Puppet Notes (Wearing Book) - 161

 

| PN | Mother Tree | 161

Today, both Qiao Sheng and Lu Chen noticed something unusual about the trial grounds. 

First, the feeling of being monitored daily had disappeared, and then the usually elusive deformed puppets hadn’t shown up for two consecutive hours. Various signs suggested that the trial grounds were brewing something.

“Do you regret it?”

Qiao Sheng, looking as dispirited as ever, glanced at his friend. Seeing him lower his head in silence, he asked casually. 

Ever since Qiao Sheng and Lu Chen helped the three “book-transmigrators” escape, the other teammates had been unhappy about it. 

After all, given the chance, who wouldn’t want to leave this hellish place? 

Lu Chen chose to let the “book-transmigrators” go instead of sticking with his life-and-death companions, which was hard for them to accept. 

If Lu Chen hadn’t been keeping things in check, their small group would have likely fallen apart quickly.

“No regrets.”

Lu Chen was a marshal of the Empire; it was his duty to protect the people. Even if those three were “book-transmigrators,” his responsibility remained the same.

Qiao Sheng chuckled at Lu Chen's response. 

This was indeed the Lu Chen he knew.

The dark forest was quiet, with only the occasional sound of their teammates talking in the distance, discussing how to catch fish. In this eerie and terrifying place, they rarely had moments as leisurely as this.

“What’s happening in the trial grounds?”

After a brief silence, Lu Chen turned to look at Qiao Sheng, who was resting against a tree trunk, his expression unusually serious.

“I’ve been following you around—how could I possibly know?”

Qiao Sheng didn’t bother to open his eyes, assuming Lu Chen was just making casual conversation. 

But after he answered, Lu Chen stayed silent, clearly not satisfied. 

Qiao Sheng lifted his eyelids, meeting Lu Chen’s penetrating gaze, a look that seemed to see right through him.

“You know something,” Lu Chen said in a low, steady voice.

Qiao Sheng froze, his mouth twitching as he tried to brush it off, but under Lu Chen’s intense stare, he found himself at a loss for words.

Lu Chen had always known his boundaries. Even if he sensed that Qiao Sheng was not as clueless as he appeared, he rarely pressed him on such matters. Clearly, the “book-transmigrators” incident had left a significant impact on him.

“Do you know what’s most important to Shen Yuxi in this trial ground?” Qiao Sheng asked lazily, his eyes drifting upward to the twisted branches overhead.

Lu Chen hesitated, caught off guard.

“Those S-rank puppets?”

Qiao Sheng let out a derisive laugh. “Of course not. It’s a tree. The most precious, invaluable thing in this trial ground is a single tree.”

A tree?

At these words, Lu Chen glanced at the endless forest around him. In this place that evoked terror in countless people from Blue Star, the most important thing to Shen Yuxi was… a tree?

“Obviously, it’s no ordinary tree.” Qiao Sheng removed his glasses, revealing a look of obscure complexity. “That’s something cherished by the old man—and my junior brother.”

Qiao Sheng’s father?

Lu Chen’s frown deepened. “What do you mean?”

Since Qiao Sheng had decided to explain, he didn’t intend to hold anything back. Leaning against the tree trunk, he slowly began, “The tree’s function is something you’ll recognize. One of its cores was placed in the energy transference device, assisting researchers in transferring the puppets’ powers into humans.”

Fifteen years ago, the transference device was successfully developed, causing an immediate sensation among the high-ranking officials of the Blue Star Empire. The machine’s lead researcher, Qiao Sheng’s father, Qiao Bing, rose to fame, becoming the most revered director in the institute’s history.

“The core of the transference device was actually the core of that tree?” 

Lu Chen looked genuinely surprised. Information about the transference device had always been highly classified. Even at his rank as a marshal, he hadn’t known that the device was powered by a tree.

“Yeah,” 

Seeing Lu Chen's expression, Qiao Sheng wanted to laugh but couldn’t manage it. He gestured to the trees outside. “This tree’s power goes beyond the transference device. We’re trapped here, unable to leave, all because of it.”

“Even after losing one core, the tree’s still intact?” Lu Chen, as usual, zeroed in on the key point.

Qiao Sheng smirked, though his eyes held a trace of bitterness. “How could it be? The tree began to decline for a while. If it didn’t have a second core, it would have withered a long time ago.”

He scoffed. “The old man was a hypocrite, repulsive even. Compared to him, even my junior brother seems far cuter.”

Qiao Sheng had always been at odds with his father, and even though Qiao Bing had been dead for thirteen years, Qiao Sheng had never forgiven him. Whenever he spoke of his father, it was with undisguised loathing.

Lu Chen, unaware of the grudge Qiao Sheng held against Qiao Bing, could now see it was connected to this entire situation.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine,” Lu Chen offered, sensing Qiao Sheng’s distaste.

Qiao Sheng gave a faint smile, touched by Lu Chen’s sensitivity, yet he didn’t intend to shy away from the topic. 

So much time had passed, and though his hatred for the old man remained unchanged, he could now talk calmly about his father’s disgusting deeds.

“The old man was an ambitious man,” Qiao Sheng began. “Twenty-five years ago, he was just an ordinary puppet-maker. Then he discovered this tree with its special abilities. He dug out its core to create the transference device, gaining power and wealth, paying no mind to how the tree quickly began to wither after losing its core.”

He lowered his head, letting out a scornful laugh.

“When the tree finally wilted, something else happened—the mother stones of the Blue Star’s mineral veins started showing abnormalities, developing cracks. Only then did he realize that the tree was far more important than he’d ever imagined.”

The idea that the mother stones could be affected by a single tree’s decay was something Lu Chen had never heard of before, and his frown deepened. 

Was the tree truly that essential to the stability of the mother stones?

Qiao Sheng’s gaze turned even more derisive. “The old man prided himself on his love for puppets and couldn’t bear to see the Blue Star’s mother stones deteriorate because of him. Guilt finally drove him to seek out the Emperor, asking to return the core to the mother stones.”

The royal family, however, would never allow the transference device to be destroyed. They refused his request outright and even ordered further reinforcement and refinement of the machine.

To remove the core, the machine would have to be destroyed—but damaging it from the outside would shatter the core completely.

Upon realizing this, the old man resigned from his position at the research institute, abandoning his family and retreating to Ganfen District, where he conducted extensive research and built this trial ground.

Selfish, foolish, greedy, and hypocritical with no self-awareness—that was his father. The only redeeming quality the man had was his talent for creating. If not for that talent, someone like Shen Yuxi would never have regarded him as a mentor.

“So, the trial ground exists to revive that tree?”

Qiao Sheng didn’t deny it. The old man’s original intent in building the trial ground was precisely that. “I’m not sure how they managed to use the trial ground for it, but given that Blue Star’s mother stones are no longer cracking, it’s clear that their methods are working.”

Lu Chen’s frown deepened further.

For Lu Chen, he would rather see a world without puppets than tolerate the existence of a trial ground that harmed so many.

"Professor Qiao Bing and Shen Yuxi have been using the trial ground to prolong the mother tree's life," Lu Chen said, his voice hoarse. "Do they intend to keep doing this forever?"

If a place like the trial ground were to continue existing, he thought it might be better to let all puppets die out. 

But he also knew that, to the royal family, the suffering of a few humans could never outweigh the value of an army with special abilities. 

If they understood that the disappearance of the trial ground would cause Blue Star's mother stones to vanish as well, they would never allow him to destroy it.

"Of course, that's impossible," Qiao Sheng replied, putting his glasses back on and leaning more heavily against the tree, looking as worn-out as ever. "Even using the trial ground only revives the tree temporarily. To fully heal it, the core must be returned."

"Knowing Shen Yuxi’s style, the moment he brought me to the trial ground, it meant he was already preparing to retrieve the core."

So, Shen Yuxi would soon retrieve the core, bringing an end to the trial ground; the only ones dissatisfied would be the royal family, who hoped to create an army of superpowered soldiers.

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen actually felt a sense of relief. The trial ground would disappear, and the puppets would survive—perhaps the best possible outcome.

“What’s this? Do you think Shen Yuxi is doing the right thing now?” Qiao Sheng chuckled, finding his friend’s earnestness endearingly naïve.

“No,” Lu Chen replied. “Even if his goal is to protect Blue Star’s mother stones, he shouldn’t achieve it by harming people.”

Qiao Sheng knew that was true. 

Yet, in reality, nearly everyone in the trial ground—except for those few “book-transmigrators”—wasn’t exactly innocent. 

Most had acquired puppet abilities, indirectly causing the puppets’ suffering and deaths. Who was in the right, and who in the wrong, was a complicated matter.

Lu Chen, unaware of Qiao Sheng’s thoughts, paused in contemplation before suddenly asking, “I can understand why your father would establish the trial ground, but why would Shen Yuxi agree to it?”

Based on how Qiao Sheng had previously described Shen Yuxi, Lu Chen knew he wasn’t the kind of person to meticulously fulfill a teacher’s dying wish after their passing. 

In fact, whether Shen Yuxi had ever truly respected Qiao Bing was a mystery in itself.

“Who knows,” Qiao Sheng scoffed. Not far off, the team members began calling their names, seemingly having decided on what to eat. The two stood up, walking one after the other toward the group.

Shen Yuxi’s memory of life before age eight, when he’d lived in a scrapyard, was a blank slate. 

After being adopted by the old man, he’d always been reserved and silent, keeping his true thoughts hidden. 

Not even Qiao Bing, nor Qiao Sheng—who’d spent some time with Shen Yuxi when they were younger—could decipher his motivations. 

Why would someone as distant and detached as Shen Yuxi take on the burden of managing the trial ground? It remained a mystery.

Qiao Sheng had initially hoped those three “book-transmigrators” might hold the answer, but their storyline hadn’t even mentioned the “tree,” making them ultimately unreliable sources.

The only person who might know the reason was someone Qiao Sheng briefly thought of—Shen Yuxi’s cherished companion. 

However, he quickly dismissed the thought. It seemed unlikely. Qiao Sheng reasoned that his junior brother, who always strove to present a perfect image in front of that person, would never reveal his “darker” thoughts.

At that very moment, the person Qiao Sheng had briefly considered—Qi Chao—was facing a significant predicament.

Qi Chao found himself surrounded tightly by a dark shadow.

Initially, he had expected to struggle to breathe, even bracing himself for the suffocating, dizzying sensation of losing consciousness. 

But in reality, it wasn’t as suffocating as he’d anticipated. In fact, the interior of the shadow felt almost like a newly created space—spacious and oddly comfortable.

The surrounding darkness was impenetrable, and after pausing for a moment, Qi Chao tentatively began to move forward, his hands reaching out to guide him through the unseen void.

"Xuan Jian, Xiang Yue, can you hear me?" Qi Chao called out, but there was no response.

Clearly, the space within the shadow was isolated from the outside world.

He rubbed his temple, and the image of the shadow leaping down from the tree flashed across his mind. Everything had happened so quickly, and it was only now that he realized the shadow from the tree resembled a puppet.

Could this space be the result of a puppet's ability?

Selecting the most likely conclusion from a sea of possibilities, Qi Chao scratched his hair and decided not to dwell on it further. The immediate priority was to find a way out of here. He knew his children back home would be worried.

He wasn't one to boast, but Qi Chao understood how important he was to his children, and the thought of them in distress made him anxious about their well-being.

The space within the shadow was vast. Cautiously, he continued moving forward, but the longer he walked, the heavier his eyelids felt. 

In his dazed state, he noticed what seemed to be faint green orbs floating in the darkness, like fireflies, flickering in and out of view.

Squinting to get a better look, Qi Chao's blurry vision finally discerned that, at the center of the glowing green orbs, there was a small tree with a canopy that shimmered with faint white light.

The tree’s height barely reached his knees, its branches twisting and interlocking as if it had withstood countless years, exuding an ancient and mystical aura. 

No matter how Qi Chao looked at it, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. His eyelids had grown heavy, and he squinted, trying to make sense of what was in front of him.

A glowing tree suddenly appeared in the darkness—this couldn’t be normal. Qi Chao had no choice but to view this tree as a potential danger. 

He knew that the best course of action was to quickly turn around and escape, but the strange thing was, his eyes couldn’t look away from the tree.

What made it even more unsettling was that as he gazed at it, a wave of familiarity and affection surged within him. 

The unease he had carried since entering the trial ground slowly melted away, and the previously sharp feeling of dread vanished without a trace.

It was as if the small tree in front of him was exactly what he had been searching for all along.

But instead of approaching it, Qi Chao remained seated where he was. The situation felt too strange, and his eyes couldn’t seem to leave the tree. He figured it was safer to keep his distance for now.

The situation was in a momentary standstill.

It seemed that the green orbs surrounding the small tree had noticed Qi Chao's hesitation to approach. They began to float toward him, gradually increasing in number. Before long, there were more orbs around him than there were around the tree itself.

At first, Qi Chao had tried to move away, but as he sensed that the orbs held no aggression, he stopped and stayed put. The truth was, part of the reason he didn’t move was that looking at the orbs gave him a strange sense of familiarity and warmth, as if they were calling to him.

He rubbed his temples as an overwhelming wave of drowsiness crept over him. Despite his efforts to keep his eyes open and remain alert, there was a voice deep within telling him that he didn’t need to resist.

Gradually, Qi Chao’s eyelids grew heavier, and without realizing it, he closed his eyes.

To be precise, his body had fallen into a deep sleep, yet his consciousness remained wide awake. His mind was flooded with a torrent of images, flashing before his eyes like a movie reel.

He could feel the small tree nearby gently swaying its leaves, and the green orbs floated slowly through the air. In the surrounding darkness, they were the only source of light. Everything felt so familiar, as if he had been in this peaceful place for countless millennia.

The tree in front of him was small. 

But in reality, its roots stretched far and wide, connecting to the entire planet of Blue Star, continuously supplying life force and spiritual energy to all the mother stones scattered throughout its mineral veins.

Since the moment Blue Star birthed life, this small tree had always existed, hidden within a remote forest. It disguised itself as an ordinary tree, silently providing energy to all of Blue Star’s mother stones, never once drawing attention to its true nature.

Endless memories poured into Qi Chao’s mind, reshaping his worldview with every passing moment. In what felt like a fraction of a second, he experienced millennia in his mind. 

He felt the ever-changing tides of time, watched countless mother stones be born and shattered, and saw the life forms nurtured by the stones fall into slumber, eventually transforming into the green light orbs that surrounded him.

He also witnessed the tragic fates of puppets, their spirits becoming fierce, shadowy beings after death, endlessly guarding the space around him day after day.

He was a creation of the mother tree, yet, at the same time, he was the mother tree itself—both, but neither fully.

Qi Chao opened his eyes and looked around at the green light orbs. Though there were only light orbs before him, he could now easily sense the joyful emotions they emitted. The orbs danced through the air, filling the space, and some of them timidly brushed against his skin. 

Upon sensing that he didn’t reject them, their glow intensified, shining brighter.

They were obedient, just like the children back home.

In truth, these light orbs were the souls of the deceased puppets.

Qi Chao’s gaze softened as he looked at these green light orbs. He then raised his eyes to the small tree in front of him and took a step toward it. 

Outside the trial field, there was also a giant tree—one of the small tree’s incarnations. Since its core had been taken by humans, the small tree had hidden itself inside the shadows, never daring to reveal its true form in the outside world again.

He reached out and gently stroked the branches of the small tree.

It was then that he realized the tree's branches seemed sturdier than before.

"Have both cores returned?" Qi Chao murmured to himself.

His deep brown eyes, without him noticing, had turned into a bright green, and his black hair grew rapidly, extending all the way down his back in just a few seconds. If one looked closely, they would notice his canine teeth had become subtly sharper.

His aura had become more mature compared to before, but there was still something unchanged about him.

The small tree, glowing faintly white, seemed to respond as its branches moved on their own, as if acknowledging Qi Chao's words.

Qi Chao watched this quietly and crouched down. From somewhere, he pulled out a small shovel and began gently loosening the soil around the tree’s roots.

Qi Chao’s thoughts wandered as he stared at the soil around the Mother Tree, his mind still clouded with the remnants of chaotic memories. The process of digesting them would take time, but for now, he could only hold on to what the Mother Stone remembered most clearly.

The trial grounds had been built by Brother Shen and his teacher. They had indeed done some questionable things in the process.

In Qi Chao’s heart, Brother Shen was the gentlest person in the world. He was considerate, always noticing the subtle shifts in Qi Chao’s emotions, offering quiet comfort without being noticed. 

Even when Brother Shen seemed distant with the children at home, Brother Shen never belittled any of them.

This was the kind of gentle man Brother Shen was, yet to atone for his teacher’s mistakes, he had taken on this mess and become the villain and demon of the trial grounds.

It shouldn’t be like this.  

Qi Chao thought to himself, Brother Shen should be sitting in the greenhouse, basking in the sunlight, quietly reading, instead of being feared by others like this.  

His children at home should be the same—Moss, Agu, Lan Luo, Ayu, and Chi Yao. These five children should be happy every day, not like now, constantly running around, exhausted from their plans.  

Qi Chao felt a bit conflicted.  

He knew that his lover and children had done many wrong things, but he also understood that as a part of the Mother Tree, he was the least qualified to complain.  

In this situation, after leaving the Shadow Space, when Qi Chao locked eyes with Brother Shen for the first time, he instinctively looked away.  

His throat felt a bit dry, and he hadn’t yet figured out how to express his gratitude to Brother Shen, nor how to persuade Brother Shen to release the people from the trial field.  

Qi Chao's feelings were unknown to Shen Yuxi.

He only knew that the man in front of him, who had changed his appearance and avoided his gaze.  

Although, at the first glance, Shen Yuxi suspected that the person in front of him might not be the one he had been thinking about, once the other person emerged from the shadows, he realized that the person before him was still the same kind-hearted man.  

“Dad!”  

The few puppets looked up at Qi Chao, noticing that their father had changed his appearance, but the aura in front of them couldn’t deceive them. No matter how much he changed, when their father looked at them, his eyes still carried a faint smile.  

The red patterns on the puppets' faces no longer grew. The earlier accident seemed to have triggered some kind of power within them. Even now, those patterns were still imprinted on their faces and had not faded.  

Qi Chao gently rubbed each of the children's heads. His emerald-green eyes were as calm and gentle as a forest, still the same as before, but now there seemed to be an added layer of mysterious aura.  

Moss and the other four puppets stood behind Shen Yu Xi. They all realized that their dad might have already known about the trial field, and they also sensed that their dad might have gained certain memories. 

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to avoid their gaze.

Is Dad going to abandon them?

This thought simultaneously appeared in the minds of the five puppets.  

“Father.”  

Moss tightly grasped the stuffed doll in his arms. He whispered, his voice a little hoarse, helplessly placing his hope on his father, wishing for him to quickly change the current situation. 

He even forgot when the last time was that he had asked his father for help.  

But when Moss heard his own voice, he immediately realized his mistake.  

His father should be suffering even more than they were.  

At this moment, he should learn to wait, not rush.  

Perhaps Moss's voice was a bit too abrupt. Originally, Qi Chao was comforting Li Bai and Xiang Yue, but he turned around and looked at Shen Yuxi and the children behind him.

The emerald-green eyes were calm and transparent, and his long black hair made people momentarily feel a bit dazed. Shen Yuxi's gaze swept over him, his lips moving slightly as he tentatively tried to gauge the other's current thoughts.  

"Your appearance has changed."  

"Mm."  

A simple "mm" sounded distant and cold, as if it pulled a vast distance between them.  

Shen Yuxi’s heart instantly sank.  

He looked at this man, both unfamiliar and familiar, and for the first time, he felt a sense of oppression. Not even the success of his plan could make him feel better.  

How much did he know about the trial ground?  

Was he planning to leave him?  

If he were to knock him out and take him to the basement now, would he not leave him?

Shen Yuxi's thoughts kept coming one after another in his mind.  

Qi Chao had no idea that his lover's mind was full of extreme thoughts. While Shen Yuxi was lost in thought, Qi Chao’s Adam’s apple moved up and down as he mentally organized his words, preparing to have a good conversation with Brother Shen.  

However, Qi Chao’s appearance now was indeed more cold and mature than before. Even though he was simply thinking, to others, it seemed as if he was deliberately distancing himself, creating an indescribable sense of alienation.  

Shen Yuxi’s gaze grew even more obscure.  

Meanwhile, after waiting nearly the whole afternoon, the three book transmigrators finally decided to come here to find Qi Chao. Little did they expect to run into this scene as soon as they arrived.  

The villain’s gaze was as gloomy as if his husband had just died.

The ten S-rank demon puppets stood in front of them, and nearly half of the puppets had expressions on their faces that made people involuntarily shiver.  

The remaining man greeted them enthusiastically, but the three of them didn’t recognize him at all. 

As the man spoke, the villain's gaze suddenly became laden with a heavier killing intent and a dark, probing scrutiny.  

The three of them shuddered:  

Wuwu, this is so uncomfortable. Qi Chao, where are you? Hurry and come save us.

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TL: So did Qi Chao have a good impression of Shen Yuxi because of his appearance or because he is the mother tree/part of the mother tree?