This Puppet? This Is a Peptide Bond!

When he looked through the new puppet's eyes, Qin Muye was completely dumbfounded.

Wasn't Pu Mingzhu Li Xingluo's chief maid?

What was this beautiful woman in palace attire doing here?

He'd gone to all that trouble to get hired through Boss Zhipin, only to find out he'd applied to the wrong boss?

Qin Muye felt like this woman wasn't quite right in the head. He wanted to run, but he couldn't.

He only had two ways of operating a puppet.

The first was immersive control, which required the puppet to recognize him as its master. It was practically like having a second body.

The second was autopilot. The puppet's actions relied entirely on a copy of his thoughts etched into its spirit core, and it followed its master's orders. Apart from high-difficulty tasks like crafting puppets, it could handle just about anything else.

The puppet hadn't recognized him as its master yet. Unless he forcibly activated his administrator privileges, he could only watch from the sidelines.

Forcing the puppet to flee would have serious consequences, so Qin Muye wouldn't do that lightly.

But what on earth was this woman trying to do?

Judging by her feverish gaze, she probably wasn't planning anything good.

Under his watchful gaze,

the beautiful woman in palace attire pricked her fingertip and gently touched the spirit core between the puppet's brows. The next moment, her blood seeped into the core, and the puppet recognized her as its master in an instant.

Her gaze shifted slightly, and the puppet picked up the hairpin on the table and smoothly put it in her hair.

It even picked up the tea on the table and handed it to her.

The beautiful woman in palace attire was overjoyed, but she made no further move.

Instead, she sat down cross-legged.

Qin Muye was puzzled. What exactly was this woman trying to do?

He saw the beautiful woman in palace attire flip her right hand over. A lump of yellowish-white stuff appeared in her palm.

It looked a bit like...

Human skin!?!?!?

At the Weapon-Forging Platform, Wooden Head had put his bamboo hat back on.

Though every other armorer had been eliminated except for the Bamboo Hat Man, not a single one of them had left. They all waited in silence, watching to see whether the puppet he'd crafted would sell.

Gongshu Songting had jumped down from the platform and was staring blankly at the Bamboo Hat Man.

It wasn't that his Dao heart was fragile.

It was simply that the more a person learned, the more reverence they felt toward the unknown.

His son, of whom he was so proud, had talent so monstrous it had never been seen before. Though not yet an adult, his understanding of armoring had already surpassed that of the clan elders.

But what Gongshu Xia had done was merely to reinterpret the Gongshu Clan's teachings. Although he'd come up with many ingenious techniques, he hadn't actually broken free of the confines of his predecessors' knowledge.

When it came to true mastery of armoring, Gongshu Xia still had a long way to go before he could catch up to his father.

That was why the ignorant feared nothing.

Puppets that seemed like living creatures were not unheard of in this world. The Gu Puppets of Nanzhao, the tiger demons' ghostly retainers, and even certain highly skilled corpse herders could all achieve something similar. But those were living beings turned into puppets!

All the materials used to craft puppets this time had been lifeless. He'd never even heard of a technique that could make dead things seem alive.

Gongshu Songting never took his eyes off the Bamboo Hat Man.

If you knew nothing of armoring, you saw him like a frog at the bottom of a well, looking up at the moon.

If you understood armoring, you saw him like a mayfly looking up at the vast blue sky!

So how had he done it?

Still dazed,

Gongshu Songting suddenly noticed the Bamboo Hat Man looking at him too. He quickly cupped his hands. "Your methods are extraordinary, sir. I'm impressed."

A warm laugh came from beneath the bamboo hat. "You flatter me, Clan Head Gongshu. I merely have a strange knack for crafting puppets, and I got a little lucky. As for you, Clan Head Gongshu, your mastery of armoring is already worthy of a master artisan, and your son is even more exceptionally talented. You truly amazed me today."

Gongshu Songting's expression eased a little. He gave a wry smile. "Thank you for your praise!"

The Gongshu Clan had lost face at this Puppet Assembly.

This man had at least helped restore some of its dignity.

Gongshu Xia laughed heartily. "Brother, I'll take that as a genuine compliment!"

Luo Qing waited for the Bamboo Hat Man to praise him too.

But even after a long while, nothing came.

His face twitched. It was one thing for Gongshu Xia to ignore him, but what gave you the right to ignore me too?

A bunch of arrogant bastards!

Staying any longer would only mean humiliating himself.

He gave a cold snort and swept away.

But as soon as he pushed through the crowd, he saw Bai Yuji holding Qin Muye's arm as they climbed into a carriage together.

Luo Qing was already feeling stifled, and the sight made his chest feel even tighter.

Almost without thinking, he followed them.

Inside the carriage,

Bai Yuji asked worriedly, "Are you all right?"

Earlier, in the private room, Qin Muye had seemed listless the whole time and had barely watched the Puppet Assembly.

She'd checked his pulse. His mental energy seemed badly depleted, but she couldn't tell what had caused it.

From a physician's perspective, symptoms with no identifiable cause were the most dangerous, especially since Qin Muye was still recovering.

She'd been so uneasy that she'd lost all interest in watching the puppet competition, but Qin Muye had insisted on staying.

She hadn't wanted to ruin his fun. After all, Qin Muye spent most of his time at home recuperating, and even his shopping trips were just an act. He'd really wanted to join in the excitement of the Puppet Assembly.

Besides, she didn't want to worry Qin Yanying, so she'd said little and waited until it was over to take Qin Muye home as quickly as possible.

Qin Muye rubbed his head and shook it. "It's nothing. Don't worry."

Crafting puppets was difficult, especially when he had to do it through a puppet. His soul had only been at the seventh rank earlier, so it had indeed been too much for him. But it had risen to the fifth rank now, and he felt much better.

Bai Yuji glared at him. "How could I not worry? If something happens to you, my whole plan will fall apart. You're staying home to rest for the next few days. Don't go out. Understood?"

Qin Muye pursed his lips. "I'm really fine. Check my pulse if you don't believe me!"

Bai Yuji didn't believe him, of course. But when she laid her slender fingers on his pulse, she found that his heartbeat really had steadied, and his eyes had cleared somewhat.

She was puzzled. "Were you troubled by something just now? Why were you so mentally drained?"

"A little."

"What were you thinking about?"

"I watched those people craft puppets, and I felt like I was just like them. I look like a person, and I can eat, drink, and move, but my arms and legs are covered in countless invisible strings, each clutched in someone else's hand.

"Some people want to pull me east, while others want to pull me west.

"I don't know when they'll start tugging me in opposite directions.

"Other than being torn apart and scattered across the ground, I can't imagine any other ending for myself."

Qin Muye made it up on the spot.

His tone was perfectly calm, but the calmer he sounded, the more oppressed Bai Yuji felt, as if someone were squeezing her heart.

She felt sorry for Qin Muye. A few days ago, she'd tried to sound out Qin Yanying, and it was true that Qin Kaijiang rarely wrote to Qin Muye.

In the Southwest, there was a biological father whose marrow he'd once saved.

In the Capital City, there was an emperor who treated him like a nephew.

Both sides held the strings, trapping him in a cage where he couldn't move.

She looked at Qin Muye and saw him leaning against the carriage window with his eyes closed, resting.

She wanted to comfort him, but couldn't bring herself to speak.

Because she was one of the people holding his strings. She felt she had no right.

With his eyes closed, Qin Muye watched the beautiful woman in palace attire warily through the new puppet's eyes.

"Rustle..."

The human skin was withered. As true essence flowed through it, it rustled like a dead leaf in the wind.

But as true essence poured into it, the dull, dried skin came back to life, like flowers and grass refreshed by water.

At last,

the skin looked as if it had just been stripped from a person, though only about half of it was there. It probably hadn't been fully peeled off.

The beautiful woman in palace attire spread out the skin and gazed at it in a daze of intoxication. Then, with a casual wave, she removed the clothes from the puppet and pulled the skin over its body.

Qin Muye: "..."

Damn it!

What kind of pervert was this woman?

So whose skin was it?

He hadn't gotten a good look earlier.

But luckily, the beautiful woman in palace attire was considerate enough to take the puppet by the hand and lead it to the mirror.

When he saw the person reflected in the mirror,

Qin Muye was completely dumbstruck.

Holy shit, was that his dad?

The beautiful woman in palace attire wrapped her arms around the puppet's waist from behind, gazing at the two of them in the mirror with a blissful expression. She murmured, "Kaijiang! I finally have you!"

Qin Muye: "???"

Because he was seeing everything through the puppet's eyes, it felt like he was being molested.

The beautiful woman in palace attire was certainly beautiful, but her expression and gaze were just like those of an infatuated woman. She gave off the feeling of a battle-hardened, rich older woman playing with a fresh-faced young duckling who'd just entered the business.

One glance was enough to make him feel violated, even as a grown man.

Qin Muye had enjoyed watching movies with this sort of plot before, but there were way too many tropes piled onto this scene.

An infatuated woman, his biological father, human skin...

Fortunately, he hadn't made the puppet too sophisticated. It only had the usual sense of touch.

Most importantly, this was a proper puppet. It didn't have a dick.

Otherwise, something truly eye-searing would happen next.

Qin Muye gave himself a mental pat on the back for his cleverness.

But just then,

the beautiful woman in palace attire came over with an exquisite box. She opened it, took out what was inside, and started sewing it onto the puppet.

Qin Muye: "???"

Wait.

You spent four thousand spirit stones just to buy Purple Mood?

I worked my ass off crafting this puppet, and you're using it as a peptide bond?

This plot was way too messed up!

Qin Muye felt that his body was acting strange too, so he quickly exited the OB System.

Then he opened his eyes in the carriage.

He found himself looking straight into Bai Yuji's eyes.

Bai Yuji looked anxious. "Your pulse is so erratic. The medicine you took this morning must be working, but why is your energy still blocked up and not flowing properly?"

Qin Muye: "???"

Wait.

Was I really that kinky?