There was no one under that black robe.
It was a corpse.
This was Liu Yunqing's immediate impression upon first seeing it.
Upon closer inspection, Liu Yunqing realized that it was not a corpse, but a dummy.
Oh, in the cultivation world, such a mannequin has another name—puppet.
However, puppetry is not popular in the Sun Realm, and because puppetry itself is somewhat evil, even cultivators who have strayed into this path mostly do not walk in front of others.
The puppet that appeared in front of Liu Yunqing at this moment was obviously of a very high level; one would not have been able to tell unless they looked closely.
However realistic a puppet may be, it is still not a real person. Not only does it sound cold and mechanical when it speaks, without any emotion, but more importantly, it cannot think like a human cultivator.
So, no matter how much Liu Yunqing and the others teased him, he never suspected it was intentional.
Even so, Liu Yunqing still didn't dare to tease him for too long.
She feared that if too much time passed, the master behind the puppet would discover it.
To control a puppet with the cultivation level of the Golden Core stage, one's own cultivation level must be at least the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage, or a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. Add to that the Lord of Thousand Sun City, and it's not something Liu Yunqing and his group can act rashly.
Liu Yunqing transmitted his voice to Zhuo Ying, briefly explaining the situation. After receiving a response, he quickly told Mingxin Zhenren and Wuxiu Zhenren to stop.
Once the three stopped, the puppet patrolled around for a while and, finding no further danger, pressed down on the head of the small wooden puppet on its waist. A different rhythmic wave flashed, and the puppet disappeared before their eyes.
"Did you see it clearly? Do you have any clues?"
After confirming that the puppet had left, Liu Yunqing and the other two went to a secluded spot and asked about Zhuo Ying's situation.
Zhuo Ying's face was slightly pale. His eyes, which were usually dark and gloomy and seemed to be filled with countless mysterious runes, looked somewhat lifeless at this moment.
Hearing the questions from the crowd, he slowly closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then gave a somewhat weary smile, saying:
"Although it's a stretch, it should be fine."
Solving a formation is different from breaking a formation. Breaking a formation can be done by following the logic of the formation or by brute force; both are considered breaking a formation.
However, breaking the formation is much more difficult. First, you can't break it by force, you can't alert the person who controls the formation, and you have to ensure that the formation functions normally.
Fortunately, Zhuo Ying's explanation of "breaking the formation" did not mean seizing control of the formation, but merely allowing the group to pass temporarily.
Even so, they were pleasantly surprised to hear Zhuo Ying say there was no problem.
Liu Yunqing looked up at the moon, which had already climbed halfway up the sky, and said:
"Then I'll trouble Fellow Daoist Zhuo Ying. Let's hurry up and catch up."
As he spoke, he took out a pill that could replenish spiritual energy and nourish the soul and handed it to Zhuo Ying.
Zhuo Ying really needed these things at this moment, so without arguing with Liu Yunqing, she directly took the pills and began to work after the medicinal effects were released.
When the moon was high in the sky, Zhuo Ying produced several jade tokens in his hand, and with a pale face handed them to Liu Yunqing and the other two, saying:
"Wearing this jade should make it easy to slip in unnoticed."
After the three of them put the jade on, Liu Yunqing glanced at Zhuo Ying's expression and said:
"You can stay outside and recover your spiritual energy, and also meet us in time."
Zhuo Ying thought for a moment and then simply nodded in agreement.
Making these jade pendants did take a lot of her effort, and there wasn't much she could do to help if she went in; in fact, she might easily be discovered.
If she stays outside, in case something happens to the three of them inside the formation, she might be able to put in more effort from outside.
"I'll try first."
After Liu Yunqing finished speaking, he only put a concealment talisman on his body and did not use the concealment power of the space. Then he stepped into the circular square.
The moment Liu Yunqing stepped through the formation, he felt an invisible force sweeping down from his head. It paused as it passed over the jade pendant at his waist, and then the sweeping force vanished instantly.
The moment Liu Yunqing landed, she felt as if the world before her had changed.
What lay before them was no longer a dark and empty circular plaza, but a brightly lit underground market, bustling with quiet activity.
Yes, the entire market was unusually quiet, but people were coming and going shoulder to shoulder, making it look very lively.
The only strange thing was that most of the people on the street were dressed in black robes from head to toe, without revealing their true identities.
However, with just a sliver of divine sense, one could see that beneath those black robes were puppets filled with spirit stones.
The few people who weren't wearing black robes were all seated in fixed positions, busy with their hands, each controlling many puppets.
The positions where the living people were sitting and the trajectories of the puppets' movements looked very familiar to Liu Yunqing at a glance.
Just as Liu Yunqing was verifying his thoughts, he saw a black-robed puppet holding a tray containing black energy in both hands, handing it to the sitting living person.
The man didn't reach for the tray; instead, he took out a soul banner and tossed it at the black cloud of energy, which was then absorbed.
While Liu Yunqing was checking these situations, Master Mingxin and Master Wuxiu also entered smoothly and stood behind Liu Yunqing.
Upon noticing their arrival, Liu Yunqing communicated with the two of them telepathically, explaining what she had seen upon coming down, before leading her people into the market.
The three moved stealthily, holding their breath and focusing intently to avoid revealing any trace of their presence, carefully avoiding the puppet's path.
After strolling through the market, Liu Yunqing's guess was confirmed.
The seats occupied by the living people corresponded to the locations of various tombs in the ghost market, while the wandering puppets carried trays along the routes to complete transactions.
This market only has sellers, no buyers.
Because the buyer is on the other end.
At the center of the boundary between the seller and the buyer, there is a relatively elaborate underground cave.
Liu Yunqing glanced at that spot, then whispered to the other two before silently approaching the cave in the middle.
Even when they were still quite a distance away from the cave, Liu Yunqing sensed a powerful aura emanating from it.
She dared not delay, and quickly concealed half of her body into the space before continuing to move towards that place.
The cave dwelling in the middle, although much more refined than the other stalls, was ultimately too simple because it wasn't a place to live for long.
Liu Yunqing casually wandered around the empty cave a few times before accurately locating the house emanating a powerful aura.
The room wasn't big; it seemed like a place for a casual rest.
But the people in the room were not taking a nap; instead, they were sitting opposite each other, talking with serious expressions.
"Are you really sure it's okay to do this? Those who came are all their family's precious darlings."
It was unmistakably the voice of the Lord of Thousand Sun City. Although the voice lacked some of the deliberate cheerfulness, the timbre was still exactly the same.
The Lord of Thousand Sun City was still wearing a long robe that covered him from head to toe, but now the hood had been removed and he was facing away from the door.
Sitting opposite the City Lord of Qianyang was a person whose entire body was emanating black energy.
Upon hearing the words of the City Lord of Qianyang, he grinned madly and said:
"Hmph, it's precisely because they're all geniuses that they've piqued my interest!"
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