Young Master Liu’s expression was grave as he spoke: “From the moment I first saw this palace from the banks of the Heavy Water, I felt it was somewhat ethereal and illusory, not like an earthly structure. Now I feel even stranger.

Everyone look, there isn’t a single visible seam between the bricks and wood of this palace’s structure; it’s as if… the entire palace is a single, monolithic entity.” Saying this, Young Master Liu shook his head. “This is simply unbelievable.” Scholar Jia, sounding hesitant, then asked Young Master Liu, “Well, are we going into the palace or not?” Young Master Liu let out a wry smile.

“Look back at the steps we came up from.” The others turned around, utterly perplexed, and were instantly frozen in shock. The small boat they had arrived on had vanished into thin air!

The Heavy Water flowed silently, vast and boundless; the black little boat was simply gone without a trace. An overwhelming chill instantly gripped everyone’s hearts.

This was a conspiracy; the boat’s appearance and disappearance were merely a ploy to lure them to the face of this palace. What now?

All eyes turned to Young Master Liu. He stood quietly, gazing at the palace’s open vermilion gates, his face utterly devoid of expression.

After a long moment, Young Master Liu turned back to face the others, spreading his hands calmly. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Let’s go inside and take a look.” The others exchanged silent glances and all nodded. Reality had forced them into a corner with no other choice.

So, Young Master Liu walked ahead, the others following closely, and they proceeded through the palace gates. The interior of the palace was pitch black.

The group could only vaguely perceive numerous objects hidden in the shadows around them. Just as the last two, Fan Debiao and Yang Weidong, stepped across the threshold, before anyone could even switch on a flashlight, the great doors of the palace silently closed in an instant.

A shock ran through everyone, but before they could react, the hall was suddenly illuminated. It was the same pale, eerie light emitted by the Heavy Water.

Only then did everyone clearly see that the entire palace was filled with countless lamps. On the ceiling, the walls, and the floor, there were innumerable bronze lamps of all shapes and sizes.

And the fuel inside these lamps? It was, incredibly, blue-tinged Heavy Water!

They were dumbfounded. At that moment, the group felt as if they were submerged in the Heavy Water lake itself, everything around them suffused with a ghostly blue luminescence, the entire scene resembling an illusion—ephemeral and unreal.

What astonished them even more was that within the entire palace, aside from these Heavy Water lamps, there were no other furnishings or objects, save for a high platform of bluestone directly in front of them. At the top of several dozen steps, seven strange, translucent, blue humanoid statues were placed.

The group cautiously approached and looked up at the peculiar humanoid statues from the base of the platform. Only then did they see clearly: these seven statues, sculpted like blue crystal, were all women with the bodies of snakes and the heads of humans.

They were bare-chested, with long, slender necks, human arms and hands, their hair styled in high buns, eyes downcast, arms spread wide, hands held in a mudra of holding a flower. Fan Debiao looked at them in confusion and asked, “What in the world are these things?

Snake bodies and human heads, and they’re women.” Scholar Jia shot him a disdainful glance. “Those are statues of Nüwa.

Haven't you studied any history, you fool?” Fan Debiao chuckled awkwardly, not daring to speak again. At this point, Young Master Liu frowned.

“To have seven Nüwa statues displayed in the main hall of this City of Heavy Water—what does it mean?” Scholar Jia remarked, “Worshipping Nüwa is consistent with customs in the Western Regions. The research I reviewed before coming here shows that many ethnic minorities in China worship Nüwa as the progenitor of their people.

However, I cannot fathom why this shrine would house seven Nüwa statues.” Just as Scholar Jia finished speaking, a strange, crisp sound of musical instruments suddenly arose from an unknown source. The tone was uniquely melodious, like heavenly music, utterly intoxicating.

No one knew what instrument produced the sound, nor where it came from, yet it seemed to resonate right beside each of their ears. For a moment, everyone was at a loss, feeling a touch of apprehension, unsure what change this sound heralded.

Suddenly, Scholar Jia cried out in alarm, “Look! The eyes of the seven Nüwas have opened!” Everyone quickly looked, and indeed, the eyes of the seven mysterious Nüwa statues, which had previously been meekly downcast, were now wide open, imparting an indescribable, eerie feeling.

A fresh wave of cold dread washed over them instantly. Young Master Liu urged tensely, “Everyone, be careful!

Something is about to happen.” No sooner had his words fallen than Fan Debiao suddenly cried out, “Ow!” clutching the back of his head and shouting, “Who the hell hit me on the back of the head? That really stings.” As everyone rushed to look at Fan Debiao, they saw him stagger, still holding the back of his head, and then suddenly collapse.

A sharp realization struck everyone—what had attacked him? At that very moment, Yang Weidong, standing beside Fan Debiao, suddenly went limp and fell to the ground without any warning.

Scholar Jia shouted, “There are ghosts in here! Everyone, quickly form a circle, back to back!” The remaining few in the hall swiftly closed ranks, pressing tightly together, backs touching.

Young Master Liu formed his fingers into a sword, drew it across his brow, and scanned the surroundings anxiously, yet he could see nothing. He asked Scholar Jia in alarm, “You say there are ghosts?

Where are they? I’ve activated my Yin-Yang eyes and still can’t see anything!” Scholar Jia also breathed heavily, clearly tense.

“I can’t be sure if these things are ghosts. But they are definitely invisible; we can’t see them at all.

Look at the Heavy Water lamps—they are swaying back and forth. What does that tell us?

It means they are inside the palace, flickering around, waiting for a chance to attack us.” They looked at the Heavy Water lamps; they were indeed swaying from side to side. Invisible ghosts?

A cold tremor ran through Young Master Liu again and again—this was utterly preposterous! Then, Scholar Jia said, “Do you all remember when we first left the Yin House and heard footsteps but couldn’t see anything?

I think that was these same entities. It’s just that they didn’t attack us back then.” Young Master Liu mused thoughtfully, “You mean, they have been following us the entire time, all the way into this palace?” Scholar Jia shook his head.

“I don’t know for sure, but I believe they were waiting for us inside this palace all along. Does everyone know why that strange music suddenly started in this palace?

I think it was to mask their footsteps. The sudden opening of the seven Nüwa statues’ eyes feels even more like the activation of a mechanism.” Cai Qingchong asked, “So what do we do now?” Scholar Jia let out a cold laugh.

“We don’t know what these things are, but one thing is certain: once we break the mechanism, they will show a flaw, perhaps by making noise.” At that moment, Young Master Liu looked down at the motionless bodies of Fan Debiao and Yang Weidong and was horrified to see black spots appearing on their faces. Young Master Liu quickly called out, “Senior Jia, look at them quickly!

Why are there huge black patches breaking out on their faces?” Scholar Jia glanced over and hurried, “Damn it, this is corpse poison! I need to save them immediately, or they’ll die!” The others quickly clustered together, slowly moving toward the two men.

Scholar Jia knelt down and lifted Fan Debiao’s head, while Young Master Liu and Cai Qingchong used their bodies to shield Scholar Jia’s head, preventing the invisible entities from attacking him covertly. They heard Scholar Jia cursing, “It really is a ghost!

There’s a strand of green corpse hair stuck in the back of both their heads. But this is strange—why would a ghost use the hair of a Corpse Fiend to attack us?

Ghosts and Corpse Fiends are two different things, aren’t they?” Scholar Jia, protected by their bodies, finally managed to pull the corpse hairs from Fan Debiao and Yang Weidong while cursing and questioning, before applying an ointment capable of neutralizing corpse poison. He then took out two lengths of rope and tied them around the wrists of the two men before slowly standing up.

Meanwhile, the instrumental music in the palace continued unabated, and the swaying shadows of the Heavy Water lamps indicated that those entities were still flickering within the palace, ready to strike whenever the group let down their guard. Scholar Jia handed the ropes to Cai Qingchong and Young Master Liu.

“For now, let’s not worry about what these things are. It seems they are only targeting the back of our heads.

Our immediate priority is to deal with this music. Everyone, pull Fan Debiao and Yang Weidong toward the platform of the seven Nüwa statues.

I will first try to find and break the mechanism, and then figure out how to deal with those invisible things.” They all agreed. Working together, they pulled on the ropes, dragging the unconscious Fan Debiao and Yang Weidong toward the platform.

The invisible entities seemed to realize their intent; they appeared to be chasing and circling the group, causing the lamps nearest to them to sway violently. Upon reaching the base of the platform, Scholar Jia suddenly let out a long laugh.

“Damn you little ghosts, let me give you a taste of the gift Old Jia brought!” With that, he plunged his hand into his backpack, pulled out a handful of glutinous rice, and scattered it into the air around them. Amidst the pleasant music, they seemed to hear faint, high-pitched squeals of pain.

Scholar Jia let out a triumphant, cold chuckle. “Once I break the mechanism, I’ll deal with you little ghosts properly.” With that, he leaped onto the high platform, flashed past, and positioned himself behind the blue crystal Nüwa statues.

The others stood guard below the platform, backs together, staring intently at the faint, fluctuating currents of air, their eyes wide, desperate to see what these invisible things looked like—whether ghosts or some other creature. Everyone prayed internally that Scholar Jia would quickly locate and disarm the mechanism, otherwise these invisible phantoms would eventually trap and kill them all.

The palace gates were sealed, and the boat on the Heavy Water outside was gone—this was all the doing of these invisible ghosts’ conspiracy. Just as everyone worried about Scholar Jia, the music that had permeated the palace abruptly ceased.

A surge of joy ran through the group; it seemed Scholar Jia had found and broken the mechanism controlling the sound. Indeed, the eyes of the seven Nüwa statues had returned to their original, meekly lowered posture.

Scholar Jia’s loud laughter echoed down from the platform. He reappeared from behind the statues, tossed out another handful of glutinous rice, and swiftly jumped down to stand with the others.

That handful of rice seemed to strike something in the air, emitting a slight sound like popping beans, followed by a few high-pitched shrieks. However, the group did not hear the expected sounds of footsteps.

The swaying shadows of the Heavy Water lamps throughout the palace confirmed that the invisible entities were still present.