| PN | Eye | 207
[What the heck! What does this mean? What is the Alliance trying to do? Why are they even detaining a master-level puppet master's puppet?]
[It’s a conspiracy! Are they eyeing the high-level puppets made by Qing Yu and planning to seize them for themselves?]
[This is infuriating! My hands are shaking! I knew the Alliance wasn’t a bunch of good people. What’s the meaning of forcibly withholding someone’s puppets?]
Online, non-Alliance puppet masters instantly felt a strong sense of empathy. They had already harbored hostility toward the Alliance, and now they found a reason to attack it, flooding the internet with criticisms and accusations.
[I don’t understand why they won’t let me take my puppet. Clearly, I’m the one who made them. Don’t we, as creators, have the right to control them? Why am I, as the maker, being denied that right?]
Qing Yu posted this message, looking pitiful and aggrieved.
As soon as this message was posted, it further fueled the tension between the puppet masters and the Alliance. Initially confined to forum discussions, someone eventually reposted it to other social platforms.
Uninformed bystanders, seeing the situation, began to develop negative sentiments toward the Alliance as well. The Alliance’s official account was inundated with insults, turning its comment section into a complete mess.
After the situation escalated, You Zhao, Guo Li, and Li Lang immediately received reports from their subordinates. The three exchanged glances, all recalling the words their teacher had said to them yesterday when stepping in to take over their work.
[I let your Brother Shen take the puppet home. There might be some small commotion online tomorrow, but don’t worry about it.]
The three of them initially assumed that the puppet their teacher referred to Lan Luo or the others, so they didn’t pay much attention.
As for the part about “a small commotion,” they cared even less. Ever since the Alliance was established, when had there not been some kind of online uproar?
On top of that, their daily workload for the Alliance was overwhelming. They were bogged down with tasks like managing mineral energy resource revenues, reporting progress to the cabinet, and drafting various reports.
They were so swamped that they didn’t have the time or energy to dig deeper into the matter.
By the time they heard about the incident the next day, all three of them had the same thought:
Teacher! You’ve landed us in hot water!
Although they couldn’t make sense of what their teacher was thinking, the three students chose to trust their teacher and refrained from making any statements on behalf of the Alliance.
However, as the online commentary escalated, matters spun further out of control—some puppet masters even showed up at the Alliance in person, demanding to take their puppets back.
Finally, unable to hold out any longer, the three of them grabbed their communicators and sent their teacher a video call request. When Qi Chao’s projection appeared in mid-air, the trio immediately poured out their grievances.
“Teacher, when are you planning to clarify things? We’re seriously at our breaking point here!”
Qi Chao looked at the troubled faces of his three students in the video, each wearing a deep frown. Guo Li’s hair was even disheveled from frustration, but she didn’t seem to care.
Feeling a bit guilty, Qi Chao quickly apologized, “Sorry, I’ll handle it right away. I’ll clear up this matter in a little while.”
The trio trusted their teacher deeply. If they hadn’t been utterly at their wit’s end, they wouldn’t have reached out to him for help.
Now that they had his reassurance, they relaxed a bit. Curiosity got the better of them, and they asked, “Teacher, how are you planning to clear things up?”
Earlier that morning, two puppet masters who had witnessed the entire incident had approached them voluntarily to explain the events leading up to the situation.
After learning the details, You Zhao and the others were left speechless. If Qing Yu had a legitimate reason, they would have agreed to let him take the puppet.
But there were two issues: first, there wasn’t any valid justification, and second, the puppet itself didn’t want to leave. Naturally, their subordinates wouldn’t allow Qing Yu to take the puppet away.
Who could say if Qing Yu was up to something shady?
Perhaps he’d found another buyer and was planning to sell the puppet off illegally?
Moreover, it was Qing Yu himself who had originally said that if the puppet didn’t want to go home with him, it would never need to come back.
So how had the narrative suddenly shifted to the Alliance “detaining” his puppet?
Although Qing Yu’s claims were flimsy, the surveillance at the entrance hadn’t captured any audio. Finding concrete evidence to refute him was difficult. Even if they explained the entire incident truthfully, Qing Yu could easily twist the story and turn the accusations against them.
“Teacher, do you have evidence?”
Guo Li couldn’t help but ask when she noticed her teacher’s calm demeanor.
Qi Chao smiled but didn’t answer.
However, to the three students, that smile was full of confidence. Immediately reassured, they relaxed completely.
After closing the communicator, no matter how heated the discussions online became, the trio no longer panicked.
On the other side, after speaking with his students, Qi Chao turned to look at Shen Yuxi, who was standing behind him.
“They’ve started pushing?”
Shen Yuxi responded with a slight smile, “Yes.”
Qi Chao rubbed the bridge of his nose sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to delay things this long, but the kids at home were just so excited to see Yang Ping.”
The children at home had been thrilled to meet their new guest, especially Ayu and Chi Yao.
Both had previously taught Yang Ping during class, and now that Yang Ping was visiting their home, even these usually reserved puppets were warmer and more animated than usual. It was only now, after some time, that their excitement had started to subside a little.
Of course, thanks to Ayu and Chi Yao’s influence, Yang Ping’s initial nervousness had eased somewhat. Even so, Qi Chao could still see the unease hidden behind Yang Ping’s polite smile.
“Where are Xuan Jian and Shuang Jian? Did they go to the greenhouse again?”
Qi Chao paused as he glanced at the lively scene in the living room and turned to Shen Yuxi.
“Yeah.” Shen Yuxi nodded. Everyone else, aside from Xuan Jian and Shuang Jian, was in the living room.
Qi Chao fell silent.
Although Xuan Jian and Shuang Jian had forgotten much of their past, some memories seemed etched into their very core, impossible to erase.
They still remembered that Qing Yu had created them. Despite Qi Chao’s repeated attempts to console them, the two puppets rarely dwelled on those memories anymore.
However, seeing Yang Ping’s missing eye seemed to have stirred something in them. While the other puppets were playing and laughing in the living room, Xuan Jian and Shuang Jian had quietly slipped away to the greenhouse.
Qi Chao glanced at the doorway and then said, “Brother Shen, I’ve prepared all the video recordings. Could you send them out for me? I’ll head over to the greenhouse first.”
Shen Yuxi accepted Qi Chao’s communicator without hesitation. He had already anticipated that Qi Chao wouldn’t leave Xuan Jian and Shuang Jian alone.
“Alright.”
After Qi Chao left the living room, Shen Yuxi adeptly operated Qi Chao’s communicator. With a practiced ease, as though he had done this hundreds of times, he sent out the recordings without delay.
Meanwhile, online discussions grew even more chaotic. The Alliance’s prolonged silence was seen as an admission of guilt by non-Alliance puppeteers, who latched onto this perceived weakness and continued to criticize the organization.
[Why so quiet now? Huh? You were so arrogant when oppressing us before, so what’s stopping you now?]
[What else can they do? They’re cornered. If it weren’t for Puppet Master Qing Yu speaking out about this injustice, we wouldn’t even know about it.]
[Think about it—if Qing Yu hadn’t spoken up this time, what happens when it’s us small fry? We’d be left to suffer in silence. Isn’t that terrifying?]
The comment section was spiraling out of control, with Qing Yu being elevated to the status of a savior. His social media account gained a million followers overnight, drawing in a large number of neutral bystanders who became his supporters.
Behind his communicator, Qing Yu chuckled as he watched his growing popularity. Of course, the Alliance wouldn’t dare to respond—they had no evidence.
He had thoroughly scouted the area beforehand and knew the surveillance equipment there couldn’t record audio.
Since Qing Yu had already fallen out of favor with the Emperor, he figured he might as well turn the situation to his advantage.
By boosting his public image and gaining the goodwill of the masses, he could maintain his status as a high-ranking Puppet Master. And if he could manage to deal a blow to the Alliance in the process, all the better.
With this line of thought, Qing Yu felt even more satisfied.
Even the puppet masters and fans who had initially supported the Alliance began to waver.
Seeing the Alliance’s prolonged silence, they started to wonder: Could it really be like Qing Yu said?
Does the Alliance forcibly prevent puppets from returning home?
While doubts began to fester, the Alliance finally broke its silence since the events of the previous night. They posted two pieces of evidence online: an audio recording and a video.
Qing Yu froze the moment he saw the announcement. A recording? What recording?
A cold sweat broke out on his back as a sinking feeling took hold of him.
From the audio came a chillingly familiar voice:
"If you don’t want to go back now, don’t even think about returning home in the future!"
Hearing his own words played back, Qing Yu’s mind went blank, and panic surged through him.
Following the sound of hurried footsteps, the video captured the murmur of an unfamiliar voice in the background, as if someone was quietly commenting:
"Why is he walking off so fast? Getting this angry just because the puppet hesitated? Does he even want to take the puppet home?"
Qing Yu almost coughed up blood upon hearing the murmur in the video. He didn’t dare look at the comments section but nervously opened it for a quick glance.
[Unbelievable. Wasn’t it Qing Yu himself who left the puppet behind? Why is he blaming the Alliance for it?]
Just one look was enough to make him panic further, and he quickly shut the comments.
Who would have thought that his own words would have been recorded? His mind raced to find an explanation, and instinctively, he focused his suspicions on Qi Chao.
It had to be Qi Chao who recorded it!
Piecing the events together, Qing Yu recalled the moment when Qi Chao had deliberately asked the puppet if it was willing to go back with him. If not for that question, Qing Yu wouldn’t have lost his composure so suddenly. It had to be intentional!
Panicked, Qing Yu hastily exited the comments section. He bit his fingernails nervously, staring at the video posted by the Alliance, unsure whether to click on it.
A few seconds later, he couldn’t resist. Convincing himself that the video wouldn’t contain anything incriminating—after all, there was nothing else they could have on him—he pressed play, determined to see what else the Alliance had to reveal.
The screen flickered, and a puppet missing one eye appeared on the video.
It was as if Qing Yu had been punched in the head; he was stunned. By the time he regained his senses, the progress bar was already halfway through the video.
He had missed the earlier part but saw the puppet gently touch its empty eye socket before saying:
"It feels awful. I want to be like normal puppets and have two eyes."
"I don’t want to have just one eye."
The puppet looked up with a blank, slightly sorrowful expression. There was a trace of longing in its gaze, enough to make anyone watching feel a pang of sympathy in their hearts.
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