The Puppeteer Behind the Scenes? (Seeking Reads)

Until he possessed absolute, invincible strength, Yunmei had to keep this secret buried deep within his heart.

"Hoo... ha..."

Yunmei had been practicing for about a quarter of an hour; her forehead was beaded with sweat, and her small face was flushed red.

She was still young, after all, and had suffered from malnutrition for so long. Even after drinking soup made from the bone marrow of a Tier 3 demonic beast, her stamina could not hold out for much longer.

"Alright... that's enough, Yunmei. Let's stop here for today. Too much of a good thing can be counterproductive."

Li Pingsheng retracted his

Synesthesia

and steadied her small frame.

Yunmei plopped onto the ground. Instead of complaining about being tired, she tilted her head up and said excitedly:

"Brother! Just now, I felt all warm inside my body, like there were lots of little bugs crawling around under my skin. It felt so good!"

"Will I be able to become as strong as you soon, so I can protect Grandpa and Second Uncle?"

Li Pingsheng flicked her nose and laughed. "Haha, of course. My Yunmei is the strongest."

"But remember, this is a little secret between you and your brother. You can't tell anyone, not even Grandpa or Mom, understand?"

Yunmei didn't quite understand, but she always listened to her brother. She nodded vigorously and held out her pinky finger. "Pinky swear! Whoever tells is a little pig!"

"Alright, pinky swear."

Li Pingsheng played with Yunmei for a while until her breathing completely steadied.

Yunmei suddenly remembered something. She looked around mysteriously, and seeing that Grandpa and Second Uncle were busy at the other end of the courtyard, she leaned into Li Pingsheng's ear and whispered: "Brother, wait here for me. I have something for you."

With that, she ran into the house, returning a moment later with something clutched in her hands, which she shoved into Li Pingsheng's palm.

Li Pingsheng looked down to see a somewhat crude red Peace Talisman.

The Peace Talisman was sewn with thick red thread; the stitches were crooked, and in some places, the cotton stuffing poked through. The two characters for "Peace" written on it were ugly in a cute sort of way.

"This is..." Li Pingsheng gripped the Peace Talisman.

Yunmei kept her head down and muttered: "I saved up my allowance for a long time to buy the red thread and fabric scraps from Auntie Wang, and I sewed it myself in secret. It took me several days..."

"An auntie nearby said that as long as you think of that person while you're sewing, the talisman will protect them and keep them safe for their whole life."

With a serious expression, she pressed her palms together and said loudly to Li Pingsheng:

"Brother, you're going back to the Azure Cloud Martial Hall soon to prepare for the Grand Exam."

"Yun'er doesn't ask for anything else, only that you stay safe and sound. You must take first place and show those bad people that my brother is the best!"

Li Pingsheng's hand, holding the Peace Talisman, trembled.

He looked down at Yunmei's small hands and saw over a dozen tiny red dots covering her delicate fingertips—wounds from an embroidery needle.

Because of Yunmei's unique constitution, the wounds were already healing, but the marks were agonizingly clear to Li Pingsheng.

This world was filled with hypocrisy, lies, and slaughter, but this ugly Peace Talisman was the only source of pure, unadulterated warmth he had ever touched.

"Okay."

Li Pingsheng took a deep breath.

He tucked the Peace Talisman close to his body, placing it right over his heart.

He rubbed Yunmei's head. "Yunmei, Brother promises you. I will take first place in this Grand Exam. As soon as it's over, I'll bring all of you to move into the Inner City, and you'll never have to suffer like this again."

"Mm! I believe in you, Brother!"

Yunmei flashed a grin of white teeth.

Late at night.

Having exhausted a great deal of energy and stamina from her first attempt at drawing in spiritual essence, Yunmei had fallen into a deep sleep early.

Li Pingsheng sat by the bedside, watching his sister's sleeping face, then looked again at the red dots on her fingertips.

To him, whoever dared to touch her would pay with their life.

Confirming that his family was asleep and the courtyard gate was locked from the inside, Li Pingsheng changed into black clothes.

He vaulted over the courtyard wall without a sound and quickly vanished into the pitch-black alleyway.

Channeling his

Wind Treading

talent, he moved with incredible speed.

He cleared the several-meter-high wall of the Inner City in a few leaps, alerting no guards.

The East District of the Inner City was where the wealthy and powerful gathered; even in the dead of night, one could occasionally see patrolling soldiers.

Li Pingsheng darted quickly through the shadows. He was returning to the Azure Cloud Martial Hall to make final preparations for the upcoming Grand Exam.

As he passed a secluded street, he suddenly stopped.

Standing to his front-left was a long-abandoned three-story Bell Tower.

The ancient structure had originally been used to signal fires, but it had been abandoned long ago due to its age.

Just a moment ago, his

Synesthesia

talent had detected a faint light flashing through a crack in the top-floor window of the tower, which had immediately vanished.

It wasn't firelight; it looked more like a signal from some kind of crystal.

Li Pingsheng narrowed his eyes, not approaching immediately, but stopping in a blind spot under an eave.

That position...

The map of Azure Cloud City immediately appeared in his mind.

The location of this Abandoned Ancient Tower was excellent, situated exactly at the midpoint of the straight line between the Zhao Family Estate and the Black Water Gang headquarters, and its height was sufficient to overlook the movements on both sides.

In such a sensitive period, someone lurking here was definitely no coincidence.

Li Pingsheng immediately activated the Breath Concealment Art, suppressing the qi and blood throughout his body until his heartbeat and breathing became almost imperceptible.

He approached the Bell Tower without making a sound.

He pressed against the uneven bricks of the ancient tower's outer wall, climbing upward rapidly.

With the blessing of Wind Treading, he walked very steadily even on the vertical wall.

He stopped at a blind spot outside a second-floor window, not going any higher.

He pushed his Synesthesia talent to its limit.

Through the thick blue bricks, he heard two voices coming from the top floor, speaking in very low tones.

"Heh... that old fox of the Zhao family has been shrewd his whole life, but who would have thought he'd end up falling at the hands of his own precious son. That Bone Whistle was thrown at just the right time; now the Zhao Family Estate and the Black Water Gang are fighting tooth and nail, both sides suffering heavy casualties—their foundations must be nearly exhausted, right?"

Li Pingsheng's heart skipped a beat.

Then, another voice sounded, cold and steady:

"Zhao Zhentian still thinks Old Gu was a guest advisor he hired with money. It's truly laughable; his whole family combined isn't enough to serve as expendable material for the sect."

"The leader of the Black Water Gang is just a stupid dog. The fiercer they fight, the more it benefits us. The higher-ups' intention is to strike on the day of the Azure Cloud Martial Hall grand examination. That day, the entire city's attention will be there, and it will also be when their defenses are at their weakest."

"The day of the grand examination?"

"That master of the martial hall is not to be trifled with; he is a genuine expert."

"That is exactly why we must choose the day of the grand examination."

"During the grand examination, the hall master and all the instructors will appear at the Martial Practice Field to preside over the assessment."

"At that time, the hall master and the instructors will be tied up by the grand examination, and the defensive formation at 'that place' will have a fifteen-minute window of vulnerability. That quarter of an hour is our chance."

Li Pingsheng: "..."