Su Miaozhu could no longer stay calm.
Her eyes swept over the crowd of little paper servants that had gathered nearby. "You all saw that, right? It disappeared! But I could still sense it. It didn't move an inch!"
The surrounding little paper servants had already noticed when one of their own suddenly vanished. Their spiritual link let them sense such things, so they had immediately come over, curious to see what had happened.
This second disappearance wasn't just noticed by Miaozhu.
All ten or so of the gathered paper servants—each with their beady little eyes—had seen it too.
They all nodded in unison.
"In my line of sight, it vanished for a few seconds, but I could still feel its presence. Is this... invisibility? Can you turn invisible now?" Su Miaozhu asked, delighted.
The little paper servant in question was patting down its own body. At her words, it looked up with a confused expression:
"(?_?)?"
It twisted its body, tugged at its tiny braid, and hopped once, then looked expectantly at its master and fellow servants—"Was I invisible just now?"
The surrounding paper servants stared intently and shook their heads.
A slow, confused question mark seemed to float above the little servant's head.
Su Miaozhu couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "Looks like you ran out of spiritual power. Just now, when you disappeared, your spiritual energy was nearly drained. Let me try giving you a bit more and see if you can stay invisible longer!"
The little paper servant nodded quickly.
Normally, each one could only store a limited amount of spiritual energy, but as their sentience grew, their capacity increased as well. It had been a while since Miaozhu last tested their limits.
The last time she tried, one could hold enough to last a full week.
But now, she transferred a full week's worth of spiritual energy, and the little paper servant remained quietly nestled in her palm, showing no signs of discomfort.
She continued the transfer: one week, two weeks, three weeks—eventually reaching a full month's worth of spiritual energy. Only then did the little paper servant signal that it had reached its limit.
"That's... a bit too fast," Miaozhu murmured.
To check if it was just an outlier, she tested the other paper servants as well. Their capacity had increased too, albeit only slightly—faster than the Secret Art of Paper Crafting's manual predicted, but still within reason.
Only the one she had been infusing daily with excessive amounts of spiritual power had changed so dramatically.
That left only one explanation. Spiritual infusion not only increased this paper servant's capacity but had also granted it the ability to turn invisible.
"So this is what the SEIU meant by 'positive transformation'? This is amazing!"
A tiny scout that could transmit everything it saw in real time, now with the added ability to vanish? There was no better spy than an invisible paper servant.
Once it had enough energy again, Miaozhu had it attempt invisibility one more time. This time, it remained invisible for a full five seconds and could even move freely during the process. It seemed the only downside to this ability was the spiritual power it consumed. But that problem was only a problem for others. For Miaozhu, it simply meant spending more hell coins.
"Starting today, every little paper servant must come see me for regular spiritual infusion!" she declared.
The surrounding paper servants, already envious of their peer's new skill, immediately jostled into a long line, eager to be next. After the infusion, Miaozhu replenished the energy of the invisible one as well, though she issued a new command this time.
"You're only allowed to use invisibility during missions. No goofing around or wasting power, understand?"
Even the richest family couldn't afford to waste their resources carelessly.
Key abilities had to be reserved for critical moments.
Spiritual stones weren't free, after all.
The little paper servant, who had been preparing to show off again, drooped with visible disappointment: (︿_︿)
Encouraged by this success, Song Miaozhu grew even more excited about the potential of her other experiments:
Fourth-tier paper clothes
Paper armor
Life-Replacement Paper Figures
Damage-Transfer Paper Figures
The gold ingot and lotus, after prolonged infusions, had become hard and heavy—clearly transmuting into real gold.
Miaozhu was nearly certain now: their transformation was purely material. To her, the allure of gold couldn't compare to the practical power of invisibility. Besides, if other masters of the Secret Art of Paper Crafting could replicate that transformation, it wouldn't stay rare for long.
So two weeks earlier, she had submitted a report to the SEIU about the change she observed in the gold ingot—how it had started gaining a metallic texture after sustained spiritual infusion. She didn't mention the lotus flower, though.
She also delayed the reported discovery date slightly, just to avoid revealing how much spiritual power she could actually produce.
Afterward, she let Zhao Mumu and Chen Shuanghe know as well.
In doing so, she hoped the news would reach Zhao Huoyan too.
As a team leader, he had proved himself trustworthy back when things were uncertain. Miaozhu still appreciated that. As long as something didn't harm her interests or safety, she was happy to share.
Building connections was a form of self-protection, too.
When she reached out, she learned the SEIU team from Lingcheng had gone to Golden Rose Summer Villa.
"Miaozhu, a few days ago, our team leader sent scouts to check Ghost Mountain. The yin energy there had thinned significantly, so we all came here to investigate," said Zhao Mumu.
"Oh? That so?" Miaozhu responded casually.
"Took them long enough."
She had already cycled through a whole set of curse paper dolls for foreign fugitives by now. If not for the fact that overseas cases were harder—distant, and with sparse intel—those curses would've wiped the board clean already.
"Miaozhu, our team leader wants to speak with you... probably to ask for help. Honestly, none of us know as much about ghosts as you do," Zhao Mumu added.
After a brief pause, Miaozhu said, "Alright. Put him on."
She was the only one who could cross freely between realms and had ties to both the underworld and its ghosts. It made sense for them to come to her.
Zhao Huoyan explained the situation more clearly.
Every half month, the team conducted routine inspections, making sure no Japanese ghosts had slipped out of Ghost Mountain to harm civilians. Apparently, during the last visit, the yin energy had already begun to fade, but it wasn't noticeable enough to raise alarms.
This month, with the summer heat growing and yang energy surging, the change became obvious. The mountain had weighed on his mind for a long time. Now, with yin energy clearly suppressed, the ghosts within may have been affected too. It seemed like the right time to explore further.
But only Elder Zhao had unlocked his spiritual platform, meaning he was the only one whose spiritual power could slightly resist the yin energy inside.
To be safe, they hoped Miaozhu would assist.
She could freely travel between the mortal and ghost realms, which meant she likely had ways to protect herself against the spirits within.
Not to mention, she was the first in Lingcheng to cultivate spiritual power.
By all accounts, she was the best person for the job.
There was just one issue: she wasn't part of the SEIU.
He'd have to pay her generously for her services.