Puppet Notes (Wearing Book) - 173

 

| PN | Fool | 173

In Shen Yuxi's eyes, the shell puppet in the basement was far from perfect, with flaws so significant that they were intolerable, which is why he gave up on making it and instead turned to drawing Moss's design.

In fact, the flaw, in Qi Chao's eyes, became a unique feature.

Shen Yuxi's body was still somewhat weak, so Qi Chao did not let Shen Yuxi get out of bed. Instead, he went to the basement alone, taking the world consciousness with him.

At this moment, the world consciousness was clenched tightly in his hand, unable to escape. It had been pondering for a long time but couldn't figure out why it had ended up in this situation.

"I know you want to escape."

As he walked down the basement stairs, Qi Chao gently stroked the red crystal in his hand with his thumb. He then shifted his gaze from the glowing red crystal and continued down the stairs.

"However, I still advise you to give up on that idea. Until you have a body, I will not let you leave."

After all, this idiotic world consciousness, once it leaves, would definitely continue its self-destructive path.

"I don't understand. If the realm destroys itself, everything, including you, will vanish. You could change the plot, so why do you insist on self-destruction?"

Humans could never understand its thoughts.

The world consciousness didn't make a sound, remaining as silent as an ordinary stone.

Qi Chao hadn't expected it to respond. Clutching the red crystal, he entered the basement. In order to conveniently take the unfinished product out of the glass cabinet, he wrapped his spiritual energy around the mother stone, then placed it on the table.

As long as there was spiritual energy, even if Qi Chao didn't hold the world consciousness, it wouldn't escape.

In the past few days, neither Shen Yuxi nor Qi Chao had come to the basement, so it had accumulated a lot of dust. When he opened the glass cabinet, the dust floated up. He stepped back, waiting for it to settle before taking out a box from the cabinet.

The world consciousness gave no response.

Qi Chao didn't mind. He continued to talk casually, "My Brother Shen is highly skilled. Even though it's his first time making a puppet, it’s still impressive. You’ll definitely like it."

Keep bragging.

The world consciousness thought to itself: Don't think it didn't hear Shen Yuxi mention that the puppet shell had flaws.

Within the trial grounds, the existence of puppets was like that of demons.

But outside the trial field, puppets were always just toys for the powerful, mere pawns of humanity.

The world consciousness looked down upon becoming such a lowly puppet. It was the highest existence on Blue Star, yet puppets had a low status on Blue Star, easily manipulated by humans, like playthings in their hands.

The thought of becoming such an existence only intensified the world consciousness's impulse for self-destruction.

Even though the mother stone was bound by Qi Chao's spiritual energy, it certainly wouldn’t be as hard to escape as it was now. When the time came, even if it had to disperse most of its power, it would definitely break free from the body and leave this place, slaughtering all the humans and puppets here.

The world consciousness made up its mind.

Creeeak—

The box was opened.

"See? Isn't it cool?" Qi Chao asked himself, carefully removing the unfinished puppet from the box while wearing black gloves.

The world consciousness reluctantly took a glance. After all, this was the body that the world consciousness would inhabit for a few seconds in the future, then froze.

The puppet in front of him only had empty eye sockets, clearly missing its eyeballs. But other than that, its exquisite appearance, the tear mole at the corner of its eye, and its pale skin made one admire the craftsmanship of its creator.

The only flaw was that there was a scar about three centimeters long on the bridge of the nose. It was obvious that the creator had tried their best to repair it, but the scar remained visible.

"Back then, Brother Shen might have accidentally cut the puppet's skin with a craft knife. Because the repair wasn't done properly, the scar stayed. Don’t you think it’s kind of cute?" Qi Chao said.

Not really.

But in truth, after looking at the scar for a while, it really did seem quite charming, the world consciousness thought. It was much better than the grotesque puppet it had imagined earlier.

Qi Chao didn't really care about the world consciousness's true thoughts. To be honest, he didn't have much fondness for it. After all, even though its self-destruction attempt had failed, it had still caused tangible harm to Shen Yuxi.

If it weren't for the need to consider the survival of Blue Star and negotiate with the realm consciousness, Qi Chao's attitude would not have been so patient.

He placed the world consciousness on the top right corner of the table, then grabbed a cloth to wipe down his tools. Afterward, he sat down in a chair, wearing gloves as he calculated the proportions of the puppet’s body.

Since it wasn't his design, Qi Chao struggled a bit with calculating the puppet's meridian proportions. He was thinking about jotting down the numbers on a piece of paper when the basement door suddenly opened.

The person who entered was none other than Shen Yuxi, who was supposed to be resting in his room.

"Brother Shen, why did you come down?" Qi Chao stood up. After a brief moment of surprise, he furrowed his brows. He approached Shen Yuxi, noticing that his complexion wasn’t as pale as before, and he let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm fine now. After the world consciousness stopped absorbing my energy, I’ve felt much better," Shen Yuxi said with a smile. 

His gaze briefly swept over the red crystal on the table. He gently placed his fingers on the back of Qi Chao’s hand. "If I’m here, you should be able to complete the meridian calculations for the puppet faster."

Although Shen Yuxi’s body was still weak, he still remained concerned. Just as Qi Chao was about to refuse, he heard Shen Yuxi say, "You've been working so hard these past few days. Can I help you?"

Shen Yuxi’s eyes, like shimmering peach blossoms, looked at Qi Chao with gentle affection. 

There was a trace of guilt and self-blame in his gaze, while his pale lips, slightly pursed, revealed his determination.

Qi Chao didn’t know whether Shen Yuxi was doing this on purpose or if it was unintentional. In any case, he found himself helplessly swayed by it. He could only say, "If you’re tired, let me know, okay?"

The apology on Shen Yuxi's face disappeared, replaced by a softer, more tender smile, like a spring breeze brushing over him. "I understand," he replied.

This was the first time the two of them worked together to make a puppet.

Shen Yuxi sat next to Qi Chao, his voice soft as he guided Qi Chao on the proportions of the puppet’s body, occasionally reminding him of how much spiritual thread was needed at the joints when creating the meridians.

Compared to before, Qi Chao spoke much less. However, the focused look in his eyes and the careful movements of his hands clearly showed that he was listening attentively to Shen Yuxi’s instructions.

In the basement, only the sounds of the two of them speaking back and forth could be heard. It was clear and monotonous, yet somehow carried a warm, comforting feeling.

The world consciousness watched this scene in silence.

As the highest existence in the realm, all it needed to do was maintain the stability of the world. This was the closest it had ever been to humans.

The two humans shared a strong bond.

Unlike itself, which was always alone.

But no matter how close these two humans were, it couldn't hide the fact that they were trying to imprison it within a puppet's body. The world consciousness decided that, once it had a body, it would kill both of them.

At most, it would bury them together.

Qi Chao and Shen Yuxi had no idea what the world consciousness was thinking. But even without knowing, they both understood that the world consciousness still harbored ill intentions toward them.

Today, they could only complete half of the work.

Creating the puppet’s meridians and eyeballs would take at least three more days.

When night fell, the two of them stopped working and returned to the villa.

Qi Chao still had the intention of teaching a lesson to those puppets who had casually tried to sacrifice themselves. With a serious expression, he led them to the study, ready to give them a thorough reprimanding.

Agu, who was following along with a smile, intended to speak in defense of Xiang Yue, but Qi Chao directly rejected him.

"You stay downstairs and keep your father company. I know what you're trying to do, but this time, I’m not going to let them off so easily."

Agu's smile froze, and after hesitating between Xiang Yue and his father, he turned and waved at Xiang Yue. "Agu will wait for you downstairs!"

Xiang Yue's expression remained calm, though his tail hung low behind him, clearly not looking forward to what was about to happen. He nodded and followed Qi Chao upstairs with Li Bai and the others.

In the living room, Shen Yuxi watched Qi Chao's retreating figure, his eyes narrowing slightly. 

After both the puppets and Qi Chao disappeared around the corner of the stairs, he spoke softly, "So, they wanted to sacrifice themselves, which made Qi Chao angry?"

"Yes, Father is really smart," Agu said, giving his father a thumbs-up.

Shen Yuxi lowered his lashes, not finding it particularly difficult to guess. After all, there weren't many things that could make Qi Chao angry.

In the living room, only Shen Yuxi and Agu remained, along with the puppets—Chi Yao, Lan Luo, Ayu, and Moss. The first two puppets hadn't been involved in the self-sacrifice incident, while the latter three had been staying with their sick father.

"Father, how do you feel now?" Chi Yao's red eyes were fixed on Shen Yuxi.

"I'm fine," Shen Yuxi said with a faint smile. Aside from looking a bit pale, there didn’t seem to be any major issues.

"Of course you're fine," Agu said, poking the mother stone on the table that was wrapped in his dad’s spiritual energy. "After all, with the world consciousness here, it’s very difficult for anyone to do anything to Father, right?"

The puppets all cast unfriendly glances at the mother stone.

Even Lan Luo, who usually liked to appear obedient in front of Shen Yuxi, now looked at the stone with a shadowed gaze.

Harming their father was an unforgivable sin.

The world's consciousness is lucky to be worked on both their father and Shen Yuxi's hands.

Lan Luo's heart was filled with envy, and as he gazed at the mother stone, his feelings of resentment grew. The negative emotions almost turned into something tangible, and the other puppets were no better.

Being created under both Father and Shen Yuxi's hands was an overwhelming temptation. Even Moss, who was usually indifferent, couldn’t help but clutch the doll in his arms tightly. It went without saying that Agu and Chi Yao, who had fiery personalities, were even more stirred.

The world consciousness's body hadn’t even been completed yet, yet it had already accumulated all the hatred from the family’s puppets.

"Father, I remember the first puppet body you made had a flaw, right?"

Ayu's gaze shifted from the mother stone to Shen Yuxi, briefly pausing on Moss.

"Yes," Shen Yuxi replied without denying it. 

Following Ayu's words, he turned his attention to Moss. "You should know, that puppet’s body resembles yours. If you no longer wish to be wrapped in bandages, you can come to me."

After the flaw appeared in the first unfinished puppet, Shen Yuxi had adjusted and improved the design, drawing a new blueprint and creating Moss. The two puppets shared some similarities to a certain extent.

Moss, holding the doll in his arms, gazed with deep, dark eyes. 

Unusually, he didn’t respond, falling into silence.

The living room fell into an unexpected quiet.

Even Agu, who was usually the most outspoken, didn’t speak up.

Beneath Moss's bandages were scars that covered his entire body.

Moss had always been worried about being abandoned by his father, which was why he never treated the scars on his body.

Now, Shen Yuxi’s words were clear—if Moss wanted to treat his scars, he could do so at any time.

Though the puppet shell in the basement had minor flaws, Moss's imperfections were far more pronounced.

The reason Shen Yuxi had brought it up was to prevent Moss from developing feelings of inferiority.

Although Moss outwardly didn’t obsess over his appearance, he had inherited Shen Yuxi's pursuit of perfection. Deep down, he was very fond of beauty—otherwise, he wouldn't be so keen on braiding the plush dolls’ hair.

If another puppet had a similar appearance to Moss’s previous look, were to appear, it was very likely that Moss would develop feelings of inferiority, just as Shen Yuxi would fear.

After being with Qi Chao, Shen Yuxi had become increasingly soft-hearted. In the past, he wouldn’t have paid much attention to Moss's small insecurities.

Agu watched Shen Yuxi’s expression, then lowered his head and poked at the annoying mother stone. It was all this cursed thing’s fault. His older brother, who shared the same extreme personality as their father, was probably going to be troubled by this for a while.

However, Agu didn’t know that the world consciousness wasn’t feeling any better than Moss at that moment.

It had just accepted a flawed body.

It had planned to endure the situation, put up with the imperfect form, and escape as soon as it could. But to its surprise, this flawed body looked the same as another puppet.

Is that what this means?

The world consciousness hazily thought to itself. It was the supreme existence—how could it resemble another lowly puppet? 

Even if it had to temporarily endure this, it wouldn’t accept it!

But the decision was no longer in the hands of the world consciousness, which was now at the mercy of others. No matter how much it resisted internally, this situation had already been set in motion.

In the living room, Moss had yet to decide whether to repair his body, and just as this topic hung in the air, Qi Chao came downstairs with the children.

Shen Yuxi and the puppets, aware of the earlier conversation, tacitly avoided bringing it up. 

They all knew that Moss wouldn’t want Qi Chao to know about the scars hidden under his bandages, even though Qi Chao had been aware of it for some time.

"Xiang Yue, you're back?" Agu interjected, glancing at Xiang Yue's unclear expression. Agu could tell that Xiang Yue had probably been scolded by their father. With a grin, he asked, "What did Dad say?"

Xiang Yue, lost in thoughts about the punishment he had received, remained silent. Agu, not discouraged, crouched down and began to playfully tug at Xiang Yue's tail, trying to cheer him up by petting it. 

Even when Xiang Yue moved his tail away, Agu quickly grabbed it again.

Eventually, Xiang Yue stopped resisting and let Agu continue to play with his tail.

Nearby, Lan Luo found Li Bai and, knowing that their dad had punished them by making them write a three-thousand-word reflection, sympathetically grabbed Li Bai’s hand and said, “Lan Luo will be here with you, don’t be afraid.”

Now, that was what a true friend was like.

Agu, on the other hand, was just a troublemaker.

After sitting back on the sofa, Qi Chao sensed that something was off with Moss's expression. 

His hand, resting on the couch, was lightly touched by Shen Yuxi’s fingertip, and Qi Chao realized what was going on. He didn’t say anything.

Later, when they were back in their room and he became aware of the conversation downstairs, Qi Chao fell silent for a moment, then pulled Shen Yuxi into a hug. “It’s okay. Moss is smart, with a good personality. Even if he doesn't want to fix his scars, he's still a handsome guy.”

“The world consciousness is a different story. No matter how pretty a body it has, it’s still a fool. Don’t worry about Moss, he won’t feel inferior.”

World consciousness:...

Hey, I’m right here, you know?

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