"Uh, Mr. Shen, if you're planning to sell the furniture in your house, you'd better be careful..."
Gu Yulin wanted to say, "These things are tainted with demonic energy. If ordinary people keep them at home and use them for a long time, even having just one could bring trouble. I'd advise you not to sell them." But he couldn't say that outright to an ordinary person, so he could only hint at it. Shen Le smiled.
"Of course, of course. They're all antiques. If I sell them, I'll put them up for auction—well, I probably won't sell them off just like that. Don't worry."
The two "Cultural Bureau employees" looked like they wanted to say something, but held back. They followed Shen Le through the sedan hall and the main hall, then entered the workshop in the third courtyard.
The moment they saw the Little Puppet lying on the workbench, freshly made up and strung with Silk Thread but not yet dressed, both their eyes lit up. They hurried over. One took photos while the other measured it with a ruler. They even pulled out some kind of device Shen Le didn't recognize, aimed it at the puppet, and switched it on—
"Beep—"
A shrill alarm instantly shattered the workshop's silence.
The two "Cultural Bureau employees" straightened up, their expressions grave.
"Mr. Shen. For your safety, we recommend that you let us handle this puppet."
"What?!"
Shen Le looked up warily at the two men. Ever since he was little, he had kept his distance from people with special responsibilities, treating them with wary respect.
His grandfather had warned him since childhood:
"Lele, you can't disbelieve everything the people up top say, but you can't believe all of it either. Back then, someone said that 95% of the people were good, and then people below wanted to drag out the other 5%..."
"My father—your great-grandfather—was a principal at the time. He looked at all the teachers and staff at the school, and every one of them was a good person. Your great-grandfather was kind, but foolish! He went and reported his own name..."
"And then?" Little Shen Le had no idea what that past had been like. He just listened quietly, his eyes shining. His grandfather's voice suddenly turned anguished:
"Then they brought him down! And after that, a good man like him... was gone!"
Now two inexplicable employees had shown up at his door and demanded that he hand over his Little Puppet?!
What a joke!
"Mr. Shen, I don't know whether you're familiar with certain... uh, things beyond the scope of ordinary people's understanding. To put it simply, your puppet may have been tainted by something unpleasant..."
"Absolutely not!"
Shen Le's voice rose at once. Hmph, how dare they slander his Little Puppet?
"Mr. Shen, we're members of the Special Affairs Department. We specialize in handling abnormal incidents that ordinary people can't understand or even perceive." Gu Yulin flipped out an ID card and slid it across to Shen Le. Ignoring the young police officer's shocked, reproachful look, he continued in one breath:
"We've been investigating similar incidents, and we recently found that the child's jump may have had something to do with the puppet..."
"The child? What happened to the child?"
Shen Le turned to look at the police officer. Shi Guangbing smiled bitterly.
"The child woke up, but he's been crying nonstop. We've heard him say several times that he misses the big sister and wants to play with her... After investigating, we think the 'big sister' he mentioned may be the puppet you picked up..."
"He's just a little kid. Maybe he just misses his toy." Shen Le tried to argue. Gu Yulin stepped forward, the hem of his Tang-style jacket fluttering, and held up the device Shen Le didn't recognize.
"Look at the reading on this device. Ordinary objects usually score below ten. Your puppet has already gone over a thousand..."
Shen Le didn't even listen. He hurried over, snatched up the Little Puppet, turned around, stuffed it into a box, and snapped the lock shut.
"Impossible! Ever since I picked up this puppet, I've been repairing it here. It hasn't left this place once!"
He clutched the key in his hand, shoved it into his pocket, then stepped forward, leaned in, and glared at them.
"Not, a single part, is missing!"
"We're just ruling out any possible danger," Gu Yulin said with an appeasing smile. Although they held public office, they couldn't simply seize someone else's property—not unless there were special circumstances, such as "an immediate and credible danger." Otherwise, they could only gather evidence, go back and follow procedure, then return...
"There's no danger!" Shen Le said with a dark expression. My Little Puppet went with its owner to spread the word about resisting Japan, risking its life in occupied territory to praise heroes who fought the Japanese. A Little Puppet like that couldn't possibly be a nasty thing, and it could never have harmed its former owner's child!
Seeing how resolute Shen Le was, the two novice Maoshan Taoists exchanged glances, looking troubled. The Baby-faced Youth, Zhang Bingxin, still tried to reason with him.
"We're employees of the Special Affairs Department. This is for your safety..."
"I'm perfectly safe!" Shen Le shouted.
"The Little Puppet is safe too! You don't need to worry about it!"
What a joke! My Copper Fragment and my puppet that gives me memories—could I let anyone see either of those? If they took them away, I'd suffer a huge loss!
"Um, Mr. Shen, please try to understand..."
"I don't understand, and I won't cooperate. The puppet was abandoned by its owner—thrown from a great height, even—and I picked it up. That makes it my private property. I don't want to hand it over. If you want to take it, get a court order." Shen Le spread his arms and shoved them toward the door.
The two novice Maoshan Taoists tried to push him back. But Shen Le was unexpectedly strong, and before they knew it, he'd shoved them two steps backward. They hurriedly planted their feet and tried to advance again, but Shen Le had already barked,
"Please leave!"
At his shout, the strange device in Gu Yulin's hand and the phone Zhang Bingxin was holding both let out piercing shrieks. The two Maoshan Taoists went pale, their breathing momentarily stopping.
To their ears, that shout hadn't sounded human. It had been deep and immense, like the tolling of a great bell. And the spiritual pressure that had swept over them in that instant had almost made them think they were facing an ancient great demon!
The Baby-faced Youth, Zhang Bingxin, staggered two steps back and braced himself against the doorframe to avoid falling. Gu Yulin was older and more practiced. Even in the chaos, he managed to glance at the device's readings.
The spiritual pressure measured at that instant had shot up to an astonishing peak, almost flattening the previous wave-shaped line against the bottom of the display!
Run!
Run, now!
Anyone who could keep their spiritual pressure so well concealed, then make it spike so high in an instant, was either a great demon or a master! Before he flew into a rage and beat the two of them up, they had to get out!
Still, with such a powerful master here, that little puppet probably couldn't cause any trouble... They could only hope that was the case...
The two retreated in a panic. Shi Guangbing gave Shen Le an apologetic smile and withdrew with them.
"Sorry. I really didn't know those two..."
"It's fine. We're all just doing our jobs," Shen Le reassured him. After a pause, he couldn't help asking, "By the way, how's the child?"
"...Not very well." The young police officer fell silent for a moment.
"I heard he might be paralyzed."
Shen Le fell silent too. A child, still in elementary school, had jumped from a building and might be paralyzed, possibly for the rest of his life... Just hearing about it made him feel awful.
Since things had come to this, he might as well eat first. After filling his stomach, Shen Le returned to the house and continued repairing the puppet. He picked out some wood, sawed it into boards, drilled holes at the planned points, and threaded them with Silk Thread. He lifted the board, examined it, made adjustments, and took notes. Then he switched to a new board and drilled and threaded it again...
After repeatedly adjusting and testing, he finally made a suitable control board. Excited, Shen Le sanded it, polished it, varnished it, and strung it with Silk Thread...
"Ah, the clothes have arrived too! Little Puppet, once you're dressed, you'll be a marionette ready to perform onstage!"
Dressed in splendid finery and adorned with beautiful makeup, the Little Puppet moved as Shen Le wished. He held the control board level in his left hand and gave it a gentle shake, tugging at the Silk Thread with his right. The Little Puppet moved forward, backward, raised its hands, and took steps. Shen Le couldn't help smiling. He lowered his head, took out the Copper Fragment, and examined it closely.
Oh!
The Copper Fragment had changed very noticeably this time!