Old Tang stared at the ghost soldiers blocking their path without allowing even the slightest advance and said, “Wang Ya, the Array-Breaking Formula doesn’t seem to mention these ghostly things guarding the city gate, does it?”
Wang Ya recovered from her initial shock at suddenly seeing the ghosts and said flatly, “The Array-Breaking Formula only records things related to the array.” If the Feng Family had recorded everything in the Array-Breaking Formula, wouldn’t all their secrets be exposed if it leaked out? If she had encountered a dozen armed soldiers in human society, she probably would have chickened out immediately, but she truly didn’t take these dozen talisman-sealed ghost soldiers seriously.
If these dozen ghost soldiers had charged at them right away, she would have wiped them out without a word, but the problem was that they didn’t move! There was something fishy about that! Wang Ya said, “Let’s retreat!” She slowly backed away a few steps, moving away from the city gate.
As soon as they retreated, the ghost soldiers immediately returned to the city wall corners and stood ramrod straight like sculptures.
Wang Ya stepped forward two paces, just reaching the city gate, and the ghost soldiers stationed at the bases of the walls on either side immediately turned in unison to block the gate, pointing their long halberds at her, as if they would cut her down the moment she took one more step forward.
Their postures, movements, and the murderous aura emanating from their bodies left no doubt that they had been elite, well-trained soldiers in life.
Wang Ya retreated two steps again, and sure enough, the ghost soldiers returned to the wall bases and stood perfectly straight. If not for their horrifying dried-corpse faces, their upright and vigorous stances would have perfectly showcased military bearing. Wang Ya had no interest in admiring their military posture, but she still watched them intently and stepped forward once more. She advanced two more steps, and the ghost soldiers turned again, pointing their long halberds at her.
Wang Ya retreated, advanced, and repeated the process constantly, while the dozen ghost soldiers kept advancing and retreating in response. To the others watching, it looked like she was just toying with these emotionless ghost soldiers.
Huang Qi couldn’t stand it anymore and asked, “Wang Ya, aren’t you a bit bored doing this?” After just two tries, she had already figured out that these ghost soldiers had no souls or consciousness and could only react mechanically to detected auras.
Zhang Qingshui frowned and said, “For anyone who can reach the city gate, these ghost soldiers clearly can’t serve as a deterrent or deal effective damage, so why place them here? Wang Ya, what did you find out from testing them?”
Wang Ya had indeed discovered something, but she didn’t want to tell Zhang Qingshui. She pulled out the Conceal Qi Talismans she had drawn while resting on the other side of the Bridge of Life and Death and gave one to each person present to affix to their foreheads, while instructing everyone to restrain their auras as much as possible.
Although Wang Ya didn’t say anything, Zhang Qingshui inferred from her actions that, just like the Azure Dragon Ten Thousand Coffins Array before, these ghost soldiers were likely some kind of trigger mechanism activated by the presence of living beings. They blocked the entrance upon sensing living auras, and if a powerful intruder came, they wouldn’t probe like Wang Ya, who had obtained the Feng Family Inheritance—they might just destroy the dozen ghost soldiers outright, triggering some mechanism in the Illusory City Labyrinth.
With the Conceal Qi Talismans sealing off their auras, they boldly walked past the dozen ghost soldiers, who stood motionless without detecting them.
They smoothly stepped through the city gate, and Old Tang asked incredulously, “We got in just like that?”
Instantly, a powerful murderous aura erupted behind them, and the dozen ghost soldiers turned in unison, slanting their long halberds as they charged swiftly toward the five of them. Their steps were heavy and forceful, black qi roiling beneath their feet, as if thousands of troops and horses were thundering along with them.
A nameless rage surged within Wang Ya, and she gnashed her teeth, snarling lowly, “Do you have to die if you don’t speak?” As soon as her words fell, Old Tang had already drawn his Tang Dao with a clang and slashed at the ghost soldiers rushing toward them.
The ghost soldiers were corpses nurtured by yin qi, undecayed and unrotted, instead coalescing powerful strength, but their weapons had long rotted away over the millennia. Old Tang’s Tang Dao danced, weaving a curtain of blade light, and the long halberds in the ghost soldiers’ hands shattered into iron fragments that scattered on the ground. Old Tang reversed his blade for a draw cut across a ghost soldier’s neck, but it produced a crisp clang like striking metal or stone.
Wang Ya shouted, “Dad, let’s go!” Ignoring Old Tang, who was entangled with the ghost soldiers, she strode toward the city interior.
Seeing this, Old Tang immediately realized he had blundered out of carelessness. He fought and retreated without further entanglement, quickly withdrawing from the city gate, while the dozen ghost soldiers charged out of the passage.
The moment those ghost soldiers rushed out of the city gate passageway, the massive city gate slammed shut with a boom, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Old Tang’s expression darkened as he swung his blade at the approaching ghost soldiers.
Though the ghost soldiers had lost their long halberds, they unleashed military fist techniques, relentlessly attacking Old Tang and the others. Forged from corpses and nurtured by yin qi for a millennium, they attacked on pure instinct without consciousness, but their blows carried over a thousand jin of force, numbing Old Tang’s organs with each impact. His Tang Dao strikes on their bodies were like hacking at jade or iron—utterly unmoving.
Seeing that normal blade work was ineffective, Old Tang applied Dao Talismans to his Tang Dao and slashed at the ghost soldiers.
Wang Ya, her aura concealed, stood silently in a corner without even glancing at Old Tang, who was in dire straits surrounded by the dozen ghost soldiers.
Wang Cheng’an wanted to rush up to help, but seeing Wang Ya’s unpleasant expression, he didn’t dare move and could only clench his fists, silently cheering Old Tang on.
Zhang Qingshui urged her Azure Dragon Vine forward to charge and kill, guarding Old Tang’s side and helping him fend off the encircling ghost soldiers, finally giving him a chance to breathe and dispatch them one by one.
Having wasted precious Dao Talismans on these gatekeeper minions, Old Tang felt heartbroken. But since the trouble was his own doing, he couldn’t blame anyone. Once he caught his breath, he asked, “What just happened?”
Wang Ya stared unblinkingly at the Illusory City Labyrinth shrouded in black mist and softly said, “Nothing much, you just triggered the array.” Ever since stepping through the city gate, she had sensed something in the city that shared the same roots, origin, and fate as her—like she had lost something vitally important inside.
