Chapter 2692: Big and Little Skeleton Monsters
The Painting Woman didn't know, nor did she care, saying that when they got out later, she wanted the most fun thing.
The three quickly exited the haunted house and, right at the entrance, rummaged through the items to divide them up.
Yan Jiayu had a detection device. Aside from those small trinkets specifically meant to throw people off, the highest-grade item turned out to be the lamp in the Painting Woman's hand.
This lamp would light up as soon as it was lifted, but unexpectedly, when she raised it, the originally soft glow became blindingly harsh, forcing everyone present to instinctively turn their heads away.
"This is a good thing." She shoved the lamp back into the Painting Woman's hand. "Once we enter the castle, you lift this lamp."
The Painting Woman wasn't interested. She handed the lamp to Xu Huo and stuffed some firework bombs into her own backpack.
Jiji Bird also knew of a warehouse storing fireworks and firecrackers. The group changed locations again, each person loading a backpack full of firecrackers before coming out.
They were carrying too much stuff to walk boldly down the streets, so for most of the remaining day, they wandered through different streets, sometimes hiding in shop warehouses, sometimes in transfer stations.
Time quickly came to evening. As previously discussed, once the carnival activities began and the doll figures near the Doll Wall decreased, they found a spot to climb the Doll Wall.
Getting up the Doll Wall wasn't difficult. Xu Huo opened several Spiritual Gates in succession, directly sending everyone to their designated positions on the Doll Wall. The six points had a considerable span, and coupled with the need to avoid the skeleton monsters inside the wall, coordination required communication, so each person had prepared enough glow sticks in advance.
Yan Jiayu's group made the first move. She and Jiji Bird were only about a hundred meters apart. When they successively threw out the firework bombs serving as bait from the Doll Wall, two ice needles struck the firework bombs almost without any gap, extinguishing them on the spot.
When they had first climbed the Doll Wall, Xu Huo hadn't sensed anything beneath it. But as Yan Jiayu and the others threw out the firework bombs, a skeleton frame appeared at the base of the wall. It was only about a meter tall, its bones smooth and glossy, standing out starkly against the pitch-black Doll Wall—making it especially eye-catching when it moved.
The moment the two ice needles sealed the firework bombs, it transformed into a flash of light, reaching the top of the Doll Wall in the blink of an eye. Its hands extended beyond the wall, and rapidly condensing ice needles shot like bullets toward Yan Jiayu and Jiji Bird, who were crouching below.
That was when it was Xu Huo and the others' turn to step in. Although the space inside the Doll Wall suppressed the range of the Spiritual Realm to some extent, it wasn't completely unusable. So Xu Huo first sent a firework bomb into the skeleton monster's body. As the light began to flicker, he tentatively dropped two glow sticks. Seeing that the skeleton monster didn't immediately chase after them, he switched to different colored glow sticks and threw them in several directions, while also releasing the ghost-face smoke.
Receiving the signal, the other four groups leaped down from the high wall.
The closest to Yan Jiayu and the others were Crocodile and Peacock. Similarly, they were also very close to the skeleton monster. This was deliberately arranged to keep the skeleton monster occupied by placing them between the two bait groups. Although there was a time gap, in just an instant, the skeleton monster that had been charging toward Xu Huo and the others turned back into a flash of light and reversed course. Crocodile and Peacock were still mid-air when the skeleton monster slammed into them, sending them flying. Upon contact, half of both their bodies were instantly frozen solid!
Fortunately, they weren't injured, but the passive effects of the doll suits still restricted their movements. After crashing into the Doll Wall, they were immediately grabbed by the revived dolls and pulled into the wall, disappearing in just a few moments.
All of this happened in an instant. As their gazes shifted, the skeleton monster was already in front of Xu Huo and Dai He!
The ice needles striking the defense barrier quickly obscured the view ahead. The temperature plummeted, and in the span of a breath, the entire field of vision was filled with white mist. Dai He had already descended from the Doll Wall, gripping a rope item as he slid down, both buying time and drawing the skeleton monster's attention.
The dolls on the Doll Wall, once revived, piled up one after another, even forming a pyramid-shaped doll tower on the wall, constantly extending outward in an attempt to catch Dai He as he leaped among them.
Xu Huo had already reached the ground. The firework bombs and ghost-face smoke hadn't disappeared. He manipulated the Materialized Objects and devices to restrain the skeleton monster's movements, giving Yan Jiayu and the others a chance to get down the wall.
Yan Jiayu and Jiji Bird were also very quick. The two teleported to the ground and immediately rushed toward the castle without stopping. In just a few flashes, they had already overtaken the Painting Woman and the others, who had left earlier.
The shuttle released by the device spun like flowing light within the ghost-face smoke, piercing through the floating ghost faces while also trapping the skeleton monster in the center. Xu Huo calculated the timing, but just as he was about to disengage from the Doll Wall, he sensed something rapidly approaching from ahead. He frowned and abruptly sidestepped to dodge, but felt a fierce wind rushing toward him—Jiji Bird, struck in the chest by the skeleton monster, practically flew past him!
There was more than one skeleton monster!
Xu Huo's instincts were extremely sharp. The mechanical suit covered his arm as he punched the skeleton monster's skull!
The skeleton monster was sent flying horizontally but quickly recovered and rushed back. A barrage of ice needles came flying. With no time to activate a new defense item, he used a Materialized Object as a shield while retreating, dragging Jiji Bird along!
Crocodile and Peacock had already broken free from the Doll Wall. Xu Huo tossed Jiji Bird toward them, expanded the attack range of the device's shuttle, and stepped forward, catching Yan Jiayu, who was also flying backward.
"Close call!" Yan Jiayu breathed a huge sigh of relief upon seeing him. She quickly said, "There are two big skeleton monsters in the fog ahead..."
Before she could finish, her gaze slowly shifted upward.
The firework bombs released amidst the chaos had already failed. The ghost-face smoke hadn't disappeared, but its height was limited. The big skeleton monsters Yan Jiayu mentioned were two giant skeletal frames at least ten meters tall. Unlike the small skeleton monster with its glowing bones, these were pitch black. When they stood up, thick black mist floated around their bodies, making them look like the ghostly monsters from legends.
They stood silently, then swung both palms from back to front. Zhu Bu, Qi Cong, Hong Xi, and Si Qi—all four of them—were sent flying back. The powerful airflow was like a wall of space, pushing everyone toward the Doll Wall!
"The fog is poisonous!" Xu Huo warned the others loudly as he saw the large amount of black mist carried by the wind.
The few inside the items didn't need to worry. Strictly speaking, they were already items themselves and weren't affected by the poison. But the rest had to be careful.
All spatial devices failed at this moment. With the defense barrier unable to activate, Zhu Bu and the others could only tighten their hoods as much as possible to cover their mouths and noses.
"Split up!" Xu Huo said to Yan Jiayu. Then the two of them, facing the strong wind, charged left and right toward the two giant skeleton monsters.