| PN | Smile | 196
Although Elliton didn't urge him, he was certainly thinking about his five puppets. Qi Chao didn't want to delay any longer.
When he returned home in the evening, he took out Elliton's five mother stones from the box.
Shen Yuxi glanced at the mother stones on the table, then looked at Qi Chao, his tone gentle but curious: "Can these five mother stones be awakened in one night?"
"I'm not sure. When Xuan Jian and Shuang Jian were awakened, it took nearly half a year. Now that I have the power of the mother tree, it should be quicker, but when they will be awakened exactly is uncertain," Qi Chao replied while sitting at the desk.
He turned his head to look at Shen Yuxi, who had already sat on the bed, wearing pajamas. "Brother Shen, if you're tired, you can go to sleep first. I'll sleep later."
Shen Yuxi hummed in response but didn't follow Qi Chao's suggestion to sleep. Instead, he picked up a book and leaned against the headboard, slowly flipping through it.
Clearly, he was prepared to wait.
Qi Chao smiled when he saw this but didn't say anything else. He lowered his head to look at the dull red mother stone and reached out to touch it.
After the puppets' abilities were forcibly transferred, some of the souls turned into shadows, while others returned to the mother tree, leaving only a trace of soul fluctuation within the mother stone.
If it were in the past, Qi Chao might not have felt anything when he touched these mother stones.
But now, as the incarnation of the mother tree, he could clearly sense that the soul fluctuations within the mother stones were very faint.
If left for too long, these fluctuations would completely disappear.
He needed to use his spiritual power to nurture the souls within the mother stones. If he could attract the souls that had already returned to the mother tree to re-enter the stones, that would be ideal.
Of course, if he couldn't attract them, it would take a long time to activate the lingering souls in the stones.
Qi Chao thought this as he closed his eyes. As the green light orb emerged, he gradually opened his eyes.
His black hair reached his back, and his eyes, once deep brown, turned a vibrant green. His steady demeanor took on a layer of mystery.
He lowered his head and looked at the table, his fingers resting on a mother stone, his focus controlling the flow of the green light orb into the stone.
When he awakened Xuan Jian and Shuang Jian before, Qi Chao was still unfamiliar with these actions, now that he had fully mastered his spiritual power, these tasks were as simple as breathing.
Shen Yuxi's attention had long since shifted from the book in his hands to Qi Chao. His eyelashes fluttered slightly, and though he was still a bit unfamiliar with Qi Chao's appearance, the moment passed quickly.
After that, his gaze settled on the mother stone under Qi Chao's hand.
He couldn't see the spiritual power, but he could sense the changes in the mother stone.
Though not very obvious, compared to its previous dull state, the mother stone now seemed of a slightly better quality.
The night had passed halfway, and Shen Yuxi estimated the time. He withdrew his gaze, closed the book, and lay down on the bed. Not long after, he felt someone else by his side.
Without thinking, Shen Yuxi instinctively leaned closer, he could smell the familiar scent of plants and trees on Qi Chao.
"Have you activated the mother stone?"
"No, the first mother stone's fluctuation has increased a little."
After channeling his spiritual power, Qi Chao felt that it was quite difficult to get the souls that had already returned to the mother tree to re-enter the mother stones.
For now, he could only use his spiritual power to nurture the lingering soul fragments within the mother stones, and even that would take at least a week to see results.
"Sleep, Brother Shen."
Hearing Qi Chao's deep and hoarse voice, Shen Yuxi hummed in response. His hand reached to the back of Qi Chao's head, touching his long hair. Clearly, the other was still in the form of the mother tree’s incarnation.
"Not used to it? Do you want me to change back?"
Qi Chao, being considerate, initially had no intention of changing back, but if Shen Yuxi wasn't accustomed to it, he would maintain his original appearance.
After all, both forms were still him, so it didn't matter.
"No need," Shen Yuxi replied, drawing closer. With each breath, his warm breath brushed against Qi Chao's collarbone, making Qi Chao's Adam's apple bob slightly.
Qi Chao vaguely sensed something and his voice grew even rougher. "Aren't you tired?"
"I'm not tired," Shen Yuxi paused for a moment, his fingertips gently brushing Qi Chao's cheek.
His voice, softer in the dark, added, "But you should rest if you're tired. You have to wake up early tomorrow."
Shen Yuxi's approach really was a bit overwhelming.
Hearing Shen Yuxi's words, Qi Chao chuckled softly, not saying much more. He draped his arm around Shen Yuxi's waist. "I'm not tired either, so let’s not sleep yet. You can get more familiar with this form of mine."
The scent of plants and trees grew even stronger.
Shen Yuxi softly hummed in agreement, his hand running through Qi Chao's hair, a deeper smile appearing in his eyes.
The night passed quickly, and the next morning, heavy internet addict Qi Yang had just gotten out of bed, preparing for work, when he noticed that his usually early-rising older brother hadn’t woken up yet.
"Where's your dad?"
Qi Yang looked over at Li Bai, who was watching a superhero cartoon.
Without even looking away from the projection, Li Bai answered in a nonchalant tone, "Dad's still resting. Don't worry, Uncle. Every week, Dad and Father have days when they sleep in."
"Sleep in together?"
Qi Yang seemed to realize something, and he sighed, suddenly feeling that even his own Plato-like relationship had its downsides.
System: …I haven't agreed to date you yet, okay?
The puppets didn't share Qi Yang's impure thoughts.
To them, "sleeping in" simply meant resting. After seeing their dad and father come out of the room, Li Bai and Lan Luo jumped off the sofa and rushed upstairs to greet the two adults.
How considerate.
Qi Yang thought to himself, glancing at Agu and Moss, who were sitting beside him, trying to find out what he would be doing with them at the organization later.
Moss, holding a stuffed doll, hoarsely replied, "I don't know."
Agu smiled and said, "Agu doesn't know either. Uncle is probably just going to drink tea."
Qi Yang had originally planned to get along well with the puppets, but after hearing their answers, he was momentarily speechless.
Just as he was about to change the subject, Xiang Yue walked out of the kitchen, and Agu immediately stood up and moved closer to him.
One figurine left, and Qi Yang turned to talk to the other, who was still holding a stuffed toy.
To his surprise, the next second, Xing Yu, with a teardrop-shaped mole at the corner of his eye, moved over to Moss’s side, glaring at Qi Yang with a threatening look, as if afraid Qi Yang would steal his only friend.
This damn world consciousness.
Qi Yang's smile stiffened.
Did this guy still remember that he was a world consciousness?
Why was he acting so much like a puppet?
After two failed attempts, Qi Yang’s patience was exhausted, and he stopped trying to engage with the puppets.
Instead, he lowered his head and started a petty argument with Qi Feng and Qi Ye, something he had to do every day.
On the side, Qi Chao and Shen Yuxi noticed the scene. Qi Chao didn’t have much of a reaction, but Shen Yuxi said with a knowing tone, "Yanyang really gets along well with the children. If I’d known Yanyang liked them so much, we should have had him spend more time with them earlier."
"Really?" Qi Chao responded, then looked back at the sofa.
Although Qi Yang, Xing Yu, and Moss weren’t talking and were all doing their own things, after hearing Shen Yuxi's words, Qi Chao did feel like they actually got along quite well.
"Indeed. I never expected Qi Yang to get along so well with the kids at home."
From across the room, Qi Yang overheard Shen Yuxi talking about him and grumbled inwardly: Damn, Shen Yuxi is just like the puppets he made—so annoying.
The time spent relaxing in the villa was always short. Soon, Qi Chao took Shen Yuxi out.
Qi Yang turned to look at Moss and the others. "What are we doing today?"
Xiang Yue's tail flicked behind him as he pointed to the space vortex created by Moss. "We're going to Qi Feng and Qi Ye's villa to discuss the next steps."
"Got it."
Qi Yang responded cooperatively. He had joined the puppets group to improve their favorability towards him, so naturally, he wouldn't refuse to cooperate now.
The space vortex continued to spin.
Qi Yang watched the vortex and instinctively took a step forward. As someone who could command the wind and rain, no one but his brother could walk in front of him.
However, before Qi Yang could even move a step...
A group of puppets rushed over energetically, leaving him behind. In the midst of the chaos, he could hear Li Bai and Qiu Qiu chattering excitedly, "Hurry up, Uncle! Moss' vortex has a time limit, it'll close in one minute! If we don't hurry, we'll miss it!"
In the blink of an eye, the puppets rushed into the vortex, leaving Qi Yang alone in the empty living room.
He gritted his teeth, thinking to himself, I can't hit these bratty figurines... or my brother will definitely beat me up.
Fine, I’ll let it slide.
On the other side, Qi Chao parked the aircraft at the station near the Alliance, glancing at Shen Yuxi in the co-pilot seat with some concern. "Brother Shen, why don't you rest at home today? You can come back tomorrow."
Thinking about it, after he and Shen Yuxi had done that thing the previous day, he always made sure Shen Yuxi rested in bed the next day. It wasn't like now, when Shen Yuxi still had to go to work.
"No need."
Shen Yuxi was more than happy to act spoiled in front of Qi Chao, but he wasn't weak.
On the contrary, those who had called him weak were still lying in the hospital. He placed his hand on Qi Chao's hand, "If I get tired later, you can come pick me up, okay?"
Qi Chao hummed in agreement. "Alright."
He watched Shen Yuxi get out of the aircraft, his slender figure disappearing into the station before he was ready to leave the Alliance and head to the association for a walk.
Now that the president had finished discussing matters with the other high-ranking officials, even though they still respected him because he was sent by the Emperor, the association's high-ups would no longer allow him to interfere in their affairs.
If Qi Chao had insisted, the high-ranking officials would have softened and tried to please him, but he didn't think it was necessary.
The messages that needed to be conveyed to the Emperor had already been passed on when he first took over most of the association's matters. Whether or not he took control of the power now didn’t matter.
For Qi Chao, his main goal in visiting the association was not just to irritate the president and the higher-ups, but also to wander around and stir up the thoughts of the puppet masters.
After all, having the privilege to freely come and go from the association was quite convenient.
Not using this opportunity to promote the Alliance within the association would be a waste.
So, when the president heard that Qi Chao had come to the association, he was momentarily stunned. "Qi Chao's here? I didn't see him come up. Are you sure he entered the association?"
The vice president nodded. "The staff downstairs said Qi Chao arrived at the association this morning."
Wherever Qi Chao had entered the association, the president felt a headache coming on.
But when Qi Chao was there and didn't make an appearance, it wasn’t just a headache—it also caused an inexplicable sense of unease.
"Let's go. We need to find him first."
The president stood up and motioned for the vice president to follow him. It didn’t take long before they reached the third-floor puppet masters workroom, where they could hear Qi Chao’s voice.
The president’s heart skipped a beat.
He opened the door, and in the next moment, he saw Qi Chao chatting energetically with the mid- and high-level puppet masters, acting like they were long-lost brothers.
Those puppet masters, who would normally be too afraid to utter a word in his presence, were now addressing Qi Chao as "Brother Qi" with respect, their eyes filled with admiration.
The president almost found it hard to breathe after just one glance.
What was Qi Chao trying to do?
Unable to suppress his suspicions, the president couldn’t help but think the worst—was Qi Chao trying to undermine his power from the ground up?
"Secretary Qi, why aren’t you upstairs? What are you doing down here? Slacking off?" The president's voice sounded kind on the surface but carried an unmistakable reprimand.
The room immediately quieted down.
"Apologies, President," Qi Chao replied smoothly, his tone calm. "I noticed there were some issues with the association's mining veins, and I was worried the members might feel uneasy. So I came down to offer some reassurance."
Qi Chao lowered his head, his tone apologetic, but for some reason, it made him seem like he had been wronged.
Upon hearing this, the puppet masters in the room couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.
They all sympathized with Qi Chao. If it weren't for him, they'd still be in the dark, naively believing that the association's benefits would never change.
How could that be? After all, the mining veins had truly run dry!
Moreover, both Qi Chao and the president were master-level puppet masters, holding the same rank. Qi Chao was even sent by the Emperor, making him the president's equal.
The president had no right to criticize someone of Qi Chao's status!
Looking at the mixed glances from the puppet masters, both overt and subtle, the president's hand, which gripped his cane, stiffened.
He almost wished he could lock Qi Chao in an office and never let him out.
How could everything have changed so quickly in just two hours?
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