Puppet Notes (Wearing Book) - 146

 

| PN | I'm Coming | 146

When Shen Yuxi returned, the sunset's afterglow fell on the villa's garden, and faint laughter could be heard from Qi Chao and a few puppets. The summer's irritability seemed to dissipate a bit in the midst of this laughter.

Hearing the sound of the villa door, Qi Chao came out with Qiu Qiu, his gaze briefly passing over Shen Yuxi's face. 

As usual, he smiled and said, "Brother Shen, you’re back."

On the surface, Brother Shen appeared to be unaffected. Qi Chao thought to himself, keeping the matter of his diamond purchase a secret for now. He looked past Shen Yuxi and greeted Agu, "Agu, how have you been these past few days at Brother Shen's friend’s house?"

Friend? 

Agu's cheerful expression didn’t change at all. He happily replied, "Of course, I’m not as happy as at home; Agu really misses Dad!"

Such a talkative child. Qi Chao chuckled and then patted Agu and Moss's shoulders, urging them to hurry inside. 

Agu had long wanted to go into the garden to find Xiang Yue. After hearing Qi Chao's words, he cheered and ran inside.

Moss glanced at Qi Chao and Shen Yuxi, then tightly clutched the plush doll in his arms, consciously leaving space for the two parents to interact.

Outside the garden, only Brother Shen and Qi Chao remained, along with Qiu Qiu, who was sitting on Qi Chao's shoulder.

Shen Yuxi looked up at Qiu Qiu, his eyes curving slightly as he gently asked, “What did you and Dad do at home today?”

Qiu Qiu had always liked her beautiful and gentle father. Seeing Shen Yuxi offer her a kind and warm smile, her golden eyes brightened. She flapped her wings and flew off Qi Chao's shoulder, circling around Shen Yuxi twice. 

With her platinum curls and pointed ears, she looked just like a princess from a fairy tale.

“Dad took us to water the flowers and even made a swing for us in the garden!” As soon as she finished speaking, Qiu Qiu seemed to suddenly remember something and appeared a bit anxious: “Now it’s Qiu Qiu’s turn to use the swing! Dad, I’m going in first!”

As she spoke, Qiu Qiu shot inside like a bullet, flapping her wings.

A swing?  

Shen Yuxi looked at Qi Chao with a half-smile, "So, you made them a swing today?"  

Just from Qiu Qiu's description, he could tell how much effort Qi Chao had put into playing with the kids at home today.

"Yeah, the kids at home, except for Li Bai and Lan Luo, hardly ever get to play on swings. I had some time today, so I made two," Qi Chao replied, leaning a little closer to Shen Yuxi and joking, "Look at the sweat on my forehead; it hasn’t stopped since the afternoon."

Shen Yuxi gazed at Qi Chao's beaming smile and momentarily froze, as if he could catch a whiff of the faint sweat on him. It wasn't unpleasant, but the heat radiating from him faintly reminded Shen Yuxi of Qi Chao's burning body temperature every night.  

Typically skilled at teasing, Shen Yuxi felt a slight flush at the corners of his eyes.

He paused for a moment, realizing his reaction, and feeling a little flustered, he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and gently wiped Qi Chao's forehead, his eyes filled with concern: “If you're tired, take a break; don't push yourself too hard.”

Shen Yuxi's movements were gentle.

Qi Chao’s ears turned red instantly, and he let out a slight, scratchy "mm."  

The two exchanged a glance, and the atmosphere became sticky again. The sky was already dimming, and the laughter in the garden continued. They could faintly hear Agu sitting on the swing, asking Xiang Yue to push him.

Such moments were beautiful.  

As Shen Yuxi watched Qi Chao holding his hand, walking towards the garden, his eyelashes fluttered slightly.  

In the past, even if Qi Chao discovered the truth, Shen Yuxi wouldn’t have cared. He had hundreds of ways to keep Qi Chao by his side.  

But now, he found that he couldn’t bear to see any expression of disgust in Qi Chao’s eyes.

A self-deprecating smile curled at the corners of Shen Yuxi’s mouth. Even if he didn’t want to deceive Qi Chao anymore, it was impossible. If there ever came a day when Qi Chao truly disliked him, he would never let him go.  

That night, Shen Yuxi clung tightly to Qi Chao. Even if Qi Chao wanted to leave to get a drink, he wouldn’t allow it, his hoarse voice carrying a different kind of seduction.

Qi Chao swallowed hard, his Adam's apple rolling up and down as he reached out to brush the corner of Shen Yuxi's eye.  

He could sense that Shen Yuxi was worried about something.  

But he wasn’t clear on what exactly it was.

After Shen Yuxi fell into a deep sleep, Qi Chao ran his fingers through his hair, went to the kitchen for a drink of water, and then lay down on the bed, wrapping his arms around Shen Yuxi.  

It seemed that upon sensing the familiar scent beside him, Shen Yuxi's tightly furrowed brows relaxed a lot. He shifted to a more comfortable position and continued to sleep.  

Qi Chao chuckled softly and wrapped his arm around Shen Yuxi's back. He really wanted to know what was troubling him, but since Shen Yuxi didn’t want to talk for now, he decided not to ask.  

In a few days, Qi Chao thought, if Shen Yuxi continued to worry about this matter, even if it meant pressing him, he would find out what was on his mind.  

Tomorrow, he would give Shen Yuxi the diamond first. He hoped that when Shen Yuxi saw the gift he had prepared, it would help him temporarily forget those troubling thoughts.

The next day, when Shen Yuxi opened his eyes, Qi Chao was already gone. He paused for a moment, his attention drawn to something placed on the balcony.  

It was a rare light blue diamond.  

The translucent diamond showed no flaws in the sunlight, and just by its clarity and color, one could tell how precious it was.

Shen Yuxi got up and walked to the balcony, picking up the diamond. The diamond, illuminated by the sun, felt warm, almost like Qi Chao's palm.  

This was a gift for himself.  

After a moment of thought, Shen Yuxi deduced that this was something meant for him, especially since there was a card next to it that read “For Brother Shen.”

Although he didn’t understand why Qi Chao had suddenly given him a diamond, it didn’t dampen Shen Yuxi’s cheerful mood. A smile involuntarily crept onto his lips, and the emotions in his eyes became much more genuine.

In the living room, Mos was as usual, focusing on braiding his plush doll’s hair, while Agu was hanging on Xiang Yue, begging him to accompany him to play on the swing.

Xiang Yue calmly looked down at the holographic screen, showing no sign of agreeing.  

"Just for a bit! Agu wants to go play on the swing; I promise I won’t just cling to it like yesterday."  

As Agu spoke, he noticed something and turned to see his father walking into the kitchen.  

Agu knew that Qi Chao was cooking in the kitchen.

He paused for a moment, exchanged glances with Moss, and then said with a smile, “See? I told you, with Dad around, even if Father is feeling down, he can adjust quickly.”  

The dog ears on Xiangyue's head twitched slightly as he looked down at Agu clinging to his waist. His gaze swept over Moss, and he appeared to be deep in thought.  

So was Father unhappy before?  

Xiang Yue felt as if he had missed a lot.

Shen Yuxi’s good mood from receiving the gift lasted until he arrived at the trial ground.  

The sky above the trial ground was overcast, dark and heavy, accompanied by the sounds of thunder. The forest looked even more terrifying than usual.  

Shen Yuxi glanced at the sky, his brows slightly furrowed, then relaxed. He leaned against the mother tree, his gaze directed toward the direction of the Poison Gas Forest.

Every so often, the Poison Gas Forest would release toxic gas, which could paralyze a person’s nerves and even infect the bloodstream through the human nervous system, continuously expanding its reach. 

Without an antidote, a normal Blue Star person would die within a week at the latest.  

Anyone who stayed inside for a few weeks would not survive, even if they were an ability user. 

The only nemesis of the Poison Gas Forest was rain.  

On rainy days, the Poison Gas Forest would not release its toxins.  

Just as the book’s protagonists and Qiao Sheng were about to die, the usually clear sky suddenly began to rain.  

What a coincidence.

Shen Yuxi squinted up at the sky, recalling that the same thing had happened during the Bug Valley and Serpent Cave incidents.  

Although he had anticipated it, he still felt displeased when it truly happened again. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he had restored his previous gentle demeanor. 

Shen Yuxi tilted his head and softly said to Mos, “Go find Chi Yao and have her organize the deformed puppets to act according to plan.”

Since that group of humans would always be favored, he didn’t need to hold back any longer. 

Shen Yuxi looked up at the branches of the mother tree, where only a few scattered shadows remained. A faint smile curved at the corners of his mouth.  

He was eager to find out whether his plan would succeed or if those humans would follow the so-called storyline and kill his puppets one by one.

Meanwhile, in the central world, several star systems away, the director of the Craftsmen Bureau sat anxiously in his office chair, his brow furrowed. It was too difficult—really too difficult. 

How could it be so hard to be a director?  

Seeing this, the deputy director quickly reassured him, “It’s alright, Director. System 01 has been with Host 346 in the prison, he won’t be able to escape so easily.”

Right now, the biggest issue in the bureau was this, and the deputy director understandably assumed that the director's agitation was due to this matter. The director waved his hand, feeling a bit of a headache. “It’s not this; it’s the dimension that Qi Chao is in.”  

Qi Chao?

  

The deputy director thought of this individual who had traversed two high-risk dimensions and still managed to remain unscathed. He fell silent for a moment, his mind filled with questions. 

“What happened to him?”  

“The storyline of that dimension has gone awry, as you know,” the director said, rubbing his temples.  

The deputy director nodded. “Yes, normally, the fate lines of high-risk dimensions shouldn’t change. Even if they do, the gears will slowly correct the distorted world lines.”  

“The current problem is that the method for high-risk dimensions to correct the erroneous world line is too terrifying. Look at earthquakes, fires, thunderstorms; according to the main system's analysis, relying on natural forces still won’t be able to correct the world line.”

“The next step in the high-risk dimension’s plan will likely evolve into completely erasing the existence that influences the world line.”  

The deputy director's heart sank. “Erasing the influencer? Then what about Qi Chao…”  

“It’s unclear.”  

The director exhaled irritably. He actually hoped it would be Qi Chao; that way, he would have a reason to transfer employees to a different dimension. However, he was worried that the high-risk dimension wouldn’t bother Qi Chao but would target someone else instead.  

With such a self-destructive world line, it was easy to tell that the intelligence of this high-risk dimension wasn’t very reliable. No matter how the fate gears turned, as long as it didn’t cause trouble for their bureau, it should be fine. 

But would it really not cause him trouble?  

A sense of inexplicable concern began to rise in the director's heart.

...

The rain at the trial ground continued to fall. After receiving the message from Ayu, Shen Yuxi's eyes flashed with a hint of a smile that was almost imperceptible.  

“Is that so? Have they been driven into the cave?”

The red eyeball in front of him bobbed up and down a few times, as if nodding.  

Shen Yuxi let out a soft laugh. After the eyeball moved away, he cast a slight glance at Moss.  

Moss instantly understood and opened the spatial vortex.  

Before stepping into the time-space vortex, Shen Yuxi looked up again at the shadows on the branches of the mother tree. Originally there had been four shadows, but now only two remained. The mother tree they inhabited seemed to have grown even stronger.  

“Father, our plan is about to succeed.”  

Moss’s hoarse voice was tinged with excitement. In the past, the success of a plan might not have warranted such joy.  

However, now that the plan was succeeding, it meant that their family could be together forever, and this family included both Dad and Father.  

Shen Yuxi responded with an “mm,” the smile in his eyes deepening. His eyelashes obscured the complex emotions within. In just one month—the longest being one month—he would no longer have to deceive Qi Chao.

Everything in the trial ground would eventually fade away, and no one would know what had truly happened here; naturally, Qi Chao would not know either.  

In his eyes, he would always be that gentle Brother Shen.  

Just as Shen Yuxi was lost in thought, a warm palm suddenly covered his forehead. His fingertips trembled slightly, and when he looked up, he realized he was back in the villa, with Qi Chao gently stroking his forehead.  

“Brother Shen, are you running a fever?”  

Fever?  

Shen Yuxi was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head. His peach blossom eyes curved slightly as he said gently, “No, I’ve never gotten sick when I was young.”

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