"Mr. Liu Zhenyu, my apologies for the interruption,"

After lighting the incense without showing any emotion, Xiao Mu signaled to Qing Songzi and began to excuse himself from Liu Zhenyu's house.

"Mr. Mu, have you found something?"

As soon as they left the Liu Family house, Qing Songzi eagerly asked Xiao Mu.

"Indeed, I have found something."

Xiao Mu's face was solemn, "Mr. Qing Songzi, Liu Zhenyu's father, his Yin spirit, seems to have been imprisoned."

"Imprisoned? The Yin spirit is imprisoned? Is it the work of an evil ghost? Why imprison the Yin spirit of Liu Futian?"

Qing Songzi was alarmed at these words and hastily asked.

Xiao Mu said: "I think, perhaps, it's for the paper horses and paper carriages."

"Paper horses and paper carriages?"

After thinking for a moment, Qing Songzi spoke in surprise: "Mr. Mu, to my knowledge, items like paper horses and paper carriages—due to their function as funeral supplies—are special cases; only humans can make them. Yin spirits do not possess the capability."

"Even if Liu Futian's Yin spirit was imprisoned, it still wouldn't have the ability to make paper horses and paper carriages for the evil ghost."

Xiao Mu replied, "I'm aware of everything Mr. Qing Songzi has said, Yin spirits indeed cannot create funeral supplies. The key is, Mr. Liu Futian's spirit holds the experience of making paper horses and paper carriages, he himself cannot make them, but he can teach others how to do it."

"Teaching others?"

Qing Songzi was jolted at this thought.

What Xiao Mu said quickly reminded him.

He had initially not been overly concerned with the evil spirits finding people to make paper horses and paper carriages. One reason was that the success rate of making paper horses and paper carriages wasn't very high, but the rate of damage to them was astonishing.

Secondly, even if the evil ghost captured a wallpaper master to make paper horses and paper chariots for them, the number of carriages one person could produce is surely limited.

If the quantity was limited, it couldn't make much difference on the battlefield.

But when he heard Xiao Mu say that others could be taught to do it, he was shocked on the spot.

If this was the case, then the situation was truly frightening.

"Mr. Mu, are you saying that the evil ghost killed Liu Futian and trapped his Yin spirit to have him teach others the technique of making paper horses and paper carriages?"

"Exactly!"

Xiao Mu nodded.

Apart from this, he could not think of any other possibility.

"But there is one thing I cannot figure out. Paper horses and paper carriages are not particularly powerful, so why do they become so potent in the hands of the evil ghost, transforming into Yin Horse Underworld Chariots?"

Qing Songzi furrowed his eyebrows.

Xiao Mu looked serious as he said, "I couldn't understand it at first either, until recently. Mr. Qing Songzi, don't forget, lots of things in this world can undergo mutations."

"Do you think it's possible that a book on how to make paper horse funeral paraphernalia mutated into a secret manual for making Yin Horse Underworld Chariots?"

"What?"

Qing Songzi was shocked.

Xiao Mu's words reminded him once again.

That's right, in this world, many things, and even some books related to certain skills, can mutate.

Take mutated yellow paper as an example. It's impossible for an ordinary paper mill to manufacture mutated yellow paper, but some small workshops can use special means to produce it.

Accordingly, Qing Songzi had conducted a special investigation and quickly found out that all the small workshops selling mutated yellow paper managed to do so because they had inherited mutated manuals about creating it from their ancestors.

Apart from this, there were also spiritual incense manufacturing workshops and shroud making workshops.

It could be said that after the world mutated, many industries gradually shifted from factory mass production to small-scale handcrafting.

This seems to have completely reversed the original trend of technological development.

"So... does this mean that the evil ghost could potentially obtain many mutated secret manuals for funeral paraphernalia, which they could use to construct their own Yin Horse Underworld Chariots?"

Qing Songzi muttered to himself, still looking shell-shocked.

"The Yin Horse Underworld Chariot is not an easy thing to construct, even if you have learnt from secret manuals, the failure rate is quite high."

Xiao Mu casually mentioned, these were all insights he'd gained from his previous discoveries at the Xu family temple. "It's precisely because of this, that if the evil ghosts intended to construct the Yin Horse Underworld Chariot, they would likely need a large number of workers."

Upon saying this, he suddenly smiled, "Actually, this is a good thing. The more people they need, the bigger their operation, and the more prone they are to exposure."

"Mr. Qing Songzi, you better have someone investigate whether there have been any unusual events in Ancient Forest Village and surrounding areas recently, any unusual people or actions."

"You're right, Mr. Mu."

Given the seriousness of the situation, Qing Songzi quickly responded enthusiastically.

Before Qing Songzi could issue his orders, Chen Jian, who had been accompanying them and was responsible for local security, stepped forward, "Mr. Qing Songzi, Mr. Mu, if this situation is indeed as Mr. Mu suspects, I believe I might be able to provide a few clues."

"Speak up!"

An impatient Qing Songzi urged him on.

Chen Jian sighed, "Before hearing Mr. Mu's words, I hadn't made the connection, but after hearing them, things seem to make sense."

"Mr. Qing Songzi, Mr. Mu, unbeknownst to both of you, recently not just in Ancient Forest Village but also in a few nearby villages, people have gone missing, mostly younger, physically robust individuals, particularly young dexterous women."

"Even last night, a woman filed a report that her daughter had disappeared."

"This has really been happening?"

Qing Songzi's face fell.

While occurrences of missing persons might not usually raise alarm, in the context of today's events, it became all too clear.

A continuous stream of missing persons, particularly young, dexterous women, could only mean the work of evil ghosts.

Evil ghosts had been kidnapping these young, agile women to make Yin Horse Underworld Chariots.

"Chen Jian, gather all security personnel to thoroughly search Ancient Forest Village, we must locate the evil ghost's workshop. If manpower is inadequate, mobilize personnel from nearby areas."

"This matter is of utmost importance, it is a matter of human life and death. All other matters can be temporarily set aside."

Qing Songzi immediately issued these instructions to Chen Jian.

"Yes, Mr. Qing Songzi,"

Chen Jian responded loudly, apparently ready to leave to gather more personnel.

"Wait a moment, Mr. Qing Songzi, please wait. And you too, Mr. Chen, please wait,"

Suddenly, Xiao Mu spoke up to stop them.

Chen Jian halted in his tracks, turning back to look at Xiao Mu.

He had noticed earlier that even though it seemed Mr. Mu didn't hold any official position, his words carried a great deal of weight in the presence of Qing Songzi, forcing him to take them seriously.

Upon hearing Xiao Mu's words, Qing Songzi turned to him in surprise, "Mr. Mu, what's on your mind?"

Xiao Mu said: "Mr. Qing Songzi, conducting the search in this manner will be futile."

"Oh?"

Qing Songzi was puzzled.

Xiao Mu said: "Mr. Qing Songzi, if the evil ghosts are indeed kidnapping people to make Yin Horse Underworld Chariots for them, this matter is very important and crucial. Do you think they would allow the location where the Yin Horse Underworld Chariots are made to be easily found?"

"Moreover, evil ghosts are experts at hiding their tracks, they must have hidden themselves in the most secluded place. Therefore, Mr. Qing Songzi, if you let ordinary people investigate in a normal way, they are bound to fail,"

"I..."

Qing Songzi was stunned; Xiao Mu's words made a lot of sense.

If they let ordinary people carry out the investigation, the chances of finding any clues would be near zero.

Suddenly thinking of something, he turned to Xiao Mu, "Mr. Mu, do you have a better plan?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.