Chapter 405 - The Scum Is A Puppet

East, Xinfaxian, Xinfaxian Sect. 

"Old Li…" Tang Teng called, shocked to see a large crowd coming their way. 

Li Nanzi didn't answer and tugged Kang Ce's sleeve to ask him where they come from. But, it seems that he didn't need to ask. 

"Wu Bai!" Mother Feng cried when she recognized the person dressed in white leading the large crowd behind him. 

"'Wu Bai'?" Su Yuan asked as he looked at Wu Bai who stopped in front of them. "You are… the Wu family's… Wu Fan's cousin?" he said. 

Wu Bai calmly nodded. He turned and smiled at Mother Feng and Father Feng and to their child, before he turned back to Su Yuan. Jing Xian was standing beside Su Yuan, as well as Tang Teng and Li Nanzi. Sun Rong was standing behind them together with Qie Shi, spectating. 

"They…" Wu Bai spoke, breaking the silence. "They are the Dongfang Town's citizens." He said. 

Everyone was shocked. "What?!" they said. "Weren't they dead?!" someone asked. 

"They aren't." Wu Bai answered. Then, he took out a piece of paper from his sleeve. 

Under everyone's eyes, the paper turned into Wu Bai! "What the…" they all muttered under their breath as they looked at this other Wu Bai, before they turned to look at the first one. 

"He is a puppet." Wu Bai spoke. "I used the puppets for the demonic cultivators to kill in place of the real people." He explained before he drew his sword, then cut down the puppet's arm! 

"No – " someone exclaimed, shocked. Their eyes widened in horror when they saw the puppet's arm fell and blood flowed out of the cut! But, they were more surprised to see that Wu Bai's arm also bled, but his arm wasn't cut. What's going on? 

"Elder Su. Elder Jing. Sect leader Tang. Sect leader Li." Wu Bai called. "I ask you to ask elder Zheng. He can explain everything to you." He told them. Before everyone could react, Wu Bai suddenly collapsed! 

"WU BAI!" Mother and Father Feng cried and they immediately ran forward. 

The Xinfaxian Sect disciples already knows Wu Bai before and they immediately fed him magic pills and potions. Meanwhile, Su Yuan, Jing Xian, Tang Teng and Li Nanzi looked at each other, their gazes talking. The next second, everyone saw their figures flashed and then they disappeared. 

Sun Rong looked at the unconscious Wu Bai being treated by the Xinfaxian Sect disciples before he turned to look at the Xinfaxian Sect in the distance. "Let's follow them." He told Qie Shi. 

"Mn!" Qie Shi nodded, his eyes gleaming in excitement. 

North, Shanliang, Shanliangde Sect. 

"What the hell is going on?!" an elder asked. "Everyone… everyone's alive?!" they exclaimed. 

Another elder looked at the piece of paper in his hand. "This is a Fate Exchange Talisman." He spoke. "Although this isn't demonic cultivation, but banned since it's just one step away from being demonic, because it harms the body." He said. "The Fate Exchange Talisman, as implied, is used to exchange fates with someone. But, since it is demonic cultivation, it is used on animals, which later changed to puppets. This is done by writing the eight characters of one person, since the one who will use the talisman is a puppet, which have no eight characters." He explained. "But, because of this, the original person will still bear the attack, but the impact is lessened since the puppet will bore the brunt of the attack." He finished. 

"Wait. This sounds familiar…" an elder muttered. 

"It couldn't be Cheng Sheng again, right?!" someone said. 

"No. I already heard about this Fate Exchange Talisman…" someone spoke. "And, Cheng Sheng just appeared recently. Xie Lan and Fan Wen won't let him take the demonic path!" he told the other elder that spoke. 

"This Fate Exchange Talisman is paired with puppets." Ho Yue spoke. 

They all turned to him. 

"Using animals is cruel, and using humans is crueler." Ho Yue said. "So, this Fate Exchange Talisman is paired with puppets. And the one who is using the Fate Exchange Talisman and is a puppeteer is Wu Bai – former Youxiwang sect leader Wu Fan's cousin, who was kicked out of the Wu family because of this." he explained. 

An elder sighed. "But, how can Wu Bai save everyone in Shanliang?" he asked, then paused. "Wait. Could it be, he also saved the other regions?!" he said and looked at the other elders. 

"It should be. I've heard he's living in the East, in Xinfaxian now, and is the fiancé of the eldest son of the Feng family." Someone said. 

"Then, this Wu Bai also saved the East?" 

"He must also have saved the West since he was originally from there." 

"Then, only the South and the Central weren't saved?" 

"No, no. If one wants to make a good deed, he has to do it thoroughly!" 

"Yes, that's right…" the other elders agreed. 

"Then, this… he must have prepared this for a long time, right?" someone asked. "After all, making puppets for such a large number of people…" he didn't continue as their expressions changed. 

Silence fell. "It couldn't be…" an elder spoke. 

"What couldn't be? You're saying that the salvation of thousands of people is impromptu?!" another one said. 

"But, if Wu Bai wanted to save everyone, he should already know about the demonic cultivators' attack?" someone said. 

Another silence. 

"It can't be that Wu Bai wanted to return to the Wu family so he wanted to act as a hero but secretly colluding with the demonic cultivators?" someone asked.

"Watch your mouth! The Wu family, although a small family, but they are known for their morality!" someone defended Wu Bai. 

"If he has a good moral, he wouldn't have been kicked from his family! He shouldn't have used the Fate Exchange Talisman!" an elder said. 

"That's why he began making puppets to not harm anyone!" another elder said. "And, he hasn't even used these puppets and the talismans… he never used them. Only now!" he said. 

A long silence fell. "Then, who could explain all these?" someone asked in a small voice. 

Ho Yue looked at them all before he silently heaved a sigh. "Everyone." He called. "Can't we all just be happy? This is good news. Everyone is saved, although slightly injured. But, no one has lost their life. And, everyone returned." He said. 

"Elder Ho spoke right." 

"Yes. That's true…" 

Ho Yue secretly sighed in relief. "As for the matter of Wu Bai… we can go to the Zhongyang and ask the Righteous Alliance, since what Wu Bai did is large-scale." He said. "He must have given elder Zheng a notice for his action." He added. 

Who knows that it would just made the surroundings even more silent? 

"So… Zheng Fu Gong must have known this?" 

Ho Yue. "…" f*ck. Me and my big mouth! He thought and rubbed the space between his brows, still feeling some pain in his head. Sect leader Fei… I've already done enough… he thought and took a deep breath, calming himself. "Then, shall we go to Zhongyang now, precisely the Righteous Alliance to ask them?" he asked. This is all I can do for you, sect leader Fei. He thought and glanced outside. 

It's already morning. 

South Region. 

Right after they finished listening to Chen Jing's and Wu Fan's explanation, they saw that Shu Mu's 'fellow disciples' bodies turned into papers. 

Shu Mu. "…" f*ck. Was I not given much scare enough?!?! 

Xiao Le saw Shu Mu's ugly expression and patted him on the back, comforting him. Xi Ming's expression looked complicated, while Xi Xing didn't even blink. 

"Ai. As much as I want to go back to the West to see father, and Yuan-er if he might be there, but…" Wu Fan sighed. 

Chen Jing patted him on the back. "Don't worry. They will definitely follow after us since they also wanted to avenge themselves from Wu Ran's evil plot." He told him. 

Shu Mu adjusted his expression. "Then, I'll be going back to Nanshu to check our people and help them treat themselves." He said, then cupped his hands and gave them a bow. "I apologize to not accompany you in fighting Wu Ran." He told them. 

Xi Ming smiled and hit Shu Mu's shoulder. "You don't need to apologize! Xiao Xing and I will go with you to help you! Didn't I already say that before?" he said. 

Shu Mu smiled at him. "Thanks." He said. 

"Mu-ge…" Xiao Le called as he tugged Shu Mu's sleeve. "I'll also go with you." He told him. 

Shu Mu turned and patted his head. "Thanks for always being with me, xiao Le." He said. 

"Then…" Xi Ming spoke and turned to face Wu Fan and Chen Jing, then bowed like what Shu Mu did earlier. Xi Xing and Xiao Le followed him. "We also want to apologize, Chen patriarch, former sect leader Wu, for being unable to accompany you two to the Southmost Region." He said.