The red lantern was hung on the inner wall of the low tomb passage, swaying left and right in the moist warm wind blowing out from inside. The bright red light swayed back and forth on the damp wall with the lantern, casting many shadows of different heights on the wall, just like a shadow play.

The shadows moved stiffly and they stretched their heads and ears as if talking to each other. They made the distant and blurred voices and footsteps that Bai Liu had just heard. As the light swayed and changed their positions, they walked into the main tomb chamber.

On both sides of the main tomb entrance, illuminated by lanterns, stood two shadows bending respectfully, one on the left and one on the right, as if welcoming guests. The dark eyes of the two shadows were empty, and they moved nimbly around on the faces of the shadows, as if they were looking at the people, or shadows, at the entrance.

The shadow's lips slowly opened, and the strange and sharp voice came out from the wall again:

"Two guests have come to congratulate us. Please enter the main hall!"

But there were so many shadows on the wall, but there was no one in the tomb passage. There was only a faint red light swaying. In the interweaving of light and darkness, there were shadows that kept changing their shapes and movements and moving inside, becoming clearer and clearer on the wall.

After being urged twice by the two welcoming shadows at the entrance, Bai Liu still did not move. Her eyes, which had been smiling into crescent shapes, rose and fell, and her originally laughing mouth also contracted and disappeared, leaving only two red hole-like eyes staring at Bai Liu.

The shadow's foot, which was originally standing on the wall, sank halfway and bent strangely to the ground, getting closer and closer to where Bai Liu was standing. It urged for the third time in a sharp voice:

"Two guests, please come in."

Bai Liu lowered her eyelids and walked inside, with Mu Sicheng following closely behind.

The two shadows guarding the entrance put their hands in their pockets, bent their bodies, and watched Bai Liu enter the tomb passage with their eyes rolling. A huge arc slowly opened at their mouths:

"The distinguished guest has arrived, the host welcomes him!"

As soon as Bai Liu walked into the tomb passage, the shadows on both sides of the passage stopped their steps and noisy conversations instantly. These shadows stopped one after another, silently staring at Bai Liu and Mu Sicheng who came in with their eyes reflecting red light.

These shadows were of different sizes and shapes. There was a woman with a bun holding a little girl with braids, a hunchbacked old man with a cane, and a middle-aged man in a short jacket. They all stood against the wall without saying a word, staring at Bai Liu as he slowly walked into the main tomb chamber.

Mu Sicheng's scalp tingled as he watched. He moved closer to Bai Liu and asked in a low voice, "What are these shadows? Didn't you say that only living people have shadows in the underworld?"

"Living people can cast shadows in the underworld, but living people are not the only ones who can cast shadows in the underworld." Bai Liu walked into the main tomb chamber without looking around.

"A shadow is an image formed by the three souls and seven spirits of a person, which are then imprinted on a physical object by light. The essence of a shadow is the same as our reflection in a mirror. Therefore, both folklore and Taoism say that ghosts have no shadows and cannot be imprinted on a mirror because ghosts' three souls and seven spirits are incomplete."

"Things with form but no shadow are transformed by the soul; things with shadow but no form are transformed by the spirit."

Bai Liu glanced at the shadows on the wall with his peripheral vision: "These shadows should be the souls of the Yinshan Village residents who died but are trapped here and cannot be reborn forever."

Mu Sicheng looked around at the shadows and shuddered: "...So these shadows are just spirits. Compared to the soul-transformed bridge martyr zombies outside, they are not that harmful, right?"

Bai Liu retracted his gaze. "The book 'Maoshan Evil Arts' describes that [a person's soul is good but his spirit is evil, a person's soul is smart but his spirit is foolish... If the soul is there, then he is the same person; if the soul is gone, then he is not the same person."

"The moving bodies and shadows of the world are caused by the spirits. Only those who have the Tao can control the spirits. (Note 1)"

Mu Sicheng swallowed his saliva: "…What do you mean by that?"

Bai Liu explained simply: "It means that the soul is kind and the spirit is evil; the soul is spiritual and the spirit is foolish."

"As long as the soul is there, the ghost can still be called a being with human nature. But once the soul completely dissipates, the ghost will not have even a trace of human nature. The most powerful ghosts in this world are all spirits. Only people with profound Taoism can punish spirits."

Mu Sicheng couldn't help but complain: "No way?! Those soul-transformed bridge-sacrificing ghost zombies outside are considered kind and humane?!"

Bai Liu calmly replied, "Compared to the spirit, it is."

The red light of the lanterns in the tomb passage became brighter and brighter. At some point, Mu Sicheng discovered that the shadows on both sides began to move slowly. Their eyes illuminated by the red light stared at Bai Liu without moving, and their steps were ethereal and unreal.

The shadows' mouths opened into red gaps of varying sizes, and they pressed together to whisper. The sound of their conversations was very vague, as if they were listening to their neighbors whispering through a wall, secretive and noisy.

Mu Sicheng couldn't hear clearly what they were saying, but it was definitely not something good, because the way these shadows looked at them made Mu Sicheng feel a lingering malice.

As Mu Sicheng was looking at these shadows, his neck felt cold. He frowned and asked absentmindedly, "Are these shadows getting shorter and shorter?"

Bai Liu pulled Mu Sicheng and asked him to walk right behind him.

"Watch your feet." Bai Liu reminded calmly, "These souls are trapped in the wall as shadows. Now they are not attacking us. They should not be able to break away from the wall and attack us actively, but their shadows can touch our shadows."

Mu Sicheng subconsciously lowered his head and was horrified to find that at some point, the feet of these shadows had slowly slid down from the wall to the ground, and were getting closer and closer to their shadows.

No wonder he just saw those shadows getting shorter and shorter!!

The shadows on the wall seemed to know that their approaching plot had been discovered, and they all smiled in unison. Almost identical smiling faces and red mouths appeared on different shadows of men, women, young and old at the same time, and at the same time, laughter in different voices came from the wall.

Mu Sicheng was so frightened that he immediately began to march in a straight line behind Bai Liu, trying to keep his shadow in the center and as far away from these ghosts as possible.

Bai Liu glanced at Mu Sicheng's shadow on the ground with the corner of his eye. It was so faint that it was almost invisible.

There is no shadow, which means that Mu Sicheng's soul is almost separated from his body, so he can't cast a shadow.

The Mu Sicheng here has humanity but no shadow, so the Mu Sicheng here is soulified. So the thing that remains in Mu Sicheng's body is, needless to say, the spirit.

Po has no humanity, only evil nature.

Things became a little troublesome. Only the right way of Taoism can subdue the soul, but Bai Liu and his people have no right way, only evil ways.

We can only take one step at a time and see.

Bai Liu walked to the end of the tomb passage and pushed open a narrow, faded red double wooden door.

The shadow on the wall looked at Bai Liu with a greedy look that would make one's scalp tingle, and they complimented each other and laughed as they entered the wooden door.

Bai Liu also led Mu Sicheng into the wooden door.

As soon as you enter the wooden door, the scene of the low tomb suddenly becomes much brighter. The height of the tomb top has increased several times compared to before, and it looks like it is as high as two or three floors. The decoration of the main tomb chamber is modeled after the main hall of an old mansion. Red and white candles and lanterns are lit everywhere, and it can almost be said to be brightly lit.

The shadows that had flown in were wandering around the wall, on which were painted many scenes of banquets for guests, which echoed perfectly with the sounds of the shadows chatting, laughing and joking. Of course, if these shadows didn't stare at Bai Liu, he would have blessed this lively banquet more sincerely.

Opposite the wooden door, there are seven eight-immortal tables placed in a certain pattern. The tables are covered with thick dust, but the Qimen Bagua patterns on the tables can be vaguely seen. The legs of the eight-immortal tables are nailed to the ground with golden nails and cannot be moved.

What was placed around the Eight Immortals Table were not tables, chairs or benches, but coffins standing upright. All of the coffins were opened, leaving only an empty coffin box. Coffin lids were piled up randomly on the ground, and there were red strings wrapped around the coffins.

The inside of the coffin was badly decayed and still dripping. A bronze mirror was inlaid at the top, and it was similar to the bride's coffin that Bai Liu had seen in the temple before.

Bai Liu walked forward, walked around the coffins, squatted down and carefully stroked the red line on the coffin lid: "There is no dust on the broken edge. It was just torn apart. The body inside should not have gone far."

Then Bai Liu stood up and walked around the coffins one by one, counting quietly: "1, 2...33."

"There are only 33 empty coffins." Bai Liu looked around, "16 are missing."

Mu Sicheng stood far away. He was frightened by the sight of the coffins and didn't want to get close. "How do you know there are 16 missing?"

"This should be a formation with seven as the extreme number." Bai Liu pointed at the seven eight-immortal tables. "The zombies chased by the paper men, the ghosts who died on the bridge, and the coffins we guard in the temple are all seven. According to this rule, each of the eight-immortal tables here should also correspond to seven coffins."

"We can tell from the dust on the ground." Bai Liu motioned for Mu Sicheng to look at the ground. "The dust in these places is not heavy, and there are traces of dragging. Coffins should have been placed there originally."

"These 16 coffins must have been carried away by the ghosts we met on the road."

Bai Liu thought thoughtfully: "But these ghosts were originally formed because of the tomb owner. They should only listen to the orders of the tomb owner, and this formation should have been set up by the tomb owner a hundred years ago."

"Why would the tomb owner allow these ghosts to move the bride's coffins out of the tomb a hundred years later, destroying the formation he had painstakingly set up a hundred years ago?"

Bai Liu lowered his eyes and rubbed the dust off his hands: "Obviously, he is only one step away from gathering the Yin energy and transforming himself into a peerless Yin corpse."