Paper Doll

"Rumble..."

A low, muffled roll of thunder echoed; the mountain weather changed in an instant, and suddenly, lightning began to flash and flicker.

Two shadows were cast against the wall of the room.

"Rustle... rustle..."

A strange sound emerged, like insects crawling across one's heart, leaving one feeling inexplicably uneasy.

Li Bo pushed the cabinet door open just a crack, squinting as he peered out. He saw only two shoes stepping into the room, one after the other.

These boots were bizarre: the edges were trimmed, the vamps were embroidered with various patterns, and they looked no different from ordinary shoes, yet the soles were elevated by ten-centimeter horseshoe-shaped heels. They looked like modern high-heeled boots, but the heels were much larger.

They looked somewhat like the shoes palace maids wore in television dramas.

Li Bo followed the shoes upward to see trousers with green patterns on a red background, a cylindrical torso, and hands holding black-and-white paper sticks.

"Rumble..."

A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the dark night like day for a brief moment. Taking a breath, Li Bo squinted upward.

The cyan-gray skin of the face was smeared with bright red rouge, which seemed to have soaked into the skin like age spots, dark in some places and light in others.

Two pairs of pasted-on eyeballs were scanning the room. Seeming to notice something, the Paper Maiden on the left slowly swept her gaze toward Li Bo.

"Damn it!"

Seeing this, Li Bo hurriedly pulled his gaze back, praying that she wouldn't discover him. Don't you dare come over here, you bitch! If you come over, I'm dead for sure!

But things often happen just as one fears. He heard the footsteps outside drawing closer, the paper on the Paper Dolls rustling with every step.

Just hearing the sound made Li Bo's scalp tingle.

As for Piglet in his arms, the creature was already scared witless, its teeth chattering uncontrollably until Li Bo clamped his hand over its snout to stifle the sound.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but suddenly, the noise outside ceased.

"Did they leave?"

Li Bo grew suspicious. He pricked up his ears to listen carefully, and indeed, there was no movement outside. He quietly pressed his face against the cabinet, squinting through the gap to look out.

All he saw was pitch-black darkness. He couldn't see the Paper Dolls, nor could he see the spot where Xu Tong was hiding.

"Why is it so dark?"

It had been dark before, but he could still see a little something. Now, it was so dark that there wasn't a shred of light; he couldn't see what was happening outside at all.

Thinking of this, Li Bo hesitated for a moment before quietly reaching out to push the cabinet door.

The gap widened bit by bit, but the scene he expected did not appear. Instead, as the gap grew, a white edge gradually emerged from the darkness.

"This is...?"

Suddenly, Li Bo's hand stiffened. Beads of sweat the size of peas rolled down his forehead. He looked at the black-and-white object before him and finally realized what he was facing.

The black shadow receded, and Li Bo, suppressing his extreme inner anxiety, peered through the gap.

"Rumble..."

The thunder outside grew louder. On that cyan-gray face covered in rouge, the black-and-white eyes were curved like crescent moons, and the cyan-gray mouth was curled into an exaggerated arc.

The figure slowly raised its arm, lifting the black-and-white paper stick high above its head. Seeing this, Li Bo felt his chest tighten, and a sense of terror unlike anything he had ever known surged to his head.

"Hmph~"

At the critical moment, the little pig in Li Bo's arms kicked wildly, jumped out of his embrace, and slammed into the cabinet door, running outside.

Li Bo finally snapped back to reality. In his extreme panic, he didn't even have time to curse Zhang Hao for his lack of loyalty.

He spread his arms and, relying on a burst of strength, lunged into the Paper Doll's embrace, wrapping his arms around its waist.

"Laozi will fight you to the death!!!"

Li Bo swung his fist into the Paper Doll's face. With one punch, the doll's face caved in, making the already hideous expression look even more bizarre and inscrutable.

The doll flicked its arm, and a massive force struck him. Li Bo didn't even have time to struggle before he was sent flying.

The sheer power was worlds apart from the two cooks he had dealt with earlier.

Before Li Bo could scramble to his feet, a whistling sound came from behind him. The other Paper Doll had appeared behind him at some point and swung its paper stick down.

"Bang!" With a loud thud, Li Bo felt his vision go black, nearly knocked unconscious.

He scrambled up in pain, clawing at his back and grimacing.

It felt as if the sticks in the Paper Dolls' hands weren't made of paper at all, but were red-hot iron tongs; where they struck his back, he felt a searing, burning pain.

Li Bo had always prided himself on being strong and capable, thinking that in ancient times, he would have at least been a general, only lamenting that he was born in the wrong era.

Yet, upon arriving here, he first had a zombie teach him a lesson, and now a Paper Doll was nearly sending him to the afterlife.

Just as the second strike was about to land, Xu Tong, who had been hiding behind the bed curtains, finally moved. The short blade in his hand was fast and ruthless, slashing directly at the back of one of the Paper Dolls' heads.

In truth, if he had a choice, he wouldn't care whether Li Bo lived or died. But if Li Bo died now, he feared he wouldn't be able to avoid being discovered either; and if that happened, he would likely end up just as miserable as Li Bo.

"Bang~~~"

As the blade descended, something Xu Tong never expected occurred. His short blade struck the top of the Paper Doll's head, sending sparks flying, yet the Paper Doll remained completely unscathed. Instead, a notch was chipped right out of his own blade.

This was no Paper Doll; it was more like an Iron Doll.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."

The Paper Doll that had been struck rotated its head, its mouth facing upward and eyelids drooping. Its originally curved eyes were now flipped, making it look even more wretched and dismal.

However, Xu Tong was no simpleton like Li Bo. Seeing that his attack had no effect, he hurriedly slid past the side of the Paper Doll's wide, bulky frame.

"Whoosh!"

No sooner had he landed than another Paper Doll raised its arm and brought a rod crashing down.

He raised his blade to parry. Clang! The blade met the paper rod, and the short blade instantly snapped in two.

This sharp short blade couldn't even cut the Paper Doll, yet it was easily shattered by the Paper Doll's iron rod.

Xu Tong's brows tightened. By now, both Paper Dolls had abandoned their pursuit of Li Bo and were charging straight toward him with their iron rods raised.

These weren't just two Paper Dolls; they were two tanks. The oppressive weight of their massive bodies was enough to make anyone feel suffocated.

Xu Tong was forced to retreat, but the room was only so large, and in the blink of an eye, he was backed into a corner.

Just then, a black shadow lunged in from outside the door, slamming directly into the back of one of the Paper Dolls.

"Bang!"

The impact sent sparks flying from the Paper Doll's back. Its body twitched a few times where it stood before toppling straight to the ground.

The other Paper Doll sensed danger and tried to flee, but the black shadow leaped onto it and rammed into it head-on.

Bang...

Tiny, scattered sparks burst across the Paper Doll's forehead. Its body stiffened, and as if it had completely lost its soul, it stood there blankly, unable to move another inch.

Xu Tong focused his gaze and saw that the black shadow was none other than Zhang Hao, the Piglet who had rushed out earlier.

At this moment, the fellow had a jade pendant dangling from his mouth. Upon closer inspection, wasn't it Wang Shaohui's jade pendant?

In his astonishment, he watched as Zhang Hao placed the jade pendant in front of him. Then, a miraculous scene unfolded: the jade pendant began to flicker with faint, glowing light, and amidst the countless specks of luminescence, the figure of a small boy rose from the pendant...