Li Yuan looked into the distance, the wasteland illuminated bleakly by the moonlight.

These damned ghost things are increasing in number; one day, sooner or later, they will confront us head-on. Instead of facing them passively, it's better to proactively understand them...

...

The night deepened.

Tang Nian clung to Li Yuan's arm, while Li Yuan looked out the window.

The carriage stopped on a high slope, which allowed them to observe the surroundings. Behind the slope was a small river, not suitable for drinking but fine for washing things.

In the distance, a White Sparrow flew from north to south, heading towards Li Yuan.

Li Yuan abandoned his post at Antelope Pass.

The next day...

The sky was clear.

With sunlight streaming in, Tang Nian curled up in the carriage, feeling she had learned a lot on this journey, and was still learning.

She had to admit her adoptive father was an extraordinary man, not just a "strong man from a small border county" as she once thought.

She suddenly blushed for having said she would "defeat her adoptive father," but she still wanted to pursue this goal, as if chasing after his shadow.

Li Yuan returned to his old ways, going into the wasteland and hunting two wild rabbits and a wild chicken.

Prey is hard to find deep in winter, but this... is not a problem for someone like Li Yuan, a Sixth Grade Powerhouse.

Skillfully lighting a fire, cleaning, roasting, and then dividing the meat...

A day passed like this.

The second day...

The White Sparrow arrived.

The third day...

Li Yuan was sitting on the high slope, pondering the Life Atlas, when a grey-clad figure rushed through the distant forest.

A White Sparrow flew ahead of the grey-clad figure.

The grey-clad figure quickly approached; it was a skinny person with a covered face and a hood, impossible to tell if male or female.

Li Yuan smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, Miss Pang."

He was only testing, yet he succeeded.

Pang Yuanhua could see the Divine Soul Connection on the White Sparrow. She saw the White Sparrow, so she followed it to meet him.

The grey-clad figure removed the veil, revealing a face of skin and bones, and bowed slightly, "Such a disgrace to meet Senior, it truly is Yuanhua's fault."

...

...

"Coo... coo coo..."

In Shanbao County, Silver Creek Square, Inner City.

Tie Sha saw a carrier pigeon land, raised his hand, took the letter, and scattered some grains.

"An urgent report from the Frost Sword Sect... Didn't the Ancestor just go to them? Why an urgent report now?"

Tie Sha curiously unfolded it, then froze in place.

The paper bore four blood-red characters, scrawled in extreme haste by the letter writer.

The four characters were: Ghosts, Don't Come!!

Tie Sha leapt up.

Calculating the time, the Ancestor should already be in Hua Mo County.

What can be done?

The Ancestor is completely unaware. In this situation, he will just rush headlong into Hua Mo County, the consequences... simply unimaginable.

But who could foresee such a thing?

"Damn it, why does it have to be now?"

Tie Sha paced back and forth, then hurriedly went out, shouting, "Assemble the men, follow me out of the city!"

Shanbao County cannot lose the Ancestor. Although he didn't know if it would be of any use to go now, he had to go... even if he couldn't meet them outside the county, at least he could probe the reality.

...

...

"I didn't expect you, Senior, didn't receive my letter, yet you still withdrew in time. Yuanhua truly admires you."

The skeletal Miss examined the young-looking Ancestor opposite her.

"It was just luck," Li Yuan said, "What exactly happened?"

"We encountered the Ghost Realm..."

"Hua Mo County, have many people died there, or is there a lot of resentment?"

"No... Our Hua Mo County is not big, with only four workshops combined, so there's no Black Market trade. Even burials are outside the county," Pang Yuanhua said, "Senior wants to understand the formation of the Ghost Realm, right?"

Li Yuan nodded.

Pang Yuanhua said, "Its formation is likely unrelated to resentment.

In our county, the Ghost Realm is a Carpenter's Shop.

Anyone who enters the Carpenter's Shop will be targeted by the carpenter and disappear from the Human World...

Initially, a few people accidentally entered the Carpenter's Shop.

Later, many others went in.

This is the truth behind the serial disappearance case.

After the disappearance case occurred, my Frost Sword Sect Leader and the Master from Fuyue Nunnery also began investigating. They must have also visited the Carpenter's Shop, so they also disappeared.

Later, more and more people disappeared. I had just returned from outside, so I started investigating too...

Then, I found the Carpenter's Shop and went inside."

Li Yuan's expression slightly tensed.

Pang Yuanhua said, "Inside the Carpenter's Shop, it's empty, with nothing at all.

I circled around and then left.

But after that, I became ill, weakening by the day.

I originally thought I would die, but just a few days ago, when I opened my door, I didn't return to my own room. Instead, I re-entered the Carpenter's Shop.

This time, the Carpenter's Shop wasn't empty. Instead... there was a strange man wielding a hammer, carving wood, and behind him was a rack full of puppets, with a furnace beside the rack.

I spoke to him, but he didn't reply. Then I saw his very pale face and his eyes filled with coldness, bitterness, and numbness... they weren't human eyes at all.

I glanced at the puppets on the rack and recognized the puppets of Sect Leader Pang Dantai and the Master from Fuyue Nunnery. Those two puppets were lifelike, their expressions full of fear, yet they were placed on the wooden rack.

I wanted to take the puppets away, but those two puppets were extremely heavy... I used all my strength but couldn't move them.

At that moment, the strange carpenter seemed to have finished his work. Suddenly, he stood up and grabbed the puppet on the edge of the rack and "smack" tossed it into the furnace.

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