It turned its head and saw, to its horror, the Evil Bodhisattva raised its eight arms, supporting its own head, and gently turned it left and right. Then, accompanied by a loud sound, it actually detached its own head!
The Evil Bodhisattva remained seated, steady as ever, and placed its head to one side.
The tall, lanky kiln worker did not bother to check on Jin Hongying and the others, and instead, one by one, grabbed two ceramic figures and headed straight for the Evil Bodhisattva’s head.
It was only now that Chen Shi noticed that right where the Evil Bodhisattva had set down its head, there happened to be a kiln hole, which must have been built recently and used very few times.
That kiln worker placed the two ceramic figures into the kiln hole, climbed onto the Evil Bodhisattva’s head, and flipped open one of its eyelids. Suddenly, a fierce true fire burst from the eyes of the Evil Bodhisattva. The flames were intensely bright, and in a moment, melted the two ceramic figures!
The ceramic figures dissolved and fell into the pot below, brimming full and glowing red.
The skinny kiln worker let go of the Evil Bodhisattva’s eyelid, slid down from its head, and picked up the searing pot, walking straight to the side of the Evil Bodhisattva’s body, beside its navel. He opened the navel and entered.
"It must be planning to repair the Evil Bodhisattva’s body from the inside."
Chen Shi blinked and silently thought, "Now that the Evil Bodhisattva’s head is set to one side, and its eyes are closed, with the kiln worker entering the body of the Evil Bodhisattva, this should be the best opportunity to leave."
He quietly moved his feet, came next to Jin Hongying, steadied the staggering Hongying, and gave a signal to Li Tianqing, who understood. The three of them cautiously moved towards the outskirts of the village.
As for Black Pot, it had already taken action at the first opportunity, leading the way in front of them, with incomparably light footsteps, not making a sound.
Ceramic figures were all around; they had to be extremely careful, as a careless touch to any ceramic figure might cause a noise, which would immediately awaken the Evil Bodhisattva!
The sound of water flowed gently outside the village, presenting an idyllic scenery that was unspeakably beautiful.
However, the three people and one dog in the village were drenched in sweat, moving inch by inch.
Just as they were about to exit the village, suddenly, there was a "thud." The Evil Bodhisattva’s navel opened again, and the slender kiln worker pushed open the navel door and emerged.
Upon seeing this, the three people and the dog remained motionless.
The kiln worker moved among the ceramic figures, dragging two more to be fired.
Just as the two ceramic figures had just melted, the tall kiln worker seemed to remember something and turned its head to look toward where Jin Hongying had been standing.
It was greatly puzzled; there seemed to be a ceramic figure here before, why had it disappeared?
Jin Hongying and Li Tianqing were tense to the extreme. Hongying couldn’t help but was about to activate her paper figures, but Chen Shi quietly pinched her hand. Hongying was slightly taken aback and held back from acting rashly.
She had little contact with the kiln workers, while Chen Shi often ran to the kiln factory and knew the characteristics of these workers.
These kiln workers were not very intelligent and could only distinguish moving objects; they couldn’t make out still ones.
Some wily pots and pans in the kiln factory would often hide motionless in corners to avoid being chased by kiln workers. If they got scared and ran out, that would be a dead end.
Many times, Chen Shi was almost caught by the kiln workers, but survived by pretending to be a piece of pottery and staying completely still.
Moreover, the kiln workers’ thinking was flawed; they couldn’t engage in deep thought.
They could notice something was amiss but couldn’t figure out why such a problem was happening.
As expected, when the kiln worker failed to find Jin Hongying, it withdrew its gaze, slid down from the Evil Bodhisattva’s head, picked up the pot, and returned into the belly of the Evil Bodhisattva to continue the repair work.
The three people and one dog continued out of the village, and when they finally left the place, they all quietly heaved a sigh of relief.
Just then, Jin Hongying had a premonition and looked back, only to see one of the faces on the Evil Bodhisattva’s head had opened its eyes at some point and was coldly watching them!
Jin Hongying’s scalp tingled as she shouted, "Let’s go!"
Chen Shi also saw the head of the Evil Bodhisattva and immediately picked up Jin Hongying without further ado, and fled outside, shouting, "Hongying, paper figures!"
In his arms, Jin Hongying was jolted into awareness and promptly activated the paper figures in the belly of the Evil Bodhisattva.
These paper figures, originally lying on the back of the slender kiln worker, had been still until now, but at this moment, they sprang into action, chopping and slashing at the slender kiln worker with knives and swords!
The slender kiln worker was by no means an easy opponent, and, realizing he was being ambushed, immediately poured the hot liquid from his pot onto his own back.
Being made of porcelain, he was naturally immune to the hot liquid, but the paper figures, made of paper and despite being supported by the mana of Jin Hongying, caught fire and burned up as soon as they met the hot liquid!
Other paper figures leaped to avoid the hot liquid, and with a powerful push against the inner wall of the Evil Bodhisattva’s belly, they sprang out, wielding their paper swords and knives at the slender kiln worker.
Although their weapons were made of paper, they were incredibly sharp; a single slash or thrust could pierce the hard ceramic surface of the kiln worker or leave a crack!
Inside the Evil Bodhisattva, the kiln worker and paper figures were embroiled in battle, and the Evil Bodhisattva itself was not idle; its two arms immediately reached out, grabbing its own head from the ground. As soon as it had its head, two robust legs exerted force, propping up its torso as it slowly stood up.
Slow was only relative to its size; its body was so large that although it seemed slow in standing up, it was actually very quick.
At the same time, the four faces on the head each displayed expressions of excitement, anger, brutality, and bloodlust. One face had eyes that shone with blazing fire, aiming straight at Chen Shi, Li Tianqing, and the others!
Li Tianqing immediately activated the Armored Horse Talismans hidden on his legs, generating a gust of wind under his feet and sprinting frantically, trying to evade the fiery gaze of the Evil Bodhisattva.
It was then that a black shadow whizzed past him, moving several times faster than him, the sound of its passage roaring like thunder.
Startled, he focused his gaze and saw it was Black Pot.
The four legs of this black dog were also bound with Armored Horse Talismans, and now that they were activated, it wasn’t just as if the wind was born beneath its feet—it was moving so fast it could nearly fly!
And Chen Shi, carrying Jin Hongying, was even faster than him!
Li Tianqing recalled a joke he’d read in a book: when a tiger approached, two brothers were fleeing for their lives. One said to stop running, as they couldn’t outrun the tiger, but the other replied, "I don’t need to outrun the tiger; I just need to outrun you."
"I’m the slowest runner; I might be the first to be taken down by the Evil Bodhisattva."
Just as he thought this, a fierce battle erupted inside the Evil Bodhisattva’s belly, and Jin Hongying’s paper figures seized the opportunity to decapitate the slender kiln worker!
The paper figures clattered and clanged as they fought within the Evil Bodhisattva’s belly, attempting to tear through its body from the inside!
The Evil Bodhisattva could not afford to slay Chen Shi and the others and immediately raised its own head, shooting fierce, fiery beams of light from its eyes into its own body through the neck, instantly reducing all the paper figures to ashes.
However, this brief delay allowed Chen Shi, Jin Hongying, Li Tianqing, and Black Pot to escape its field of vision.
Chen Shi’s Armored Horse Talisman was also activated, reaching the small river at the front of the village; he stepped on the water’s surface, and a breeze picked up, carrying his form as he, still holding Jin Hongying, sped across the water’s surface.
Ahead, the dog pushed on with breakneck speed, stirring the river’s surface so much that it nearly exploded.
—Thanks to the Alliance Hierarch for the tip from Tai Xuan Yan Qi and the plump butterfly, two magnanimous patrons! Tonight, still at eleven, there is a third update!
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