Chapter 42.3
Alice blinked at Lippin.o.bert, as if she understood what he was saying but didn’t understand anything at all at the same time.
“Alice is a work that I’m very satisfied with. It’s no different from an ordinary child. It can sing and dance, but doesn’t talk…” Lippin.o.bert smiled at Alice, his words seemed to be directed at Xiao Tangqiu, but he also seemed to be talking to himself. “But it doesn’t matter. Daddy will never abandon my daughter… Goodbye, Alice.”
As the serpents swarmed, Alice’s human appearance quickly disappeared, revealing a semi-human state.
Before disappearing completely, Alice waved at Lippin.o.bert. Its voice sounded sweet and clear, just like a musical box.
“Bye bye, Daddy.”
Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and finally couldn’t help bursting at Lippin.o.bert. “She’s your daughter! How could you have the heart to make a puppet out of your own daughter? “
“Because I’m a puppeteer,” Lippin.o.bert smiled. “I’ll always be with my puppets… And, of course, my Lily Marlene.”
Xiao Tangqiu was speechless. He knew that there was no way to communicate about logic or humane ideas with Lippin.o.bert. This man was no longer a normal human being.
“Next up is…” Lippin.o.bert’s eyes sank and his tone darkened. “Next is my dear mother.”
The long-haired monster appeared, staggering towards the center of the magic array, just like an old person. After the battle with Shen Yuan, half of its puppet body had been revealed, and the remaining human half looked just as awful. Altogether, it was a disgusting sight.
“It’s my most failed work,” Lippin.o.bert said coldly. “It can neither speak nor think in a human way, or have human feelings. But that’s to be expected. After all, it’s one of my early works. At the time, I couldn’t create a perfect puppet like I can now.”
The serpents swarmed and soon engulfed the long-haired monster. The human state of the long-haired monster fell apart, revealing its puppet body and disappeared just like the others. The whole time, it looked at Lippin.o.bert with a blank stare.
Although Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t understand the puppet’s look, his intuition told him that it wasn’t as Lippin.o.bert had said – the puppet seemed to have a trace of human emotions within those eyes.
Before he could delve further into it, the monster had disappeared completely.
“Next is Effie, which is also one of my early works. It isn’t perfect, but Alice liked to play with it.”
At the command of Lippin.o.bert, the puppet with crude workmanship that Xiao Tangqiu had seen in Maria’s room also appeared.
“Go. Go be with Alice.”
It piously walked to the center of the magic array, loyally giving up its body and soul.
As the puppets offered themselves up for sacrifice, one after another, the magic array formed by the serpents grew larger and more dense. Xiao Tangqiu felt the atmosphere grow more cold and sinister. He seemed to feel a pair of eyes staring at him from the center of the magic array.
He felt chilly all over, like he had fallen into a freezer.
“Finally, it’s your turn, you little freak.” Lippin.o.bert’s voice suddenly softened, as if remembering something. “I didn’t name it. It was my first work. Although it wasn’t perfect and it didn’t have human thoughts and feelings, and didn’t think like a human being, it was my first playmate and friend in my life.”
As soon as his words fell, the dwarf puppet appeared. It walked to the center of the magic array in a crooked manner, with its little leather drum in its arms jerking up and down.
“Little freak, go.”
Lippin.o.bert smiled at the dwarf puppet, his smile sincere as ever.
“…We will always be together.”
The dwarf puppet cleverly held the small leather drum, standing motionless while it allowed the serpents to engulf it. As its human appearance gradually disappeared, Xiao Tangqiu’s heart started to sink.
He knew that it was his turn next.
He must be the last sacrifice.
Sure enough, in the next second, Lippin.o.bert turned around to look at Xiao Tangqiu. He smiled faintly, “Darling, it’s your turn next…”
Xiao Tangqiu watched helplessly as the magic array under his feet began to change and swirl. Although the dwarf puppet hadn’t completely been consumed by the serpents, some serpents were already crawling towards him.
He knew that once he was touched by these serpents, his fate would be the same as that of the puppets before. However, his feet were firmly stuck to the ground and he couldn’t escape even if he wanted to.
“Come, come be with me…”
Lippin.o.bert’s voice was somber and low, full of devilish charm, like the whispers of demons. The serpents wriggled towards Xiao Tangqiu under Lippin.o.bert’s will.
Just when Xiao Tangqiu gave himself to despair, a flying knife suddenly cut through the air and shot at Lippin.o.bert.
Lippin.o.bert didn’t escape in time and was instantly pierced by the flying knife.
Everything fell silent in that instant and Xiao Tangqiu held his breath. But Lippin.o.bert, being the ultimate big BOSS, wasn’t so easily killed.
Lippin.o.bert looked down at the knife in his chest. His expression instantly turned gloomy and frightening. Huge spurts of blood flowed out from his chest. Although he seemed to be fine, the serpents, which had been manipulated by his will, suddenly stopped.
He slowly raised his head and looked at the door.
Xiao Tangqiu immediately looked up in that direction as well. When he saw Shen Yuan at the door of the church, all his fear and negative emotions disappeared instantly, and his desperate and uneasy heart seemed to have been put to ease.
Shen Yuan was here.
Shen Yuan actually came.
A moment later, Xiao Tangqiu noticed that Duan Hongzhen and Tang Mianmian had also come. Of course, the two women were there as well. All of them had survived.
Before he could quietly breathe a sigh of relief, Lippin.o.bert smiled darkly at the people at the door. “You came just at the right time. I was starting to worry that there wouldn’t be enough sacrifices…”
“f.u.c.k your sacrifices! Let go of my friend!”
Tang Mianmian didn’t wait for Lippin.o.bert to finish his cla.s.sic villainous lines before he cried impatiently, “Let Qiuqiu go quickly! Otherwise, I’ll smash all your puppets! You disgusting psycho with your freaky hobby!”
Lippin.o.bert smiled sinisterly, “Don’t worry, you’ll soon be able to accompany my children.”
Xiao Tangqiu immediately shouted at the door. “Be careful! Don’t step into the array! He just used this array to devour all his puppets! He wants to sacrifice everyone to revive Lily Marlene!”
Tang Mianmian gasped. “You actually sacrificed your mother and daughter… You’re the ultimate psycho out of all the psychos, the number one, unrivalled psycho!”
Lippin.o.bert laughed. The Ouroboros totem under his feet spread instantly, covering the entire church and leaving everyone with nowhere to run.
And the serpents also shifted their target and crawled towards Shen Yuan, slithering one after another. The dwarf puppet still hadn’t been completely devoured. Only half of its puppet body was left, but it staggered towards Shen Yuan and the others.
Lippin.o.bert diverted his attention towards them, the serpents following his will. Xiao Tangqiu finally managed to escape and return to Tang Mianmian’s side.
Tang Mianmian quickly asked, “Qiuqiu! Are you alright?”
Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth. “Forget about me, it’s more important to deal with Lippin.o.bert!”
Tang Mianmian looked at Xiao Tangqiu’s clothes. “Why have you suddenly turned into a woman?”
Xiao Tangqiu’s lips twitched. “Please focus on what’s important!”
Despite the grim situation, Tang Mianmian still didn’t forget to roast him, “Lippin.o.bert has also turned into a woman. If I didn’t know any better, I would think he took you away to play some sort of perverted game…”
Xiao Tangqiu rolled his eyes so hard they almost rolled to the back of his head. But that was the end of the easy atmosphere, because in the next second, the serpents quickly crawled up to the front of them. He quickly warned the crowd, “Watch out for these serpents! They are very powerful…”
Duan Hongzhen smiled and a.s.sured him, “Don’t worry, we’ve dealt with each other many times.”
He seemed to be casually playing with the flying knife in his hand, but the look in his eyes and his expression gradually grew serious while Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu took out their weapons. Only Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, who were empty-handed, had no choice but to watch.
In an instant, the serpents decisively launched an attack on the team. Duan Hongzhen, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu immediately surrounded Shen Yuan, each person defending him from a different side.
They quickly drew the weapons in their hands, obviously tempered into the hardest steel by countless battles.
The serpents were beheaded one after another.
Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian weren’t at ease either, because the dwarf puppet started to attack them again with its shrill screams. They immediately covered their ears, but they were still hit by the aftermath of the soundwaves.
Blood poured out of Xiao Tangqiu’s ears in an instant. In the next moment, the dwarf puppet began to beat its drum.
With the rapid beat of the drum, Xiao Tangqiu was unable to control his body once again. He held out his hands, violently grabbing his own neck. The same was true for Tang Mianmian, who was struggling to grip his own neck, trying to choke himself to death. His whole face turned as red as pork liver.
The worst thing was that the dwarf puppet knew how to attack on both fronts. He began to beat the drum while screaming. Xiao Tangqiu grabbed his own neck against his will, so that he couldn’t cover his ears at all. His ears were exposed to the attack of the soundwaves as more and more blood poured out.
At the same time, he felt a metallic taste in his throat, blood began to flow out of his mouth and nose… If things continued like this, he would bleed to death out of his seven orifices and probably end up with his five viscera and six bowels ruptured like the middle-aged woman.
Xiao Tangqiu didn’t know why the dwarf puppet fought so hard. Clearly, it only had half of its body left and was going to be sacrificed by its owner, but it was still so loyal, wanting to protect his owner. Was it just like Lippin.o.bert said – it didn’t have human emotions at all, so it didn’t care if it was abandoned and sacrificed?
Shen Yuan and the others felt awful as well. They were all frowning. Yu Fuling coldly looked at the dwarf puppet, drew her Tang sword and swung her blade.
She cut off the remaining arm of the dwarf puppet, and as the arm fell to the ground, the small leather drum dropped as well. The beating of the drum finally stopped.
Xiao Tangqiu was finally saved. He immediately took a big breath of fresh air, just like a drowned person taking his first breath.
However, in the next second, the dwarf puppet, who had lost half of its body and both its arms, still didn’t give up and continued to launch a scream attack on them. Yu Fuling cut off its head at once.
The crude puppet’s head fell to the ground, but the screams didn’t stop.
“The puppet is lifeless, and we all know what it really is. It’s useless to deal with it using the same method we use on human beings,” Duan Hongzhen said with a smile, turning to look at Shen Yuan. “Older brother, it’s your turn.”
Yu Fuling frowned slightly, apparently disagreeing. “Duan Hongzhen, older brother Shen has used his ability too many times in this instance… He can’t go on!”
“I know, but that’s all we can do now…” Duan Hongzhen looked helpless.
Yu Fuling wanted to say something else, but Shen Yuan finally spoke. He said faintly, “Leave it to me.”