Puppet Notes (Wearing Book) - 153

 

| PN | Dad...? | 153

A few dark cracks appeared around Ayu's eyes, evidence of the significant damage caused by the shattering of her eyeball. Her breathing was somewhat labored, and the originally cold and elegant face was now marred by these cracks.

"We must find those transmigrators and Qiao Sheng’s group immediately."

Moss held the doll tightly in his arms and lifted his head slightly, his dark eyes fixed on Ayu. His voice was hoarse as he asked, "Where are they now?"

Moss felt a sense of unease. 

In the original storyline, Lu Chen should have already left the trial grounds by this time, and his father’s plan should have failed long ago. 

That "presence" must have known that his father would go to the association tonight to carry out his plan, which is why it chose today to stir up chaos in the trial grounds, attempting to set everything back on track.

"In a cave at the border."

As she spoke, Ayu unfastened the whip from her waist. Her voice had regained its composure, though her eyes were filled with a chilling, murderous intent, and a dense black mist seemed to surround her.

"Is that so? Then let’s go quickly!"

Agu smiled cheerfully. Unlike the serious expressions on Moss and Ayu's faces, he looked rather relaxed. "Don’t worry so much. Didn’t Father predict a long time ago that 'that presence' would stir up trouble? Chi Yao definitely received Father’s orders and won’t let the humans slip away so easily."

"Besides, with the Mother Tree here, humans don’t stand a chance against the puppets. Chi Yao and the deformed puppets will be fine."

These words caused a slight easing in the tension held by Moss and Ayu, though only slightly. 

They knew they absolutely couldn't let the humans leave the trial grounds now. With that thought in mind, Moss immediately opened a spatial vortex, locking onto the location of the cave at the border, and quickly jumped in.

Agu and Ayu followed close behind.

The three puppets moved swiftly, and in no time, they caught sight of Chi Yao. With flaming red hair, Chi Yao resembled a blazing inferno, swinging a massive blade as he relentlessly attacked the humans before him. Countless deformed puppets, twisted in strange shapes and spider-like, climbed and attacked the transmigrators, tearing into them viciously.

Seeing that the transmigrators and the protagonist's group were still within the trial grounds, the three puppets breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief. Fortunately, these people hadn’t managed to escape yet.

Agu, his emerald-green eyes narrowed into slits, stood on a tree branch with evident amusement. He pulled a dagger from his pocket, twirling it once in his hand.

"How amusing. Agu is going to join Chi Yao in fighting the bad guys. But if they try to play hide-and-seek, I’ll make sure to stop them!" With that, Agu jumped down directly into the fray.

Meanwhile, the transmigrators who had been struggling against the deformed puppets looked up at the arrival of three more puppets in the trees and nearly burst into tears. The white-haired witch, the bandaged monster, the red demon, and the dark-skinned devil—four puppets!

Why had all four of the villain's top generals shown up?!

One red demon and a horde of deformed puppets were already more than they could handle. 

All they wanted was to escape—was such an overwhelming response really necessary?

Li Ge exchanged a glance with Old Liu and Zhang Li, signaling with the silent understanding they shared as fellow transmigrators. The three quickly gathered together. 

Their bodies were covered in wounds, and bruises, blue and purple, dotted their skin, along with the marks of jagged bite wounds. The cuts were filled with dirt, and the sharp pain only made them more alert.

Old Liu sniffled and shifted his gaze to Lu Chen, Qiao Sheng, and the rest of the protagonist’s team not far away. Unlike their own disheveled appearance, the powerful Lu Chen fought with ease, holding his own even against the deformed puppets and the red demon at the same time.

Who could have expected that just a second ago, they’d been about to leave the trial grounds through the well? 

But in the blink of an eye, the red demon had rushed in, leading her army of deformed demon, sealing the well completely with her bizarre abilities.

“What do we do now?” Old Liu whispered, moving closer to Li Ge.

"Look clearly. Those puppets are targeting the protagonist's group, not us. When an opportunity comes up, we’ll make a break for it," Li Ge mouthed silently to his teammates after using his powers to fling off a deformed puppet clinging to him.

Zhang Li and Lao Liu exchanged a glance and immediately nodded. Although abandoning the protagonist’s group felt a bit unfair, what choice did they have? 

The protagonists had plot armor; they didn’t. 

As long as the story hadn’t reached its conclusion, the protagonist’s group wouldn’t die. But for them, it was different—if they slipped up even once, it wouldn’t take one of those demonic puppets to end them; even a deformed puppet could easily kill them.

After everything they had gone through over the past few days, the transmigrators understood this reality all too well.

With this thought in mind, they began to subtly inch toward the cave’s direction. 

Meanwhile, Agu, who was gleefully hurling corrosive spheres at Qiao Sheng, noticed their movements, and a spark of amusement flickered in his eyes.

By now, they knew the storyline, which meant these transmigrators had lost their usefulness. 

Their real targets were Lu Chen and Qiao Sheng. As long as tonight’s plan succeeded, whether these transmigrators lived or died didn’t matter much.

Still, he wouldn't let them escape right now. With that in mind, Agu looked up and shouted to Ayu, “Hurry over here, big sister Ayu! They’re trying to run!”

Moss and Ayu, who were still standing on the tree branches, glanced silently at Agu before leaping down to join him.

Agu’s voice was loud enough that the transmigrators couldn’t help but shiver upon hearing it. They immediately shoved away the deformed puppets surrounding them and turned, bolting in the direction of the cave.

Seeing this, Moss and Ayu sped up their pursuit.

Just as Moss and Ayu were about to catch the transmigrators, Lu Chen, who had been quietly fighting Agu, suddenly appeared and blocked their path. And somehow, despite his lack of any abilities, Qiao Sheng managed to appear by Lu Chen’s side as well.

The transmigrators, seeing this, instantly realized that the protagonist group was buying time for their escape. Their lips trembled slightly; they couldn't quite understand why the protagonists would want to help them. 

But this opportunity was too rare to waste, and without a second thought, they turned and dashed into the cave, not lingering for even a moment.

Watching the transmigrators disappear, Qiao Sheng adjusted his glasses and spread his hands in a gesture of resignation. "Since your targets from the beginning have only been Lu Chen and me, how about just letting them leave?"

"After all, your plan is about to succeed, isn’t it? They no longer have any value to you, right?"

“No, that’s not allowed,” Moss rasped. “Until Father’s plan is complete, none of you are permitted to leave the trial grounds.”

As he spoke, Agu and Chi Yao had already charged into the cave ahead of them. Swarms of deformed puppets gathered, surrounding Lu Chen and Qiao Sheng like grotesque insects, watching their every move, ready to pounce at the slightest action.

“Alright then,” Qiao Sheng said, offering no resistance. He’d expected this outcome. Knowing Shen Yuxi’s personality, he understood that even if they did manage to escape, they’d only be dragged back here again. 

Now, he was even more certain of it.

Both he and Lu Chen were fully aware of their situation. With so many puppets surrounding them, combined with the Mother Tree’s overwhelming presence in its own territory, escape was simply impossible.

In truth, Qiao Sheng hadn’t originally intended to help those transmigrators. But with a friend as responsible as Lu Chen, a marshal who couldn’t abandon others in need, he had little choice but to support him.

Moss and Ayu remained vigilant, their gazes fixed on Lu Chen and Qiao Sheng.

"Relax, we’re not going anywhere," Qiao Sheng sighed, his tone indifferent. "Shen Yuxi has probably figured out by now that the 'presence' can only control natural disasters, like earthquakes."

"It has limitations on how much it can interfere with fate. Even just telling us the exit of the trial grounds was already overstepping. We won’t get any more help from it in the future."

This was something Qiao Sheng had deduced through observation. He was confident that Shen Yuxi understood this as well.

Moss and Ayu didn’t deny it. Their father had indeed mentioned this point: if the 'presence' had no limits, Qiao Sheng shouldn’t have even appeared in the trial grounds in the first place. 

Still, until Agu and Chi Yao returned with the captured transmigrators, they wouldn’t let their guard down or ease their watch over Qiao Sheng and Lu Chen.

Inside the cave, Agu and Chi Yao were just a step too late, allowing the three transmigrators to slip through and escape. 

However, neither puppet showed any signs of panic. Similar escape attempts had happened in the trial grounds before, and as long as it wasn’t Qiao Sheng or Lu Chen getting out, they didn’t consider it a big deal.

“Hurry up and chase them down. I still have to go with Father tonight to carry out the plan,” Agu reminded.

Chi Yao hoisted her massive blade onto her shoulder, giving a nod and lifting her chin. “Then let’s get moving.”

The two puppets moved swiftly; to them, the transmigrators, lacking any speed abilities, would be easily recaptured. And indeed, that was the case.

Gasping for breath, the transmigrators had barely made it out of the trial grounds when they turned and saw the two puppets—the red demon and the dark-skinned devil—standing right behind them, watching them intently.

The scene was eerily reminiscent of a black cat toying with frightened mice, as if the more terrified they appeared, the more amused their pursuers became.

The chilling fear penetrated to their very bones, and all they could do was run forward with every ounce of strength they had, driven by raw terror.

Each of their hearts was pounding in their throats. The intense exertion was leaving them gradually short of breath, their minds growing foggy as their legs felt weighed down like they were bound with stones, ready to collapse to the ground in terror and beg for mercy at any moment.

Just when they thought it was all over, an aircraft descended from the sky. Stepping out of the craft was a black-haired man, whose appearance carried a rugged, striking allure, yet his gaze was warm, with deep brown eyes that held a unique charm.

The transmigrators didn’t recognize this man. However, when they noticed the emblem on the vehicle—a logo belonging exclusively to the prestigious Qi family from Blue Star—they felt a surge of confusion, all of them simultaneously recalling a character from the novel: a wealthy, high-status “cannon fodder” figure.

Could this man be that cannon fodder?

It definitely wasn’t him; after all, that cannon fodder character had died early in the story. 

However, now wasn’t the time to dwell on such thoughts. The two deadly puppets were still hot on their heels, and escaping was the priority. With that in mind, the transmigrators realized the puppets had followed closely behind and were about to bolt.

But in the next moment, they noticed that the two demon puppets suddenly froze in place.

Then, the transmigrators heard the two puppets call out, “Dad.”

The voice carried a slight tremor, hinting at some underlying fear.

Transmigrators: …???  

Dad?!

Previous TOC Next