| PN | Big Face | 181
Qi Chao did indeed receive the email.
However, at the time, he was busy fixing a doll for Moss and had no time to pay attention to the message.
It was Shen Yuxi, who was beside him, who noticed the message. His eyes darkened slightly as he watched Qi Chao focus on his work. Slowly, he stood up and quietly left the room.
The living room downstairs was much quieter than before. Only Agu and the world consciousness were holding hands, standing facing the wall, looking at each other with mutual disdain and dislike.
Hearing the footsteps, both puppets froze instantly. The sound was too familiar. Without thinking, they knew that the person behind them was Shen Yuxi.
“I already said your Dad has been very busy lately and not to trouble him, right?”
A gentle male voice sounded in their ears, with a tone that was soft yet carried an inexplicable sense of oppression.
Agu still managed to force a smile on the surface, but inwardly, he was beginning to panic. On the other hand, the world consciousness looked even more uneasy.
He shouldn’t be afraid of the villain.
On the contrary, the world consciousness should be the one who made the villain afraid, after all, with just a flick of his finger, he could make this human wish they were never born.
Thinking this, the world consciousness couldn't help but swallow.
"When we get back, I hope both of you will come find me alone."
Shen Yuxi lightly placed his fingers on the shoulders of the two puppets, leaning close to their ears and speaking in a cold tone, "I'll make sure to have a good chat with you both."
Agu and the world consciousness immediately felt a chill run through their bodies.
"Brother Shen, I gave the doll to Moss. Where did the kids go?"
From the stairs came Qi Chao's voice, laughing as he walked down. Shen Yuxi removed his hand from their shoulders, distancing himself from the two puppets.
Although the world consciousness knew that Shen Yuxi wouldn't harm him, he still had a sense of survival, as if he'd narrowly escaped death.
As Qi Chao, who was coming down the stairs, approached, he felt an inexplicable sense of gratitude toward him.
Shen Yuxi shifted his gaze from the two puppets, instinctively curling his lips into a smile and looking at Qi Chao with a gentle expression, "I'm not sure. They should be in the courtyard."
"Is that so?"
Qi Chao didn't suspect anything. He tilted his head slightly, signaling Agu and Xing Yu to hold hands and stand up straight. Then, he turned and went off to find the other children in the house.
Shen Yuxi glanced at the two puppets nearby, said nothing further, and followed Qi Chao out.
The living room fell silent again.
Agu and Xing Yu both sighed in relief. As they noticed each other's reactions, the two puppets instantly showed expressions of disgust and immediately turned their heads in disdain.
Meanwhile, Shen Yuxi and Qi Chao began discussing the recent invitation from the royal family.
Every year, the emperor would invite master-level puppet masters to the palace for a grand banquet.
At the same time, they would be awarded a medal of honor, making it a highly coveted event for every puppet maker. On that day, the entire banquet would be live-streamed, allowing the public to admire the skills and dignity of these creators.
The irony was, for all the glory the master-level puppet masters enjoyed, the puppets they created were often far more pitiable.
"You're going, right?" Shen Yuxi guessed.
Qi Chao hummed in response.
There were many benefits to attending the royal banquet, and the greatest one was that he could gauge the attitude of the master-level puppet masters, which would give him insight into the royal family’s and the association’s next moves.
"At this point, the world consciousness can no longer influence human choices. From now on, everything will be decided by the royal family and the association themselves. Yesterday, I sealed the ability of a psychic at the base."
He raised his left hand slightly, and invisible threads of mental energy flowed out from his fingertips.
"By now, most of the psychics' abilities have been sealed. The association and the royal family have two choices: either they stop here, or they continue their research."
Qi Chao wanted to attend the banquet to see for himself what choice they would make.
Seeing this, Shen Yuxi's eyelashes lowered slightly.
Qi Chao always hoped for a perfect ending without bloodshed. That was why he directly sealed the abilities of the psychics, hoping that humanity would recognize the difficulty of the situation and stop using puppets.
But in reality, they would never give up.
He should know this by now.
Shen Yuxi gazed at Qi Chao's profile, his lips pressing into a faint line. Then, he turned his gaze toward the puppets playing in the courtyard and softly said, "Since you've already made your decision, go ahead."
Only after witnessing it firsthand would Qi Chao make up his mind for sure.
Qi Chao chuckled softly. "Mm, the message mentioned that puppet masters can bring their apprentices, so I'll bring You Zhao and the others along."
Shen Yuxi had conflicts with the association and couldn't make an appearance. His main reason for not showing up was to avoid causing trouble for Qi Chao.
Shen Yuxi's thoughts weren't clear, and in fact, his mood had soured as soon as he knew that Qi Chao would be leaving his sight.
"Take Bugu with you. She knows many master-level puppet masters, and it will be easier for her to introduce you to them," Shen Yuxi said after a brief pause. "Among those master-level puppet masters, there are some you can make use of. You should build good relationships with them."
As he said this, his voice intentionally dropped, as though he were worried that this suggestion might negatively affect his image in Qi Chao's eyes.
Qi Chao didn't seem to mind, and instead, he smiled and replied, "I know."
They hadn't walked far before they spotted Lan Luo, Li Bai, and Qiu Qiu playing in the courtyard. Nearby were Qi Feng and Qi Ye, two young men already adults, enjoying their time playing with them.
In contrast, Qi Yang was sitting far away under the shade of a tree, seemingly avoiding the group of "fools," as though he was afraid they'd come too close.
"Do Qi Feng and Qi Ye know that Qi Yang is the one who argued with them?"
Shen Yuxi raised an eyebrow as he observed the scene.
"No, they don't know."
Qi Chao chuckled, "Don't tell them just yet. Let them spend a few more days together. Once their bond deepens, the previous argument will naturally fade away."
In contrast, if they knew now, the three of them would definitely not get along well.
Shen Yuxi glanced at the three of them, still some distance apart, and gave a light chuckle. He thought that even if they didn’t know Qi Yang’s identity, the three of them wouldn’t necessarily get along as smoothly as Qi Chao expected.
Qi Chao didn’t stay long at the old residence. After dinner, they left and returned to the villa.
Except for Moss, who still ignored Xing Yu, the other puppets were in a good mood. Qi Chao then casually mentioned that he would be attending the banquet.
Puppets weren’t allowed at the banquet.
Qi Chao casually informed them of his plans.
"Dad's going to the banquet because of the safety of the S-level puppets , right?" This question came from Qiu Qiu.
Qi Chao rubbed Qiu Qiu's head and quickly denied it. "Of course not. Don’t overthink it. Dad just wants to go and join in the fun."
The puppets were a bit skeptical of Qi Chao’s words, but knowing that their father wouldn't be in danger at the banquet and that they could see him through the holographic display, they didn't worry too much.
Xing Yu sat at a distance from Moss, somewhat confused by his thoughts.
Such a meddlesome human, he thought. Even the mother tree itself wouldn't be as involved as he was.
He turned his gaze to the villain, but all he could see was the villain smiling warmly and genuinely at Qi Chao.
The other puppets were surrounding Qi Chao, chattering excitedly, and Qi Chao, far from being impatient, answered each one of their questions with a smile that resembled the villain’s.
It was a smile that warmed the heart just by looking at it.
The living room was bustling with energy.
Xing Yu felt a little dazed.
The next moment, Xing Yu seemed to realize something. He lowered his head, regret and confusion filling his thoughts as he continued to ponder how to restore his abilities.
The banquet was set for the evening three days later.
That morning, You Zhao, Guo Li, and Li Lang arrived at Qi Chao’s home, as agreed. For ordinary puppet makers, the royal banquet was a dream come true.
But for the three of them, the long-awaited banquet is less attractive to them than a stone on the roadside.
They had already learned from Qi Chao about what the royal family and the association had done to those puppets.
The so-called royal banquet was more fittingly called a celebration banquet, a celebration of the birth of ability users.
They watched as their teacher, surrounded by his lover and children, walked out. They couldn’t help but think back to the video their teacher had sent earlier.
“Teacher’s mood is definitely not good today,” You Zhao murmured. “Teacher is upright and innocent, but the banquet will be filled with master-level puppet masters who have no bottom line. We must protect Teacher well.”
"Got it."
Li Lang nodded.
Guo Li, who was standing nearby, also nodded in agreement. "For Brother Shen, Teacher’s lover, we must bring Teacher out of that hellish place, whole and unharmed."
The three of them made a firm resolve, viewing the highly-anticipated royal banquet as a dangerous, predatory place, where one misstep could lead to being tainted.
Bugu, who had received the boss's orders to come over, arrived just in time to hear their conversation. She immediately burst into laughter.
What nonsense was this?
Even if there were a few bad people in there, they didn’t have to be this scared, did they?
But as she laughed, she thought about Guo Li’s words, and her smile suddenly froze. Teacher’s lover, Brother Shen?
Brother Shen?
Was she thinking of the same person?
It finally clicked for Bugu. She’d wondered why the boss always paid so much attention to Qi Chao.
So it turned out that Qi Chao was his lover?!
What kind of brave soul won over her boss?
Bugu wondered, as she looked at Qi Chao walking toward her. For some reason, she suddenly shivered.
While Bugu was lost in thought, another scene unfolded inside the royal palace, which was filled with noise and activity. White cameras, buzzing like little bees, hovered around the gilded palace, faithfully recording everything happening in the grand hall.
At the not-yet-started banquet, everyone wore bright smiles, but only they knew what was really on their minds.
The president of the association sat in the chair reserved for him, his withered hands nearly crushing his cane.
Just moments ago, he had received more unsettling news: another ability user power had vanished.
What was going on?
The president gritted his teeth, but kept the loving smile plastered on his face. He couldn’t let anyone see his true emotions, especially not with the cameras and the public watching. If he showed his true feelings, his expressions would end up all over the internet.
Normally, at this time, he would have been at the research institute, trying to uncover the truth.
However, if the royal banquet didn’t proceed smoothly, the online rumors would spiral out of control, making the situation even harder to manage. He had no choice but to temporarily abandon the institute and come here.
Suppressing his frustration, the president looked around, maintaining the serene expression of a benevolent elder.
The president overheard two puppet masters, whose identities he didn't know, talking to each other.
"Did you see that video? The puppets act just like human children. It's quite interesting."
"Yeah, I never really paid much attention to the puppets I made before, but now it feels like they’re not much different from children."
The president only caught the gist of the conversation and couldn't help but sneer.
What nonsense about human children?
Puppets were just tools. Why elevate them to the status of sentient beings?
Compared to such trivialities, he needed to focus on uncovering the truth. If they couldn't figure out what was happening with the ability users, then they’d have to study the puppets.
Given that the association no longer had an S-level puppet in stock, the president thought he needed to quickly find a S-level puppet that had an ability for research.
At that moment, he spotted Qi Chao.
The president recognized him immediately. Qi Chao was a master-level puppet master who possessed no fewer than five S-level puppets.
Since Qi Chao had already visited the ability base, the president figured he’d be more than willing to part with one of his puppets for research purposes.
TL: Haha, is the president asking for death?
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