Ah Dou Fights Zhao Zilong at Changbanpo!

Puchi!

A glint of cold light flashed as the spear struck like a dragon.

The Prince's furious shout echoed the very instant the Bright Silver Spear pressed against Wu Wang's throat.

Before the horrified eyes of the other players, the spear tip pierced straight through Wu Wang's head from the bottom up.

His entire body was hoisted on the spear like a sacrificial banner, arms hanging limply. It was a pitiful sight.

Zi Jin frowned in confusion.

"This... Book-boy, didn't you say you couldn't sense his presence?"

She had a high degree of trust in the book-boy's perceptive abilities. After all, he had been the first to sense Wu Wang behind the red cloth when they entered the Instance.

Even when the opera had just begun, he was the only one who reacted in time to dodge the Prince's lightning-fast spear throw.

His direct combat prowess aside, his perception was clearly superior to the other players.

Faced with Zi Jin's question, the book-boy's smile vanished for the first time since they entered the Instance. His tone turned grave.

"I am certain that Pending Death was absolutely not here before. As for how he appeared... I don't know."

He hated when a situation spun out of his control, especially when the person responsible was a mere level-ten player everyone looked down on.

Just what had happened?

Qiao Biluo clicked her tongue, her expression a mix of impatience and disgust.

"Tch, does it matter how he appeared? He's a corpse now anyway. What a waste. We were just talking about using his life to stall for time, but he died from a single spear thrust."

The blue-haired executioner chimed in with a sleazy grin.

"You know, even a corpse has its uses. At least the Prince has stopped attacking us for now."

The Power King, who had been quiet until now, sighed helplessly.

"He's only level ten, after all. We can't expect too much from him."

Only Xiaoxiao's brow was tightly furrowed, her face a mask of confusion.

Pending Death was dead?

He was the disciple of Yan Shuangying, the master who had practically cleared the Nightmare-level Instance 【Masquerade Ball】 all by himself.

Had he really died so anticlimactically on the second day of the Instance?

While everyone was still discussing the matter, the figure with the Bright Silver Spear stuck through its head suddenly vanished.

In the next second, he reappeared behind the Prince.

【Shadow Swap Technique】!

He yelled, "Nigerundayo!"

And just like that, he was gone, taking the Bright Silver Spear—still impaled in his head—with him.

A closer look revealed that Wu Wang was now holding a massive broadsword.

He had stolen the Prince's giant sword in the process!

The bizarre scene left not only the players but even the Prince himself stunned, standing in a daze.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to be doing?

The image of Wu Wang's large, painted face flashed in the Prince's mind. It seemed... familiar. He felt as if he had seen that kind of makeup somewhere before.

The deeper the Prince tried to think, the more his head felt like it was about to split open. This was the first time he had felt pain since becoming a Jiangshi.

An enraged, beast-like roar involuntarily escaped his lips.

"Give me... back my life!"

He subconsciously sang a line of opera completely unsuited for the moment.

The Prince's eyes widened in fury. He glared at the thief, who was already running toward the other players.

With huge strides, he immediately gave chase.

His towering body in motion was as terrifying as the giant Kua Fu chasing the sun.

The other players watched, their hearts in their throats, as Qiao Biluo, the blue-haired executioner, and Power King hurriedly shouted at Wu Wang.

"Don't come over here, you idiot!"

"Get lost! Scram!"

"Are you trying to get us killed?"

Wu Wang, however, played dumb. He even waved and cheered.

"Hey, friends! Our plan was a huge success! General Zhao can't escape now!"

He grinned.

"Here, catch! And don't you dare drop 'em!"

With that, he raised a hand and pulled the Bright Silver Spear from his head.

He then tossed it, along with the giant broadsword in his other hand, toward the players.

The two behemoths landed in front of the Power King, who instinctively caught them. He immediately realized what a troublesome pair of items he now held.

He couldn't get rid of them.

Holding these weapons would inevitably draw the Prince's murderous pursuit. But he couldn't just throw them away, either. Without them, the Prince's combat power would surely be affected.

Most importantly, the players' roles were still Cao's Army.

Since Cao's Army had seized Zhao Zilong's weapons, they couldn't just throw them back, could they? A dramatic turn like that would probably enrage the Prince even more.

On the contrary, they had to do their best to ensure the weapons were not taken back.

But the weapons were simply too big. Even for the 1.9-meter-tall Power King, holding them felt strenuous and awkward.

Dammit, Pending Death! he cursed internally. Those aren't weapons! They're a pair of piping-hot potatoes!

"Cloud-Breaking Palm!"

Before Power King could figure out what to do with the spear and sword, the distant Prince held out his palm, gathered his energy, and slammed it in their direction.

In an instant, sand and stones flew.

Power King felt an invisible force envelop him from all sides, like a train hurtling toward him.

The disembodied blow sent him flying. He spat blood as he tumbled several times across the ground.

The book-boy ignored the heavily injured Power King, his eyes fixed on the two weapons that had been knocked into the air.

He took two strange papercraft ingots from his pack and threw them, clearly aware of the weapons' importance.

"Origami Technique," he said softly.

The ingots attached themselves to the weapons. Instantly, the impossibly heavy arms became light. The giant broadsword folded into a Thousand Paper Crane, and the Bright Silver Spear folded into a paper airplane.

The fierce wind from the Prince's Cloud-Breaking Palm blew the two papercraft weapons even farther away.

Seeing this, the Prince raised an eyebrow disdainfully.

"Hmph! Devious tricks. Insignificant. Return!"

With that, his palm became a claw. He aimed at the paper weapons flying through the air and gave a sharp tug backward.

A strange suction force emanated from his hand. It was as if the very air was being siphoned away by his power, and the paper weapons began to return toward him.

The players screamed "monster" in their hearts.

He's too strong! How are we supposed to fight this?!

But they couldn't let the Prince retrieve his weapons so easily.

Zi Jin immediately flicked two bizarre green snakes from her sleeves. They snatched the paper weapons in mid-air and prepared to flee.

But the Prince let out a sudden, mighty shout.

"Lion's Roar!"

The green snakes' eyes rolled back as they fainted on the spot.

Before passing out, one of them forcibly spat the paper airplane in its mouth toward another direction.

It landed right where Wu Wang was fleeing.

At that moment, Wu Wang was still muttering to himself under his breath.

"Damn legs, hurry up and move! Channel that energy Forrest had when he was chased by that car! Run, Forrest, run!"

Swish!

The papercraft Bright Silver Spear in the air instantly returned to its original form. It plunged straight down in front of Wu Wang, nearly skewering him from head to toe once again.

The scene made Wu Wang laugh with anger.

Son of a bitch, could it be that coincidental? If that bitch Zi Jin didn't do it on purpose, I'll livestream myself eating this spear!

However, just as Wu Wang was about to ignore it and continue fleeing, his hand moved on its own, gripping the Bright Silver Spear.

He performed an extremely smooth spear flourish, then pointed the spear at the Prince with one hand.

Combined with the painted makeup on his face, he gave off the aura of the great Overlord Xiang Yu routing a thousand-man army.

At that very moment, the Bright Silver Spear in his hand, with its white-threaded grip and white tassel, inexplicably changed shape.

It became a flat-headed, black-tasseled Overlord's Spear!

In Peking opera, this was the signature grand spear exclusive to Overlord Xiang Yu.

Wu Wang's expression turned ugly.

It's the remnant soul again!

It's controlling my body, forcing me to pick up this spear!

By now, the Prince had also retrieved his giant broadsword. After casually smacking aside the book-boy's origami crane, he held his blade with one hand, facing off against Wu Wang.

The air crackled with tension, like the calm before a final showdown atop the Forbidden City.

Little did they know, Wu Wang was suffering inwardly.

He felt nothing like a grand hero. Instead, he felt like Ben-Bo-Er-Ba, the hapless minion sent by the Nine-Headed Monster to fight Tang Monk's disciples.

Huh? Me? A one-on-one with the Prince? For real?

In the audience, the troupe leader watched the scene unfold. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and chuckle.

"Ah Dou fighting Zhao Zilong at Changbanpo? And with an Overlord's Spear, no less?"

He shook his head.

"Bai Sha, oh Bai Sha, what in the world are you trying to do?"