The terrifying power, enough to tear apart ordinary puppets, intertwined with the strangling tornado of bandages. No massive explosion occurred as expected. Instead, the two forces annihilated each other.

But what was truly terrifying was that this time, even the surrounding space was corroded, forming cracks. Master Shui spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward. The unknown bandage puppet wasn't faring any better; the bandages on its body were almost completely corroded, revealing bluish-purple flesh and some withered yellow bones.

But regardless, the puppet had ultimately blocked Master Shui. Moreover, behind the puppet, the black mist with human faces was protecting Shao Tong.

Master Shui struggled to stand, taking one step, then another, continuing toward his goal with labored movements. The puppet, now battered and broken, seemed somewhat confused. Compared to other puppets, it retained some intelligence. It didn't understand; although it was also at its limit, Master Shui was clearly out of strength as well. Could it be... could it be that the other party intended to fight to the death?

The killing intent, etched into its bones, bloomed. The bandage puppet didn't retreat either. It stepped forward, its legs almost reduced to bare bones, facing Master Shui.

In its subconscious, protecting the person behind it was the meaning of its existence, and the most direct way to do that was to kill everyone who posed a threat to that person.

Clearly, the Master Shui before it was one of them.

The duel was breathtaking to watch. The scene seemed to freeze for a moment. Master Shui and the bandage puppet walked closer and closer. Fatty suddenly had a strange feeling that, at this moment, victory or defeat was no longer important. What mattered was that the two combatants had staked their dignity.

This was a battle that outsiders must not interfere with, a battle that could not be profaned!

The bandage puppet stopped a few meters away from Master Shui. They faced each other. The bandage puppet mustered its last bit of strength to create a bandage storm that wasn't very large. But before the storm could fully form, Master Shui coughed violently, covering his mouth. Then, he waved his hand at the bandage puppet. "Don't... don't be in such a hurry to fight. Before we fight, this old man... I have something to say."

The bandage puppet seemed to have been a very disciplined person in life. It actually stopped the storm and faced him, as if waiting for him to speak.

Master Shui wiped the blood from his mouth, then put his left hand behind his back. After a moment, he clenched it into a fist and brought it out, palm up, smiling as he said to the puppet, "This old man... cough, cough... this old man wants you to guess, what good thing is in my hand?"

The bandage puppet was stunned for a moment. It didn't know why Master Shui would say this, but it keenly sensed something was wrong. There was probably a trick hidden. The puppet didn't hesitate and immediately prepared to attack. But the next second, Master Shui smiled and opened his hand. A glacial blue butterfly slowly spread its wings and flew towards the puppet.

Jiang Cheng and the others immediately recognized that this butterfly was the same one that Dahe Niangniang had released when facing Master Shui. But how could it be... how could it have fallen into Master Shui's hands?

Wu Yingying was also stunned by this scene. It took her a long time to recover. "No, that's not mine. But how can Master Shui use my moves?"

The butterfly seemed incomparably beautiful, but the bandage puppet felt an extremely strong threat from it. It immediately retreated, trying to shake off the butterfly, but strangely, although the butterfly's trajectory was erratic, its speed was surprisingly fast. In a few breaths, it landed on its shoulder.

And it was from this moment that the bandage puppet stopped moving. Starting from its shoulder, its body surface was quickly covered with a layer of thin ice. After a moment, it turned into an ice sculpture.

The butterfly fluttered its wings, left the puppet, and flew towards Shao Tong again.

And the puppet ice sculpture, now without the butterfly, collapsed to the ground. A shocking scene appeared: after the outer layer of ice shattered, the puppet inside had already turned to ashes.

The butterfly seemed to be an envoy from the underworld, continuing to fly towards Shao Tong, drilling into the black mist barrier in an incomprehensible way. Instantly, countless human faces appeared in the black mist. The faces opened their mouths wide, issuing desperate roars, and surged towards the butterfly. Each face that touched the butterfly was annihilated, but as the faces disappeared, the beautiful glacial blue color on the butterfly gradually dimmed.

The current situation was already clear. As long as the butterfly could break through the barrier, it could kill Shao Tong, and their predicament today would be resolved.

Just as everyone's attention was focused on the butterfly, Jiang Cheng's gaze paused. He seemed to have discovered something. The area near the black mist barrier was empty.

That's not right!

The bandage puppet was certainly dead, but he clearly remembered that there weren't one, but two puppets guarding the barrier! One of them was taller!

This discovery instantly made Jiang Cheng break out in a cold sweat. He immediately shouted at Wu, who was entangled in battle in mid-air, "Be careful, there's another puppet missing!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of cold wind swept behind him. A strange figure struck down at Jiang Cheng with a palm. But at the critical moment, the Hungry Ghost also arrived. The Hungry Ghost displayed an agility that didn't match its huge size, and with a sweep of its palm, it directly cut the ambushing puppet in half.

It was the missing puppet!

But Jiang Cheng was puzzled. Logically speaking, this puppet, which had attacked last, even if it was not as strong as the bandage puppet, should at least be stronger than ordinary puppets. How could it be so easily killed by the Hungry Ghost?

The next second, his worries became reality. The severed corpse suddenly erupted, its upper body lunging towards him.

This time it was too sudden, and the speed was much faster than before. The Hungry Ghost couldn't stop it in time. Seeing the rotten, bony claws reaching for his throat, Jiang Cheng's heart instantly turned cold. If you walk by the river long enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet. He just didn't expect his life to end here.

But the next second, a flash of white light passed before his eyes, and the claws actually stopped. Jiang Cheng, half his soul scared away, realized that a pale white hand was tightly gripping the wrist of the claws. Then, with a "crack," the ambushing ghost hand was brutally broken. The enraged Wu Yingying, seemingly still not appeased, directly twisted off the puppet's head with her other hand.

Tang Qisheng, Zhu Jie, and the others had never seen anything like this before. Their legs went weak, and they were so scared they almost cried. Wu Yingying held the puppet's head in one hand and dragged the puppet's half body with the other. The scene was more terrifying than any horror movie.

But just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they had escaped a disaster, an unexpected scene appeared. The lower half of the puppet, which had been severed, suddenly burst forth, charging towards Fatty. And this time, no one could react in time.