Chapter 1685: Troublesome Opponent

This feeling greatly annoyed him.

The stench at the bottom of the pit grew stronger, enough to knock an ordinary person unconscious. Yet, Bai Ziqi seemed oblivious, quickening his pace forward.

Just as his subordinates had observed, the tunnel connected to the stone chamber looked very new. Touching it, he could feel sand and dirt, suggesting it had been recently expanded.

On the day of the palace coup in Yao Nation, did He Xiao and others use this tunnel to escape, slipping away from Yongquan Villa right under Zhao Song's nose?

Then, he spotted a large fish head.

It was truly enormous, with a wide, flat mouth.

Bai Ziqi took a small bottle from his pocket and dripped two drops of its liquid onto the fish carcass.

The colorless liquid immediately turned dark bluish-green.

“It's definitely a demonic puppet.” The bottle contained a special elixir from the Heavenly Palace that changed color upon contact with divine blood. This method of identifying a demonic puppet was more reliable than visual inspection.

A hook seemed to be stuck in the fish's mouth. He pulled it out casually and saw that it was actually half of a short pestle.

He had learned from his previous conversation with Qingyang that Qingyang was more inclined to believe this giant fish was Cao Wendao's demonic puppet.

Why would He Xiao bring the carcass of an enemy's demonic puppet in here?

Moving such a massive creature in and out of Yongquan Villa would be hard to hide from others, yet Zhao Song's subordinates seemed unaware. Either He Xiao quietly transported it using some storage artifact, or he brought the fish carcass in directly on the night of the coup when there were few people around.

If it was the latter, things would get interesting.

Bai Ziqi examined the fish carcass and soon discovered familiar teeth marks:Wide, flat, and straight.

Similar teeth marks had also been found earlier on the fish bones by Peach Stream.

Something had been feeding on this giant fish.

Bai Ziqi then recalled the numerous claw marks on the ground near the earthen cellar at Xinglin Terrace.

Those weren't made by human hands or weapons.

And the missing palace guards, the feeling of being watched...

Bai Ziqi murmured, “So the illusion array was indeed set up for that thing!”

With so many suspicious points connected, it would be strange if he couldn't figure it out!

The illusion array at Xinglin Terrace wasn't for him or the palace guards; it was meant to mislead the monster that fed on the fish, making it smell the scent but unable to find the large fish. That's why the ground there was covered in scratch marks, indicating the monster's extreme frustration.

Now that Bai Ziqi had opened the underground chamber of the stables, he knew without needing to return to Xinglin Terrace that the illusion array there must have vanished.

The monster could now follow the scent here.

His heart stirred, and he suddenly felt as if someone was missing from their group.

It was only thirty or forty steps from Xinglin Terrace to the stables, but the Yao Nation palace guard who had led them earlier... seemed not to have followed?

When accompanying guests from the Heavenly Palace, he had instinctively stayed at the rear. Bai Ziqi and his attendants wouldn't have paid him much attention.

While checking for clues in the stables, Bai Ziqi had looked around and seemed not to have seen him.

But he truly had little presence; even Bai Ziqi hadn't noticed anything amiss.

Now, reflecting on it, he wondered, when did this person disappear?

“Let's go up first...”

Before he could finish, a loud bang echoed from above the pit, followed by several shouts, a scream, and the clang of weapons being drawn.

The servant boy yelled, “Enemy attack! That demon thing is out!”

Bai Ziqi returned the way he came, rushing up to the ground two steps at a time. He saw a layer of red light glowing outside the stables, pulsating rapidly and conspicuously in the darkness.

That was the sign of the Crimson Trap Array activating, but not fully. This defensive array required its talismans to be embedded underground to take effect. Once a strong enemy attacked, in addition to the defense and movement restriction provided by the array itself, it could also summon three sturdy earth puppets and three agile wood puppets to resist the enemy, known as array spirits, giving the owner more time to react and counterattack.

However, no puppets had emerged. Something was violently slamming into the red light barrier, each impact harder and faster than the last. In fewer than three blows, the Crimson Trap Array was breached. The servant boy, who was first in its path, exchanged a few moves with it.

An attendant, startled, retreated and happened to step behind a stable pillar. Bai Shiqi glimpsed him and sharply commanded, “Come out! Don't stand there...”

That was precisely a blind spot for their array and for rescue!

Before he could finish, a shadow emerged from behind the pillar.

It clung to the attendant's back, silently, so naturally as if it had been standing there all along.

The attendant, sensing something was wrong from the glances of others, didn't dare to look back and just ran forward.

But it was too late.

The moment he moved, the shadow behind him was even faster.

As Bai Ziqi leaped out of the tunnel, he saw the shadow flash about five zhang away, clutching the attendant. The latter's protective artifacts had all shattered, and four bloody holes had been punched through his chest, as if he'd been impaled by a pitchfork.

The shadow's speed was too fast for the naked eye to track, yet Bai Ziqi still clearly saw that it was taller than an average person, wore a gray robe, had its face covered, and its cold, grayish skin was covered in tiny cracks.

This was no human, for it had a tail behind it.

The Heavenly Palace guards surrounded the tunnel entrance, on high alert. The servant boy reported, “My Lord Commander, as soon as you went down, it ambushed us. Somehow, one of the talismans wasn't properly embedded, so the array spirits weren't summoned, and it broke through the array and seized Yuan Dong!”

Bai Ziqi's expression shifted.

All the talismans had been fine; they were checked just yesterday.

Just then, a Bai Guard from the side of the stables called out, “One of the prepared talismans is missing! It was gouged out!”

When the Bai Guards were setting up the array earlier, this strange creature had already understood what they were doing and secretly removed a talisman.

Even if it wasn't human, it was very cunning and capable of thought.

Even with one or two talismans missing from the Crimson Trap Array, the defense could still activate, but the array spirits could not be summoned.

The Crimson Trap Array's defensive capabilities were generally average—a temporarily set up array was often less effective than a permanent one, which was why array spirits were included as a supplementary measure, but they hadn't activated.

On this expedition to investigate the Great Emperor of the Nine Hells, he had brought only his best men. Everyone had already known they were being followed and watched, and had heightened their vigilance. Yet, in such circumstances, the opponent had still managed a successful ambush!

And the shadow had seized Yuan Dong.

Yuan Dong, who did not bear the Bai surname, was not a guard he had personally trained, but rather someone who had just joined them today from the Miaozhan Heavenly Temple. He hadn't yet integrated with the Bai Guards. He Xiao had left long ago, and Bai Ziqi hadn't anticipated any danger on this trip to the outskirts of the city, which was why he had brought Yuan Dong along.

This person was a special existence; although his cultivation wasn't high, his role was extremely significant—

He was the vessel for a Heavenly God, and therefore needed proper protection.

Bai Ziqi had been attacked on his way back to the city from Xiaotao Mountain Villa. Although he repelled the attack from Ling Mountain, he paid a considerable price, and his team suffered significant losses in combat power. Thus, he had requested reinforcements from Miaozhan Tian.

This was one of the reinforcements Miaozhan Tian had sent to Bai Ziqi; the others were still being prepared at the temple.

This strange creature likely sensed that Yuan Dong was the weakest among the group, so it prioritized attacking the 'soft target,' thereby disrupting Bai Ziqi's crucial plans.

Now, Yuan Dong was clutched in its hand, sharp claws piercing his back, running right through him, and then lifting him. Blood dripped onto the ground from his still-twitching body.

Even if he were retrieved, it would be difficult to save his life.

Bai Ziqi looked at the suddenly appearing monstrous figure and attempted to communicate, “Who are you? Can you understand human speech?”

The creature's response, however, was to lift Yuan Dong, sniff him as if determining if he was edible, and then swallow him whole!

Others witnessing this scene were horrified, as the creature's way of eating was exceptionally grotesque: a vertical slit opened in the very center of its face, then widened progressively until it covered its entire face.

It turned out it had neither eyes nor a nose; its entire face was just one massive mouth. The sharp, interlocking white teeth reminded Bai Ziqi of piranhas.

Now he knew how the strange teeth marks on the giant fish bones had come to be.

Moreover, this thing could open its mouth and swallow an adult human in just two breaths, raw and unchewed.

No wonder the palace guards from the second squad had gone missing, and the guard who had just led them vanished without a trace; this thing ate people whole, leaving no bones behind!

Bai Ziqi said to the servant boy, “Lower your arm, let me see.”

The servant boy released his arm and pulled back his clothing. To everyone's shock, they saw two bloody holes in his forearm, likely caused by the monster's claws. The skin around the wounds had an unusual dead-gray color, looking less like flesh and more like something else.

Bai Ziqi, still holding the half-broken pestle, reached out and lightly tapped the wounds twice.

Clang, clang – the sound of metal striking stone.

Divine magic! Bai Ziqi's expression instantly turned grim. Without a word, he raised the pestle and struck the servant boy's shoulder!

Snap! The servant boy's left arm broke cleanly off at the shoulder!

Blood gushed out, and he cried out in pain, nearly fainting.

But seeing the vibrant red blood from his shoulder, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the poison hadn't spread past his shoulder.

“Bandage him and stop the bleeding,” Bai Ziqi commanded his subordinates, still facing the monster. He then glanced at the ground. The servant boy's severed arm, which had fallen, rapidly turned to ash.

If he hadn't acted decisively, the petrification spell affecting the servant boy would have spread to his torso, making things much more difficult.

He also noticed that although the monster opposite him had no eyes, its face would turn to follow whenever he extended the pestle.

To verify this, Bai Ziqi held the broken pestle and swung it from side to side a few times. Sure enough, the monster's head subtly followed.

It was highly focused on this broken pestle.

Indeed, nothing He Xiao left in the tunnel was useless!

“This is a demonic puppet; speaking to it is useless,” Bai Ziqi ordered. “Its puppet master might be nearby. Shiqi, take Shi and Shi-yi to search within Yongquan Villa!”

Only a demonic puppet could devour another demonic puppet as food. He Xiao must have stolen its food and hidden it within the array, using its possessive nature over food to trap Bai Ziqi.

At this thought, Bai Ziqi frowned again.

Demonic puppets usually act on their master's commands. If there was a puppet master controlling this creature, what good would He Xiao stealing its food do? Would the puppet master even need that fish carcass?

Something wasn't quite right, unless...

Bai Shiqi acknowledged the order and turned to leave with two other attendants.

Bai Ziqi suddenly spoke again, “Come back! Never mind.”

He rarely changed his mind like this, making everyone feel there was something even more suspicious.

Seeing this, the demonic puppet also stirred, wanting to attack through the opening. Bai Ziqi took out a pale golden candle, blew on it, and a lamp spirit descended from the wick, transforming into a snow leopard.

Judging by the demonic puppet's build, it seemed to excel in agility, so Bai Ziqi used the lamp spirit to manifest a leopard to probe its capabilities.

Just then, the servant boy who had retreated to the back suddenly exclaimed, “My Lord Commander, on the ground!”