The artifact that had been shielding her from the outside was destroyed, and the old woman's withered body was directly exposed within the puppet's massive hand. As the fingers tightened, the sickening crunch of shattering bones rang out, sending chills down one's spine.
After struggling briefly, the old woman realized she had no way to break free from her current predicament. A flash of terror and horror appeared in the depths of her eyes, and she twisted her head to scream at Yang Kai and the other two: "Save me!"
The words had barely left her lips when a muffled *pop* rang out.
The old woman's entire body suddenly burst apart, spraying blood across the sky. Her severed head tumbled from above, her eyes still frozen in expressions of disbelief and utter unwillingness.
Though she had been on guard against the humanoid statue all along, she never could have imagined that it was not some mechanism triggered by a restriction, but an actual puppet!
A puppet that could move without anyone commanding it — this defied all reason.
If Lian Guang had been here, perhaps he might have gleaned something, but none of the four people present knew the first thing about the art of puppetry. None of them had ever expected that such a puppet would exist within these ancient ruins.
Moreover, this was no ordinary puppet. It had crushed a Return Void Realm, First Layer cultivator to death with a single squeeze. Its ferocity was beyond imagination.
The instant the old woman perished, a flash of determination crossed Yang Kai's eyes. He fixed his gaze on the circular gate beneath the puppet, and his figure blurred as he dashed toward it. Regardless of why this puppet stood here, Yang Kai had no desire to tangle with it — all he wanted was to leave this place as quickly as possible.
His speed was fast, but the puppet's reaction was equally swift. After crushing the old woman, its crimson eyes locked onto the sprinting Yang Kai. An aura of extreme danger descended upon him. Yang Kai's expression changed. With a surge of his divine sense, the purple shield he had already released immediately erupted with a vast cloud of sand and dust, forming a sandstorm that enveloped his body.
Faintly, Yang Kai saw a flash of light from the giant puppet's hand. Then a massive shadow came hurtling toward him.
Before it even made contact, Yang Kai found his breathing growing labored, as though this shadow enveloped the very heavens and earth around him, giving him the inescapable feeling that there was nowhere to dodge.
Gritting his teeth, he pushed the purple shield's power to its absolute limit. At the same time, he circulated his Sacred Yuan, forming a solid barrier of protection outside his body.
*BOOM—*
Sand and dust erupted in all directions. The sandstorm power of the purple shield proved utterly inadequate under this single blow. It was shattered instantly, and the shield itself flickered wildly before being sent flying a great distance under the tremendous force. In the next moment, Yang Kai felt his protective Sacred Yuan collapse. His body shuddered, and he was sent tumbling backward uncontrollably.
His blood churned, and a mouthful of pale golden blood sprayed from his lips, erupting into a mist of crimson.
*BOOM... BOOM... BOOM...*
Yang Kai flew over a hundred zhang before his body slammed into a flowerbed, shattering it to pieces before he crashed down in a sorry heap.
Even now, he still couldn't make out what the puppet had used to attack him — only that a massive shadow had swept toward him, and all his resistance and defenses had been utterly futile.
Crumpled among the ruins of the flowerbed, Yang Kai vomited several more mouthfuls of blood before he could finally catch his breath. Steeling himself, he stood up and looked back toward the puppet with lingering fear.
He had never taken such a bitter loss before. The frustration in his heart was beyond words.
If that purple shield hadn't taken the brunt of the blow for him, his injuries would have been far worse. Even so, his internal organs had instantly shifted position, and every part of his body throbbed with excruciating pain, giving him the illusion that he was about to fall apart.
This left him both shocked and furious.
He raised his eyes to look, and when he took in the scene before him, his expression went blank.
At that moment, the puppet still stood in place, as though it had never moved at all. Standing a dozen zhang in front of it, Cai He and Du Sisi were both deathly pale, staring up at the existence that inspired such terror in them as though they had been struck dumb. Yet the puppet paid them no attention, showing no intention of launching an attack.
In front of the puppet, however, a massive staff now stood upright, gripped within its enormous palm.
Calling it a staff wasn't quite accurate — it was a staff-type artifact of terrifying power. Its entire body was pitch-black, forged from some unknown material, stretching over a dozen zhang in length and as thick as a barrel. It was a truly horrifying sight.
Yang Kai immediately understood — the shadow that had attacked him moments ago was this pitch-black giant staff.
Where had this thing come from? A flicker of doubt crossed Yang Kai's eyes. There had been nothing in front of the puppet before, but when he had tried to seize the opportunity to dash through the circular gate, he had indeed faintly seen a flash of light from the puppet's hand. Had it retrieved the weapon at that moment?
Even from over a hundred zhang away, Yang Kai could feel the oppressive aura emanating from the giant staff. Moreover, several strange characters were inscribed upon it — the same kind of writing they had seen when entering these ancient ruins, characters that none of them could decipher.
Coughing a few times, Yang Kai spat out a mouthful of blood and stared blankly at the puppet, finding that it showed no intention of giving chase. His heart eased slightly.
Only now did Cai He and Du Sisi seem to come back to their senses. Cai He, his body trembling, turned to Du Sisi and whispered urgently, "Sisi, fall back!"
Du Sisi's lovely face was drained of all color, as though she still hadn't recovered from the shock of the old woman's death. Hearing his words, she glanced at Cai He, and two tears slipped involuntarily from the corners of her eyes.