The statue curled her lip, looking thoroughly displeased. "That rope was like something alive. The creep flung it at me, and it tied me up on its own. I couldn't break free for ages."
"Then how did you finally get free?" Zhao Xun asked.
"I don't know." The statue looked bewildered for a moment. "I kept struggling and twisting around, and somehow I suddenly broke free."
After thinking it over, Zhao Xun asked again, "Did the rope break after you got free? Or did it disappear?"
"I didn't notice." The statue tried hard to remember. "But I don't think it snapped, or I would've heard it."
Zhao Xun murmured an acknowledgment, then continued, "By the time you got free of the rope, had the creep already taken Ruby a long way away?"
"Yes." The statue nodded repeatedly. "I could barely see the two of them by then. I was frantic, and then somehow I broke free of the rope."
Zhao Xun nodded and said nothing more.
From what he could tell, the creep had at least two special items.
One was a special item that could provide guidance on what actions to take.
When the creep opened the basement door and grabbed Ruby, he hadn't searched around or hesitated. Clearly, he knew exactly where his target was.
It was unlikely that he'd learned this by asking around. After all, according to the statue, probably no one in town knew that basement existed.
So it was much more likely to be the effect of the creep's special item.
But Ruby had been hiding in the basement for over two days, and the creep had only just taken her away.
Most likely, this special item went on cooldown after use, and that cooldown was fairly long.
Otherwise, the creep had no reason to wait so long before acting.
That meant the special item he'd just used probably couldn't be used again anytime soon.
They wouldn't need to worry about its effect during their next move.
The other special item was the rope.
Its function was restraint. So far, it didn't seem to have any other special uses.
But if even the statue's strength hadn't been enough to break free, a normal person's strength probably wouldn't be enough either.
Although its restraining power was strong, it wasn't without weaknesses.
If his guess was right, that rope couldn't get too far from its owner.
Beyond a certain distance, its restraining effect would weaken until it disappeared.
If the creep only had these two special items, he wouldn't be hard to deal with.
But if he had others, it was much harder to say.
Especially since they still didn't know what his special ability was.
Following the statue, Zhao Xun pursued the creep all the way to the outskirts of Nairui Town.
Vast flower fields stretched out in the distance. As they swayed in the breeze, a faint, sweet floral fragrance drifted over, lifting the spirits.
But at that moment, Zhao Xun couldn't feel cheerful at all.
Because he saw the creep toss Ruby onto the ground and start building a makeshift Burning Stake.
If his guess was right, the creep intended to burn Ruby to death.
"How much longer can you move freely?" Zhao Xun asked the statue beside him in a low voice.
"Only ten minutes." The statue looked anxiously at Ruby, who was tied up and unable to resist.
If Zhao Xun hadn't been holding her hand, she would have charged straight over.
"Listen to me. If you want to save Ruby, you have to follow my plan." Zhao Xun's expression grew slightly stern. "We're short on time. I'll only say this once, so you have to remember it."
The statue immediately calmed down and nodded, indicating that she would listen carefully.
The two hid behind a tall mound of earth, talking quietly as they watched the creep's movements from a distance.
Two minutes later.
The statue suddenly charged at the creep.
Having finally put together the framework of the Burning Stake, the creep hadn't even had time to feel pleased before he saw a marble statue hurtling toward him.
He hurriedly dodged to one side.
With that kind of weight, even if the impact didn't kill him, it would leave him with internal injuries.
Watching from a distance, Zhao Xun silently took note.
The creep had neither strength-related special items or abilities nor defensive special items or abilities.
As long as Zhao Xun could get close, he would have a way to kill him.
The creep dodged the statue's attack, only to see that she made no effort to stop and continued charging straight ahead.
His expression changed, but it was already too late to stop her.
The Burning Stake he'd worked so hard to build was smashed to pieces by the statue in an instant.
"Fuck!" the creep cursed furiously. "Did you fucking do that on purpose? Pretend to attack me when you were actually trying to destroy my Burning Stake?!"
The statue didn't answer. She turned around and charged at him again.
Backing away, the creep pulled out a long rope and threw it at the statue.
The statue immediately twisted sideways, trying to dodge the rope.
But the rope seemed to come alive, turning on its own to pursue her.
The statue's body wasn't agile enough. Unable to dodge in time, she was touched by the end of the rope.
The moment it touched her, the rope seemed to turn into a snake, swiftly winding tightly around her.
With her hands and feet bound and her movement restricted, the statue could only hop toward the creep like a rabbit.
But that was far slower than her earlier running speed. To the creep, she seemed to be moving in slow motion.
The creep even walked up to the statue himself and gave her a vicious kick.
After kicking her, he realized her expression hadn't changed at all, while his own toes hurt as though they were broken.
He had to endure the pain and put on a look of contempt.
"You're just a lump of stone, and you think you can take me on? Pah!" With that, he viciously spat a mouthful of phlegm at the statue.
Still silent, the statue abruptly lay down on the ground, then rolled toward the creep like a wheel.
She moved much faster than when she'd been hopping like a rabbit, nearly matching her earlier running speed.
"You just won't give up!" Growing angry, the creep pulled out an axe amid a stream of curses and swung it viciously at the statue.
Seeing this, the statue hurriedly backed away to dodge.
The creep immediately grew smug. Pursuing her, he cursed, "You lousy rock, how dare you attack me! Who the hell do you think you are? I'll chop you into rubble!"
Just as the creep got carried away with his triumph, an enormous scythe suddenly thrust toward him at an angle from behind.
The scythe's sharp blade gleamed coldly, only two centimeters from his throat.
One more second, and it would sever his head.
The creep's heart lurched, but in that split second, he quickly assessed the situation.
His forward momentum was carrying him straight into the scythe. With his reflexes, he had no time to dodge or raise the heavy axe.
Here I am asking for votes again~
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