Chapter 2: Chapter 2

twenty three years later

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Puppet No.4 picked up his bowl and chopsticks, fiddling in the cafeteria.

Over the years, he was still the same stunted little boy of ten years. None of his peers or family ever aged, so he really didn't know how much time had passed, but he knew that he had been in the Demonic Sect for a long time.

He loved the Demonic Sect!

He had his family, missions, fun games, rewards and good things.

He had the best time here!

The small table he sat at had three others, Puppet No.1, Puppet No.2 and Puppet No.3. They all ate their mush — it was a dark, mottled green — and finished off their jerky with gusto.

Puppet No.5 had died last week, killed by Puppet No.3, so today he would get a reward, and praise from the Grandpas. As punishment, the remaining Puppets would instead have their rewards taken away. The only way to get them back was to kill Puppet No.3.

The four Puppets at the table conversed casually, skimming over common speaking topics. All of them were probably(?) a lot older than they looked, but they didn't age because they didn't deserve to be adults yet (outsiders aged because they stole it from the Grandpas. How evil!). They were all dressed in black robes, their clothing unremarkable except for the numbers embroidered on their backs in a bright white. They all looked to be identical, except that their eyes were varying shades of silver and grey.

Puppet No.2 said, 'No.3, you got praised. What was it about?'

Puppet No.3 smiled widely, excitement bursting forth, 'The Grandpas said I did okay! They said I didn't disappoint him!'

The Puppets had a lot of Grandpas, but they all called them by the same title because they were all Grandpas and family anyway so the distinction didn't matter; they just had to follow orders.

At Puppet No.3's words, all of the boys at the table sighed in longing. No.2 said, 'How nice.'

Puppet No.4 asked, 'Puppet No.3, how did you kill No.5?'

No.3 shrugged. 'I grabbed the back of his head, and twisted his arms behind his back. He kept on squirming, so I broke his legs and arms.' He snorted. 'No.5 was really noisy, so I tore out his tongue. But the sounds he made were really funny, so I twisted his fingers and toes to get him to make more.'

He garnered the attention of Puppet No.1, who said, 'Oh, did you try doing that and squishing the neck? It makes a very funny high-pitched sound.'

Puppet No.3 shook his head. 'Nah, that sounds annoying. I just like the funny part of trying and failing.'

Puppet No.1 shrugged, 'Your choice.' He suddenly added, 'Continue. Seems fun, I want some ideas.'

No.3 continued, 'Then, I slowly rolled the legs into a ball, like when you try to squeeze paste out of a tube. His eyes were annoying me, so I ripped them out and shoved them into his nose.'

Puppet No.4 asked, 'Wouldn't he suffocate or choke on his blood then? You tore out his tongue.'

No.3 said, 'Oh, I tore out his jaw so he could breathe. Did I forget to add that?'

The other Puppets nodded. 'Yeah, you did.'

Well, No.5 had a surprising tenacity, just like a cockroach, so he could probably survive that for a week.

No.3 continued, 'I tore open his back, pulled his shoulder blades out, then crushed his lungs. I pulled out his spine, too.'

No.2 smiled. 'Ah, then the Grandpas had fun watching you, right? Did you give them No.5's core?'

The other boy nodded.

Puppet No.4 asked, 'Oh, right, No.3, when you die, how do you want me to kill you?'

No.3 thought for a bit before replying, 'Maybe... pull my intestines out! And hang me by them!' He asked thoughtfully, 'No.4, do you think that Grandpa will like that?'

Puppet No.1 interjected, 'Nah, when I killed No.13, Grandpa really liked it when I made him eat his lungs and drink his stomach acid.'

No.1's kills were really famous among the Puppets. He was the best! It was the aspiration of many Puppets to be killed by him; what ever he did made sure that the Grandpas were happy. If you could make a Grandpa happy, it was the greatest reward and deed that you could do — making the Grandpas happy was the sole purpose of their lives.

Puppet No.4 said, 'Then, I'll do that.'

No.3 asked, 'But, I might kill you instead.'

He waved his hands, 'We might both die, but that's unlikely.'

Puppet No.2 said, 'Right, I heard that a spring cleaning is coming.'

'Spring cleaning?' Puppet No.4 asked. 'Are you sure?'

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No.2 nodded. 'Yeah. I'm looking forward to it.' A blissful smile made its way to his face. 'I can die soon, in front of Grandpa! How exciting...'

Puppet No.1 laughed, 'Hey, you might kill us first.'

'Fair. But I'd prefer not, my kills are too boring,' No.2 added, 'If you kill me, make sure to make the Grandpas happy.'

No.1 nodded. 'Of course.'

Spring cleaning was an event that happened every year on the fourth Monday of every spring. It was one of the best, most festive events of the year. All Puppets would be thrown into a pit — the same pit often used for Heart-Hunting — and told to kill as many other Puppets in a day. However, as the number of Puppets dwindled each year, from several thousand to several hundred to a hundred to fifty to ten to seven to now four, the time allowed for the slaughter would be reduced. But this year's was different — the spring cleaning wouldn't end until only one Puppet of the four was left alive. That meant that of the four children sitting at the table, only one would live.

However, each Puppet had a varying likelihood of winning.

Puppet No.1, while the most popular and favoured Puppet, would probably be attacked by all other Puppets with the goal of if dying, to die by his hand. As a result, it was very common for him to be ganged upon by multiple people at once. He was also the most intelligent one, knowing the best ways to make a death fun for the Grandpas. But his kills were always done in large groups, like forcing one Puppet to eat another, so he was often at a loss when given only one Puppet to work with.

No.2's kills weren't very pleasant for the Grandpas — there was never enough blood or gore, so they were very boring — resulting in others trying to kill him first, lest he waste bodies. No.2, though, was very quick, so often he had some of the highest kill counts. Because of his awareness of his unexcitable kills, he often tried to fight No.1, which resulted in the two fighting, a battle that was always great to watch. However, since those two would kill each other first, the rest of the battles would result in less-than-satisfactory, be it No.1 who survived or No.2, as No.3 and No.4 would fight each other.

Unlike No.2 and No.1 who fought to give entertainment, No.3 and No.4 would fight out of necessity. No.3 and No.4 had a shared bond — if No.3 had strength, then No.4 would have agility. If No.4 was dying, No.3 would heal from his wounds. If No.3 lost a heart, then No.4's would become stronger and more powerful. By harming the other person, they could steal power and strength from the other, become twice as strong as they were before. Especially since No.1 and No.2 were stronger than them, they would need to kill each other in order to present a satisfying battle with the survivor. If necessary, the survivor of No.1 and No.2's battle would mess with theirs to make it more fun, and vice versa, though that was unlikely.

Naturally, all of the Puppets were close friends, because this was what close friends did! Close friends would help each other make the Grandpas excited!

The Puppets continued to excitedly discuss the best ways of killing each other, as well as reflect on their past kills, until they were interrupted by a woman.

The woman was slender and seductive, her curves on full display. She wore thin, gauze-like clothing that clung to her body, while red flowers grew all over her body. The lascivious movements of her body attracted many stares in the cafeteria, though her actions seemed to be more habit than actual intent. She had a heart-shaped face, thin brows and full lips, a beautiful, flirtatious look that could make a man hard with but a mere glance. She was a demonic cultivator, specifically someone who cultivated via dual cultivation and sucked yang out of her bed partners.

She asked the Puppets, 'Talking about the spring cleaning, hey?'

They nodded. 

'Nice!' Twirling her fingers through her thick black curls, she asked, 'Anyone wanna have some fun time with me? Since chances are that you'll be dead.'

A silence dropped over the hall. Though the woman and the Puppets seemed to be unaware of the change in the atmosphere, there was a rather large undercurrent of oh, shit.

Everyone in a twenty-meter radius of the Puppet's table immediately moved away, others nearby making room for them. Once the shuffling was completed, they all simultaneously turned to watch the stupid idiot while munching on peanuts.

Seeing the Puppets still frozen — in desire? — the woman sidled over, pulling Puppet No.4 into her lap. Groping her fingers around, she began to pinch his inner thighs, running her hands over the child's limbs. She leaned over, whispering into his ears, 'Hey, little boy... you're very young, only ten years old, right? I'll teach you how to have fun...'

Watching the scene, everyone thought, welp, she's dead.

As she moved the young boy's hand to her breast, she hummed and squeezed out a moan, before suddenly screaming.

Puppet No.4 had torn off her right breast.

With deft, ruthless movements, spun around, knocking the table over, prying a piece of the splintered wood with his fingers and stabbing it into her stomach. As she screamed — so annoying, the Grandpas might hear and get irritated — Puppet No.4 seized her throat, turning her shrill screams into a rather interesting high-pitched strangled squeaking.

As the blood dripped and fell to the ground, No.4 said to No.1, 'Hmm, you're right, it is very funny.' As though playing with a rubber chicken, he loosened and tightened his grip on the woman's neck, her shrieks changing in pitch as he did so. With a face full of childish curiosity, he tore open her back to play with her lungs, as though experimenting with the sounds he could elicit from her bulging face.

As the blood splattered, most of the people who'd moved from their seats nodded. Yup, haven't underestimated the splatting range.

A large hunk of intestine and viscera splattered onto a table.

Never mind.

By the time the woman died around three minutes later, the other Puppets, who hadn't moved at all from their seats, despite the splinters and blood splashed all over them, began commenting on No.4's kill.

No.1 nodded, 'Pretty good for working with that.'

No.3 sighed, 'She died too quickly. Most of the Puppets can last a few hours.'

Puppet No.4, who was coated in blood and bits of pinkish-red flesh said, 'But, Puppets are reinforced and strengthened. We can last longer than most others. Otherwise, how else do we make the Grandpas happy? Most of our missions are harder to do, anyway.' Digging through the woman's body, he found a red demonic core — the evidence of the woman's cultivation. Not bothering to wipe it clean, he threw it into his mouth, and with a brittle crunch, he absorbed the energy, strengthening his body.

Puppet No.3 suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Wiping his mouth, smearing the blood all over his face, he said, 'Huh, you got stronger again.' He sighed. 'At this rate, I'll be dead before the spring cleaning.'

Puppet No.4 hummed a careless agreement and handed No.3 a tibia. 'Want to play with me?' At his nod, the other Puppets requested to play as well.

As they all surrounded the corpse, the other demonic cultivators watched as the ten-year-old children pulled apart and crushed the body, laughter and giggles echoing in the silent hall.

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