Chapter 1617

He was also a puppet master and knew that once Cao Wendao was outmatched, his best escape route was not to fly into the sky, but to sneak underground.

This Skin-Turning Loach looked like an escape tool no matter how one viewed it, so Dong Rui had pre-buried the Heavenly King Scale's explosive pellets in its belly to make it easier to ambush people later—uh, no, to cut off the enemy's retreat.

Although the Skin-Turning Loach was similar in size to the Snail Toad, it was a creature of flesh and blood and did not have a divine object like the "Mud Palace" to store it.

Therefore, it took every single bit of the power from the explosive pellets going off!

Dong Rui was triumphant: "This is what you call pre-judging the opponent's pre-judgment!"

High-end play!

The Ghost Ape let out two low roars, meaning this move seemed to be He Lingchuan's invention.

Back then, when Cen Poqing's subordinates were poaching monsters while driving the Snail Toad, He Lingchuan used a full hold of dried mugwort as bait and placed a large amount of gunpowder in the warehouse, detonating it after the Snail Toad swallowed it.

That time, it blew the Snail Toad half to death, and Xi Yunhe had to find Dong Rui for after-sales repairs.

He Lingchuan was the true ancestor of ambushing people.

Regarding the Ghost Ape's fairness, Dong Rui only sent it two words: "Shut up!"

This creature really had a short memory after eating; it didn't even know where its own butt was sitting, forgetting how many losses it had suffered under He Lingchuan back then!

The ground was blasted open into a large hole, revealing the dark red fish body underneath.

The fish's belly was blasted to shreds, and the Skin-Turning Loach was also torn to pieces, dying on the spot, which showed that the power of the Heavenly King Scale was extraordinary.

Ashimona also stopped its steps, its movements somewhat hesitant.

With its master no longer issuing orders, it didn't know what to do.

Dong Rui pointed at the ground and said: "Get him out, hurry, hurry, hurry!"

The commotion here was too big, with both earthquakes and explosions; Qingyang was neither deaf nor stupid, and she would definitely rush over.

This was no place to stay long; he had to grab the loot and run! The Ghost Ape grabbed its long club and poked fiercely at the ground.

This patch of ground had already been loosened by the blast, and after it poked it twice, the ground collapsed in large chunks, revealing the fish mouth of the Skin-Turning Loach.

The Snail Toad exerted force underground, pushing the dead fish upward.

The Ghost Ape used its club to pry open the fish mouth, leaned in to look, and then bent down to drag out a person, covered in blood and flesh, eyes tightly closed.

It was Cao Wendao.

He had originally been staying inside the Skin-Turning Loach's mouth, but with his mount exploding underground, he truly had nowhere to hide.

Encountering the most powerful chain explosion of the Heavenly King Scale in a confined space—hiss, even Dong Rui felt the pain for him.

However, he was still clutching that Vajra Pestle tightly in his hand, with a very obvious crack on the pestle's body.

"Take him back..."

Before Dong Rui could finish his sentence, Cao Wendao suddenly opened his eyes and hissed: "Take me away!"

As soon as he opened his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of blood, his voice pressed at the bottom of his throat and unable to come out, but Ashimona still received it, flashed over, grabbed his shoulder, and ran outward.

Number Sixty-Six was quick-witted, and with a "slap," its claw pressed down on the Vajra Pestle.

Cao Wendao was able to keep a breath of life during the chain explosions thanks to its ability to protect its master, but this precious pestle had suffered repeated disasters today and was at the end of its rope.

Both sides were exerting force, and the Vajra Pestle couldn't hold on, snapping into two pieces on the spot.

Ashimona dashed out more than ten zhang with a "whoosh" and suddenly stopped.

Cao Wendao said weakly: "Go, why don't you, don't...?"

Why didn't it go? He was dizzy and drowsy, his eyelids swollen to the point of congestion, almost unable to open his eyes, and he didn't yet know that the Vajra Pestle had broken.

Ashimona was in no hurry to leave, nor was it as obedient as usual; instead, it held him high before its eyes, tilting its head to examine him.

He wore a mask, so others couldn't see his expression—no, he had no facial features, and of course, no expression.

The Ghost Ape and Number Sixty-Six wanted to rush up, but Dong Rui raised his hand to stop them: watching Ashimona's behavior as it scrutinized its own master, it seemed very unkind.

Cao Wendao didn't understand at first: "Go, go..."

But Ashimona remained motionless.

Then Cao Wendao managed to open his eyes a slit and caught sight of Ashimona's posture, and the Vajra Pestle in his own hand—

The Vajra Pestle with the front half broken off.

It's over, how could this happen? His heart went cold instantly.

"No, I'm not..."

Dong Rui didn't know what his last words were meant to be, and he would never know, because Ashimona suddenly opened its big mouth and stuffed Cao Wendao's head into it.

Crunch.

Like chewing up a juicy tomato, and it even splattered.

From Dong Rui's angle, he could clearly see Cao Wendao's body twitch twice violently, and then it stopped moving.

He gasped.

Backlash, the nightmare of all puppet masters.

This great puppet master of the Heavenly Palace ended up dying in the mouth of his own puppet.

Ashimona grabbed the half-broken Vajra Pestle from its former master, swallowed it in one gulp, and then turned and left, not looking at Dong Rui again.

It seemed to no longer recognize the enemy that had been fighting to the death with it just a moment ago.

Number Sixty-Six saw it turn and subconsciously took a step forward to pursue, but was stopped by Dong Rui raising his hand.

It was too late; they didn't have time to pursue.

Two breaths later, Ashimona disappeared into the dark jungle.

Dong Rui immediately ordered his puppets: "Take Cao Wendao and that green python, we're leaving!"

The battle of puppet masters is about the survivor being king! He had just finished a life-and-death battle, and the winner deserved a generous reward.

The Snail Toad floated to the surface, extended its tongue, and rolled away Cao Wendao's headless remains; the Ghost Ape ran into the woods and carried the corpse of the green python over as well.

Just as Dong Rui was about to order the puppets to jump into the Mud Palace, another dark shadow emerged from the jungle.

It came silently; Number Sixty-Six sensed it immediately, turned to bare its teeth at it, and the fur on its neck stood up.

Another strong enemy had arrived!

Dong Rui, however, waved his hand to tell it to stand down, while saying to the shadow: "Why did you only just arrive?"

The other party walked out of the woods, revealing eight long legs.

Mother Zhu.

"Didn't you tell me not to come over, that you had to fight this battle yourself?" She said unceremoniously, "I only came to take a look after hearing you howl so miserably."

Tonight, while pursuing Cao Wendao, she had received the signal and rushed over to provide support, but Dong Rui had suddenly become stubborn, refusing to let her intervene at all, claiming this battle was his own battle for vindication.

Now it seemed what he needed most was a bone-setting.

Dong Rui was embarrassed. That moment when Ashimona crushed his shoulder bone really hurt like hell; was he not even allowed to howl?

Under Mother Zhu's belly were three white cocoons. She threw these three cocoons in front of Dong Rui: "Three of Qingyang's subordinates were coming this way, so I intercepted them halfway, and by the way, bought He Lingchuan a little time."

Qingyang was blocking He Lingchuan in front, while three other subordinates were quietly coming to the creek to see if Cao Wendao had retreated.

And then they turned into cocoons.