Liang staggered as he ran away.
The sound of wind whooshing behind him caused Liang to dodge to one side as an arrow stabbed into the ground in front of him.
A man with a twisted expression quickly gave chase with a bow and arrow in hand, the person whose mind was twisted by Xu Fu.
Liang had experienced the sensation of having oneâs mind twisted beyond recognition even by oneself. If his thirst for vengeance hadnât snapped him out of it, he might have become a puppet with an irrational mind as well.
This faint sensation...
Looking at the approaching human puppet, Liangâs body could faintly sense the other party getting closer. He could feel the wicked, twisted piece of flesh embedded into that personâs body; quite obviously, Xu Fuâs hand that had fused into Liangâs body was granting him the ability to sense the other partyâs flesh.
Or rather, this was his reward for resisting the willpower contained within the hand. Since he managed to assimilate Xu Fuâs flesh, he had also managed to obtain the ability to recognize Xu Fuâs existence.
Taking a deep breath, Liang stood back up before using all his strength to rush towards this human puppet while also focusing his mind to sense the other partyâs thoughts.
During this process, Liangâs mind seemed to have undergone some sort of breakthrough. After some blurred images flashed through his mind, he accurately perceived the human puppetâs thoughts, he then lowered his form and threw a full-power right hook towards the human puppetâs head. At the same time, his willpower borrowed this punch to also enter the human puppetâs mind.
After the human puppet fell on his back, his twisted soul was somewhat remedied. Looking back at his tribe that had begun to burn at some unknown point, his face became filled with regret as he started showing signs of petrifying.
âLiang...â the human puppet helped Liang stand back up with a pained expression, then handed the bow and arrow in his hand to Liang: âI canât hang on for too much longer. I can sense that wicked willpower still trying to twist my soul. Most likely, in no time at all, Iâll become the puppet of that monster again. Kill me, then runâ
âYou can temporarily fix my will, meaning you can oppose Fu, but youâre still too weak right now. Head to the Central tribe, report our situation to them. Youâll be able to obtain more power in that placeâ as he spoke, the human puppetâs expression slowly became more twisted.
Watching the man in front of him, Liang mustered his strength once more to grab an arrow and stabbed it through the manâs eye, killing him. His corpse slowly became petrified before turning into ash and disappeared.
Once again, Liang staggered towards Xu Fuâs home, took the stone demon mask hidden inside his beast hide bag, then began fleeing out of the village.
...
âGarbageâ Xu Fu casually broke a hunterâs hand, then pierced his hand into the hunterâs neck to leave a blob of flesh inside.
As each of the puppets whose mind had been twisted stood up, Xu Fuâs gaze carried almost solid pressure as he sensed the existence of the mask from afar.
âYou bunch, chase after anyone who fled and kill them. And all of you, follow meâ Xu Fu ordered, then brought a few men to chase after the mask following his sense.
To make it more convenient to act, as well as because his mind wasnât quite as clear as it currently was right after his conversion, Xu Fu left the mask in his house. He didnât expect that someone would suddenly fuse with his hand, notice the maskâs existence, then steal it as well.
Xu Fu was very fast. After consuming a large amount of flesh, his abilities had also grown considerably stronger. His skin was now as hard as lava rock, he felt like he would never feel tired, his physical strength was growing increasingly greater, and he could even feel an ability awakening from the living statueâs power of emotions.
Liang, on the other hand, was slow; after all, he was currently injured. Soon, Xu Fu caught up with him next to a cliff.
Placing the mask on one side of the cliff, Liang glared straight at Xu Fu full of hate, it was him who destroyed everything.
âI really must say, Liang, youâve once again gone above my expectations. I judge you worthy of becoming my equal, put the mask on Liang, youâll obtain unlimited power, and a nearly ceaseless lifeâ Xu Fu took one step closer.
Liang immediately shouted: âDonât come any closer. Iâm not going to become a monster like you, if you dare take another step, Iâll throw this mask into the ravine, the waters below will wash it awayâ
âYouâre trying to buy time for the other tribesmenâ although Xu Fu couldnât control the flesh inside Liangâs body, he was able to easily borrow that flesh to read Liangâs mind. Chuckling, he didnât stop moving forward: âI can sense that mask, no matter where it is. I can simply look for it again, but you, on the other hand, are driving my already limited patience thinâ
âPut on that mask and become my equal, or die at my handsâ step by step, Xu Fu approached Liang closer and closer.
While breathing heavily, Liang was still glaring straight at Xu Fu while calculating the distance.
Once again, Liang had shown himself to be nothing short of an absolute genius. After noticing that Xu Fu was able to read his mind at a close distance, he instantly realized that this was an opportunity.
Before Xu Fu caught up with him, he had already formulated a plan, then forced himself to no longer think about it, instead, he thought about buying time for his tribesmen to flee, thus deceiving Xu Fu and clouded his judgement.
Seeing Xu Fu getting close enough, he leapt down from the cliff without hesitation and let go of the mask.
Right away, Xu Fu leapt down with him, catching the mask with one hand while piercing his hand through Liangâs body with the other; at the same time, his leg thrust forward like a blade into the side of the cliff, hanging his body on it.
âIdiot, I deceived youâ Xu Fu laughed triumphantly.
âIâm the same!â Liang replied, once again focusing his mind to enter the same state as before. He then grabbed Xu Fuâs body tightly, infused his willpower into his fist, and threw a punch towards Xu Fu.
A grey color began to spread from where the punch connected.
With mutual death in his mind, Liangâs punch contained everything he had, causing Xu Fuâs body to quickly petrify.
âDamn it... I was carelessâ Xu Fu was able to sense his body petrifying, his body stiffening, followed by his mind.
As he became petrified, some information regarding the stone demon mask also flowed into his mind.
He had indeed inherited the powers of the living statues from the stone demon mask, but the living statues werenât natural living beings of this timeline. Although Xu Fu could utilize these powers and keep his flesh and blood body, once his willpower contained within that flesh and blood was blown away, his essence of being a living statue would be discovered by the world. Unable to adapt to this world, he would turn into a motionless statue.
It wouldnât be until his flesh and blood once again enveloped his body that he would return to his original state.
By the time he comprehended this bit of information, over half of Xu Fuâs body had become petrified. Since he could no longer apply any force on his legs, his body swiftly fell.
Using the last chance he had, Xu Fu transferred his final order to his puppets: âFind me, use the flesh and blood of the enemy to awaken meâ
Liang closed his eyes and descended into the bottom of the ravine while holding onto Xu Fuâs petrified body. The rushing current would sweep them into the ocean, where they would remain forever.
With a flash of light, a phone booth that definitely did not belong to this era appeared in this place.
A mechanical arm reached out from within to catch Liang, while the Xu Fu statue continued to hold onto the mask as he fell, his petrified eyes staring straight at Liang.
Things seemed to be far from over.