**Doll's Courtyard**
A blinding red moon hung high above the castle's tower.
Surrounding the castle was a vast expanse of thorny roses blooming amidst the mist.
Blood-red petals were scattered along the long, silent path, with an eerie and hollow lody faintly echoing in the air.
Creak—creak—
The flower field.
The sound of footsteps echoed one after another.
Amidst the vague black mist, one Hunter after another with human heads and spider bodies cautiously advanced toward the central castle.
"Prepare to launch the third assault... Hunter Squad 21 is in position... Requesting assault command..."
"Command received... Confird... Attack..."
Red lights flickered in the eyes of the leading Hunter.
And in the next mont.
Dozens of Hunters suddenly charged at high speed toward the flower field shrouded in black mist.
Simultaneously, from all directions of the castle, several squads composed entirely of Hunters launched an assault on the Doll's Courtyard almost at the sa ti.
Moving forward.
Along the way, many damaged Hunter remnants lay scattered around.
It was evident that they had launched multiple attacks on the Doll's Courtyard before, but none had succeeded.
The wildly surging thorns along the path were frantically slashed by the blades in their hands.
"Data transmission... Penetrated to the third area... Distance to target... 500 ters..."
A Hunter's eyes flickered with red light.
But just then.
They suddenly saw, at the end of the misty path ahead, a figure faintly erging.
Their perspective quickly zood in, revealing the figure's appearance.
It was an exquisitely crafted life-sized doll.
In her hand, she held a black parasol with golden edges, wearing a lavish doll-like hat on her head.
Dressed in a black and gold Gothic gown, her long white hair draped over her chest, and her high heels made an unusual clatter against the ground.
She appeared very strange, her movents stiff, with no sense of life emanating from her.
Yet she could move.
But it was this almost lifelike state that gave her an indescribable eeriness.
Ding ding ding ding—
The red lights in the eyes of the dozen Hunters flickered intensely.
"Target analysis... Confirming target identity... Database search..."
"Target identity confird... Seventh Puppeteer of the Doll's Courtyard: Black String Moon... Extrely strong combat capability..."
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"Warning... Target threat level extrely high... Engage with full force..."
Almost in an instant.
The dozen Hunters charged at the Gothic doll with unimaginable speed.
Countless petals scattered with their figures, spreading across the black sky.
In the blink of an eye.
The dozen Hunters had already reached the side of the Gothic doll.
Creak—creak—
A series of gear jamming sounds.
A bizarre scene unfolded, as if ti had suddenly frozen, the dozen Hunters who had rushed to the doll's side were suddenly immobilized.
Dimly.
Under the refracted light of the red moon, it could be seen that, at so point, fine and resilient threads had appeared on each of their joints.
They were like puppets, frozen in place.
"Body restricted... Unable to break through... Warning... Body bound... Body bound..."
The Hunters struggled forcefully, but apart from the chanical hissing from within, they couldn't move an inch.
In the flower field.
The exquisite Gothic doll tilted her head.
Her jointed fingers could be seen clearly, gently flicking.
Squelch—
One of the Hunters suddenly turned, the sharp mantis blade on his arm instantly piercing through another Hunter's skull.
Squelch—
Squelch—
Several more piercing sounds followed.
The Hunters, like actors in a stage play, stabbed each other's skulls one by one.
Until only the last Hunter remained.
The Gothic doll lifted her head, looking at him with eyes like a harmless little Lolita, watching his rapidly flickering eyes.
Raindrops pattered on the black umbrella.
The Gothic doll's head suddenly tilted.
Crack—
The neck of the Hunter in front of her twisted in a distorted manner, instantly snapped by his own force.
The shell sparked and then fell heavily to the ground.
In less than a minute.
All the Hunters were inevitably destroyed here.
"Intruders at the northern gate, annihilated, record: 59 seconds."
The Gothic doll turned chanically, reporting.
At the sa ti, several different voices ca through her ears.
"Intruders in the southern area, annihilated, record: 3 minutes 51 seconds."
"Intruders in the northwest area, annihilated. Minor injuries, need parts replacent."
"Intruders in the eastern courtyard, being processed, estimated ti remaining: 5 minutes."
"String Moon, why is your efficiency so fast? Did the lady's engineer replace your parts? You've already pulled far ahead of us sisters!"
"Sister String Moon is a cleaning-type doll, of course, her speed is faster than ours! Stop dawdling, finish the battle quickly, we need to report back to the lady!"
Voices buzzed around her.
The Gothic doll walked along the path, holding the black umbrella, step by step toward the castle.
Each step was precisely asured, her Gothic gown fluttering slightly in the wind.
But just then.
She suddenly stopped.
Her eyes shifted slightly toward the corner.
As if she had discovered sothing.
In an instant, countless glass-like threads pierced into the space not far away.
Buzz—
The space instantly cracked open, revealing a bizarrely shaped Turtle King being controlled by the threads, dragged out of the void in an extrely eerie upside-down manner.
"ssenger..."
The Turtle King, unusually wide-eyed, uttered these three words at a speed hundreds of tis faster than usual.
The Gothic doll tilted her head.
...
A few minutes later, inside the castle.
"Blood Saw, your letter."
In a hall filled with gears, the Doll Lady, dressed in lavish attire, walked in with elegant steps.
Her nearly three-ter-tall figure was curvaceous and imposing.
If not for her height, she would resemble a noblewoman from the Middle Ages.
On the other side of the hall.
The tall and burly Blood Saw leaned against a chanical table, his eyes flickering.
Beside him, several doll-sized figures with button eyes were using various tools to tap and treat the massive wounds on his body.
"A letter?" Blood Saw rumbled, "Who sent it?"
The Doll Lady elegantly sat on a luxurious chair opposite, gently lifting a cup of rich coffee, nonchalantly saying:
"My daughters found it in the courtyard, delivered by a void ssenger. The sender is soone nad Lin En, do you know him?"
Upon hearing this.
Blood Saw was taken aback.
"Lin En? How is that possible!"
He struggled to stand, dragging his massive body to the table, reaching out to take the letter.
"Who is he?" the Doll Lady asked, moving her lips.
"He's a child I adopted two years ago." Blood Saw solemnly looked at the letter, saying:
"For the past two years, he's been my apprentice at the Apothecary. A few days ago, when I realized the Demon Society might target Wandering Soul Alley, I urgently sent him a ssage. It seems he managed to escape the Demon Society's clutches."
He steadied himself, then quickly opened the envelope.
And as soon as he saw the crooked handwriting, he confird it was indeed from his apprentice.
Because only this guy could make decent handwriting look so ugly.
But when he saw the line written on the letter, his expression changed dramatically.
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