NOVEL NEXT Chapter 145: Water Technique Ability
Xu Xiaoyou glanced at the blue-haired girl whose chest was slightly heaving; she hadn't expected Tang Xin to act so decisively just now.
"It's the Puppet Master," Xu Xiaoyou immediately judged.
Reflecting on the girl's earlier words and linking them with the strange sensation felt upon entering the settlement, it was just as she initially thought; most of the refugees here have likely become puppets.
A windstorm swirled dark clouds, the gloomy and dusky layers roiled endlessly, a dazzling lightning bolt erupted on the horizon, illuminating the scene outside the house, making Tang Xin instinctively take a step back.
Outside the house stood the silhouettes of countless refugees, who at some point had appeared. Most looked no different than usual, with peculiar smiles on their faces, holding various sharp tools like sharp axes, machetes, and flat-bladed sickles.
Dozens of figures stood outside the door, staring intently at them without saying a word; the scene was as eerie as could be. A thunderous boom followed, and what Tang Xin saw next left an indelible memory.
The scalps of those refugees cracked open, and a thick, muddy black liquid oozed out, flowing downward; their skin peeled away visibly, as if shedding an ordinary garment, and beneath was not flesh, but bodies with a glazed black sheen.
Their jointed limbs lifted upwards in a distorted fashion, as sharply defined and facial-feature-less heads tilted entirely to one side.
It was as if an invisible giant hand from the shadowed sky above was manipulating them with strings; the refugee puppets gradually lifted off the ground, their bodies suspended, with ghostly green flames burning on their smooth, featureless faces.
Tang Xin quickly reacted, swiftly toppling the wardrobe in the room to block the door, followed soon by a violent pounding outside.
Countless puppet hands reached between the frame and wardrobe's gaps; the crisp collision combined with booming thunder resonated in Tang Xin's ears, amidst the chaos, she clearly heard the voice of the blonde-haired girl.
"Wait to go out later."
She suddenly thought of something, instinctively asking, "You, did you know these refugees had issues all along?"
If so, the other party should've suggested, before entering the village, enabling the team to avoid the risk early.
Unless the other party intended to use these puppets to do something.
"Because they are insignificant," Xu Xiaoyou said flatly, looking at Tang Xin.
Ignoring the swath of puppets trying to pour into the house from outside, she scanned the room, quickly moved to the little girl's side, and pulled the burning long knife from the girl's neck.
Glancing at the lifeless puppet body on the ground, Xu Xiaoyou had a judgment: the opponent should have already been dead before being pierced through by her long knife, hence the rapid decay of the skin and body, revealing a state of decay as if it's been dead for days. In other words, when controlled as a puppet, even in death during manipulation, it can maintain a certain degree of life?
With this thought, she quickly approached inside the house; sensing proximity, the expressions on the numb faces of the two Human Pig Puppets changed slightly, their bodies writhing, Xu Xiaoyou saw in their eyeless eye sockets the desire for release.
It was hard to imagine those two Human Pigs were still alive, with breathing and heartbeat.
Even in such a terrible state, they still maintained the minimal signs of life, strengthening her internal speculation; cleanly and decisively, she wielded her knife, ending their suffering.
Dark red, almost black blood splattered on her face; the two figures, devoid of breath and rapidly decomposing, maggots crawling on the body, lay before her, the last expression appearing on their faces was one of relieved release.
Having done all this, intense sounds emanated from the living room; Tang Xin's power couldn't match the gathered masses of puppets outside. The wardrobe toppled to the ground, countless refugee puppets clambered in, their suspended limbs tangled together, ghostly green flames like grinning masks crawled towards them in grotesque, contorted poses.
Tang Xin glanced at Xu Xiaoyou, softly reciting, raising her hand as violet and blue halos swiftly spread layer by layer beneath the girl's feet.
Under the blessings of [Sound of Wings Blue] and [Heroic Ode], violet light covered Xu Xiaoyou's body surface.
Her speed increased significantly, swiftly dodging several puppet strikes; seeing an incoming puppet's side attack about to succeed, Xu Xiaoyou just glanced lightly, with an energetic leap, the water began to ripple around her, forming a layer of ripples. Though the intensity wasn't high, it precisely blocked the puppet's claw strike at a microscopically extreme angle.
Tang Xin's eyes widened slightly; this water barrier wasn't her doing.
But in the room, only she and the girl were present, meaning this water technique was Xu Xiaoyou's ability?
They'd been together for so long; through interaction, she discerned Xu Xiaoyou possessed Fire Element control but never before saw her exhibit any water technique capabilities.
Judging from the situation, Xu Xiaoyou had seemingly just grasped this power recently, albeit unskilled.
Yes, after certain time spent with Tang Xin, Xu Xiaoyou observed the details of the other's chanting and casting, sensing her body's resonance with Water Element. She managed to mimic them, successfully mastering this ability, though its strength pales compared to Tang Xin's water technique expertise, yet it's completely sufficient for her current needs.
Thinking thusly, several [Vortex] skill cards appeared in Xu Xiaoyou's hand simultaneously, transforming into light and merging into her body, with a palm upwards, tiny, dynamic water droplets gathered, streaming onward, finally gathering into a rapidly spinning turbulent vortex, sweeping outward!
Several Water Tornadoes spread explosively outward centered on her as if giant serpent's mouths flung the incoming refugee puppets against the walls.
Though the water dissipated in the air for quite some time, like raging turbulent wave elements, their presence persisted enduringly.
Before those puppets could recover from the impact, Xu Xiaoyou grabbed Dawn Blade, taking Tang Xin along, resolving all refugee puppets blocking their path, dashing out of the house into the open.
In the darkness, ghostly luminescence flickered; in the forest's concealed depths stood the silhouettes of refugee puppets everywhere, all bearing bizarre smiles nearing them by dozens to hundreds. The entire village had essentially become a puppet purgatory!
Several approaching refugee puppets shed their skin, transforming their bodies into glossy-glazed black, suspended creepingly in air, dancing like demons, closing on the duo with twisted gestures.
Xu Xiaoyou and Tang Xin stood back-to-back; surrounded by constantly encroaching refugee puppets, exploding flames and turbulent water spouts simultaneously shot from their hands, knocking the airborne puppets down.
"The timing is almost right, let's rendezvous with them," Xu Xiaoyou said, slicing through the puppet's chest ahead, retracting her long knife with a flick.
Tang Xin nodded, executing her water technique ability to ward off the closing puppets, clearing the rear threats for Xu Xiaoyou.
The two girls coordinated together, interspersing attack and defense, forcefully tearing open a gap through the puppet-infested depths of the forest, achieving a breakthrough from the encirclement.