Chapter 201: 偶神道

Chapter 201: The Path of Idols

The moment the sound rang out, the paper figure sharply looked up to see a figure in a brown overcoat crouching upside down on the ceiling, a dark gun barrel aimed directly at its forehead.

The next moment, terrifying deconstruction power poured out, rushing towards the paper figure and instantly piercing through the floorboards like an invisible pillar.

Chen Ling knew the paper figure's abilities were strange; a direct confrontation would make it difficult to gain an advantage. However, Chen Ling believed his own strange abilities were no less formidable, and this complex, intricate terrain with easily obscured vision offered ample room for him to maneuver with his skills.

In the nick of time, the paper figure moved so fast it left afterimages. Even so, most of its body was swallowed by the deconstruction power.

Dust swirled as the second-floor slab was completely breached. A smooth void extended down to the uninhabited room directly below, and even the floor beneath it and the foundation of the entire building were blasted with a large hole.

The paper figure's body was torn open, and at the same time, a figure, as if falling from a damaged fishing net, separated from the tattered paper figure and crashed heavily onto the ground.

Was there someone inside the paper figure?

Seeing this, surprise appeared in Chen Ling's eyes, and it intensified after he clearly saw the person's appearance.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough..." Jian Changsheng lay awkwardly on the ground, like a drowning person on the verge of suffocating. He looked up and saw Chen Ling descending from the ceiling, stunned.

"It's you?!"

Chen Ling had transformed into Lin Yan's appearance, and Jian Changsheng never expected to meet him here.

"How were you inside that paper figure?" Chen Ling asked with a frown. Then, as if realizing something, he and Jian Changsheng spoke simultaneously:

"You're also its target?"

Boom—!

A loud bang came from the side as the tattered paper figure swayed and stood upright. Outside the broken window behind it, vast amounts of paper sheets, like giant pythons, snaked in from outside, coiling around its body and rapidly restoring the gaps.

"Be careful," Jian Changsheng immediately said. "That guy is a foreigner hired by the Stellar Merchant Guild from beyond the realm, a fourth-tier expert of the Path of Idols."

The Path of Idols? Fourth-tier?

As soon as these two keywords were mentioned, Chen Ling's brows involuntarily furrowed. It was his first time encountering a wielder of this Path, but controlling paper figures seemed different from what he imagined the Path of Idols to be.

But fourth-tier was indeed tricky. A third-tier expert of the Thief God's Way had almost suppressed the entire trial of the Ancient Weaponry Tomb. A fourth-tier expert, controlling their own domain, represented a qualitative leap compared to those below third-tier.

"This paper figure is unkillable; we need to kill the main body," Chen Ling said, his voice extremely grave as he looked at the paper figure, which was almost fully restored and even larger than before.

"I have the Blood-Dropping Guanyin; I'll go kill it!"

Even though Jian Changsheng had almost died at that man's hands moments ago, he showed little fear now. Instead, there was a fierce determination to exact revenge. He successively stabbed himself three times with a sword, creating three shocking bloody holes, and his aura steadily rose.

Seeing this, Chen Ling did not intervene to stop him. Instead, he let Jian Changsheng flick blood drops out the window with a blade, then vanished instantly from the spot.

Seemingly sensing Jian Changsheng's intention, the paper figure quickly turned, preparing to pursue him through the window, just as an invisible deconstruction bullet shot towards it again.

The paper figure was prepared this time; it narrowly dodged by twisting its body. Its vivid head spun 180 degrees, its hollow red eyes staring intently at Chen Ling, who held a gun not far away.

Wisps of smoke drifted from the gun muzzle. Chen Ling met its gaze for a moment, then unhesitatingly turned and rushed towards the corridor. The next moment, a blurry paper shadow followed closely behind.

Jian Changsheng's figure leaped under the moonlight. His gaze quickly scanned his surroundings, soon locking onto the hunchbacked man standing on the fourth-floor corridor of another building.

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. His blade flicked out a few more drops of blood, and in an instant, he arrived at the fourth-floor corridor.

"Die!"

Jian Changsheng held his short sword, his eyes filled with chilling killing intent. He knew Chen Ling couldn't hold on for too long; he had to quickly deal with the Path of Idols' main body, or both of them would die here.

The short sword's blade sliced through the air with a sharp whooshing sound. Just as it was about to touch the hunchbacked man, a flash of white light instantly darted across Jian Changsheng's eyes!

A severed wrist detached lightly from Jian Changsheng's body...

Jian Changsheng's pupils contracted sharply!

In his vision, a knife made of folded white paper had just sliced through his wrist as if it had no weight at all. The cut was incredibly smooth. At this moment, Jian Changsheng could even clearly see the slowly pulsing veins on his detached wrist as it flew away.

And flying out with that wrist was the short sword that had been aimed at the hunchbacked man.

"You..." Jian Changsheng stood frozen.

The paper knife gently flipped in the hunchbacked man's hand, folding into a snow-white staff at dazzling speed. The hunchbacked man slowly raised his head, his drooping eyes devoid of the slightest emotion.

"Wouldn't it have been better to just stay sealed inside the paper figure... Why insist on coming out to seek death?"

The next moment, the snow-white staff whistled through the air and heavily smashed onto Jian Changsheng's back!

Bang—!!

Jian Changsheng felt as if he had been struck by a meteorite; the sound of his bones shattering was like popcorn popping continuously. His entire body, like a cannonball, was violently embedded into the floorboards.

The swirling dust almost engulfed the entire fourth floor. Amidst this deafening explosion, lights flickered on one after another in the surrounding residential buildings; someone seemed to have been woken up.

At this moment, Jian Changsheng was like a crumpled mess, his entire body soaked in blood. He was buried in rubble and debris, seemingly still trying to get up.

The hunchbacked man bent down and slowly squatted in front of him. A hoarse voice rang out:

"First, not all main bodies of the Path of Idols are fragile."

"Second, the Path of Idols is not limited to controlling only one thing at a time."

"Third, who told you... that seeing a domain necessarily means fourth-tier?"

Hearing the last sentence, Jian Changsheng's pupils slightly contracted. He struggled to lift his head, his eyes filled with disbelief as he looked at the hunchbacked man.

"You... are more than fourth-tier?!"

The hunchbacked man did not speak. He subtly lifted a fingertip, and sheets of paper rapidly extended from the floor of the corridor. Amidst the swirling dust, they transformed into over a dozen identical paper figures, vividly colored and eerie in appearance.

These paper figures stood densely packed behind the hunchbacked man, countless hollow eyes staring at Jian Changsheng. The paper figure Chen Ling was currently delaying also appeared to be one of them.

The hunchbacked man spoke blandly:

"What do you think?"