Linyue gave him a flat look. "No. I just thought… maybe what Soup Man said is true."
Behind them, the accused blinked. "Why does everyone call me Soup Man?"
Song Meiyu shrugged cheerfully. "Because that's your name."
"My name is Mu Tianyi! How many times do I have to say it?"
And just like that, a new round of pointless but passionate bickering began between Song Meiyu and Soup Man—er, Mu Tianyi.
Linyue wisely ignored them.
Shu Mingye's voice lowered, more serious now. "Pie, what do you mean by that?"
Linyue glanced at him. "I read that there's an array that can disguise the content of a scroll or book. The scroll is old and written with suspicious red ink, maybe it's hiding something."
Shu Mingye's jaw tensed. "Pie…"
She cut in smoothly, "You're here. I'm not doing it alone."
Shu Mingye stared at her for a long moment. He did not like this. Not the scroll. Not the suspicious red ink. And definitely not the way she looked so calm about all of it. He could already feel a headache forming right behind his eyes. With what sounded like his hundredth sigh of the day, he reached out and took her hand. His fingers laced firmly through hers.
"All right," he muttered. "Poke it. But with me beside you."
Across the table, Master Tian Mo gave an approving nod and lifted another sesame snack. "Good. Let me finish my snacks before anything explodes."
In the background, Song Meiyu and Soup Man were still bickering in hushed voices. Something about name rights and soup.
Linyue ignored them all. She closed her eyes, took a deep and steady breath, and slowly extended her spiritual energy toward the scroll. She braced herself for resistance. A backlash. Maybe even a puff of spiritual smoke and a dramatic screech for good measure. But instead… nothing happened. No fight. No trap. No dramatic explosion. The array melted away instantly. Her spiritual energy slipped in without resistance. It felt like the scroll had been waiting for her touch all along. And then she felt it. Familiar. Steady. Unmistakable.
Her eyes snapped open. It was her master's spiritual energy. Clear. Undeniable. And the scroll no longer showed anything inappropriate. The red ink remained, but the words had changed. New title. New content. Real content.
Master Tian Mo leaned forward with interest and read aloud, "Phantom Blood Array."
Song Meiyu immediately stopped mid-lecture. Soup Man froze mid-defense. Both turned to the table in shock.
Soup Man pointed. "That's it! That's the one I saw before! See? I'm not lying!"
Linyue raised an eyebrow without looking away from the scroll. "You're still Soup Man, though."
"Mu Tianyi!" Soup Man corrected.
Song Meiyu patted his shoulder kindly. "Let's not argue in front of the cursed scroll, Soup Man."
Mu Tianyi let out a long, dramatic groan. "It's Mu Tianyi."
No one cared.
Before Linyue could even reach for the scroll, Shu Mingye smoothly snatched it up. He unrolled the rest with one hand and began reading, his brows pulling tighter with every line. His voice dropped low. "This is a forbidden array. It can simulate sacrificial effects… without using real blood."
Everyone leaned in.
He continued, "It uses spiritual energy, soul fragments or stolen lifeforce."
A pause.
"…To avoid karmic backlash. To deceive heaven so the caster can escape divine punishment."
The room fell so quiet.
Song Meiyu clutched her sleeves. "What?? There's such a cheating method??"
Even Master Tian Mo, who had been happily chewing on sesame snacks through scroll smacks and scandalous illustrations, froze. Slowly, he put down his teacup. For once, no snack, no slurp. His voice turned solemn. "This method… shouldn't exist."
Linyue's chest tightened. That strange sense of dread from earlier grew sharper and heavier. Her instincts whispered in warning. Her voice was soft, but firm. "We're too late."
Shu Mingye looked at her, then gave the smallest of nods. He understood. Of course he did.
Song Meiyu looked between them, confused and a little panicked. "Too late for what? What's going on? Did someone already use it to fake their taxes?"
Linyue turned to her. Her face serious. "The caster used this method to power something big. Something terrible. That requires a lot of sacrifices."
Song Meiyu blinked. "…Okay, but what big thing?"
Linyue explained slowly. "I don't know for sure. But think from the start. The Dream Star Leaf… That person used Queen Shu to kill many people, without even lifting a finger."
Everyone glanced at each other. The mood shifted slightly.
She went on. "Then the experiment Princess Han did. Again, lots of lives lost. And the one behind it? Stayed completely clean. Same with the Crimson Bloodroot. People died, but the mastermind was never seen. And now… these angry cabbages."
Song Meiyu blinked. "Wait. Wait. I don't understand. What do you mean?"
Linyue glanced at her. "The first three. Queen Shu, Princess Han, the poison. Each time, that person used someone else to get the blood sacrifice. But we stopped it. I burned the Dream Star Leaf. We exposed the experiments. We found the cure for Crimson Bloodroot. That person lost the source of sacrifice."
Song Meiyu gasped loudly. "So they used the Phantom Blood Array because we messed up their plan?"
Linyue nodded. "Maybe. With the angry cabbages losing their minds, attacking people, causing chaos, hurting, even killing. That person could twist it. The heaven believes those people deserved punishment. And when their souls were taken, heaven might not see it as a crime. But divine retribution. Then he uses those souls as sacrifice."
Shu Mingye narrowed his eyes. "Yeah. For something dangerous."
Song Meiyu's eyes widened in horror. "So those cursed vegetables weren't the final boss. They were just part of the plan?!"
Master Tian Mo added, "If that's true, then whatever that dangerous thing is… must have already been fed with a lot of sacrifices." He sounded way too casual for someone talking about evil soul-consuming arrays.
Linyue nodded once, her face serious. "And we don't know what that thing is or who's really behind it."
Song Meiyu leaned closer to her, "Sister Linyue, these arrays thing. Do you think your master knew about it?"
Linyue nodded slowly. "Likely."
Song Meiyu's eyes grew even bigger. "Then do you think…?"
Linyue cut in before she could say anything else. "I don't know."
Song Meiyu made a tiny whimpering sound. "Is there a way to confirm?"
Linyue sighed. "The important thing now is handling the angry cabbages and destroying that array in those books."
At that exact moment, Soup Man, who had been suspiciously quiet, pointed toward the side of the hall. "By the way, uh… who's that man tied to the pillar?"
Everyone turned.
There, slumped against a thick pillar with a dazed look and smoking hair, was a man still slightly twitching. He had burn marks on his clothes, but otherwise looked alive. Barely.
Linyue answered without blinking, "Angry cabbage."
Soup Man frowned. "Really?!"
Song Meiyu nodded earnestly. "Yes. Sister Linyue cured him with electrocution."
Soup Man looked genuinely impressed. "Wow… that's very… unconventional."
Master Tian Mo sipped his tea thoughtfully and added, "Very crunchy treatment."
Soup Man nodded slowly, then turned to Linyue with a hopeful look. "So you can cure it?"
Linyue tilted her head. "Somehow. We'll wait for Master Yin Xue to check on him later."
"With your lightning spiritual energy?" Soup Man asked again to confirm.
Linyue gave a small nod.
Soup Man seemed amazed. "So we have you here to handle the angry cabbages. Great. But what about other states? How do we destroy the arrays in the books? Shouldn't we notify the other states too? Confiscate the books before someone turns into a furious cabbage?"
Master Tian Mo said calmly, "Fire cultivators can also do it. But only fire cultivators with high cultivation and very good control over their spiritual energy."
Soup Man's face fell. "So, basically… no one?"
The room fell into silence. Even the tied-up cabbage man seemed to slump a little lower in despair.
Shu Mingye finally broke the silence. "For now, just alert the other states. Tell them to confiscate the books. If we stop the source, we can prevent more victims."