"Old Sha, don’t hurt it!" Su Ping called out softly.
Once the figure appeared, Su Ping sensed that its strength probably wasn’t very high. Although the strength of a Pet Beast isn’t necessarily related to its size, this creature under the moonlight, only as tall as an adult’s calf, didn’t seem to pose any threat at all.
And facing Old Sha’s arrival, the figure showed no signs of nervousness or fear. It merely retreated a few steps and adopted a very peculiar stance, its hands placed at its waist, its body slightly lowered, poised for action.
Hearing Su Ping’s call, Old Sha also reined in his charge somewhat, but his eyes, shining green in the dark moonlight, remained firmly locked on the little creature before him.
At this moment, Su Ping could finally make out what it was under the dim moonlight.
It had a tiny stature and a frail, exceedingly pale body that looked as if a gust of wind could blow it away. Folds and marks, painted facial features, and the so-called clothes all confirmed the creature’s identity: it was a Paperman.
Indeed, from head to toe, its body lacked any semblance of flesh and blood. It wasn’t a Spiritual Body of the Undead Elemental type, nor was it a bony skeleton. It looked as if it were crafted with exquisite origami techniques. Even its cheeks had blush painted on them, giving it an eerie appearance.
Ordinary Level Undead Pet Beast: Paperman. Reputed to be the shame of the Necromancy System, it competed with the Skeleton Soldier for the title of the weakest Undead Pet Beast.
However, as weak as Skeleton Soldiers might be, with their race’s potential generally capped at the Ordinary Tier, they boasted a vast array of evolution pathways! As the most common Undead Pet Beast, Skeleton Soldiers have various evolutions like Skeleton Archers and Skeleton Warriors. They even have a Commander Level evolution path to Skeleton General, and legendary King Level evolution paths such as Bone Tyrant, or even the mythical Emperor Level ’Lord of Death’.
Although Papermen also had a few developed evolutionary paths, their fame and practicality clearly fell short of the Skeleton Soldier’s effectiveness.
Su Ping had never imagined that the ’guest’ in the backyard, the one that had kept Old Sha on edge for days, was actually such a little thing!
This brought him a wave of relief, but also a twinge of disappointment.
He’d thought there might be some unexpected surprise! But this was it?
However, in the hazy moonlight, Su Ping quickly noticed that this little Paperman was a bit different from the normal ones. Apart from its unremarkable height, what was slightly noteworthy was the posture this little Paperman was currently adopting.
It was bending slightly, its inverted-triangle eyes, drawn with black paint, staring intently yet blankly at Old Sha. Both of its papery hands were placed on its left hip, as if clutching something.
Su Ping squinted. After getting a clear look, he couldn’t help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation. It was the hilt and scabbard of some weapon, though whether it was a knife or a sword was indiscernible.
The Paperman’s main ability was that its body could take on many different forms by reconfiguring its folds. Its methods of attack were similar, and this was the first time Su Ping had seen such a little Paperman.
Of course, Su Ping wouldn’t dare to be careless or underestimate it. The simple reason was that he still hadn’t figured out how this little Paperman had appeared just now.
"Old Sha, don’t act rashly!"
After instructing Old Sha, Su Ping slowly approached; he really wanted to get a good look and see what kind of secret this little Paperman held.
With that in mind, he slowly began to manifest his Eye of Truth.
However, the instant he got close enough to use his Eye of Truth, a fierce glint seemed to flash from the little Paperman before him:
A strange cry erupted. Before Su Ping even had time to react, this little thing, barely as tall as his calf, actually moved!
An indescribably sharp force shot out from its waist, instantly severing the Wolf Tobacco plants in front of it and creating a crescent-shaped vacuum.
Yet, Old Sha was faster.
Old Sha leaped directly in front of Su Ping. A wall of vines shot up, blocking the strike.
BANG! The sound was particularly harsh in the dead of night.
However, just as Old Sha let out an angry howl at the moon, and the wall of vines switched from defense to offense, about to envelop the little Paperman—
The Paperman’s figure rippled, seeming to dissolve into the air, and vanished without a trace!
Just as it had appeared, its disappearance was utterly without warning.
Su Ping blinked. Old Sha rushed to where the little Paperman had just vanished, circling it repeatedly and scanning a full 360 degrees, but found nothing out of the ordinary.
The pale moonlight shone down, and Su Ping remained motionless.
He still hadn’t recovered from the shock of that attack. Its power was too great, far surpassing his understanding of Papermen as Pet Beasts.
And, if his basic Beast Tamer knowledge wasn’t mistaken, that attack... was it a Metal Element Skill?
But did Papermen, as a type of Pet Beast, even possess Metal Element attacks? Obviously not. If they did, Papermen wouldn’t be considered the shame of the Necromancy System and the weakest of the Undead Pet Beasts by the entire Beast Tamer community.
Then there was its sudden disappearance. While Su Ping had never witnessed such a thing firsthand, he understood the principle behind it. That was a Space Element ability!
A Paperman possessing Metal Element abilities was already peculiar and outlandish enough. How could it possibly have Space Element abilities too?
Yet, the evidence was right before Su Ping’s eyes. The mark left by that attack was still on the ground.
Unfortunately, his Eye of Truth hadn’t managed to capture the Paperman’s specific details just then.
Nevertheless, Su Ping could tell from its keen defensive awareness and strong offensive intent that this Paperman was probably not a Beast Tamer’s Contracted Beast, but a purely wild one.
But such a bizarre Paperman couldn’t possibly have wandered into Linzhou City from the wilds, could it? And those strange spatial fluctuations...
Suddenly, Su Ping felt like he understood something. A few days ago, Qin Xiaoxue had mentioned that Dong Muyun, the chairman of Tianyun Group, supposedly had a Space Element Pet Beast, hadn’t she? This situation right now...?
Su Ping’s brows furrowed even tighter. He suddenly began to understand why Tianyun Group might be in such a rush to buy his family’s plot of land.
Clearly, this was most likely related to the current situation. But what exactly was happening?