Li Tianqing’s heart was pounding wildly, but he quickly calmed down, composed beyond measure, like a ceramic figure standing among the others, eyes wide open, motionless.
Jin Hongying had originally planned to run away, but knowing her injuries were severe and that her leg was crippled, making it impossible for her to flee, she too stood among the ceramic figures.
However, she could only put strength into one leg, the other being powerless, causing her to stand somewhat unsteadily.
At her feet, Black Pot resembled a ceramic dog, its head extended forward, left front leg raised as if in mid-stride, and its tail tilted back, as though it was petrified while preparing to hunt, lifelike in every detail, which filled Jin Hongying with admiration.
"Am I really inferior to a dog?"
She gritted her teeth and persevered.
The ground’s trembling grew more intense, and the Evil Bodhisattva drew closer and closer to them.
The three humans and one dog held their breath, their heartbeats suppressed to the utmost.
The Evil Bodhisattva lifted its feet, and its massive body passed over their heads.
This demon arrived at the village center, its legs folding into a seated position, kicking up dust and smoke.
Even while seated, it towered far above the houses.
There used to be a Ghost God Domain within the kiln factory, and that domain was formed by the demon itself. But now, the Ghost God Domain had turned into the Demon Domain, affecting all living beings within a hundred miles, expanded to who knows how many times its original size.
Although its range had expanded, the influence had weakened as a result of the expansion.
Therefore, as the Evil Bodhisattva passed by them, Chen Shi and the others were not petrified.
However, if the Evil Bodhisattva noticed them, it could petrify them in an instant, just as simply and effortlessly as it had petrified those villagers!
The three humans and one dog became even more cautious, daring not to make any noise.
At that moment, a hissing friction noise came from the Evil Bodhisattva’s belly, followed by its navel being pushed open, like a circular portal, through which a tall and thin kiln worker emerged, dragging a ceramic figure behind him.
The slender kiln worker dragged the ceramic figure onto the street, placing it neatly in front of the other ceramic figures before returning back inside the Evil Bodhisattva’s navel, again hauling out another ceramic figure and similarly dragging it to the street.
It did this repeatedly, continuously dragging ceramic figures out from the Evil Bodhisattva’s belly and arranging them neatly.
Only then did Chen Shi and the others realize why there were so many ceramic figures here – they were all the work of this tall and thin kiln worker.
"What is he moving all these ceramic figures for?"
Chen Shi recalled the kiln worker’s actions repairing the Evil Bodhisattva’s damaged ceramic pieces and had an epiphany, "He intends to use these ceramic figures as raw material, to recast them and repair the Evil Bodhisattva’s body! All the people here are raw materials!"
Finally, the slender kiln worker finished moving all the ceramic figures from the Evil Bodhisattva’s belly, came among the ceramic figures, and began to count them with its fingers, as if tallying their number.
"Oh no, it’s counting!"
A cold sweat was about to break out on Chen Shi’s forehead. Counting was an essential skill for a kiln worker. But this tall and thin kiln worker was clearly not a real person, but a ceramic being crafted by fire, and it also knew how to count!
Moreover, knowing how to count, it would inevitably discover the three extra people and one dog!
That would be dangerous.
Li Tianqing and Jin Hongying also had sweat beads forming on their foreheads. Standing in the wrong direction, they could only desperately shift their eyeballs to the side, trying to catch a glimpse of the Evil Bodhisattva’s movements.
The Evil Bodhisattva sat with proper poise, its four faces and eight eyes, each closed, resembling an ancient Buddha in meditation, exuding a sacred and solemn air.
"Could we possibly escape the Evil Bodhisattva’s gaze and the range of its Spell attack if we suddenly exerted force and ran now?" The two of them thought at the same time.
But they immediately dismissed the idea.
They simply wouldn’t have time to escape.
The kiln worker had already counted them and continued to count forward.
After counting once, the kiln worker stood in place, lifting both hands, fidgeting with its fingers, as if the numbers didn’t quite match, making it doubt whether it had remembered incorrectly.
It scratched its head, making a rustling noise, but it couldn’t figure out the reason.
It walked toward the Evil Bodhisattva but suddenly stopped halfway, turned its head, and looked towards the ceramic figures.
It walked over again.
Jin Hongying’s forehead was covered in cold sweat, trickling down her neck, the moisture seeping into the collar of her clothes, feeling as unsettling as ants crawling over her skin.
Her body began to sway slightly, and the injured leg trembled increasingly more violently.
It seemed as though the kiln worker noticed her approach directly.
Jin Hongying struggled to maintain her posture, but it was impossible to keep steady.
She clenched her teeth, and several tiny paper figures quietly slid down her trousers from her sleeves, tiptoeing stealthily towards the kiln worker.
This kiln worker was specifically responsible for repairing the Evil Bodhisattva, and Jin Hongying, Xiao Wangsun, and the four of them had almost succeeded in taking it down, not anticipating that the Evil Bodhisattva, cunning as it was, would swallow it into its belly, enabling the kiln worker to hide within the Evil Bodhisattva’s body to repair its damages.
That battle had been a near success, and the main reason wasn’t that the four of them couldn’t defeat the Evil Bodhisattva, but this kiln worker!
Jin Hongying resolved herself, determined that even if it meant death, she would drag this kiln worker along with her!
"However, the life of a Military Officer from Divine Mechanism Camp is too precious to be exchanged for that of a piece of pottery!"
Her paper figures had already reached the kiln worker. Moving silently, and given that the kiln worker was ceramic with only sensitive hearing but poor eyesight, it did not see these paper figures.
The paper figures with swords and blades in their mouths climbed up the kiln worker’s legs, scaling to its back, about to strike.
Just as the tall and thin kiln worker had reached the ceramic figures and was about to take a closer look at Jin Hongying, a tremendous noise erupted from behind it.