Zheng Que's voice boomed with majestic grandeur, surging like floodwaters. Each word struck Shadow Puppet's heart like a heavy hammer.
Shadow Puppet was so frightened that even the way it knelt changed!
It had always lorded it over the outside world. Wherever it went, whether people or ghosts, all fled at the mere sight of it or prostrated themselves in submission, daring not to act out of line. But now, facing that terrifying presence on the Imperial Dais, it felt utterly insignificant. It didn't even dare entertain the thought of resisting!
It had an overwhelming premonition.
The one on the Imperial Dais could probably blow it to pieces with a casual puff!
No!
This was the long-lost Underworld. Being blown to pieces was already the best possible outcome!
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...
Shadow Puppet hurriedly knocked its head against the floor even harder. The loud thumps echoed through the great hall for a long time.
At the same time, it cried out in the most obsequious voice it could manage, "My lord... spare me! Please spare me!"
Having grown somewhat accustomed to speaking, Shadow Puppet hurriedly pleaded, "This guilty slave knows its crime! This guilty slave will never dare again! I beg you, my lord, show mercy and give this guilty slave one more chance..."
Zheng Que sat astride the Grandmaster Chair with its broken leg. Watching Shadow Puppet kowtow incessantly, practically weeping rivers of tears, still didn't satisfy him. He badly wanted to go down there himself and give the thing a good beating to vent his anger, but he worried he might not be able to beat it, even here in the Underworld...
After thinking it over for a while, Zheng Que said coldly, "This official is merciful by nature, so I'll give you a chance to receive a lighter punishment!"
"Now, tell me every crime you committed on this trip, from beginning to end. Tell the truth and leave nothing out."
"If you do, I'll consider it a voluntary confession and may reduce your punishment accordingly."
"But if you insist on hiding anything, that means you deliberately deceived me. If you persist in your wicked ways and refuse to repent, you will be punished severely. Not one punishment from the Eighteen Levels of Hell will be spared!"
Hearing that its punishment might be reduced, Shadow Puppet immediately kowtowed in another flurry. Amid the thuds, it lay prostrate on the floor and replied in a trembling voice, "Spare me, my lord! This guilty slave didn't mean to break the law. Some time ago, while on the way to the Wuxiang Sea, I suddenly sensed an opportunity."
"Following that feeling, this guilty slave came to a small town where more than a thousand members of the Human Race lived."
"A very powerful Human Race cultivator lived in that town."
"This guilty slave waited outside for a long time. At first, I only sent a few 'Shadow Puppets' inside in secret to look for the opportunity..."
"Later, that powerful Human Race cultivator suddenly left, for some reason."
"So this guilty slave tentatively sent more 'Shadow Puppets' inside."
"After that, this guilty slave still couldn't find where the opportunity was, and the powerful cultivator showed no sign of coming back. So... so this guilty slave descended directly upon the town..."
Shadow Puppet went on to describe many more details, including how it infiltrated the restrictions at the town entrance, turned the townsfolk into "Shadow Puppets," and developed the Ghost Play...
In Shadow Puppet's eyes, the restrictions around Changfu Town were nothing at all. The only reason it hadn't forcibly broken through them from the start was that it feared the powerful Human Race cultivator—Zheng Que's master, Daoist Qu!
The shadowless townsfolk Zheng Que had seen earlier in town were all the other party's "Shadow Puppets."
The "Shadow Puppets" didn't know they were "Shadow Puppets." They believed they were ordinary living people.
Anyone normal who came into contact with a "Shadow Puppet" would become a new "Shadow Puppet."
When Cui Ni'er touched him that day, he had nearly fallen victim too, but his soul was powerful, and he broke free in an instant.
Even so, although nothing had happened to him at the time, Shadow Puppet's "Shadow Control Thread" had still connected to his shadow.
The various different scenes he was pulled into afterward were Shadow Puppet's Ghost Play.
Within the Ghost Play, Shadow Puppet assigned him all sorts of identities and had him act out different parts. The moment he accepted any one of those identities, he would immediately lose himself in the Ghost Play and become a new "Shadow Puppet."
After that, even once the Ghost Play ended, the "Shadow Puppet" would still believe it was the identity Shadow Puppet had assigned it. In that false world, Shadow Puppet could control it at will, changing its identity whenever it pleased...
That meant the person had truly died, completely and utterly. Not even a wisp of their residual soul would remain.
Listening to Shadow Puppet's exhaustive account, Zheng Que soon got a general understanding of its methods.
At first, the townsfolk transformed into "Shadow Puppets" hadn't truly died. Their souls had merely been trapped inside the Ghost Play and placed under Shadow Puppet's control.
It wasn't until Xu Hour tonight, when Shadow Puppet ended all the Ghost Plays, that every living person in the town who had been drawn into one died at the same time!
At that moment, Shadow Puppet knelt on the ground, its voice full of terror and fear. Then a hint of confusion suddenly crept into it. "...That last Human Race cultivator was very strange!"
"His soul should have been lost after at most two Ghost Plays."
"But this guilty slave developed more than a hundred Ghost Plays in succession, and every one of them failed!"
"The Ghost Play couldn't do anything to that Human Race cultivator, so this guilty slave had no choice but to enter the scene personally..."
At this point, Shadow Puppet remained kneeling on the ground and said cautiously, "That is the full account of how this guilty slave violated the Law."
"This guilty slave now knows its crime. I beg you, my lord, to show mercy and give me another chance."
"This guilty slave will turn over a new leaf and become a good ghost!"
At this, Zheng Que nodded slightly. He had already decided how to punish the thing, and immediately said, "Since you know your crime, I'll give you a chance to make amends."
"The Human Race cultivator you mentioned bears the Heaven's Mandate. His status is beyond measure, and in the future he is destined to become an immortal, attain the Dao, and ascend! His descent into the mortal world this time carries an immensely important mission."
"However, at present, he lacks an obedient mount."
"I think a little ghost like you will do nicely!"
"For the next ten thousand years, you will serve that Human Race cultivator as a slave and a maid, work like an ox or a horse, and live like a pig or a dog... You are not to utter a single complaint!"
"If I discover you're two-faced, dare disobey that Human Race cultivator's orders, or do anything at all to displease him, then you'll have knowingly broken the law and earned an additional charge!"
"At that point, not only will you be seized and brought back here, you'll also suffer ten billion years of punishment before being thrown into the Eighteen Levels of Hell, never to be reborn!"
"Do you understand?"
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...
Overjoyed, Shadow Puppet kowtowed dozens of times in one breath and said gratefully, "This guilty slave understands! This guilty slave will obey!"
"Thank you for showing mercy, my lord!"
"My lord's compassion will never be forgotten!"
Zheng Que nodded. Seeing that the black qi between his brows had almost faded away, he hurriedly said, "Since that's the case, I'll spare you this time."
"Dismissed!"
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