At the critical moment, Feng Yuhuai agilely tilted her head, avoiding the deadly attack.

Her ponytail was instantly severed, hair strands flailing like leaves in a wild wind, a slender cut etched across her cheek, tingling with an itch, as if some tiny creature was squirming in the wound.

She staggered back, her peripheral vision catching the wall where a stick was deeply embedded, its end trembling, shaken black specks scattering.

"Ants?"

Feng Yuhuai's pupils contracted, sharp as needles.

She abruptly wiped her cheek, revealing countless black ants, dead and alive, floating in the blood, merging with it, sickeningly.

The nauseating squirming sensation instantly ignited her fury, completely overshadowing the terror in her heart.

Her stride halted abruptly, power within her surged to the extreme, her waist twisting like a snake, legs tight, waist strength driving, toes lashed out fiercely.

Hiss—

A sound like a venomous snake flicking its tongue sliced through the air.

Black Face No. 2 finally caught up, raising his arm as a menacing barrier in front of him, as if bitten sharply by a snake, chunks of rotten flesh were torn off by Feng Yuhuai's shoe tip, dangling in the air, swaying incessantly.

He seemed impervious to pain, his arm exuding bizarre black wisps, backhand slicing towards Feng Yuhuai's tendon with knife-like precision and ruthlessness.

Feng Yuhuai was seized by fear, her movements delayed, realizing profoundly that the opponent she faced now was on a whole different level of brutality compared to her peers at school.

This opponent wouldn't flinch from injuries, actions terrifyingly stable and coherent, whereas she found herself trapped in a cycle of attack and defense.

A fierce pain surged from her ankle to her forehead, her eyes widened almost to bursting, as if an invisible butcher dissected her right foot mercilessly, muscles torn, bone twisted into gruesome angles.

"Foot... broken?"

This thought exploded in Feng Yuhuai's mind, her face contorted with horror, chaotic hair flying wildly in the air.

Her mind flashed with the image of father Feng Ju lying on the sickbed, arm severed in desolation.

"No! I absolutely cannot become a cripple like my father!"

A wave of desperate anger surged in Feng Yuhuai's heart, she let out a sharp scream, body's potential unleashed instantly. She yanked out her right foot, shoe slipping off like torn cloth, revealing the horrifying, bloody foot.

Feng Yuhuai's heel trembled on the ground, body wavering precariously.

Excruciating pain spreading from her sole cruelly eroded every nerve, while despair wrapped around her heart like toxic vines, tightening in circles.

Fear, despair, anger, countless emotions tangled and exploded, her "Snake Transformation Force" unexpectedly broke through levels in the panic, forcibly elevated.

Her body involuntarily trembled for a moment, then in a flash of inspiration, her step deftly swerved, body gently adhering to the muddy ground.

Her waist undulated nimbly, as though she had transformed into a lively snake, gliding along the ground, speed astonishingly faster than running on legs.

Snake Transformation Force·Snake Step, a stepping technique she had never understood, deciphered by Feng Yuhuai in the face of life and death.

In a dim corner of the alley, a bald middle-aged man, spectacles perched on his nose, strange light flickering in his eyes, observed everything silently.

He suddenly clapped and laughed, voice shaded with admiration and teasing:

"Wonderful, wonderful! To break through at death's edge, possessing such root bone and talent indeed is extraordinary. No wonder it attracts Puppet Mother's favor, becoming one of the candidate hosts."

"Go, stop that Black Face, don't let anyone harm this girl." The middle-aged man said to an unmoving figure behind him.

The figure seemed like a wax statue from a museum, face pale as wax, devoid of blood, breathing almost imperceptible, eyes tightly shut, seemingly isolated from the world.

Upon hearing the man's command, he woke as if from slumber, eyes snapping open.

He stretched his muscles lightly, joints crackling with a strange snap, he then stepped out from the shadows, revealing a face plain and honest like an old farmer.

However, his eyes stood apart, wholly white with only a dot of black pupil, eerily sinister.

Bang.

Black Face No. 2 had just pulled out the ant stick, poised to pursue Feng Yuhuai, when a foul breath swept in from the side.

A tremendous force struck his shoulder, rotten flesh and pus scattered everywhere.

Black Face No. 2 groaned with pain, movements undeterred, stick spinning, slicing through flesh like cutting tofu, piercing the attacker's body, lifting diagonally.

Amidst the tooth-grating sound of slicing, an eerie gash opened in the attacker's abdomen, a long segment of intestine severed, dangling at the thigh root, chilling to see.

In combat, this is almost a fatal wound.

Yet the attacker's face showed no ripple, intestines hanging on his waist, stepping forward, knee thrusting, fiercely striking towards Black Face No. 2's lower body.

Actions savage and brutal beyond reason, yet the ominous black dot in his ghostly white eyes remained unmoved.

Black Face No. 2 retreated sharply, a look of utmost horror spread across his ink-like face which seemed never afraid, stammering turned seamless in fright, he cried out: "Zhang Hao?!!"

Zhang Hao ignored his former comrade's exclamation, his hand raised, fingers casting a dim glow like phosphorescence in the night, directly grabbing for Black Face No. 2's heart.

Cold sweat drenched Black Face No. 2's forehead, dodging repeatedly, thoughts nearly short-circuiting, unable to comprehend why Zhang Hao turned unfamiliar, seemingly losing all reason, failing to recognize him.

He glanced sideways to see Feng Yuhuai distance growing farther, nearly disappearing from sight, anxiety flickered in his eyes, about to chase, only to find Zhang Hao stepping askew, blocking his path with eerie precision and tilt.

Black Face No. 2's mind went blank, teeth gritted tightly, backing helplessly, he turned quickly, heading back to find the deliverer.

The deliverer wasn't adept at combat, hence didn't follow, currently still home accompanying Yang Tuo's corpse.

"You didn't, didn't catch up?"

"Someone stopped him for me?"

Feng Yuhuai heard the short, fierce combat behind her, entertained no thought of looking back at her savior, waist twisting faster, intent on escaping while they're entangled.

Suddenly,

A bizarre voice, aged yet childlike, whispered close to her ear, "Girl, running so fast, not even thinking to meet your savior, isn't it too heartless?"

Feng Yuhuai froze as if struck by a Body-Freezing Technique, neck mechanically turning.

In the darkness, a bald middle-aged man came into view, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, a smile of unfathomable intent flickered in his eyes, staring intently at her.

On his shoulder, a grotesque cloth doll, eye missing, mouth stretched to an exaggerated grin, exposing a pink tongue, seemed to be... laughing?!!

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