Chapter 278: Iron Puppet
To be honest, just looking at that iron puppet, Yu Sheng could sense an eerie, dangerous aura rushing toward him—that white metal-cast smiling face held none of the warmth of a living person, but he could clearly feel the thing staring dead at him, radiating a pure, emotionless desire to attack.
But "she" didn't charge immediately. Instead, she kept a distance of several meters, adjusting her posture in small movements like some bizarre dance, as if searching for the best angle of attack.
The sharpened blades at the iron puppet's fingertips stirred the thin fog in the air, occasionally flashing with cold light.
Every nerve in Yu Sheng's body was taut. In that brief exchange earlier, he'd already felt the thing's astonishing speed and power. Those seemingly thin "finger blades" could block his spiked club—just that alone made this thing more dangerous than most of the wolves in the Black Forest back then.
Huli slowly walked over as well, her posture like a beast poised to strike, her golden-red eyes fixed on the strange humanoid wearing a black gauze headscarf. A glow gradually filled her pupils, and foxfire blossoms bloomed silently in the air, one after another.
"Ai Lin, a relative of yours?" Yu Sheng couldn't help muttering under his breath.
"How is that possible!" The little puppet was instantly furious. "I am a noble and elegant ball-jointed doll—this thing is obviously a vile C-clip, how could it be related to an Alice doll?"
Yu Sheng twitched the corner of his mouth. He'd just asked casually, but he hadn't expected Ai Lin's rebuttal to come from that angle—and almost at the same time, he noticed an odd pause in the iron humanoid's steps.
His spiritual intuition suddenly warned him. Without any time to think about techniques or counters, he simply raised his arms to block on instinct, and the moment he did, that tall, slender "woman" had already ghosted forward, several blades cutting short, lethal arcs through the air.
Metal clashed, sparks flew. Yu Sheng's arm went numb, but in the blink of an eye, the iron puppet danced backward like a dancer, slipping away from his counterattack despite her seemingly heavy metal body. Then another afterimage flickered through the air as "she" pressed forward again, the icy blades at her fingertips slashing and thrusting relentlessly, like a continuous storm that couldn't be caught by the naked eye!
The fog rang out with the ceaseless clang of metal, accompanied by the sharp hiss of blades cutting air. Yu Sheng barely managed to block the initial flurry, using the chance to back up a few steps. Then clusters of foxfire exploded in front of him, hot projectiles weaving a net of flames around the iron puppet. At the same time, Ai Lin locked onto the target, layers of black spider silk materializing out of nowhere, dropping like a sinister web over the monster!
But just as the threads were about to entangle the iron puppet's limbs, the monster suddenly twisted her body to the side. Her joints seemed to snap at impossible angles as she squeezed through the only gaps in the web. Then, with a series of afterimage-fast dodges, she found another opening in the foxfire barrage, her finger blades thrusting straight at Yu Sheng's chest!
Swift, silent, full of power—bloodless and tearless.
This iron puppet had identified the "leader" among her enemies, and every attack was clearly aimed at Yu Sheng. She had almost no unnecessary movements, making no sound apart from her bodily shifts.
An elegant and perfect killing machine.
By now, sweat was beading on Yu Sheng's forehead. This was the first time he'd fought something like this. He was barely keeping up with the thing's rhythm, relying entirely on his enhanced body—far beyond human limits—and the support of Huli and Ai Lin. In such close quarters and fast exchanges, Huli's high-power techniques were completely unusable, and even the threads Ai Lin summoned from nowhere couldn't keep up with the monster's ghostly speed!
What the hell was this thing? Was it also an entity born from the thick fog? But its movements weren't the chaotic, instinct-driven ones of the entities he'd seen before—they clearly incorporated professional combat techniques and logic. Yet this thing was obviously not human—and Ai Lin's attitude made it clear: this monster had doll-like features but was definitely not an "Alice doll."
"What even is this thing!"
Yu Sheng raised the Tetanus Staff high. Maybe luck was on his side—this time, his swing actually connected with the monster's shoulder, finally disrupting her relentless, ghostly "dance." Seizing the moment of the enemy's stumble, Ai Lin found an opening, wrapping layers of black threads around the joints.
"Who knows! I really don't recognize this thing!" The little puppet yelled, slightly frantic.
"Then let's just dismantle the bastard first!"
Yu Sheng shouted, raising his spiked club as he charged, while the iron puppet was still struggling slowly to break free of the spider silk.
But just as he was about to reach the enemy, the iron puppet suddenly looked up. That pale, smiling face still wore its "gentle" smile, but the metal plates on her chest and abdomen abruptly opened—
A dark red glow pulsed and contracted inside a mass of metallic matter that writhed like living flesh. A screen-like device lit up with red light, and the numbers on it were rapidly counting down to zero.
Yu Sheng: "...What the fuck?!?"
He tried to stop himself, but it was already too late. He stomped the ground out of instinct, trying to halt his forward momentum. Ai Lin reacted immediately as well—the moment she saw the red glow inside the monster's belly, she withdrew the spider silk and instantly re-wove it into a rope, wrapping both herself and Yu Sheng to yank them backward. Huli came charging from the side...
But in the next instant, Yu Sheng saw the countdown inside the iron puppet's stomach suddenly stop.
Then, the metal on the puppet's abdomen closed in a flash. Before Yu Sheng, Huli, or Ai Lin could react, "she" had already broken free and arrived in an instant.
Yu Sheng only had time to adjust his posture slightly, using his arm to protect his vitals, before feeling a sharp pain in his arm.
Two blades had already pierced deep into his flesh, even going straight through his arm and stabbing fatally into his chest.
At that moment, time seemed to freeze. The scene fell into an eerie silence.
Yu Sheng looked up, meeting the gaze of that elegant yet terrifying killing machine at point-blank range—that pale, smiling face was nearly inches away.
"You can cancel a self-destruct?"
Yu Sheng's face twitched as he spoke in disbelief.
The iron puppet naturally didn't answer. "She" simply tilted her head, as if confused by Yu Sheng's calm demeanor in this situation.
Yu Sheng looked down at the two "fingers" now embedded in his chest. He considered for a moment and figured this should be a fatal wound.
But maybe because he'd died so many times, he'd built up resistance—the "symptoms" of death hadn't set in yet.
"Your blades are good," he said, looking up seriously at the iron puppet. "Give them to me."
Blood began to seep into the blades.
The iron puppet finally sensed something. Though its expression didn't change, its next reaction carried a clear hint of panic. The monster instantly pulled the two "finger blades" out of Yu Sheng's body, and with two rapid clicks of its heels, it leaped back nearly ten meters.
Yu Sheng reached out to intercept but only managed to grab the "nun's veil" from its head.
Not far away, the iron puppet raised its arm again, as if to resume a fighting stance—but one of its arms reacted half a second slower.
"She" froze for a moment, then began to shake that arm frantically, as if trying to shake off something dirty clinging to it.
But the uncontrolled area rapidly expanded. At first only the fingers, then the whole palm, forearm, elbow...
Yu Sheng started feeling dizzy. His body swayed, and a white figure immediately appeared beside him—Huli carefully supported his shoulder, her face full of concern: "Benefactor, going to die again?"
Yu Sheng waved his hand, still staring intently at the monster trying to break free: "Wait a bit, just wait."
"Next time you run into a situation like this, why bother fighting? Just charge in and sell your blood," Ai Lin muttered. "Saves a lot of effort."
"I had to test how the fight would go, didn't I? Besides, I had to put up some kind of show—what if I could actually win!" He glanced at her, but then winced from the sharp pain in his chest and arm. Realizing he might not hold out much longer, he quickly shoved the "nun's veil" he'd torn from the monster's head into Huli's arms, speaking rapidly: "You two get back inside now. I'm afraid if I die, that thing will break free of control, and who knows what other creepy stuff might emerge from this fog. It's not safe for you two to stay out here."
"Huh?" Ai Lin was surprised, pointing at the iron puppet that was still struggling not far away. "Shouldn't you let Huli and me tear her apart while we have the chance?"
"...No," Yu Sheng slowly shook his head. "I think this thing is weird, not like a normal 'entity.' Don't kill her—let my blood soak in a little longer..."
Before he could finish, Huli and Ai Lin both nodded at once: "Okay!"
Yu Sheng didn't waste any time. He raised his hand and pulled open a door leading to 66 Wutong Road.
Without hesitation, Huli and Ai Lin dashed inside.
This was the tacit understanding established within the hostel—no unnecessary hesitation at crucial moments, no "I'll cover you" back-and-forth, no wasting time on sentimentality. Just unwavering trust.
Yu Sheng believed Huli and Ai Lin would be calm and decisive at this moment; Huli and Ai Lin believed Yu Sheng was definitely going to die.
Just as the door vanished, Yu Sheng heard a harsh metallic snap from across the way.
He looked up in shock and saw the tall iron puppet frantically tearing at the arm that was gradually losing control. After a few rips, the arm was barely hanging on. Then, without hesitation, "she" used the hand that was still under control to jam her bladed fingers into the joint, pried hard, and—snapped the arm clean off!