The Demon Lords

But clearly, the hero seemed to be offline.

This time, Raging Horse was genuinely panicked and shouted again, "Mr. Chen, save me! Save me!!!"

His three cries received no response.

Xue Three moved.

When a puppeteer, already at a complete disadvantage, was left with only a single puppet, her fate was sealed.

As Xue Three moved, Blind Bei simultaneously focused his spiritual force and mental force on Raging Horse.

Raging Horse grunted. He still swung his axe, but his speed had slowed considerably. His fighting style already gave him no advantage against Xue Three, and matters were worse now that Blind Bei was actively hindering him with various weakening effects.

Xue Three easily found an opening. Her dagger pierced the back of his neck, and then she sliced downwards.

This time, Raging Horse had truly become Split Horse. From within the sliced-open puppet, the naked figure of a woman was revealed.

The woman was clearly deformed. She was about the same height as Xue Three; however, Xue Three was a dwarf, which simply meant she was short. Without a reference for scale, one wouldn't notice anything particularly unusual about Xue Three in a photograph.

But this woman had a normal-sized head, while her limbs and torso were severely atrophied. She no longer looked human; she resembled a spider.

When her true form was exposed, the woman's body began to tremble. She seemed unaccustomed to showing her true appearance to others. Instinctive self-loathing and rage twisted her features.

"Who are you…?" Before Blind Bei could finish his question, the woman shrieked, seemingly wanting to charge at him in a suicidal attack.

But she had lost more than just her puppet. The puppet not only concealed her physical deformities; the arrays within it and her control over it were her true means of combat.

Once she lost her puppet, apart from her appearance, there was truly nothing else frightening about her.

After her shriek, as she attempted to pounce, she collapsed to the ground. Her severely atrophied limbs thrashed wildly against the floor tiles, her eyes filled with venomous hatred.

"Kill her, and I'll tell you who she is." A man's voice suddenly reached them.

An expression of shock instantly appeared on Blind Bei's face. This was the first time Zheng Fan had ever seen such an expression on Blind Bei's face. Because regardless of the situation, Blind Bei always abided by his three personal tenets: First, I've got style. Second, I've got serious style. Third, I've got impeccable style.

Zheng Fan didn't believe Blind Bei would deliberately try to unnerve him at a time like this.

Xue Three's expression was also grim. When she saw the look on Blind Bei's face, it darkened further.

It was one thing that Xue Three, with her assassin's 'keen' senses, couldn't detect the speaker's location. But for even Blind Bei's spiritual force to fail to find him indicated the gravity of the situation.

Nevertheless, Xue Three walked over and plunged her dagger into the female puppeteer's body. The dagger was poisoned; the puppeteer's body quickly turned black, and then she died, motionless.

"She lost. She should be granted release." The voice spoke again, and this time, the person appeared.

He was sitting behind a table in a corner of the first floor, a bowl of tea before him. It seemed he had been sitting there for a long time, yet no one had noticed him.

He put down his teacup, rose, picked up a sword resting on an adjacent chair, and walked over.

He stood beside the female puppeteer's corpse and said, "I promised you I would answer for her. Ask what you will."

His features weren't handsome; in fact, they could only be described as quite ordinary. He was the type you wouldn't notice in a crowd. In the matchmaking market, he'd definitely be considered the 'spare tire' type.

Moreover, he lacked any particular presence, so it certainly couldn't be said to compensate for his ordinary looks.

But his appearance undeniably exerted immense pressure on Zheng Fan and the others.

Blind Bei's voice sounded in Zheng Fan's mind, My lord, you ask.

Zheng Fan replied in his mind, Am I supposed to attract his attention so you and Xue Three can make your move?

I'm hoping My lord can seize the chance. Just try to say as much as you can.

... Zheng Fan was at a loss for words.

At this point, Xue Three gestured a 'seven' with her hand towards Blind Bei, indicating this person was at least Seventh Rank.

Blind Bei gently shook his head and gestured a 'five'. He judged this person to be Fifth Rank.

"Who is she?" Zheng Fan asked, pointing to the corpse of the deformed female puppeteer.

"I don't know her name," Mr. Chen replied.

"Then what do you know about her?"

"She was a Jin person."

A Jin person? Zheng Fan mused. Why would a Jin person come all the way to Yan State to kill me?

"Why did she want to kill me?"

"I don't know."

"You didn't know, yet you were with her?"

"Mm."

"How many of you came in total?"

"I'm the only one left."

"You acted together, but you weren't from the same group?"

"Three groups."

Zheng Fan continued asking questions, and Mr. Chen answered each one.

"She was one group, you are another, and the assassins who initially rushed the courtyard were a third. Is that right?"