What do you mean by saying that the corpses I sew are all ominous creatures?

In the very center of the square stood three "people".

They stood with their backs to me, lined up in a row, wearing bright red and green Qing Dynasty-style jackets and small black round hats on their heads.

I raised an eyebrow, my right hand already gripping the hilt of the scalpel.

"Gentlemen, can I ask you something?"

My voice was calm, and my tone was as if I were asking for directions.

The three "people" did not respond; they simply turned away stiffly.

When I saw their faces clearly, I couldn't help but click my tongue.

That's not human at all.

Instead, there were three paper figures, each about 1.6 meters tall.

Their faces were painted deathly white, with two round patches of bright red blush on their cheeks that were almost eerily vivid.

The eyes were painted on with thick ink, without pupils, and the mouth was split into an exaggerated arc, revealing a row of teeth cut from white paper.

When they turn around, their bodies make a series of extremely crisp paper-rubbing sounds—"rustling, rustling."

The sound carried far through the quiet village, sending chills down one's spine.

"rustle……"

The paper figure in the red jacket in the middle suddenly moved.

It stiffly raised one leg, as if it were marching in formation.

Immediately afterwards, the other two paper figures also started to move.

They formed a triangular shape, approaching me step by step with that eerie rhythm.

I noticed that their toes didn't touch the ground, but were about half an inch off the ground, and they moved around in a erratic manner.

"The work of a paper craftsman?"

I squinted, and the notes my grandfather had left behind flashed through my mind.

In folklore, these paper figures are called "soul-guiding children".

It is generally used to guide the deceased during the relocation of graves or major funerals.

But the three in front of them were shrouded in an extremely dense aura of death, and their painted eyes even faintly revealed a hint of evil light.

"If you can't speak, then don't block the way."

I snorted coldly and suddenly moved.

I didn't use any evil energy; instead, I directly unleashed the "Mountain-Shaking Force".

With a burst of speed from my legs, I instantly rushed to the front of the red-coated paper figure.

I turned my right hand into a fist, creating a powerful gust of wind, and slammed it hard into the paper figure's chest.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

I felt like I'd punched a piece of cowhide.

Instead of smashing it, I felt a chilling force creeping up my fist and into my arm.

The paper figure in the red coat was knocked back several steps by my impact, and a large dent appeared in its chest.

But the next second, the dented part made a "crackling" sound, as if some bones inside were reconnecting, and it returned to its original state in an instant.

Its dark, ink-black eyes stared intently at me.

Immediately afterwards, an extremely high-pitched and sinister laugh came from the cracked mouth of the paper figure.

"Hehe...hehehe..."

The voice was indistinguishable between male and female, sounding like hundreds of fingernails frantically scratching at glass, making my eardrums ache.

At the same time, the other two paper figures also moved.

They were incredibly fast; their previously stiff bodies became exceptionally agile, and they pounced on me from the left and right.

"interesting."

A cold smile curled at the corner of my lips.

It seems that Zhoujia Village is indeed not a good place.

I flicked my right hand, and the scalpel hidden in my sleeve slid into my palm.

At the same time, the vortex of malevolent energy within his dantian spun wildly, and those wisps of mercury-like malevolent energy instantly covered the blade.

"Smash it!"

I held back and slashed out with a backhand strike.

The blade, thick with malevolent energy, precisely sliced ​​through the neck of the paper figure on the left.

This time, there was no sound of paper rubbing together, but instead a piercing scream.

A cloud of black smoke billowed out from the broken end of the paper figure.

The paper figure instantly collapsed to the ground, turning into a pile of broken bamboo strips and yellow paper.

I didn't stop. I shifted my body to avoid the claw attack from the paper figure on the right, and then slashed again with my backhand.

With this strike, I directly used the technique of "controlling qi".

The willow-leaf dagger flew from his hand, transforming into a silver ray that instantly pierced the chests of the remaining two paper figures.

"boom!"

The two paper figures burst into bright green flames as if they had been doused with gasoline.

Amidst their piercing screams, they quickly turned into two pools of black ash.

I sheathed my scalpel and looked at the ashes on the ground, my brow furrowing even more.

These three paper figures are just an appetizer.

Because in the shadows of the small square, more rustling sounds were being heard.

In the darkness, countless red and green afterimages are slowly emerging.

It seems that all the paper figures in Zhoujia Village have been alarmed.

I slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and gripped the hilt of the knife tightly.

"Zhou Ming, you'd better not have been torn apart by these things yet."

I stepped toward the center of the square, to greet the eerie red and green shadows that surged forth like a tide.

I frowned as I watched the paper figures emerge from the shadows from all directions.

There are at least a hundred of these things, densely packed together.

The bright red and green paper clothes dazzled people under the moonlight.

The dense rustling sounds combined together sounded like countless venomous snakes crawling wildly through the grass.

"What a grand display."

I murmured softly, slowly raised my right hand, and gently clenched my fingers in the air.

Within his dantian, the originally calm internal energy of malevolence suddenly exploded like a powder keg that had been ignited.

I didn't use the Pisha technique; that forbidden technique put too much strain on the body.

In situations where the full extent of the conflict is still unknown, that's the last resort for survival.

But with my current half-step Demon Core realm, even the most basic release of demonic energy is something these paper-thin contraptions can't possibly block.

"Disperse."

I uttered a single word softly.

"Buzz—!"

Centered on me, a nearly tangible ripple of malevolent energy suddenly spread outwards.

The paper figures at the very front didn't even have time to scream.

The moment it came into contact with the ripples of malevolent energy, it was as if it had been hit head-on by a heavy truck, and its entire body shattered instantly.

The crisp sound of bamboo strips breaking blended together, and yellow paper scraps flew everywhere, only to be corroded into charred residue by the sticky evil energy before they even hit the ground.

Without pausing, in the instant the evil energy cleared the area, I transformed into a blur and rushed toward the ancestral hall at the end of the village.

"Control Qi!"

With a flick of my left hand, the black bone needle hidden between my fingers transformed into a black light that was almost invisible to the naked eye, and with a "whoosh," it swept into the pile of paper figures on the flank.

Under my control, the bone needles darted wildly through the pile of paper figures, each flash taking away the life force of several paper figures.

The lancet was also in my hands.

I didn't use any fancy moves, just simple slashes.

But every strike I make now is powerful and heavy, with a mercury-like aura clinging to the blade, producing a muffled thunderous sound as I chop.

Every paper figure that blocked my path was cleaved in two along with the bamboo strips.