In the original text, tonight should have been when the master and disciple investigated the victim’s body and discovered the method of soul control. They didn’t know the exact details, but could only infer the existence of a puppeteer.
Since they couldn’t trace the puppeteer directly from the victim, they had no choice but to wait for an opportunity. Fortunately, the opportunity soon came.
But now, thanks to Xie Qingrong, they had skipped that step. Soon enough, Lu Sulan would be attacked, and Wu Hongxi would send for help.
The two of them rushed to the Wen residence, just in time to see Wu Hongxi and Lu Sulan being carried off by several figures. The two girls were clearly already unconscious.
Mo Xuanli and Gu Baiqing did not act immediately, because they noticed the kidnappers’ movements were mechanical. They were clearly puppet enforcers.
To find the puppeteer, they had to follow them all the way back to their base.
Before long, they trailed them into a graveyard—not the lonely graves, but the ancestral burial grounds of the Linxun townsfolk.
They passed rows of tombs until they reached the place—all were gravestones of the Wen family’s deceased kin.
Mo Xuanli and Gu Baiqing watched as the puppet enforcers carried the two girls behind the Wen family’s ancestral stele and vanished.
The two followed around the back of the stele, quickly discovering a hidden mechanism. Just as they were about to descend, a chill wind suddenly swept up around them.
A silent attack struck. Both Mo Xuanli and Gu Baiqing raised their hands to block, only to find it was wooden puppets.
Mo Xuanli’s Divine Nine transformed into a long blade, and he was just about to cut them down one by one when two voices suddenly stopped him—
One was Gu Baiqing.
The other was Xie Qingrong, brought here by Jingzhan.
“Don’t strike. They’re dead things. There must be strings from the puppeteer behind them. If you cut them down, it will alert those inside. Best not to startle the snake. This is someone else’s territory—if they slip away, we won’t find them again,” Xie Qingrong explained.
Gu Baiqing nodded. In the original, it was exactly because of such action that the puppeteer inside grew cautious, laying countless traps in preparation. After spending six months building himself a safe fortress, it would be no easy matter to break through. Better not to bring trouble on themselves.
Mo Xuanli, perhaps still unsettled by the bustling festival earlier, was distracted this time and hadn’t thought things through. “It was careless of me.”
“Careless or not, if we don’t cut them down, then what do we do?” Jingzhan asked helplessly, fending off the puppets’ attacks.
“I have a way.” Mo Xuanli directly pulled Three Bean from Gu Baiqing’s arms and tossed it onto the ground. “Let’s not move.”
Sure enough, as long as they stayed still and only Three Bean moved, the wooden puppets mechanically chased after Three Bean. It seemed these puppets weren’t left here to attack people at all, but simply to serve as signals.
While Three Bean lured the puppets away, they immediately found the mechanism.
Once it was triggered, a staircase appeared on the ground. Gu Baiqing was about to step forward, but Mo Xuanli stopped him and went in first.
Gu Baiqing took the middle, Jingzhan followed behind with Xie Qingrong.
A long flight of stairs led straight underground.
“Is your body down here?” Jingzhan couldn’t help but ask in a low voice.
Xie Qingrong shook his head. “I still can’t sense it.”
Seeing the faint light ahead, Jingzhan instinctively tucked Xie Qingrong closer into his arms. “Then later, make sure you hide well. Don’t shatter yourself.”
When they reached the end of the stairs, what appeared before them was a long passageway.
Gu Baiqing suddenly felt as if he had stepped into a tomb-raiding novel.
The inside was silent and eerie, danger seeming ready to emerge at any moment.
But they were no ordinary mortals, and this wasn’t a public place, so they directly flew on their swords—Mo Xuanli carrying Gu Baiqing, and Jingzhan carrying Xie Qingrong.
“Eh? Tell me, it makes sense for me to carry you, but why is Xuanli carrying his older brother? Isn’t his brother a loose cultivator? He doesn’t seem to have much spiritual power. Isn’t it dangerous for him to come down here with us?” With Xie Qingrong at his side, Jingzhan could finally speak his mind.
Xie Qingrong tilted his jade head slightly, but let it pass. Since the other party wanted to hide his identity, he wouldn’t expose it.
Xie Qingrong’s spiritual sense and sight were extremely keen—especially now in his soul state—so he had seen Gu Baiqing’s identity at first glance. But since the man chose to hide it, the mild-tempered Xie Qingrong naturally cooperated. He was, however, curious. According to outside rumors, Elder Luofeng wasn’t someone who couldn’t bear to let his disciple take risks. Yet here he was, following his disciple step for step. Rumors truly weren’t trustworthy.
But with Gu Baiqing here… The little jade head drooped slightly, only for a finger to suddenly flick against it.
“What are you doing?” Xie Qingrong asked.
“Nothing. Just thought you’re fun like this. Once you recover, I won’t be able to do this anymore, so I’ll play while I can.”
“Not serious at all.”
“When it comes to you, why should I be serious?”
Perhaps because they hadn’t triggered any alarm, the passage said to be full of traps was traversed without incident.
But just as they exited the corridor, everyone was stunned by the sight before them—an underground residence, complete with houses, a gate, courtyards, and gardens. Lanterns were hung everywhere.
Since there was no light underground, the only illumination came from those lanterns. The entire courtyard glowed with red and yellow light, giving it a chilling atmosphere.
Around them stood several human-shaped puppets guarding the gate. From a distance, without watching their breathing, one couldn’t tell if they were controlled by living or dead hands. But unlike the wooden puppets outside, these needed to be treated with caution.
Mo Xuanli tossed out God Nine Transformations, but the noise didn’t draw the puppets’ attention at all. Even when God Nine Transformations scampered a full circle around them and ran back, the puppets didn’t react.
Yet the moment Mo Xuanli’s leg stepped out of the passage, all the puppets turned in unison, their eyes fixed unblinkingly on him.
“Looks like they react to living qi,” Mo Xuanli said.
“How do we get past them?” Jingzhan asked.
“I’ll draw the puppets away. You all go on ahead.” Mo Xuanli spoke quickly. Seeing his master about to object, he hurriedly added, “I have the Void Spirit Space.”
Jingzhan nodded in agreement. Gu Baiqing said to Mo Xuanli, “Be careful.”
They split up immediately. Mo Xuanli leapt out, keeping a steady pace until every puppet was drawn to him. Then Gu Baiqing and Jingzhan swiftly reached the main gate. Only then did Mo Xuanli stop running, abandon the horde behind him, vanish, and reappear right in front of Gu Baiqing.
But because the distance was too close, Gu Baiqing’s nose brushed against Mo Xuanli’s chin, startling him into stepping back at once.
D*mn, if they’d been the same height, wouldn’t that have been a kiss? This world is really…
Mo Xuanli quickly apologized, lowering his head to see the reddened tip of Gu Baiqing’s nose. Anxious, he said, “Brother, I’m sorry, I didn’t control it properly.”
“High-level spells are like that,” Jingzhan said with a laugh.
Gu Baiqing rubbed his nose and could only say helplessly, “Practice more in the future.”
“Oh… okay.” Mo Xuanli replied awkwardly.
“This is a puppet master’s domain. There will definitely be many formations and traps inside. Be cautious.” Gu Baiqing warned.
“Huh? Why?” Jingzhan asked curiously.
Xie Qingrong explained, “Puppet masters don’t practice sword dao, so their self-defense is weaker. That’s why puppet techniques and formations are among the stronger arts in cultivation. Older Brother Mo’s reminder is right. Once we enter, every step must be careful. I think I’ve already fallen into one of these formations before.”
Hearing this, Jingzhan immediately grew alert.
As soon as they stepped through the gate, a strange sensation washed over them—it turned out the entire residence itself was a formation. To build an estate upon a formation like this was much like what they’d seen in Star-Stepping City: impossible to guard against, its power only felt once you were inside.
But this formation wasn’t for warning or attack. It was more like a bagua maze, turning one courtyard into ten, confusing the senses so people couldn’t find their way out—like being trapped in ghost walls.
This array not only confused the five senses, but even spiritual sight was deceived.
“Looks like this won’t be easy,” Jingzhan said with a smile.
Their opponent might be skilled, but they were the cream of the new generation in the cultivation world. At most, this formation would only delay them a little.
“For efficiency, let’s split up. Three targets: the puppet master, Qingrong’s body, and the hostages.” Jingzhan said.
“I’ll go with brother.” Mo Xuanli said directly.
Jingzhan had originally wanted to suggest splitting into three groups—after all, in a place this size, if there was danger, a single shout would be enough to call for support. But seeing Mo Xuanli’s anxious look, clinging like something cheap and worthless, he raised a brow and teased: “Xuanli, you’re always ruining my fantasies. In the secret realm, every sentence had to mention your master. Here, every matter can’t leave your brother. Who would’ve thought, the tough guy you seemed to be is actually this clingy, huh?”
Mo Xuanli was instantly choked silent, a suspicious flush rising across his face. He was only worried for his master, not… clingy!
“All right, all right. Two to a group is safer anyway.” Xie Qingrong tugged at Jingzhan’s lapel, lest this brat accidentally provoke Elder Luofeng.
“You say that, but aren’t we already one man and one doll?” Jingzhan exclaimed in surprise.
Still, words aside, he carried Xie Qingrong and chose a direction first.
Leaving behind an awkward Mo Xuanli and a gloomy Gu Baiqing.
“Let’s go.” Gu Baiqing turned to leave, but suddenly something coiled around his wrist. Looking down, he saw it was God Nine Transformations in whip form.
“This kind of formation easily separates people. If they stick together like that, they won’t get split up. Better for us to do the same.” Having just been embarrassed, Mo Xuanli could only lower his head as he spoke.
Gu Baiqing looked at the whip around his wrist. It wasn’t exactly a ploy, but he still couldn’t help sighing inwardly.
The two entered the maze. The corridor stretched endlessly, the surrounding houses all much the same, though the flowers in the courtyards showed all four seasons. Walking through was almost like touring a garden, music drifting faintly from time to time.
Mo Xuanli walked in front, soon finding the right steps to lead them out of the maze.
“The puppet master is a man?” Mo Xuanli suddenly asked.
Gu Baiqing was startled. “How do you know?”
Mo Xuanli replied, “You can tell a little from the courtyard arrangements.”
“Hua En, let go of Wen Jiang!”
Suddenly, a voice sounded—it was Lu Sulan’s voice. But after that, it was abruptly cut off.
“It really has to do with them? Hua En? A person’s name?” Mo Xuanli frowned.
Gu Baiqing’s expression flickered strangely. He wasn’t sure whether to give him a warning. In the end, he decided not to. If he knew even this, it would be too suspicious.
Mo Xuanli quickly locked onto a courtyard in the direction of the sound. Along the way, they found many formations. Finally, when there was no place left to step, he and Gu Baiqing simply took to the rooftops, flying and leaping until they reached the courtyard.
Soon they spotted Wu Hongxi tied up in a corner.
She was already awake and anxious. Seeing the people on the roof, she grew instantly excited.
Gu Baiqing hushed her, while Mo Xuanli struck out, using his whip to pull her up and undo the ropes.
Wu Hongxi gasped for breath, pointing to the house below: “Sister Lan is inside. It was Young Master Hua who captured her. So Young Master Hua is the puppet master. Brother Wen Jiang also seems to be here. How… how could this be?”
Even she was dumbfounded after saying it, clearly unable to accept the truth.
“Let’s see first.”
Gu Baiqing shifted a tile aside. Luckily the residence was lit by lanterns everywhere, so even with a piece of the roof gone, those inside wouldn’t notice. From their angle they could only see Lu Sulan, sprawled miserably on the ground, and the room decorated like a bridal chamber, filled with countless red candles.
Lu Sulan wasn’t bound, but she couldn’t move or make a sound. Her eyes were wide with horror, locked on the front. It was clear the puppet master had acted on her.
Suddenly a crisp sound of silver bells rang out—many tiny bells chiming together.
Gu Baiqing, unable to see clearly, was curious what the scene described in books would look like. Just then, Mo Xuanli gave a sudden “eh” and froze.
Gu Baiqing turned to look, finding his gaze fixed, dazed, in one direction.
Following it, Gu Baiqing saw a massive crystal mirror in the room, reflecting exactly where Lu Sulan was looking.
There was a bed. Two people sat upon it, dressed in wedding robes.
One was a handsome man, sitting rigidly upright, features proper, eyes vacant as he stared ahead, expressionless like a statue.
Beside him sat another man, his face deathly pale. Yet in the glow of countless red candles, he seemed almost lifelike. His bearing was natural, eyes slightly upturned, carrying an innate wicked charm.
“That’s Brother Wen Jiang and Young Master Hua,” Wu Hongxi whispered hoarsely. “They… what are they doing? Why are they dressed like that? Why isn’t Brother Wen Jiang moving? Doesn’t he see Sister Lan?”
Clearly, the unmoving one was Wen Jiang, and beside him the puppet master they sought—Hua En.
Hua En looked at Lu Sulan with a mocking smile, raising a hand. Around his wrist was a complex bracelet, decorated with many small bells. With each movement of his slender fingers, the bells chimed rhythmically.
At the sound, Wen Jiang suddenly stirred. Slowly, he turned to face Hua En. Under Hua En’s gaze, he lifted his hand to embrace him.
In that instant, Wen Jiang’s face was blank, but Hua En’s eyes flickered, his mocking smile trembling faintly. Clearly sinking into despair, yet forcing his lips into a curve, as if stubbornly fighting it.
The bells rang on, fingers moving ceaselessly. Wen Jiang slowly released Hua En, then, face to face, lifted Hua En’s chin and bent down to kiss him. On the surface, it seemed Wen Jiang was initiating, but anyone could see Hua En was in control—like a one-man performance.
In that moment, not only Lu Sulan was frozen; even the three on the roof were struck still.
Wu Hongxi and Mo Xuanli were likely shocked. Only Gu Baiqing felt awkward, wanting to cover his disciple’s eyes.
“Young Master Hua… wasn’t he Brother Wen Jiang’s fellow student, just staying at the Wen household? Aren’t they both… men? Cut sleeves*? For his own selfish desires, Young Master Hua broke up Brother Wen Jiang and Sister Lan, and even controlled Brother Wen Jiang to do this kind of thing right in front of her? Disgusting! And after Brother Wen Jiang treated him so well before. Utter beast.”
***homos*xual
Gu Baiqing, upon hearing such an assessment, moved his lips but in the end said nothing.
“What’s there?!” Hua En suddenly called out, vigilant.
The two on the bed instantly jumped up, but Wen Jiang, being a puppet, did not step in front of Hua En—instead, Hua En shielded Wen Jiang behind himself.
They thought it was Wu Hongxi who had exposed them, but then a voice came from the doorway.
“Heavens, I thought before it was two men fighting over one woman!”
It was Jingzhan. Clearly, him who had also heard the commotion and tracked it here.
But their sudden appearance made Hua En furious, and conflict immediately broke out inside. Jingzhan pulled Lu Sulan back, dodging the sudden mechanism attack, and also undid Lu Sulan’s control.
Yet Lu Sulan struggled desperately to rush in. “I want to save Wen Jiang! Hua En, let him go! Wen Jiang and I are already wed—what right do you have to drag him away?”
“What right? Simply because he was mine to begin with!” Hua En raised both hands, seemingly controlling something.
Mo Xuanli’s gaze sharpened instantly. Seizing the moment in the mirror, he crashed through the rooftop with a loud crack.
Landing right behind the two.
Hua En reacted, wanting to raise a hand to control Wen Jiang to dodge, but Mo Xuanli had already seized Wen Jiang.
“Let him go!” Hua En roared in fury.
At such close range, Mo Xuanli finally confirmed one thing: Wen Jiang… was a corpse. He was already dead. Yet as for Hua En before him, Mo Xuanli could not judge.
Hua En tried to use puppet arts against Mo Xuanli, but they were easily dispelled.
Everyone saw it clearly—apart from puppet arts, Hua En had no other skill. Once his puppet was seized by Mo Xuanli, he couldn’t even retrieve it, only control other puppets. In an instant, dozens of puppets—both living and dead—kept in the estate smashed through the windows and swarmed to attack.
