Chapter 57

Chapter 56: String Puppet 4

A month later, Shizong and He Zhen, along with a trusted aide Lin Zhi’an, set out for the Zhongli family’s estate.

Of course, Shizong and He Zhen didn’t actually spend that long in the script.

The day after receiving the invitation, after progressing through some plot, they were directly brought by the system to the next key point in the instance, which was the day before the wedding of Zhongli Zhenhai, head of the Zhongli family.

It was the first day of July.

The three first went to the nearest courier station.

This station was very special; it could send and receive letters, and it had a special teleportation point.

Of course, people couldn’t just go wherever they wanted.

Each teleport required a special “pass emblem,” like a special access card.

The emblem leading to the Zhongli estate was engraved on the invitation.

At the teleportation point, standing together with He Zhen and Lin Zhi’an, Shizong formed a hand seal toward the emblem on the invitation. The emblem then transformed into a beam of light aimed at a slot on the teleportation platform. The slot reflected another beam, enveloping the three of them.

In a moment, they arrived at the courier station reserved for the Zhongli family.

The Zhongli estate was built atop South Mountain. South Mountain rose by the sea. The station was at the foot of the mountain.

To guard against sudden attacks, multiple formations had been set up across South Mountain, blocking all flying and teleportation magic.

Thus, after arriving at the station, Shizong, He Zhen, and Lin Zhi’an had to either walk to the mountaintop or take a sedan chair made of two long poles and a seat.

The chair bearers were all Zhongli family servants, waiting at the station to receive guests.

Shizong decisively chose a sedan chair, taking one with He Zhen.

He also offered one to Lin Zhi’an, but Lin Zhi’an declined.

Stepping back, Lin Zhi’an said, “I’m just a servant; I’ll walk up. I heard Zhongli Zhenhai is a meticulous man. If he saw a servant from Fengling Ferry being served by the Zhongli household staff, he might have complaints.”

Shizong thought: Even Shen Cangli has done outrageous things; why would a trivial matter like this earn contempt?

He glanced at Lin Zhi’an a few times but said nothing, boarding the sedan chair and going up the mountain.

The scenery of South Mountain was magnificent; the sea breeze was palpable along the way, and in places with sparse trees, the distant blue sea could be seen.

At the mountaintop, the view was even better: sea and sky blended, clouds and mist swirled, resembling a fairyland.

Arriving at the Zhongli estate gate, Shizong saw someone that slightly surprised him—Wu Yunxi.

Wu Yunxi claimed he could perform resurrection techniques, but had not successfully revived Zhai Feng.

The reason Zhai Feng’s body could move was that the Demon General Chi Lie happened to use a body-seizing spell, his soul taking over the recently deceased body.

However, Wu Yunxi didn’t notice this.

Shen Cangli naturally assumed he didn’t truly know resurrection, so he tested him: “Sometimes when I look at Third Brother, his aura doesn’t feel like his own. Are you sure he truly came back? Are you certain the soul I’m controlling is really Third Brother?”

The moment the question was asked, Shen Cangli noticed the vigilance in Wu Yunxi’s eyes, though his expression quickly returned to normal.

Wu Yunxi said, “Absolutely no problem. I’ve taught this technique to many, and they’ve all tried it on their own relatives. I’ve personally revived many people. I can guarantee, the one I revived is Third Young Master Zhai.

“Master Gu’s concern must come from the fact that you completely control Third Young Master Zhai’s relationship now.

“I’ve heard Third Young Master is proud and aloof, not the type to be manipulated, but under my resurrection technique, he has to obey you. This conflicts with his nature, hence your sense of incongruity.”

After hearing Wu Yunxi’s words, Shen Cangli felt this man was full of lies with no real skill. Keeping him around was likely just to steal secrets from the valley, so he immediately sent him away.

This was the forced plot Shizong received after triggering “Shen Cangli discovers the demonic aura on Zhai Feng.”

The next morning, Shizong, in the role of Shen Cangli, personally sent Wu Yunxi away.

Shen Cangli was a prodigy in magical arts, but his worldview was unconventional; he lacked social understanding and scheming skills.

So he didn’t think much of Wu Yunxi, but Shizong clearly sensed something off.

From Shen Cangli’s perspective, if Chi Lie hadn’t used the body-seizing spell, Zhai Feng’s corpse would never have awakened. Wu Yunxi didn’t truly have resurrection skills; he just got lucky and claimed the credit.

But if that were true, Wu Yunxi should have noticed that someone else had seized Zhai Feng’s body.

The resurrection technique was fake; controlling the soul through resurrection was fake.

Then logically, Wu Yunxi should have been puzzled—why would the seizing person pretend the soul was really under Shen Cangli’s control?

Yet Wu Yunxi acted naturally the entire time.

His calm demeanor made Shizong suspicious.

Could Wu Yunxi’s method of reviving the dead with threads and controlling their soul actually be real?

Would Zhai Feng really have returned to his body if Chi Lie hadn’t seized it first?

Then why, when asked by Shen Cangli, did he insist the controlled soul was truly Zhai Feng?

It seemed he was deliberately emphasizing that Zhai Feng’s soul had no issues.

All doubts pointed to one answer: Wu Yunxi’s resurrection technique was fake. In reality, he had used some body-seizing technique, intending for someone’s soul to live in Zhai Feng’s body.

And he colluded with that person in advance, so that after the seizure succeeded, it would appear as if Shen Cangli truly controlled the soul, temporarily fooling Shen Cangli.

But by chance, Chi Lie’s demonic soul entered Zhai Feng’s body first.

With the ability to read this body’s memories and hearing Shen Cangli and Wu Yunxi’s conversation before awakening, he adapted, impersonated Zhai Feng, and faked being controlled.

His actions coincidentally matched Wu Yunxi’s plan.

So Wu Yunxi knew Zhai Feng’s body wasn’t truly Zhai Feng, but he didn’t know Chi Lie existed and thought his plan had succeeded.

As for the person he wanted to bring into Zhai Feng’s body… could it be the “Canghai” he mentioned?

To Shizong, this theory was the most plausible.

However, two questions remained unexplained:

First, why did Wu Yunxi allow someone important to him, Canghai, to seize Zhai Feng’s body? Shen Cangli was a madman wanting to unite with Zhai Feng—who knew what he’d do to him?

Second, why, after Shen Cangli drove Wu Yunxi away, did he really leave without returning to Fengling Ferry? His actions suggested he didn’t care about Canghai.

Now seeing Wu Yunxi here again, Shizong felt this matter was becoming more complicated.

“Master Gu. Long time no see. I hope you’ve been well.”

Seeing Shizong, Wu Yunxi greeted him proactively.

Shizong nodded and asked, “You also received the invitation?”

Wu Yunxi dodged the core issue: “Yes. I have some acquaintance with Mr. Zhongli’s eldest son, Zhongli Wen. He invited me to witness the wedding.

“Most of those attending are talented individuals from the cultivation world. Zhongli Wen helped me by allowing me to network. I’m a traveling doctor; meeting more people increases my chances of earning money.”

As Zhongli Wen appeared, he was dressed in the blue-and-white sect uniform, looking grand as he walked out of the estate surrounded by people.

Before the crowd, he bowed: “Thank you all for traveling to attend my father’s wedding. I will now welcome everyone inside.”

Shizong immediately recognized that Zhongli Wen was portrayed by Zuo Sanqiu.

He gave Zuo Sanqiu a faint smile, returned the bow, and followed with He Zhen.

On the way, Zhongli Wen mentioned that the Fengling Ferry red lotus were famous, and Zhongli estate had a lotus grove, so he invited Shen Cangli and Zhai Feng to stay there.

After seeing them settled, he asked if they were satisfied with their rooms and sent a maid to wait, glancing at Shen and Zhai with a complicated expression.

Shen Cangli dragged Zhai Feng onto the bed, asking Zhongli Wen, “Does Zhongli Wen have something to tell me?”

Zhongli Wen hesitated, looking at Zhai Feng: “Third Young Master Zhai, may I speak with you alone?”

Hearing this, Zhai Feng turned his gaze toward him, but his eyes had no focus.

Zhongli Wen immediately frowned, eyes showing understanding.

Shen Cangli glanced at him, whispered to Zhai Feng, then made a beckoning gesture. Zhai Feng pressed

“Is that necessary? Don’t you think, just to tease me, your sacrifice is huge?!”

After saying this, Zuo Sanqiu hurried off to run his plot, not caring how Shizong would respond.

Glancing at his retreating figure, Shizong then turned to look at He Zhen, lying sideways beside him, expressionless.

“Hey,” Shizong asked with a smile, “do you think your sacrifice is great?”

He Zhen glanced at him with no expression and said again, “You talk nonsense all day.”

Shizong: “?”

—What exactly did that mean?

He Zhen’s words actually came from what he learned from Yu Qin in a dream, or rather, from his former self.

He had recently dreamed of a scene in the King of Hell’s court. For some unknown reason, as Yu Qin, he quarreled intensely with Shizong, who at the time was Mingyue.

Mingyue usually spoke little, but was skilled at deceiving others; when it was his turn to speak, he was very good with words.

The Song Emperor Yu Qin, however, rarely spoke. Sometimes during clan meetings, he might go the whole day only saying “good” or “bad,” as if each word weighed a thousand measures of gold.

Normally, it was common for these two to fight at a word, but arguments were rare.

And the taciturn Song Emperor usually couldn’t win against Mingyue in a quarrel.

That time, he was furious, swept his sleeves, and scolded Mingyue: “What nonsense do you speak all day?”

For some reason, this angered Mingyue. He gave a cold glance at the Song Emperor and turned away from the King of Hell’s court without looking back.

That day, forced by Shizong, He Zhen used this line.

He found it quite effective; Shizong really shut up.

So just now, unsure how to respond to Shizong, He Zhen used it again.

He was gratified to see Shizong indeed stunned again.

It was already the You hour.

Shizong and He Zhen had spent the timeline in Lotus Grove sleeping, with no chance to explore.

By the evening, at the third quarter of the Xu hour, they were invited to Xiangyun Hall for a banquet.

Guests who were more distantly related to Zhongli Zhenhai would arrive tomorrow. Today’s attendees were all extremely important and close to the Zhongli family and Zhongli Zhenhai.

Thus, on the eve of the wedding, a special banquet was arranged exclusively for these distinguished guests.

At the banquet, Shen Cangli saw the heads of the Zhao, Zhai, and Xuanyuan families.

Upon seeing Shen Cangli and Zhai Feng, their expressions were undoubtedly complicated.

But perhaps Zhongli Wen had reminded them beforehand not to ruin Zhongli Zhenhai’s great day. Seeing Zhai Feng was temporarily unharmed, they restrained themselves and said nothing.

The Zhao family head was a woman, named Zhao Liuer.

With her came her son, Zhao Yueshan, portrayed by Zhang Qijun.

Shizong, speaking as Shen Cangli, greeted him. Seeing an unfamiliar girl beside him, he asked who she was.

Zhao Yueshan, played by Zhang Qijun, glanced at the girl, showing a hint of strangeness, and only returned to normal when looking back at Shizong.

“This is my sister, Zhao Yinyin. She rarely goes out, so Master Gu hasn’t seen her.”

After saying this, Zhang Qijun led Zhao Yinyin to her seat.

Shizong clearly noticed a small gesture—he beckoned with his finger, and Zhao Yinyin stepped forward to follow.

Recalling Zhao Yinyin’s earlier behavior—every gesture and smile precise, her walking stiff and mechanical—she seemed like a puppet with strings.

Could it be? Zhao Yinyin was dead, then “revived,” with her soul and body controlled by Zhao Yueshan, played by Zhang Qijun, using threads?

At the banquet, Shizong also saw an acquaintance.

The second son of the Xuanyuan family head, Xuanyuan Zhe, portrayed by Zhu Shuangqiao.

His father was already seated. Xuanyuan Zhe entered with his older brother, Xuanyuan Hua.

For some reason, Xuanyuan Zhe was excessively serious, barely greeting anyone, staying carefully by his brother’s side.

They sat next to Shizong and He Zhen.

Shizong observed clearly: Xuanyuan Zhe, portrayed by Zhu Shuangqiao, sat first, then subtly beckoned with his index finger. Only then did his brother Xuanyuan Hua sit.

Shizong thought, this is interesting—so many people are controlling corpse puppets.

But in his puppet, the soul of the Demon General was inside.

What about the others?

Zuo Sanqiu—did his character have a puppet?

Zhao Yueshan, played by Zhang Qijun, had a puppet. Xuanyuan Zhe, played by Zhu Shuangqiao, also had a puppet.

He Zhen noticed all this too.

He had to pretend to be a controlled puppet, so he carefully observed Zhao Yinyin and Xuanyuan Hua’s puppets to imitate them perfectly, leaving no flaw.

The banquet guests were all closely connected to the Zhongli family. Besides the other three great families, there was Shen Cangli from Fengling Ferry. His aide Lin Zhi’an didn’t attend, waiting at Lotus Grove.

One exception was Wu Yunxi.

Shizong felt Wu Yunxi’s presence might not only be because of his good relationship with Zhongli Wen; perhaps he also had deep ties with Zhongli Zhenhai.

Among the attendees, besides He Zhen, Zhang Qijun, Zuo Sanqiu, and Zhu Shuangqiao, everyone else was unfamiliar to Shizong; he couldn’t immediately tell who were NPCs or players.

Once all guests arrived, Zhongli Zhenhai, the head of the Zhongli family, arrived with his fiancée, fashionably late.

After his first wife’s death, Zhongli Zhenhai had vowed never to marry again.

But upon seeing Ji Rongrong, everyone understood why he broke his vow—she was far too beautiful.

His fiancée, Ji Rongrong, was tall, almost as tall as Zhongli Zhenhai.

Seeing her, one understood true “ice-cold jade-like skin.” Her hair black as ink, brows like mist, lips like cherry; she was a natural beauty.

Zhongli Zhenhai was already outstanding, but seated beside Ji Rongrong, one felt the extravagance of such a pairing.

After sitting, Zhongli Zhenhai first raised a cup, giving customary thanks to the guests, and the banquet officially began.

During the feast, lanterns shone like daylight, cups clinked, guests enjoyed fine wine and dishes, and watched captivating dances and illusion performances.

After a while, the performers left, the attendants delivering cups and dishes also departed, even closing the doors and windows of Xiangyun Hall.

The lively ceremony became quiet.

Zhongli Zhenhai walked to the center, saying, “Forgive me, I wish to show you a recently acquired treasure. Such treasures are not easily revealed, so I wanted only to show you, hence dismissing the attendants.”

He then displayed a bead.

Guests on both sides of the hall could see it. Zhongli Zhenhai slowly rotated it to ensure everyone could view it.

Shizong looked closely, finding it indeed remarkable.

The bead was deep blue, like the sea. Its surface flowed, as if real water circled it.

Upon closer inspection, pavilions and towers seemed hidden within the “sea.”

Clouds and mist swirled around, as if in a perfect fairyland. In that instant, Shizong’s mind was filled with one thought—

He wished to enter the bead’s world and see the pavilions.

Suddenly, Shizong felt as if he had truly entered the pavilions.

Around him were gold, beauties, fine wine, delicacies, and scrolls for ascension to immortality.

Even seeing it briefly, he was already enchanted, wishing to stay forever.

But waves suddenly rose, the beauties, gold, delicacies, and scrolls vanished, the pavilions swallowed by water.

Dizzy, Shizong pressed his temple. The next moment, the blue sea had completely disappeared.

After steadying himself, he realized he was still in Xiangyun Hall, never having left.

He had just entered the dream created by the bead.

He woke because Zhongli Zhenhai rotated the bead, preventing his gaze from staying on it.

Shizong considered himself uninterested in beauties, gold, or delicacies, and only moderately interested in cultivation.

Thus, falling into the bead’s illusion wasn’t because he was personally deceived.

This was the system enforcing a plot.

Anyone who looked at the bead may have entered its dream.

After showing it to the guests, Zhongli Zhenhai didn’t explain its origin, silently returning to his seat.

Shizong noticed his expression was odd and slightly tired, as if he had experienced much in a few breaths.

Later, the attendants reopened the doors and windows, music and banquet continued.

As the banquet neared its end, it was almost the

In that case, the head of the Zhai family would be guilty no matter what—there would be no washing it clean, even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

However, after the banquet ended, Shizong did not immediately head to the Sea-Viewing Pavilion.

Before going to the pavilion to kill, he still had another plot to follow—

After Shen Cangli left Xiangyun Hall, he first returned to Lotus Grove, creating the illusion for everyone that he was drunk and would soon go back to sleep.

Shen Cangli indeed had drunk a little too much, so on the way from Lotus Grove to the Sea-Viewing Pavilion, he first stopped by the outhouse.

Having visited Zhongli Manor several times, Shen Cangli naturally knew where the outhouse was and knew it was designated for males only.

That night, as he entered the outhouse, he happened to see someone just coming out.

The person was wearing a long dress, skin white as snow, lips red as cherries—none other than Zhongli Zhenhai’s fiancée, Ji Rongrong.

“Madam, this is…” Shen Cangli said, puzzled.

Ji Rongrong met his gaze and immediately lowered her head. “I am not strong with alcohol. I was careless and walked in the wrong place. Please forgive me, Master Gu.”

After saying this, Ji Rongrong hurried off, but halfway, she stepped on her dress and nearly fell.

Entering the wrong outhouse, not quite adept at wearing a dress…

Watching her tall figure walk away, Shizong thought—

Could this possibly be a man?

A man disguised as a woman to marry Zhongli Zhenhai?

Entering the outhouse, Shizong became even more convinced of this thought, because it was empty inside, temporarily ruling out the possibility of Ji Rongrong being there with another man.

Leaving the outhouse, after walking about half an hour, Shizong arrived near the Sea-Viewing Pavilion.

The time was already the third quarter of the Zi hour, precisely the time Shen Cangli and Zhongli Zhenhai had agreed upon.

The Sea-Viewing Pavilion was one of the best scenic spots in Zhongli Manor, offering views of the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

Shizong now hid behind a rock not far from the pavilion, watching Zhongli Zhenhai from a distance. He stood with hands behind his back inside the pavilion, exuding the air of a ruler.

After observing the Zhongli family head for a while, Shizong, prompted by the Red Thread plot, raised both hands and drew several hand seals in the air.

Suddenly, countless swords formed from spiritual energy condensed in the void, then surged toward the pavilion with overwhelming killing intent.

With a thunderous crash, the pavilion shattered in an instant. Shizong clearly saw the sword pierce Zhongli Zhenhai’s body.

By all logic, he should have been dead without question.

Moments later, at the requirement of the Red Thread plot, Shizong approached the pavilion to check Zhongli Zhenhai’s corpse, but only found the tattered clothes pierced by sword energy, and a talisman hidden within—the “Phantom Talisman.”

—The person standing here just now was not Zhongli Zhenhai himself, but the illusion created by the talisman and the clothing!

Shizong frowned.

If there had been an enemy appointment, and Zhongli Zhenhai had set up a phantom to guard against the unexpected, that would be understandable.

But Shen Cangli acted according to his own will, and no one could have guessed he would go on a killing spree against the Four Great Families for a Demon General he had known only a month.

—Then how did Zhongli Zhenhai know that Shen Cangli had arranged to meet him, precisely to kill him?