“Oh, by the way, Miss Xu,” Jian Liu said.
Xu Xiaoyou looked up. The black-haired youth was smiling at her.
“Can we talk privately?”
Xu Xiaoyou nodded. The communication shifted to her curtain, and the call switched to private mode. The rest of the team could only see the gingko-leaf-shaped curtain by her ear glowing with a faint red light.
Jian Liu: “Diamond 9 said that the puppeteer is carrying a forbidden object. It's something Yorick stole from the company after killing Emerald 1.”
“That big shot specifically mentioned that he hopes you'll take note of that forbidden object, and he said it's related to you.”
“As long as you can resolve the matter of the puppeteer, as an additional reward, he is willing to gift this forbidden object to you.”
A forbidden object?
Xu Xiaoyou fell into thought.
Usually, urban eldritch creatures with powerful traits are extremely difficult to kill in a true sense. As long as people's mental fantasies—whether fear or worship—persist, they will eventually revive and return even if they are suppressed and dissipated. However, because some urban eldritch creatures have special traits, they can be sealed within objects through certain methods, falling into a permanent or long-term slumber. That object is then granted eerie traits, which are often an extension of the urban eldritch creature's own domain.
For instance, an urban eldritch creature named a mirror demon can be sealed in a bronze mirror, putting it to sleep. As long as the forbidden object, the bronze mirror, is pointed at someone, forcing them to see their reflection, it can directly pull them into a mirror world. These forbidden objects are usually extremely dangerous, unique, and mysterious. They are typically transformed from sealed urban eldritch creatures that have reached the disaster-level or higher. They are strictly kept and controlled by major organizations and companies, and they rarely circulate into the hands of individuals.
Unexpectedly, Yorick actually had a forbidden object in his possession. This meant the upcoming battle would likely be even more difficult.
As for Diamond 9 wanting to gift a forbidden object to her, and it being related to her?
Putting aside why she would be connected to a forbidden object, she never believed in free lunches. Accepting a favor from others inevitably required paying some kind of price.
As if guessing her thoughts, Jian Liu said calmly, “Don't worry, Miss Xu. Diamond 9 emphasized that the forbidden object is only relevant to you. Consider it his investment and a gesture of sincerity. The puppeteer cannot use its abilities; in his hands, it's nothing more than an ordinary whip.”
“The name of that forbidden object is...”
“The hundred-section whip.”
Bzzzt... bzzzt...
Just then, the images on everyone's curtains began to change. Jian Liu's figure in the Gingko Curtain was replaced by another man. He wore a long black suit and a mask that looked like a piece of plaster wrapped around his entire head, with a stony texture. Each of the mask's five facets had a strange eye. Those eyes blinked, and upon seeing the group, they narrowed with contempt.
“Yo, I'm really sorry to interrupt your call at this time. Let me introduce myself.”
The man's tone was playful, his gaze filled with disdain as he looked at everyone.
“My name is Yorick.”
As he spoke, he pulled his hands out of his suit pockets and held his palms open in front of his mask. The pure black leather gloves also had two eyes on them, blinking and curving into slits.
“As you can see, I am the great puppeteer Yorick, the one you've been looking for, thinking about day and night, and dreaming of meeting.”
Everyone's expressions changed. The puppeteer had actually taken the initiative to appear before them. Xu Xiaoyou stared intently at his eyes.
“How is it? The puppet field I meticulously designed for you?” Yorick said. “Honestly, turning all those filthy, lowly refugees into puppets took me several days of hard work.”
“The result really disappointed me. Everything that happened last night failed to amuse me.”
“Originally, when I heard someone was coming to catch me, I was worried for quite a while. But you were constantly arguing along the way, falling apart internally like a heap of loose sand. I didn't feel a hint of a threat at all.”
“Yorick!” Lin Sheng could no longer suppress his anger. He stepped forward like a lion, roaring, “Where is my brother!?”
All of Yorick's eyes narrowed into a smile. He snapped his fingers, and Lin Xing's dim, lifeless figure slowly floated up behind him, appearing in everyone's view. On his once cheerful face, only a deathly gray remained.
“Lin Xing!” Lin Sheng gritted his teeth, bloodshot veins creeping into his eyes. His aura became terrifying. “I will never let you get away with this!”
Seeing his expression, Yorick's eerie smile deepened. “Oh my, I'm so scared.”
Suddenly, all the eyes on his body turned crimson. With a wave of his hand, one of the puppet Lin Xing's arms was snatched away and appeared in his hand.
Applying a slight force, countless cracks appeared on that arm, and it shattered into numerous pieces.
The puppeteer looked surprised. “Oops, so sorry. I accidentally broke your brother's original arm. Don't worry, I'll install a new one for him. I just don't know if it'll fit or not.”
Watching Lin Sheng's chest heave violently, like a beast on the verge of going mad, the puppeteer simply waved his hand.
“Conveniently, I'm getting a bit tired of this game of cat and mouse—or rather, mouse teasing the cat. I'll be waiting for you in the basement of the Donglin abandoned church.”
He began to dance a tango with a puppet behind him. His steps were light and coordinated as he spoke. The red dress of the female puppet fluttered up and down, blooming like a red rose. He leaned down intoxicatedly and kissed the female puppet's neck deeply. Then, he gave everyone a meaningful glance. “For the final dance, don't disappoint me again.”
With that, he disconnected the curtain call.
“That damn bastard!” Lin Sheng roared, his breathing heavy.
Cunning, malicious, and arrogant, finding pleasure in the pain of others, Xu Xiaoyou thought, arms crossed.
It matched her initial assessment of his personality. What she found strange was why a cunning fox would take the initiative to reveal himself and mock them before the outcome was decided.
She didn't think he would do something meaningless unless he was certain of victory. This was just another part of his plan. Similarly, she didn't care about his taunts. In the game of pre-match trash talk, the one who lost their cool first lost.
Right now, the opponent was in the Donglin church, having set up an ambush there to lure them in, hoping to catch them all in a trap?
Xu Xiaoyou looked at Chen San, who was also looking at her at that moment. He suddenly frowned and questioned her loudly:
“You knew something was wrong with that village last night, didn't you?”
“Where did you go later on?”
“We could have avoided the risks in advance instead of being passive like this!”
“Is it possible you did it on purpose?”
Chen San's final words pointed all suspicion at Xu Xiaoyou. The latter merely sneered, ignoring the other gazes:
“Well said. But you, the commander—did you not sense even a hint of danger when entering the village?”
“When those monsters appeared, where did you go? Did you scurry back to the station alone, leaving us all there to die?”
Neither of them backed down. The air was instantly filled with the smell of gunpowder, and the dispute escalated like a powder keg ready to explode at any moment.
The sound of their arguing echoed over the mountain forest for a long time. Lin Sheng and Tang Xin remained silent, watching the two argue for nearly ten minutes.
After a long while, they both seemed to calm down.
Lin Sheng let out a long breath and looked at everyone. “What do you plan to do? Are we just going to keep being led by the nose?”
Chen San said without hesitation, “He revealed himself, so of course, the commission continues.”
Xu Xiaoyou said coldly, “Since he's playing with his cards on the table, of course we have to play along.”
At this moment, the two finally reached a consensus and said together:
“We're going to take him down.”
Rate on N.U.
