Chapter 177: Mama

This was a head as round and smooth as a child's, with no hair and no discernible gender.

Xu Xiaoshou was so frightened that he stumbled backward, slamming into the earth wall deep underground. Chunks of mud from above came crashing down on him.

"A child?"

In that instant, a flood of thoughts raced through his mind.

Could it be that Tian Sang Ling Gong was actually an evil organization, and Tian Xuan Men was like a prison specifically for holding children captive?

He thought of Sang Lao, and of Ye Xiao Tian...

It was entirely possible!

Crack, crack—

At that moment, the head below made a sound and slowly, laboriously lifted up, its gaze meeting Xu Xiaoshou's.

Red eyes, fierce killing intent—it was almost identical to Zhou Tian Can in a frenzy.

Only then did Xu Xiaoshou realize he was wrong.

This thing...

Was it just a puppet?

Unlike those metal contraptions outside, it had been given the form of a human child.

The puppet child spoke, its voice hoarse and grating, as if its throat had forgotten any lubrication.

Xu Xiaoshou's skin crawled with goosebumps.

"Mama?"

In the dark, enclosed depths underground, a puppet child calling "Mama" seemed to have some intelligence?

Damn!

What kind of place was this?

Could this thing also be a Zhen Jie Zhi Bao?

The puppet child's voice came again, sounding like it was struggling. Even without the black crystal cage, its lower body was still buried, preventing it from emerging.

"Double seal?"

Xu Xiaoshou thought to himself that this was bad news. If he released this thing, could he really handle it?

He had been confident while digging the tunnel, but now...

Boom!

The trembling of Tian Xuan Men grew more intense, with large chunks of soil falling from above. Everything was telling Xu Xiaoshou that he had no time left to find another spot!

The puppet child's voice seemed more urgent now.

"Baby, don't be afraid. Mama's here. I'll pull you out right now."

Xu Xiaoshou reached out hesitantly and added, "Once you're out, you can't attack me, okay? Remember this face in front of you. You've called me Mama, so no messing around!"

A chill ran up his spine, and Xu Xiaoshou's hand froze in midair.

"Why don't you reach out? If you don't, am I supposed to pull your head off?"

The puppet child showed no reaction.

Xu Xiaoshou: "..."

He pulled out the transmission jade slip. If this was a sealed place, it should react on its own.

But now, the jade slip in his hand remained completely still, meaning he had to remove the second seal as well.

However, based on what Luo Lei Lei had said before, if this puppet child was also a Zhen Jie Zhi Bao, then releasing it would surely doom Tian Xuan Men even more.

The jade slip...

This useless thing seemed even less reliable than the Black Luo Sword Sheath. Could it withstand the collapse of a small world?

In the end, Xu Xiaoshou decided to trust the dean's words.

Honestly, he had no choice—he couldn't get out anyway, so he had to believe!

Staring into those blood-red eyes, he gritted his teeth and pressed down on the thing's head.

Warm, soft—it felt exactly like touching a normal human head, with all the sensory details.

The hoarse call traveled straight through his palm, turning into waves of goosebumps that shot up to his scalp and into his mind.

Xu Xiaoshou's back went cold, his whole body tensing up.

"Don't just rip your head off and spray blood all over me!"

Without further hesitation, he gripped the lower jawline with both hands and yanked hard.

The seal binding the puppet child's lower body suddenly became visible.

"Mama!" The call sounded excited.

Xu Xiaoshou's neck shrank, and he nearly let go.

"Holy crap, stop calling! You're making me panic!"

His two compressed fire seeds erupted from under his feet, propelling him backward with a boom, directly shattering the seal.

"Mama—"

A piercing shriek exploded in his ears as the puppet child's lower body finally broke free.

Xu Xiaoshou's pupils contracted sharply, his gaze locking on it.

This was actually...

The lower body of a normal child!!!

The flesh-toned body was almost indistinguishable from a human's, except that its wrists and ankles were bound with black shackles attached to broken chains.

His eyes shifted to the most concerning area.

A flat triangular region.

"No gender?" Xu Xiaoshou was stunned.

Just then, a sudden premonition of death made him release his hold on the puppet child's head immediately.

The child opened its arms, as if trying to hug Xu Xiaoshou's neck.

"Hey."

Xu Xiaoshou ducked low, dodging it.

"Mama!"

The call carried a note of dissatisfaction. Before he could react, everything blurred, and the puppet child vanished.

In the next instant, pain hit his abdomen, and darkness enveloped everything.

When his vision cleared again, Xu Xiaoshou found himself blasted into the sky—not through the tunnel he had dug, but straight through hundreds of meters of earth layers!

"Attacked unexpectedly, passive value +1."

"Pfft!"

Only then did the intense pain spread. Xu Xiaoshou looked down to see a fist-shaped imprint blasted into his abdomen, the flesh mangled and bloody.

He was completely shocked.

He was in a Zongshi state!

The damage from this puppet child...

Behind him came a familiar call. Xu Xiaoshou instinctively dodged, his "perception" revealing that the puppet child had somehow appeared at his back.

This...

He was still in mid-air from the initial blast, yet this thing could keep up with that speed?

Was it faster than Luo Lei Lei?

"Mama!"

Hearing that irritable voice, Xu Xiaoshou realized he might not have dodged.

Sure enough, when he opened his eyes again, all he saw was the shattered sky.

"Attacked unexpectedly, passive value +1."

A massive pit, dozens of zhang wide, appeared in the black arena. Xu Xiaoshou lay sprawled in it, unable to move.

His back had a huge hole torn into it, blood pouring everywhere.

If it weren't for his passive skills, anyone else would be done for by now!

Dean...

Sang Lao was right— in this world, besides himself, there was no one else trustworthy.

What do you mean, just pick any sealed place to put the jade slip? You could have at least told me not to come here!

Another familiar call echoed in his ears. This time, Xu Xiaoshou didn't dare to dodge. He lay still, letting the curious child tilt its head and examine him.

"Under scrutiny, passive value +1."

The puppet child squatted there, and as long as Xu Xiaoshou didn't move, it didn't attack.

"Monster, this is a monster!"

His "Sheng Sheng Bu Xi" skill began healing his wounds, but Xu Xiaoshou remained perfectly still.

He recalled the steel puppets from before. Without a doubt, the two were the same type of thing.

But they were on completely different levels!

This one must also be a manufactured puppet, yet its physical abilities were worlds apart from what he'd seen earlier!

More importantly, it had intelligence!

The Black Luo Sword Sheath was at best semi-sentient, but this thing seemed to have real cognitive ability—he just didn't know if its thoughts were distorted.

"Baby, be good. I know you might be trying to give me a friendly pat, but honestly, your strength is a bit too much..."

Xu Xiaoshou twisted his neck and tried to speak.

The puppet child's red eyes showed a hint of thought.

Xu Xiaoshou felt a spark of hope. There was a chance?

Since he clearly couldn't match its strength, let's try this...

The art of verbal dominance, the king of mouth-based battles!

He opened his mouth again...

The puppet child pressed his head down, embedding it into the cracked ground.

A cold wind blew, time seeming to slow to a crawl, leaving only Xu Xiaoshou's legs flailing in the air before limply falling.

"Attacked unexpectedly, passive value +1."