Chapter 12: Successfully Conquered

I felt my breathing growing more and more labored. I knew by now my face must be flushed red; if I didn’t break free soon, this maid was going to strangle me to death.

“Zhao Zhiqiang, quick…” I mustered every ounce of strength left in me and called out for Zhao Zhiqiang.

At the same time, I pulled out a talisman meant to break evil spells, ignited it in an instant, and pressed it against the maid’s arm. She let out a piercing shriek and loosened her grip on my neck.

Though the talisman couldn’t truly harm her, it managed to drive her back, giving me a chance to retaliate. When she lunged at me again, hands reaching for my throat, I dodged nimbly. Just as I was about to kick her, a black shadow flashed before my eyes. The next moment, the maid let out a bloodcurdling scream that echoed through the chamber.

Startled, I looked more closely. Zhao Zhiqiang was gripping a peachwood sword, which he had plunged deep into the maid’s thigh. Smoke curled up from both his hand and her leg, filling the air with the sharp stench of burning flesh.

Spotting my chance, I seized the maid by the neck and pressed a spirit-subduing talisman to her forehead. Instantly, she went stiff as a log and crashed to the ground, her body rigid, eyes tightly shut.

Seeing the maid collapse, Zhao Zhiqiang hurriedly tossed aside the peachwood sword, his hands billowing with thick black smoke. He slumped weakly to the floor. Though he now appeared only as a shadowy form, it was clear he was badly injured.

There was no time to lose. With the tip of my middle finger, I pressed the center of the spirit-subduing talisman at the maid’s brow. It was as if I were tugging on an invisible thread. As I lifted my hand, the soul of a woman emerged, eyes closed.

I shot Zhao Zhiqiang a look. “Zhao Zhiqiang, quick!”

Even though he was seriously hurt, Zhao Zhiqiang didn’t hesitate for a moment when he heard me call. He scrambled to his feet, rushed to the lifeless body, and swiftly lay down upon it.

After a short while, Zhao Zhiqiang opened his eyes and slowly sat up from the ground. Almost immediately, he felt the pain searing through his hands and thigh.

“Why is it always me who ends up injured?” Zhao Zhiqiang grimaced, tearing a strip of cloth from his clothes to bind the wound on his leg and stop the bleeding. As for his hands, the injury was internal—nothing could be seen from the outside.

I controlled the maid’s soul with my middle finger, but Zhao Zhiqiang’s constant groans grated on my nerves. Frowning deeply, I snapped, “What are you standing around for? Get me a container—I need to seal this thing inside!”

Only then did Zhao Zhiqiang come to his senses. He scrambled to his feet and began searching around frantically.

Suddenly, Zhao Zhiqiang’s eyes lit up as he spotted a clay jar in the corner. Grinning at me, he grabbed it and handed it over. Without another word, I locked the maid’s soul inside.

Relieved, I set the jar down, but a nagging feeling swept through my mind—I sensed something was missing.

I furrowed my brow and glanced at Zhao Zhiqiang. “Don’t you feel like something’s off?”

“Huh? Off? I don’t know.” Zhao Zhiqiang looked completely baffled. Suddenly, inspiration struck. My eyes widened as I whispered, “Where did the two wooden puppets go?”

“Oh, hell! The puppets—they’re gone!” Zhao Zhiqiang shuddered, his eyes growing even wider than mine.

“We need to find them right now, or there’ll be endless trouble!” I spoke gravely.

“What? The danger’s already behind us, and you want to go chasing after more? Isn’t that just asking to get killed?” Zhao Zhiqiang shrank back, casting me a sidelong glance.

My voice was stern and left no room for argument. “If we don’t deal with those puppets, they could go after Black Jacket and Ma Xu next. They’d be in danger then!”

“Right, right—let’s hurry!” With my reminder, Zhao Zhiqiang dared not delay. He quickly stood by my side, ready to search for the puppets with me.

Just as we were about to move forward, a series of sharp “tap-tap-tap” sounds echoed from the burial chamber, as if something was striking the ground, followed by eerie reverberations. The noise sent chills down my spine.

I frowned and signaled Zhao Zhiqiang to stay silent. He obediently followed behind as I led the way toward the source of the sound.

“Brother, do you think we’ll lose another chunk of flesh this time?” Zhao Zhiqiang was still shaken by what had happened before. He stammered, his voice trembling.

I shot him a withering look. “And you call yourself an experienced tomb raider?”

“Honestly, brother, this tomb is the strangest I’ve ever seen,” Zhao Zhiqiang muttered, his eyes darting ahead like a startled rabbit.

I straightened my back and strode forward. As soon as I rounded a corner, I saw two dark figures in the gloom. Their bodies were rigid, each movement stiff and unnatural, like marionettes on strings—utterly bizarre.

“There they are,” I said coldly, fixing my gaze on the two wooden puppets. “With the maid gone, there’s no one left to command them.”

At that moment, the two puppets seemed to notice us. They jerked their heads toward us and stared, motionless, their gaze sending a chill through me.

“What’s happening?” Zhao Zhiqiang was petrified by the puppets’ actions. He tugged at my sleeve, his voice quivering.

I shook my head, signaling him to keep quiet, and lowered my voice. “I’m not sure. Let’s wait and see—but I have a bad feeling about this.”

No sooner had the words left my lips than a clattering noise erupted from the darkness. The puppets suddenly lunged at us.

“Look out!” I shouted, reaching to pull Zhao Zhiqiang aside. He stood frozen in terror—if I hadn’t dragged him away, the puppets would have seized him already.

“Run! What are you waiting for?” I scolded. Zhao Zhiqiang finally snapped out of it, his face deathly pale.

“Brother, what do we do now?” Zhao Zhiqiang was at a loss. I hesitated for a moment, then dodged aside to stand next to him, my voice cold. “Each of us takes one. Can you handle that?”

“What? Brother, you’re killing me here!” Zhao Zhiqiang stammered, eyes wide with fear.

Before he could think, one of the puppets was already upon him. He had no choice but to act.

“Damn it, I’ll fight you!” With no way to avoid it, Zhao Zhiqiang pulled a curse-breaking talisman from his pocket, set it alight, and flung it at the puppet. The puppet immediately convulsed in agony.