Chapter 4: Chapter 4

The day before the spring cleaning

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Wan Yuanjun heaved a sigh.

Seated at a long, elegant table carved from white jade, there were six Sect Masters from various righteous sects and some Temple Masters. On the table were three large crystal balls, all linked to different persons of power who were still making their way over. They were all here to discuss the matter of raid that would commence tomorrow on the Demonic Sect.

...It was a meeting, but it had gone on for over five hours without accomplishing anything. And each time he tried to speak, his master would signal for him to shut up.

Cui Song, the leader of the Clear Waters Sect, put down his tea cup with a crisp clack. The sound echoed in the silent hall, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. He said firmly, 'When we find the Demon Children, we need to kill them.'

Dai Zian, the Temple Master of Heping Temple, said gently, 'Sect Master Cui, they are mere children. There is still the possibility of educating them, of rehabilitating them.'

Cui Song said angrily, 'Children? Children that have destroyed cities, killed our xiongdi, killed our disciples, our masters, our families and the commoners —'

Dai Zian interrupted him, repeating, 'They are still children. Brainwashed children.'

Another man — Wan Yuanjun was unsure of the name — interjected, 'Isn't it because that they are brainwashed that we should kill them? If we take them in and they betray us, then —'

At his words, there was another explosion of noise and chatter, arguments and opinions getting louder and louder, so much so that it was difficult to even think. The noise level had risen to a screaming, roaring wave when the doors to the hall were suddenly slammed open.

Everyone fell silent.

The messenger standing at the door was flushed a deep red, his face a tomato from the exhaustion, looking as though he were about to faint. He said softly, 'Four left... cleaning... tomorrow,' and collapsed without another word.

The silence continued for a full minute, everyone burning holes with their eyes into the messenger.

Dai Zian finally said to the attendants standing at the door, 'Benefactors, please take him to the medical ward,' and turned back to the rest of the table's occupants. Finally having the full attention of everyone at the table, Dai Zian said calmly, 'Only four children left, with a "spring cleaning" tomorrow. We must make haste to save the remaining children.'

Cui Song snapped back, 'Isn't better if they all die? They've killed so many — why not go and kill the last Demon Child?'

The Demon Children were the children that the Demonic Sect often sent out to kill. These children, though young and thin, were absolute monsters, killing and destroying with a monstrous and horrifying passion, devoted to their masters with a brainless worship. Initially, there were many, many similar children, numbering in the thousands, but as their number dwindled over the years, their power and terrifying destructive abilities rose. As the kill counts and destroyed cities grew in number, the name Demon Children began to grow in use, referring to the demons of murder that these little children were.

Wan Yuanjun, who couldn't take it anymore, suddenly interjected, 'Then, I shall take responsibility.'

Everyone froze and fell silent for the second time at his words. The stiff silence was finally broken by Wan Yuanjun's master, Guo Heng, who said, 'I support Yuan-er.'

Guo Heng was the Sect Master of the affluential and powerful Shining Star Sect, so his words, no matter how casual, had the ability to make the world shake. With such a statement, the four Demon Children's lives were pretty much saved, under the condition that Wan Yuanjun could grab them before the Demonic Sect could kill three of the four.

The breath of relief that was in Wan Yuanjun's throat thudded to a stop at this thought. He said hurriedly, 'We must leave now. Now!'

Cui Song stopped him, saying, 'We still need to wait for the other three to arrive.' He cast a pointed glance at the three orbs on the table, casually asking them, 'How long do you need?'

The various leaders said, 'Ten hours.'

'Eight.'

'Twelve.'

Cui Song leaned back on his chair, 'Done. We leave at noon tomorrow to the Demonic Sect, kill or capture everyone present —'

Wan Yuanjun said, 'And save the Demon Children.'

Cui Song agreed disgruntledly, '...And save the Demon Child.'

'The Demon Children.'

He sighed. 'Fine, save the Demon Children. But if they destroy the entire Shining Star Sect, don't take it out on me.'

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The next day, day of the spring cleaning

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At the Demonic Sect, the nine assembled Temples and Righteous Sects slaughtered their way in, killing their way into the huge complex and locating the massive, black dome that held the spring cleaning event. With a furious roar, the cultivators destroyed the dome to peer inside...

Where they were all horrified.

The enormous bowl-like pit was covered in black stains and the smears and remnants of corpses, foul and terrible to the eye. Many demonic cultivators — the Sect Elders, wearing their masks, took one look at the endless waves of cultivators and fled, using those left behind as a flesh shield — roared and shrieked in excitement, rushing to slay the heroes donned in white.

But Wan Yuanjun and Guo Heng didn't look at the flashing explosions, the beautiful fights, or the dead corpses of their enemies.

Instead, they saw the small, black figure standing among the corpses of three others, flabbergasted and shocked at seeing the sun for the first time.

They saw his wounds.

They saw his un-cried tears.

They saw his innocent, astounded expression.

Guo Heng stood to the side, protecting the two as Wan Yuanjun flew forward and wrapped the little boy in his warm embrace. He whispered to him, 'Don't worry, don't be afraid, we're here now... we'll help you, don't worry... don't be scared.'

But the little boy was unresponsive, only staring at the sun and sky with eyes as large as saucers.

Even though the boy didn't say anything to show that he was listening, Wan Yuanjun continued to whisper and comfort him as he lifted him, carrying him by the back. He had his right arm support the boy's neck and torso, while his left held his legs and lower back. He felt dismay and sadness when he realised how light the boy was — he was practically weightless.

Wan Yuanjun immediately decided that, when they arrived back at the sect, that he would have the kitchens fatten him up.

Guo Heng trailing behind, Wan Yuanjun sped into a flight-like run, swiftly leaving the battle and the Demonic Sect's grounds, holding the boy close to his chest. As he sped up, however, the boy suddenly began to struggle, his hand reaching for Wan Yuanjun's neck with a thick, clear killing intent — so Wan Yuanjun quickly put him to sleep by tapping on a few of his acupoints.

You are reading story Puppet No.4 at novel35.com

It would be a long journey.

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Puppet No.4 woke up in fear, ready to fight off the outsiders. He jolted upright, only to notice that he was sitting on a soft, squishy wad of something.

What was this?

He skimmed his gaze over his body and found a small, thin band around his ankle. It was very thin, much like a white jade bangle, pretty and attractive. Surveying it closer, he realised that it was suppressing his cultivation and powers, making him as weak as a regular mortal. However, other than this, there was no other restrictive devices on him.

Checking his pockets and clothing, he quickly noticed that someone had changed him into a black robe similar to his old one, but it was softer and gentler? After thinking, he pinned the fabric as something he'd seen on a Grandpa before — silk. His weapons and pouches were gone, but that was to be expected. It was okay, though, he could make more weapons later. Tugging off his robes, he turned to examine his body, and froze in horror.

What was this?

The majority of his body was wrapped in some strange, white fabric and smeared with some unknown paste.

Alarm bells ringing in his mind, Puppet No.4 quickly ripped them off his body, ignoring the little bursts of irritation and blood that spilled forth. He turned towards the soft cushion thing that he woke up on and tried to cut a slit in it with his nails, only to realise that someone had trimmed them.

What the heck! How was he supposed to hide or make weapons now?!

Spinning around to survey the rest of the room, he quickly noted that there were no windows, and the only door was firmly shut — alright, shouldn't open that, don't know what might come out yet — so, no immediate escape routes. The room was empty except for the thing he'd woke up on, there was not even a table that he could pull apart. No fabrics that he could burn, either, except his clothes, but he should give that to Grandpa, the Grandpas liked silk.

As he internally calculated and thought of his possible actions, the door suddenly opened and closed.

Ack!

He had no weapons, no way to escape, none of his abilities or knowledge of his location!

Bad, this was bad!

With quick, a lightning fast speed, he tried to hide behind the soft thing before his arm was gently grabbed by the outsider.

The outsider was tall and dressed in soft blue and white robes, with phoenix eyes and sword-like brows. His lips were thin and pink in colour, with a chiseled figure and jawline, very handsome and heroic, though he appeared to be cold and apathetic. However, this coldness had disappeared when an expression of concern and slight panic slid on his face.

'What — what happened to your bandages? Why did you take them off?' Wan Yuanjun quickly put the bottles and medicines he held on the ground, pulling out a new roll of white fabric from his sleeves and reached out to the little boy. 'Come here, let me help —'

Puppet No.4 let out a soft yelp of alarm and tore himself free, diving to hide behind the soft thing, cautiously watching the outsider, trying to remember his theory lessons on how to deal with such situations.

Right. Pretend to be weak and scared.

Seeing him defensive and afraid, Wan Yuanjun put up his hands in a placating and submissive way, slowly backing away while saying gently, 'I mean you no harm, I only want to check your wounds...'

Check wounds?

Puppet No.4 whispered to himself, 'Why would an outsider want to check my wounds?'

Wan Yuanjun heard his whispers and replied gently, 'I'm worried about you.'

Puppet No.4 said defensively, 'I don't trust you.'

Wan Yuanjun thought for a bit, before picking up some of the most basic and common medicines, and with a push, he slid them and the roll of bandages to the boy, who gave a small flinch. 'How about this — just pick out what you want to use, instead.'

Puppet No.4 carefully glanced at the man before turning half of his attention to the jars and bottles at his feet. He didn't know what "bandages" were, and most of these bottles were ones that he had never seen before, so he left most of it untouched. He was very cautious and only opened the one that he was familiar with, carefully sniffing the liquid inside after confirming that it didn't appear to be a poison.

Scooting behind the blockade, he carefully applied the liquid to his wounds, letting out small, relieved huffs as he did so.

Seeing that he'd finished, Wan Yuanjun watched the boy push the medicine and bandages back after wrapping his hands in the robes. He let out a sigh in his chest — the boy didn't know what bandages were? How?

Though, that sigh of depression was drowned out by an enormous wave of fury towards the Demonic Sect.

How could someone do this to a child?

Wan Yuanjun suggested cautiously, 'Maybe, do you... want to get back on the bed? It's very soft and safe, I promise.'

He watched the boy slowly peek up. 'Bed? Aren't beds... a pile of straw?' He nodded to himself, 'Yes, a pile of soft things, like straw. This is like a cloud.'

A half-sob of horror caught itself in Wan Yuanjun's throat. 

What kind of life was he living?

He didn't let his sadness show, putting forward an expression of warmth and amicability. 'Beds... aren't piles of straw. What you're hiding behind is a bed.'

Puppet No.4 pinched the "bed" in front of him. It was very, very soft, cushiony and fluffy. It did, though, resemble what his Grandpas slept on.

Maybe this was the outsider's bed?

Or... was this outsider tricking him into getting on the bed? But then again, he had woken up on it, and there was no issue then. Naturally, he could assume that it was okay to sleep there.

Cautiously turning to face the man, he said quietly, 'I'll get on the bed.' And wriggled into the many layers of the bed thing, feeling warmth envelop him. But, he didn't sleep. The outsider was still there.

Seeing his caution, Wan Yuanjun slowly backed away and left the room, shutting the door.

His back leaned against the wooden door as he slid down, and buried his head in his hands.

What have they done to him?

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