner of my mouth, "The third condition is, what is your name? I want your real name."

The village chief's expression changed slightly, and Jiu Ci also said sternly, "Li Po, don't go too far. We have agreed to such unreasonable requests as letting the village's sorcerers be at your command. You still want to ask for a sorcerer's real name. You yourself are a sorcerer, don't you know what a real name means to a sorcerer?"

I said with a non-smiling expression, "You should have heard the saying: 'It is essential to be vigilant against others!' I am now in your Paper Village, without any guarantees. Do you want me to believe that you won't kick me away after you've crossed the river?"

Jiu Ci said angrily, "You are judging a gentleman's heart with the mind of a petty person."

I retorted, "Petty person, gentleman, I don't know. I only know that you almost killed me to please Bo Pi Ke. If you can't control Bo Pi Ke and let him run away, dare you say that you won't take my life to exchange for the secret art?"

"You..." Jiu Ci was speechless at my words.

In the martial world, nothing is impossible. If there are no mutual constraints, who dares to guarantee what problems will arise later?

When the village chief looked at me without saying a word, my gaze also met his.

He obviously didn't expect that I would dare to make such a condition while being in a secret room.

The two of us looked at each other for a long time, neither of us giving in in the slightest.

The village chief finally nodded and said, "My name is Jiu Ming. The ghost god can testify to this name."

Jiu Ci exclaimed, "Grandpa, you..."

The village chief Jiu Ming waved his hand slightly, "Hall Master Li, do you need to verify it?"