novelraw Chapter 139: Covert Assault
Chapter 139: Covert Assault
Although Cheng He and the others had extracted the information from the cleaner,
the records-room intel that Xu Zisheng provided was actually of roughly equal value.
And Xu Zisheng had contributed effort toward that extra piece of information as well.
It was impossible—and it shouldn’t be—the case that only Cheng He’s side had sent people to follow them.
Who knew whether Cheng He might have deliberately hidden some clues that the security room had collected?
So Xu Zisheng made a request.
“This is my lucky doll. Let it follow you; it can serve as a kind of warning.”
[Tong, is your state okay?]
[...I’m fine, Brother Xu... I’m only going to follow and watch...]
[There are too many threads here... but they seem to come from the same source... Unfortunately, the interrupted rules interfere... I can’t see clearly at a glance... it’s getting more terrifying... we can’t drag this out too long...]The twelfth-seat Ghost Deity slowly materialized in Xu Zisheng’s hand, its form shifting so its original appearance could no longer be discerned.
The thin boy’s voice softened just imperceptibly.
It was a doll only twenty centimeters tall; its eyes were made of two buttons, it wore a white dress, and its mouth was a tight red stitched line.
If Yang Qianqian’s Witch Curse Doll—when unmasked—resembled a real girl,
then the toy Xu Zisheng held now truly looked like an ordinary, run-of-the-mill doll.
This obviously caught Yang Qianqian’s attention. The blonde doll in her arms tilted its head slightly; its crimson eyes turned toward “Double Pupils.”
“Could it really be a lucky doll?”
“It’s not that great... mine’s the best...”
Yang Qianqian sized it up. The doll, made mostly of cloth and cotton, slowly floated out of Xu Zisheng’s hand and wobbled over to Cheng He.
Its two short cloth arms sat obediently at its sides; the pale button eyes made it seem endearingly simple-minded.
It muttered a couple of soft words, then hugged closer the blonde doll in Yang Qianqian’s arms.
Cheng He and Yang Qianqian exchanged a brief glance. Yang Qianqian’s current judgment was that this doll posed little threat and could be brought along.
Although she still felt something was off.
But she shouldn’t be mistaken about the doll’s weak condition.
“Okay, no time to waste—split up!” Cheng He nodded, heading off in another direction. The toy doll floated lightly and followed, its silhouette shrinking into the dark.
[If you encounter something you can’t handle... you can urgently recall my... Brother Xu... If it’s really bad... just call out that person’s name...]
Xu Zisheng and Yang Qianqian had no common small talk to share.
Both of them moved like cold machines executing orders precisely, slipping through the chilly night in silence.
Tonight, the pressure from the patrolling spirits felt much stronger; their level of corruption had deepened. Even passing not far from them caused the heart to race.
When confronted with impassable situations, Xu Zisheng and Yang Qianqian could quickly judge and use a decoy tactic—a feint to divert attention.
At least until they obtained the instance clues, they could maintain a veneer of stability.
At times like this, an extra hand was far better than going it alone.
As last night, after roughly half an hour they reached that office building.
From a distance, the rooms on the second floor looked tightly shut—would they need to pick another lock today?
The sign outside the office should say which department it was, right? Then they’d only need to pry one door open.
I wonder what that gentleman is doing now...
Xu Zisheng thought to himself.
Yang Qianqian’s mind churned with its own thoughts.
This guy beside her really had some tricks.
Since he’d been dragged into this, maybe later the Pyramid Scheme Organization people could help uncover his real-world identity.
Unexpected that he had a cute doll too—good taste, perhaps.
If she could pry some information about that person from his mouth, that would be great...
Whoosh—
“!”
Black walls writhed, rising straight from the grass in an instant, surrounding them from all directions, as if they had been waiting a long time for their arrival.
Although Xu Zisheng and Yang Qianqian were disguised, the ambushers clearly anticipated that.
Perhaps the enemy was already waiting in place for them.
They detected the two’s possible positions through the faintest disturbances in the air, then struck without hesitation to catch them off guard.
A bone whip appeared in Xu Zisheng’s hand; he lashed it hard at a nearby dead branch,
then tugged sharply, using the momentum to launch himself away and evade the black wall attack.
The blonde doll in Yang Qianqian’s arms instantly became a humanoid shadow of flame and flung Yang Qianqian to higher ground, while it itself was tightly bound by the black muddy walls.
The more it struggled, the deeper it sank. After contacting the blonde doll, the muck turned unnaturally rigid and sealed layer by layer.
A faint scent of burning came from the sealed black box.
Yang Qianqian’s figure, draped in white-specter garb, manifested, tiny flames flickering beside her.
The Witch Curse Doll returned to its master in a self-immolation death.
The black muddy shadows below began to destabilize again, rapidly swelling before spreading outward into sharp blades that lunged like spears at the two Nighttime Wanderers.
Every strike through the air produced a terrible slicing sound.
If they were caught by those blades, they’d likely be killed—or rendered crippled.
Both of them used their techniques, narrowly dodging those deadly attacks.
But stalling like this wouldn’t solve anything.
If they were trapped here, wouldn’t tonight’s nighttime wandering be ruined?
Who knew what other changes might happen tomorrow.
They had to decide immediately!
The entity manipulating things from behind kept relentlessly pursuing, each move potentially lethal.
Yet it also seemed cautious—restricting its assault to this area and keeping its activity subdued.
Perhaps that caution could be exploited.
At least one of them needed to hold it off, or lure it elsewhere,
while the other seized the chance to retrieve the records.
Hesitating any longer would be foolish.
Hiding down there won’t help anyone!
I’ll drag you out whether you like it or not! —
Hope that kid can be clever!
After once more flashing aside to avoid an attack, Yang Qianqian’s eyes hardened and a sinister smile curled at her mouth.
She lightly slashed her hand; the spilled blood dispersed into the air and flowed into the blonde doll. The lifelike toy slowly moved, its jewel-like red eyes widening.
Then, while dodging again, another figure wielding a bone whip appeared in midair, occupying a blind spot in the attackers’ vision.
Xu Zisheng’s gaze tightened; he immediately understood Yang Qianqian’s plan—it matched his own thought.
He instantly suppressed his presence and, taking advantage of Yang Qianqian’s feigned counterattack to draw attention, vanished in a flash.
In truth, Xu Zisheng had been hesitating—his current abilities weren’t the most suited for this situation.
But Yang Qianqian’s power was clearly more convenient!
He shouldn’t miss the opportunity she created!
It seemed they hadn’t exposed any flaws!
Those two so-called rule-breaking Nighttime Wanderers began to show signs of retreat, slowly pulling away from the area around the office building.
But the assailant apparently didn’t want to let them go. After a moment’s hesitation, the force immediately sank beneath the ground and pursued fiercely.
It was determined to execute them.
After all the auras faded, a delicate, flawless sheet of human skin shimmered faintly, reflecting the surrounding scenery so it went unnoticed—and then it raced straight toward the second floor.