One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Inside the stilted house, after a brief rest and discussion, the temporary workers decided to take advantage of the night to go out and "get some exercise".

"During the day, Ma Xianhong's men are keeping a close watch on us, so we can't get anything done," Zhang Chulan said in a low voice to everyone in the main room. "They always relax a bit at night. We must find out the exact location and defenses of the ancestral hall and the self-cultivation furnace, as well as Chen Duo's exact whereabouts."

"Baby and I will go scout out the area around the ancestral hall." Black Pipe slung the assembled custom sniper rifle over his back and checked the tactical equipment at his waist. "That's the core area, the defense will definitely be the tightest, we need a strong assault team."

"This humble monk will go with Benefactor Wang Zhenqiu to check the direction of the workshop on the back mountain." Xiao Zizai said calmly, flicking his prayer beads. "The terrain there is complex; perhaps we can find a gap to sneak in, or discover some other clues."

"Then Uncle Meng and I will take a walk around the village," Zhang Chulan interjected, "to observe the villagers' nighttime activities, listen to what's going on, and try to get some useful information out of the ordinary villagers."

Old Meng adjusted his glasses and nodded in agreement: "Okay. Maintain communication, channel three. If you discover anything or encounter any danger, warn us immediately. Don't engage in a direct confrontation."

"clear."

The group quietly left the porch, like drops of ink falling into the night, quickly dispersing and blending into the winding alleys and deep darkness of Biyou Village.

Zhang Chulan and Lao Meng strolled leisurely along the main bluestone path of the village, like tourists taking an evening walk to digest their food. The village was much quieter than during the day; most windows were dark, with only a few houses still lit, from which the faint sounds of televisions or whispers could be heard. The streetlights along the road were spaced far apart, casting long shadows of the two men.

"The villagers have a very regular schedule," Old Meng said in a low voice, his gaze sweeping over the dark stilted houses on both sides. "They look no different from an ordinary mountain village. But the more regular they are, the more it shows that Ma Xianhong has a strong control over the village and can manage so many extraordinary people in an orderly manner."

"Hmm," Zhang Chulan nodded, but his ears perked up, catching every subtle sound around him. "And have you noticed? Although they all look asleep, I have a feeling... there are actually people behind many of the windows."

His intuition was right. After walking through several alleys, the feeling of being subtly watched became increasingly obvious. Although they couldn't see any specific figures, the faint fluctuations of "qi" and the occasional flashes of light in the darkness (possibly eyes) indicated that they hadn't escaped surveillance.

The two pretended not to notice and continued their "stroll," gradually walking to the small square in the center of the village. This was the place where villagers gathered during the day, but now it was deserted, with only the wooden pole in the center, with its old lantern hanging from it, swaying slightly in the night wind and making a soft "creaking" sound.

"The view is too open here, it's not safe. Let's go," Old Meng whispered a reminder.

Zhang Chulan was about to nod when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Old Meng," he lowered his voice, his tone tense, "listen."

Old Meng listened intently, his expression suddenly changing.

"Shh...shh..."

A dense, slight friction sound came from all directions. It wasn't the sound of wind, nor the chirping of insects, but more like... the sound of many feet stepping on dry earth or stone slabs, neat, light, yet with a mechanical rhythm.

The sound grew closer and clearer.

Then, at the edge of the square, in the shadows of the houses, at the corners of the alleys, behind the old trees... stiff figures, as if emerging from the ground or peeling off from the walls, slowly walked out.

The moonlight and the dim streetlights in the distance barely outlined their shapes.

Uniform, rough, dark gray cloth clothing. Stiff, ramrod-straight posture. Identical, expressionless faces belonging to young women—delicate, dull, with vacant eyes. Their numbers were so vast that they quickly surrounded the edge of the square, and more were constantly emerging from the darkness.

flowery.

Ma Xianhong mass-produced humanoid puppets using the "Divine Machine Refinement". Individual combat power may not be strong, but they are tireless, fearless of injury, and their numbers are astonishing. They can also be unified and commanded through a special core to fight in coordination.

"Holy crap..." Zhang Chulan gasped, feeling a chill run down his spine. "So many?! Why didn't I see them during the day?!"

Looking around, the square was densely packed with at least a hundred Ruhua figures, and there were also shadowy figures moving about in the alleys in the distance, their numbers impossible to estimate! They stood there silently, their empty eyes all "staring" at the two people in the center of the square, without making a sound, yet bringing a suffocating sense of oppression.

"Run!" Old Meng shouted in a low voice, making a decisive move, and turned to rush towards a relatively sparse gap in the direction he came from!

But it was too late.

As if receiving an invisible command, all the Ruhuas moved at the same instant!

There were no shouts, no roars, only the synchronized, teeth-grinding sounds of joints turning and the whistling of clothes tearing through the air! Hundreds of Ruhua, like a black tide, surged towards the center of the square from all directions! Their running movements were slightly stiff, but their speed was not slow, and they seemed to have some kind of tacit cooperation with each other, blocking all possible escape routes!

The first few girls who rushed over were already throwing punches! The force of their punches cut through the air!

Zhang Chulan's pupils contracted, and the Golden Light Spell instantly enveloped his entire body! "Clang! Clang!" Two muffled sounds rang out as he forcefully received two punches, leaving his arms numb and his feet staggering backward! The power of these puppets far exceeded his expectations!

Old Meng was in an even more troublesome situation. He wasn't particularly skilled in close combat, but with a wave of his hand, several solid wind blades slashed out, cutting the leading "Ruhua" figures in half at the waist! The puppets' bodies shattered, parts and unknown filler flying everywhere. But the broken puppets didn't lose their mobility; their upper bodies continued to crawl forward, clawing at the ground, while their lower bodies wobbled and continued to advance! Even more terrifying, more "Ruhua" figures surged forward from behind, leaving Old Meng no space to unleash larger-scale spells!

"Old Meng! Think of something! We can't kill all these things!" Zhang Chulan used the Golden Light Mantra to tough it out while desperately dodging punches and kicks coming from all directions. These attacks were perfectly coordinated and as fast as a storm, leaving him overwhelmed.

"They're puppets! Even if their core isn't destroyed, they can be reassembled! We must find the control center or the manipulator!" Old Meng was also struggling. His wind blades, though sharp, required a brief moment of concentration to unleash each strike, and the relentless, overwhelming attacks gave him no chance to breathe! "The controller must be nearby! Find them!"

"How am I supposed to find him!" Zhang Chulan narrowly dodged a hand that was reaching for his throat from a woman named Ruhua, and slapped the woman's chest with his own, knocking her back a few steps. But immediately, three or four more Ruhuas filled the gap. He felt his Golden Light Spell being consumed extremely quickly under such a dense attack. If this continued, it wouldn't be long before it was completely overwhelmed!

It seemed the two were about to be completely swallowed up by this silent, endless sea of ​​humanoid puppets—

"Wow, so lively so late at night? Is it a party?"

A lazy, sleepy, and teasing voice suddenly came from above the roof.

The sound wasn't loud, but it strangely pierced through the noise of the puppet's movements and the muffled thuds of fists and feet striking each other, clearly reaching Zhang Chulan and Lao Meng's ears.

The two of them perked up at the same time, forcefully forcing back the several women in front of them, and looked up.

On the roof of a tall stilted building next to the square, a person was sitting.

The soft moonlight spilled down, outlining the man's loosely draped Taoist robe, his messy hair that seemed never to have been properly combed, and his handsome face, which was filled with drowsiness. One leg was bent, and the other dangled casually, swaying by the eaves. In his hand, he held half a half-eaten apple, taking a "crunch" as he chewed it with relish.

"The King of Wudang?!" Zhang Chulan was both surprised and delighted, he could hardly believe his eyes! How could this Taoist priest, with whom he had crossed paths at the Luotian Grand Ceremony on Longhu Mountain, who possessed the Feng Hou Qi Men technique and whose behavior was extremely unrestrained, appear in Biyou Village, thousands of miles away?!

Wang Ye swallowed the apple in his mouth, took another bite, and mumbled, "Shameless? Zhang Chulan? Sure, you can cause a huge commotion wherever you go. Instead of sleeping at night, you're having a party with a bunch of 'figures'? Are all your temporary workers this dedicated to their jobs?"

"Master Wang! Help!" Zhang Chulan didn't even bother to criticize his choice of words. Taking advantage of the moment when Ru Hua was distracted by Wang Ye's voice and her attack slowed down, he shouted out.

"Save him, save him, I'll save him right away, what's the rush?" Wang sighed, seemingly annoyed at being disturbed from his peaceful dream. He quickly finished the rest of the apple, then casually tossed the core onto the head of a little girl, Ruhua, who was lunging at Old Meng.

"Snapped!"

The apple core struck Ru Hua precisely on the forehead. Although it did not cause any damage, it made Ru Hua's movements pause strangely for half a second.

In that split second, Wang Ye formed a seemingly simple yet incredibly profound hand seal in front of his chest. His entire demeanor instantly transformed from languid and carefree to ethereal and otherworldly, and he softly uttered four words:

"The chaotic clapper".

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no dazzling brilliance.

But centered on the roof where Wang Ye was, an invisible and intangible fluctuation, which seemed to be able to distort space and time, spread instantly to the entire square like ripples on the surface of water!

The flow of time has been forcibly disrupted!

All the puppets in the square suddenly became extremely slow and sluggish! Their raising of hands, stepping, and pouncing were as if they had been slowed down ten or even dozens of times, turning into laughable slow motion! Even the movement of their empty eyes became clearly visible, like rusty gears!

Zhang Chulan and Lao Meng felt the pressure around them ease, and the storm of attacks suddenly turned into slow-motion attacks that could be easily dodged. Seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the two unleashed their inner "Qi," shoving aside several slow-moving figures like Ru Hua, and rushed towards the eaves where Wang Ye was!

"This way!" Wang Ye patted the roof tiles beside him, gesturing for them to come up.

Zhang Chulan and Lao Meng leaped up onto the roof and landed next to Wang Ye, both panting and still shaken.

"Master Wang, I am deeply grateful!" Zhang Chulan said, panting heavily, expressing his sincere thanks.

"Don't mention it, it was just a small favor." Wang Ye waved his hand and yawned again, as if his miraculous "Chaotic Golden Clapper" technique had merely shooed away a fly. "But you guys made quite a commotion. Even if Village Chief Ma has a good temper, he probably won't be able to sleep now."

"Master Wang, what are you doing here?" Zhang Chulan asked, catching his breath. This Wudang Wang Ye, with his mysterious background and unfathomable strength, was no coincidence to suddenly appear in Biyou Village.

"Me?" Wang Ye scratched his messy hair, looking helpless with a "don't even mention it" expression. "I came to find someone. After I defeated Zhuge Qing, that kid developed inner demons. He heard that Ma Xianhong has the Eight Extraordinary Skills and is also good at mechanical arts, so he insisted on coming to exchange them. I was afraid he would get himself 'exchanged' into it, so I had to come along to try and get him out of there before he ruins himself."

"Zhuge Qing?!" Zhang Chulan's eyes widened even more. "Zhuge Qing of the Wuhou Qimen? He's here too?!"

"Indeed." Wang sighed and looked towards the ancestral hall. "That guy's interest in the 'Divine Refinement' and the 'Self-Cultivation Furnace' is ridiculously high. These past few days, he's been spending all his time in the workshop discussing 'academic issues' with Ma Xianhong. We can't stop him."

Zhang Chulan and Lao Meng exchanged a glance, both seeing the gravity in each other's eyes. Zhuge Qing, a rising star of the younger generation of the Wuhou Qimen sect, was meticulous and possessed extremely high attainments in Qimen arts. His involvement made the situation in Biyou Village even more complex and unpredictable.

"Oh, right," Wang Ye seemed to suddenly remember something, turned to look at Zhang Chulan, a hint of amusement and meaning flashing in his eyes, "Nie Lingfeng, did you come with you too? When I was wandering around the village during the day, I seemed to vaguely sense a familiar, goosebump-inducing sharp aura, it flashed by, but it was gone when I looked closely."

Zhang Chulan's heart skipped a beat. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded: "Brother Feng... he did come. But after entering the village, he acted alone and hasn't rejoined us. We don't know exactly where he is or what he's doing."

"That's right." Wang Ye smiled, a knowing smile that hinted at "I knew it," and a hint of anticipation. "That kid is definitely brewing some incredible move, or... he's up to some wicked scheme. You guys, good luck to yourselves, don't get dragged into this."

After saying that, he yawned widely and rubbed his eyes. "I'm so sleepy. I haven't slept well for days because of looking for that kid Zhuge Qing. I'm going to bed now. Tomorrow, I guess I'll be busy again."

He stood up, stretched, his Taoist robe hanging loosely on his body, and then swayed leisurely along the roof ridge to the roof of another house. With a few leaps, he disappeared into the layers of roof tiles and the night, as if the astonishing "chaotic clapper" was just everyone's illusion.

Zhang Chulan and Lao Meng stood on the rooftop, looking at each other in bewilderment.

"This Taoist priest Wang Ye..." Old Meng pushed up his glasses and said with a wry smile, "He really is... elusive and rarely seen."

"It's more than just a dragon," Zhang Chulan said with a wry smile, "it's practically... a bug. With him around, it feels like anything can happen, and anything can become... more complicated."

"What do we do now?" Old Meng looked down and saw that the effect of "Luan Jin Tuo" seemed to be gradually weakening, and some of Ru Hua's movements were starting to speed up.

"Let's go back first!" Zhang Chulan made a decisive decision. "It seems like tonight's reconnaissance is hopeless. Let's go back and discuss with Brother Hei Guan and the others. We need to reassess the appearance of Wang Ye and Zhuge Qing, as well as Brother Feng's movements."

Without delay, the two took advantage of the lingering effects of "Chaotic Golden Clang" to quickly sneak across the rooftop, bypass the plaza area, and head back towards the stilted house where they were temporarily staying.

The night was darker.

After a brief period of commotion, Biyou Village once again fell into a seemingly calm darkness. But everyone knew that beneath this calm, the undercurrents were surging even more fiercely.

In the storeroom in the backyard of the ancestral hall.

Chen Duo remained gazing up at the night sky.

After a long while, she slowly lowered her head and looked at her left hand again.

Then, very, very lightly, tentatively, she shook hands with her left hand.

The feeling of warmth seems to still linger.

It's very faint, but it definitely exists.

Like the first ray of sunlight at the end of the night, on the distant horizon, which, no matter how hard it tries, will eventually pierce the darkness...

The first light of dawn.