Chapter 1352: Others' Puppet

Chapter 1338: Someone Else's Demonic Puppets

At such a great distance, transmitting messages was impossible, but it could just barely send a location.

"Don't engage him!" Helingchuan warned. "Who knows how many tricks he still has up his sleeve!"

Back when he fought Dong Rui, that guy had many demonic puppets, with a set prepared for land, sea, and air. Who knew how many assets the demonic puppet master outside possessed?

"Got it," Dong Rui said excitedly. "I'm on my way!"

His interest in other demonic puppet masters far outweighed his interest in the Wuma clan.

With that, he chose a suitable spot, ensured no one was around, summoned the Snail Toad, and plunged into the ground.

Just now, that's how he brought Helingchuan and the two black-armored riders.

Soon after, Dong Rui excitedly reported:

"I've spotted him! He's sitting on the pavilion in Wuma Xu's courtyard! But I can't see his face; this guy is also wearing a mask! Hey, are we leading the trend of wearing masks?"

Helingchuan rushed out of the alley, leaped onto his horse, saying, "Keep a close eye on him; we'll be there shortly."

"Once he jumps back down to the ground, I'll try to catch him with the Snail Toad."

Wuma Xu's courtyard featured a large rock garden maze, artificially piled up into towering peaks. The demonic puppet master sat atop the pointed roof of a pavilion within the rock garden, observing the battlefield from nearly two *zhang* above the ground. This narrow, rugged terrain was very unfavorable for the massive Snail Toad; Dong Rui wasn't confident in a successful single strike and feared it might get stuck on the rock garden.

But he was very patient. Surely, this guy would eventually jump back down to the ground?

Dong Rui rode within the Snail Toad's internal space; its shell was transparent to him, and he could zoom in through the Snail Toad's two top eyes. Observing the enemy this way was quite safe. The masked man frequently looked around, not forgetting to observe Wuma Xu's courtyard, indicating high vigilance.

As soon as the Snail Toad surfaced, it activated its camouflage, but just now, retracting its feelers seemed to alert him.

"Oh, he's standing up!"

Both demonic puppets were heading towards Wuma Xu's courtyard, with pursuers behind them; the masked man couldn't possibly miss seeing them.

With the master of Green Willow Villa now dead, if he stayed any longer, he would become a target for the Black-Armored Army himself.

Shouldn't a shrewd hunter retreat quickly before becoming the hunted?

Dong Rui, manipulating the Snail Toad, also became fully alert.

He had been waiting for this moment; as soon as the opponent jumped back to open ground, the Snail Toad would immediately pounce.

Unexpectedly, the guy didn't jump down but instead took out a piece of wood.

Before Dong Rui could determine if it was seabed wood, the masked man tapped the wood against his palm, and a finger-length creature was tapped out, landing in his palm.

Fortunately, it still moved, and the Snail Toad's gaze immediately locked onto it, zooming in:

It was a black ant.

The masked man threw it forward, and the black ant quickly grew until it was six feet long.

This size was comparable to a small horse, and the pavilion roof suddenly became very crowded.

This black ant also had two pairs of wings on its back, as thin as cicada wings.

"Damn it, this guy released a giant flying ant and plans to escape by air!" Dong Rui's eyes lit up. "Insects aren't good material for making demonic puppets; this guy really has some skill."

Insects are a vast family, with members that run on land, swim in water, and fly in the sky.

Flying ant! Why hadn't he thought of that when he used to create flying puppets?

Ants can run on the ground and fly in the sky, and they are inherently very light.

Helingchuan grumbled, "Is this the time to praise the enemy?"

"Right," Dong Rui slapped his forehead, reminding himself to get back to business. "But this flying ant doesn't look very strong; I'll use my bat demonic puppet to take it down."

"No! Your demonic puppets have all been publicly revealed; it's better not to display them in front of others," Helingchuan immediately stopped him. "Missing a single strike would cause a lot of trouble. Just track him."

They also rushed towards that location.

During their conversation, the masked man indeed leaped onto the black ant's back, and the latter spread its wings, taking off from its spot.

It had two pairs of wings, flapping at such a high frequency that they were invisible to the naked eye, a completely different flight method from birds or bats.

It flew into the sky and headed west without looking back.

From this alone, Dong Rui could discern the masked man's caution.

On the ground, the two demonic puppets followed their master's direction.

Dong Rui was itching with anticipation. "They're coming over soon, aren't they? At least let me catch one!"

Someone else's demonic puppets! He really wanted to catch one to dissect!

Wanqifang suggested, "The porcupine is a good target; it's not agile enough!"

The yellow tiger ran too fast; the woodlouse porcupine only had four short legs and fell far behind even when running desperately. When it encountered a downhill slope, it would curl into a ball and roll for a while, saving its leg strength.

"They're about to pass the north wall of Wuma Xu's courtyard!"

Dong Rui, while steering the Snail Toad to submerge, told everyone, "Herd them north; there's a cliff there!"

"Understood," Helingchuan replied, riding at top speed. "Then what?"

All the Yangshan cavalry galloped towards this direction. Helingchuan gave a few simple instructions, and these dark figures split into several groups, moving through the forest like shepherds, herding the two demonic puppets towards the direction specified by Dong Rui.

"There's a white stone cave entrance on the cliff," Dong Rui instructed. "You must force them into the cave!"

"Where?" Helingchuan, who had come around from the north, was the first to spot the cliff, where large sections of rock were fractured. "I'm here, but I don't see any white stone cave entrance."

Dong Rui chuckled, steering the Snail Toad to surface. "Now there is!"

The two demonic puppets frequently tried to break out, but the black-armored riders continuously weaved back and forth, forcing them back onto their original path. In the most intense clash, Helingchuan directly used his Soaring Dragon Spear to flip the yellow tiger, causing it to tumble in a front somersault.

Few understood the habits and movements of fierce tigers better than him.

Gradually, the two demonic puppets drew closer to the base of the cliff, and the scene ahead became clearer:

A tall rock wall stood ahead, looking steep and formidable, but at its base was a cave—the entrance was wide and large, irregularly shaped, surrounded by white stone, and two clumps of dense bamboo grew in the fissures above.

Having reached this point, the two demonic puppets either had to charge directly into the cave or turn back and fight the black-armored riders to the death.

They hesitated for a moment, then turned and roared at the black-armored riders encircling them.

The group remained unfazed, continuing to cautiously narrow the encirclement.

The two demonic puppets grew increasingly agitated, and the porcupine shot two rounds of sharp quills. But the dense forest here provided many obstacles, and the black-armored riders were also prepared, so the hard quills didn't cause them much trouble.

The yellow tiger, having suffered several losses at Helingchuan's hands, dared not approach the black-armored riders again. It roared a few times, frequently glancing back at the rock wall, then suddenly turned and leaped.

This creature did not burrow into the cave as everyone expected; instead, it leaped onto the cliff face and climbed upwards, surprisingly quickly.

Watching it, Helingchuan felt that it probably incorporated some characteristics of a leopard; otherwise, a tiger wouldn't climb a mountain so nimbly.