F*cking piece of shit!
Xu Xiaoshou could feel his face contort from the horrific blow. He could imagine how weird he must have looked and even wondered if his face would be permanently deformed.
The excruciating pain from having his nose broken by that blow made him bleed uncontrollably, and tears formed in his eyes.
He was truly provoked now.
There was an unspoken rule when it came to a fight: Never go for the face! Even if his opponent was just a chunk of a metal block, it should understand the reason behind this rule!
When the puppet child lifted its hand again, Xu Xiaoshou instantly discharged a stream of compressed tinder from his mouth, and it was delivered with an almighty force.
Even at such proximity, that child merely tilted its head sideways and dodged the tinder effortlessly.
“Huh? It even dodged my counterattack?”
Xu Xiaoshou was completely at a loss.
He slammed his feet on the floor and leaped, clawing the air as he formed the Five Tinder. Then, without even looking back, he struck a blow in that direction.
The puppet child was so swift that Xu Xiaoshou could not remotely strike it using his “sense” ability, even when he could capture its movement. Hence, his only option was to predict its movement.
But his strike missed! All he felt was thin air…
To Xu Xiaoshou’s complete shock, the puppet child was standing calmly and observing him with its arms crossed.
And even more shocking, it was standing right behind where he landed.
“I wouldn’t have tried to predict his movement, had I known it could…” Xu Xiaoshou swallowed his saliva with much difficulty, as he felt a great sense of trepidation.
This puppet was just too scary. Who created it? It was a machine created especially for combat!
The puppet child’s terrifying attack, speed, and reaction time had completely overwhelmed Xu Xiaoshou’s physical strength and abilities. It was invincible and did not seem to possess any weakness.
Xu Xiaoshou straightened his back and was preparing to take on the next attack head-on when he realized that this puppet child was showing no intention to strike him. He remained still after a long pause.
“What’s going on? Why are you stopping now?”
He turned around and stared at it. He just could not figure out what it was thinking.
There was a look of confusion in the puppet child’s eyes, as it was no longer looked at Xu Xiaoshou, but toward the sky.
It became clear that the world on the brink of destruction was a lot more interesting than a mere weakling of a human.
“Ma Ma…”
“Hm?”
The puppet child glanced at Xu Xiaoshou again.
The corner of Xu Xiaoshou’s mouth started twitching. He swore he did not mean to mock the puppet child, but he truly was curious about how it processed its thoughts internally.
This was the first time in his life that he had met an inanimate object with a mind of its own. It was so intriguing, and he could not fathom it.
“If you understand what I’m saying… Hey, hey, stop attacking me!”
Xu Xiaoshou was trying to make conversation when he noticed the puppet child’s hand move, and it made him react to it immediately.
It appeared to get the message, retracted its hand, and cross its arms in front of its chest.
“Ma Ma?”
Xu Xiaoshou detected a gentler, almost questioning tone in its voice.
He felt excited and wondered if he had found the way to deal with this puppet child. As long as its arms remained crossed, then he could not strike out for sure!
“That’s right, my child. Keep your hands like that, don’t move around, and talk to Mommy in that sweet voice, okay?”
The puppet child observed Xu Xiaoshou rubbing his hands together in high spirits. The puppet child was indeed a precious treasure. It could easily break the Master Physique with a single punch. If he could bring it along with him, then he would surely like to give Elder Sang a taste of the puppet child’s incredible power.
Xu Xiaoshou noticed the puppet child staring at him, then he realized it was trying to rub its hands together as he had done.
What the heck!
Xu Xiaoshou crossed his arms in mock sternness and said, “Don’t copy me!”
Inwardly, he just wasn’t sure if the puppet child would just rub its hands or decide to smack his face the moment he let go. So, to prevent the worst from happening, he thought it’d be better that they chatted with their hands crossed.
“I’ll forget about the few punches you threw at my face. I won’t hold it against you.”
Xu Xiaoshou could see it was still staring at him, and promptly declared that he would generously forgive its previous misdeeds.
He had no other choice. Since he could not defeat it, all he could do was to play along with it.
“So, you have seen it, too. The sky has cracked up, and this tiny world is on the brink of destruction.”
He pointed at the sky, and the puppet child looked in that direction. Its eyes portrayed a hint of human-like intelligence.
It’s working…
In his heart, Xu Xiaoshou was feeling good about how this was turning out, and continued, “I’m going to be very frank with you. It seems like you are someone who values freedom. So, I rather think you do not wish to be buried alive in this tiny world, am I right?”
“Come with me!”
“The world outside is vast and wide. There are many more beautiful things to see and experience, and maybe you could even find the love of your life!”
Xu Xiaoshou flashed his warmest smile and spoke convincingly in his most earnest tone, but he still did not dare to reach out with his hands.
The puppet child reacted with an utterance. “Ma Ma…”
Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.
So what kind of answer was that? Can I make my move now?
How he wished he could decipher this puppet child’s language. But, he could not make out what it meant, and replied, “Sorry to have interrupted you…”
I’ll stay put as long as the enemy stays put!
This way, I will avoid getting injured for sure!
Xu Xiaoshou learned the truth.
BANG! BANG!
The destruction of this world had sped up. The looming black sky that stretched across the horizon was approaching rapidly, and it was waiting for nobody.
It seemed like this puppet child was indeed the treasure of this world. Was it because he had broken the seal that the destruction of this world was now hastening?
“Damn it…”
Xu Xiaoshou rolled his eyes and looked down below anxiously. He was thinking if he should risk getting punched in the face again by descending to the ground, or should he just continue engaging the puppet child verbally, as he was now doing?
“How about this, child? Let’s keep our hands still. I will slowly move toward you, and you’ll do the same, okay? Slowly…”
Xu Xiaoshou took one careful step after another as he advanced toward the puppet child. Then he noticed it trembled slightly. Xu Xiaoshou hurriedly explained in a calm voice. “I’m not trying to hit you, don’t worry. You and I are going to save the world, okay?”
He took out the jade scroll and flashed it before the puppet child. “I have to place this where I found you. If not, everyone will die.”
The puppet child’s eyes widened immediately upon seeing this jade scroll. Despite its frightening red eyes, Xu Xiaoshou could detect emotion hidden within.
“Oh, dear…”
Knowing that this puppet could pounce on him at any time and go for the scroll, he kept it right away.
“Sorry, I can’t give you this. If you take it away and bring it back to the hole, then nobody can save you!”
The puppet child looked intimidated as it looked down at the deep hole in the ground. It was only for a fleeting moment, but Xu Xiaoshou could see the fear in his eyes.
Suddenly, Xu Xiaoshou understood everything.
Being confined in darkness was simply too horrifying an experience for any creature with intelligence and wisdom. In addition, he did not know how long was it had been confined within the hole, but he was sure it did not like it very much.
To force the puppet child to return to that world of darkness alone was something it would never agree to. It was impossible to make it go back there!
Xu Xiaoshou saw the opportunity to leverage on the puppet’s fear.
Regardless of how powerful a creature was, if it had fear, then it had a weakness that could be exploited.
This puppet child before him had intelligence, but it had not developed in maturity. He could observe this from how it conducted itself. All its actions so far suggested it merely possessed the intellectual level of a child.
It possessed a power that was greater than a Master Physique but had not the wisdom to use it. It was perhaps adequate for its child-like body to function, or perhaps not. Its lack of wisdom limited its true potential for now.
Why the puppet child had beaten him earlier, Xu Xiaoshou did not know, and he suspected even it probably did not know why as well.
Maybe it just wanted to vent off its frustration after being confined for so long? It was understandable, as anyone locked away for a long time would feel that way.
“Be an obedient child and wait for me here. Don’t move around. Mama will destroy your prison below, okay?” Xu Xiaoshou said.
“Ma Ma…”
He could not tell its emotional state from its monotonous voice. Xu Xiaoshou frowned and strode bravely toward it. He braced himself mentally and prepared for the worst scenario.
It did not react!
It was looking at him with its arms still crossed!