"Since you know I'm Zhou Haiming, you should also know that no one who sees me ever leaves alive." Zhou Haiming's face was cold as he looked at everyone present. Though tied up, his presence was no less imposing than theirs.
Ye Lanshan let out a scoff. "Oh really? Then how did I get out back then? You shouldn't be so sure of yourself."
Mo Ran narrowed his eyes and said, "Is that so? I think you've heard that anyone who messes with me ends up badly. What makes you so confident you can take me down?"
Zhou Haiming shook his head dismissively. "Truly young and reckless, clueless." In an instant, he twisted free from the ropes in an eerily strange manner.
"Since you're so confident you can kill me, let me see what you've got." Zhou Haiming flexed his wrists and pulled off the mask from his face.
His pale face was utterly bloodless, looking like a ghost at first glance.
"Your face really matches your personality," Ye Lanshan quipped, still finding time to mock Zhou Haiming.
Zhou Haiming didn't reply. Instead, he made a complex gesture, and suddenly, puppets surged from his house—among them, faces they recognized.
"Xu Huixin? How is that possible? I saw her at school just yesterday!"
At that moment, the smirk on Ye Lanshan's face vanished, only to reappear a moment later.
But her voice grew heavier. "How many puppets have you planted in the school?"
"What, scared? Too bad you'll soon be one of them." Zhou Haiming spoke arrogantly. "Let's see who's stronger—you or my puppets."
"Ye Lanshan, what do we do now?" Chu Liuxiang asked, retreating step by step.
"I'll cut an opening from the west. You slip away, got it?" Ye Lanshan moved to Chu Liuxiang's side. "After you get out, find me a herb called Lan Snake Bone—it's great for meridians. And if possible, bring Ye Yutian here."
Chu Liuxiang assumed the herb was for Ye Yu, so she agreed readily. "Okay."
Once Chu Liuxiang escaped, Ye Lanshan went to Mo Ran to discuss a plan.
They were now thoroughly losing, with no hope of turning the tide. Zhou Haiming smiled in satisfaction. Then Ye Lanshan pulled a stack of talismans from her space and stuck one on each puppet.
"How is this possible?" All the puppets froze, just like he had earlier.
"What kind of weird trick is that? How can you control the puppets?" Zhou Haiming stared in disbelief. He'd never heard of anyone else being able to control puppets.
"I'm not controlling them." Ye Lanshan said flatly, offering no further explanation.
"Hmph, you think this is enough to beat me? You're too naive." He whistled, and from among the frozen puppets, a few sprang out to attack them.
Now it was Ye Lanshan's turn to be shocked, but she quickly dismissed it. After all, this wasn't the cultivation world—it wasn't strange to encounter things she'd never seen before.
Still, this was getting tricky. Ye Lanshan calmly dealt with the puppets while trying to get closer to Zhou Haiming.
Mo Ran was barely holding on. What now?
Zhou Haiming watched them being overwhelmed, his grin widening. Tsk, tsk, such fine specimens—they'd make perfect puppets.
While the fight raged on, Chu Liuxiang sprinted to Ye Yutian's courtyard. She pounded on the door, shouting, "Is Prince Ye there?"
Ye Yutian was already annoyed by his strange feelings for Ye Lanshan, and now someone was making a racket at his door. His mood soured further.
He scowled and ordered Bai Yan to get rid of the person.
Chu Liuxiang had thought Ye Yutian would help, since he and Ye Lanshan were on the same team.
But she didn't even see him—just got chased off by a guard.
Now she thought that if Ye Lanshan died at Zhou Haiming's hands, nothing would stop her from being with Ye Yu.
But she also knew Ye Lanshan couldn't die yet—Ye Yu's meridians depended on her.
So she stubbornly pounded on the door again, this time with different words: "Prince Ye, please save Ye Lanshan! If you're any later, she'll die."
Ye Yutian was about to scold Bai Yan for failing, but the mention of Ye Lanshan in trouble sent him rushing to the door.
"What happened to Ye Lanshan?" Chu Liuxiang, intimidated by his icy gaze, swallowed nervously. "They ran into a puppet master named Zhou Haiming."
"Where are they now? Take me there." The moment Ye Yutian heard Zhou Haiming's name, he knew Ye Lanshan was in grave danger. They sprinted, and though the distance was short, it felt endless to him. He kept asking, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"
"Just ahead." Chu Liuxiang pointed at a rundown courtyard. "When I escaped, they were still fighting there."
But when they arrived, the place was empty—only pools of blood and nauseating severed limbs remained.
Chu Liuxiang refused to believe she was dead. After all, she'd survived the assassin sent after her, and Mo Ran was there too.
Looking at the carnage, she said, "Ye Lanshan wouldn't die so easily. And Mo Ran, the Young Master of the Demon Sect, is with her. They must have moved the fight somewhere else—the noise at school was too loud."
Ye Yutian narrowed his eyes, spotting a nearby tree. He walked over and nudged a battered figure with his foot.
The person cracked open his eyes, saw Ye Yutian, and rasped something strange: "Sikong Kuang is really a fake."
Ye Yutian was stunned. This was Mo Ran. If Mo Ran was in this state, then Ye Lanshan...
Chu Liuxiang didn't think that far. Seeing even the Demon Sect's young master like this, she asked in despair, "Where's Ye Lanshan?"
"She—" Mo Ran paused, pointing in a direction. "They went that way. But even if you rush over now, you probably can't save her."