Jia Zhuangyuan clearly hadn't expected this either; his laughter ceased, and his expression turned grave. Cai Qingchong suddenly spoke up, "These things might be invisible, but they might not be immune to weaponry. Perhaps we should fire a few shots to test them."

Jia Zhuangyuan managed a bitter smile. "Now I'm certain of one thing: these things are definitely some kind of special ghosts, and they won't fear bullets."

Cai Qingchong inquired, "Why are you so sure they are ghosts?"

Jia Zhuangyuan explained, "Firstly, the glutinous rice I used managed to harm them. Secondly, ghosts are usually invisible and make no sound when moving. The only thing is, I can't place what kind of ghosts they are; they lack any trace of yin energy."

Liu Dashao, who had been silent until now, slowly spoke, "I understand now. These things aren't ghosts, or rather, not true ghosts. They are souls—countless souls cursed so they can never pass on."

Everyone was utterly astonished, staring at Liu Dashao in disbelief.

Liu Dashao smiled slightly and said, "Senior Jia, when you shut off the music just now, those things hurting Fan Debiao and the other one disappeared too. The invisible spirits within the palace won't harm us now. Because you and all of us have seen them before—they are those lovely women who rose from the Heavy Water Lake, or rather, what we saw were their souls."

Saying this, Liu Dashao bit his finger and inscribed strange symbols in the air, seemingly a spell. Sure enough, all the Heavy Water Lamps suddenly dimmed before lighting up again. At that moment, the group could actually see apparitions of many of those ethereal white women they had once seen in the Heavy Water Lake.

They floated lightly within the palace, circling and dancing around everyone, each face bearing a sweet smile, graced with beautiful features. At that instant, a thought echoed in everyone's mind: Yes, how could such beautiful souls ever harm us?

Liu Dashao continued, "When the music sounded earlier, the eyes of the Nuwa statue suddenly opened. In reality, there were ghosts, and they were specifically the kind that devour the souls of these women. However, you all forgot that I am a Daoist. Even if I couldn't comprehend it immediately, I can ultimately distinguish between a ghost and a soul."

Pausing here, Liu Dashao frowned slightly and went on, "It's just that I feel this ghost isn't from our human world; my ghost-capturing Daoist techniques are useless against it. It’s like some kind of... how should I put it... some kind of creature, or perhaps something from another realm. Fortunately, Senior Jia deactivated the mechanism, and they vanished suddenly."

Cai Qingchong said somewhat laboriously, "Dashao, are you suggesting that these souls were trapped at the bottom of the lake, cursed, and periodically released just to feed those ghosts that injured Fan Debiao and Yang Weidong? And those ghosts you mentioned, you believe they aren't ghosts from our human world, but some peculiar beings from an unknown outer world?"

Liu Dashao nodded. "Precisely. Ghosts, when they first appear, carry a heavy presence of yin and spectral energy. But these ones have none."

Jia Zhuangyuan interjected, a look of confusion crossing his face, "If they aren't ghosts from our human world, then how were they able to emit corpse hair to harm those two?"

Liu Dashao gave a wry smile. "I don't know either."

While the three of them discussed this in a cloud of bewilderment, they heard low moans rising from Fan Debiao and Yang Weidong on the ground. They slowly started to pull themselves up.

Fan Debiao grumbled as he stood, "Damn it, the back of my head feels like it's being stabbed by needles." He looked around, his face changing color as he shouted, "So many ghosts!"

Liu Dashao figured he must have seen the souls floating in the palace and mistakenly taken them for hostile ghosts. Jia Zhuangyuan snapped at him impatiently, "What are you howling about? I worked hard to wake you up, and the moment your eyes open, you start making ghostly noises. Are you trying to annoy me?"

Fan Debiao muttered weakly, "Ah, so many ghosts."

Liu Dashao smiled and said to him, "Fatty, the ghosts that attacked you are gone. These are the souls of ancient women; they don't harm people."

Fan Debiao and Yang Weidong simultaneously gaped, staring blankly at the surrounding spirits, their faces etched with disbelief.

At this point, Cai Qingchong asked, "What do we do now?"

Liu Dashao lowered his head in thought for a moment, then turned to Jia Zhuangyuan. "Senior Jia, what do you think? This palace is only so large. Besides these Heavy Water Lamps, there’s nothing else here, and you’ve already examined the Nuwa statue. I see the palace doors are still closed. I have a feeling there’s still some hidden mechanism here."

Jia Zhuangyuan nodded. "You are absolutely right. This palace, as the central structure of the Heavy Water City, is protected by the lake, and it houses the statue of Nuwa. Moreover, they actually use souls to feed bizarre evil spirits to guard the main hall. There must be something extremely important or a secret hidden within here."

After a beat, Jia Zhuangyuan continued, "Now, let's split up to investigate the scope of this palace. The high platform is my responsibility; after all, the mechanism for releasing the evil spirits is there. The rest of the area—the walls, the lamps, the floor, everything else—will be up to you all."

Liu Dashao acknowledged with a nod. "Good. Then let's all start searching immediately to see if there are any mechanisms for hidden compartments or passages within this palace."

Thus, the group dispersed and began their search in earnest.

After about twenty minutes, everyone had meticulously scanned every nook and cranny of the great hall—the floors and the walls—but to their bewilderment, they found absolutely nothing.

In frustration, Liu Dashao signaled for everyone to take a break before thinking of the next approach. The group then sat down somewhat dejectedly on the steps below the high platform.

Once seated, Jia Zhuangyuan began, "I spent over ten minutes searching just that small area on the high platform, about the size of a stool. How did you all manage to search the entire palace in such a short time? Did you all slack off?"

Fan Debiao shot him a side-eye. "The palace isn't small, that's true, but the walls and floor are confined to this space. Didn't we spend more than twenty minutes? Besides, under these circumstances, who would dare to be careless?"

Jia Zhuangyuan was momentarily speechless and turned his face away, staring intently at the seven Nuwa statues, lost in thought. No one knew what ingenious plan was forming in his clever mind.

Cai Qingchong then took out some dry rations from his satchel and offered them to everyone, saying, "Let's eat something first. At least there’s no immediate danger, so we can have a peaceful meal first."

Everyone was indeed famished and exhausted, both physically and mentally. They decided to set aside their current dilemma and address their physiological needs first.

At that moment, Jia Zhuangyuan took the dry ration handed to him by Cai Qingchong and was about to put it in his mouth when he suddenly seemed to remember something. His small eyes darted around, and he slapped his thigh with his free hand, exclaiming loudly, "I know! We missed one aspect we hadn't considered!"