Puppets

"Dad, Elder Lee, I will leave everything in your hand. Until I return, hold the enemies down." Saying so, Gu Tan released his internal energy inside the circle. The next moment, the entire circle starts glowing with a yellow bright light.

He jumps out of the circle as the door in front of him opens up. While the door starts opening, a figure slowly emerges from the ground. It was a human body. But, it felt quite different from a human to them.

"Is he a puppet?" Gu Chen turned his eyes at Lee Che and asked.

Lee Che shrugged his shoulders and said "Who knows? Anyway, the village chief said we have to hold him until he returns. So, let's do it."

Saying so, Lee Che thrusts himself towards the enemy. The man slowly raises his hand and the fire erupts out of his palm. The fire took the cylindrical form as it moved towards the Lee Che.

"Lee, dodge that!" Gu Chen shouted as he moved to the side. Lee Che didn't even hesitate to jump to the side. His body collided to the ground a few times but the fire didn't even touch him.

"Damn! What was that? How can he launch such a powerful attack without even wasting a second?" Lee Che gritted his teeth as he got back in his foot. His eyes narrowed once again when he saw the enemy moving his hand.

The stream of fire followed his direction and slashed towards Lee Che. Seeing this fast-paced stream of fire, he ducked down and let the fire move away.

"Tiger Hunt!"

Suddenly, Gu Chen jumped towards the enemy while releasing the internal energy into his fist. He raises his hand and forms a giant claw around his fist as he slashes down. But, suddenly Lee Che shouts when he sees him in the air.

"Chen! Watch out!"

Crack! Splash!

The dark north shield appears around his body before the spear struck him. But, the defense of the shield gets easily shattered by the spear, and his back gets pierced by it.

Thud!

In an instant, he loses his momentum and falls to the ground. Fortunately, he falls on his foot and immediately removes the spear from his back and the blood gushes out.

"Chen!"

Thud! Thud! Whoosh!

Suddenly, Lee Che grabs Gu Chen's body and jumps to the ground. As both of them hit the ground, a stream of fire moves above them.

"Damn! Not only this monstrous enemy which can continuously shoot fire out of palms but also the spears that we need to track before doing anything. This is not just a normal trail." Lee Che gritted his teeth as he spoke.

Then, he turned at Gu Chen and asked "Are you going to be alright?"

"Yea! Wait a minute." Gu Chen spoke while holding a big bandage on his mouth. He took off his shirt and wrapped the bandage over the wound. It stopped bleeding which was all he needed. Then, he wore his shirt and spoke while turning to Lee Che.

"It will take a lot more than this to put me down. Don't worry about my wounds and let's focus on defeating this enemy."

"No! Did you just forget what the village chief said? We need to hold him off until he returns. It means he is sure that we can't defeat him. So, let's just focus on defending." Lee Che shook his head and instantly declined.

Hearing his words, Gu Chen narrowed his eyes and asked "Are you so willing to go down without even trying?"

"Come on! We don't have the energy to act tough. That guy there is literally firing off the fire from his palm non-stop. I don't know why is he not attacking us actively from a close distance but his mana capacity is crazy high." Lee Che rolled his eyes and jumped up alongside Gu Chen as the flame slashed towards them once again.

Hearing his words, Gu Chen stayed silent. He looked around and silently decided to follow Lee Che's advice. They stood there until the flame returned but as soon as they jump, the flame suddenly stopped. And, the moment they landed on the ground, the cylindrical stream of flame slammed them towards the wall.

Thud! Thud!

Upon collision, they hurriedly stood up and jumped once again. But, this time, they jumped horizontally and crossed the fire slash.

"What the hell was that? Why did it suddenly turn off?" Lee Che screamed after stabilizing his breath. His right side had a deep burned mark but thankfully, it was only his skin. As for Gu Chen, he didn't suffer much burn but he felt immense pain. As painful it got, the more stamina got depleted.

"Huff! Huff! I was right. There is no way this would be so easy. That puppet is tracking our movements and making the countermeasure. It seems we must counter but faster than he can track." Gu Chen panted while stabling himself on the ground.

"Seems like it! By the way, why aren't you getting burned? Even with my Fire Elemental Veins, I got burned this much and why are you panting when we haven't even fought a lot? Don't tell me you also started using your right hand a lot despite having Sister Shui with you?" Lee Che couldn't help but make fun of him while asking about his weird situation.

Gu Chen rolled his eyes and spoke "My new cultivation technique allows me to absorb the damage and turn it into pain, also decreasing my stamina. Around my body, there will always be a barrier that represents the cultivation technique but you can't see it."

"Oh! So, what's the plan?" Lee Che didn't bother to ask too much about the cultivation technique instead shifted his gaze at the puppet whose flames were dashing towards them.

"Let's attack him with everything we got! But, be careful of the spears. They might appear from nowhere." Gu Chen spoke while dashing towards the puppet. As he moved, his figure started getting fuzzy.

"Tiger Sprint!"

Suddenly, his body sprinted behind the puppet. Gu Chen stretched his hand and formed a claw with his internal energy. Gu Chen paused his left foot behind the puppet and swings his right arm.

"Tiger Hunt!"

Bang! Thud!

His claw struck the back of the puppet and tore its skin but the next moment, the puppet spun its upper body and slapped Gu Chen to the walls. As soon as Gu Chen moved away, a small bird made out of fire collided against the puppet and exploded.

Boom!

"Fire Style Magic- Firebird!"

Splash!

While Gu Chen was flying out, a spear suddenly break his barrier and pierce his back once again while he collided against the ground.

"Chen!" Lee Che shouted as he dashed towards Gu Chen. He hurriedly reached down to him and plugged the spear out. Without wasting a second, he took out the bandages from Gu Chen's pants and wrapped them around his wound.

"Hey, I feel like the spears are targeting you. For your own sake, you should stay here while I will attack this puppet." Lee Che patted his shoulder while standing up. He understood some patterns of the spear. While he was also moving, the spear didn't even appear once but when Gu Chen moved, the spear appeared three times already.

Just as he moved away, Gu Chen caught his hand and slowly lifted himself.

"You are injured. Just stop acting tough and take a rest." Lee Che tried to convince him Gu Chen was dead set on fighting.

"You can't fight him alone. He could start close rang combat any moment. And, even if those spears aren't targeting you because I am here then they will start targeting you once. Even if it is just speculation, we can't outlook this. And, don't worry, I am not going down this easily." Gu Chen spoke while clenching his fist.

"You sure? You got two holes in your back excluding that real hole." Lee Che asked because he still didn't want Gu Chen to continue fighting while being targeted by the spears.

"I have practiced Body Metamorphosis Technique for three years. Unless I am dead completely or got real low in stamina, I can still fight even with dozens of holes on my body. This technique supports your body for the battle as long as your Will can."

"He proved this fact when he saved the children. So, don't worry about me and focus on damaging that puppet. Your fire has much more offensive powers than mine so do your best. And, don't forget what he said before leaving."

"He said 'Hold the enemies down'. That means the puppet wasn't the only enemy we had to face. I believe the one shooting these spears is another puppet. Since it is just a puppet, I can still figure out its movement and dodge the spear." Gu Chen shook his head and glanced at the ceiling which seemed completely constructed with the steel.

Lee Che stared at Gu Chen for a moment and stretched his arm.

"Alright then! You take down that spear puppet while I will blast this puppet."