Even so, Li Chen still had You An help him shave wood and prepare materials, then began carving wooden puppets.
They were weaker than their opponents now and had no choice but to play along. If they simply overturned the table and refused to play, they would be the first to suffer.
"What exactly are you planning to do?" You An sat nearby, watching Li Chen carve a puppet modeled on the immobilized Zuo Shan, and asked anxiously.
"Old You, if you trust me, wait patiently. Once I find an opening, I'll send you a message, and then we can act."
"But until then, you'd best forget what I just said. Treat it as though I'm intent on victory and want to win this contest."
"Still, judging by the strength he showed earlier, beating him won't be easy. I'm afraid we'll have to let the sword take an unconventional path..."
You An's eyes widened at those words. He watched the edge of Li Chen's carving knife flash, and the figure beneath it began taking shape in an indescribably bizarre fashion.
An hour quickly passed. Li Chen and You An returned to the same spot and found that Zuo Hao and the Sword Slave had already arrived.
They had lit a bonfire in the clearing. Five wooden crates stood in a neat row, their lids already sealed, with five identical heads of Old Hou fitted into the tops. Their expressions, complexions, and features were all exactly alike. At first glance, there was no telling them apart!
Seeing the two approach, Zuo Hao smiled, adjusted his Flying Chair, and turned away.
"Set out your work. Then I'll turn back."
Seeing this, the Sword Slave also turned away, without looking at Li Chen or You An.
Li Chen said with a smile, "You're certainly open and aboveboard. After all, what's inside isn't a real person. Someone with a keen eye could uncover the truth just by watching how we set down the crates."
Zuo Hao scoffed. "What sort of person do you take this young master for? Would I exploit such an advantage over you?"
Li Chen neither agreed nor disagreed. He had already been guarding against precisely that. Seeing Zuo Hao and the Sword Slave turn away, he immediately signaled You An to bring over the wooden crates they had deliberately placed behind the bushes, out of their opponents' sight.
Puzzled, You An repeatedly signaled with his eyes, asking whether they could seize this chance to launch an attack, but Li Chen shook his head almost imperceptibly.
This was absolutely not the time to strike. Their opponents appeared to have turned away, leaving themselves completely unguarded, but who knew what hidden tricks they had?
Old Hou was still in their hands, too. Their own side was weaker to begin with, and now they feared smashing the vase while striking the rat. Nothing good could come of it.
You An pursed his lips and could only follow Li Chen's instructions, using a Mechanism Beast to bring over the crates placed nearby.
Once they had arranged the crates, Li Chen said, "Ready."
Only then did Zuo Hao turn back.
When he saw what stood before Li Chen and You An, he involuntarily froze. Even the perpetually expressionless Sword Slave beside him went rigid, a strange look appearing on his face.
The corners of You An's mouth lifted into a smile he could barely suppress.
He had watched Li Chen make the puppets with his own eyes, so naturally, he understood why the two were reacting this way.
"Th-this is Zuo Shan?"
Clearly dumbfounded, Zuo Hao pointed at the five figures before him, indignation coloring his voice.
Before him stood five women's heads, each utterly different in appearance and bearing, their actual identities impossible to determine from their outward looks alone!
Li Chen said, "I don't recall you saying I wasn't allowed to put makeup on him, dress him up, or disguise him as a woman."
Zuo Hao's mouth twitched. "I didn't..."
Li Chen said, "Exactly. I haven't broken the rules."
Zuo Hao pressed a hand to his forehead, seemingly struggling to suppress some impulse. In the end, however, he nodded. "You have a point. As a Skin-Painter, I should regard men with women's faces and women with men's faces as commonplace. How could such a trifling obstacle defeat my discerning eyes, blazing like torches?"
His expression grew noticeably serious. What Li Chen had done was truly inconceivable. Even though he had spent years in Zuo Shan's company, he could not immediately identify which was real and which were fake.
"This young master must admit that you're clever. Very clever," Zuo Hao said gravely. "I did overlook something earlier. The rules of the contest may have disadvantaged you. Zuo Shan is a guard I know well. Distinguishing real from fake based on his original appearance would indeed be unfair to you. We should have used a stranger to make it fair."
Li Chen snorted. "Let's not. Why drag an outsider into this?"
Zuo Hao said, "This move of yours has successfully shattered my established impression of Zuo Shan. There's almost no way to distinguish him by the details of his appearance alone. Even his facial shape and contours seem to have been reshaped. How exactly did you do it?"
Before Li Chen could answer, he muttered to himself, "A transformation art? Tendon and Bone Transformation? Erasing and painting the face? No, none of those. There's no trace of divine abilities or spells here. You accomplished this entirely through mortal skills!"
At this point, he seemed rather shocked himself, looking at Li Chen with astonishment.
Li Chen was inwardly startled as well. Has this brat spotted a clue?
That was right. Everything he had used was indeed a mortal skill, an approach completely unlike this world's habit of relying on spiritual essence, divine abilities, and spells for everything.
On Earth in his previous life, there had been arts of disguise and beautification known as Asia's Four Great Dark Arts, encompassing sex changes, cosmetic surgery, makeup, and beauty filters.
He had combined those ideas and inspirations with the Skin-Painting Art honed through this world's cultivation and Qi Refining. The result actually rivaled the transforming effects of the divine ability "Womb Transformation and Form Shifting," giving Zuo Shan a spectacular living makeover.
Men dressing as women was hardly unusual in this world. Transformative divine abilities such as "Womb Transformation and Form Shifting" could even fundamentally alter a living being's bodily structure.
But someone like Li Chen, who could achieve this much through mortal makeup and styling techniques alone, was truly a first in Zuo Hao's life.
This was a realm entirely unfamiliar to him, and equally unfamiliar to everyone in this world.
It took Zuo Hao quite a while to recover. He pulled a Hand Crossbow made of refined steel from his Storage Bag and turned its ratchet to cock it.
Yet as he aimed back and forth between the figures, he struggled to make up his mind.
Li Chen said, "Don't just make a wild guess because you can't tell."
Zuo Hao shot him an irritated look. "As a Skin-Painter, how could this young master possibly guess at random?"
Then he added, "Of all the difficulties in the arts, capturing spirit and bearing is the greatest. Intent precedes artistry; true wonder lies beyond craftsmanship. This figure's spirit and bearing are the least like a real person's. It must be a fake!"
With that, he raised his hand and fired. The crossbow bolt instantly pierced the head of the leftmost wooden puppet.
Li Chen's heart sank at the sight.
Well, well, this brat really does have a discerning eye!
The one he had shot was indeed the last puppet Li Chen had made, and, because of the rushed work, the poorest in quality!
Zuo Hao showed no surprise at the result. His gaze merely swept casually over the remaining figures before he said to Li Chen, "Your turn."