Calling it a wooden man was not quite right either. Its limbs were merely like bamboo joints; it had no obvious head, nor did it have a neck.
It looked more like an oversized Matchstick Man made of five sticks.
One stick formed its body, while the other four formed its limbs.
Leaving aside the peculiar appearance of this "Matchstick Man," its reaction alone left Angel somewhat bewildered.
He turned around and suddenly saw a Matchstick Man nearby. He should have been the startled one. So why had it become the Matchstick Man whose limbs were trembling in fright?
Yes, the Matchstick Man's limbs—its four sticks—had gone from rigid to limp. Like a giant "big" character leaping into the air, all four limbs had turned into wavy lines, the picture of someone frightened out of their wits.
The startled Matchstick Man began waving its wave-like hands, making small circular motions.
A string of trembling "ah" sounds also rang through the air. The trill began at its peak, then started dropping, dropping...
At last, as the Matchstick Man vanished, the sound vanished with it.
As the space before him returned to silence, Angel's thoughts still had not caught up.
When... had it appeared?
And when had it left? How had it left? Why had he felt nothing at all? It was as though it had appeared out of thin air and disappeared into thin air.
And most importantly: who was it?
It had clearly shown itself and followed behind him, yet he had been utterly unaware of its existence.
If he had not seen it running before him with his own eyes, Angel might even have thought it was some masterful illusion.
Now that it had been confirmed to be real, it merely possessed an incomparably powerful ability to conceal itself.