In the original text, once Hua En died, the spirit-gathering array shuddered and turned into a highly dangerous killing array. But it was also exposed, so master and disciple quickly located the core array and destroyed the formation eye.
When the eye was destroyed, the spiritual power already converted would erupt. For a dead place, this was a blessing, but for a place with living people, it was a disaster.
To prevent the remaining townsfolk from suffering, Master suppressed the leaking spiritual power and couldn’t spare a hand. So Mo Xuanli seized the chance amidst the chaos to forcibly absorb the outpouring spiritual power, allowing him to advance.
It was then, in the original text, that the controlled Xie Qingrong appeared to stop Mo Xuanli. The two fought, Xie Qingrong lost, and Mo Xuanli captured him.
But now—what was happening?
“What did you do?” Mo Xuanli demanded.
Luo Yi sneered. “I told you, you can’t break it. The one who set the array is already gone.”
Mo Xuanli had absolute confidence in his barrier arrays. Unless they weren’t set in advance, once arranged, they couldn’t be broken so easily. And Hua En was a puppet controlled by a dead man. Here, aside from themselves, no one else could have destroyed Hua En. Luo Yi was already in his grip—he had long been on guard. There was no way Luo Yi could have made the puppet self-destruct.
Seeing Mo Xuanli finally take a hit, Luo Yi was overjoyed. He laughed loudly: “Didn’t you all already know about corpse-controllers? Don’t you know that a corpse-controller can end himself?”
Gu Baiqing, who had already used lightning force to cleanse the little jade figure, immediately said: “Impossible. Hua En still held on to the hope of turning Wen Jiang into a puppet. Even if he learned some truth and was too heartbroken, he wouldn’t willingly end himself, cutting off any chance of seeing Wen Jiang again.”
Hua En had killed, had committed evil, and truly had no right to keep living—but they hadn’t made a move against him yet, so how could anything have happened to him?
“Heh heh heh… After all, to capture you alive, how could I not prepare a backup plan? What a pity, Hua En was such a talented puppet master. I only let the Wen family know ahead of time that their child’s soul had long since reincarnated. Guess what they said when Hua En suddenly ran over to them?” Luo Yi laughed like a mischievous child. “He did so much for me—telling him the truth counts as a reward.”
If Hua En knew the truth—that Wen Jiang could never be saved—could a corpse-controller without obsession still exist?
Suddenly, golden light flared from all over Linxun Town. Though only they could see it, the tremors in the ground frightened the townsfolk half to death. They thought it a natural disaster, not knowing a killing array was brewing around them. Hua En’s soul must have completely departed—thus the killing array had formed.
The only one unaffected was Luo Yi, because he relied on puppet arts and demonic qi, untouched by the spirit-gathering array.
The instant the array activated, all the cultivators were bound. Luo Yi immediately broke free from Mo Xuanli’s restraint, lunging to snatch back the little jade figure.
But a bolt of lightning struck him.
The binding only held for that first instant of disorientation. Gu Baiqing, with the highest cultivation among them, recovered a little faster, enough to barely fight.
Knowing he couldn’t prevail for now, Luo Yi fled.
Gu Baiqing was about to give chase, but Mo Xuanli, able to move just one hand, grabbed his wrist. “Master, don’t act alone.”
Gu Baiqing hesitated, then let it go. After all, the spirit-gathering array had already transformed. Now they had to rely on Mo Xuanli’s grasp of formations to quickly find the main array and the eye, and destroy it.
The others gradually recovered as well.
“Forgive me, Master, I didn’t expect…” Mo Xuanli released Gu Baiqing as soon as he regained control, just about to speak when Gu Baiqing cut him off: “Go, find the formation eye. Destroy this spirit-gathering array.”
Mo Xuanli’s gaze flickered. His master didn’t blame him—but he couldn’t help reproaching himself. He should have left no loose ends. Knowing his master’s state was unstable, he shouldn’t have risked leaving dangers behind. He should have thought things through more carefully.
Just as he was thinking this, a hand rapped his head. Startled, Mo Xuanli looked at Gu Baiqing.
Gu Baiqing didn’t meet his eyes, only said calmly: “You’ve already done very well.”
If not for Mo Xuanli, he himself would likely have followed the original script, merely supporting Mo Xuanli to get through this mission—how many hidden dangers that would leave, how many needless deaths, just the thought was terrifying. Fortunately, this time Mo Xuanli exposed the truth.
From beginning to end, Mo Xuanli had done so well that even if Gu Baiqing wanted to be stingy with praise, he couldn’t help but acknowledge it.
Mo Xuanli’s eyes shimmered, his heart warmed, then his gaze firmed—this time he would be careful no matter what.
When they passed the main hall where the coffins were placed, the sight there was shocking. Other members of the Wen household had scattered in terror, but in front of the coffin a great flame suddenly roared up. Inside the fire, two figures could be seen—Hua En clutching Wen Jiang.
Hua En held Wen Jiang tightly, burying his head against Wen Jiang’s shoulder, while Wen Jiang only sat quietly.
They remained like that. When the fire burned itself out, nothing was left.
Gu Baiqing could not imagine what Hua En had said or done when he came to see Wen Jiang, nor how desperate he must have felt after being told the truth—desperate enough that his obsession vanished, and he allowed himself to disperse into smoke and ash.
Thinking of this, Gu Baiqing felt some guilt—guilt for deceiving Hua En in this matter.
The group left the Wen estate and went to seek the main array. Zhu Jian seemed to recall something, for when he had been under control, his main task had been to help draw the array.
Zhu Jian pointed in a direction. There, indeed, the golden light was brightest, and the oppression on cultivators strongest, for the entire spirit-gathering array was absorbing their spiritual power.
It was a remote place—nothing but alleys could be seen with the naked eye. But once they stepped in, it was like entering a ghost wall, trapped in endless loops.
“That slippery brat—we should’ve just killed him earlier,” Uncle Zhu Jian said anxiously.
“We can’t kill him,” Mo Xuanli said. “There are too many secrets hidden behind Luo Yi. We must take him alive.”
“But…”
“Senior Brother Zhu, we’re going to find the formation eye. It will be dangerous from here on. You shouldn’t come with us.” Mo Xuanli spoke directly. Zhu Jian wanted to argue, but when Gu Baiqing’s cold gaze swept across him, he immediately complied.
Gu Baiqing turned to the always-quiet Jingzhan and asked: “What about the little jade figure? Are you bringing it with you?”
Jingzhan had been running along in a daze, continuously channeling spiritual power. Only now did he lift his face, pale, and say: “Something’s wrong. I’ve poured in so much power, but Qingrong hasn’t responded at all. I can’t even sense our bond anymore. Is this still Qingrong? Did that brat take away his soul fragment already?”
Gu Baiqing frowned. “Impossible. If it were only an empty jade figure, why would he protect it with his life? And when I removed the control lines just now, I could clearly sense the soul’s vitality.”
Now that he knew Gu Baiqing’s true identity, Jingzhan naturally believed his every word. His own spiritual sense wasn’t that sharp—maybe he had simply failed to detect it.
“Let me feel it…” Mo Xuanli took the jade figure, closed his eyes, and then frowned slightly. “There is a soul… but strange—why is it so weak?”
“Was it that b*stard who harmed him?” Jingzhan asked anxiously.
“Perhaps it’s the influence of the spirit-gathering array,” Gu Baiqing said. After all, Luo Yi shouldn’t be willing to harm Xie Qingrong.
Mo Xuanli clearly couldn’t make sense of it either. After all, he didn’t know much about the art of soul-splitting. “First we find the array core. Luo Yi should also be nearby, and he doesn’t have many puppets he can use at his side—Xie Qingrong’s true body must be over there.”
Jingzhan immediately nodded.
At this moment, Luo Yi was indeed at the very heart of the formation. Standing before him was none other than Xie Qingrong’s true body.
Because half of the soul was missing, Xie Qingrong’s body was extremely easy to control. But Luo Yi hadn’t done anything with him—he just left him here. Because he knew that without a complete soul, even if puppet arts were applied to this body, in the end it would only become like a living corpse—no thought, no awareness.
And that wasn’t the Xie Qingrong Luo Yi wanted.
What he wanted was a clear-headed Xie Qingrong, by his side.
He reached out, removed the white gauze covering Xie Qingrong’s eyes, and commanded: “Open your eyes and look at me!”
Xie Qingrong slowly opened his eyes. A pair of clear pupils appeared. Those amber irises ought to have looked cold and distant, but to Luo Yi they still seemed gentle.
Luo Yi reached out and brushed the corner of Xie Qingrong’s eye, where faint scars still remained. He didn’t need Baili Jingzhan’s reminders—he would never forget how Xie Qingrong had lost his sight.
Back in their youth, everyone had looked down on him. To prove himself, he had taken puppet dolls deep into the back mountain, only to be trapped there. For three days and nights no one came looking.
Only after Xie Qingrong emerged from seclusion did he discover Luo Yi was missing. He searched the entire sect, and finally, in the back mountain, he found Luo Yi being chased by a demonic beast.
In that moment, Luo Yi had already given up. He was ready to end his miserable life—yet still he fell into a gentle embrace, surrounded by a safe and familiar presence.
The next instant, the demonic beast collapsed. He thought, as always, that it was his powerful senior brother who had saved him. But when he looked up, he saw Xie Qingrong’s eyes streaming with blood.
“Senior Brother?” Luo Yi was struck dumb with fear.
But Xie Qingrong, already blind by then, neither cried out in pain nor struggled. Instead, he anxiously reached out to touch Luo Yi’s face. “I rushed over too fast and didn’t see—are you hurt? Are you all right?”
Luo Yi cried. Xie Qingrong was only fourteen or fifteen himself, yet for his sake he had lost the bright future of sight. The only one who was good to him had been ruined because of him.
Xie Qingrong brought Luo Yi back. When others asked, he only said that he had lost in battle and been injured by accident. He never once mentioned saving someone. Instead, he often pulled Luo Yi along, trained with him, helped him find ways to change his constitution. Outsiders said it was his sect master father who was doing everything, but in truth, it was always Senior Brother.
Even when Luo Yi failed at cultivation again and again, Xie Qingrong only encouraged him.
Senior Brother built wide connections, made friends, dealt with Tianyuan Sect and Wuxiang Temple—yet in truth, it was all initially for his sake.
With such a Senior Brother, Luo Yi behaved, unwilling to disappoint him. Since he couldn’t cultivate, he studied arrays and barriers instead. But inside him still lingered a voice of unwillingness.
He didn’t want to see the disappointed look in his father’s eyes. He loathed the disdain of his fellow disciples. He hated that only the likes of Baili Jingzhan or Qian Yue—talented prodigies—could venture out on adventures with his senior brother. He hated his own powerlessness, his uselessness.
He was not willing to accept it.
Until someone appeared—told him the truth about his mother’s death, and brought him the puppet arts she had left behind.
His mother had once been a genius puppeteer. After becoming Dao companion with his father, she ceased cultivating puppetry, instead extracting its essence to give to his father, which helped produce Rufeng Sect’s unique arts like summoning and soul-splitting.
But after giving birth to a “failure” like him, her body grew weak, unable to bear another child. She also suffered immense pressure in the sect. To give Luo Yi a way forward, she wanted to pass down puppet arts. Yet to a great sect like Rufeng, puppet arts were a crooked, forbidden path.
His mother gained no recognition from his father. Watching her son grow in misery with a “waste” body, she secretly began teaching him, and also researched puppet avatars invisible to control lines. In her ideal design, a puppet avatar would be like a brand-new body for her son—if it had spiritual roots, then it could cultivate.
But such arts were heretical. Immersed in it, ignored by his father, she fell into qi deviation without anyone noticing. In the end, she became a puppet master possessed by demons, accidentally killed someone, and was captured by his father—forced to commit suicide.
To cover up the scandal and protect Rufeng Sect’s reputation, everything was pushed onto the demons.
Wracked by guilt, the sect master never remarried, and kept his distance from Luo Yi. But this only made Luo Yi suffer greater exclusion and unfairness, his life growing ever more bitter.
Learning the truth, Luo Yi could no longer suppress his hatred. He hated his father. He did not see “sacrificing family for righteousness” as noble—only as the height of hypocrisy, a man who couldn’t even protect his own family. He wanted to prove that he and his mother were not wrong. He wanted to change his fate. He wanted to grow strong. Most of all, he wanted to take revenge on his father—and destroy the Rufeng Sect he despised most.
So he began secretly cultivating the puppet arts left behind by his mother.
At first, it wasn’t unnoticed. But everyone only thought he was tinkering with the same worthless puppet tricks as before. The scorn and mockery never ceased. His father had long given up on him, and so never reacted to anything he did. Only Senior Brother saw his seriousness, helping him gather materials wherever he could, though always reminding him to cultivate other Dao as well.
Taking advantage of Xie Qingrong’s blindness, Luo Yi hid many secrets right under his nose, and gained much help.
Though guilt pricked him at times, he never regretted it.
At last, his puppet arts began to take shape. He started secretly hunting demonic beasts, secretly killing people. Rufeng Sect was vast—when the occasional person went missing, it was assumed they had gone out training and wouldn’t be easily noticed. Thus he silently grew stronger. But as more and more blood was shed, his eyes gradually turned red, just like his mother’s.
He had fallen into demonic ways, become a demonic puppeteer. Fortunately, he already had some mastery over puppet avatars. Merely disguising his eyes was not difficult. After all, aside from Xie Qingrong, no one was willing to get close to him—no one would notice anything amiss.
Those two years, Xie Qingrong must have noticed his increasingly uncontainable violent tendencies, and began treating him with caution. Even his father started to suspect him, though there was no evidence for the time being. He knew that in the short term he definitely couldn’t kill his father, nor destroy Rufeng Sect, so he couldn’t stay there any longer. Otherwise, once discovered, his fate would be the same as his mother’s.
