Published: March 2, 2025
Shadows flickered between the darkness, swiftly moving as the shadows leaped. In no time, they arrived within the large circle marked on the map.
Just as the head of the spies claimed, this place was indeed the territory of the soul puppets in the Main City of the Layered Battlefield. Inside, there were no traces of other life apart from the soul puppets. Correspondingly, although it seemed there were no defenses on the surface, the sheer difference in clan was enough to keep all spies firmly outside the door.
This naturally posed no challenge to the shadows. With the activation of their abilities, they directly infiltrated the restricted area without being detected by any soul puppets. What remained was only a thorough search.
...
The shadows moved cautiously, but the progress did not seem slow. With continuous activation of their shadow traversal, within just a week, they had already locked onto a specific area.
That area was Wen Yu's mansion in the Main City of the Layered Battlefield.
The mansion was vast, appearing even more luxurious than the celestial god's inner sanctum on Earth. Unfortunately, this creation of the mountain puppet had not been inhabited by Wen Yu even once since its completion. It wasn’t until Tang Haofei's arrival that this place could be considered to have a master.
Although Wen Yu left Tang Haofei in the Layered Battlefield with a hint of supervision, he still did his best to find a suitable place for Tang Haofei to rest—such as his own mansion.
In other words, the shadows had indeed found the right place!
The interior of the mansion was pleasant, featuring an outdoor garden with beautiful scenery, making it suitable for retirement. Coupled with the care of the soul puppets, this treatment was enough to make an ordinary person feel overjoyed and comfortably enjoy their golden years. But unfortunately, Tang Haofei was not an ordinary person...
As the shadows infiltrated the mansion, they sensed the presence of a fellow clan member in the air ahead.
Invisible to the naked eye, but due to the shadows' superior strength compared to the concealed cloud puppet clan members, they could detect the cloud puppets' positions while hiding their own presence.
Changing direction, the shadows took a few steps and encountered another cloud puppet.
Although the mansion seemed empty, its defenses were impeccable. Countless cloud puppets were tightly covering the mansion like umbrellas, monitoring any unexpected situations that might arise.
"This seems a bit troublesome..."
The shadows found themselves in a dilemma until they spotted a tall earth puppet carrying a tray, walking towards the interior of the mansion. The shadows' eyes lit up.
...
"Knock knock knock..."
A crisp knock echoed, and then the earth puppet did not wait for a response from the occupants inside but directly pushed the door open.
Everything inside came into view.
The decor was simple, but the space was large overall, predominantly white. Additionally, there were massive floor-to-ceiling windows on the east, south, and north sides, allowing light to pour in from outside and bringing comfortable natural illumination into the room.
There was only one person inside, his face worn and tired, his brow darkened, with unkempt hair and beard. Even the corners of his eyes were marred by large clumps of eye discharge. Hearing the door open, he did not turn his head but simply sat in a wheelchair, gazing into the distance.
“Lord Tang Haofei, your lunch,” said the earth puppet, then stepped forward to place the tray on the table. With a lift of the cover, an enticing aroma wafted throughout the room.
“This is the pan-fried bone demon spine made by Chef Li Ao, and this is the ancient demon heart fruit made by Chef Raina, and this is…”
As the earth puppet arranged the food on the table and announced the names of the dishes, Tang Haofei remained silent.
“Sir, which dish would you like to try first?”
Tang Haofei continued to remain quiet. After a long while, the earth puppet finally picked up utensils from the table and carefully brought the food to Tang Haofei's mouth.