Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Puppet No.4 looked down.

He was sitting at the bottom of a pit full of bodies, he himself using the back of a corpse as a seat. The pit was perfectly circular in shape, and its bottom was smooth and consistent in its slope and texture, resembling a large, massive bowl that felt like it could hold a sea. It was impossible to tell what the pit was originally coloured — blood had congealed into a thick layer of a brackish-red with long, dark streaks of black smeared all over. The bodies in the pit were all roughly the same size, all of children aged around ten, though most of them had lived for much longer, simply retaining their childish appearances. Each child in the pit were dressed in a lightless black, their hair, blood and clothing all mixing together into some foul, putrid sludge. Crudely piled up in waves, the corpses of the children oozed various bodily fluids, fats and rotten liquids dripping with a rhythmic manner. Mangled limbs and heads protruded out of the pile, bones exposed, swaying in a non-existent wind.

Sitting at the top of this foul pile, Puppet No.4 surveyed the seemingly endless sea of bodies below him with an expressionless, emotionless and apathetic gaze, when something suddenly shifted under him. With rather stiff movements, he stood up, and looked at the thing in front of him.

This "thing" was another boy. The boy was covered in blood and grime, but neither of the two could care less. His clothing was ripped, nothing but mere rags that had been glued to his body by the accumulated layers of gore and flesh. The liquids he had been immersed in covered his skin to the point that he was merely a black, scrawny shadow. Under the layers of mattered hair and filth, a large, brackish-red eye appeared, the other concealed by the thick wad of tangled threads. His mouth was a gaping hole of shattered teeth, blisters and wounds peppering his bony body and round, emaciated face. There was not a single place on his person that was unharmed.

A soundless roar echoing from his destroyed throat, he lunged forward, a beast driven mad, his fingers stretched out like claws. His ruined muscles tensed, the boy reached out for Puppet No.4's throat, his eyes narrowed in desperation and ecstasy. 

Puppet No.4 calmly leaned back, twisting his body to the side as the other barrelled past. As the other exposed his back, he reached out, his mangled and torn fingers landing on his neck and torso.

He tore them apart.

With the wet sound of flesh tearing, tendons snapping and blood gushing, he twisted the head of the other boy off, his right hand crushing the other's ribs. With a disturbing pop pop pop, the neck bones gave way, the skin splitting and the eyes bulging. The ribcage, crushed under the thin hand's power, burst through the boy's blackened skin, exposing his heart and lungs.

He died.

Puppet No.4 dropped the head with a disinterested gaze, setting his eyes on the red heart on the body. Turning it over, laying it down on the ground, he placed the body on its back, before plunging his hands into the corpse. Pulling at the shattered ribs, he tore out several fragments and threw them carelessly behind him. Once he found the lungs, in an almost ritualistic manner, he held one lung in each hand, raising it up into the air, slowly pulling out the trachea. As he did so, he found the heart, tied to the lungs with a dense, complicated network of veins and arteries. 

The heart was rather odd, as it was smaller than average and had a black colour rather than the rich reds or whites otherwise found. It had a slightly reflective sheen, as though coated in glitter or perhaps crafted from black jade, pretty and attractive. 

After locating the heart, Puppet No.4 lost all interest in the now-discarded lungs. Instead, he dropped the right lung and gripped the black heart. A wide, demonic and twisted smile made its way to his bloodied face, white teeth glittering in the darkness of the pit.

The pit was very deep, so it was hard to tell at first glance that it was actually sealed away from the light. It could be underground, indoors or maybe it was nighttime without any moon or stars. Puppet No.4 didn't know or care, as his only purpose today was to find the black heart.

Before he entered the pit, his command was to locate and present the black heart to his Sect Elders. Unfortunately, as he was unable to differentiate between each child or find the heart by mere sight, he killed everyone and dug out their hearts to check if it was the right one.

He'd taken too long. He was going to be punished again.

He was a bad Puppet.

He had failed his Mission.

A trace of fear finally entered his soulless silver eyes.

Trudging up the mountain of corpses, he climbed his way up, slowly making his way to the edge of the pit where three elderly men were waiting. His fingers digging into the corpses around him, cold skin, melting fats and oils sliding over his fingers, he slowly crawled his way to the edge, where he was suddenly kicked back down, a boot slamming into his face with great mercy. Neck snapping backwards, his spine arcing, he flew backwards, twisting in the air from the momentum and landing face-first painfully into the ribcage of his last victim.

Not put off by the kick, he climbed back up, the black heart still firmly gripped in his hand, his fingers a cage. The black, inky darkness of the pit and the surroundings were like a huge chasm trying to swallow him up, and he desperately climbed out only to be thrown back in.

Up.

Down.

Up.

Down.

Up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down up down up down up down up down up down updownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdown

He stopped.

Now in too much pain to keep climbing, he laid on his back, soft whimpers making their way out of his destroyed vocal cords. His large, bulbous eyes stared up at the three figures.

The three elderly men were elegant and refined. Dressed in black and red, they were a bright, glorious opening to the world, as beautiful and powerful as the sun to a mere speck of dust. They all wore masks, the one in the middle and foremost wearing a devil mask and the other two of ghosts, one drowned and the other vengeful. With warm, care-filled eyes, they reached out to Puppet No.4, beckoning to him.

The devil-masked man said kindly, 'Xiao SiLiterally "Little 4", try again. GrandpaHe's not necessarily blood-related, in Chinese culture we often call each other by familial terms to show closeness (e.g. Calling a woman of your mother's generation "Aunty"). Also, the third-person referral to oneself is deliberate, it's very common to do. believes in you, okay?'

At his words, Puppet No.4 suddenly lurched up, as though injected with energy and passion. With a renewed frenzy, he agonisingly dragged himself through the bodies again, tumbling as he slowly made his way up.

As he did, Grandpa apologised, 'Xiao Si, Grandpa is very sorry about pushing you back. Grandpa didn't want to hurt you, understand? But Grandpa had too, Xiao Si, Grandpa had to because he loves you, and you disappointed me. You were too slow in getting the black heart, and if you're too slow, you have to be punished. Hurting you like this hurts Grandpa too, it hurts Grandpa so much he feels like he's dying... Xiao Si, you understand, right? It's your fault, you need to be better so you can help Grandpa.'

Puppet No.4 rasped, 'It's my fault, Grandpa, Xiao Si is at fault... Xiao Si didn't do well, Xiao Si deserves punishment...'

Grandpa smiled. 'That's right, Xiao Si deserves punishment, but because Xiao Si tried to hard, Grandpa will let you off today, okay? But next time, you have to try harder, alright? Otherwise, Xiao Si will have to go back to the punishment room.'

His fingers had finally gripped the edge of the pit, but stiffened and loosened at Grandpa's words. Puppet No.4 begged, 'No, no punishment room, Xiao Si will try harder, I will try harder, I won't disappoint Grandpa, I will work hard, I will be better, but no punishment room, please, please —'

Grandpa sighed. He said, 'If you can try harder, it means that you didn't try hard enough today, right Xiao Si? It looks like you will have to go back to the punishment room again...'

At his words, Puppet No.4 flinched, at which the drowned ghost-masked man stepped forward and kicked him back down.

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Crack, crack, crack...

His broken body tumbled back down, rolling in the sludge and slamming into the exposed bones and stiff bodies of his victims.

He rolled all the way to the bottom.

Curling into a tiny, bean-like ball, suppressed whimpers and sobs emanated from his throat, his long nails scratching at and tearing his scalp. As though he was having a seizure, his body writhed and squirmed as though in great agony, his torn nails raking red lines across his arms and torso.

He sobbed madly, 'No punishment room, no punishment room, please, please pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease...'

Grandpa suddenly said, 'No punishment room.'

Puppet No.4 froze, and crawled into a kowtow. Slamming his head into the corpses below him, he thanked his Grandpa, 'Thank you, thank you... Xiao Si will try harder, Xiao Si will definitely obey Grandpa properly...'

The old man smiled. 'Very good, Xiao Si. Grandpa is proud of you.'

Puppet No.4 smiled, full of joy, 'Thank you, Grandpa!'

'Very good,' He repeated, 'Very good. Now, come back up, let Grandpa look at you.'

Wriggling his way back up, Puppet No.4 once again drag his way through the bodies, pulling himself through the now-familiar path he'd carved out with his broken limbs. Heaving gasps echoing in his ears, he laboriously crawled back, as disgusting as a foul, ruined centipede stubbornly trying to smear the beautiful moon in the sky.

Once at the top, Grandpa pulled him into a warm embrace, not flinching from the grime or filth — Grandpa was so kind, he must love him a lot a lot a lot if he could stand all of this grime. He whispered, 'Don't worry, Grandpa is here for you.'

Puppet No.4 smiled, 'Yes.'

Grandpa quickly handed him to the drowned ghost-man. 

Ahh, he was too dirty. He made Grandpa dirty.

He must punish himself later.

As the four left the pit, they walked into a long, dark corridor. Grandpa was talking, and so Puppet No.4 listened very attentively. 'Xiao Si, you have made several mistakes today.'

Puppet No.4 apologised, 'Sorry, Grandpa. Punish me, Grandpa.'

Grandpa laughed. 'Didn't you just beg to be spared from the punishment? Now you're asking for it. How fickle.'

He apologised again.

Grandpa continued, 'Xiao Si, when you do something wrong, you shouldn't beg to not be punished. Instead, you must punish yourself, even without being asked. Xiao Si, Grandpa has raised you for so long, even though you were an orphan — you owe everything to us. You shouldn't have to wait for Grandpa to remind you, much less to have you ask for mercy. Xiao Si, that is very wrong. You are lucky that it was me you did this to, not to outsiders. Outsiders would kill you, and take you away from Grandpa. They will try to trick you and fool you, Xiao Si. So, never trust outsiders.'

He nodded carefully. 

He'd never seen or met outsiders before, but he knew that they were very bad things. They would try to trick him into thinking that Grandpa was evil and bad, that the Demonic Sect needed to be eradicated. Just the thought hating Grandpa made him feel all tingly and nauseous all over his body, like he drank all of his medicine in one go.

'Also, you were too soft. You weren't determined enough to fulfil your task, Xiao Si. If you were truly determined, you could have gotten the black heart in a mere second. You weren't determined enough. Xiao Si, if you really loved Grandpa, you would have gotten the heart the moment I asked for it. Xiao Si, did Grandpa not do enough for you?'

Puppet No.4 whimpered and whispered, 'No, I really love Grandpa. It's my fault for not being good enough. Xiao Si was wrong.'

Grandpa waved his hand, and he was abruptly placed back down on the floor. He nervously twitched, lacing his thin, bony fingers together and scratched at the numerous wounds on his body. As he pinched and tore, his right hand was suddenly seized and prized open, revealing the black heart inside.

Grandpa said softly, 'Xiao Si, you forgot to give me the heart. Bad boy.'

As though he were being hypnotised, Puppet No.4 nodded numbly, mumbling, 'Sorry, Grandpa. Xiao Si is a bad boy.'

'Exactly. So, Xiao Si, you must be punished.' He nodded, agreeing.

The heart in his hand was suddenly swapped for a bottle.

The bottle was very expensive-looking, carved from ink jade and refined in appearance, the cork made from a similar piece of jade. The elegant, slender bottle was rather small in size, able to snugly fit into the thin boy's hand, shaped like a sphere with a long, think neck. The blood that was smeared onto the bottle did not look out of place — rather, the bloodstains seemed to look like the inky tendrils weaving through the green nephrite.

Puppet No.4 slowly extended his hand, tugging off the cork with a soft pop. With a slight trembling, he tipped out a few pills. Rolling into his filthy, dirty hand, the pills were a gorgeous reddish gold, shaped like marbles, as large as the nail on one's pinky. A tiny, open eye was carved on them, mysterious and nauseous. 

Without much hesitation, he swallowed them, and handed the bottle to the drowned mask man beside him. The pills' effects hadn't yet started, so he quickly ran to a black door — the doors in the corridor all looked the same, so it was rather a mystery of how he could tell which it was — and threw himself in, with the determination of a martyr doomed to die.

It wasn't long before terrible, ruined screams began to echo in the air.

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