Zu An frowned. “Did something invade your consciousness?”

He looked around anxiously, but didn’t see anything. “This place is really weird.”

Pei Mianman shook her head. “I don’t think so. I don’t feel the dizziness that comes with being manipulated, and those scenes feel like my own memories… I only know that there’s a strange feeling about all this.”

Zu An was about to reply, but something changed dramatically in the fight below them. The stalemate between the taoties and the skeletal warrior was finally broken. A taotie screamed and charged at the skeleton.

Those cruel white teeth looked as though they could bite straight through any bone on the skeletal warrior’s body.

The skeletal warrior flung out its shield, straight towards the taotie, which was charging at it with great speed. The shield was flying almost as fast as the taotie was running—how could it possibly evade?

The spinning shield was like a cutting machine, cleaving the taotie’s skull right in half. The momentum continued to push the rest of the taotie’s body forward, but it soon crashed to the ground, its legs and feet twitching about.

Meanwhile, the spinning shield behaved like a boomerang, returning to the skeletal warrior’s hands.

The two horns on one of the taotie’s heads flickered with electricity, sending a streak of blue light lancing out at the spinning shield and striking it squarely. The flying shield shuddered before falling to the ground. It stopped spinning and became completely still, as if its connection to its owner had been severed.

The other taoties’ horns also began to flicker with electricity. Streaks of blue light shout towards the skeletal warrior.

The skeletal warrior brandished the long spear in its hands, forming an impenetrable barrier in front of itself and blocking every bolt of blue lightning.

With a firm push off the ground, the skeletal warrior flew forward, leaving behind an afterimage. It appeared beside the closest taotie and hacked at it with its spear, instantly chopping off the taotie’s feet. Unbalanced, the taotie fell to the ground.

The skeletal warrior didn’t give it another opportunity, and dealt a lethal blow.

Its long spear sunk into the taotie’s body. A taotie’s long tail flicked over, striking the skeleton’s arm.

No matter how sturdy its bones were, the skeletal warrior was unable to shrug off this blow. The ferocity behind the attack knocked the spear out of its hands.

Despite this setback, it reacted quickly. It reached out one hand to grab the attacking tail, and then it used this taotie as its new weapon, flinging it as though throwing a discus. It collided with another of its brethren.

“Screech!” The two taoties wailed miserably, confused and disoriented from the collision.

With a flick of its foot, the skeletal warrior flipped its long spear into the air and sent it flying with a firm side kick.

The spear shot out with absolute precision, instantly impaling one of the unsteady taoties and nailing it into the wall.

Zu An swallowed. This skeletal warrior had to have been an incredible warrior when it was alive. There was no other way it could be this badass!

The most unfortunate taotie was the one which had had its tail grabbed. The skeletal warrior picked it up and slammed it back into the ground again and again. After more than ten earth-rattling blows, its entire body was covered in wounds, seeping with all sorts of vile liquids.

The last taotie finally shook itself out of its daze. It threw itself at the skeletal warrior, knocking it to the ground.

The skeletal warrior let go of the tail he was holding and turned his attention to this remaining taotie.

Zu An found himself caught in two minds. Should he help this last taotie? After all, he had only stayed because he wanted to find a chance to deal with all of them once and for all. That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about being chased by either side.

However, the skeletal warrior was just too strong. It had taken care of four taoties almost instantly.

Even though a taotie managed to knock it down, it was an undead creature. He really didn’t think that the taotie had any chance of victory.

This battle had already reached its climax. The taotie continuously raked its sharp claws against the skeletal warrior’s body, filling the air with ear-splitting scraping sounds.

Deep, long furrows were beginning to show on the skeletal warrior’s sturdy bones.

The taotie’s sharp tail waved about, stabbing at the skeletal warrior’s skull again and again. The skeletal warrior continuously evaded the strikes, and the sharp tail kicked up fountains of dirt. It was a truly chaotic scene.

Zu An stroked his chin. Why does this scene look so familiar…?

He was still hesitant about whether or not he should help. However, that skeletal warrior could heal even if its skull were chopped off, so he really didn’t know what could possibly counter it.

In the end, he decided to let the taotie test the waters a little longer. After all, according to what Big Manman said, the two of them were mortal enemies, and each of them definitely knew about the other’s weaknesses.

The skeletal warrior planted his foot against the Taotie’s belly and kicked out, sending it smashing into a nearby wall. Debris flew everywhere.

The skeletal warrior crawled to its feet and charged at the taotie. The taotie suddenly launched its incredibly sturdy tongue at its skull.

The skeletal warrior was already prepared for this attack. It dodged to the side and reached out a hand, grabbing the tongue. With a ferocious yank, he ripped the entire tongue out of the taotie’s mouth.

The taotie screeched in untold agony. Blood and other unknown liquids gushed out of its mouth. It staggered to the side and collapsed. Having this massive tongue torn out was apparently a mortal wound, even for something as tough as this creature.

Zu An couldn’t hide his disappointment. I know you can’t beat that skeleton, but you can’t be that useless, right? You all seemed so vicious when up against me earlier, but you just let that skeleton annihilate all of you like that?

No wonder this fellow was put on guard duty. It’s just way too strong.

Despite this, Zu An remained calm. He looked at Pei Mianman. “I think I know what its weakness is.”

Pei Mianman wasn’t stupid either. She had also figured out what he was thinking from watching the battle. “It’s head!”

Those Taotie were always trying to attack its head. There was surely a reason for this.

Zu An had only removed the skull from its body, but did not fully crush its head. That was why he had mistakenly believed that it was immortal.

The taotie which had been smashed repeatedly into the ground was somehow still alive. It staggered to its feet and instinctively tried to run, having already lost its will to fight.

That skeletal warrior reached out its hand, and then the shield that had fallen to the floor earlier came alive again. It flew past the taotie and returned to its owner’s hand.

The taotie continued to run a few more steps before its head slid off.

The skeletal warrior walked over to the taotie impaled against the wall to retrieve its spear. It pulled out the spear in one smooth motion, then turned around. Its red eyes stared coldly at Zu An and Pei Mianman.

Zu An swallowed. Even though he knew its weakness now, it had just shown them how terrifyingly strong it was. The two of them stood absolutely no chance.

He was just about to wonder what he should do when something unexpected happened. The sharp end of a tail came poking out of the skeletal warrior’s forehead.

The skeletal warrior wanted to turn around and see what had killed it, but with its head pierced through like that, it couldn’t even complete this simple movement.

Zu An and Pei Mianman squinted, and noticed another taotie hidden on a beam behind it. They didn’t know how long it had spent hiding there. It had waited until the skeletal warrior had killed its comrades and dropped its guard before delivering this lethal strike.

The skeletal warrior tried to raise its spear, but a terrifying tongue flew out, blasting its skeletal hand to pieces.

The taotie slowly lifted its tail into the air, raising the skeleton with it. The red light burning within the skeletal warrior’s eyes dimmed and scattered, and its other arm hung powerlessly. The shield it was holding fell to the ground with a thunk.

Zu An wanted to take that shield for himself, but he gave up on the idea when the taotie hopped off the beam. This taotie was larger than any of the other ones he had seen, several times the size of those ordinary taoties.

“I think we should leave this place as quickly as possible,” said Pei Mianman.

“I concur.” The two of them turned and ran as soon as the words left his mouth.

The earlier taotie’s attacks had left behind several scars on the skeletal warrior’s bones, but they weren’t able to truly defeat it. However, this new fellow’s tongue had instantly smashed its entire forearm to pieces. There was no way they would be able to win this fight.

The giant taotie let out a roar and gave chase, plodding after them with heavy footsteps. It moved very quickly, which was completely unexpected, given it’s enormous body.

“Why isn’t that guy eating its friends’ corpses?!” Zu An yelled, cursing. Unfortunately, there was nothing else they could do right now but run.

He wanted to find a narrow path to run towards, which would hopefully slow down the creature behind them. However, this palace was incredibly massive, and there were no narrow spaces to be found.

After some time, the two of them found themselves in front of a staircase, leading up to an elevated pavilion. They stared upwards, their expressions slightly despairing. Heading up these stairs and into the pavilion was asking for death.

They turned back around, preparing to fight. It was almost as if their backs were against a wall. Unexpectedly, the massive taotie suddenly stopped. It stayed several zhang away, staring vigilantly at the elevated pavilion, as though it was somehow afraid.