Cirrus chuckled and immediately explained:
"Not entirely. When dealing with a stupid big guy, of course psychological attack comes first."
"Just now the puppet Judge said that the nether envoys who went to suppress it have lost contact. Most of them have probably already been controlled by Huiyan."
"To possess and control a large group of people, Huiyan must split itself. In plain terms, it is currently in a self-split state."
"As long as we lure Huiyan into sending those nether envoys over and deal with them one by one, we can greatly reduce its power."
"But the prerequisite is that your Ten Lords Commission must have something capable of temporarily imprisoning heliobus fragments."
"Otherwise, even if we deal with those controlled chess pieces, Huiyan's split power can still escape back into its body."
Stelle immediately looked at Xueyi and Huohuo.
Xueyi carefully considered Cirrus's words and felt this plan was worth trying.
"Acceptable."
Cirrus secretly rejoiced and said impatiently: "Then follow me. Next, watch how I handle Huiyan."
Following Cirrus, they arrived at an extremely tall location and stopped.
Cirrus began to issue a challenge—
"Huiyan! Huiyan!"
Not long after the voice spread, faint movements responded from afar.
Cirrus struck while the iron was hot.
"The duel with the general is still far off. How about we first decide victory or defeat between you and me?"
Huiyan: "You are… Cirrus? Little thing, what right do you have to compete with me?"
"I have already turned the garden into a battlefield and made the Ten Lords Commission's dogs into puppets."
"I'm just waiting for the Xianzhou general to arrive so we can restart that battle from back then. Why fight against our own kind at this moment?"
Cirrus let out a mocking laugh: "Ha? Those ragtag bunch you're controlling, what kind of ability is that? They're nothing but stinky fish and rotten shrimp, not worth a single blow."
"I'm different. By a stroke of luck, I possessed an excellent chess piece — an excellent chess piece who once drove away Phantylia!"
Huiyan: "…Phantylia? Phantylia?! I remember now! I remember now! Such a good chess piece, I want it too!"
Cirrus: "Huiyan, you can send the nether envoys in your hands to find me."
"If you can defeat the Nameless Guest I'm occupying, I will willingly be swallowed by you and contribute my strength to your great battle against the general. What do you think?"
Huiyan could not hide its impatience, its voice unusually excited: "It's a deal! I and my chess pieces will come find you right now!"
Having successfully provoked Huiyan's greed, Cirrus let out a smug laugh.
"See, easily handled."
Tail sneered: "According to Huiyan, the nether envoys outside have already been completely wiped out? How useless!"
Huohuo shrank her neck: "That means… we're going to have to fight our own comrades next?"
Xueyi remained silent, unsure what to say.
Seeing her expression, Cirrus was greatly surprised.
"Oh? Even the puppet still retains sympathy? Don't tell me you all don't actually want to defeat Huiyan?"
"In the eyes of heliobi, this matter is as simple as a transaction. Whether it's kin or colleagues, as long as we can win, what can't we do?"
Stelle said plainly: "You also said it's in the eyes of heliobi. Judge Xueyi is indeed a puppet, but at least her actions are no different from a human's."
"Stop trying to instill in humans your heliobi way of doing things — raising gu and killing each other for the sake of power."
Cirrus agreed in a sarcastic tone: "Yes yes yes, we won't instill it. But do you have any other methods to choose from?"
Huohuo had no idea what to do. She looked at Xueyi, then at Stelle.
Stelle, however, glanced at her phone signal and lightly furrowed her brows.
For a new Trailblazer who hadn't even been a Stellaron essence for half a year, calling for help wasn't shameful.
The Astral Express was one big loving family, after all.
But the network wasn't working, so she couldn't call for help right now.
A struggle flashed through Xueyi's eyes. In the end, she still closed them.
Cirrus understood clearly and said with a playful grin:
"Isn't that exactly it? Then from now on, I'll have to trouble everyone to make up your minds and face Huiyan's puppets — that is, your colleagues."
Xueyi didn't respond. Instead, she gave Stelle and Huohuo a look.
"I have something to give you. Please come over here."
Xueyi took out an item shaped like a gourd.
"This is an artifact crafted by the Artisanship Commission — the Moon-Hiding Gourd. The Ten Lords Commission made some modifications to it. Originally, it was meant to trap heliobi."
"After you fight the puppets controlled by Huiyan, remember to lock those split heliobus fragments inside it. Also…"
Stelle took the Moon-Hiding Gourd and also took over the conversation.
"I know what you want to say. I'll take care of Huohuo and try to go easy on the nether envoys."
Xueyi clasped her fists: "Your good deed today, the Ten Lords will certainly remember. I leave it to you."
Huohuo gathered her courage: "Tail, next we're going to face a very dangerous enemy together. Please lend me a hand as well."
Tail laughed: "Oh ho~ I didn't expect the way you gathered your courage would actually look somewhat presentable."
"If your two legs weren't shaking so badly, I would have believed it."
Huohuo's small face had just shown a smile, but upon hearing the latter part of Tail's words, it immediately stiffened.
"P-Please don't expose me!"
"I also… finally managed to gather this little bit of courage!"
"As a Judge, I haven't been able to help much along the way. I've just been hiding behind Miss Stelle…"
"Lord Xueyi said that people possessed by heliobi won't be possessed a second time. Right now, this is the only advantage I have to help everyone!"
Oh?
Tail looked at her with some newfound respect.
"Ah ya ya, this old man feels like a balloon that's been inflated by this little coward. What are we waiting for? Let's go."
Xueyi patted Huohuo's shoulder: "Although this body is mechanical, there was once fear in my heart as well."
"Lord Xueyi gets scared too?" Huohuo was surprised.
"Facing a monster that can manipulate life at will, I fear… never being able to work with my sister again."
Stelle: "Actually, I'm scared too…"
Knowing how to read the room and care about others' feelings is a virtue.
As expected, Huohuo's legs stopped shaking.
"Even you two say you get scared… I… I actually feel relieved in my heart."
Xueyi: "Let's move out, both of you. Next, I will act separately from you to strike down the puppets possessed by Huiyan."
"Before this stupid heliobus comes to its senses, maximize the reduction of its power and suppress as many heliobi as possible."
Huohuo: "That means we need to activate the Shape-Binding Evil-Repelling Array?"
"Correct. Once your task is complete, come meet me at Qingqiu Terrace and activate the formation." Xueyi said.
"Understood!"
Xueyi gently nodded to Stelle, then quickly left.
Stelle and Huohuo didn't delay either. They headed in another direction. Along the way, they indeed encountered quite a few controlled nether envoys.
Stelle kept her promise. At most, she rendered the nether envoys unable to act, then used the Moon-Hiding Gourd to suck away the split power fragments of Huiyan.
Along the way, she didn't forget to search for Guinaifen's whereabouts, but unfortunately found nothing.
Huohuo gradually got used to it, and her heart wasn't as uneasy anymore.
After some time passed, the two unknowingly arrived at the meeting point near Qingqiu Terrace.
Seeing the familiar figure, Huohuo let out a sigh of relief.
"It's Lord Xueyi. Eh… that is? It's Miss Guinaifen! That's great, she's okay!"