Chapter 169: Why Are You Two Fighting Each Other!!!

As for this matter of suddenly having another version of himself appear, Lu Yuan didn't have much of a reaction.

It was just a common little trick used by malevolent entities.

Lu Yuan had seen it countless times before, and furthermore, the "himself" standing before him didn't display any dangerous indicators.

Adding to that was Lu Yuan's own earlier estimation that this so-called "Faceless Malevolent Deity" probably didn't have much substance left.

This thing was just using these kinds of tricks to scare people, completely useless.

Lu Yuan just glanced at the shadow that looked exactly like him, and in the next second, his gaze went right past it.

It landed on the small figure squatting behind it.

At the same time, the paper figure Hu Tutu also raised her head and saw Lu Yuan.

Moonlight leaked down from the torn opening above, illuminating her face.

Those eyes first went blank with surprise.

Then—

They curved.

Curved into two crescent moons.

"Daoist Priest!!"

She shouted, her voice crisp and clear, carrying an irrepressible joy.

"How did you get here!!"

Lu Yuan was stunned.

This reaction...

This wasn't right.

This response genuinely left Lu Yuan at a loss.

According to his thinking, this paper figure Hu Tutu should be in cahoots with the living Hu Tutu.

She was here to continue the lamp, while the living Hu Tutu was outside keeping watch and blocking people, working from both inside and out to get the job done.

Furthermore, the two of them should share vision and hearing.

Just like before, when Lu Yuan sent out those three paper figures to track the paper figure Hu Tutu.

Otherwise, that living Hu Tutu shouldn't have known what the paper figure Hu Tutu did at Zhenlong Temple.

Nor should she have known what the paper figure Hu Tutu ate that night.

Lu Yuan had rushed here at top speed precisely because he wanted to capture the paper figure Hu Tutu with one strike of his blade.

Or, to put it bluntly, to directly exterminate her!

Before, he did have different feelings towards this paper figure Hu Tutu, not treating her as just a paper figure.

But after meeting the living Hu Tutu and learning of the connection between the two, Lu Yuan no longer considered the paper figure Hu Tutu a "person."

He just saw her as a ritual tool belonging to the living Hu Tutu.

But now...

Her expression—

That joy was real.

That smile was real.

It was exactly the same as that night at Zhenlong Temple, when she said, "I'll come back to see you when I have time."

For a moment, it made Lu Yuan somewhat dazed.

The connection between the paper figure Hu Tutu and the living Hu Tutu...

Before Lu Yuan could fully process it, the shadow "Lu Yuan" in front of him suddenly moved.

It raised its hand, gripping a shadow dagger identical to the Yansheng Dagger, and stabbed towards Lu Yuan's heart.

No sound.

No wind.

It just stabbed over silently.

Lu Yuan snapped back to his senses and dodged backward.

"Hey!!!"

A crisp shout.

The paper figure Hu Tutu rushed two steps to the side of the shadow Lu Yuan, reaching out to grab its arm.

"What are you doing!"

She tried to grab the shadow's arm and pull it back forcefully.

But the shadow was intangible. Her hand passed right through it, grasping nothing.

In that moment, Hu Tutu anxiously shouted loudly:

"Get away!!!"

She yelled at the shadow as if talking to a person.

But the shadow ignored her.

It took another step forward, the dagger stabbing towards Lu Yuan again.

The paper figure Hu Tutu stomped her foot in frustration.

She suddenly remembered something, fished out a yellow paper talisman from her bosom—the same kind left over from continuing the lamp earlier, with winding, curved symbols drawn on it.

She slapped the talisman onto the shadow.

"Slap."

The talisman stuck to the shadow, which suddenly froze.

Then, the talisman ignited on its own.

It wasn't ordinary fire; it was a bluish-white flame.

Exactly the same as the flame of that lamp.

The flame licked at the shadow's chest. The shadow staggered back a step, the dagger falling to the ground, before both its body and the dagger dissipated into black smoke.

The paper figure Hu Tutu looked at her own hand, then at the dissipating shadow, a slightly proud smile appearing on her little face.

"Hmph."

She snorted.

Then she turned and ran towards Lu Yuan.

"Daoist Priest!"

Lu Yuan watched, utterly bewildered, as Hu Tutu ran up to him, tilting her head back to look at him, her eyes sparkling.

"How come you're here!!"

Hiss~~

Seeing the completely unguarded paper figure Hu Tutu before him, Lu Yuan was momentarily at a loss for what to say.

Mainly because...

He was holding the Yansheng Dagger in his hand, and for a moment, he actually didn't know whether he should raise his hand and stab this paper figure Hu Tutu!

At the same time, another urgent voice came from behind Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan turned to look.

Due to the earlier delay, the living Hu Tutu had also caught up.

She was running breathlessly, her two little hair buns bouncing on her head.

Moonlight shone on her face, in her eyes full of urgency.

"Hurry up and go continue the lamp!"

She shouted at the paper figure Hu Tutu, her voice rushed and fast.

"The lamp has gone out! If you don't go now, it'll be too late!"

The paper figure Hu Tutu turned her head to look at her, her tone carrying a hint of unhurried calm.

"How come you came down too?"

The living Hu Tutu ran a few steps closer, reaching out to grab her.

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and go!"

But the paper figure Hu Tutu dodged backward slightly, not letting her grab hold.

She pointed at Lu Yuan, a small smile on her face.

"This is the Daoist Priest from Zhenlong Temple."

"I stayed at the Daoist Priest's place before, and I ate a meal at his temple."

Lu Yuan: "..."

He looked at this one, then at that one.

Two Hu Tutus, identical faces, identical outfits, even their speaking voices exactly the same.

But right now, one had a face full of urgency, wishing she could continue that lamp immediately.

The other, however, had a face full of smiles, busy introducing the two of them to each other.

This...

This was completely different from what Lu Yuan had imagined.

According to his previous assumption, this paper figure Hu Tutu should just be a ritual tool created by the living Hu Tutu using secret methods.

Just like his little paper figures, used for tracking, scouting, and doing tasks.

A ritual tool does whatever its master tells it to do.

It has no thoughts of its own, no emotions of its own; it's just a tool.

But now...

The living Hu Tutu was this anxious, yet the paper figure Hu Tutu wasn't anxious at all.

She even wanted to introduce the two of them.

Lu Yuan suddenly remembered the scene just now, where the paper figure Hu Tutu rushed over to help him, using the yellow talisman to burn away that shadow.

Her reaction back then was completely spontaneous.

No one told her to come.

No one told her to help.

She just ran over on her own.

Because she recognized him, so she wanted to help him...

Lu Yuan looked at her smiling face, at her sparkling eyes, and suddenly felt a bit disoriented.

What kind of ritual tool was this?

This was clearly a person.

The living Hu Tutu ignored the paper figure Hu Tutu's introduction, grabbing her wrist and pulling her forcefully to the side.

"Stop talking, hurry up and go!"

The paper figure Hu Tutu staggered from the pull but still refused to move.

She turned her head back, looking at Lu Yuan, a hint of apology on her face.

"Daoist Priest, wait for me a bit, okay?"

"I'll go continue the lamp first, and talk with you after I finish."

Lu Yuan stood in place, watching the two Hu Tutus.

One pulling with all her might, the other being pulled along but still looking back at him.

Moonlight shone on them, on two identical faces.

One full of urgency, the other full of smiles.

One urging, the other still thinking about coming back to talk to him later.

A thought suddenly flashed through Lu Yuan's mind.

Wait.

If this paper figure Hu Tutu really was just a ritual tool of the living Hu Tutu, then the living Hu Tutu wouldn't need to be this anxious at all.

She could just "recall" her.

Just like he recalled his own little paper figures, a single thought and the paper figure would return.

No need to chase, no need to shout, no need to pull and urge.

Or she could simply directly control the paper figure Hu Tutu to go continue the lamp.

But she didn't.

She could only chase her down, only pull, only shout.

What did this mean?

It meant she couldn't control this paper figure Hu Tutu.

It meant this paper figure Hu Tutu had her own thoughts, her own ideas.

What she wanted to do, what she didn't want to do, wasn't something the living Hu Tutu could forcibly dictate.

Of course, thinking about this now was useless.

Lu Yuan had only one goal: to stop the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp from continuing the lamp for a malevolent deity!

And now that he knew only the paper figure Hu Tutu could continue the lamp, the safest course of action for Lu Yuan at this moment was...

To simply eliminate the paper figure Hu Tutu, and that would completely solve it!

Of course, that's what Lu Yuan had thought before, and what he had intended to do.

But all of that was... based on Lu Yuan previously thinking this paper figure Hu Tutu was just a ritual tool of the living Hu Tutu.

Now, naturally, it was impossible to proceed with that previous line of thinking and take action.

Lu Yuan took a step forward, moonlight shining on his face.

He looked at the paper figure Hu Tutu, word by word:

"Don't go continue the lamp."

The paper figure Hu Tutu froze.

The living Hu Tutu's expression changed.

Lu Yuan continued:

"That lamp is for continuing a malevolent deity."

"Do you know what a malevolent deity is?"

The paper figure Hu Tutu blinked, not speaking.

Lu Yuan pointed at the dilapidated temple, pointed at the shadows still writhing all over the mountains:

"This thing is called the Faceless Malevolent Deity."

"It's not a proper deity; it's something that eats people."

"How many people it harmed beyond the Great Wall in the early years, I don't know."

"But I know, if it continues to live, the first to suffer will be the common people beyond the Great Wall."

The paper figure Hu Tutu listened, the smile slowly fading from her little face.

She looked at the dilapidated temple, then at those shadows, and finally at Lu Yuan.

Moonlight shone in her complex eyes.

Meanwhile, the living Hu Tutu beside her suddenly spoke up urgently:

"Don't listen to his nonsense!"

She grabbed the paper figure Hu Tutu's wrist, her voice urgent and hard.

"What malevolent deity? That's the lamp of our Continuing the Lamp Hu Family!"

"We've continued it for so many generations, have you forgotten?"

"Grandfather continued it, Father continued it, and now it's your turn!"

"If you don't continue it and it dissipates, what will our Hu Family eat? What will we drink? What will we use to cultivate?"

The paper figure Hu Tutu was pulled forward a couple of steps but still turned her head to look at Lu Yuan.

The paper figure Hu Tutu opened her mouth:

"But the Daoist Priest said..."

This time, however, the living Hu Tutu directly interrupted, her voice suddenly rising.

"He's from the Daoist path, we're from the Ten Families!"

"We each walk our own paths, we each keep our own rules!"

"Our Continuing the Lamp Hu Family has been this way since our ancestors' generation."

"Proper deity or malevolent deity, we have to continue it!"

"If you don't continue it, how will you live?"

"If you don't continue it, what will become of our Hu Family in the future?"

She stared fixedly into the paper figure Hu Tutu's eyes:

She stared intently into the paper figure Hu Tutu's eyes:

"You are a member of the Continuing the Lamp Hu Family!"

The paper figure Hu Tutu was stunned by her shouting.

Moonlight shone on her, on her two little hair buns.

The two little buns swayed gently in the night breeze.

Looking at this scene before him, Lu Yuan grew a bit anxious. Judging by the look of it, this paper figure Hu Tutu was probably about to be fooled by the living Hu Tutu.

But the next second, something Lu Yuan completely didn't expect happened. The paper figure Hu Tutu, after just a moment of stunned silence, instantly broke free from the living Hu Tutu's grip.

Not intimidated in the slightest, she glared with her round eyes and said loudly:

"Then it is a malevolent deity!!"

She glared with her round, wide eyes, her voice crisp and clear, not showing the slightest fear.

"It's not some Faceless Venerable!"

"It's the Faceless Malevolent Deity!!"

The living Hu Tutu was stunned by her shout.

The paper figure Hu Tutu took a step back, her little face filled with seriousness:

"Don't you use Father to pressure me!"

"Father never said that!"

The living Hu Tutu frowned:

"What did Father say?"

The paper figure Hu Tutu looked at her, moonlight shining on her clean, pale little face, in her clear eyes:

"Father said, what is proper, what is malevolent."

"A malevolent deity harms people; it's a bad thing!"

The living Hu Tutu, anxious, was just about to say something when the paper figure Hu Tutu glared with her big, round eyes and said:

"Just tell me, this Faceless Malevolent Deity, does it let people live, or does it make people die?"

These words left the living Hu Tutu speechless, unable to utter half a sentence.

Meanwhile, Lu Yuan, standing to the side, was already completely bewildered.

This wasn't right.

This was really not right.

Listening to the living Hu Tutu's tone and demeanor earlier, he thought this paper figure Hu Tutu was definitely the one being firmly controlled.

After all, one was a living, proper person.

The other was just a paper figure created through a method.

Logically speaking, shouldn't something created through a method just obey the person?

But now?

The paper figure Hu Tutu not only didn't obey, she even dared to talk back.

And she talked back with such righteous confidence.

No...

This... Lu Yuan was genuinely a bit confused by this.

The living Hu Tutu was stunned by her shout, taking a step back.

But she quickly came back to her senses, the urgency on her face turning into anger.

"You... you dare talk to me like that!!"

The paper figure Hu Tutu wasn't intimidated at all, glaring:

"Why wouldn't I dare?"

"You're not my mother, and you're not my father."

"What right do you have to tell me what to do?"

She took a step forward, moonlight shining on her face, in her eyes that now carried a hint of fire:

"Cut the nonsense!!"

"I'm telling you to go continue the lamp, so you go continue the lamp!"

"Are you going or not?!"

"If you don't go, do you believe I'll beat you up right now?!"

This living Hu Tutu raised her fist, threatening to hit the paper figure Hu Tutu, but she never expected the paper figure Hu Tutu to be even more extreme!

The paper figure suddenly raised her hand, pulling out a talisman from her waist.

This talisman was different from the one the paper figure Hu Tutu used earlier; it was red, covered in dense, intricate patterns.

Moonlight shone on it, and those patterns seemed alive, slowly writhing.

She tossed the talisman into the air, formed hand seals with both hands, and chanted:

"Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp, borrowing power—!"

Lu Yuan beside them: "?????"

No!!

Why are you two fighting each other!!!