Yunyin Realm, the borderland.
After the evil energy eroded the Yunyin Realm, it was blocked by the barrier force at the border and could not spread to the Yunhua Realm.
The dark evil spirit continued to gather, and finally turned the area into chaos.
There was no light, only silent darkness, surging with evil spirit.
A pale hand slowly rose from the ground. Its movements were jerky and clumsy, and it even fell back to the ground halfway.
Because the bones supporting this hand have been broken, there is only a thin white thread at the joint.
The thread was slowly tightened, and after an unknown amount of time, he finally succeeded in raising his arm.
In the palm of that hand, there was a clean and flawless crystal. The outline of the crystal was like a heart, but it had a pure and brilliant brilliance that was rare in the world.
The thread changed its angle again.
He turned his palm over and put the heart back into the puppet's broken chest.
Over a very long period of time, this white silk thread has painstakingly pieced together all the fragments of the puppet's body, except for the heart, which cannot be lifted by the puppet string.
This can only be done with the puppet's hands.
"Boom..."
A faint heartbeat sounded in the puppet's chest, and the last and most difficult step was finally completed.
The white thread outlined the shape of a leaf in a very human way, and then lay on the doll's wrist as usual.
The puppet's heartbeat is reviving, but its eyes are not open. It is still lying quietly on the ground, as if it is having a sweet dream.
*
dreaming.
Ling Congwu met his mother.
The background was still the courtyard that made her feel at ease. The sunset outside the window was orange-red, and it was crushed into the gouache-painted porcelain, making it look sparkling.
"What is Xiao Wu doing?"
Her mother came in from outside, looked at her sitting at the table, and asked.
"Doing today's homework." Hearing her mother's words, she subconsciously stopped what she was doing, put the pen on the pen holder, turned to look at her mother, and talked about what happened in class today.
"Mother, the teacher in today's class said that in order for the puppets I made to become spiritual, my cultivation must reach at least the Golden Core stage. When can I do that?"
"… "
The air was quiet for a moment. Her mother did not answer her question, but asked something else, "Xiao Wu, do you like to learn puppetry? There should be other spiritual arts to learn in Baiyou Pavilion's academy. You have wood spiritual roots, so becoming a medical practitioner is also a good choice."
"I want to make this puppet my father left me move!"
"Mother, everyone says that father is a great puppeteer with great talent. Why is my talent so poor? Mother is also a great cultivator!"
"… "
The further she talked, the more frustrated she sounded. My mother's hand had landed on top of her head and she was stroking it.
"It's all mother's fault, Xiao Wu."
"No, it's just that Xiao Wu is too useless. If only I could be as powerful as my father, then I could also refine a substitute puppet for my mother to protect her from getting hurt."
She shook her head and handed the almost finished doll to her mother.
The puppet is extremely delicately made, and it will be complete after the eyebrows and eyes are painted.
"Xiao Wu did a great job," the mother praised.
"The elders said that the dolls cannot have faces painted randomly, but I asked the elders and they said it is allowed if they make it look like themselves."
"Once I finish painting the doll's face, I'll give it to my mother. This way, when you go out, you can see Xiao Wu every day."
"Mom is going out again, right?"
"… Yes, I will be back as soon as possible. Sorry, Xiao Wu. Mother will find a way to solve it. You want to be a great puppeteer, right?"
"Um!"
She nodded seriously.
"Then put this on." Before leaving, her mother took out a crystal clear glass pendant and put it on her solemnly.
After that day, my mother never came back.
But her talent suddenly improved, and her advancement speed became faster and faster, jumping from the originally limited middle stage of foundation building to the Nascent Soul stage, and even higher levels in the future.
During this process, she mastered the Ling family's puppetry technique and refined powerful puppets, making them as agile as living people.
But these joys and aspirations can no longer be shared with my mother.
Just when she was about to be promoted to the Mahayana stage during the long period of loneliness, she met her mother again on an evening when dusk was blending into night.
"Mother!"
Her joy filled her words and she ran over quickly.
Even though he had become a powerful monk, he still retained the dependence and attachment of his youth when facing his mother.
The mother lowered her head and did not respond to her words.
By the time she realized something was wrong, she found that her body was unable to move.
Invisible threads had entangled her body at some point, manipulating her like a puppet.
She struggled hard, trying to break free from the puppetry. As a puppeteer, she knew what she had to do to escape.
—but it didn't work.
With her widened pupils, she saw that at the end of the threads was an exquisite girl doll.
The doll had the same face as hers.
That is Ling Congwu.
She could no longer break free of the threads that bound her body.
The sweet dream is shattered and the nightmare begins.
She was controlled by a puppet that looked like her and was forced to obey the puppet's orders.
Later, she was promoted to the Mahayana stage, but after failing to ascend, she was refined into a puppet.
Using living people to make puppets is a forbidden technique of the Ling family, and will bring punishment from heaven. But if the puppeteer makes himself into a puppet, nothing will happen.
"It" is the monster that can control the puppeteer and constantly erode everyone's mind.
After becoming a puppet, she was surrounded by countless puppet strings, turning her home into a huge puppet theater, performing the arranged drama day after day.
The failed puppet will fall from the stage and be shattered into pieces.
Many puppets have died, and perhaps it will be her turn soon.
She has been waiting for that day, and only death can escape such control and fate.
It was wearing elaborate and solemn clothes, with the face of a mother, and personally threw her from the void into the enchantment of the Yan family.
Mother…
My mother was also controlled by it and had even lost her soul.
[Let's follow the wildness.]
Someone was calling her name.
Who is it? Who is calling her name
The puppet's brows were furrowed, its eyelashes trembled, and it opened its eyes in the thick darkness.
She woke up.
"Ling Congwu."
"… "
The voice in my consciousness is right beside my ears.
The puppet moved its gray eyes, reflecting two figures.
The evil spirit lurking in the surroundings shrank and retreated to the back because of their arrival.
"Her condition is very bad. Her vitality is very weak and her spirit is dim. I don't know if the healing magic can be effective."
The voice that called her name earlier said this to the people walking with her.
"… "
The dry throat couldn't utter a single word because the puppet's neck was broken.
[Who are you?] She whispered in her consciousness.
Chu Qi was stunned when he heard the divine consciousness transmission, and then he introduced his origins, "I am the current heir of Medicine King Valley, Chu Qi. He is the heir of the Yan family, Yan Jiuge."
"We came here to look for you because your mother, Fox Jin, placed something important from the sacred tree on you. We hope to get her."
[Mother...important things.]
She thought of the piece of glass.
Now her body has become that of a puppet, and her shell has long been corroded by the evil spirit.
After falling into the Yan family's barrier, the puppet was also destroyed.
Only Liuli and her natal magic weapon puppet line were left intact.
However, Liuli has now taken the place of her heart.
Sensing Chu Qi's intention, she moved her palms, and the puppet strings moved, tightly protecting the glass heart in her hands.
Without this heart, the puppet is truly dead.
What’s the use of it? she asked.
"It contains the power of the God Tree's origin, and is one of the conditions for awakening it. Now the evil spirit is covering the entire Hidden Cloud Realm, and only the God Tree can dispel this evil spirit."
Chu Qi spoke truthfully.
[So that’s how it is, so that’s how it is…] She repeated these words, as if she had suddenly lost her soul and felt extremely empty.
It was all her fault. It would be better if she and her mother blamed it on her talent.
If only I hadn't practiced puppetry.
"..." The air was quiet. Chu Qi could sense her emotions, but not her inner thoughts, so he remained silent, waiting for her to calm down.
The whispering disappeared and the puppet clenched its hands.
Chu Qi then continued, "Your current condition is very bad. I can try to treat you, but I don't know if the healing magic will be effective."
[No!]
She is a sinner.
[Let me die. I should have died long ago. I have done so many bad things and killed so many innocent people. Even my mother was killed by me. I—]
[Why am I alive?]
"Because your mother loves you. Even though she did something wrong, she secretly gave you the Glazed Heart and listened to the evil spirit's bewitching words to change your destiny."
“There are too many people in this world who are helpless, but no one is born to die.”
"But that's fate."
A red tear rolled down the doll's eyes, and her clenched hands slowly loosened, revealing the glass heart in her chest.
In the huge emotional fluctuations, the puppet string felt the sadness of its master and gradually gave up its instincts, allowing itself to be controlled by the master's mind.
[I miss my mother.]
[I want to tell her that I don’t want to be a puppeteer anymore. If I can stay with my mother, I would rather be mediocre forever.]
As she spoke, the puppet's fingers moved slightly, and she took out the glass heart from her chest and handed it to Chu Qi.
The corners of her broken lips slightly lifted up, making Congwu seem to be thinking of something beautiful, and even her eyes were filled with brilliance.
[Please take it away.]
[After becoming a puppet, I was entangled in silk threads and controlled. This is the only thing I can decide. ]
"The clouds outside the window..." She could actually say such simple words at this time.
"The birds flying above the clouds... and the wind blowing freely through the clouds..."
The hoarse voice was filled with joy.
During the days when she was trapped in Baiyou Pavilion and the Ling family was refining puppets, she often looked out the window at everything outside.
"I also… "
"become free."
As the words were blurred, the body of the puppet, which had lost the Glass Heart that kept it alive, was breaking into pieces.
The puppet was originally broken into pieces and was pieced together piece by piece, relying on the Heart of Glass to support it.
One after another, healing magic fell on the doll, but she was isolated from it. The magic glowed like a firefly and dissipated along with the doll itself.
She chose to disappear freely into this world.
Only a pure and flawless heart of glass remains in Chu Qi's palm.
(End of this chapter)