Chapter Fourteen: Yibo of Tianyue

As the rag doll erupted in fury, the surrounding axles spun wildly under the crushing force of her enormous wolf-headed hammer—some forward, some in reverse, while others jammed altogether. The entire structure and arrangement of the mountain caves was thrown into chaos: traps fired erratically, some caves drifted unpredictably, others became interconnected. Suddenly, a fissure tore open in the cave where Jindi and Mao Xuanzi were, sending Jindi, Mao Xuanzi, Feng Shang, and Shui Xi tumbling into yet another cavern.

Gears whirled in reverse, and the traps hidden within the cave launched in rapid succession. Not far ahead of Jindi and Mao Xuanzi, every mechanism activated on its own. Arrows littered the ground, flashes of blades and swords snapped and fell, wooden traps burst from the stone crevices—everywhere the eye could see, all the mechanisms destroyed themselves automatically.

“How could this happen?” The traps that had so worried Jindi and Mao Xuanzi were now obliterating themselves right before their eyes—something none of them could have anticipated.

“Ah!” The rag doll, sensing she’d made a mess of things, stopped her furious rampage. Grabbing her cloth hair with both hands, she said sadly, “What should I do? I’ve messed it all up again!”

With devices running amok, the entire cave network began to shift and rearrange. Paying no mind to Han Tianyue and the others, the rag doll leapt onto a gear, her arms stretching out impossibly long as a dizzying array of screws, wooden beams, and nails whirred back and forth between her hands at incredible speed.

After a clatter of “crackling” sounds echoed from all directions, the rag doll let out a long sigh of relief and exclaimed, “Wonderful! The mechanisms are back to normal!”

Han Tianyue and his companions stared in speechless awe as the rag doll repaired the traps—the speed of her handiwork was nothing short of astonishing.

“All done, the traps are fixed!” the rag doll announced, turning to Han Tianyue and his group. “Now it’s time to deal with you!”

She soared towards them, while they stood rooted to the spot.

But before she could act, elsewhere, Jindi and Mao Xuanzi were thrown into yet another cave when space itself flipped during the rag doll’s repairs. The cave suddenly stood upright, and they plummeted down its length.

By the time the rag doll finished her repairs, Jindi, Mao Xuanzi, and the others had been so battered by the labyrinthine caves that they were barely clinging to consciousness. As they finally came to a stop, Feng Shang, gasping for breath, managed to mutter, “How can these caves torment people so?”

Just as Feng Shang uttered these words on the verge of collapse, Mao Xuanzi, clutching his chest, struggled to his feet—only to be stunned by the sight of a massive gear looming before him.

Jindi and the others had also entered the heart of the mechanical maze, but it was so vast and deafening that their entrance was nothing like the others. Even if they were close by, it would be nearly impossible to find or encounter the rest of their group.

Meanwhile, directly above their heads on a gigantic gear, the rag doll approached Han Tianyue and his party. When she was about a hundred meters away, her arms grew larger and longer, and a gigantic hand lunged toward Han Tianyue.

Seeing this, Fang Zhe clutched his zither, ready to play—

With a sharp “snap,” the rag doll simply flicked her finger. Before Fang Zhe could even pluck a string, her finger sent him flying ten meters away.

Her colossal hand closed around Han Tianyue, who did not move a muscle.

The rag doll’s massive palm engulfed Han Tianyue, holding him tight. A mere squeeze would be enough to crush him to dust. Yet Han Tianyue showed no intention of resisting.

The rag doll held him, lost in her own thoughts, as everyone else held their breath, waiting to see what Han Tianyue would do.

He did nothing.

Suddenly, the rag doll burst out laughing. “You really do have a death wish!”

Her fist tightened. Fang Zhe, Dona, and Wang Chong shouted in unison, “Han Tianyue!”

Their cries echoed through the mechanism-laden chamber, bouncing off the gears. Hearing the commotion from below, Jindi and Mao Xuanzi exclaimed, “They’re here!” But because the sound was refracted, they couldn’t determine the direction it came from.

“What on earth is happening?” Alarmed by the desperate cries, Mao Xuanzi broke into a run—he had to find Han Tianyue at once. He couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to him; if he failed, how could he ever face his sister, Princess Mao?

Seeing Mao Xuanzi sprint off, Jindi, Feng Shang, and Shui Xi followed close behind.

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