Mo Chuan’s brow furrowed at the sight. He immediately spoke to Zhang Henshui, "Brother Zhang! This guy is acting strangely!"
Zhang Henshui also felt a sense of unease and quickly said, "Retreat to a safe distance. Don't get close for now!"
But things were worse than Zhang Henshui had imagined.
The man before them had limbs that moved like broken puppets, being lifted by invisible strings and slowly regaining a normal human posture.
During this, Mo Chuan could clearly see the man's joints being forcibly bent backward, causing dislocations. Yet, he still raised his arm as if he were a puppet.
"Dodge!"
As soon as Mo Chuan spoke, thick vines attacked again, lashing out towards Mo Chuan and Shutendoji.
The two dodged to opposite sides of the stairwell. The vines twisted past Mo Chuan and slammed into the wall of the hall.
"Plant-based abilities, at least a sixth-order esper. Proficient in crowd control and elemental attacks. Uses spiritual power without restraint and shows no signs of exhaustion. Fearless of death, indifferent to injury… no thoughts, lacking combat skills… isn't this just a puppet?"
Mo Chuan's brow furrowed immediately. "As the old saying goes, you don't fear the foolish or the reckless, but you fear the suicidal. Among the three present, only Shutendoji, using her full power, can contend with him. The fourth-order Mo Chuan and the sixth-order support-type Zhang Henshui are no match for him in a one-on-one fight. Furthermore, this man is clearly a puppet. What if ten or eight more puppets pop out after we defeat him, or a truly cunning mastermind appears? What then?"
After careful consideration, Mo Chuan shouted to Shutendoji, "Haruko! This will never end! Go into your Oni King mode and hold him off! Give me ten minutes, I need to find his weakness!"
Shutendoji nodded upon hearing this. Oni energy surged within her body, and her gourd materialized. Soon, a pair of giant purple claws formed, positioned behind Shutendoji.
Shutendoji bent down slightly, her waist coiling like a tigress. The moment the man retracted his vines, she attacked, closing the distance of over ten meters in an instant.
Seeing this, the man's vines writhed from his back, lunging towards Shutendoji to block her advance. But Shutendoji merely smiled wickedly, her two ghostly claws on her back slashing rapidly. Her sharp nails directly tore through the obstructing vines.
Although Zhang Henshui was somewhat astonished by Shutendoji's strength, he had no time to concern himself with it now. He was anxiously waiting for the Shengjing Public Security Bureau Headquarters to answer his call. Both the statue of the King of Wuguan and the current flesh-and-blood puppet were enough to warrant official attention.
"Hello, this is the Shengjing City Public Security Bureau Headquarters. How may I help you?"
"I am Captain Zhang Henshui from the Jibei City Public Security Bureau. This is the Da..."
Before Zhang Henshui could finish, a gleaming throwing knife shot out from the darkness like a silver lightning bolt, piercing the mobile phone in Zhang Henshui's hand.
Looking at the phone, which had turned into a piece of scrap metal, Zhang Henshui shivered. His body instinctively performed a 'lazy donkey roll,' dodging behind a nearby marble decorative pillar.
"Mo Chuan! Be careful! There's more than one puppet here!"
Hearing Zhang Henshui's shout, Mo Chuan froze. He instinctively looked back and saw a silver light flash, striking the center of his forehead.
"Ding! Diiing..."
A crisp metallic clanging sound echoed, and a throwing knife resembling a bamboo leaf fell to the ground.
Upon seeing this throwing knife, Mo Chuan's gaze instantly locked.
He had seen the bamboo leaf pattern on the handle of this throwing knife! He immediately understood something and shouted, "I know who these people are!" With that, Mo Chuan quickly rushed to Shutendoji's side and said, "Xu Dan, the Plant-based Ability Professor from Qingzhou University; Gao Jianjun, the squad leader of the Eastern Theater Command's assault team. If I'm not mistaken, there should also be members of the Ye family and the mental-type ability scholar Han Qiang!"
After he had killed Ye Shaolong, Gao Zhu, Han Lili, Xu Ziru, and Xu Zixu, and subsequently fell into a public outcry, he had immediately investigated the families and connections behind them. Ye Shaolong, as the eldest son of the Ye family, was a given; but he discovered that the parents of the other four were also quite renowned in Qingzhou's academic and military-political circles, which made Mo Chuan wary.
As expected, when he saw this bamboo leaf pattern, Mo Chuan’s mind immediately went to Gao Jianjun, Gao Zhu's father, and his formidable "Green Bamboo Viper" assault squad in the Eastern Theater Command, an independent unit specializing in assassination and tactical breakthroughs.
The throwing knives and daggers carved with the bamboo leaf pattern were the insignia of the "Green Bamboo Viper" breakthrough squad.
Coupled with the man wielding the immensely powerful plant-based abilities, Mo Chuan instantly thought of several of his enemies.
As if in response to Mo Chuan's words, a figure flashed across the third floor, brandishing a silver throwing knife and charging directly at Zhang Henshui, who was taking cover.
Meanwhile, a purple energy wave shot out rapidly from another stairwell, directly targeting Mo Chuan.
"Watch out!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Shutendoji first took a vine whip directly from Xu Dan, then swiftly lunged beside Mo Chuan, forcefully shoving him away.
"Woom..."
The purple energy wave hit Shutendoji as expected. Her eyes narrowed, and then she fell straight to the ground.
Mo Chuan, knocked down by Shutendoji, had just managed to get up, supporting his waist, when he saw Shutendoji lying motionlessly on the ground.
He was about to check on Shutendoji's condition, but before he could touch her body, he heard a scream from behind him.
It turned out that Zhang Henshui, to avoid Gao Jianjun's sneak attack and with no retreat options left, had jumped from the second floor in desperation.
Mo Chuan had no choice but to immediately swing his lantern, casting a shield over Zhang Henshui to protect him.
However, his action exposed a critical vulnerability. Xu Dan did not let it pass. The vines grew rapidly, encircling Mo Chuan and Shutendoji, and then thorns extended, piercing towards them.
The lantern had already been given to Zhang Henshui, so Mo Chuan could only embrace Shutendoji and use his own body to shield her from the thorns.
"Puchi, puchi, puchi—"
The spiritual energy-infused thorns eventually broke through Mo Chuan's defense. Mo Chuan could even clearly feel the thorns not only piercing his body but also injecting some kind of toxin into him.
"Not good… my consciousness… is starting to blur…"
Mo Chuan tried to break free, but his limbs were unresponsive. Fortunately, Shutendoji in his arms seemed to wake up.
However, Mo Chuan did not notice that Shutendoji's purple pupils had turned red.
...
King Taishan, watching this scene through the puppet's perspective, let out a cold laugh, "It's over. There's no need to waste any more time."