The organization I founded has been exposed by the reborn!

We walked through many dark and damp corridors.

Su Yu led the group into a spacious inner courtyard overgrown with weeds.

In the very center of the courtyard, a towering, dilapidated main hall stands in the thick darkness of night, like a giant ancient coffin lying across a desolate wilderness.

The tightly closed palace doors were made of old wood, with large areas of the vermilion lacquer peeling off and revealing a dark brown color like dried blood scabs.

On either side of the gate hung two human skin lanterns emitting a pale, cold light.

The lantern's leather is as thin as a cicada's wing, and a pale light shines through its surface, revealing faint traces of fine human pores and twisted bluish-purple blood vessel patterns.

A biting, eerie wind howled and swirled in the courtyard, ruffling everyone's hair, but the two human-skin lanterns hanging in front of the door remained stubbornly still, their pale candlelight frozen as if they were lifeless.

You could hear a pin drop all around.

In addition to the musty smell of rotting wood and damp paper ash, the air was filled with a thick, sticky, and pungent aroma of burnt corpse oil that seemed to penetrate deep into the throat.

At that very moment—

"when--!!"

From deep within the cracks of the main hall door, a piercing, sharp gong suddenly rang out without warning!

The voice was hoarse and dry, carrying a chilling echo of metal scraping against bones, transforming into an invisible hammer that struck directly into the depths of everyone's souls.

"Well……"

Feng Gang, who was walking at the front, groaned. His hot blood suddenly froze and became sluggish. His heart felt as if it had been gripped by an invisible icy hand, and his vision was instantly swallowed by a large expanse of darkness.

A tearing pain erupted deep within Zheng Qiang's brain, forcibly severing the previously rapidly operating brain analysis matrix and bringing his thinking to a standstill.

Shen Lesheng swayed, and the quicksand that had been gathered under his feet instantly lost its anchor, collapsing into fragments with a crash. He lost his balance and nearly fell over.

The golden holy light within Zhou Tian's body trembled violently, and the sacred origin was fiercely impacted by the Yin Sha demonic sound, making it impossible for it to gather and take shape.

Even Qin Xinran, who was lurking in the shadows on the flanks, was forced out of her stealth state by the violent boiling and tearing of the shadow layer beneath her feet, which she could control as if it were her own arm.

The sound of the gong was so sudden that even the five members who had awakened high-level abilities were momentarily stunned, their minds going blank and their bodies frozen in place.

At the front of the group, Su Yu's figure remained as upright as a mountain, his expression calm and undisturbed.

The mental hammer, powerful enough to shatter the consciousness of an ordinary awakened being, struck his powerful spirit, yet only caused ripples.

Su Yu's gaze was deep as he stared thoughtfully into the darkness deep within the crack of the main hall door.

That sudden gong sound was most likely the power of that D-level vengeful ghost.

Using specific musical rhythms as a medium, it directly attacks the consciousness of the living, causing a terrible psychological attack.

As soon as the gong sounds, everyone within a hundred meters becomes an onlooker.

If he hadn't been there, the Dawn Squad would probably have been wiped out here.

He could see that the consciousness of the five people beside him was still being torn apart by the remaining demonic sounds.

Su Yu remained calm and authoritative, his voice steady and dignified: "Wake up."

At the same time, the [Divine Sense Pressure] suddenly erupted!

A powerful and vast high-dimensional spiritual force transformed into a tangible storm, sweeping past the five members beside him.

Under the impact of this pure and powerful will, the chaos and tremors that filled the minds of the five people were instantly swept away, their scattered consciousness was forcibly pulled back to reality, and they were instantly relieved of the state of being intimidated by the demonic sound of the gong.

"Huff... huff..."

After regaining their senses, the five of them gasped sharply, staggered back half a step, and were completely soaked in cold sweat.

As their vision cleared, looking at the eerie hall so close at hand, everyone's eyes were filled with an overwhelming sense of lingering fear.

"High-frequency mental shock, with a rule-based judgment that forcibly paralyzes consciousness..."

Zheng Qiang shook his groggy head, quickly regaining his composure. His voice was slightly hoarse: "If the boss hadn't intervened, we would have been completely unable to resist the moment we heard the gong. In the end... we would probably have perished here."

"That's fucking weird!"

Feng Gang wiped the cold sweat from his face with his sleeve, his blood rushing through his veins again. He gritted his teeth and said, "A single knock through the door almost stopped my heart. The oppressive force of that gong was many times stronger than the sound of that red shoe!"

Zhou Tian stood to the side, the golden holy light flickering faintly at his fingertips, and whispered with lingering fear, "My holy light is most sensitive to evil, but just now, even the frequency of its condensation was forcibly disrupted by that gong..."

Qin Xinran, who had been lurking on the flank, emerged from the shadows, calmed her slightly disordered breathing, and looked at Su Yu: "Leader, we made a scene before even entering the hall. The things inside have probably already sensed our arrival."

Shen Lesheng lowered his head and gathered the loose sand beneath his feet, his dark golden eyes filled with vigilance.

Seeing the still-shaken crowd, Su Yu spoke up at the opportune moment, offering some advice:

"That gong sound just now was a probe from a vengeful ghost, and it was also filtering out the 'onlookers'."

"If you lose your composure the moment the first sound is heard, your senses will be forcibly taken over by its rules, and you will become puppets waiting to be slaughtered."

Su Yu's gaze swept over the five people, his tone calm and collected:

"Remember this feeling of being corrupted. The rules of high-level vengeful spirits are often accompanied by environmental media. Hearing, sight, smell, and even the rise and fall of every heartbeat can become the anchor point of its deadly rules."

"Don't rely solely on your eyes and ears to discern danger. Use your mental power to filter out unnecessary sensory noise, and use your mind to perceive the energy around you. Don't be led by the nose by external illusions."

"Understood!" everyone responded in unison.

Just then, another unexpected event occurred.

The jarring echo of the gong had not yet completely faded.

Deep in the corridor at the rear of the group, a thick, bone-chilling, pale mist suddenly rose up and quickly spread across the ground.

"Shh...click..."

From within the mist came the crisp sound of dry bamboo strips scraping against each other, accompanied by heavy and stiff footsteps.

Four towering, grotesque figures, each over two meters tall, pierced through the swirling white mist and blocked everyone's retreat.

Those were not living people, but four grotesquely shaped paper replicas.

Their bodies were made entirely of rough, yellowed, thick cardboard. At the edges of the torn and ripped cardboard, the pale white leg bones and dark brown bamboo strips used to support the interior were clearly visible.

On his pale face, two lifeless eyes, casually dotted with burnt ink, were stark and lifeless. Twisted, tear-like lines, drawn downwards with cinnabar, were stiffly outlined on both sides of his cheeks, giving off an eerie feeling.

The paper coffin was not completely sealed, and thick black corpse gas kept escaping from the half-open gaps.

Four strange figures strode forward with anti-physiological joints, and with each step they took, the bluestone paving stones beneath their feet cracked inch by inch under their monstrous strength.

at the same time,

The mythical book, "The Book of Strange Things," in Su Yu's hand silently opened.

The next moment, a light screen popped up...

[Monster Name: Coffin-Carrying Ghost Soldiers (Elite Ghost Servants)]

[Rank: F]

[Ability - Coffin of Devouring Abyss (Active)]: Drives the pale white paper coffin carried on the shoulder. When the coffin opens, it can unleash an extremely strong supernatural pulling force, forcibly devouring the energy attacks released by the enemy and transforming them into pure Yin essence, which is used to repair the caster's own damage or to nourish the caster.

[Description: "Four men carry the coffin, the living pass by. No way to the underworld, no peace in the earth." A heavily made paper puppet, pieced together from the resentful remains of musicians and stagehands who died tragically in a theatrical troupe. In life, they carried props and scenery on the stage; in death, they became cold-blooded walking corpses, clearing the way for the troupe leader and carrying fresh human skins. The empty coffin was never buried, waiting only for the next spectator to step into the grand hall.]

【…】

Looking at the information on the panel, Su Yu was somewhat surprised.

It turned out to be an F-rank ghost slave.

Moreover, it's an elite monster!

The coffin-carrying ghost soldiers in front of him were definitely the strongest ghost servants he had ever encountered.

However, a ghost slave is a demon slave.

Compared to vengeful ghosts who have rules for killing, they are simply no match!

"Clang! Clang!!"

Deep within the main hall, the sharp, chaotic sound of gongs rang out once more.

The gongs beat rapidly, like a sudden downpour, attempting to coordinate with the ghostly soldiers carrying the coffin to launch a pincer attack.

But this time, having learned from previous experiences, the team members were already on high alert.

Zhou Tian's eyes narrowed slightly, and the golden holy light within his body rapidly contracted, condensing into a layer of tough light armor about an inch thick on his body surface, forcibly blocking the penetration of sound waves.

Feng Gang lowered his waist and withdrew his fist, locking all his yang energy and blood between his bone marrow and heart meridian to resist the soul-shaking shock brought by the sound waves.

Qin Xinran's figure disappeared into the shadowy corner to her side as silently as ink entering water.

Shen Lesheng's eyes narrowed slightly, and fine sand swirled at his fingertips, quickly forming a soundproof membrane around him and Zheng Qiang, forcibly reducing the vibrations of the demonic sound.

"Waaah—"

Just then, the paper ghost soldiers also moved.

The cinnabar lines on his face suddenly turned a ghastly green.

Accompanied by a shrill and piercing wail, they suddenly exerted their strength and charged forward, carrying the three-meter-long pale paper coffin like a raging heavy chariot, crushing it head-on!

The distance between them shortened in the blink of an eye.

"Bang!"

The unsealed paper coffin lid suddenly flipped open.

A powerful spatial tearing force suddenly erupted, and a howling gust of cold wind carried dozens of pale white paper ropes twisted from vengeful spirits, which tumbled and surged wildly out of the dark coffin, sweeping towards everyone's faces!

"Observe clearly how the Yin energy nodes flow and are maintained."

Su Yu stepped forward, his black trench coat fluttering in the raging wind, his fingertips slightly raised.

[Shadow Chains], activate instantly!

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

In the void, more than ten cold iron chains covered with deep red rust and wrapped with dense death energy from the Yellow Springs shot out!

Faced with the whistling chains, the cinnabar weeping patterns on the faces of the four paper-mache ghost soldiers suddenly twisted, and they worked together to tilt the pale paper coffins on their shoulders forward.

"boom!"

The coffin lid swung open, and the power of the [Coffin of Devouring Abyss] erupted instantly!

A deep and terrifying black vortex of devouring energy formed at the mouth of the coffin, and a violent spatial suction force swept out.

Those dozen or so rusty iron chains that had been tearing through the air were forcibly pulled by the paper coffin and swallowed up into the dark and silent coffin chamber in an instant!

"It got swallowed?!"

Upon seeing this, Zhou Tian and the others behind him had a sudden change in expression.

This monster's paper coffin can actually absorb the leader's attacks!

The situation... seems to be getting bad!!

However, Su Yu's expression remained completely unchanged.

His [Shadow Chains] possess the characteristic of being deadly and capable of breaking through defenses; a mere paper coffin simply could not withstand this power.

"break."

Su Yu parted his thin lips slightly and uttered a cold word.

next moment.

"Crack—Boom!!"

A piercing cracking sound suddenly erupted from inside the paper coffin!

The pale paper coffin, which had been swallowed by the iron chains, instantly cracked open with dozens of dark fissures.

Dense death energy from the underworld surged violently from the crack. The entire three-meter-long coffin couldn't even withstand it for half a second before it was violently burst open from the inside by the rusty iron chains that stretched wildly inside, blasting it into tattered paper scraps flying everywhere!

The iron chains that broke out of the coffin were more imposing than diminished.

Like a serpent suddenly emerging, it shot out from the exploding paper scraps and precisely pierced the white bone joints where the shoulders and arms of the four ghost soldiers connected!

That place was the core hub of this group of demon slaves.

"Pfft!"

The rusty iron chain pierced through the joints on the spot.

The [Netherworld Imprisonment] property attached to the chains was instantly detonated!

The extremely yin and cold laws of the underworld poured in, causing the four charging Yin soldiers to suddenly freeze, their supernatural meridians being forcibly severed.

Followed by.

The vermilion weeping patterns painted on their cheeks quickly faded and turned black, and the dead fish eyes, painted with thick ink in their sockets, cracked inch by inch.

The human leg bones and dark brown bamboo strips supporting the massive torso emitted dense, cracking sounds as they were eroded by the domineering laws of the underworld.

[Ding! Successfully defeated the paper coffin-carrying ghost soldiers! Organization experience points +20!]

[Ding! Successfully defeated the paper coffin-carrying ghost soldiers! Organization experience points +20!]

【…】

As the kill notification appeared, the "Book of Strange Things" in Su Yu's hand moved without wind, and the blood-red eyeball on the cover suddenly opened.

A crimson light enveloped the four stiff ghost soldiers and the paper coffin on the ground.

[Ding! Successfully recruited elite ghost servants—paper-mache coffin-carrying ghost soldiers!]

[It is stripping it of its core rule-making capabilities...]

[Congratulations, host! You have gained the ability: Devouring Coffin (Rank E, Active)!]

[Ability Description: Consumes mental energy to condense a phantom black abyss paper coffin in front of the user. When the coffin opens, it generates an extremely strong pulling force, forcibly absorbing energy attacks released by enemies and converting them into pure spiritual essence, which then nourishes the host to restore their strength.]

"Devour and absorb!"

"What an amazing battery life technology!"

Su Yu was secretly pleased.

In his current combat system, the Golden Light Mantra focuses on all-round hard defense, while the Five Thunder Orthodox Method and the Shadow Chains are focused on breaking through defenses and delivering devastating blows.

While these advanced combat techniques are undeniably powerful, frequent use in deep ghost realms or when facing sieges can significantly deplete one's mental and physical strength.

The tactical value of the [Coffin of the Devouring Abyss] precisely completes a crucial link in the "using war to sustain war" strategy.

Turn the enemy's firepower into supplies.

This can often have a remarkable effect in turning the tide of a war when the situation becomes protracted or when the enemy is locked in a desperate blockade.