Standing to her left was a man as thin and tall as a bamboo pole, his skin deathly pale and his body wrapped in a gray robe.
He belonged to the Corpse Carrier lineage and was known as Old Loach.
"Soon, soon." Old Loach's voice was thin and sharp, tinged with ingratiation. "Master Liu sent word that he'll arrive before midnight."
"The Moon-Worship Cult was very pleased with the spirit embryos we provided last time. This time, they'll bring not only Red Moon blood, but perhaps some extra rewards as well, to help your Hundred-Eye God-Peering Method advance further, Granny."
"Hmph, the Moon-Worship Cult..." To Soul-Stitching Crone's right, a hulking figure crouched on the ground and snorted.
He wore a greasy leather apron. Twisted runes were tattooed across his bald head, and he was fiddling with several hooks of different sizes.
He belonged to the Yin-Retrieval Sect, specializing in fishing out specific organs, lingering souls, or baleful crystals from places steeped in dark energy or from those who had died violent deaths. He was known as the Butcher.
"A bunch of lunatics with their noses in the air. They really think they can commune with the gods just by worshipping the moon?"
The Butcher spat a mouthful of phlegm onto the edge of the rune array. It gave off a faint sizzling sound, then was quickly absorbed by the dark-red pigment.
"Working with them is like making a pact with a tiger."
"Red Moon blood is good stuff, no doubt, but who knows what else they've tampered with? We could end up with a Divine Child who's nothing but a puppet on their strings."
"Silence!" Soul-Stitching Crone's eyelids snapped up, and cold light flashed through their narrow slits. But this time, her eyes held not only fervor, but also icy calculation.
"The Moon-Worship Cult has its way, and we have ours. This is a transaction. We each get what we need."
"They need our spirit embryos. We need their Red Moon blood and temporary use of this treasure ground. Without their cover and the flesh they provide, we'd have been wiped out long ago for making such a commotion right under the Anomaly Suppression Bureau's nose!"
She paused, and the bone needle lightly pierced the flesh lump. It throbbed violently, letting out a strange sound like a baby's wail mingled with an insect's chirp.
"Once the Divine Child is born and absorbs tonight's midnight yin tide and the Moon-Worship Cult's Red Moon blood, the newborn baleful essence will be enough to greatly increase the three of our cultivation. We might even glimpse the threshold of the next realm."
A cold curve tugged at Soul-Stitching Crone's lips. "I've spent my whole life stitching souls and mending spirits. What I'm best at is leaving a few of my own stitches in things that seem whole. When the time comes, it won't be so clear who's using whom."
Old Loach nodded quickly. "Granny is farsighted indeed! The Moon-Worship Cult is powerful, so we'll humor them for now and use their strength to accomplish our own aims. Once the Divine Child grows up, we'll have the strength to stand on our own."
Butcher Liu's expression eased somewhat, though the doubts in his eyes did not completely fade.
He'd spent years retrieving things from places steeped in dark energy, and had a beastlike instinct for danger.
The great formation the Moon-Worship Cult had laid this time felt more sinister to him than even the most vicious baleful ground.
Still, Soul-Stitching Crone had a point. Without the conveniences the Moon-Worship Cult provided and that crucial Red Moon blood, their attempt to create a god would indeed be difficult to pull off.
"Are all the Flesh Puppets outside in position?" Soul-Stitching Crone turned her attention back to the flesh lump on the stone platform. "The Anomaly Suppression Bureau has a keen nose. The Moon-Worship Cult said they'd help divert attention, but there's no guarantee a small unit won't sneak over."
"They're in position," Old Loach replied. "Just as you ordered, we used the best materials and added the Mad Blood Curse. We've left eyes by the well in both the front courtyard and the rear courtyard."
"Good." Soul-Stitching Crone nodded. "As soon as the Moon-Worship Cult's Red Moon blood arrives, we'll proceed with the final fusion."
"Until then, anyone who breaks in, whether they're dogs from the Anomaly Suppression Bureau or anyone else, gets killed on sight. They'll make a fine appetizer for the Divine Child..."
Before she'd finished speaking, a dull impact sounded outside, followed by the roar of an explosion!
"Who's there?" Old Loach's face changed drastically.
Butcher Liu sprang to his feet and seized the heavy skinning knife, a vicious glint flashing in his eyes. "Damn it, someone really has come to die!"
"Follow the plan."
Soul-Stitching Crone's bone needle paused in her hand, her eyes growing even colder. "Old Loach, go direct the Flesh Puppets in the front courtyard. Kill them if you can; if you can't, hold them off!"
"Butcher Liu, guard the well entrance. Don't let anyone sneak in from behind! I'll activate the Hundred-Eye Formation. Let's see what blind fool dares to ruin my good work!"
Before she'd finished speaking, the sounds of gunfire, explosions, and monsters roaring outside had already melded into one.
The battle in the dyehouse's front courtyard had reached a fever pitch.
The Flesh Puppets charging at the very front still vaguely resembled humans, but their bodies had been crudely altered.
On several of them, both arms had been replaced from the elbows down with the thick forelimbs of unknown beasts, ending in sharp, curved bone claws.
Others had extra limbs sewn onto them, making them look like malformed spiders. Four or even six arms flailed awkwardly, attacking from vicious, unpredictable angles.
All their skin was the ashen gray of corpses. Thick black stitches crawled like centipedes across their joints and where their limbs met their torsos, and black slime seeped from some of the seams.
When bullets struck them, the specially made Evil-Breaking rounds burst in silver-red sparks, tearing through their flesh to reveal the purplish-black muscles beneath. Broken bones sewn inside them could even be seen.
But unless a shot hit the burning ghost-fire in their eye sockets or one of the few obvious cores, such as the throbbing flesh lump inside their chest, they kept charging without fear of death.
Wu Tong's swordsmanship was fierce, and he pushed the ruthlessness of the Wind-Breaking Three Styles to its limit. Wherever his blade flashed, black blood sprayed.
He cleaved one Flesh Puppet that had lunged close in half, spilling foul-smelling entrails across the ground.
But another Flesh Puppet's claws had raked open his left arm, leaving a wound deep enough to expose bone.
"Damn it, these things just keep coming!"
Wu Tong spat bloody saliva. His blade never stopped, and he parried another monster's lunge.
Squad Leader Wang and his soldiers took cover behind the broken dye vats and walls, barely holding their ground with rifles and bayonets.
The specially made Evil-Breaking rounds thudded against the monsters. They couldn't kill them immediately, but they did slow their advance.
Every so often, a soldier was sent flying by a monster's brute force or had his flesh ripped open by its claws. The screams made the blood run cold.
Chen Mo was in the relatively safe rear of the battle line. Seeing the scene, he knitted his brows and instinctively took a step back.
Up ahead, a Paper Puppet darted through the melee, precisely stabbing into the joint beneath the armpit of a Four-Armed Flesh Puppet.
It severed half the tangled black stitches, and one of the Flesh Puppet's arms immediately drooped like a puppet with its strings cut. A soldier beside it seized the chance to thrust his bayonet through the throbbing flesh lump in its chest. The creature fell to the ground, howling and twitching.
The Flesh Puppets in the front courtyard seemed impossible to kill off.
Wu Tong had already slain four or five. Two more fresh wounds marked his body, and his black uniform was soaked in blood, impossible to tell whether it was the monsters' black blood or his own.
"Save your bullets! Aim before you shoot! Three more coming up on the left!" Squad Leader Wang shouted hoarsely, the veins on his forehead bulging.
Explosions went off now and then, blasting the charging Flesh Puppets to pieces, but they also made the already-ruined front courtyard even more dangerous as flying rubble filled the air.
Just then, a violent surge of spiritual energy suddenly burst from the dark doorway of the main house!
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