No one would have imagined this scene. Even the dead Mister Miao probably would not have imagined it...
The cave was a bloody sight. The once exceedingly refined Master Huang had been nailed to the wall, his tendons ripped out, his skin flayed, and his organs hollowed out. He had died a horrific death, and the one who had done all this was an all-too-familiar figure...
"Wang... Wang Ye?" Yuchi Peng swallowed as he stared at that familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar figure, at a loss for what to do.
"Oh?" The figure turned, revealing Wang Ye's handsome, delicate scholar's face. At the sight of Yuchi Peng, he immediately broke into a familiar smile. "You're here, Shizhang?"
Yuchi Peng fell silent. He had inherited the name Yuchi Peng at nine years old. Even among his younger half-brothers born to concubines, few knew his real name. Wang Ye was one of the few who did. Was the fellow before him... really Wang Ye?
Chen Qing also frowned in silence. He had thought Wang Ye was ruthless, but he had not expected him to be this ruthless. Nor could he understand how Wang Ye, already made into a puppet, had managed to turn the tables and kill Painted Skin Mister.
This did not fit the established setting...
"You truly haven't disappointed me, Lord Chen." Wang Ye looked at Chen Qing, wiping the blood from his hands with Master Huang's clothes. "To scheme all the way here, driving those two step by step into a dead end, and even create such an opportunity for me..."
As he spoke, two gleams appeared behind Wang Ye. One was bright as day, containing intricate runes, with a flying elephant that traversed space leaping about merrily inside. The other light was pitch-black, a shadow fish swimming freely within its darkness.
"Flying Shadow..." Wang Ye watched the frolicking black fish with an almost doting gaze. "One of the Seventy-Two Earthly Baleful Intents. According to the Record of Strange Tales, this was a technique mastered by Miao Caisheng, chief of the yin-yang officials during Emperor Huizong's reign in the previous dynasty. After the King of Qin's downfall, the Miao Household vanished without a trace. I never expected to encounter it."
"Dual techniques..." Watching Wang Ye maintain a perfect balance between the two techniques, Yuchi Peng wore a strange expression tinged with wariness.
Somehow, this old friend felt unfamiliar.
"How did you manage it, Lord Wang?" Chen Qing asked with a frown. "As far as I know, Painted Skin Mister's control over his puppets is absolute!"
"Reversal Technique..." Wang Ye smiled. "Actually, I'm not very proficient with it. I've only been practicing techniques for a few years, after all. In that moment of crisis, I only had time to use it on my own core. I merely wanted to make Painted Skin Mister suffer a little at the very end, so my desperate struggle wouldn't be for nothing. Who would have thought I'd be so lucky that it happened to cancel out the secret technique Painted Skin Mister used on me at the last moment..."
The corner of Chen Qing's mouth twitched. He certainly made it sound simple. Reversal Technique could reverse space and time at a particular targeted location. In theory, it could cancel out Painted Skin Mister's secret technique, but Wang Ye had clearly already been under his control then.
To use Reversal Technique, he would have had to conceal it inside his brain core before he was controlled, so it would escape detection.
What godlike foresight would that take?
How had he known Painted Skin Mister would turn him into a puppet?
And hidden Reversal Technique in his brain core beforehand?
Crucially, that powerful technique practitioner called Mister Miao had just happened to be gravely injured and offered up his own brain core, leaving Painted Skin Mister without anyone to guard him. Otherwise, Mister Miao could simply have reversed Wang Ye's technique again.
Could the plot really be this coincidental?
Chen Qing found it more than a little strange. It looked like coincidence, yet somehow it also felt like a script already written. Was Wang Ye really that lucky?
"Hey..."
While Chen Qing was thinking, Yuchi Peng, who had remained silent all this time, spoke. "Scholar, Old Wei's letter said those brothers who were made into puppets can't be restored?"
"Yes..." Chen Qing nodded.
"Then what about him?" Yuchi Peng pointed at Wang Ye. "Is he really himself?"
At those words, Chen Qing looked at Wang Ye, a trace of coldness flashing through his eyes!
He glanced around. There was only one exit here, and at such close range, Wang Ye could not activate Flying Star. This fellow called Yuchi Peng seemed pretty fierce too. Together with Ghost Child, they should be able to kill him!
Seeing the hostility in Chen Qing's eyes, Wang Ye frowned, then smiled and took something out.
The moment he brought it out, Chen Qing froze on the spot.
It was none other than the Mirror Demon he had been yearning for!
"I'm very sorry to have dragged you into something so dangerous, Lord Chen. But for the court and His Majesty, I had no choice. I hope you won't hold it against me..." As he spoke, he tossed the thing in his hand straight to Chen Qing. "Please accept this as my apology!"
Beside him, Ghost Child feared a trick and hurried forward to catch it, then retreated to stand before Chen Qing. Chen Qing took a look, and all of Ghost Child's information instantly appeared on the mirror.
It's genuine...
His eyes narrowed, and Chen Qing immediately smiled. "What are you saying, Lord Wang? Though I have yet to assume my post, I too have received great imperial favor. How could I quibble over risks when serving the court? Besides, you saved my life, Lord Wang. I can't thank you enough. How could I hold anything against you..."
Wang Ye regarded Chen Qing with a faint, ambiguous smile. Yuchi Peng, meanwhile, was rather baffled, then frowned. "He's the real one?"
Chen Qing nodded. "Painted Skin Mister remade Lord Wang to deceive His Majesty, so naturally, he had to make him ninety percent genuine. He had to transplant Lord Wang's flesh, bones, organs, and even his brain core into his specially made puppet, then use a secret technique to erase Lord Wang's sense of self, leaving only a puppet with Lord Wang's memories."
"But at the last moment, the Reversal Technique in Lord Wang's brain core broke Painted Skin Mister's secret technique, so he didn't lose himself. Though his body has changed, he is still Lord Wang in essence..."
"Huh?" Yuchi Peng was dubious. "Is that so?"
"Of course..." Chen Qing smiled. "The fact that Lord Wang could kill Painted Skin Mister proves it."
"So that's how it is..." A pleased look still appeared on Yuchi Peng's face. Wang Ye was his friend, and naturally, he wanted things to turn out well for him.
"But like this... can your body still be restored?" Yuchi Peng asked with concern.
Wang Ye shook his head with a bitter smile. "I fear not. Please keep this secret for now, Shizhang. Once I return, I will certainly report the situation to my master and His Majesty. But unless necessary, this must not be made public, or I fear people will look at me strangely."
"True, true..." Yuchi Peng nodded repeatedly. A man becoming a puppet sounded utterly unnerving. If it became public, Wang Ye's future at court would be over.
Even if he was not burned as an aberration, he could only live in the shadows. As his friend, Yuchi Peng naturally did not want such an end for him.
Chen Qing, meanwhile, watched Wang Ye silently from the side.
Had only his body changed?
Naturally, those words had only been for Yuchi Peng's benefit. Chen Qing did not know what this thing before him was, but it certainly was not Wang Ye.
It was like the digital life popular in the modern world of his previous life. Uploading a person's consciousness and memories to a computer created a digital life-form with exactly the same personality. Some people touted it as another form of immortality.
But was that uploaded you, written by artificial intelligence, still you?
Perhaps only the person themselves could know the answer...
In his view, this thing before him had Wang Ye's memories, Wang Ye's personality, and even Wang Ye's abilities, but it was absolutely not Wang Ye!
Who knew what would happen once such an inexplicable thing slipped into the court?
Chen Qing had no choice. He had to play along with this act.
The other party knew about the Mirror Demon. If Chen Qing forced a fight, he would definitely reveal its uses. The Mirror Demon's functions were far too heaven-defying. If the court learned of such a thing, it would never let it remain in his hands, which would greatly obstruct his future plans.
Now that each held a secret about the other, they had reached a delicate balance of cooperation...
"Then what do we do now?" Yuchi Peng asked gruffly. "Return to the capital and report?"
"We do need to return to the capital..." Wang Ye nodded. "There are only five days until the crown prince selects his consort. Time waits for no one. We must find the Thousand-Faced Fox before the selection. Wouldn't you agree, Lord Chen?"
"Of course!" Chen Qing smiled and cupped his hands. "Now that Painted Skin Mister is dead, it would be best to leave further investigation of his accomplices here to the court. Our most pressing task is to find the Thousand-Faced Fox, who has already infiltrated the capital!"
"Painted Skin Mister... is dead!"
In a corner of the capital, an immensely tall figure respectfully reported the matter.
Had Master Huang been there, he would have recognized this man as Mountain Ghost, who had protected him at the beginning!
"With Mister Miao and Hei Wu supporting them in Liuzhou, they were still wiped out?" An aged woman's voice seethed with resentment. "You had already captured Wang Ye. Who in Liuzhou City could have done this?"
"There was also Yuchi Peng..." Mountain Ghost shook his head. "I said long ago that the Yuchi Household's boy was exceptionally strong. Without me there, they must not confront him head-on."
"Mister Miao was composed and levelheaded. He would never have provoked him. And while Yuchi Peng is formidable, he isn't a schemer. How could he have caught everyone in Liuzhou in one net?"
"That makes sense..." Mountain Ghost nodded. "An expert must have helped him. Could Liu Yu have gone to Liuzhou himself?"
"Impossible... how many people are watching a figure like Liu Yu? He couldn't possibly have slipped off to Liuzhou unnoticed."
"The old fellows from the Heavenly Capital?"
"Those fellows from the Heavenly Capital, scared out of their wits?" The aged voice sneered. "They don't even dare come out. What makes them capable of disrupting our plans?"
"Then I can't think of who it could be..." Mountain Ghost shook his head. "The situation is extremely dangerous now. Are we still participating in the crown prince's consort selection in five days?"
"We are. Why wouldn't we?" The aged voice chuckled. "As long as the Xiao imperial family dares hold the selection, I dare go!"
"Painted Skin Mister is dead..." Mountain Ghost reminded her. "That means Mr. Mirror is also..."
"No matter..." The aged voice laughed. "Preparations were made long ago!"