Interception

Before he could finish speaking, the cross-eyed gang member stared toward the direction behind Lei Tiger, his legs trembling uncontrollably.

"Gang... Gang Leader! It... it's here again!"

Before the cross-eyed man's voice had even faded, and before Lei Tiger could even turn his head, a sharp gust of wind silently swept past his neck.

Lei Tiger only felt a chill at his throat, and his vision suddenly tilted and inverted.

The last thing he saw was his own body remaining frozen in a half-turned posture, blood gushing from his neck like a fountain.

He wanted to scream, but could only emit a wheezing, air-leaking sound as darkness instantly swallowed him.

"Gang Leader!" Scarface cried out in shock and rage, drawing his blade to charge forward.

But the thing that had killed Lei Tiger was faster than he could comprehend.

A blurred, yellowish-brown paper afterimage lunged toward him in a bizarre, gliding fashion.

A blade's light flashed under the dim candlelight.

Scarface's heavy Ghost Head Blade had barely been raised halfway before he and his weapon were sliced diagonally from his left shoulder to his right ribcage!

Viscera and blood spilled all over the floor, and a thick, pungent scent of blood exploded into the air.

Only then did the remaining gang members see what exactly was attacking them.

It was a humanoid object about the height of an average person; it did not look like flesh and blood, but rather like it had been pieced together from some kind of thick, stiff paper.

In its palms, it held two paper blades as thin as cicada wings, glowing faintly red in the candlelight.

It spread its arms, moving like a dancer or a phantom reaping lives in a shadow play, weaving between two of the gang members.

The movements of those two men instantly froze, then fine red lines appeared on their necks, and their heads rolled to the ground.

"De... Demon!" One gang member, his courage shattered, finally found his voice amidst the extreme terror. No longer caring about brotherhood or loyalty, he turned and fled toward the door for his life.

The Paper Puppet leaped lightly, chasing after him as nimbly as a paper kite.

In the blink of an eye, the only ones left standing in the room, besides the Sha-like Weaponized Paper Puppet, were the mouse-whiskered Mr. Xu, who had collapsed to the ground.

By now, his crotch was soaked, his teeth chattered uncontrollably, and he couldn't even utter a plea for mercy.

The Paper Puppet slowly turned its head, its two cinnabar-dot eyes locking onto him with icy coldness.

Chen Mo's true form did not appear, but his voice drifted eerily from some hidden shadow: "Where is the Secret Vault of the Black Tiger Gang?"

He had already searched Lei Tiger's bedroom and found only a little over a hundred silver dollars.

For a gang as large as the Black Tiger Gang, it was impossible for them to have so little cash on hand, so he was certain they must have a secret chamber elsewhere.

Mr. Xu, weeping and snot-nosed in the courtyard, kowtowed like he was pounding garlic: "Spare me! Immortal Master, spare me! The Secret Vault... the Secret Vault is not at the main hall, it's... it's under the cellar of the Fortune Pawnshop in the south of the city."

"There is a hidden door, the key... the key is inside the Black Tiger Jade Pendant on Lei Tiger's body; just unscrew the tiger's head... the mechanism diagram is... is in my bosom..."

The Paper Puppet stepped forward, its paper blade flicking lightly, and a piece of tanned thin sheepskin from Mr. Xu's bosom was lifted and fell into the shadows.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, the paper blade swept across Mr. Xu's throat.

Confirming there were no survivors left, the Paper Puppet retrieved the Black Tiger Jade Pendant from Lei Tiger's corpse and tossed it into the corner where Chen Mo was hiding, then swept up the silver dollars and several antiques and jade ornaments in the room, stuffing them into a bundle on its back.

In less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea, the Paper Puppet carried the bundle, leaped out of the courtyard, and vanished into the deep night outside.

Chen Mo's consciousness remained attached to the Paper Puppet, moving silently across the eaves and rooftops as it sped toward the Fortune Pawnshop in the south of the city.

The night breeze was cool, carrying the memory of the recent scent of blood, but his heart remained as still as an ancient well.

The Black Tiger Gang had done evil for many years, and he felt no psychological burden in taking their ill-gotten gains.

Just as he was passing over a secluded alley, a sudden change occurred!

In the shadows of the alley below, an aura as heavy as a mountain erupted, firmly locking onto the Paper Puppet in mid-air!

"Hmph, so there really was something fishy. You think you can deceive the world with such devious tricks?" A low, deep, and resonant cold snort rang out.

Immediately following, a fierce and unstoppable fist force blasted through the air!

The fist force was as solid as a giant hammer; before it even made contact, the surging gale had already pressed down on the Paper Puppet, causing its movements to become sluggish and its nimble, fluid posture to falter.

Yue Shan!

He hadn't been waiting for a rabbit at the main hall; instead, he had anticipated the intruder's escape route and intercepted him here!

Though the Weaponized Paper Puppet was sharp, it was not suited for a head-on clash with a martial arts expert like Yue Shan, who had stepped into the Innate Realm and possessed such vigorous blood and energy.

Chen Mo's heart tightened, and he forced the Paper Puppet to twist its body at the very last second.

The paper blades carved out several sharp gusts, attempting to cut and weaken the incoming fist force, while simultaneously using the momentum to plummet toward the side eaves.

"Boom!"

The fist force collided with the sharpness of the paper blades, producing a muffled thud.

The Paper Puppet was hit as if by a heavy blow, sent drifting backward, and several creases on its body seemed to dim in luster.

The brocade bundle containing the treasures was torn apart by the force, and some gold and jewelry clattered into the alley.

Yue Shan's tall figure stepped out from the shadows, his gaze like lightning, locking onto the bizarre Paper Puppet.

"Controlling a puppet to commit murder and robbery? Stay right there!"

He took a single step forward, and the bluestone tiles beneath his feet cracked slightly!

His second punch was already coiled and ready, fiercer! Heavier! Faster! A faint sound of a tiger's roar accompanied it, sealing off every path of evasion for the paper puppet.

Chen Mo's thoughts raced, and he commanded the paper puppet to hurl the remaining bundle in its hands directly at Yue Shan's face.

Simultaneously, the puppet's entire body contracted abruptly, transforming in an instant into a piece of stiff paper the size of a palm.

Like a throwing dart, it shot toward the other end of the alley with a sharp whistle, moving several times faster than before and slipping past the edge of the fist's wind from an incredibly tricky angle!

This sudden change and burst of speed were clearly beyond Yue Shan's expectations.

He punched the debris aside, but by the time he prepared to pursue, the paper scrap had already merged into the deeper darkness in the distance, its aura rapidly vanishing.

Yue Shan retracted his fist and stood still, his brows locked in a deep frown as he looked at the scattered jewelry and the vanished, eerie paper puppet.

He crouched down, picked up a torn fragment of the paper puppet, and rubbed it between his fingertips, a sharp glint flickering in his eyes.

"A paper puppet... such agility and craft, this is certainly no ordinary heterodox art." He gazed in the direction where the paper had disappeared, then looked back toward the headquarters of the Black Tiger Gang. After a moment of contemplation, he did not give chase immediately; instead, he carefully stowed the fragment away, turned, and strode off, his figure quickly disappearing at the other end of the alley.

Far away, on the rafters of an abandoned attic, that palm-sized piece of stiff paper lay silently, its cinnabar-painted eyes now completely dim.

In the deeper shadows further off, Chen Mo's true body exhaled softly, his face slightly pale.

"The people from the Bureau of Strange Suppression... they are actually this strong. Their senses are so sharp; the paper puppet was almost left behind."

He whispered to himself, his eyes growing increasingly profound, "I must retrieve the items from the Secret Vault immediately, or I fear that delays will only lead to complications."