96 6.20

You Daolin didn't hesitate to strike while the iron was hot, he bowed his head until Ning Taio had passed by him then swiftly entered Duangan Pang's workshop.

Inside, the man had already returned to meticulously scraping the rotten skin off of Wenren ShiShi's face, but his movements were slightly brutal and his expression still gloomy, confirming that You Daolin hadn't seen wrongly. Ning Taio had definitely angered his shifu.

Struggling to hide his excitement, the teenager used his spiritual energy to transfer his query to the jade slip he'd been depending on for communication ever since that freak Ning He had burnt out his tongue and, pretending to be apprehensive, saluted the man and offered it up with both hands. After all, no matter how sure he was that the two leaders' argument hadn't been related to him, it wouldn't do to reveal that he'd been snooping.

Despite his impatience at this second interruption to his craft, Duangan Pang tempered his irritation by reminding himself that this was the boy who'd provided his project materials in the first place. Thus, driven by his sense of obligation toward his sponsors, he reluctantly pushed aside his work and picked up the item, but when he understood that the youth had bothered him simply to ask whether the peak master of Jade Sword Mountain had walked out so angrily because Duangan Pang had accepted a disciple who had a conflict with Ning He, he couldn't restrain the annoyance surging in his heart.

What kind of idiotic question was that? Why disturb him with such trivial concerns? Further vexed that it was Ning He who was disrupting his work again, he barely spat out, "No," and thrust the jade slip back at the youth, coldly turning away.

Such a denial was exactly the response You Daolin had wished to hear, however, so he didn't back down and instead inscribed a long suggestion, insistently pressing the slip back into his shifu's hand. Although Duangan Pang creased his brow and stared unwillingly at the object, in the end he scanned over the message contained in it, resolving to throw this disciple out if it was something pointless again.

But this time, he raised his brows in surprised approval.

---

For the sake of making headway on his mission, Chen Yu guided the necessary actors and their props for a thrilling play toward Puppet Warrior Peak in this manner: the vengeful You Daolin transferred over, bringing along Wenren ShiShi's corpse; a righteously furious Zhuo Biming agreed to pass on whatever information he could gather on Ning He; and Duangan Pang, who was irked by Ning He's existence as a failed project and more by the troubles his presence brought, stayed in his workshop to provide his expertise in puppetry.

The result of unifying these three angry men was fairly predictable.

Since the Moqi brothers had publicly announced that Wenren ShiShi had died down in the abyss and there was no way for anyone to have seen You Daolin pick up the remains, a puppet made from her body would make the most suitable tool to eliminate Ning He without casting suspicion on any of the three people involved. In fact, bolstered by the puppet master's pride in his magnificent creation, they no doubt believed their plan to be so foolproof that even if she killed Ning He in plain sight, the puppet would be strong enough to escape anyone and that no one would be able to identify that she'd been artificially stitched together in the short time before she slipped away. As for those who might recognize the formerly admired fairy of Ten Stems Hall, no one who cared about appearing sane would dare to testify that a dead girl was the criminal.

Still, unless they were far stupider than Chen Yu thought, they should understand that the easiest setting for the attack would still be when Ning He was alone. And the fact that they hadn't attempted anything yet indicated that they hadn't chosen this rational route. Likely due to the animosity Zhuo Biming and Duangan Pang held toward Ning Taio, it seemed that they were waiting for a chance when father and son were alone together in order to compromise him as well.

Of course, this was a rather far-fetched ambition; it would be unwise to exterminate Ning Taio since, taking into account his status as a peak leader, doing so would necessitate a thorough investigation, and it would also be difficult to implicate him as Ning He's murderer thanks to his reputation as a doting father. But they were evidently clinging to their sole reasonable hope: that in his panic, Ning Taio would ruin his own reputation by accusing the deceased Wenren ShiShi as his son's killer.

Yet in spite of knowing all this and how restless his little playmates must be feeling, Chen Yu had avoided being alone with Ning Taio for the past few weeks, because one factor hadn't been prepared on his end. Now that it was ready, it was also about time to start the play. Contentedly licking off the golden bead of blood he'd drawn from his finger, he therefore rounded up his lackeys and issued some exclusive invitations.

That evening, news spread through Jade Sword Mountain that tomorrow, Ning He would be getting a reevaluation of his spiritual roots from the peak master. As this was a private matter, generally no one else could witness the process, but everyone was eager to learn the results, which would either substantiate or disprove the rumors of the boy's outstanding talent. Whatever the outcome, this would be worth gossiping about, so the information circulated swiftly.

Naturally, once Zhuo Biming heard this rumor, he promptly relayed it to You Daolin and Duangan Pang. Keen to seize this opportunity, the three promptly arranged the details of the assassination, with the puppet to be snuck into Jade Sword Mountain by Zhuo Biming and controlled from a distance by Duangan Pang. You Daolin, against the opposition of the other two, also insisted on 'visiting' Zhuo Biming, intent on being present to enjoy seeing Ning He's freshly killed body firsthand.

In this way, the next morning came quickly to all the parties who were filled with anticipation.

As Chen Yu headed toward the relatively remote side hall where the testing would take place, he idly reminded himself to check if his mission completion rate had progressed so that he could compare the percentages before and after the show. From the 11% he'd attained after returning from the Shadow Abyss, he was currently at 19%, most of the increase having been produced by the protagonist and his sidekick—it seemed that Duangan Pang had just been vaguely irritated so far, since his emotions had barely registered in the total count, and Ning Taio had merely exhibited some spikes of fear that had quickly subsided.

Humming from curiosity about how effective this play would be in filling that gaping 81%, Chen Yu stepped into the room that contained the large assessment stone which was propped up grandly on an ornately decorated pedestal, then glanced at the dividers that were lined up in the middle of the space. Ning Taio was also there, sitting in a large chair next to the platform and smiling at him. The set was ready, now all they were waiting for was the villain...

Right as he was debating whether to call her forward or not, barely discernible footsteps sounded from behind him, then a piercing ache spread through his shoulder, the spray of golden blood startling Ning Taio into lurching up from his seat toward him. Hm, she'd stabbed deeper than he'd expected, nearly half of his shoulder had been sliced through. That arm would probably be out of commission for a bit.

The situation was somewhat critical, since when she'd been alive, Wenren ShiShi had supposedly already formed an elementary Golden Core, whereas he had just reached the late stage of the Core Formation level after cultivating every night for the past few weeks. Moreover, as a puppet, she should be far stronger than before, so this fight would probably require quite a bit of effort, especially now that he was limited to one functional arm.

Even as he was assessing the ramifications of this injury like so, however, Chen Yu's mouth involuntarily twitched, appreciating how specifically targeted this preliminary strike had been. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help shaking his head in amusement at how petty that You Daolin was, asking his shifu to dismember the same limb he'd lost rather than killing him immediately.

Laughing inwardly to distract himself from the pain he so hated, Chen Yu swiftly yanked out the dagger from his shoulder and whirled around to slash it down on Wenren ShiShi's face, barely managing to nick the corner of her eye. En, it appeared the difference in power couldn't be reconciled right away...

Nonetheless, he had a definite advantage, because it was apparent that, in order to ensure that Wenren ShiShi's body moved as if it was alive, Duangan Pang had chosen to manipulate it by linking his spiritual energy directly. Although this arrangement allowed for greater control, it was risky in that damaging the puppet would also inflict harm on the master. As such, Duangan Pang would certainly try to safeguard himself with defensive maneuvers.

In contrast, Chen Yu abandoned his self-preservation instincts entirely, throwing himself wholly into offensive attacks. Anyway, he'd delayed this scene so long in order to show off his blood, he might as well spill a great deal and redecorate this room while he was at it. Thus, despite suffering numerous wounds, he didn't back off at all, and finally he ran himself through on the sword that Wenren ShiShi had pulled out, then thrust his appropriated dagger into her stomach.

From what he'd read of puppets, that should be where the master's energy was connected, but he frankly hadn't bothered studying the subject too much. To be safe, he therefore swirled his dagger around a bit inside her newly repaired torso—he absolutely wasn't being ruthless just for the sake of it, nor was he getting even for his grievances ah. Assuring himself of his pure intentions in this manner, Chen Yu continued to poke around in the puppet, destroying it from the inside out until the body conspicuously stiffened, indicating that Duangan Pang had been forced to cut off his spiritual energy thread. Presumably, he'd suffered significant injuries.

All the while, Chen Yu's heart sneered at the 'doting father' who had halfheartedly drawn closer to help yet stalled a step away each time. Initially, his inaction could have been explained away as him being frozen in fear that his dealings with the demonic cultivator would be exposed by the color of his son's blood, but to have actually not defended Ning He even a little throughout the relatively drawn out fight? It was obvious that he'd hesitated to save his son, perhaps preferring that Ning He died to the boy hating him once he discovered what his good father had been up to.

Shrugging inside, Chen Yu mused, well, that was unfortunate. He'd rather hoped that Ning Taio would be more interesting than that. But since the man had utterly failed, he ignored the way he was belatedly rushing toward him and shifted his gaze toward the room's entrance, directly meeting the furious glare that had been boring into him.

A few minutes earlier, unable to restrain his eagerness any longer, You Daolin had dashed toward the side hall where the first part of his revenge should finally be happening, dragging Zhuo Biming behind him. But what had met his eyes when he'd cracked open the door was that freak digging his hand back out of Wenren ShiShi's stomach and the puppet collapsing like its strings had been cut, clearly demonstrating that their plan had failed.

No, how could that be possible? Duangan Pang had guaranteed that his creation would be more powerful than Ning He. Had someone warned that freak? At that thought, his eyes turned red, and he slowly twisted his head toward Zhuo Biming. Was it this bastard? Had Zhuo Biming betrayed him again?

Despite his desire to watch these two dogs fight, Chen Yu didn't have time to waste, he interrupted by sliding the door wide open and curling his lip at You Daolin. "Hng, what are you eyesores doing here? And you, didn't you enter Puppet Warrior Peak? Why haven't you gotten your shifu to fix your body yet? The sight of you makes people want to dig their eyes out, don't you have any shame going about in public?"

Combined with the disgusted expression that twisted Ning He's face, that derisive comment about his appearance broke You Daolin's last frazzled nerve, so that, exploding brilliantly, the teenager rushed at Chen Yu with his one arm outstretched madly. He was determined to get rid of this freak once and for all, no matter what the consequences might be!

Zhuo Biming, on the other hand, had sensed something off from the moment they'd arrived in front of the room to scuffling noises rather than Ning He's screams and, cautious due to this foreboding, he'd disregarded the boy's rude greeting from the start. Instead, once he'd grasped the situation, he'd focused on shuffling toward Wenren ShiShi's body to collect it into his storage space. Since they'd failed for now, the priority was to hide any evidence. And when he at last got close enough, having confirmed that Ning Taio was concentrating on his son and Ning He on You Daolin, he seized the puppet's arm.

Exactly at that moment, Chen Yu, who'd been backing away toward the dividers, lightly dodged You Daolin's charge and nudged him headfirst into the screens, strolling after him to smear his blood across the ground and thereby nullifying the silencing array he'd laid down. Thus, a beat later, with You Daolin having torn down the partitions and Chen Yu having broken his formation, Ning He's followers were revealed along with the sounds of their formerly hidden shouts.

Crossing his arms, Chen Yu appreciated the dumbstruck expressions on his targets' faces for a second with a faint smile hanging on his mouth. Soon, however, he reluctantly reached down to crush a bead on each of his anklets, cursing, damn it, this had been fun, but now he wasn't sure it would be worth the price.