New Classmate

The further down he ran, the more unstable Ye Shengge’s steps became, and his breathing grew increasingly rapid.

His emotions were currently extremely volatile, and his legs felt weak and hollow, as if he were stepping on cotton—completely devoid of any sense of reality.

But even so, he continued to run forward.

When he rounded the corner and saw the door appearing before him, a trace of relief finally surfaced on his bloodless face.

Almost there. He would be able to leave very soon.

Just as he was getting closer and closer to that door of escape from the Puppet Bosses, an anomaly suddenly occurred.

From all directions, numerous strange cracking sounds suddenly echoed out.

It sounded exactly like the stiff cracking noise made by a long-bedridden patient moving their limbs.

The volume wasn’t loud, but it was impossible to ignore.

But right now, all the living people in the villa, along with the two Puppet Bosses who had broken through the seal’s restrictions, were engaged in a brawl inside the study. How could so many people suddenly emerge and move their limbs?

It couldn’t possibly be such a coincidence that the Puppet Bosses he had placed inside the guest rooms had broken through their seal restrictions at the exact same time and rushed over together to capture him, right?

This conjecture was dismissed by Ye Shengge himself in the very next second.

Impossible.

It absolutely could not be such a coincidence.

In the dungeon plot, the time for the Puppet Bosses to break through the seal’s restrictions was much, much later than now. Even if the dungeon plot had deviated, and even if two special Puppet Bosses had broken through early, it shouldn’t cause the overall awakening of the Puppet Bosses to be advanced by this long.

However, before Ye Shengge, who had just dismissed this terrifying conjecture, could breathe a sigh of relief, a pair of ice-cold hands suddenly wrapped around his waist.

Yet that wasn’t the most terrifying part. The most terrifying part was that his hands and ankles were also gripped by pairs of ice-cold hands.

Ye Shengge felt as if a freezing talisman had been applied to him; he stood frozen in place, unable to take a single step forward.

The things gripping his hands and ankles were definitely not human.

Sensing the ice-like sensation transmitting through his skin, the last shred of hope in Ye Shengge’s heart vanished entirely.

Without even turning around, he could guess that the entities appearing here in such large numbers could only be the puppet evil spirits.

It was a mess.

Everything was a complete mess.

Not only had the dungeon plot collapsed, but the timeline for the Puppet Bosses to break through the seal’s restrictions was thoroughly derailed as well.

“Don’t move.”

A chilly breath brushed against Ye Shengge’s ear.

Ye Shengge couldn’t control his body and couldn’t help but shudder.

He felt that this breath, just like the hands gripping him, was piercingly cold.

But the Puppet Bosses clearly had no intention of letting him off so easily.

Pair after pair of chilly palms competed with one another to touch Ye Shengge’s limbs.

They all wanted to get closer to the beautiful Dollmaker, just like those few puppets who had been the first to adapt to their legs and run to his side.

But they didn’t see that the beautiful Dollmaker, with his back turned to them, had been frightened to the point where his face was deathly pale, and a layer of water mist had rapidly gathered in his eyes.

“D-Don’t, don’t move.”

“Don’t move.”

“Don’t move!”

“…”

One voice after another telling him not to move rose and fell in succession.

The gloomy, terrifying evil puppets crowded against one another, uttering their humble requests word by word.

Not long ago, they had sensed the despair and sorrow transmitting from the core entity, sweeping over them like an overwhelming tide. They had also sensed the source of this despair and sorrow.

The beautiful Dollmaker who had created them had allied with an underlying, loathsome Heavenly Master, intending to seal them away once more.

No, it wasn’t just a seal.

That Heavenly Master clearly intended to deal them a lethal blow.

The beautiful Dollmaker—who was like a creator to them—knew all of this, yet he maintained a permissive and indulgent attitude.

The beautiful Dollmaker also wanted them to die.

The Puppet Bosses, who had realized this point, could no longer maintain their previous mindset of waiting to slowly break through the seal’s restrictions. Disregarding all costs, they frantically battered that layer of restraint.

Fortunately, they succeeded.

The beautiful Dollmaker was also caught by them.

Now that they had caught him, they couldn’t let him leave again.

Thinking of this, the puppets held the hands or ankles they were embracing even tighter, terrified that an accidental slip would allow the heartless, beautiful Dollmaker to run away.

At the exact same time.

The villa study.

The two puppets who had watched the beautiful Dollmaker leave suddenly shed their previously indifferent expressions. Staring with pure malice at the detestable Heavenly Master who had reminded the Dollmaker to leave, they spoke through gritted teeth: “You are truly seeking death!”

The moment the words fell, the two masses of black mist merged together, smashing directly toward Peng Biao’s face.

At this moment, the two unmerged puppets achieved an astonishing level of tacit cooperation.

Peng Biao hurriedly threw out three talismans. While straining to block the black mist, he swiftly turned his head to check on Wen Jinshi’s situation.

The material inside the cloth bag had already been scattered. Now, only a wooden hair stick crafted from peach wood remained.

Once it was placed, the array could be activated.

When that happened, the evil spirit would be trapped within the array, unable to utilize its resentment any longer.

At that point, the puppet evil spirit would be like a tiger with its teeth pulled, unable to pose any threat whatsoever.

As long as the wooden hair stick was placed at the very center of the study, it could suppress these two evil entities!

Peng Biao’s heart was filled with hope. Speaking at a rapid pace, he said to Wen Jinshi, “Quick! I’ll hold them off. You don’t need to care about anything else, just place this right in the center!”

Having said that, he didn’t even blink as he forcefully bit a substantial wound into his own fingertip.

Strikingly red blood slowly seeped from the wound, dripping down from his fingertip onto the floor, making crisp tapping sounds.

In the next second, Peng Biao used his hand as a brush, drawing an even more complex incantation pattern over the already intricate talisman paper.

After finishing the drawing, he threw the talisman out without the slightest hesitation, his eyes filled with absolute determination.

This incantation, which came at the cost of his own lifespan, was something he would absolutely never employ unless it was a critical juncture. However, these two puppet evil spirits were far too troublesome, and they clearly harbored killing intent toward him. If he didn’t use it now, he might suffer a catastrophic failure in an easy task, and he wouldn’t even get the chance to use whatever lifespan he had left.

The moment the talisman was cast, a brilliant golden light suddenly manifested, blocking all resentment and the evil entities in place.

Peng Biao’s face turned visibly unsightly, and the veins on his forehead and arms bulged violently, as if he were enduring immense agony. But even so, he didn’t forget to look back and shout loudly at Wen Jinshi, who was standing frozen and motionless: “Go place the item quickly!”

Although the talisman boosted by the tip of his finger’s blood was highly effective, the duration it could sustain was ultimately limited. At most, it was only enough for Wen Jinshi to position the item.

Yet, Wen Jinshi seemed to have suffered some kind of malfunction, failing at the critical moment. It was as though he couldn’t hear what Peng Biao was saying at all; he remained standing completely motionless, without a single ripple of emotion in his eyes.

Peng Biao’s eyelid twitched, giving him an inexplicably ominous premonition.

He increased his volume: “Are you deaf? Go quickly!”

Wen Jinshi was like a corpse. Even when insulted as being deaf, he showed no reaction or movement whatsoever, still standing entirely motionless.

It was only when the talisman drawn with the blood from his finger lost its efficacy and the black mist dispersed and vanished that Peng Biao caught a glimpse of an unusual smile on Wen Jinshi’s indifferent face.

It wasn’t an illusion; it was indeed an unusual smile.

It looked filled with an evil aura and mockery.

Peng Biao, who confirmed he hadn’t misseen, found his expression becoming even more unsightly.

What occurred in the next second caused his heart to sink straight to the bottom of the valley.

Clang.

A dull thud, so faint it could barely be heard.

The peach wood hair stick hit the floor.

“Idiot.”

It was still that voice filled with mockery and a chilly tone.

The current Wen Jinshi was a complete and diametrically opposed extreme to the gentle-as-water front he had previously displayed before Ye Shengge.

Peng Biao, who was tightly bound by the black mist re-gathered by the puppet evil spirit, stared at Wen Jinshi in utter disbelief.

However, Wen Jinshi had absolutely no intention of speaking to him or offering an explanation. Walking past the puppet evil spirit without encountering any hindrance, he sat down on the single remaining chair, gently rubbing the red bead bracelet on his wrist. His gaze remained cold, turning soft by only a few fractions when mentioning the person downstairs: “Have your core entity bring him up. Let him see how useless the Heavenly Master he likes is.”

To Peng Biao’s utter surprise, the two puppet evil spirits, who had been so enraged just moments ago that they wanted nothing more than to fight him to the bitter end, actually did not refute Wen Jinshi’s command.

Not only that, they even nodded, assuming a look of sudden realization as they nodded in absolute agreement: “We should indeed do that.”

If they did this, the beautiful Dollmaker would know who was the person he should rely on the most.

Thinking of this, the eyes of the two puppets were filled with delight. They couldn’t wait to contact the core entity downstairs—which was relentlessly squabbling over the ownership rights of the beautiful Dollmaker—telling them to hurry up and bring the beautiful Dollmaker upstairs.

Downstairs, Ye Shengge, who was deeply immersed in his own fear and wild imaginings, unable to extricate himself, was carried back up to the study by a group of bandit-like Puppet Bosses without knowing what had transpired.

Even though he used every ounce of his strength to struggle while the Puppet Bosses walked upstairs at a leisurely pace—attempting to stretch out their time for more intimate contact with him—it was merely treated as a small tantrum by the immensely powerful Puppet Bosses.

The Puppet Bosses behaved exactly as before, continuing to hold onto his wrists and arms so he couldn’t move or struggle, walking toward the study in a grand procession, an unusual light of excitement gleam in their eyes.

Although they didn’t want to admit that they were split entities, the reality was precisely so. They could not only sense the thoughts of the main body and other entities, but they could also feel the exact same emotions and tactile sensations from them.

This was also the reason why they had been frantically jealous of the other puppets earlier, yet had maintained a bizarre sense of stability.

Ultimately, Ye Shengge failed to break free from the Puppet Bosses’ hands, being carried to the study entrance in a humiliating posture.

The most awkward part was that he was carried into the study facing the door with his back turned toward the Puppet Bosses.

But before Ye Shengge could register the awkwardness and shame, he was stunned by the scene before his eyes.

The big dummy Heavenly Master golden thigh, who was widely acclaimed as the strongest in the dungeon, had actually suffered a disastrous defeat, firmly bound by the black mist that served as ropes, unable to utter a single word, unable to break free no matter how furious he was.

What shocked him even more was his childhood friend, who was seated grandly inside the study, looking entirely at ease and completely unaffected by the resentful puppets.

No, this person wasn’t his childhood friend. They merely looked very similar, but their temperaments were entirely different, yet they gave Ye Shengge a bizarre sense of familiarity.

He felt as though they had met somewhere before.

In the next second, “Childhood Friend” flashed a familiar yet strange smile, his voice deep and magnetic as he greeted Ye Shengge at an unhurried pace: “We meet again, new classmate.”