Level 86: Puppet

Yun Qing calmly retrieved some firewood, logs, and charcoal from her system backpack and used a flint to ignite them. The fire blazed up quickly, and the temperature in the corridor rose noticeably.

Still, a doubt nagged at her: the Red Iron Spirit Bugs would avoid even a torch—could she really lure the Red Iron Puppet into the flames?

Aside from the method suggested by the system, Yun Qing had no other options. Once the fire was burning steadily, she focused her mind, produced an iron ore from her inventory, and tossed it near the Red Iron Puppet.

The system knew that she had picked up plenty of ore in the abandoned mine, which allowed her to throw some away to lure the puppet.

She scattered a trail of ore between the Red Iron Puppet and the fire, starting with low-quality pieces and ending with a top-tier black iron ore right in the heart of the flames.

As the Red Iron Puppet turned on its patrol and spotted the ore, it quickly crouched down, picked it up, and stuffed it into its belly. Yun Qing watched as its long health bar lengthened just a bit.

A monster that could heal itself by eating ore!

After devouring the first piece, the creature continued along the ore trail she had laid, consuming another.

Perhaps the long years without energy had altered its original patrol route. Now it followed the trail of ore, heading straight for the fire.

Closer and closer. Worried the Red Iron Puppet would spot her, Yun Qing activated her jump skill and leapt onto the wall beside the stairway. With the boost from her skill, she easily cleared the ten-meter wall.

The surface above was slippery, with nothing to grip. Yun Qing used her roll skill in the direction of the puppet. Now, she and the puppet occupied the same area—one above, one below—separated by roughly nine meters.

The roll skill let her move quickly, but it couldn't stop her from sliding downward.

The Red Iron Puppet seemed unfazed, still crouched by the fire, devouring the black iron ore.

Yun Qing channeled her inner energy to her hands to slow her descent as much as possible.

When the puppet finished eating and moved on, her roll skill finally cooled down, and she used it again to land safely.

Turning back, she saw the fire burning twenty meters behind her, with the Red Iron Puppet busily "gathering treasure" in between.

From the creature's enraptured expression, it looked ready to walk right into the fire.

But Yun Qing dared not risk it—her speed and strength were no match for the puppet.

To keep the creature from attacking, Yun Qing quickly pulled out several stone foundations she'd taken from Wheatfield Village and built a stone wall between herself and the Red Iron Puppet.

She trapped the puppet between the main door and the wall, but she doubted the stone barrier could withstand its charge.

With another thought, she pulled more firewood from her system and lit it near the stone wall. Once the fire was stably burning, she added charcoal and logs.

Much of this wood was from branches she'd chopped outside, dried with weeds under the sun for days.

The thick smoke drifted toward her. At the top of the stairs was a sealed door; judging by the smoke's path, the bottom likely led to a more open area—perhaps an exit from this secret realm.

Perched atop the stone wall, Yun Qing was suffering. With the smoke wafting up, her eyes stung and watered, and she feared she might ignite at any moment. But she couldn’t leave; she was certain a small fire wouldn’t stop the Red Iron Puppet.

Her hair was already singed and curled by the flames. Even with inner energy protecting her eyes, tears streamed down her face from the smoke.

The fire still wasn’t fierce enough, so she threw more wood on top of the wall, standing on the logs to give them more room to burn.

Meanwhile, the Red Iron Puppet drew near the blazing pile by the door, its eyes fixed on the black iron ore in the center. It desperately wanted to retrieve it, but its instinctive fear of fire kept it at bay.

The lure of the black iron ore was too great. After a long hesitation, it finally couldn’t resist and stretched a foot toward the fire.

The moment its foot touched the flames, its health bar dropped a sliver, and it quickly jerked back, retreating several steps.

Only then did it notice it had strayed from its patrol route.

It whirled around to see another roaring blaze behind it, a half-high stone wall beyond the flames, and a human intruder atop the barrier.

An intruder!

The Red Iron Puppet leapt at her. In a flash, it was upon the wall. Yun Qing grabbed a burning log and hurled it at the creature.

“-1!”

“Combat Experience +40!”

The flaming log struck the puppet’s body. Its fear of fire made it flinch and dodge, causing it to fall straight down by accident—right into the fire.

The moment it landed in the flames, it sprang up in panic like a startled cat and leapt out again.

Yun Qing watched as a significant chunk of its health bar vanished after falling into the fire.

Yet this loss did nothing to dampen its murderous intent. Again, it leapt at Yun Qing, determined to destroy the intruder.

Yun Qing picked up another burning log, focused her inner power, combined it with her targeting skill, and threw it at the puppet.

“-2!”

“Combat Experience +80!”

The Red Iron Puppet fell into the flames again. Yun Qing tossed more firewood and charcoal onto the fire and added more wood atop the wall. The rough hide robe she wore reeked as the flames scorched it; she pulled it off and threw it into the fire below.

Above the thick smoke, Yun Qing soaked a new linen robe with water and wrapped it around her nose and mouth, trying to filter out the toxic fumes.

The Red Iron Puppet kept leaping up, only to be forced back down by Yun Qing each time, its health bar diminishing bit by bit.

The damage was as feeble as a scratch, but Yun Qing saw hope for victory—and more combat experience to be earned.

The smoke grew thicker, filling the narrow stairwell. She barely had time to wet her robe again between tending the fire and fending off the monster. She used internal energy to seal her nose and mouth, circulating her Qi to hold her breath longer.

The Red Iron Puppet was furious. The human atop the wall was as weak as an ant, yet its own body refused to obey, its strength barely a tenth of normal, its form nearly falling apart. Remembering the bounty behind it, it dashed through the flames to snatch up the black iron ore and stuffed it into its mouth.

Yun Qing watched helplessly as all her effort was undone—the puppet’s health bar not only refilled completely but even surpassed its level at the start of the fight.

“This is impossible,” she muttered.

Liu Liu watched her raise another burning log and urged, “You’d better finish it quickly, or you might suffocate before it dies.”

Yun Qing poured water over her now-dry linen robe and replied helplessly, “I know it’s dangerous. I want to kill it quickly, too.”

If there were no danger, she could have scraped her way to level ten combat experience right here.

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