Under One Person: The Puppet Immortal in the Tang Sect

As the city gate came into view, little did they expect that someone had been waiting there for a long time.

Those were the military police of Osaka Castle, numbering twenty or thirty men, each armed with a rifle, already in formation.

"Surrender or we'll shoot!"

Despair flashed in Kyokotsu's eyes.

With ambushes ahead and pursuers behind, is he really doomed to escape today?

Just then, the ground beneath Kyokotsu's feet suddenly collapsed, revealing a huge crater.

Before he could even react, he lost control and fell straight into the deep pit.

At the bottom of the pit, several ground insects were waiting for him with their mouths wide open.

Mad Bone roared, thrusting out his bone spear and shattering a ground-walking worm.

But more ground insects swarmed up, entangled his hands and feet, and tried to drag him underground.

"You bunch of scum! Aaaaah!"

Mad Bones struggled frantically, his bone spurs shooting out, but the soil beneath his feet swallowed him up like a vast ocean, leaving him with no foothold.

Helpless, Kyokotsu could only keep activating his powers, attempting to extend his bone spikes to both stop more earthworms from rushing up and try to find a foothold.

Those earth-walking insects were not only incredibly strong and fearless of injury or death, but also had a blue light shining between their teeth.

The bone spurs unleashed by the Mad Bones embedded themselves in the soil, greatly reducing their power.

The protruding bone spurs were precisely broken off by the earthworm.

The repeated battles and escapes had greatly depleted Kyokotsu's resources.

As more and more earthworms clung to Mad Bones' body, the Devouring Power contained within them slowly seeped into his body, and Mad Bones' feeble struggles grew weaker and weaker.

It wasn't until it was completely covered by the earthworms that its seven meridians and eight channels were sealed by the power of the pill, and after being packed up by the earthworms, it once again burrowed underground.

Meanwhile, Yagyu Muneyoshi, who was on the ground, rushed to the edge of the pit and saw chaos inside.

The smoke and dust obscured the view, making it difficult to see clearly. The sounds of metal clashing, bones scraping against each other, and the furious roar of the mad bone made it even harder for Yagyu Muneyoshi to discern the situation underground.

White bone spikes kept shooting out of the cave entrance, clearly indicating that the Mad Bone was fighting an unknown opponent inside the pit.

He tried to jump, but was held tightly by the members of the Yagyu family.

"Master, you mustn't! The situation down there is unknown; it's too dangerous for you to go down!"

Yagyu Muneyoshi gritted his teeth and slashed at the pit with his sword, but the sword energy missed its mark.

Mad Bones was completely controlled in a short time, dragged deeper underground, and disappeared without a trace.

Damn it!

Yagyu Muneyoshi roared and slashed his sword at the wall beside him, leaving a deep crack.

The pursuers arrived at the edge of the pit, staring at the bottomless abyss, and looked at each other in bewilderment.

"How to do?"

"Continue chasing them?"

"Why are you chasing me? If you're looking to die, don't drag me down with you!"

Fortunately, an Onmyoji summoned several shikigami to investigate, but the area below was completely clean, with no trace of the fight except for the marks left by Kyokotsu.

Just like in that dark alley just now, it seemed that Kuang Gu was fighting to the death with some unseen enemy, but there was no trace of that enemy.

Amidst the discussions among the various factions in Osaka Castle, Kyokotsu's figure vanished completely.

Deep underground, Mad Bones was being dragged along by Earth-Walking Worms.

Kuang Gu was still struggling, although he was controlled by the power of Dan Shi, which sealed all his Qi.

But who is Mad Bones? After enduring countless tortures and mental torment, he developed an iron will.

Even after losing his Qi, Kuang Gu could still remain clear-headed, and with the support of Dan Shi's power, he regained his sanity like never before.

He knew that once these damned puppets delivered him to his destination, even more cruel and miserable days might await him.

Kyokotsu didn't want to go back to that miserable life, and besides, Lord Hagoromo Gitsune was waiting for him to save her.

Therefore, he could not sit idly by and wait for his death; he had to find a way to escape!

Chapter 274 Bone in a Cage

Deep underground, Mad Bones was being dragged along by Earth-Walking Worms.

Kyokotsu has stopped struggling.

He realized that such behavior was of no use other than wasting his already limited energy.

It's better to conserve your energy to deal with what's to come.

The mouthparts of those earthworms bit his limbs and continuously injected pale blue Qi into the wounds.

Wherever that Qi passed, his meridians seemed to be frozen, and he completely lost consciousness.

The Qi within his body seemed to have solidified, remaining stagnant and unable to move even slightly no matter how he tried to control it.

This is also the main reason why Mad Bones gradually lost his resistance in the pit, but fortunately, his brute strength was not completely lost because his Qi was sealed.

Moreover, Kyokotsu remained conscious throughout this time.

It could even be described as an unprecedented clarity of mind.

The hallucinations, delirium, and madness that had tormented him for decades vanished at that moment.

It was as if the sunlight had dispelled the fog that had shrouded his mind, making his mind clearer and more lucid than ever before.

He recalled the events of the past years.

Captured, tortured, rescued, and then the fight continued, a cycle that never ceased.

Those painful memories are still there, but they no longer tear at his nerves as constantly as before.

For the first time, he was able to calmly look back on the past and examine his life like an observer.

Then he realized a fact: he had been used countless times.

The Curse-Binding Society is using him, the Demon Alliance is using him, and even the skinny man who brought him into the city is using him.

And he, like a fool, always took the bait.

A complex emotion welled up in Kyokotsu's heart.

It wasn't anger, nor resentment, but a deep weariness.

The earth-walking worm dragged its mad bones underground for a long time.

The surroundings were completely dark, with only occasional flashes of eerie blue light illuminating the menacing outlines of the mechanical puppets.

After an unknown amount of time, a light suddenly appeared ahead.

The earthworm carried him upwards, piercing through the soil and emerging from the ground.

Mad Bones was thrown to the ground, and before he could even see his surroundings clearly, he heard a crisp click of a mechanism.

ka ka ka-

The earthworms that had been binding him suddenly scattered, turning into countless fragments, and then recombine.

This time, instead of becoming puppets, they were assembled into a giant restraint frame.

Before Mad Bones' stiff body could react, his arms were caught by the mechanism on the frame, his legs were bound by chains, and his whole body was fixed to the frame in a "T" shape.

He tried to struggle, but the mechanisms were extremely tight, and with each struggle, the parts holding him would tighten even more.

He simply gave up.

Kyokotsu raised his head and calmly looked ahead.

This is a huge underground space, with glowing crystals embedded in the walls, illuminating the entire space.

In the center of the space were several workbenches, piled high with various mechanical parts.

Several figures stood in the corner, observing him with great interest.

The leader was a young man, dressed in a black robe, with a smile on his face.

Behind him stood a cold and beautiful woman, a man shrouded in shadow, and a person whose body was modified with mechanical devices.

When Kyokotsu clearly saw the last person's face, his pupils constricted.

Oni-devouring?!

But Kyokotsu's gaze only lingered on Oni-don for a moment before shifting to the young man in the lead.

"You are Yamashita Akira?"

On the surface, Kyokotsu appeared calm and composed, but inwardly he was lost in a whirlwind of thoughts.

Sure enough, there's always someone better. I wonder where this old monster came from.

Cui Ming was somewhat surprised.

Because at this moment, Kyokotsu's voice was unusually calm, without anger, without fear, and even the madness he displayed during the battle in Osaka Castle had vanished without a trace.

"What, you know me?"

Cui Ming tilted his head and asked the question knowingly.

Kuang Gu simply looked at Cui Ming calmly.

"I've seen your portrait before, but I never imagined you harbored such deep thoughts..."

Cui Ming grinned.

"Kyokotsu, you are much smarter than I thought."

This time, Kyokotsu did not respond.

He simply looked at Cui Ming quietly, his eyes showing no emotion.

Cui Ming jumped down from the rock and slowly walked to Kuang Gu.

He circled the restraint frame, carefully examining this legendary elder of the monster alliance who had lived for nearly several hundred years.