Chapter 16: The Puppet Show Part 2

Any other time, she would have bent down to soothe her at once. But not this time.

She withdrew her gaze, letting it sweep over each exquisite piece one by one, a sliver of cold malice flickering in her eyes.

Her little girl needed only one puppet: her.

Nothing in this world is perfect. Her little girl couldn’t be allowed to be greedy on this count.

One puppet was enough.

In the end, the little tour concluded with Shang Wanqiu gathering the somewhat heartbroken girl into her arms and, with a flick of her wrist, hurling a Fireball behind her, destroying every last one of those ice-sealed keepsakes.

She covered Ling Yunchu’s eyes, felt the dampness beneath her palm, and another pang of tenderness rose in her chest.

But she held firm, watching the flames burn the pieces away to nothing, and only then carried the girl out of the Secret Chamber.

Red-eyed, Ling Yunchu watched treasures she had collected over many years go up in flames, small sobs escaping her despite herself, tears misting over in her eyes.

She raised a hand to rub her eyes, and was stopped.

Shang Wanqiu truly did… the instant she heard those sobs, she threw down her arms and surrendered…

With a soft sigh, she set the girl in her arms down on a stone, stopping her from rubbing her eyes with her hands.

Bending down, leaning in close, she then… extended her tongue and carefully, thoroughly licked away every teardrop clinging to the corners of the little girl’s eyes.

Ling Yunchu was startled by the sudden, outrageous move and stared up at her, dazed.

All she saw was a grave, careful expression, as if she were performing some momentous undertaking.

“There, no more crying. We’ll make plum blossom cake tonight too, all right?” Once she had finished, Shang Wanqiu saw the girl’s dumbfounded face and had to suppress a laugh, coaxing her in a soft voice.

Ling Yunchu had been staring at her the whole time. Hearing this, she pouted, determined to be contrary.

“I don’t want plum blossom cake. I want osmanthus cake…” She gave a soft huff, thick with a nasal twang, sounding for all the world like a pouting child.

Watching the expression on her face, Shang Wanqiu’s heart melted into water. She dipped her head with a quiet laugh and went along with her. “Then we’ll have osmanthus cake.”

But osmanthus wasn’t in season, so she had to send a Puppet Servant out to buy some that others had preserved.

Even her tantrums were this adorable.

How could she ever bear to make her sad again?

Rising, Shang Wanqiu bent down and scooped the girl up into her arms, watching the little girl expertly nestle into a comfortable position against her chest, her own eyes soft and warm.

Carrying her, she headed back the way they’d come.

Every step seemed to ring out a pleasant chime.

Every inch of the road was steeped in a sweetness that delighted her.

A sweetness she would gladly drown in, all the way to death.

As long as she was the little girl’s favorite puppet, she wanted to be the only one in those eyes.

But the Cultivation World was vast. Where was there no one more beautiful than her?

Every step she took led toward a dark, bottomless future, one where she could be replaced at any moment.

If… if her little girl one day stopped loving her.

Then… she hoped… to remain forever inside this Secret Chamber.

As part of her collection.

To stay by her side, forever and ever and ever.

If even her little girl cast her aside, then… Shang Wanqiu would truly have nothing left at all.

A pitiable, terrifying thought, buried deep in her heart as she trod along the edges of Ling Yunchu’s bottom line, playing her little games.

But soon enough, she would come to know…

The pain of being abandoned a second time.

A pain that would make her want to carve out her own heart and place it in that person’s hand.

To let her see… how every inch of it was engraved with her name.

Before all that, though, the two of them had passed a full year in peace.

A year later, the Ling Family Ancestor returned, bringing back with him a single thing.

Something pure enough to cure Ling Yunchu’s body at its very root.

The current Family Head, Ling Yunnan, who never once set foot on the peak where Ling Yunchu lived, now stood before her, regarding this strangely obsessed daughter with a complicated expression, his usual icy tone softened somewhat.

“…Yun’er, that’s how it is. Come with me, and it will all be over soon.” He looked at the silent Ling Yunchu, his voice gentling a few degrees further. After a moment’s hesitation, he raised a hand to stroke her dark hair, and she dodged away.

Without the sweet, clingy adoration she showed before Shang Wanqiu, a layer of frost now shrouded Ling Yunchu’s features. Her pale, bloodless cheeks were cold and impassive as she listened to Ling Yunnan speak.

Only when he had finished did she give a faint nod. Then she moved, stepping in a way that blocked his line of sight to Shang Wanqiu.

In her deep, dark pupils flickered a sliver of icy warning and fierce possessiveness.

She hated anyone prying at what was hers.

Ling Yunnan paused, his face cooling several degrees, but in the end he said nothing.

“Let’s be off.”

She was nothing more than a minor cultivator at the Sixth Layer of Qi Condensation. If Yun’er liked her face, then let her keep it.

Plenty of noble families kept Female Favorites. Hardly worth a second glance.

The priority was purging the Devil Qi from Yun’er’s body before it interfered with her cultivation.

With that thought, he took her away, doing nothing to Shang Wanqiu.

Shang Wanqiu stood at the doorway watching them the entire time, lips pressed together in silence.

She knew she had no right to speak, but she couldn’t help worrying for Ling Yunchu’s health.

Could the Devil Qi truly be cured?

She watched the two figures descend the mountain until they vanished from sight, then slowly crouched down, leaned against the threshold, and watched the sun sink.

She ought to be happy. The one her heart held dear was about to be healthy again, and she was happy.

But then why… why did her heart feel so unsettled?

Shang Wanqiu lowered her gaze, pinching at her fingertips, her face a little pale.

She no longer cooked for herself. She had reached the Sixth Layer of Qi Condensation now and had no need of Bigu Pills to get by. All that cooking she had ever done had only ever been to please her little girl.

And so Shang Wanqiu simply sat there, keeping watch.

Sunrise and sunset, day and night.

The days slipped past, one by one.

Each day she marked it down, hoping her little girl would come home, wanting to make her plum blossom cake.

She had gathered plum blossoms over the winter, and they were still stored away in her bag.

But… one month passed. Then two. Then three…

In the blink of an eye, half a year was gone.

Finally, word came.

The black-robed figure who attended Ling Yunchu came into the courtyard and handed her a ring.

A Mustard Seed Space…

Plop.

Shang Wanqiu stared blankly at the ring, not even noticing the tear that slid from the corner of her eye and struck the dust.

Her face went white in an instant.

“…What is this supposed to mean?” She hadn’t spoken in so long that her voice came out hoarse and dull.

Shang Wanqiu fixed her stare on Mo Ning’s eyes, forcing down the accusation. The rims of her eyes had long since gone red; tears spilled over, dropping one by one, and every drop struck a tremor of pain through her heart.

Something in her mind began to shatter.

“The Young Lord sent this for you. Inside is ten million High-Grade Spirit Stones, along with some high-tier Spirit Artifacts and Spirit Talismans.”

“The Young Lord says that, having been corrupted by Devil Qi, she was not in her right mind before. If she offended Miss Shang in any way, she begs your forgiveness.”

Mo Ning’s eyes were lowered, the tone deferential.

“Forgiveness?” The corners of Shang Wanqiu’s mouth pulled into a smile, her features grief-stricken.

“She’s… trying to drive me away?” She swallowed down the sour, bloody taste rising in her throat and asked through gritted teeth, threads of madness seeping into her eyes.

“I want to see her.”

Like a drowning woman clutching at the last floating leaf, Shang Wanqiu turned to go find Ling Yunchu.

But she could not. She was stopped.

Mo Ning barred her path.

“I beg Miss Shang’s understanding. The Young Lord does not wish to see you at this time.” Looking at her fractured expression, that voice held not a single ripple of feeling.

“…She doesn’t want to see me?” Shang Wanqiu went stiff, murmuring the words back in a daze. Then, all at once, the corners of her mouth stretched into a smile.

She smiled as the tears fell faster than she could stop them.

Mad. Unhinged.

Not “cannot see.”

“Does not wish to see.”

Ling Yunchu did not want to see her!

Ling Yunchu… no longer wanted Shang Wanqiu…

【May you… follow in my footsteps.】

The words had come true.

On the main peak, Ling Yunnan asked, “Yun’er, do you truly intend to… let that Miss Shang go?”

By now, the Devil Qi had been purged from Ling Yunchu’s body, and her Divine Sense was clear and clean.

The things she had once deemed treasures and beloved now, in hindsight, made her frown.

Hands clasped behind her back, she looked toward her own mountain peak, her expression indifferent. “Letting her go is the best outcome, for her and for me both.”

She had treated Shang Wanqiu as a puppet while her mind was clouded. Now that she was lucid, how could she keep compounding the mistake?

As for Shang Wanqiu?

With that money, she could find somewhere quiet to cultivate in peace and raise her cultivation. If fate ever allowed them to meet again, she would make it up to her then.

Her previous puppets had all been Ling Family servants or low-rank disciples, people whose lives were hard. The moment she extended the olive branch, they seized it eagerly, willing to fawn and fuss over her to win her favor, and in the end walked away with resources and wealth from her hands.

Shang Wanqiu had been slightly different. She had been brought here from the outside; she never belonged to the Ling Family at all.

And Shang Wanqiu had never once asked her for money or artifacts. Even the clothing and ornaments had all been things she gave of her own accord, for the sake of dressing her up like a doll.

So really… Ling Yunchu felt only a slight debt toward her, from beginning to end.

The image of the woman’s softly glowing eyes surfaced in her mind. Ling Yunchu frowned faintly, considered for a moment, and decided that parting ways was for the best.

She arranged everything according to her own wishes, quite satisfied with how properly she had handled it.

But three months after she awoke and sent Shang Wanqiu away, news came from her subordinates.

Shang Wanqiu… had been slain by Luo Yu of Sword Peak, in the Cold Pool.

Under the pretext of “purging the ranks.”