[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele":3,"chapter-the-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele-the-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele-chapter-240":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Invincible Female Ghost Is A Bit Of A Hopeless Romantic",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1706428,2180,"Chapter 240: I Acknowledge the Dao!","the-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele-chapter-240",240,"\u003Cp>The humanoid figure formed from white smoke appeared, and the surrounding bluish-white lamps all shrank back toward it, as if once this \"seat guest\" appeared, the entire seat would start to acknowledge it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan's gaze turned cold, his short saber held horizontally at his chest, and he barked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don't let it get stable!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If it stabilizes, it will have recognized the seat!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before his words finished, the humanoid white smoke raised its head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had no face, only a misty blank, but in the center of that blank a very fine red dot slowly emerged, like someone pressing a pin against paper from behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immediately a second red dot appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One on the left, one on the right, positioned exactly like eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's borrowing air to form eyes!\" Song Qinghe cried out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Heaven without light, earth without gates!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Paper without eyes, smoke without body!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"With my saber's qi I sever your shadow, with my true fire I burn your root!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Urgently, urgently, as by the law's command!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the last four words, he suddenly slashed his saber diagonally, the blade wind carrying the lingering fire from that flattened talisman, sweeping straight toward the white smoke figure's brow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mouth!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white smoke was split open; mist billowed and revealed a section of blue-black spinal contour inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did the others realize it was not a complete human form, but a \"seat\" made up layer by layer of paper, ash, incense offerings, and king-flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed prepared as a substitute for the empty seats on the formation, waiting for a living person to respond so it could drop in their soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So it's a seat spirit!\" Zhou Heng said in a low voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cold deepened in Lu Yuan's eyes:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not a seat spirit, but a 'guest body.'\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Whoever recognizes the seat will take its place.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He finished and his Yu Steps started again. The steps were short but unbroken, each one pressing along a line toward the yin path between the earth mound and the shrunken coffin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He chanted while he walked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Left step on the Azure Dragon, right step on the White Tiger.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Front suppresses the Vermilion Bird, rear presses the Black Tortoise.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"One step severs the road, two steps intercept the gate.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Three steps seal the seat, four steps fix the soul!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"With Daoist step talismans I walk your yin formation's proper vein!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Retreat!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan's final step landed heavily; the black-ash circle on the ground trembled with a low hum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the gray line a layer of light yellow earth-energy rose, like something alive, forcibly lifting the lower half of the white smoke figure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the opportunity, Lin Zhaoxuan immediately flipped the Thunderclap Token, pressed his two fingers to the back, and shouted:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thunder-fire, do not fall upon the lamps, heavenly might strikes only the yin road's root!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Borrow for me a strand of the Five Thunders, command your paper bones to scatter to dust!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bluish-white arcs of thunder issued from the token, but they did not strike the white smoke figure directly; they slanted into the shrunken coffin's seam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Boom!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A muffled, miserable scream came from inside the coffin, as if someone below ground had their throat scalded by thunder-fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white smoke figure shuddered, the two red lights in its brow flickering wildly, like eyes about to burst open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The paper-masked person saw this and suddenly flipped the register to the last page, pressing a finger against those five red dots while saying in a low voice:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Missing one seat, cannot disperse the feast.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At his press, the red dots snapped into light with a crisp sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan's face changed. He turned sharply to Zhou Heng and Song Qinghe and barked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's trying to borrow a living person to fill the final seat!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Zhou Heng, cut behind the paper banner!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Song Qinghe, aim the plate heart at my feet!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lin Zhaoxuan, press the register with thunder, don't let it flip pages!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Heng shot up and horizontally slashed the nearest white banner behind it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where the sword light passed, the banner cloth tore, and a string of black paper figures fell out and turned to charred ash on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Qinghe held the plate, the Yin-Yang Fish suddenly spun, and the plate's heart sent a cold light directly down to Lu Yuan's feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan caught that thin beam and saw, in the black soil by his foot, an extremely fine handprint slowly extending outward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His pupils contracted and he shouted:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So the gate root is here!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the next instant he did not hesitate. He formed a seal at his brow with his left hand and drove his short saber sharply into the ground with his right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Heaven clear, earth manifest, I borrow three inches of soil as proof for my body.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I borrow your gate root to lock me, I borrow your yin vein to press the ghost form.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Seal!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment the blade tip plunged into the earth, the earliest-stirred earth-energy within the black-ash circle suddenly recoiled, as if an invisible net tightened and clamped down on that handprint beneath the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something under the coffin finally made a true human sound for the first time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was an extremely low, hoarse cry—half-child, half-old—trickling up from the coffin bottom:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don't... press........\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan heard it and his gaze dropped like a blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So you are not the master.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You were pressed in.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As his words fell, the short saber flicked upward in his hand; the copper coin on the blade's back rang as a very fine but bright white light shot straight into the smoke figure's brow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Break the seat!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white smoke figure exploded, the bluish-white lamp lights dimming simultaneously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The paper-masked person abruptly stepped back half a pace, and the red thread along the register's edge began seeping black blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the shrunken coffin's lid was finally pushed open an inch from within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A glossy black eye opened from the coffin seam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When that eye opened, every bluish-white lamp in the stone passage quivered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't wind, not a man moving; it felt like something deeper, older, and ineffable, slowly pulling aura back into the coffin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The eye was glossy black and bright, not like a living creature's eye but like an ancient well that hadn't seen the sky for years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deep in the well-water a shadow refused to dissipate, coldly peering out through the coffin seam at the people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan felt a chill on his back but dared not loosen his grip. He said in a low voice:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don't stare into its eye.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If it catches you with an eye, it recognizes people.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Heng immediately turned his face aside, veins bulging at his temple:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lu Dao-you, exactly what method is this thing?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan didn't answer, but his feet silently stepped out three short talisman steps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Left foot down, right followed, the third step pausing and pressuring as if driving an invisible stake into the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He chanted quietly at the same time:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Heaven's gate won't open, earth's gate won't connect.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Eyes in the coffin, yin and yang reversed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I borrow three steps to lock your soul, not allowing you to leave an inch of edge.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Urgently, urgently, as by the law's command!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each word fell steady, not rushed, but each struck like a nail driven into the earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The light yellow earth-energy at the black-ash circle's edge rose again and slowly pressed toward the shrunken coffin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Qinghe watched alarmed and quickly pushed the Tai Chi Seal to Suppress Evil Plate forward, the Yin-Yang Fish spinning like a millstone, its cold light directly over the coffin seam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lu Dao-you, my plate heart can suppress it for a breath, but not for long!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's enough,\" Lu Yuan said in a deep voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As long as that eye closes for half an instant, I can apply the second seal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No sooner had he spoken than the black eye in the coffin abruptly rolled upward, flashing a patch of stark white sclera.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that instant everyone felt a buzzing in their ears, like someone striking a bronze bell with an iron spoon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Erxiao staggered, nearly dropped to his knees, and let slip a low involuntary \"ai.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Shit!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Cheng'an clamped his hand over Xu Erxiao's mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was too late.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though soft, that \"ai\" sounded as if the thing in the coffin heard it. Immediately a thread of black qi slid out from the coffin seam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fine thread like an invisible needle lunged for the back of Xu Erxiao's neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan's eyes were quick. He parried with his short saber; the copper coin on the blade sang as it deflected, giving a crisp chime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ding!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black needle was knocked aside, brushing Xu Erxiao's ear and embedding into the rear stone wall with a thin black streak, like ink seeping into paper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan's face darkened:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's piercing soul-needles.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Zhaoxuan's expression hardened; he held the Thunderclap Token to his chest and the bluish-white thunder pattern crawled along its edge without rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'll sever its eye path!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He brought two fingers together, flipped the token's back, and chanted rapidly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ninth Heaven's Thunder Ancestor above, lend me a line to break that abyssal glow.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thunder as eye, lightning as blade, illuminate and shatter the yin eye with no hiding.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"East thunder open, west thunder close, south thunder cleave, north thunder bind.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Five-direction true reserve presses the evil light.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Rescue!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the last word the Thunderclap Token shot forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bluish-white thunder thread flew from its tip, not to strike the coffin but slanted directly at the black eye in the seam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Snap!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thunder grazed the coffin rim; the black eye shrank, and a deep, heavy groan came from within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that groan, the entire stone passage felt as if a breath was forcibly held.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile the paper-masked person slowly lifted his head; the dark light seeping through the crack in the white paper mask intensified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned the register to a middle page, pressing a finger at the corner. His voice was chillingly flat:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Once the soul is marked, it enters the seat.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"One who enters the seat cannot retreat.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan's eyes went icily cold:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This isn't an invitation feast, it's borrowing a name to bind life.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The paper-masked person did not answer; he turned another page forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This page was not blank but filled with a row upon row of pale red fingerprints, tightly packed, as if many people had pressed their hands one by one until the paper swelled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When those fingerprints appeared the bluish-white lamps seemed fed and suddenly surged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They're adding lamps!\" Song Qinghe cried.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They cannot add,\" Lu Yuan snapped coldly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's flipping old accounts, calling the shadows who previously filled seats to help.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His words had barely fallen when the paper faces that had been just paper began to change slowly along the stone passage's sides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where there had been hollow black eye-sockets, some faces began to swell with noses; cracked mouth corners gained faint bluish-gray human skin texture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They no longer looked like paper; rather like real human contours pasted with a thin coat of adipocere and paper pulp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's borrowing old souls to nurture new shells!\" Zhou Heng shouted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan nodded, his coldness sharpening to a blade:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Right. It first uses the seat names on the formation to feed the paper, then uses paper to feed the skin, and finally the skin borrows Vitality Energy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If it advances another step the whole formation could come alive.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised his short saber upright, blade pointing up, left hand forming a seal against the spine of the blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His right hand curled into an extremely standard \"seal of closure.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Heaven's mouth shut, earth's mouth gather.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yin mouth locked, yang mouth kept.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"With my saber as talisman, with my blood as nail.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Seal your paper mouth, stitch your yin voice.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Close!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the last word his left hand slapped the blade spine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The saber emitted a very fine, long vibration, like iron plunging into cold water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound was low but tangible, propagating outward along the stone passage as an extremely thin ripple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where the ripple passed the red-and-white banners trembled, and several recently-swollen paper-skin faces slumped down with a rustle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the first time the paper-masked person paused for half a breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan seized that half-breath and suddenly turned to Song Qinghe:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Give me half a turn of the plate!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Qinghe understood instantly. With a flick of her hands the Tai Chi Seal to Suppress Evil Plate tilted slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Yin-Yang Fish on the plate rotated half a turn off-axis; the cold light changed from horizontal to diagonal, now shining directly on the register in the paper-masked person's hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The register's cover shrank around the red thread at the touch of the cold light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan timed it and spun, reversing his grip on the short saber. Borrowing the step-talisman momentum he swept forward, but the blade did not stab a person—it slashed the register's spine diagonally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"First cut the name book, then cut the gate-root!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you want to mark seats, I'll leave you nameless to mark!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blade's tip slashed and the register's spine split with a ripping crack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that instant a shrill, near-piercing chorus of cries erupted from the passage's end, like many women straining their throats in a single mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that sound all the paper banners went madly trembling, the bluish-white lamps flickered uncertainly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The paper-masked person's wrist trembled and the register nearly slipped from his grip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At last he retreated a full step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Done!\" Zhou Heng exclaimed in a low voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan showed no joy. He growled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don't loosen!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before his words finished, the black eye in the coffin suddenly widened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then a second, a third eye pushed out from the seam—many eyes, not a single thing watching but layers of watching eyelids, stacks of resentful qi, pressing out from the coffin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Qinghe's face went pale:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This... is a crowd-eye calamity?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan's voice sank terrifyingly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not a crowd-eye, but a thousand-eyes lock.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Someone pressed hundreds and thousands of soul-skins at the coffin bottom so it could borrow eyes to find the way.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Every eye that appears means another layer within has awakened.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He cut his words short and bit his index finger suddenly. A bead of blood formed and he pressed it onto the copper coin on the short saber's back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The coin stained with blood, faintly flashing a dark gold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Zhou Heng, block three breaths for me!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lin Zhaoxuan, press thunder on the right-rear lamp!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Song Qinghe, plate heart aimed at the coffin seam, do not move!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cheng'an, Erxiao, throw salt under my feet, quickly!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They obeyed at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Heng braced his sword and became like a wall at Lu Yuan's side front.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Zhaoxuan pressed his Thunderclap Token at an angle, forcing the right-rear lamp back to half-dark with thunderlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Cheng'an and Xu Erxiao scrambled with salt, desperately scattering it at Lu Yuan's feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the salt hit the ground a very light \"sip\" sound came from beneath Lu Yuan's feet, like a drop hitting a hot pot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan inhaled deeply and recited a short charm three times:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Salt is the earth's bone, fire is heaven's sinew.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If the earth sinew is unbroken, the yin road will not move.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"One scatter severs three times, a hundred calamities shall not be born.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Urgent, urgent, urgent!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the final \"urgent\" he spun and slashed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blade wind carried the copper-coin bloodlight and struck the unseen yin road at the stone path's center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Flavor!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That sound was not in the ears but in the bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The seat road that had been pressed down by the red-and-white procession was abruptly cleaved aside by his blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the black soil violent upheaval followed, as if some enormous creature lost its bearing and frantically tried to recover direction below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The paper-masked person used the chance to flip the register, his voice finally growing urgent:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fill the seat... fill...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan's gaze went icy:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's panicking.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Zhaoxuan suddenly looked up:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Can I just cleave its register?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No.\" Lu Yuan said decisively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The register is a live account; cleaving it would scatter the names into the earth.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What it fears now isn't your cleave, it's not knowing who sits.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, something occurred to him and he turned to look at the earth mound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The 'hand gate' they had forced back with sword and saber had slowly withdrawn and left a deep palm imprint in the soil.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that palm print a very fine white light faintly flickered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan's expression sharpened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So that's it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This formation isn't about replacing a single seat.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It wants to first light the master seat, then force a living person to sit.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Qinghe was startled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Master seat?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan lowered his voice:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes. The real thing inside that coffin doesn't want to come out by itself; it's waiting for a breath of 'seat-recognition' qi.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As soon as someone in the formation recognizes the invitation, it can borrow the name to take the seat.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So what we must do isn't to confront it directly, but first destroy the path it uses to recognize the seat.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Heng urged:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How do we destroy it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan glanced at the surrounding red-and-white banners and then at the register in the paper-masked person's hands, and said in a low voice:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It uses names to mark seats, and lamps to recognize seats.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lamps are at the left-rear, names are in the register, the seat is in the coffin.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then cut all three at once.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn't finish speaking before he thrust the short saber back into its sheath and formed a peculiar pair of hand seals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Left thumb hooked the base of the ring finger, index and middle pressed together against the palm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right hand's five fingers spread like a lamp, palm inward as though shielding a small flame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He slowly raised both hands and intoned a set of very steady, very slow altar-pleading words, as if lifting characters from an old temple stele—each word heavy enough to make one hold their breath:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Above I invite the Three Pure Ones to shine before the altar, below I request the underworld to close its gates.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Between them one mortal flame to illuminate the yin book and the ghostly feast.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I take my hand as talisman, my heart as furnace.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In the furnace burn true intent; true intent breaks evil bonds.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not inviting demons, not inviting ghosts, only requesting a single ray of heaven's light.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Urgently, urgently, as by the law's command!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the last words he slammed his palms together, then sharply opened them again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Between his hands a faint, faint thread of white qi appeared, as if plucked directly from the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white qi was so fine it resembled a needle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What is that?\" Song Qinghe cried.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan's gaze did not waver. He whispered:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It is the altar-heart qi.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A true reserve forced out using human heart as furnace.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It can be used only once.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He drew that white thread onto his short saber, then abruptly looked up, his eyes flashing like lightning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Zhou Heng, retreat half a step!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lin Zhaoxuan, raise thunder half an inch, don't let it fully fall!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Song Qinghe, plate heart aimed at the coffin eye!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cheng'an, Erxiao, lie down!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although unsure of his plan, they obeyed instinctively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the next instant Lu Yuan raised the short saber high; the blade shimmered with the copper-coin bloodlight and was wrapped in that slender altar-heart qi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He seemed to be filled with an invisible force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He let out a long shout that cut through the stone passage:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Heavenly talisman fall, earthly malevolence gather!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lamp cut, name cut, seat cut, master cut!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Today I borrow the saber to sever your seat-recognition root!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sever!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the final \"Sever\" he struck down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time the saber's qi arrived before the blade. The left-rear bluish-white lamp exploded in midair with a sharp pop into a ball of fragmented fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The register's spine cracked another line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black eye that had protruded three times in the shrunken coffin suddenly shrank as if struck by an invisible blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immediately all paper faces, paper hands, paper feet, and paper banners along the stone passage emitted a very light but dense rustling—like a thousand sheets of paper simultaneously flicking a corner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is it done?\" Xu Erxiao asked from the ground, his voice altered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan did not answer at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because at that moment the coffin fell silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't suppressed or sealed; rather the thing inside seemed to be silently thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a full three breaths a very low voice slowly leaked from the coffin seam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time it was no longer man nor woman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It sounded like many voices layered—children, old women, mute wretches, dead-house whispers—pushed out bit by bit:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You... won't recognize the seat?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan's gaze froze to ice. Pointing his saber at the coffin seam, he replied slowly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I recognize the Dao.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You recognize the seat.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then we'll see who loses breath first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As his words landed the coffin at the stone passage's end finally pushed open a seam wider than a finger for the first time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Glossy black yin qi poured out from within like a tide.\u003C\u002Fp>",3558,"2026-06-06T14:45:54.834Z",1,"novelbin.me","dde17b30ab8579c352d8b1397aee090634acc5519b60b5dbfbcdbb9859ce0d67","the-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele-chapter-241","the-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele-chapter-239",241,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele-cover.jpg"]