Chapter 247: The Wraith Academy

Chapter 247: The Wraith Academy

Ever since learning of the Night Lord's schemes, apart from pondering how to break the deadlock, Su Mo’s sole focus has been on the Wraith Academy.

What did the ninth day of the ninth month and the chimeras mean, as mentioned in the diary left by Su Tianyang?

This question weighed heavily on Su Mo’s mind.

Li Zhengyuan had once said that Su Tianyang had visited the Chima Forest years ago.

However, what he discovered after returning from the Chima Forest, he never revealed to anyone.

Now, standing within the Chima Forest, Su Mo gazed at the Three Elements Ghost Spirit Soul Array and couldn’t help but doubt Li Zhengyuan’s words.

The array was so intricate; if Su Tianyang truly came to the Chima Forest,

how did he bypass the Three Elements Ghost Spirit Soul Array?

How did he reach the Wraith Academy?

And how did he leave the Chima Forest?

It was often said that Su Tianyang was one of the most intelligent people under the heavens, yet based on what Su Mo had seen,

most of his actions were driven by a sense of righteousness.

He adhered to the principles of chivalry, with no regrets towards heaven or earth.

But when it came to his intelligence, Su Mo had yet to truly grasp it.

But if he truly had the ability to come and go from the Wraith Courtyard without being noticed by anyone...

Then Su Mo would have to truly admire him.

At least for Su Mo himself, if he hadn't secretly followed behind the Night Monarch, it would have been nearly impossible to venture this deep into the forest.

Moreover, without the people of Evernight Valley distracting the Youquan Cult's attention here, it would have been impossible for him to stay hidden until now.

Currently, Evernight Valley and the Youquan Cult are locked in a fierce and chaotic battle.

In terms of sheer numbers, the Youquan Cult naturally holds the advantage.

But the problem is, when thousands battle hundreds, no matter how vast your numbers are, only a few can confront the enemy at a time.

If this were an open battlefield, the advantage would still be significant.

But in a battle within a magical formation, if the opponent standing before you isn't someone like the Night Monarch,

Then these thousands fighting against hundreds would be like a breeze, and even experts would find it hard to resist, perishing without a sound.

But their opponent is the Night Monarch himself.

In this situation, the terrain of the Three Yuan Ghost Soul Startling Formation is being masterfully utilized by the Night Monarch, and the hundreds of shadow envoys are among the elite martial artists in the world.

With the balance of power shifting, the situation is starting to tilt in favor of the Night Monarch.

Continuing to watch here is pointless now.

Maybe it's better to sneak into the Wraith Courtyard first and see what's inside?

He had already made up his mind and was ready.

Moving freely within the Ghostly Forest was anything but easy.

But while he was unsure of how to proceed, others knew exactly what to do.

And there were quite a few who knew.

Thousands, indeed!

"Capturing just one shouldn't be noticed, should it?"

Su Mo chuckled softly, seizing the moment as the Night Lord directed the breaking of another formation. Taking advantage of the chaos as the shadow envoys charged in, he swiftly moved using his Divine Movement technique, arriving in the blink of an eye.

With a casual grab, he seized a Youquan Cult disciple who was prepared to face death, and in a flash, vanished into the thicket.

His movements were lightning-fast, and under the cover of night, even the shadow envoys failed to notice.

How much less the Youquan Cult disciples, whose positions had been exposed and were now staring disaster in the face?

Having succeeded in his strike, he vanished in the blink of an eye, yet dared not wander recklessly.

He found a relatively safe spot, stopped, and surveyed his surroundings to ensure no one was paying attention before releasing the Youquan Cult disciple's mouth and nose.

He then sealed the disciple's acupoints, making him unable to speak or resist.

The Youquan Cult disciple looked at Su Mo in confusion, unsure of what had just transpired.

One moment he was on the brink of death, and the next, he was in a completely different place.

Su Mo whispered softly:

"If you want to live, nod. If you want to die, shake your head."

"..."

The Youquan Cult disciple thought for a moment, then shook his head frantically.

Su Mo suddenly understood:

"You want to neither live nor die! Very well, I'll grant your wish."

Without hesitation, he tapped the Shenmen acupoint on the disciple's palm.

Making someone wish for neither life nor death was child's play for Su Mo.

His mastery of the Painful Mantra had reached new heights.

With a single tap, the Youquan Cult disciple's body convulsed, his eyes widened, and a faint gurgling sound escaped his throat, only to be muffled by Su Mo's merciless hand over his mouth, preventing even the slightest noise.

After a brief moment, Su Mo temporarily released the Painful Mantra.

He smiled and asked, "How does it feel? Now, think carefully and choose to nod or shake your head."

The Youquan Cult disciple immediately nodded repeatedly, without a second thought.

Su Mo pondered for a moment but shook his head:

"I don't quite trust you. You Youquan Cult members are all tough nuts."

"You just took a beating from me. If I release your pressure points, you might start shouting and attract other Youquan Cult disciples.

"What we're doing is top-secret and must stay under wraps.

"Unless I can be sure you've truly and completely submitted, otherwise... I'll have to make you suffer between life and death for a while.

"Hmm, let's give it another go."

The Youquan Cult disciple's eyes popped wide in disbelief, almost unable to believe his ears.

Between you and me, which one is really the cult?

How can you be so ruthless?

In a moment of shock, Su Mo hit the Shenmen pressure point again, and intense pain shot through his heart.

The pain was so intense that beads of sweat popped out on his forehead, and any lingering thoughts were completely wiped out by the pain.

But Su Mo wasn't convinced.

After repeatedly applying the Painful Mantra on him five times in one day, he finally, reluctantly, released his pressure points, but one hand still held his Shenmen pressure point.

At the first sign of trouble, the Painful Mantra would be back in action.

The Youquan Cult disciple winced at the scene, his eyes welling up as he stared at Su Mo.

This pain was worse than being skinned alive in Evernight Valley or having your heart ripped out by the Youquan Cult!

Once his pressure points were released, the man didn't dare make a sound, but instead whispered:

"Hero... let's talk this through. Ask me anything, and I'll spill... I don't want anything else, just end it quickly."

"Good."

Su Mo nodded: "A smart man knows when to fold. With your attitude, you'll make a name for yourself in no time. Now, tell me how to get to the Wraith Courtyard."

"Wraith Courtyard..."

The man was stunned, glanced at Su Mo, and then nodded:

"I'll take you there."

"Take your time."

Su Mo shook his head: "First, tell me how to get there."

"Ah..."

The Youquan Cult disciple was momentarily stunned, but after a moment of silence, he began to speak.

He rattled off obscure terms from the formation.

He explained the formation's layout, where to go, and how to move through it without drawing attention.

And getting out of the formation isn't a walk in the park.

There are living people in this formation.

If you encounter a change in the formation by the Second Banner Order, there are several ways to respond."

The Youquan Cult disciple spoke freely, holding nothing back and omitting no details.

However, when Su Mo asked him to repeat it a second time, he was at a loss.

The result was obvious.

Su Mo pressed his acupoints and invoked the Painful Mantra.

After three rounds, Su Mo finally released the pressure on his acupoints.

Glancing at the Three Yuan Ghost Soul Startling Formation not far away, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The Second Banner Commander still had some resources at his disposal. Though the Night Lord could break formations, it wasn’t easy to finish the task quickly.

They were still hidden in their current location.

But the longer they delayed, the worse it was for Su Mo.

Yet, the worse it got, the calmer Su Mo became, as if he wasn’t in a rush.

He quickly asked again how to escape the formation.

This time, the Youquan Cult disciple spoke more carefully.

Su Mo had little understanding of formations. But after learning the Purple Qi from the East, his grasp of the sixty-four hexagrams far surpassed his time at Profound Theory Valley.

Back then, he could only trail behind Profound Theory Valley disciples, memorizing their every move.

He brute-forced his way through the formation, relying on his sharp memory and knowledge.

As the Youquan Cult disciple spoke, Su Mo began to understand the true workings of the Three Yuan Ghost Soul Startling Formation.

In the following exchanges, the Youquan Cult disciple answered smoothly.

Only then did Su Mo start to trust his words. He casually pressed the man’s acupoints, grabbed his shoulder, and leaped into the air.

Using the escape plan, he tried to navigate the terrain.

Soon, he left behind the battlefield where the Night Lord and Second Banner Commander clashed.

After moving forward for about the time it takes to drink tea, he suddenly stopped and leaped onto a tree branch.

A dried-up corpse hung beneath his feet, swaying in the wind. Su Mo looked ahead.

Deep in the forest, a massive, blood-soaked courtyard sprawled before him.

Youquan Cult disciples patrolled the area.

A bloody plaque hung above the courtyard, bearing three large characters: Wraith Courtyard!

“Finally found it,” Su Mo murmured, exhaling softly.

He glanced at the corpse below, paused, then strangled the man he held.

He then stripped the man’s clothes and put them on himself.

Disposing of the corpse was simple. There were many ropes hanging from the trees. Su Mo casually found one, tied the corpse, and hung it on a branch.

He left it swaying in the wind next to another corpse.

After that, Su Mo quietly observed the area.

The patrols of the disciples in the Wraith Courtyard naturally followed a specific pattern.

After a short while, Su Mo had a rough grasp of their movements.

Then he changed his position, circling the entire Wraith Courtyard as much as he could.

Taking in all the details, he waited until a patrol of Youquan Cult disciples passed by, and in an instant, he closed in on the last person in the line.

With a casual palm strike to the back of the person's heart, the internal force of the Three Yang Burning Heart Palm surged, instantly severing their heart meridian and killing them silently.

Su Mo took the body and hid it in the nearby grass.

Then he swiftly moved out, taking the last position in the patrol line, following behind them as if he were just an ordinary Youquan Cult disciple, scanning the surroundings for any unusual activity.

His movements were so swift that the others in the patrol line didn't notice a thing.

Only when crossing paths with other Youquan Cult patrols did he slightly avert his gaze to avoid recognition and exposure.

Although at this moment, even if his identity were exposed, he wouldn't be overly concerned.

At worst, he could simply force his way through.

But the problem was, if he forced his way in, the Second Banner Commander would surely be on alert.

At that point, Su Mo would have to gamble on whether the Night Lord or the Wraith Courtyard was more important.

If the Wraith Courtyard was more important, the likely outcome would be that the Night Lord's Evernight Valley experts and the Youquan Cult's Second Banner Commander, leading thousands of followers, would all converge on him.

That wouldn't be ideal at all.

Moreover, with more people, chaos would ensue. If someone didn't want the Wraith Courtyard to fall into his or the Night Lord's hands, they might just torch the place.

Then Su Mo would truly be left with nothing but despair.

At this moment, the best approach was to quietly infiltrate and investigate.

Su Mo openly followed them, entering the depths of the Wraith Courtyard.

Upon stepping inside, the smell of blood grew even more intense.

The blood pool in the Pinjian Tower of the Jade Willow Villa was still somewhat hidden by the Youquan Cult.

The racks of heads in the Pinjian Tower were mainly used to terrify people.

It was also a sort of collection obsession for the Youquan Cult.

But the practices in the Wraith Courtyard were entirely different.

Bloodstains were everywhere, and occasionally, when peering into the rooms, one could see figures barely clinging to life, suspended in mid-air, their chests carved open, blood dripping to the ground.

And the ground of the Wraith Courtyard was also entirely different from elsewhere.

There were trenches on the ground, forming intricate patterns.

The heart's blood flowed through these trenches, but no one knew its final destination.

Su Mo took advantage of the patrol turning a corner to quietly slip away, then began to 'move freely' within the Wraith Courtyard.

But this place was entirely unfamiliar to him. Although he was here to investigate, he had no idea where to begin.

After a long search, apart from the corpses hanging upside down in the Wraith Courtyard, he found nothing.

"Where should I go to find it?"

Su Mo stood still, slightly dazed.

But after a moment, he looked at the blood-filled trenches on the ground.

He fell silent for a moment...

The layout of the Wraith Courtyard was bizarre, as if all the blood was flowing towards a single direction.

The entire Wraith Courtyard was like a funnel, with its core at the very center.

All the blood appeared to flow towards a single point.

"...Could this be the key?"

Su Mo's eyebrows lifted slightly. With no other leads, he decided to investigate in that direction.

Soon after, Su Mo arrived at a particular spot.

There was a medium-sized hall here.

Exquisite, yet with a hint of eeriness.

Two lanterns hung on either side of the hall's entrance, but the flames inside were unusual, emitting a faint green light.

Beneath the green glow, a sinister plaque loomed above the hall.

It read: Hall of a Hundred Ghosts!

The Forest of Demons, the Wraith Courtyard, the Hall of a Hundred Ghosts!

Su Mo's lips twitched slightly: "In the art of ghostly theatrics, even the people of Yin Mountain might pale in comparison to the Youquan Cult."

What's more, despite being at the heart of the Wraith Courtyard, the Hall of a Hundred Ghosts had no patrols.

This was highly unusual...

After a brief pause, Su Mo approached the hall's entrance and pushed the door open.

A faint sound echoed, resembling the sigh of a hundred ghosts.

Only someone as daring and skilled as Su Mo would venture inside. Anyone else would have been terrified by the eerie atmosphere and wouldn't have dared to step in.

But as Su Mo stepped inside, he realized the place truly deserved its name, the Hall of a Hundred Ghosts.

The hall didn't house just one statue.

Instead, over a hundred statues stood in rows within the hall.

Su Mo didn't pay much attention to them. Instead, he glanced back at the hall's entrance, wondering if the door would shut by itself.

But after a moment, the door stayed open.

Su Mo sighed and had no choice but to do it himself. With a flick of his sleeve, the hall doors abruptly closed.

Only then did Su Mo start to carefully examine these hundred ghost statues.

"The head racks at Jade Willow Villa, the Hundred Ghost Hall in Wraith Courtyard...

"They are almost identical."

He walked along, examining each statue one by one, each with a different form.

There were hanged ghosts, headless ghosts, long-tongued ghosts, starving ghosts... you name it.

After completing his inspection, Su Mo noticed a relief sculpture at the back of the hall.

It depicted a scene of a hundred ghosts.

After comparing them one by one, he gave a slight nod:

"The hundred ghosts depicted on the relief are exactly the same as the hundred ghost statues in this hall...

"But why does something feel off?"

Su Mo frowned slightly and scrutinized the hundred ghost relief.

Then he looked around at the surrounding statues of the hundred ghosts.

After a moment's thought, he decided to count them.

After completing a full round, he tallied up the hundred ghost statues, totaling ninety-nine.

He returned to the hundred ghost relief and compared each one, only to find the relief depicted a full hundred.

"There's one missing..."

Su Mo was slightly stunned, thinking, "This can't be right!"

This is real life, not some escape room puzzle game. Who would leave such an obvious clue?

And if there really was another mechanism within the Hundred Ghost Hall, those in the know would naturally know how to enter, and wouldn't need this as a reminder.

"Unless someone had been here before me, solved the mechanism, and destroyed one statue to leave a clue for the next person?

"Could it have been him?

"But if that's the case, why didn't the Youquan Cult just make another statue?"

This thought crossed his mind, but he didn't dwell on it.

After all, there were many possibilities...

Perhaps the materials for the statues were hard to find, or perhaps there was some mystery within these statues that the Youquan Cult couldn't replicate.

Copying the cat and drawing the tiger, adding a dog's tail to a sable, would only leave more flaws, so they might as well not bother.

Letting the number drop from a hundred to ninety-nine, ordinary people might not even notice the detail.

At this point, Su Mo carefully compared them again and finally realized that the missing statue in the hall was a big-headed ghost!

Thinking of this, he suddenly leaped up and casually slapped the big-headed ghost on the relief.

With a crack, that part of the relief collapsed inward.

In the next moment, the sound of mechanisms operating echoed throughout the hall.

In an instant, the ninety-nine evil ghost statues in the hall all turned to face the same direction.