The city god temple''s rear hall overflowed with Paper-Chen''s materials. Grave willows swelled in corpse oil barrels. A stiffened rooster corpse lay across the altar as the mute girl sketched a nine-grid formation with charcoal. Feng flipped Annals of Folk Mysteries to the "Soul Substitution" entry: "Without lightning-struck wood, use yin-year effigies."


    "Spent decades crafting paper men — now I craft my death warrant!" Paper-Chen tore off finger bandages, blood dripping onto willow frames. The blind man painted sigils with cinnabar-dipped cane while the girl inverted her umbrella at the array''s core, its patterns illuminating with incantations.


    As the effigy took form, the rooster convulsed upright. Paper-Chen bound its claws to the puppet''s wrists with red thread. Feng pressed the bronze guard plaque against the effigy''s chest: "Reverse Kan and Li! Swap yin-yang — activate!"


    Yin winds whirled incense ash into a vortex. A twisted black mark emerged on the puppet''s neck. Paper-Chen''s grin died as brass bells exploded — the effigy''s left leg snapped, rooster eyes erupting maggots. The blind man roared: "Zhen position deviation! Abort!"


    Feng slapped Yin Breaker talismans on the array core. Papers combusted. The girl''s umbrella intercepted backlash currents, ribs absorbing dispersing yin energy. Paper-Chen slumped against the wall, his soul-mark fading to ash: "Lord Grey''s ledger... those bronze vessels stored POW souls, not lifespans!"


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    Feng traced the plaque''s bloody fingerprint. Memories of Taihang Mountain caverns surfaced — Japanese-occupied war era bone piles mirroring the effigy''s charred fractures.


    "Why harvest souls?" He wheeled on the blind man. "Unless... Lord Grey served the netherworld bureaucracy."


    Midnight rain drummed temple tiles. Feng''s phone glowed — his forum post "Japanese Occult Relics Found in City God Temple" deleted within minutes. The blind man crouched etching netherworld ciphers in corpse oil, now bleeding black.


    "Bing-Xu 79''s worthless." The blind man spat blood. "The higher-ups sealed the passages long ago."


    Feng crushed a talisman: "What if we deploy the Sha-Borrowing Mirror Technique against the City God..."


    "You think the netherworld''s Lord Grey?" The cane cracked stone. "Bone Temple cost seven years lifespan! Try this and we coffin-bound!"


    Feng shoved temple doors open. Rain veiled the main hall like a slumbering beast. The girl tugged his sleeve, charcoal scribbling on his palm: "Netherworld Chapter, Page 274."


    Annals flipped autonomously in the damp air, settling on scrawled marginalia:


    Bearer of netherguard plaques may bridge realms via Ghost Festival mists. Living trespassers must anoint three souls with corpse oil, bind seven spirits to paper steeds. Should cockcrow sound during return, ingest glutinous rice immediately...


    Paper-Chen''s snores echoed, his soul-mark pulsing rhythmically. Feng tore out the page, stuffing it into his tactical pack where lightning-jujube remnants smoldered. Beyond the storm-shrouded mountains, lightning forks illuminated the horizon.