In addition to the three spotlights shining on Haoyun and his companions, numerous columns of light appeared out of thin air. These ever-changing colored beams swept over the audience, creating a more cheerful atmosphere. Haoyun and his companions, illuminated by these lights scanning the audience, saw that every audience member in the stands wore a wooden mask with a long red nose similar to Pinocchio's.
These masks had no eyes but were roughly painted with a red arc representing a smile, exaggeratedly stretching from one side to the other at the mouth. The masks themselves looked eerie, and the laughter emanating from behind them sounded cheerful but menacing, like the roaring of ferocious beasts. This made it even more believable that behind these laughing masks were not joyous revelers celebrating a holiday but rather serpents and predators waiting to slaughter their prey.
"Haoyun! If you dare to make random remarks again, I'll sew that crow's mouth of yours shut!" After quickly surveying the situation, Dream Jia scolded through the system channel, her tone annoyed.
Haoyun looked at Dream Jia, who had suddenly changed, with a wry smile, innocently expressing that he didn't want to always speak out of turn, but that's just how the plot was arranged, and he couldn't help it! So if blame had to be assigned, it should be placed on that darn author.
(The author, teeth clenched in frustration as he wrote, thought, "What does his crow's mouth have to do with me! Ugh! If the heavens truly looked down, they would allow me to kill this guy off!")
"Stop flirting and concentrate! Be prepared for battle at any moment! We might have to fight a tough battle soon!" Dao Lao interrupted the conversation between Haoyun and Dream Jia, signaling with his eyes towards the whips the clowns carried, indicating that they should seize the opportunity to grab the whips and use them as weapons to kill the clowns, then find a way to break out of there.
"Cut it out! Who's flirting? This useless guy isn't even worth peeing in the same pot with me. Besides getting beaten by me, he has no other qualifications!" Upon hearing Dao Lao's words, Dream Jia replied somewhat shyly and firmly, then immediately composed herself and began to prepare for battle.
Haoyun, feeling guilty, warned Dao Lao not to speak recklessly, then also entered a state of battle preparation. However, they were both quite helpless. Without the assistance of their Mold Spirit Energy Tracking System, without weapons, and without the divine power bestowed by the Divine Spirit Realm, they were no different from ordinary people. In such a dire situation, what preparations could they make for battle? Even if they were prepared, how much fighting power could they unleash?
Nevertheless, despite their worries, the three of them did not cower. They continued to quickly plan their next course of action through the private chat channel of the system. While the three of them were preparing to escape forcibly, one of the burly clowns had already walked in front of them and began interacting with the audience on the stage. Under his lead, the cheers from the audience grew louder, and the atmosphere reached its peak.
Seeing the increasingly enthusiastic atmosphere, the clown was very satisfied. He turned around and pointed at Haoyun and his companions, then gestured towards the stage. Under a compelling force, Haoyun and his companions were dragged back and forth on the T-shaped platform by several clowns, and finally stood on one side of the central stage.
After being forcibly pulled onto the stage, Haoyun and his companions were surprised to find a row of metal hoops arranged in the center of the stage. As each hoop appeared, spotlights illuminated them in sequence.
They saw a total of seven hoops in the center of the stage. These hoops were almost the same size, only varying slightly in height. After the appearance of the seven hoops, all the clowns, except for the three controlling Haoyun's actions, jumped onto the stage. They waved whips in their hands, performing various simple acrobatic movements, continuing to enhance the atmosphere of the scene.
At this moment, the lead clown who was responsible for taking the stage walked to the side of the hoops, shouting incomprehensible slogans while raising his hands again. In the next moment, as if performing magic, he conjured up a burning torch out of thin air. Then, amidst the audience's cheers, he lit each of the seven metal hoops in turn. Finally, he pointed the torch at Haoyun and his companions, further escalating the atmosphere with his actions.
"What does he mean by this? He doesn't want us to jump through hoops of fire, does he?!" Haoyun asked in astonishment. The familiar circus march and these familiar hoops of fire made Haoyun unable to help but recall the electronic game called Circus that he had loved playing when he was young.
Seemingly confirming Haoyun's guess, the clown controlling Haoyun walked to his side after performing a series of warm-up routines in the center of the stage. With his sturdy fingers, he heavily tapped on Haoyun's shoulder, then pointed at the hoops of fire, continuously emitting strange laughter. It was clear that the clown wanted Haoyun to jump through the seven hoops of fire.
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"Crow's mouth! Please, stop making wild guesses in the future!" Both Dao Lao and Dream Jia cursed simultaneously, glaring at Haoyun with eyes that could kill, indicating their disapproval of his speculation.
Seeing the red-hot metal rings, Haoyun and his companions couldn't help but feel puzzled. How could they possibly jump through hoops of this size? Even if they didn't touch the edges of the metal rings, their bodies would inevitably be subjected to the high-temperature burns enveloping the metal rings. For Haoyun and his companions, who had lost all their superhuman combat abilities and divine protection, this was indeed quite a challenge.
The clowns controlling Haoyun and his companions paid no attention to the nervousness on their faces. They retrieved the handcuffs restraining the three and forcefully pushed them forward, indicating they should quickly complete their performance. However, the audience grew increasingly displeased when they saw Haoyun and his companions hesitating to perform.
The reason Haoyun and his companions hesitated was not only because they were intimidated by the blazing rings of fire but also because they didn't expect the clowns to release their restraints voluntarily. This unexpected action gave them hope because if they could defeat these clowns, they might have a chance to escape. Although their combat strength had diminished, they believed they still had a chance against the clowns. So they magnified their fear of the fire rings and planned to use it as an opportunity to deal with the clowns.
In the blink of an eye, as the clowns were scolding Haoyun and his companions to perform and attempting to appease the disgruntled audience with comical antics, Haoyun and his companions seized the opportunity to launch a simultaneous attack on the clowns.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Three solid blows rang out as Haoyun and his companions each attacked the clowns in different ways. Dao Lao used his height advantage to suddenly sweep a leg at a clown, intending to break the clown's legs directly. Haoyun, being similar in height to the clown in front of him, seized the opportunity to swiftly slice at the clown's throat, intending to sever it along with the front of the neck. Dream Jia's move was more straightforward. She simply aimed a kick at the clown's crotch. Meanwhile, in her mind, she already envisioned the scene of two eggs being smashed viciously.
"Wow! Oh!" The audience's dissatisfaction immediately turned into a collective gasp as they witnessed Haoyun and his companions suddenly attacking the clowns.
However, the previously confident Haoyun and his companions now wore expressions of surprise. Why was their strength so weak?! Although their movements were still sharp, and they used their full strength, they felt incredibly weak when they hit the clowns. Their punches and kicks felt as soft and ineffective as hitting a lump of cotton against a marble wall, causing no harm to the clowns.
"Hehehe!" The clowns, suddenly attacked by Haoyun and his companions, were initially stunned, then burst into excited and sharp laughter. At the same time, they quickly grabbed Haoyun and his companions' hands and feet before they could retract their attacks, lifted them up, and began to mercilessly slam them onto the ground while laughing maniacally.
Thrown about and battered, Haoyun and his companions felt the clowns finally release their grip. They staggered to their feet, ready to continue the fight. But before they could steady themselves, "Crack! Crack! Crack!" Three whips with sharp barbs cracked across their backs.
Accompanied by three cries of agony, Haoyun and his companions were slammed to the ground again. Waves of excruciating pain shot through their spines and quickly spread throughout their bodies. After the screams subsided, they involuntarily convulsed, struggling in agony on the ground.
This physical torment made Haoyun realize that his combat strength and defense were now virtually nonexistent, and it made him aware of the clowns' power. Watching the clowns laugh and swing their whips again, Haoyun couldn't help but raise his arms in fear, preparing to resist. At the same time, he regretted recklessly attacking the clown and subjecting himself to such painful punishment.
As Haoyun anxiously watched the clown in front of him, waiting for the whip to strike him again, the apparent leader of the clowns had already approached Dao Lao and lifted him up like a chick. Still recovering from the pain of the whip, Dao Lao let out a series of agonizing cries as he was roughly handled by the clown, causing further injury to his back.
Ignoring Dao Lao's cries, the leader of the clowns carried him to the side of the fire rings and threw him down. Then, he proceeded to grab Dream Jia and Haoyun one by one and throw them down next to the fire rings, arranging them in the order of Dao Lao, Dream Jia, and Haoyun. Another clown came over, laughing maniacally, and tore at their hair, forcing them to face his evil grin. Meanwhile, he continued to swing his whip in front of them, seemingly warning them that if they didn't perform the fire ring act quickly, they would taste the whip again.
"Hiss! Ouch! These damn bastards! I'm a woman, for heaven's sake! Do they have to be so brutal?!" Dream Jia, slightly recovered from the pain, spoke up first through the system.
"Dream Jia, are you okay?" This was Haoyun's voice, as he could clearly see the bloody wound on Dream Jia's back since he was behind her.
Although Haoyun didn't understand why Dream Jia, a divine spirit, was being whipped and bleeding like him, Dream Jia's pure white rabbit suit had turned blood-red from soaking in blood, making her, the once pure and sexy little bunny, now look terrifying and causing Haoyun to feel extremely disturbed.
"Don't worry, this bit of flesh wound won't kill me. Hoo... I don't know what Elina did to us, but it's made us so vulnerable. If we can't even deal with these clowns, how can we escape from here?" Dream Jia said anxiously, adjusting her state through heavy breathing while expressing her worries.