Puppet Notes (Wearing Book) - 59

 

| PN | Farewell | 59

"Was it absorbed?"

Shen Yuxi lightly tapped his fingers on the table, his eyelashes slightly lowered, and his blue eyes narrowed, as if he was contemplating something.

"Yes."

For some reason, Agu had followed Moss to find their father. He answered with a smile, "Qi Chao's mental energy is really interesting."

Moss glanced at Agu but said nothing.

Shen Yuxi had always known that Qi Chao's mental energy was much higher than that of ordinary puppet masters, but it was the first time he knew that Qi Chao's mental energy could merge into a mother awakened by others. 

As he moved his fingers, contemplating something, he heard Agu say:

"Since Qi Chao can't participate in the plan anymore, let's take him to the trial ground!"

Agu's voice was very clear, but the meaning of his words was chilling: "The puppets in the trial ground can't be repaired when their bodies are damaged. We'll take him there and have him repair puppets for us for the rest of his life!"

Shen Yuxi looked at Agu. This was the second time Agu had suggested taking Qi Chao to the trial ground. He seemed very eager to see Qi Chao's reaction to the trial ground.

Last time, he had rejected Agu's proposal because taking Qi Chao to the trial ground would have been useless and might have even caused trouble. But this time, he knew that Qi Chao would be very useful to the puppets in the trial ground.

Shen Yuxi's fingers slowly tapped the table, as if he were considering Agu's suggestion.

Qi Chao can't participate in the plan?

This was the first time Moss had heard of this. He looked at his father with dark eyes, tightly clutching the doll in his hand. 

If Qi Chao couldn't be his father's pawn, then it seemed his only use would be repairing puppets.

But, should they really take Qi Chao to the trial ground?

Moss thought of the bloodshed and cruelty of the trial ground, and the terrified, trembling reactions of the humans who saw them.

If Qi Chao really went to the trial ground, he would be just as scared as those people.

Moss tightened his grip on the doll in his hand.

He didn't really want Qi Chao to go to the trial ground.

Seeing his father and Moss both remain silent, Agu's emerald green eyes narrowed into slits as he smiled.

"Father, please decide quickly. We don't have much time left for our plan."

Shen Yuxi glanced over without saying anything. 

Moss, beside him, pressed his lips together under the bandages, hesitated for a moment, then looked up at his father and spoke in a hoarse voice, "Father, let's not take Qi Chao to the trial ground."

"Why?"

Shen Yuxi tilted his head slightly, looking in Moss's direction.

Moss's grip on the doll loosened slightly, his eyelashes trembled, and he seemed a bit nervous. 

His voice was like sandpaper scraping across a table: "If we take him to the trial ground, his goodwill towards us will turn into direct hostility. All the efforts we've made to gain his goodwill will be in vain."

"But even if we gain Qi Chao's goodwill now, it won't be of any use," Agu said with a smile. "He's not participating in our plan."

"Isn't that right, Father?"

Agu turned to look at Shen Yuxi.

Shen Yuxi's eyelashes lowered slightly, as if he were weighing the suggestions from the two puppets. After a few seconds, he said lightly, "For now, we won't take Qi Chao to the trial ground."

Before he finished speaking, he looked at Agu, "Qi Chao's ability is very special. Locking him in the trial ground and making him resent us would be counterproductive."

Shen Yuxi thought, instead of locking him up, it might be more useful to keep him outside; perhaps he would be of use in the future.

Moss breathed a sigh of relief at these words, while Agu clicked his tongue but did not say whether he believed it or not. 

Instead, he brought up another matter: "The energy in the Double Mirrors' hearts has been drained. It seems the association has recruited quite a few smart people recently and has already progressed to that stage."

Shen Yuxi responded with a light "hmm" and, after a few seconds, said flatly, "We can't delay the plan any longer. Since Qi Chao's future actions are unpredictable, there's no need to wait any longer."

Moss and Agu both understood the implication of his words.

Moss's expression did not change, but Agu let out a heavy sigh, as if feeling a bit disappointed: "Agu hasn't even had a few days of fun yet and now we have to leave. It's so sad."

Shen Yuxi and Moss ignored his remark.

Moss looked at his father, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Father, are you going to tell Qi Chao about his ability?"

"Yes."

Shen Yuxi's fingers brushed over the book's cover, his blue eyes darkening slightly. He said nothing more, only adding, "You don't need to worry about this matter. We will leave at the latest in three days."

That afternoon, Qi Chao learned from Shen Yuxi about the abnormality of his mental energy.

"My mental energy can merge into the Double Mirrors' core stones?" Qi Chao was stunned. "Then can I repair the Double Mirrors' hearts?"

"I don't know."

Shen Yuxi shook his head and looked at Qi Chao, speaking gently, "The Double Mirrors' hearts have no energy fluctuations, so the chances of reawakening them are very slim."

Qi Chao also considered this and nodded, then pulled at the corners of his mouth, "Actually, there's still some possibility."

If what the doctor said was true, that his mental energy had merged into the Double Mirrors' hearts, it meant that the hearts still responded to external stimuli.

Qi Chao didn't quite feel the reality of Shen Yuxi's words, but he thought it wouldn't be bad if he really had such an ability. 

Qi Chao absentmindedly pondered that maybe because he wasn't a pure Blue Star person, his mental energy was so unusual.

Shen Yuxi saw that Qi Chao seemed a bit indifferent and lost in thought. He pressed his thin lips together slightly and said gently, "We are planning to leave in three days."

Hearing this, Qi Chao was stunned. "Leave?"

Shen Yuxi nodded, his eyelashes hiding the complexity in his eyes. He looked up and smiled slightly, "We originally planned to leave after the competition. Now that it's over, it's time to go."

His suspicious and cautious nature made it impossible to rely on just one person for his plan. 

Since Qi Chao as a pawn might be uncontrollable, Shen Yuxi would choose other pawns.

Qi Chao had been pondering the peculiarity of his mental energy, but upon hearing Shen Yuxi's words, all thoughts about his mental energy vanished, replaced by the realization that his friend was leaving again.

"When will you come back?"

Qi Chao paused for a moment before directly asking.

Shen Yuxi had initially come to Qi Chao's home because of his plan, and now he was leaving for the same reason. Linjing District was too close to the association, making it difficult to execute many things.

Perhaps the next time they met would be when the association was destroyed. Shen Yuxi smiled gently, "Not sure, maybe after some time."

"Okay."

Qi Chao could tell from Shen Yuxi's expression that the "some time" he mentioned might be a long while. He pressed his lips together, feeling a bit heavy-hearted.

The last time Shen Yuxi left, Qi Chao was somewhat sad, but it was light enough to be negligible because he knew Shen Yuxi would return in two weeks.

But this time was clearly different.

The atmosphere seemed to cool down a bit. Qi Chao understood that Shen Yuxi couldn't stay at his house forever. 

After all, their relationship was just that of friends, and he had no reason to ask him to stay.

"Alright, I'll see you off when you leave."

Qi Chao smiled lightly at Shen Yuxi, trying to appear nonchalant.

Shen Yuxi still wore a gentle smile on his face. He nodded, making it hard for anyone to see what his true feelings were.

Qi Chao glanced at him, then quickly looked away. He scratched his head and then laughed, "You can come anytime you want. The room here will always be ready for you."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuxi's fingertips trembled slightly. He looked at Qi Chao, and after a few seconds, a gentle smile appeared on his lips, "Okay."

This man was truly hard to figure out.

Shen Yuxi thought, how could someone so soft-hearted and kind say something like wanting to blow up the research institute?

If he hadn't seen the madness in Qi Chao's eyes back then, Shen Yuxi might not have given up on using Qi Chao as a pawn.

…

Ever since he found out that the Doctor, Moss, and Agu were leaving, Qi Chao felt that time passed especially quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the awards ceremony.

Tomorrow, the Doctor and the other two would be leaving.

Thinking about this made Qi Chao less enthusiastic about attending the awards ceremony, but he still went.

Because the champion would receive two veins of ore.

Qi Chao had considerable savings, but it was nothing compared to two ore veins. With these veins, at least he wouldn't have to worry about his kids' food supply.

Early in the morning, Qi Chao took his whole family to the awards ceremony venue in his aircraft.

After soaking in heart care fluid for several days, his body had mostly recovered, with only a faint scar left where the wound was. 

In a couple of days, there would likely be no trace of the injury, so piloting the aircraft was no problem.

The aircraft was noisy on the way, mainly because of Agu and Li Bai's antics. Moss and Lan Luo sat quietly, doing what they liked.

When they arrived, Qi Chao, with Li Bai under his right arm, who still wanted to continue playing with Agu, said to the Doctor, "I'm heading to the waiting room first. See you later."

Shen Yuxi nodded and led Moss and the others to the audience seats. Along the way, Agu's humming could be heard from time to time.

"Lan Luo and Moss are not as interesting as Li Bai," Agu said with a smile.

Lan Luo glared at Agu, warning, "Li Bai is my good friend, not yours."

"Really?" Agu drawled, sounding a bit provocative.

Shen Yuxi glanced at them briefly and then turned his attention back to the big screen, where pictures of Qi Chao and Qiao Sheng were being displayed. His blue eyes darkened.

Qiao Sheng had better know his place and not say anything inappropriate to Qi Chao, otherwise...

Suddenly, his optical brain buzzed, and Shen Yuxi lowered his gaze to see a message from his subordinate.

"Are they urging us?" Agu had somehow appeared beside him, smiling, "That's why I don't understand why Father didn't leave yesterday and insisted on waiting until tomorrow."

Shen Yuxi gave him a quiet look, and Agu immediately obediently shut his mouth and retreated to the back, though his eyes still sparkled with interest.

Shen Yuxi's blond hair draped over his right shoulder, his peach blossom eyes exuding gentleness and affection, but the emotions in his eyes were complex and difficult to decipher.

In fact, even Shen Yuxi himself wasn't entirely sure why he wanted to wait until the award ceremony was over before leaving. 

Qiao Sheng was prone to talking too much. Shen Yuxi thought to himself that Qi Chao was very valuable; he needed to wait until the ceremony concluded to ensure Qiao Sheng hadn't badmouthed him in front of Qi Chao.

Meanwhile, in the waiting room, Qi Chao found a spot to sit with Li Bai. A staff member stood nearby, introducing the upcoming award presenters.

"Since you are the champion," the staff member said solemnly, "the award will be presented by the Prince of the Empire, so it's crucial to be familiar with the basic etiquette."

Qi Chao knew the association was backed by the Empire, so it wasn't surprising that a prince was coming to present the award. 

After the staff member finished speaking and left, Li Bai, seemingly lulled by the staff member's voice, started nodding off. Qi Chao let Li Bai sleep for a while and then looked around casually.

The warlock and his mother were dressed very extravagantly, apparently taking this event very seriously. 

In contrast, Qi Chao and Li Bai, dressed in their usual casual clothes, seemed to have taken the event less seriously.

However, Qi Chao quickly abandoned this thought when he noticed that the runner-up, Qiao Sheng, hadn't dressed up either. Qiao Sheng was still wearing his usual white lab coat.

Qiao Sheng was still seated in his wheelchair, slumped like a patient in critical condition. Qi Chao noticed that Qiao Sheng was speaking to a stranger nearby, who seemed quite familiar with him. 

The man occasionally patted a beast girl on the head, and from his back, Qi Chao could guess that he had likely been in the military.

Perhaps Qi Chao’s gaze lingered a bit too long, because Qiao Sheng soon noticed him. Qi Chao maintained his composure and smiled at Qiao Sheng. He had expected Qiao Sheng to respond with a polite smile, but to his surprise, Qiao Sheng patted the arm of the handsome man beside him and had him wheel Qiao Sheng over.

“Hello,” Qiao Sheng said weakly.

Qi Chao reciprocated the greeting, and the two engaged in a stilted conversation. Without much common ground, their exchanges were brief and often punctuated by silence.

Qi Chao didn’t mind the awkwardness and continued observing Qiao Sheng. He recalled that the system had shown a strong interest in Qiao Sheng. 

Despite their conversation, Qi Chao could only discern that Qiao Sheng appeared quite lazy, and not much else.

The award ceremony soon began. The man who had been standing silently next to Qiao Sheng reached over and massaged his temples with a touch of frustration. “Try to stay awake. You still need to accept the award later.”

Despite this, Qiao Sheng maintained his disinterested demeanor.

When Qi Chao was leaving with the staff, he glanced down at his optical brain, he had added the contacts of both Qiao Sheng and Lu Chen. Given the system's keen interest in Qiao Sheng, Qi Chao figured it was prudent to have their contact information and think about the system’s intentions later.

The system, on the other hand, might have been on the verge of tears from the excitement. Its original plan was just to have Qi Chao connect with Qiao Sheng, but Qi Chao went above and beyond by becoming friends with the true protagonist. 

However, the system had fled to avoid being caught up in this unexpected turn of events.

As the award ceremony began, Qi Chao was surprised to see that one of the invited presenters was his own father. Though Qi Chao had heard from his father that he would be attending the ceremony, he only learned that his father was actually one of the award presenters just now. 

He smiled at his father, and the sight of his father’s gradually serious expression made Qi Chao’s smile more genuine.

The prince who was giving out the awards was a plump man, the younger brother of the current emperor, which underscored the significant standing of the association in the eyes of the emperor.

After receiving the award according to the ceremony, Qi Chao gave a few words of acceptance to the camera and then turned to leave the stage.

Qi Chao was quite familiar with award ceremonies, having participated in many competitions in his previous life, so he wasn’t nervous at all.

Originally, Qi Chao wanted to say a few words to his father backstage, but seeing him chatting happily with the prince from a distance, Qi Chao decided not to wait any longer.

His time was precious right now, Qi Chao thought.

By the time he got home, it was already evening. The children played around for a while and then went to their rooms to sleep.

Qi Chao knocked on the door of the room next door with a bottle of wine in hand. After a few seconds, Shen Yuxi opened the door with a look of confusion.

“Want to drink?”

Hearing this, Shen Yuxi was taken aback. Qi Chao smiled casually and said, “Just consider it a farewell toast for you.”

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