At this moment, Earth Pig slowly rose from the ground and spoke, “The way I feel him is different from how I feel others…”
“How so?” Weekend asked.
“It feels… ‘distant,'” Earth Pig replied.
“Distant?” Weekend frowned at those words. “I wanted to ask earlier… why ‘distant’?”
“How should I describe this feeling…” Earth Pig lowered his head and looked at his hands—his long nails were gone, replaced by Luo Shiyi’s hands. “It’s like…”
Earth Pig raised his head, gazing at the distant Zhu Que, and said, “It’s like when I touch fruit through a plastic bag, I can tell what’s an apple and what’s a banana… But the ‘echo’ from Zhu Que feels like touching an apple through a cloth bag. I can roughly tell it’s an apple, but it’s hard to be certain. And as for ‘distant’… It’s like there’s something else inside that cloth bag besides apples and bananas, but I can’t touch it.”
“Tsk… That’s so damn abstract,” Saturday muttered, wiping cold sweat. “So what now… that thing…”
“Most likely ‘Puppet’ or ‘Displacement,'” Qian Wu said. “Otherwise, there’s no way to explain why he’s flying in the sky. You can’t seriously tell me ‘Zhu Que’ just naturally knows how to fly, can you?”
“You’re saying…” Weekend cautiously scanned their surroundings, “the current Zhu Que is a ‘puppet’…? He’s being controlled by someone else’s ‘echo’? Does that even make sense?”
After all, they had seen “puppets” before, but never one like Zhu Que—articulate, capable of thought, and even able to express emotions.
Officer Li, Su Shan, and Bai Jiu took the opportunity to gather around Weekend, forming an impromptu think tank.
Officer Li and Su Shan raised the hearts they were holding, signaling to Qian Wu.
The group immediately caught the scent of rot emanating from the hearts—it seemed Zhu Que’s body was indeed unusual.
No wonder the blood flowing from Zhu Que was as thick as grease; it was clearly the state of someone long dead.
“A ‘puppet’ that can still cast ‘echoes’…” Qian Wu mused. “That means Zhu Que is a puppet with an ‘echo’… The one controlling him is responsible for casting ‘Puppet,’ while Zhu Que himself handles the rest of the ‘echoes.'”
After speaking, Qian Wu turned to Su Shan. “If the ‘puppet’s’ master is nearby, manipulating him, you’re probably the only one who can find them…”
“Got it!” Su Shan nodded, widening her eyes to scan the surroundings, while Qian Wu prepared to approach and examine Zhu Que’s true nature.
At that moment, Zhu Que swayed wildly in the air like a kite with its string cut, his body bobbing up and down like a bird in flight.
“His conviction is unstable,” Earth Pig said. “Even ‘Soul Theft’ is in disarray now. This is the perfect chance to kill him. Whether he’s a ‘puppet’ or not, as long as we destroy him, it won’t matter.”
Weekend, however, stared into the distance. He knew they had a general strategy, but “Cat” still hadn’t deployed their strongest weapon. Without them, how could they possibly destroy Zhu Que?
“Song Qi, you bastard, did you get lost?!”
“Nineteen!” Qian Wu shouted as he ran forward. “‘Soul Theft’ has been reset—figure something out!”
Upon hearing this, Yun Nineteen paused briefly before scrambling to his feet and rushing toward Zhu Que.
As “Silence,” he was the natural counter to “Soul Theft,” but this battle plan had gone awry. Before arriving, nearly every “Cat” had heard Zhu Que’s voice.
Watching Zhu Que twist and turn in the air, Yun Nineteen couldn’t think of how to deploy “Silence.” After all, his ability only created an absolutely silent space—once Zhu Que left it, the effect would vanish.
Just as Zhu Que was about to speak, Yun Nineteen acted on impulse. He pulled out a dagger and stabbed his own ears, then activated a small-scale “Silence” around himself before lunging forward and latching onto Zhu Que’s back like a backpack.
“You…” Zhu Que turned his head to glare at Yun Nineteen. “How audacious… Kids these days…”
To outsiders, Zhu Que’s mouth moved, but no sound came out.
Yun Nineteen locked his hands together and clamped his legs tightly around Zhu Que. As long as he lived, Zhu Que’s voice wouldn’t reach anyone.
Zhu Que hadn’t expected someone to cling to him at such close range. His conviction wavered as he frantically tried to grab Yun Nineteen’s hair, forcing the latter to dodge awkwardly behind him.
“What’s the difference between him and Xuan Wu…” Luo Shiyi muttered beside Weekend. “Living without a heart… These ‘Divine Beasts’ are getting more absurd by the minute.”
Seeing Zhu Que restrained, the others gritted their teeth and ignored Yun Nineteen’s fate, directing all their attacks at the pair. Both Zhu Que and Yun Nineteen were soon covered in wounds.
Their faces twisted in agony, yet neither made a sound.
Su Shan, drenched in sweat, scanned the area until her face grew damp with exertion. Yet, she found no trace of anyone nearby. To cast such a powerful “Puppet,” the person’s “ripples” should have been visible through walls—yet the surroundings remained eerily quiet.
After surveying the area, she turned her gaze back to Zhu Que.
Aside from “Leap,” “Soul Theft,” and “Soul Shift,” there was indeed a faint trace of “Puppet” on Zhu Que.
That “Puppet” ripple was even subtler than “Soul Shift”—so faint that without intense focus, it was nearly imperceptible.
All the ripples converged at Zhu Que’s throat. So who was controlling Zhu Que? Or was Zhu Que controlling someone?
Su Shan felt a stinging pain in her eyes. She touched her cheeks—her fingertips came away bloody.
“Hey…” Weekend looked at her, hesitating slightly. “Tsk, you…”
“I’m fine. Just an old issue,” Su Shan said. “Ms. Zhou, there’s no one nearby… It’s hard to believe someone’s controlling Zhu Que.”
“What…?!”
Zhu Que flung several people aside and soared into the sky with Yun Nineteen still clinging to him. Then, he slammed his back onto the ground. Yun Nineteen coughed up a mouthful of blood, but his grip remained unyielding.
“Bad child… Do you really want to die…?” Zhu Que snarled, veins bulging, before activating “Soul Theft” to force the young man behind him to mimic his movements.
But Yun Nineteen had already deafened himself. Now, barely clinging to life, he held on solely by sheer will.
“No matter…” Zhu Que said. “Even without ‘Soul Theft’… I can still kill every last one of you…”
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