Chapter 2008

Wanqiliang, from a distance, watched this scene and became even more certain that it was a demon puppet.

Dong Rui had told him that demon puppets were different from demons; they usually had no independent will, either following instinct or being manipulated like red-wood puppets by a demon puppet master—like the ghost ape or Ashmo, which were rare demon puppets with self-awareness and the ability to think.

Thus, the commanding ability of a demon puppet master often determined the upper limit of the demon puppet.

And since most demon puppet masters themselves were not skilled in close combat—

It was no wonder the ghost ape treated his demon puppet like a sandbag to punch.

Under the demon puppet master's control, the Nine Rings struggled to crawl back up, and the ghost ape stepped forward, planting one foot on its neck. Its tail bore spikes, and the monkey, being cautious, did not want to be pierced through the soles of its feet.

Who would have thought this creature would emit a "crack" and its body and tail would automatically separate? The torso continued to flail with bared teeth and claws, while the tail, like a nimble earthworm, suddenly plunged into the ground.

Other creatures shed their tails to survive, but this one did the opposite—it shed its body to survive.

It turned out its tail was the main body.

Fortunately, the ghost ape had followed He Lingchuan across south and north, witnessing countless strange phenomena, so its first reaction now was to snatch a long spear from a nearby Black Armored Army soldier, aim at the severed tail of the Nine Rings, and thrust and lift!

The motion resembled a child pulling up an earthworm, but it was highly effective. Before the Nine Rings had fully sunk into the earth, it was easily pulled out, then torn apart with both hands into five or six pieces.

As for those bone rings, the ghost ape picked up a few, tapped them together twice, listened to the clear sound, and was very satisfied.

Moreover, the tongue-shooting monster that harmed people moved at astonishing speed—arrows could barely keep up with it. Each time the Black Armored Army forced it into a dead end, it would dive underground.

But after digging and digging, it suddenly vanished from sight.

Wanqiliang ordered: "Don't worry about it—keep slaughtering the rebel troops!"

He knew someone must have secretly intervened.

Indeed, no matter how the enemy demon puppet master tried to activate it, the monster remained out of contact.

After another dozen breaths, the ground suddenly exploded with a bang, forming a shallow pit precisely beneath a unit of Guo's troops, flinging them head over heels, men and horses overturned.

The explosion lacked the effect of shaking mountains and thunder, but from underground, one thing was blasted out:

The monster's corpse.

Only then did everyone see clearly: it resembled a large chameleon or lizard, with webbed feet, but now its body bore two large holes—one through the neck, one through the abdomen—black blood flowing out and soaking the ground.

The monster that had plagued the Black Armored Army with headaches had silently died underground.

What could have turned the tables on it?

The demon puppet master standing behind Guo Bai Lu vomited blood with a "wah" sound.

After two demon puppets were killed in succession, he suffered backlash.

But Guo Bai Lu would not sympathize with his pain, only turning to ask him: "Do you still have any divine slaves you can deploy?"

The demon puppets sent by the Heavenly Palace to him were called "divine slaves" here—only demon puppet masters could control them, and they often injured people by accident.

The demon puppet master, gritting through pain, said: "The other side… also… has fellow practitioners!"

At this moment, the Commander-in-Chief also galloped up from the rear, shouting urgently: "There is a demon puppet master on the opposing side—likely the very person the Palace Master ordered captured. He goes by the alias Wei Yishan in both Bekka and the outside world. Guo Bai Lu, you've hit the jackpot!"

"……Are you sure?"

"I just saw on the battlefield that giant ape wearing chainmail, wielding a huge staff."

"There are many kinds of demon apes—what signs does it show?" As Guo Bai Lu knew, there were over a dozen types of demon apes commonly appearing on the Flash Gold Plains, sometimes mingling with human armies or bandit lairs.

"A face like an evil spirit, a purple-gold staff, wearing battle armor, capable of spewing green fire—each of these matches the target the Palace Master wants captured. Moreover, the opponent also possesses earth-escape combat ability." The Commander-in-Chief left one thing unsaid: last year, Dong Rui had dueled the master of Red Lu Manor in the suburbs of Tianshui City and won; clearly, there had been a major escape-art duel on the scene.

Guo Bai Lu couldn't immediately sort out his feelings. If he said he was annoyed, today might well bring a divine descent—with a god intervening, this battle would become much easier; if he said he was pleased, under the interference of heaven and the Commander-in-Chief, the focus of battle would shift from siege to capture, inevitably restricting his movements and hindering his performance in this chaotic situation—this would be an unnecessary complication.

He asked the other party: "Do you have any way to capture him?"

"We… we need to force him out." The demon puppet master's mind was also clear: "I've heard his demon puppet might be capable of autonomous combat, so he could be hiding anywhere—possibly behind the Black Armored Army commander, or even lurking underground. Qingyang Guardian once said he has a demon puppet that can burrow through earth and carry people. My Xiao Xi was probably killed by it!"

"Xiao Xi" was precisely the demon puppet just killed underground, whose main body was a chameleon.

Guo Bai Lu snapped in frustration: "Such a treasure—why don't you have one?"

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"This……" How heart-wrenching.

"How to force him out…… Wait, what does this have to do with me!" He was nearly led astray. Guo Bai Lu's gaze swept across the chaotic battlefield, fixing on the struggling Black Armored Army commander: "I just need to focus on taking down this leader!"

Slaying the Black Armored Army commander would mean his complete victory tonight—not only breaking the Black Armored Army's myth, but also securing Yingcheng for himself.

"I… I…" The demon puppet master wanted to say, "The other side is stronger than me," "I still have one demon puppet, but I can't overturn the Black Armored Army commander."

Originally, if all three had attacked together, there might still have been a chance.

He had been summoned from the demon puppet experimental grounds by the Qingyang Guardian and directly assigned to Guo Bai Lu—he had never been on a battlefield before, unsuited to such chaotic scenes of panic and disorder.

"Why didn't you bring it out earlier!"

"You must remember: today's priority is to capture that demon puppet master surnamed Dong alive—everything else is trivial!" How should he speak to them? The Commander-in-Chief disapproved and immediately reminded him: "This is the sole reason the Heavenly Palace is assisting you!"

He is a Bekka native; his only reason for being on the Flash Gold Plains is to follow superiors in conducting demon puppet experiments. He usually avoids contact with Flash Gold locals and looks down on these indigenous people.

Guo Bai Lu felt displeased but could only say on the surface: "Since we've confirmed he's on the battlefield, this is easy to handle!"

Now the two armies were locked in fierce combat, the Black Armored Army tearing open Guo's outer defenses and charging straight at Guo Bai Lu. But their all-out advance had slowed, their numbers were few, and they found themselves trapped in enemy formation.

Of course, Wanqiliang had long anticipated this situation—the Black Armored Army charged without disorder, maintaining overall formation in a spindle shape: vanguard in front, rearguard behind, flanks drawn in, comrades covering each other—thus they could still advance steadily.

But Guo Bai Lu, observing carefully, was wondering whether his own army still had other powerful figures.

The demon puppet master also deployed his final demon puppet, attempting to lure the demon ape away from the army—several tries, all failed. This creature was sly and elusive, simply refusing to be isolated.

Having sacrificed nearly a hundred lives on this front, Guo Bai Lu finally confirmed: "It seems those few demon puppets are the most formidable. Hmm, there's hope! You just said his demon puppet can earth-escape?"