Puppet Notes (Wearing Book) - 163

 

| PN | Poor Brother | 163

In the living room, Ayu occasionally glanced toward the second floor, her crimson eyes under the brim of her hat carrying a hint of hesitation.  

"What's the matter?"  

Agu narrowed his eyes, his expression carrying a faintly mocking smile as his gaze shifted from the three trembling book transmigrators to Ayu.  

Ayu did not answer but instead turned his gaze toward Li Bai and Xiang Yue.  

Noticing the glance, Xiang Yue's dog-like ears atop his head twitched a few times. He looked back, just about to speak when Agu, as if boneless, leaned his entire weight onto Xiang Yue, saying lazily, "What’s the point of hiding it now? They already know about the trial grounds. What else can’t be said?"  

That was true.  

Ayu pulled down the brim of her hat to shield her eyes. "One of my eyes left there for surveillance has observed that the Association has discovered the existence of the trial grounds. Before long, those ability users will come to Ganfen District."  

As soon as he finished speaking, Agu's smile faded slightly. Moss tightened his grip on the stuffed doll in his arms, while Lan Luo and Chi Yao fixed their eyes on Ayu. Evidently, this was not good news.  

Compared to the four of them, Li Bai and Qiu Qiu on the side looked completely baffled, unable to understand what was happening.  

Xuan Jian and Shuang Jian, however, remained calm and indifferent, seemingly uninterested in the topic being discussed.  

“Will this affect Dad?”  

Xiang Yue pushed Agu’s arm off, his red eyes turning to Ayu with a probing look.  

He didn’t care about those humans; he only wanted to know if this would have any impact on his father.  

“I don’t know. I need to ask Father to confirm,” Ayu replied coldly. As she spoke, she rose and headed toward the stairs leading to the second floor.  

All the puppets present watched Ayu intently.  

Even Li Bai and Qiu Qiu stopped their usual playful antics. They understood that Ayu had something important to deal with.  

The three book transmigration huddled closer together under the tense atmosphere, afraid of angering the demon puppets and bringing disaster upon themselves. They swallowed nervously, trying to diminish their presence.  

The next moment, they saw the white-haired puppet with an icy and elegant aura stop after climbing two steps. She turned to look at the demon puppets on the sofa, tilting her chin slightly.  

“You all, come with me,” she said.  

Father was currently confronting Dad.  

Even though Ayu had important news to share, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy. She feared that after knocking on the door, she would learn Dad had ultimately decided to leave them.  

"Ayu, you’re such a coward," Agu said with a teasing smile.  

Ayu's lips moved slightly, but for once, she didn’t retort.  

Nearby, Chi Yao and Lan Luo shot dissatisfied looks at Agu, clearly displeased with his attitude toward Ayu.  

"You go then," said Moss, the oldest among them, his dark eyes fixed on Agu. That single sentence wiped the smile off Agu’s face.  

The tail behind Xiang Yue swayed slightly. He was well aware of the situation regarding the trial grounds and understood what these puppets were afraid of. However, Agu’s reaction took him by surprise.  

Agu glanced at Xiang Yue before turning his gaze to Moss. The blue earring dangling from his ear swayed as he stood his ground with a smile.  

"Fine! I’ll go!" he declared boldly.

As he spoke, Agu turned and shamelessly clung to Xiang Yue, saying, "My dear Xiang Yue, my legs hurt. Can you carry me upstairs?"  

Xiang Yue: …  

The puppets present were collectively dumbfounded by Agu’s audacious stunt.  

Lan Luo, whose thoughts were preoccupied with the situation on the second floor, was even more agitated after learning the details from Ayu. 

Unable to hold back, he jabbed at Agu, saying, "Seems like you’re just a coward too."  

Agu’s smile remained unfazed.  

As a puppet crafted by Shen Yuxi, he couldn’t possibly be indifferent to Qi Chao’s stance. His earlier teasing of Ayu had merely been an attempt to lighten the mood—though it hadn’t gone as planned.  

Xiang Yue stood by, watching the entire scene unfold.  

Agu’s poor popularity wasn’t surprising. Most of it was due to his own actions, after all.  

However, since this matter might impact both Dad and Father, Xiang Yue resolved to inform them regardless of Agu going or not. 

After a few seconds of silence, he agreed to Agu’s cheeky request.  

“Alright, I’ll go to their room and talk to Dad and Father,” Xiang Yue said.  

Agu was about to retract his hand, preparing to climb the stairs alone, even if it meant braving the tension. 

Hearing Xiang Yue’s response, his eyes widened in disbelief before he quickly masked it, dramatically exclaiming, “Wow! Xiang Yue treats me the best! Agu is so happy!”  

These words were genuine.  

Ever since learning that Dad had discovered the trial grounds, this was the first time Agu had felt a flicker of joy today. Looking at Lan Luo and the others, he couldn’t help but show a smug expression.  

But Lan Luo and the rest, upon realizing Xiang Yue was heading upstairs, were too anxious to notice Agu’s antics. 

Seeing this, Agu pouted but refrained from stirring up any more trouble.  

Meanwhile, upstairs, the two adults were unaware of the commotion among the children below. 

Shen Yuxi, having calmed down after learning that Qi Chao wasn’t planning to leave, shifted the conversation to something he had been deeply concerned about.  

"My teacher once told me that the Shadows are the Mother Tree's guardians. Their methods of attack are usually straightforward. This is the first time I’ve seen them surround someone," Shen Yuxi said, his eyelashes trembling slightly. 

No one knew that when he saw Qi Chao engulfed by the Shadows, a terrifying thought flashed through his mind—he was willing to destroy the Mother Tree to save Qi Chao.  

Qi Chao, though unaware of Shen Yuxi’s alarming thoughts, could tell that Shen Yuxi had been deeply frightened. 

Smiling softly, he pulled his lover into his arms, gently stroking his back to soothe him. "I’m sorry to have worried you. They weren’t actually attacking me; they were just bringing me into a space."  

The situation was complex to explain, and Qi Chao had yet to fully process the Mother Tree's memories. 

For now, he offered a simple summary: "The Mother Tree’s core had just returned to its body and is currently in recovery. Because I am the incarnation of the Mother Tree, the Shadows brought me a space to briefly merge with it and accelerate its restoration."  

"The incarnation of the Mother Tree?"  

Shen Yuxi froze, his mind momentarily blank. "Why did you become the incarnation of the Mother Tree?"

The term felt unfamiliar to Shen Yuxi—so foreign that no matter how he searched his mind, he couldn’t make sense of it.  

How could a human become the incarnation of the Mother Tree?  

Qi Chao was the biological child of the richest man, linked by blood to the Qi family. How did he end up as the Mother Tree’s incarnation?  

To Shen Yuxi, the Mother Tree was just a tree with special abilities. But if the Mother Tree could take on a human form, what exactly was the Mother Tree?  

He didn’t know.  

The Mother Tree’s memories were immense, and Qi Chao had only absorbed half of them. This portion didn’t explain his existence. Rubbing the tip of his nose, he explained, “Maybe it’s because I don’t entirely belong to this world.”  

Shen Yuxi’s fingers paused slightly as he thought of the three people downstairs. “You’re like them? A book transmigrator?”  

“Not exactly.”  

Qi Chao proceeded to explain the Craftsmen System to Shen Yuxi. Since book transmigrators existed, his presence wasn’t too far-fetched. 

However, upon reflection, it seemed he hadn’t been randomly placed into this world by the system.  

He was curious about the role the system and the Craftsmen Bureau played in all this—and whether they knew he was the incarnation of the Mother Tree.  

“Will you leave after completing your mission?”  

Shen Yuxi suddenly clutched Qi Chao’s clothes tightly. He tilted his head up to look at the man before him. 

Shen Yuxi hadn’t yet gotten used to Qi Chao’s current appearance. But no matter who Qi Chao was or what he looked like, now that they were together, Shen Yuxi wouldn’t allow him to leave.  

“No, I never planned to leave.”  

Though the system had told him he could reincarnate, Qi Chao had no intention of leaving this world where he had a lover and children. From the start, leaving hadn’t even crossed his mind.  

Shen Yuxi gazed at Qi Chao, as if trying to peer into the depths of his heart. When their eyes met—those serene emerald-green eyes—Shen Yuxi paused for a moment, then lowered his head slightly and murmured, “Okay.”  

Qi Chao didn’t think much of it and casually added, “In my original world, I only had a younger brother to worry about. But he’s 25 now, living independently. Even if I don’t go back, I can rest easy.”  

A younger brother who’s an adult?  

Shen Yuxi lightly pressed his lips together. It seemed that his priorities here were more important. Just as he was about to say something, there was a knock at the door.  

It must be something urgent.  

Shen Yuxi held back his words for the time being, following Qi Chao to the door. When they opened it, they saw Agu and Xiang Yue standing outside.  

Shen Yuxi’s gaze shifted to the corner of the hallway, where he could just make out the edges of Lan Luo’s and Li Bai’s clothing.  

“What’s wrong?”  

Qi Chao smiled warmly at Xiang Yue and Agu.  

Agu’s spirits lifted immediately upon seeing that Dad’s attitude toward him hadn’t changed. 

Poking his head out from behind Xiang Yue, he grinned and said cheerfully, “Ayu got some news—Association members will be arriving at the trial grounds very soon.”  

The Association?  

Shen Yuxi’s lips twitched slightly, though his gaze shifted to Qi Chao. Mindful of Qi Chao’s presence, Shen Yuxi refrained from revealing his own decision, unwilling to risk damaging his image in Qi Chao’s eyes.  

Qi Chao seemed to sense Shen Yuxi’s thoughts. Tilting his head slightly, he met Shen’s gaze and suggested, “Since the Association is sending people over, let’s take the opportunity to have them escort the trial people away.”  

He paused briefly, then stepped forward. His eyes landed squarely on a hidden eyeball in the corner. “Chi Yao and Ayu’s abilities can be used to alter the trial people’s memories.”  

Chi Yao, with the abilities of decomposition and synthesis.  

Ayu, with the powers of surveillance and reasonably predicting the future.  

After inheriting the Mother Tree’s memories, Qi Chao had begun to exhibit certain anomalies. 

The most prominent was his ability to discern the abilities of the puppets with just a glance.  

Altering the trial ground’s people's memories was necessary to protect Shen Yuxi, their children, and the Mother Tree’s safety.  

Qi Chao understood well that the trial grounds people weren’t innocent. Except for the book transmigrators who had inadvertently arrived at the trial grounds, most of the others had blood on their hands—either human lives or those of puppets. This grim reality was one of the reasons Qi Chao had so readily accepted the trial grounds’ existence.  

In this situation, Qi Chao didn’t feel much guilt about having Chi Yao and Ayu alter the trial ground's memories.  

As soon as they heard their names being called, Chi Yao and Ayu appeared in the hallway.  

They hesitated, looking at Qi Chao. They were ready to agree, but they still considered Father’s perspective.  

After a moment of silence, Shen Yuxi spoke up. “I don’t want them to enter the trial grounds.”  

Qi Chao’s suggestion to erase the trial ground people's memories and have them taken away was indeed a good plan. 

However, Shen Yuxi knew that for the Association’s people to enter the trial grounds, the Mother Tree would need to open the barrier. In this scenario, it could expose the existence of the Mother Tree.  

If it were in the past, after handing over the core, Shen Yuxi might not have cared about the Mother Tree’s fate. 

But now that he knew Qi Chao was the incarnation of the Mother Tree, he wasn’t willing to let the Mother Tree take such a risk.  

“It’s fine. Trust me.”  

Qi Chao had always found it difficult to guess Shen Yuxi’s thoughts, but this time, when he looked into Shen’s eyes, he immediately understood what Shen was worried about. He took Shen Yuxi’s hand and smiled, reassuring him. “I’ll take care of it.”  

Feeling the warmth in his palm, Shen Yuxi was silent for a brief moment before he pressed his lips together and silently agreed.  

Meanwhile, the team of ability users from the Association, after receiving the mission, immediately boarded the aircraft under the leadership of their captain.  

Although they didn’t possess spatial abilities, one of the team members had the power to accelerate movement. This ability allowed them to shorten the original eight-hour journey to just three hours.  

“Our mission has two objectives. The first is to find the core of the translocator; this is the top priority. The second is to rescue Marshal Lu and the others who are trapped somewhere!”  

“Of the two tasks, the first one must be completed at all costs. If necessary, we must sacrifice others to bring the core back!”  

“Understood!”  

The team members had been secretly training ever since they gained their abilities. This was their first mission, but every one of them wore an expression of determination and courage. It was clear that they were prepared to sacrifice themselves for the success of the mission.

The captain and vice-captain of the ability users’ team looked at their team with satisfaction, nodding in approval. They had done everything required of them; now, it was simply a matter of delivering the mission’s success.  

Neither of them had ever considered the possibility of failure. After all, they were the largest-scale team of ability users in the Empire’s history, much stronger and more skilled in their abilities than previous teams.  

The two exchanged a smile, unaware that in a corner of the aircraft, a red eyeball was rolling up and down, carefully watching their every move.  

Meanwhile, in an unknown dusty region of Blue Star, the fabric of space suddenly distorted. A nearly three-meter-high black hole slowly materialized in the air. In the next moment, a black leather boot stepped out from within.

"Baby, does my poor brother live here? This place is so scary," a trembling male voice sounded, as if he were holding back tears. Soon after, an indistinguishable electric hum echoed from within the black hole.

"Oh, it's not here? Then let me try another spot," the voice shifted dramatically, changing from a weak, sobbing tone to one that was much more composed. It was hard not to notice how quickly the previous feigned vulnerability melted away.  

The man withdrew his foot without showing his face, snapped his fingers, and the black hole swiftly dissipated.  

No one knew that a black hole had appeared and vanished in the sparsely populated sandy area. Only faint, wind-blown whispers could be heard in the air.  

"Good thing my brother doesn’t live here. Otherwise, with his restless nature, he’d probably plant saplings all over this desert," the man’s voice, now full of genuine amusement, remarked. 

It was clear from his tone that he had a very good relationship with his brother.

Previous TOC Next

TL: For any of you guys who read this chapter early, I posted the wrong chapter and ended up posting chapter 164, sorry about that!