Ghost City, Anyuan Street.
At this moment, Sword Soldier Ghosts were still emerging one after another from Anyuan Street.
Looking from a distance, one could see a bloody light surging up from the depths of Anyuan Street, dyeing half the sky red. Even from afar, a strange, blood-tinged odor was faintly perceptible.
Under the cover of Pu Xiangrong’s Escape Technique, Zhao Xuanqi and his group’s infiltration went smoothly, with only minor obstacles encountered when leaving the disciples’ hiding spot.
Soon, the group entered Anyuan Street.
Since a large number of Evil Spirits had poured out, the number of them remaining on Anyuan Street was, as expected, not very high. The infiltration was even smoother than they had anticipated. In almost no time, they reached the Huang Mansion in the depths of the street.
The Huang Mansion’s walls were high, with upturned eaves and ornate brackets, giving it an impressive air. But at this moment, the entire estate was shrouded in a scarlet glow. Set against the backdrop of the Ghost City’s deathly silent streets, it felt incredibly eerie and sinister.
The vermilion gates of the Huang Mansion were wide open. From time to time, squads of Sword Soldier Ghosts marched out and followed the road out of Anyuan Street.
The group found a hidden spot, hoping to peer over the walls or through the open gates to observe the situation inside the Huang Mansion, but they failed.
The scarlet glow blocked their vision, preventing them from seeing inside.
"That’s a restrictive barrier made of Yin Qi. Not only is it impossible to see through with the naked eye, but it also blocks Primordial Qi probing. The moment our Primordial Qi touches it, the Evil Spirits inside will likely notice us immediately."
Pu Xiangrong said in a low voice after a moment of sensing.
"This is trouble," Zhuang Li said with a frown. "Not being able to pinpoint the source of the Ghost City will introduce many variables into our operation."
"At this point, we have no other choice," Ren Fei said. "When the time comes, we’ll just pick a direction and charge directly into the Huang Mansion."
"It’s the only way."
Zhao Xuanqi nodded and glanced up at the Blood Moon in the sky.
It wasn’t time to attack yet. They couldn’t expose their position. The time for action was just before the final Night Parade of Hundred Demons began. For now, all they could do was wait.
"I’ve calculated the time. The next Night Parade of Hundred Demons will begin in about half an hour. Since we can’t scout the depths of the Huang Mansion, we must make our move with a buffer—about eight minutes before the parade starts. Otherwise, if we run into unexpected trouble and can’t force the source to open the Ghost Gate in time, our fellow disciples will suffer heavy casualties."
"No matter what method we use, we have to open the Ghost Gate before the Night Parade of Hundred Demons begins. Otherwise, our entire plan will be for nothing."
Zhuang Li said softly.
Hearing this, everyone nodded. Acting early meant they would face more pressure and greater danger, but it was a risk they had to take.
However, as the group waited, an unknown change was taking place deep within the Huang Mansion.
The place was sinister and bizarre. Eight strangely shaped statues stood there, with vines like blood vessels snaking around them.
Some statues were covered in grotesque eyes; some looked like contorted beasts; others resembled unremarkable, withered old trees...
Deep within the cluster of statues, a dense ball of Blood Qi floated, connected to one particular statue.
This statue was simple and archaic in design. It wore a benevolent yet unsettling smile. There was an indentation in its forehead where a ball of red light connected with the bloody mass in the sky. As if nourished by blood food, the ball of light gradually took shape, faintly resembling an eyeball.
Just as the group drew near the Huang Mansion and tried to peer inside, the eyeball-like red light suddenly swiveled, as if it had sensed something, and stared from a distance toward their location.
The smile on the lips of this Evil Cult Statue seemed to grow even more bizarre and horrifying.
The next moment.
GURGLE GURGLE!!
The floating mass of blood began to contract rapidly. The vein-like vines pulsed instantly, as if streams of blood were being pumped into the surrounding statues.
CRACK! CRACK!!
The surrounding statues began to crack, their outer layers peeling away. It seemed some terrifying beings, having received the nourishment of blood food, were awakening from their slumber.
RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE!!
At the same time, the blood-colored vines on the ground began to grow, spreading rapidly to cover every corner of the Huang Mansion.
「Somewhere on Heqing Dao.」
"Hmm?!"
The child-like cloaked figure’s expression shifted, as if they had sensed something.
"What is it?"
The tall cloaked figure noticed their companion’s change and asked.
"The self-preservation instinct of the Evil Cultivation source in the Ghost City has been triggered. All the slumbering guardian Evil Spirits have been awakened. It must have sensed a threat near the Huang Mansion. Otherwise, the source wouldn’t have expended such a massive amount of Blood Food Power to awaken them."
The child-like cloaked figure said.
For the current Evil Cult Statue, consuming blood food and restoring itself were its primary instincts; the entire Ghost City was built upon this principle. According to its instinctual rules, it would only consume the Blood Food Power meant for its own recovery to awaken its guardian Evil Spirits if it had either recovered to a certain extent or was facing a significant threat.
Previously, the child-like cloaked figure had intervened, using some method to partially awaken the Evil Cult’s consciousness. This had partially broken its instinct, causing the Evil Cult Statue to use Blood Food Power to awaken some of its guardian Evil Spirits and continuously create Sword Soldier Ghosts.
As for the remaining guardian Evil Spirits, he still had no way to interfere with them. They would only be awakened, at a cost, when the Evil Cult Statue was in danger.