Chapter 126

Chapter 126

Wang Qianjiao wiped his mouth. "That damn bastard."

After a moment of indulgence, he felt a pang of regret. How could he, the master, let his puppet push him around to this extent?

Truly…

His temper had been far too good lately.

He glanced at the puppet’s still-exposed part, glistening from his sucking, making his face flush.

For the first time in centuries, he understood what it meant to feel utterly flustered.

A sudden, strong gust of wind blew before Chen Zui, forcing him to step back.

*He’s clearly pissed.*

Chen Zui chuckled, put the item away, and walked back, reaching out with his hand. "Little monster, are you still there?"

Wang Qianjiao dodged Chen Zui’s hand, even leaping off the Black Bat’s back and flying hundreds of meters away on his sword, putting distance between them.

He was lost in thought.

From such a distance, Chen Zui couldn’t detect the faint spiritual energy, but he was certain Wang Qianjiao hadn't just abandoned him.

Chen Zui happily watched the rising sun. After his cultivation improved, he felt as boundless as the dawn.

The world was vast, and he could tread anywhere.

"Ao Tian, what’s his favorability rating toward me now?"

"Let me check."

"Wow! It’s 5%!"

"The future is bright!"

Ao Tian: *Honestly, the increase feels slow and small, but I can’t say that—it would discourage the host. Sigh… let’s take it slow.*

Chen Zui repeated the number under his breath.

If 1% was the baseline, that meant even after all that, it had only reached 5%…

It seemed Wang Qianjiao still didn’t quite see him as human.

*Since all the parts were made by my own hands and woven from spider silk, using it was no big deal.*

Hah—

Chen Zui pressed his tongue against his cheek in displeasure.

—

The Black Bat carried Chen Zui toward the city below. Wang Qianjiao, flying nearby, thought: *Not returning? Where’s he off to now?*

He followed.

Chen Zui dismounted the Black Bat, entered the city gates, and told the Black Bat to go play by itself, promising to call it when it was time to leave.

He whistled, signaling that this was his call.

Then he turned and entered the city.

The Black Bat thought, *This time, if I fly away, I’m not coming back.*

But before it could take off, Wang Qianjiao tossed another spirit pill its way. Instinctively, it caught it in its mouth.

It glanced at Wang Qianjiao, who had flown into the city.

*This human keeps bribing me with spirit pills!*

*So sneaky!*

Chen Zui wandered around the city and stopped at a snack stall, eyeing the pastries that looked delicious.

"One of these, please."

"Coming right up!"

The vendor quickly wrapped it up and handed it to him.

Chen Zui said, "Someone will come pay you later."

Then he turned and left.

The vendor didn’t believe him and was about to stop him when a silver ingot appeared out of thin air, floating down slowly toward his stall. His eyes followed it.

*He couldn’t earn that much silver in a month!*

He quickly picked up the ingot, bit it to confirm its authenticity, and tucked it away, then glanced toward Chen Zui. *Which young master is this?*

Chen Zui stopped next at a mask stall, repeating the same routine: he picked what he wanted, and Wang Qianjiao took care of the payment.

Ao Tian: "A child with a mom is a treasured one~"

Chen Zui: …

He then went to a clothing store, changed into black clothes. Wang Qianjiao really didn’t want to pay for this outfit—he preferred seeing his puppet in bright, colorful clothes.

By evening, Chen Zui left the city. He whistled, and before long, the Black Bat flew over, glancing at Wang Qianjiao.

*Can’t help it—the spirit pills are too tasty*, it thought. *Once I grow stronger than these two by eating them, I’ll chase freedom!*

Chen Zui patted its large head. This spiritual beast looked fierce but was oddly well-behaved.

*Or was it just stupid? Not even smart enough to run.*

This time, Chen Zui set off back. Wang Qianjiao followed behind, for some reason feeling the impulse to kick him.

*Probably because he was too disobedient.*

He raised his toes up slightly, his heel still touching the ground.

*He deserves to be taught a lesson.*

With that thought, the raised foot slowly lowered, grazing Chen Zui’s waist faintly.

Wang Qianjiao smiled to himself.

*This could be considered as having kicked his puppet—what a huge punishment indeed.*

"Little monster, are you still there?"

Chen Zui got a knock on the head. He tilted his head back and saw a faint shimmer of spiritual energy, then leaned back against it.

"Little monster, do you think Gege misses me?"

Wang Qianjiao stopped in his tracks.

"But what am I to him?" Chen Zui’s tone carried a hint of melancholy.

Wang Qianjiao looked down at Chen Zui’s furrowed brow. *Of course, he’s his puppet.*

Chen Zui: "Just a puppet?"

Wang Qianjiao mentally corrected him—*the most special puppet, one he had specifically requested after waking up. How could he have forgotten?*

Chen Zui: "Even the most special puppet is still just a puppet…"

The gloom and frustration in his expression resembled the bleakness of autumn.

"To him, a puppet is just a plaything, something he crafted with his own hands."

"But I don’t want to be just a plaything. I want him to treat me as a person."

Wang Qianjiao listened to Chen Zui’s heartfelt words, his expression growing serious.

"A person with joys and sorrows, touched by love and hatred, filled with countless desires and needs."

Chen Zui slid down his leg, resting his head on Wang Qianjiao’s shoe. His dark eyes looked up, determined and bright.

"Brother."

"See me as a person, and love me."

Wang Qianjiao’s breath hitched. The last sentence echoed in his ears, so loud it made his heart tremble. His spiritual energy grew unstable, nearly revealing his form.

*To see his puppet as a person, and then to love him.*

Wang Qianjiao thought over the words.

Chen Zui sat up again: "They say if you make a wish on a shooting star, it will definitely come true."

He looked up at the sky: "Too bad there aren't any shooting stars."

Wang Qianjiao gazed at the starry sky. Chen Zui’s wish was clearly the very words he had just spoken.

Chen Zui stared unblinkingly at the sky, waiting for a shooting star.

Wang Qianjiao looked Chen Zui over again and again, finally making a decision.

Chen Zui suddenly sensed a strong, unmistakable surge of spiritual energy behind him. Then, he witnessed a meteor shower—not real stars, but shimmering points of light formed by spiritual energy, breathtakingly beautiful.

This meteor shower was Wang Qianjiao’s response to him.

It was their promise.

Chen Zui closed his eyes and made a wish: "I wish for my brother to see me as a person and give me the love he refuses to give others."

Wang Qianjiao watched his almost devout expression. In that moment, he was no longer just his puppet.

He bent down and pressed a kiss to Chen Zui’s forehead.

That night’s meteor shower was beautiful—one brazenly asking for love, the other promising to learn how to love.

—

Chen Zui returned to the mountain, yelling as he ran: "Brother, I’m back~"

He dashed straight to the Snow-Listening Pavilion.

When he pushed the door open, he saw Wang Qianjiao tinkering with his things, scattered all over the floor, as if he had been working on them the entire time.

Hearing the door open, Wang Qianjiao merely glanced up at Chen Zui.

He lowered his head and continued fiddling with the mithril in his hand: "Change your clothes."

Chen Zui had already flung himself over, snatched the mithril from his hand, and sat on his lap.

"Brother."

"Did you miss me?"

He looked at Wang Qianjiao with hopeful eyes, as if he truly didn’t know Wang Qianjiao had been following him all along.

Wang Qianjiao played along: "What is there to miss about you?"

Chen Zui: "Plenty."

He leaned close to Wang Qianjiao’s ear and whispered: "I missed the spinning, glowing, water-spraying thing you made with your own hands…"

Wang Qianjiao: *I knew it.*

"I really missed you, brother."

Wang Qianjiao had already guessed what he would say next. Sure enough, Chen Zui pressed his finger to Wang Qianjiao’s lips.

"I missed your lips."

Wang Qianjiao chuckled—*he really was quite predictable.*

"What are you laughing at, brother?"

"Guess."

"If I guess right, do I get a reward?"

"What reward?"

Wang Qianjiao pushed him up, not intending to say more, and picked up the mithril to continue assembling it.

Chen Zui went back to change his clothes first. He had his own room, right next to the Snow-Listening Pavilion.

The room was exquisitely decorated by Wang Qianjiao. He opened the wardrobe—it was packed with clothes, all neatly arranged by color. The most common color was red.

Now he understood why Wang Qianjiao wanted him to change.

His wardrobe even had pink and pale yellow clothes, but no black ones.

Ao Tian: "Wear the pink one, I'd love to see it."

Ao Tian: "As the saying goes, the pinker the clothes, the fiercer the fighter."

Chen Zui really didn’t seem to have worn pink clothes before. He took out the outfit and changed into it. The waistband was adorned with downward-facing petals, dangling with beaded chains.

Ao Tian was thrilled.

He adored his host even more now.

Chen Zui had fair skin, and pink suited him perfectly.

Before going to find Wang Qianjiao, he had one more thing to do. He sat down in a chair, took out the tools he had lifted from Wang Qianjiao, and then brought out the star that Wang Qianjiao had given him.

He worked at it for a good while before it was done.

As he reached the door, he stopped in his tracks, turned around, and glanced toward the window. There was an additional small fish tank, and inside, that stunning little fish he'd spotted in the sea was swimming around.

Chen Zui walked over to the fish tank.

He felt that he was just like this little fish—at this moment, Wang Qianjiao had hooked his heart.

He floated back to the Listening Snow Pavilion like a peach blossom, and Wang Qianjiao’s eyes lit up.

He crooked a finger at Chen Zui.

This time, Chen Zui carried himself with much more composure than usual. Perhaps this was the real him—or maybe not entirely, but because the course of his life shaped him into this personality, he was never meant to be a carefree, innocent, or lively person.

But with Wang Qianjiao, it seemed he got to be playful.

Wang Qianjiao noticed that Chen Zui’s mood was different from usual and put down what he was holding.

"What’s wrong?"

Chen Zui knelt down in front of him, one hand resting on his knee, the other lifting Wang Qianjiao’s chin.

"My name is Chen Zui."

Wang Qianjiao’s lashes fluttered. *So, had someone else’s soul taken over his puppet to come back to life?*

"I come from another world."

Wang Qianjiao’s heart raced. *Another world—was it one of the worlds from his dreams?*

"So why did you create a puppet that looks exactly like me?"

Wang Qianjiao could no longer control his expression.

*It’s him!*

Chen Zui observed Wang Qianjiao’s expression: "You know me?"

Wang Qianjiao shook his head instinctively. They weren't actually acquainted—it was just those hazy, repeating worlds in his dreams, the constant presence of him, and the person who looked exactly like himself.

*There must be some kind of connection.*

Chen Zui: "Actually, that doesn’t matter."

Wang Qianjiao: "It doesn’t matter?"

Chen Zui: "What matters is the present you and me."

Before this, he didn’t know Wang Qianjiao, so no matter what ties Wang Qianjiao had with others,

he would make them his.

Chen Zui showed a cocky grin: "Ge, I'm really into that little fish."

He tilted his head slightly, showing Wang Qianjiao his left ear.

Now a star earring gleamed on his earlobe.