The puppet let out a wail, just like a live person screaming when burned by fire.

Then, the eerie carpenter placed a new puppet on the wooden rack.

The new puppet, I recognized...

It's my sect's junior niece, Pang Qian.

I looked at Pang Qian on the wooden rack, her face was full of fear and panic, and her eyes were rolling around, then she looked at me with a pleading gaze.

I was terrified and hurriedly ran away.

That day, I saw junior niece Pang Qian again. She was originally like me, sick, blood and flesh exhausted, skin and bones, but suddenly her illness healed... she was recovering quickly, even chatting and laughing with people.

Then, I suddenly heard disciples say the missing sect leader and Master of Fuyue Nunnery had returned.

I thought the situation was too bizarre, so I quickly wrote a letter, claiming there were ghosts, advising you not to come.

At the same time, I fled with the Life Atlas as another plan, to prevent you from not seeing the letter."

Pang Yuanhua recounted gently, and beside him, Tang Nian, listening with ears tuned, was already horrified, his body rigid and unmoving.

Li Yuan said: "So, you avoid passing through doors. You're afraid behind any door is a carpenter's shop, because behind any door could be a carpenter's shop..."

Pang Yuanhua said: "Yes... I've actually been outside the city, your White Sparrow also found me outside.

I dare not pass through doors because I've already guessed how that Woodworker Ghost Realm operates..."

Li Yuan said: "Anyone entering the carpenter's shop would be seen by the Woodworker Ghost, who quickly carves the puppet.

Once the puppet is finished, the real person is replaced by the ghost, and the real person then enters the puppet, placed on the wooden rack of the Woodworker Ghost.

But the rack will eventually fill up, and once it's full, the ghost's actions will slow down, he must discard a puppet before placing a new one."

Pang Yuanhua said: "If the rack isn't full, those who see the carpenter will be kept inside the shop, hence they are missing.

When the rack is full, those entering later must queue, like me, like junior niece Pang Qian, we can still live outside, but because of the carpenter's curse, our blood and flesh begin to wither.

The carpenter will burn the puppets on the rack, and the queued ones will slowly replenish the spots.

They will open a door, but whatever door they open, behind it is the carpenter's shop, then... they are replaced by the ghost, and they become puppets on the rack."

She slightly lowered her head and softly said: "Whether it's Sect Leader Pang Dantai, or Master of Fuyue Nunnery, or... junior niece Pang Qian, they are no longer human."

"But why does the ghost do this?" Li Yuan asked.

Pang Yuanhua said: "I inquired about that carpenter's shop...

Originally, a carpenter lived in the shop, his name was Shen Jiliang.

He was a very reclusive person, rarely interacting with others, at first, he did some work outside, but after making some money, he stopped working.

He returned to his house, sought a matchmaker for marriage, but was deceived, fortunately, we found the swindler and helped him get his money back.

Later, Shen Jiliang contracted a strange disease, the doctor didn't know what it was, so they called it a strange disease...

At first, he lost feeling in his legs, then below his knees, and then the paralysis continued, seemingly engulfing his entire body.

Shen Jiliang spent all his money, but received no treatment.

Having no friends, no one cared for him during the days.

It wasn't until someone passing by his house smelled the odor of decomposition, that they entered and found the already rotten and bug-covered corpse of Shen Jiliang.

He died sitting in a chair, his head slumped to one side, possibly paralyzed, with the paralysis slowly spreading across his body, neck, and head...

Whether he was conscious at the end, I don't even know...

If he was, then dying this way is truly terrifyingly cruel.

Later I heard several puppets were found in the house, poorly carved..."

Li Yuan said: "It all fits."

Pang Yuanhua's vacant pupils intently stared at the ground, "Yes, the Woodworker Ghost is Shen Jiliang, or at least his killing method is related to Shen Jiliang."

...

At this moment, for some reason, Li Yuan suddenly thought of the dream Lady Yan mentioned.

In the dream, it was pitch black, as if a thick cloth was draping over the outside, with iron bars in the window, and outside the bars, the light was so blinding it seemed to burn the Divine Soul.

This...

This was not a room.

It was clearly the iron cages on the Black Market bullock carts transporting live goods.

Black Market Ghost Realm! When did it become connected to my own lady?!

Realizing this, Li Yuan's heart tightened.

He looked at the young girl in front and asked, "How can I help you?"

Pang Yuanhua gave a bitter smile and said: "Knowing this information is already helping me. I hope you use this knowledge wisely to help more people survive.

As for me, I'll continue surviving in the wild... let's see how many days I can live.

Senior, rest assured, there are still people helping me...

I... also have some self-protection power."

Li Yuan, uninterested in probing further secrets, wanted to invite her to get on the carriage, but when he saw the curtain, he thought to himself: isn't that also a door?

So he dismissed the idea, climbed into the carriage to fetch some silver taels for her, trying his utmost to help a little, then he needed to quickly return home.

He mounted the Imperial Hand Seat, lifted the curtain, and walked in...

A pungent smell of wood shavings suddenly hit him, an eerie "clink clank" of iron chiseling hard wood occasionally sounded, a blood-red wooden rack sat at the end of his vision, with twisted puppets displaying various expressions placed upon it, the floor covered with a thin layer of wood curls and shavings...

A bizarre man, eyes numb and venomous, was squatting not far away, one hand holding a red wood chisel, the other an iron hammer full of rust, carving something.

Li Yuan's pupils contracted tightly, his scalp instantly tingled with numbness.

He turned to see that the door he came through had suddenly vanished!

His heart thudded, with a thought, Perimeter Shadow Blood suddenly surfaced, squeezing out from every pore, turning him into a blood-soaked figure, every inch of his skin covered by his own Shadow Blood.

In the next moment, he stepped onto the ground, turned, and with a "boom", slammed into the wall of the carpenter's shop behind him.

Then...

Bang!

He reappeared outside the carpenter's shop, heavily landing on the wild land.

The sudden turn of events shocked Wang San, Tang Nian, and Pang Yuanhua.

Why did Blood Saber Ancestor suddenly turn into a blood-soaked figure?

"Father, what happened to you?"

"Senior!"

Li Yuan waved his hand and said: "I'm fine."

Then he turned to Pang Yuanhua again and said: "You should leave."

"Senior??"

"Go!!"

Not knowing what happened, Pang Yuanhua got up carefully and left.

A White Sparrow soared high and followed Pang Yuanhua to a place she couldn't see.

But after circling around, it found nothing unusual.

So, White Sparrow descended again and brought Pang Yuanhua back.

Only then did Li Yuan say: "I entered the carpenter's shop, do you have any solutions?"

Pang Yuanhua was stunned and then realized something, hurriedly said: "I'm sorry, Senior..."

Li Yuan coldly said: "Perhaps the next puppet of this carpenter's shop is stuck with you, so all the doors opening around you are doors to the carpenter's shop!"

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