Unfortunately, his shouts were not going to get any answers because, in the eyes of the other two, it was just the zombie dog growling more ferociously after being attacked.
To the short, chubby man and the tall, chubby man, although the zombie dog had retreated a few steps after being attacked, it seemed ready to charge again at any moment. They prepared to attack, waiting for the right moment. The impatient tall, skinny man struck first, and soon they were all entangled in combat.
Park Su, who had been preparing to act once they passed through the array, was surprised when he looked out the window to see the three men not moving towards the door but instead fighting each other. The scene was bizarre, but he realized it was likely due to the effects of the array in the yard.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of awe, having thought the array was strictly for attack, but now it seemed its function for confusing and misleading was even more potent. Given the situation, it seemed unlikely they'd make it to the door anytime soon, so he decided to stay by Xu Nuo's side.
Just as Park Su speculated, the three continued their skirmish into the night, still in a standoff even after Park Su had dinner. In reality, the trio, regardless of their height or build, were exhausted and had a chilling suspicion in their hearts.
Meanwhile, other members of their ability user team, who had come looking for them, were approaching the scene. When they saw the three fighting, they were puzzled; these three were usually the best of friends. Why were they suddenly fighting in someone else's yard?
Someone immediately tried to enter the yard to break up the fight but found that despite the distance seeming short, they walked for a long time without reaching the trio. Seeing others walking in circles, those who came later also sensed something unusual about the yard and didn't dare to enter recklessly.
One of the wood-type ability users thought about using his powers to create vines to pull the trio out. However, he found that once the vines entered the yard, his ability seemed to be absorbed through them, leaving him drained and forcing him to sit down to rest. Seeing this, no one else dared to extend their abilities into the yard.
Later, someone realized that their leaders had come here to recruit the residents into their faction. Now it seemed like their leaders had offended someone, and they couldn't help them anymore. Because of their leaders' harsh words, they were probably trapped by the homeowner. To get out, they would have to beg the owner of the house to release them. So, a few of them stood at the entrance, shouting for Park Su to show mercy and let them go.
Unfortunately, the person who could undo the array was currently breaking through and couldn't manage it, and Park Su had no idea how to dismantle it. He usually walked according to the directions Xu Nuo gave him, and he wasn't sure how to navigate through areas he hadn't explored to rescue anyone.
Xu Nuo had once told him that if he accidentally entered such an array, one should clear their mind and ignore their senses; everything they perceive might be an illusion, and one should just move forward in the direction they normally would. However, these people hadn't been polite, and saving them might just bring more trouble. Therefore, Park Su decided to ignore their pleas and watch the show, avoiding unnecessary complications.
Due to the commotion they were causing, it had also caught the attention of Lu Shang and Ge Qing, who lived nearby. They came over to observe from a distance.
Ge Qing remarked, "I knew the person inside had a high ability level to confuse them for so long. Do you think it's an illusion-type ability? And higher than ours?"
Lu Shang frowned, "To control so many people for so long with an illusion ability seems unlikely to me. I think it might be something special in their yard, like an array."
"An array?" Ge Qing's eyes widened in surprise, "I thought those only existed in novels, not in real life. Now that you mention it, it does seem plausible. Good thing we were polite earlier; otherwise, we might have offended someone we can't afford to."
Seeing Ge Qing looking somewhat scared, Lu Shang patted his head, "Don't overthink it. Remember, he said we could visit in a couple of days. We'll find a way to build a good relationship then, so we don't end up like this. Honestly, I'm curious to see what this master of arrays looks like."
Ge Qing, puzzled, turned to him, "I didn't catch that earlier. Why do you keep saying it's the person inside who set up the array, not the one we met? He's breaking through; how would he have time to set up an array?"
Lu Shang paused for a moment before chuckling, "Let's just say I'm judging by appearances. That guy looked too youthful and lacked the aura of a master; he didn't seem like someone who could set up an array."
Regarding his lover's matter-of-fact use of the term "judging by appearances," Ge Qing could only shake his head helplessly before saying, "Alright, you're handsome, so you're right. I won't argue with you. Since there's nothing here that requires our involvement, let's leave. They can handle it, and they're doing a better job than we could. I was thinking that with all their recent activity, they might have moved against us in the next couple of days to drive us out. But they hit an iron plate before even targeting us. From the looks of it, this battle might cost them a lot, giving us a few days of peace."
Lu Shang nodded, "That's true. It seems we should thank the two living here. Otherwise, if they had come at us together, we might not have been able to stay here."
Hearing this, Ge Qing huffed, "We definitely need to thank them, but I don't want to stay in this dump anymore anyway. Even if they don't drive us away, we were planning on leaving. How about we ask these two where they plan to go next? Maybe we could travel together. I think having them around would make your breakthrough safer, but I don't know if they'd be willing to take us along."
Seeing that his partner had everything planned out for him, Lu Shang's lips curled into a smile, his eyes shining with affection as he hummed in agreement.
The battle in the yard continued, but the three combatants were now panting heavily, their abilities and stamina nearly depleted. The tall, skinny man was the most anxious, not having considered that the rose vine might be a manifestation of the tall, chubby man or the short, chubby man. He knew his ability was about to run out, and he was terrified of meeting the same fate as the short, chubby man, with thousands of holes from the thorns draining him of all his blood.
The thought made him shudder with pain, and his eyes filled with even more killing intent. He didn't care if he could defeat the rose or if the tall, chubby man was waiting to strike; he knew that if he didn't deal with this rose, he would die here today.
Thus, he quickly gathered the remaining energy in his body, condensing it into water arrows which he shot towards the mutated rose. The arrows were dense, aimed at defeating the enemy in one strike, leaving no room for mercy.
On the other side, the two men saw the zombie dog suddenly stop its attack, its fur bristling as if preparing for a major move, which put them on high alert. The tall, chubby man was even ready to curse, no longer caring whether the dog was the tall, skinny man or not. If they kept this up, all three would die here. He couldn't afford to hold back anymore.
Just then, a barrage of water arrows flew towards them from the opposite side. The tall, chubby man, irritated, immediately conjured a net of fire to block them, but the energy of his fire net was not as potent as the water arrows, allowing several to pass through and continue their assault.
The tall, skinny man, being a water-type ability user, recognized these water arrows and realized that the tall, chubby man's earlier guess was probably correct; what was in front of them was not a zombie dog but the tall, skinny man himself.
He regretted letting go earlier. Now, they couldn't communicate with the tall, skinny man, nor could they bring themselves to use lethal force against him, leading to this one-sided battle. This situation was frustrating. He could only keep knocking down the water arrows that made it through the fire net, but his speed wasn't enough to intercept all of them.
Some arrows managed to cut his skin, but the damage was relatively minor thanks to the fire net and his own ability.
However, the tall, chubby man, who had to expend most of his energy maintaining the fire net, didn't have enough left to deal with the water arrows, resulting in several piercing his flesh, blood flowing from the wounds.
Seeing this, the short, chubby man grew impatient. In just a moment, both he and the tall, chubby man were already battered. With a low, gruff voice, he said to the tall, chubby man, "This won't do. If we keep this up, we'll all die here today. Let's try to knock out this 'zombie dog,' which is really the tall, skinny man, and then figure out how to get out of here."