The words hadn't faded when Wu's figure vanished, reappearing mere meters from the chairman. The blade, originally just over a meter long, swelled instantly, aimed at the chairman's back.

Wu's previous attacks hadn't been without effect. The chairman still bore blade wounds on his shoulder and back. Wu's strike had not only hit Shao Tong's body but had also wounded the chairman residing within him—a bizarre attack that seemed to strike directly at the soul.

Faced with this Wu, the chairman dared not be careless. They became entangled in close combat. Compared to before, the chairman's power had reached a new level, and he was evenly matched with Wu in close-quarters combat.

Sinister human faces emerged from the churning black mist, greatly disrupting Wu's attacks. The faces cried, laughed, and whispered, shattering Wu's focus. Several strikes missed their mark, and the chairman seized the opportunity to slam a palm heavily onto Wu's shoulder.

Wu, risking being torn apart by the faces, retaliated with a backhand strike of the sword hilt towards the chairman. After exchanging blows, both retreated, but the chairman steadied himself after three steps in the void, while Wu was clearly more injured. He tore open the tattered sleeve, revealing an arm riddled with wounds, mostly bite marks.

More worrisome was the battle below. Dahe Niangniang was unable to fight, and Shui Laoye, wounded, clearly couldn't withstand the relentless assault for much longer.

He could sense that while every puppet possessed a bizarre Gate, none could individually match him, Shui Laoye, or Dahe Niangniang. They were simply not on the same level. But the puppets, relying on their numbers and coordinated abilities, could wear Shui Laoye down.

Noticing Shui Laoye in renewed danger, Wu had no choice but to send the Shixin Mo, Scarecrow, Hungry Ghost, and Killer Demon to help.

Except for the Hungry Ghost, who retained his full fighting power, the other three demons had been injured by the chairman in the previous battle and were greatly weakened. The Scarecrow's chest was collapsed, and the Shixin Mo had a gaping hole in his abdomen, appearing quite wretched.

However, with the addition of these four demons, Shui Laoye's pressure was greatly reduced, and he temporarily stabilized the defense. But everyone knew this was only a temporary measure. The decisive battle was between Wu and the chairman.

Without the power boost from the four demons, Wu gradually struggled against the chairman's frenzied attacks. After exchanging a fierce blow with the chairman, Wu was ambushed by black mist that suddenly appeared behind him, leaving a hideous wound on his back.

Worse, the wound was constantly festering. The black mist, composed of the most agonizing despair of those who died, was constantly eroding Wu's body, affecting his will.

With a powerful enemy like the chairman ahead, and the constant threat of the black mist, coupled with the drain caused by the people of Jiang City below, this battle was doomed to be unfair from the start.

In this haunted building, the chairman was practically invincible, with his eyes and ears everywhere, and he could constantly absorb the despairing aura of the unjustly dead within the building to replenish himself.

Wu had considered forcibly devouring the Gates of the disciples in the building to replenish himself, but only as a thought. When he considered making such a move, the chairman didn't stop him, which was obviously suspicious.

After Shui Laoye smashed a disciple to pieces, he realized that the Gates within these disciples had long been controlled by this haunted building, as if branded. Recklessly devouring them would only backfire.

The Night Watchman chairman's abilities were truly bizarre. Wu even detected a strange scent on the chairman, the scent of that bus, and... Wu quickly glanced below, his eyes lingering on Jiang Cheng. His expression became complex. Jiang Cheng also had that scent.

Taking advantage of Wu's distraction, the chairman drove the black mist forward again. The situation had reversed, and Wu was now on the losing end of the close-quarters combat.

Once Wu was eliminated, the others would be nothing more than lambs to the slaughter.

The exchange was brief but intense. Wu slashed the chairman's face, leaving a bloody mark, but he himself was repeatedly struck by the elusive black mist and the chairman, instantly gaining five or six more wounds. Black gas constantly emanated from the wounds, and faint, mournful cries could be heard.

The battle in mid-air made Fatty and the others anxious. Fatty was sweating for Wu. If things continued like this, defeat was only a matter of time.

Jiang Cheng frowned, forcing himself to look away from the battle in the air, searching carefully nearby, while his mind raced. He sensed something was wrong, that something strange was hidden within this seemingly fierce battle. He must have overlooked something, but he hadn't realized it yet.

Where was it?

What was the problem?

...

He gave up on the battlefield and turned his gaze to a slightly more distant place. After a moment, his eyes stopped as they scanned a pile of corpses.

He saw a body lying in the pile of corpses—no, not a corpse, a person. It was Shao Tong, the body previously used by the chairman!

Shao Tong hadn't died. He had struggled to his feet and was now half-sitting, half-leaning against the pile of corpses, his chest still rising and falling.

Most importantly, there was a wound on his right cheek, a fresh wound, still bleeding, exactly like the wound on the chairman's face!

But... the wound on the chairman's face was left by Wu's most recent attack, when the chairman had already abandoned Shao Tong's body in front of everyone.

Why would the chairman's subsequent wound appear on Shao Tong's face as well? Could it be... Jiang Cheng's breathing quickened. He knew he had found the blind spot.

Since the wound on the chairman would be mirrored on Shao Tong, what about the reverse? If Shao Tong were injured, would the chairman suffer a backlash?

He only had one chance. Jiang Cheng didn't act rashly. He quickly reviewed the chairman's actions and analyzed several suspicious points.

The chairman had said Shao Tong deserved to die, but he hadn't killed him directly. Instead, he had dropped him, and conveniently, he had fallen into the pile of corpses, which had cushioned the fall, so Shao Tong was unharmed.

Also, the position of the corpse pile was right behind the puppets. Even if something went wrong, those powerful puppets would immediately protect him.

Finally, those puppets were all ruthless killing machines. They hadn't killed Shao Tong because Shui Laoye and the four demons were blocking them, but not killing Shao Tong, who was practically delivered to their mouths... that didn't make sense!