Chapter 212: Audience Reappearance

Everyone was stunned.

They stared at the figure on the rooftop, frantically gnawing on the Soul-Shattering Orb, their minds simultaneously crashing.

How was he not dead yet?!Was he insane???

These two thoughts flooded their minds, making it impossible to discern which was more pressing. They couldn't understand how he could still move when his body was so clearly shattered.

Moreover, soul-shattering evidence collection only required one struggling soul, and even Jian Changsheng had only consumed four souls consecutively. Yet, the red-robed figure before them had gnawed through the entire Soul-Shattering Orb?!

Inside it were tens of thousands of struggling souls, enough to obliterate a single soul millions of times over!

Swallowing them all in one go? What was the difference between that and committing suicide millions of times in a single second?

The red-robed figure's chewing sounds sent shivers down their spines. The spectral faces of the souls released from the gray crystal struggled wildly but couldn't escape the blood-stained, glass-shattered maw. A cloud of white mist, almost solid, spread rapidly, swirling into his mind like a vortex!

The wails of countless souls mingled with the cold wind, whimpering above the Starfall Merchant Guild. Even the Paper Puppet Master and Pu Shu, two powerhouses who had achieved significant mastery in their respective divine paths, felt a chill run down their spines at that moment.

Yan Xishou and the old butler nearby were even paler, their gazes fixed on the red-robed figure on the roof as if they were staring at a demon!

As the souls were completely devoured, the grating chewing sounds gradually ceased. A faint white mist enveloped the rooftop, and the world fell back into a deathly silence.

The Paper Puppet Master's eyes narrowed as he peered through the white mist at the indistinct red-robed figure.

He stood there motionless, utterly still.

He was dead.

Even though his shattered body remained upright, even though his scarlet mouth still had traces of crystal shards, even though his grand red theatrical robe still swayed in the wind...

He was, undeniably, thoroughly dead.

Seeing this, the Paper Puppet Master secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This red-robed figure was strange in every way; for a moment, he had even thought the person was immortal. But thankfully, no one could survive injuries of that magnitude.

If he didn't die from that, what difference was there between him and a monster?

The Paper Puppet Master calmly clapped his hands, then turned and walked towards the crowd. "Let's go... It's over."

Pu Shu, clad in black, cast a deep gaze at the red-robed figure still standing in the white mist, a lingering fear in his heart. Nevertheless, he followed the Paper Puppet Master towards the nearby crowd.

Audience Anticipation +1Audience Anticipation +1Current Anticipation: 66Detected loss of actor connection, performance interruptedAudience Anticipation -50Current Anticipation: 16Warning! Warning!Audience beginning to intervene in performance!

The Paper Puppet Master looked at the old butler and others in front, whose expressions were turning to horror, a puzzled look appearing in his eyes:

"The person's dead. What are you still staring at?"

No one answered his question. Their gazes were fixed, as if nailed, on a certain direction. Their faces visibly paled, as if they had witnessed something utterly terrifying.

A cold gust of wind, heavy with the scent of blood, brushed past the faces of the Paper Puppet Master and Pu Shu.

They suddenly stopped.

The Paper Puppet Master vaguely sensed something was wrong. He turned to look behind him, and his pupils abruptly constricted!

On the rooftop, where the white mist billowed, the fragmented, blood-stained figure suddenly began to twist grotesquely. Obscured by the smoke, no one could see clearly, but they could perceive him swelling like a balloon, with countless tentacle-like appendages extending from within him...

"What in... what is that thing?!" Pu Shu, clad in black, saw this scene and his pupils slightly contracted.

The next moment, the red figure on the roof vanished into thin air.

Before anyone could react, a massive shadow instantly enveloped them. Pu Shu and the Paper Puppet Master looked up simultaneously, seeing a sun made of red paper floating eerily and silently above them, with countless red paper strips, like writhing snakes, extending from it.

From a distance, it resembled a red sun and its rays clumsily drawn by a child with crayons.

A terrifying pressure descended upon the shoulders of the Paper Puppet Master and Pu Shu. Their expressions changed drastically. The Paper Puppet Master, as if realizing something, immediately shouted:

"Look out!!"

With a *whoosh*—!!

Before the Paper Puppet Master's words had fully left his lips, dense red paper tentacles rained down like a torrent, instantly piercing through a dozen surrounding guards. They were pinned to the ground as if flung into a thorny forest, their bodies completely impaled, and crimson blood spread across the earth along the paper strips.

Pu Shu reacted instantly, disassembling his entire being into countless brushstrokes and vanishing on the spot, thus avoiding the fate of being impaled like a hedgehog. In contrast, the Paper Puppet Master turned and charged backward!

Two paper figures immediately soared up, self-folding in mid-air at an astonishing speed to form a giant paper umbrella, two to three meters in diameter, which unfurled above Yan Xishou and the old butler. The crimson paper strips struck the umbrella's surface, deflecting slightly due to its elasticity and redirecting outwards in all directions.

Under the paper umbrella, the old butler broke out in a cold sweat, and Yan Xishou's legs went weak, nearly causing him to collapse to his knees.

"Run! This thing is also a fifth-tier! I might not be able to protect you!"

The Paper Puppet Master moved under the paper umbrella. The memo paper in his hand rapidly folded, transforming into a slender paper blade which he wielded, consecutively severing several crimson tentacles.

His eyes were fixed on the red paper sun suspended in mid-air, his face a mix of shock and apprehension. He had no idea where this calamity had come from, but from it, the Paper Puppet Master felt an unprecedented sense of dread.

The old butler didn't hesitate for a moment, grabbing Yan Xishou beside him and moving away under the escort of the large paper umbrella. The dense paper tentacles rained down on the umbrella's surface, emitting sharp tearing sounds.

This paper umbrella seemed on the verge of giving way.

The Paper Puppet Master took a deep breath, plunging the paper blade in his hand firmly into the earth. A domain rapidly unfurled from beneath his feet, and vibrant paper figures climbed out of the ground.

Surrounded by these paper figures, the Paper Puppet Master finally regained a sense of security. He gritted his teeth, looked up, and murmured:

"We're both fifth-tier. Do you really think I'm afraid of you??"

As his words fell, dozens of paper figures spread their arms, soaring up from the ravaged ground like a flock of birds, swarming towards the crimson paper sun!