Chapter 42 The Mohist School of Central Plains (6) "He will remain with you forever..."
Inside the sealed room, apart from the eerie skull overhead, there seemed to be nothing else strange about it.
Fu Yunyao reached out and pulled a scroll from a painting tube on the side, then spread it out on the table.
On the painting, there is only the back view of a woman. She is walking down the street with an umbrella, and her pink dress looks especially beautiful and charming in the spring rain.
The direction of the artist...
Fu Yunyao looked towards the window from which they had entered, her fingertips tracing the scroll.
Her movements suddenly stopped, and her gaze returned to the painting.
Xuan Kui, who had just entered from outside the secret chamber, noticed her movements and moved closer.
Outside the secret chamber, the boy who had just been rejected still stood in the same spot, his gaze, veiled in white, fixed on Xuan Kui, who was gradually approaching Fu Yunyao.
Xuan Kui was oblivious, only noticing that the temperature seemed to have dropped considerably. He touched his arm, which suddenly felt a bit hairy, and muttered, "Strange, why did it suddenly get cold?"
He didn't pay much attention and asked Fu Yunyao, "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Fu Yunyao raised her hand that had just been caressing the painting, her fingertips stained with a little white ash.
She turned the scroll over and placed it over the candlelight.
The candlelight flickered, slowly illuminating the patterns on the back of the scroll.
The girl in pink lay in a pool of blood, her oil-paper umbrella falling from her hand, splattered with blood that completely obscured her face.
Under the rain, a dark red birthmark appeared on her fair and slender wrist.
“This shape…” Shi Yubai murmured, “is the same as the mark on that mechanical puppet just now. Could it be that she is also a mechanical puppet?”
"Won't mechanical puppets bleed?" Xuan Kui asked curiously.
On this painting, it is clearly visible that the bloodstains on the ground are from the wounds on the girl's body.
Shi Yubai frowned. "Why do I feel like this mark is so familiar?"
The mark on the mechanical puppet disappeared too quickly for him to react. Now, looking at the mark, he felt it was becoming more and more familiar.
His eyes flickered slightly, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the boy still standing motionless, and a memory suddenly surfaced.
"No way?"
“Yes,” Fu Yunyao replied. “He is also a mechanical puppet.”
"But isn't that mark a soul mark?"
Fu Yunyao lowered her brows and placed the painting back on the table. Her entire expression was veiled beneath the curtain, but as Shi Yubai gazed at her figure, he felt that she seemed…
I'm sad.
She did not answer his question. Beneath her plain white sleeves, a section of red was visible—the thousand-thread rope that Fu Yusheng had tied to her wrist. The soul bell dangled down, swaying gently, its clear, melodious sound penetrating the heart.
The boy outside the secret chamber still gazed at the figure in plain clothes with his eyes covered by white gauze. Beneath the sleeves, the divine soul mark on his wrist was faintly burning, but he seemed unaware and simply stood there quietly.
"What is this?" Xuan Kui's voice rang out, drowning out the sound of the Soul Bell.
Shi Yubai was instantly drawn to him. Xuan Kui was holding a book in his hand, the pages of which were old and worn, like an ancient book.
"Mo Family Mechanical Arts - Puppet Soul Transformation".
"Soul Transformation?"
Shi Yubai repeated those two words, "Could he be trying to resurrect someone using a puppet?"
Xuan Kui opened the book and scoffed, "Resurrection? It's nothing more than creating a puppet that perfectly suits his wishes and has some consciousness."
"Puppet Transformation: By transferring the soul of the person you cherish into a mechanical puppet, the deceased can gain eternal life. It retains the memories and temperament of its former life, and will forever remain by your side, sharing the spring sunshine and autumn waters with you."
Xuan Kui read the words in the book, but his expression was disdainful. "What kind of hatred is this, that you would trap the soul of someone who could have been reincarnated in a puppet, condemning him to eternal damnation?"
Fu Yunyao looked up at him and spoke slowly.
Don't you want to?
"What?" Xuan Kui didn't expect her to speak suddenly and asked subconsciously.
"Let someone who is impossible stay by your side forever, let your family, friends, or...lover stay forever. You don't have to worry about arguing with him, or that he will pose any threat to you."
Because he exists because of you.
Xuan Kui froze, thinking of Qing Yue and the innocent moon demons who had lost their lives in Moon Demon Village.
Shi Yubai tried to refute, "But..."
But……
He paused, momentarily unable to think of a rebuttal. He thought of Jiang Wanyin, and of the sect leaders who might have broken the seal on the Demon Realm.
"Don't you want Wanyin to come back? No matter what she did in the past, she has already died once, and everything in the past can be erased. When she comes back, she will still be the warm, cheerful, lively, and happy senior sister of the Endless Sect."
He is still one of the top seven talents in the 31st Cultivation Competition.
I remain your dearest friend.
Fu Yunyao spoke softly, her eyebrows slightly raised in a smile.
"And what about those who died needlessly in the battle between immortals and demons? Didn't they want to live?"
Her words were so pleasing that Shi Yubai even began to daydream along with her.
Fu Yunyao reached out and took the ancient book from Xuan Kui's hand. The candlelight illuminated her veil red, and the flames leaped and swallowed the book in her hand.
Xuan Kui instinctively tried to snatch the book back.
She drew her sword, Dust Sword, to block his movement. The wind generated by the sword's energy stirred Fu Yunyao's veil, revealing her face.
Her gentle eyebrows curved, her eyes reflecting the books gradually being consumed by the flames.
A chill spread, startling Xuan Kui and Shi Yubai, who had been bewitched by her words, awake.
The candlelight completely engulfed the books, and Fuyun Yao let go.
The pages, still carrying sparks, drifted slowly away, past the window, until they disappeared from sight.
Shi Yubai forced a smile, "To be able to bring someone you care about back to life, that's quite a temptation."
He looked out the window, where moonlight streamed down.
"However, the person who came back was not the same as before."
...
Where are we going?
Shi Yubai followed the figure in plain clothes in front of him and finally couldn't help but reach out and ask.
Fu Yunyao glanced at him sideways and casually replied, "The Mo family."
Xuan Kui asked in surprise, "Didn't you say you didn't want to get involved in this matter?"
"Originally, I didn't want to get involved."
The boy with the mark of Fu Yusheng's soul quietly followed beside her, seemingly afraid of being disliked again, and this time he kept a certain distance from her.
Fu Yunyao withdrew her gaze, but there was little smile in her arched eyebrows; she thought somewhat indifferently.
She didn't want to get involved, but someone insisted on coming over, even in a way that displeased her.
"But didn't the Mohists also fail to find any trace of that person?"
Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the Mohist school.
The servants guarding the door exchanged glances upon seeing the group, and one of them stepped forward respectfully to inquire, "Young Master, what brings you here?"
"Among the Mohist artificers, have there ever been any cultivators?"
Fu Yunyao spoke, and with just one sentence, everyone around her was stunned. The Mo family servants exchanged glances, all seeing shock in each other's eyes.
One of them opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he sighed softly and gestured to the others.
"Young Master, please come inside the manor for a detailed discussion."
At night, the lights in the Mo family's headquarters never go out, and the core mechanisms operate, maintaining everything within the city.
Mo Tingchuan gazed at the numerous books on mechanical arts compiled by generations of the Mo family on the bookshelf, and sighed inwardly.
She took a book from the shelf; its pages were old but remarkably well-preserved.
She lightly brushed her fingertips across the words on the book cover.
Mohist mechanical arts – puppet soul transformation.
"Master, the young master and the others have arrived."
Someone called her, and Mo Tingchuan turned his gaze to the people at the door.
The girl, dressed in plain clothes, was bathed in the red glow of the candlelight, which made her vaguely see the figure of another person.
"Listen, child—"
Mo Tingchuan closed his eyes, suppressing the surging emotions in his heart.
When she opened her eyes again, she was still the ever-calm and composed head of the Mo family.
She spoke up, "I heard that the young master asked whether the Mo family has ever had any cultivators?"
“I’m not asking, I’m certain that the Mo family must have produced cultivators.” Fu Yunyao’s voice was soft but firm.
"Why?"
"Because I found something in the books at Nanxiang Xiangfang."
She reached out, and the spirit wrapped around her fingertips flickered slightly before slowly drifting down into Mo Tingchuan's hair, as if gently caressing her.
A faint image of a girl in pink appeared before the crowd. Her eyebrows and eyes were gentle, and her eyes seemed to hold the waters of spring. She spoke silently.
Listen, child.
Mo Tingchuan stood there, stunned, his fingertips trembling slightly as he raised them, only to touch nothingness.
"Sister Chi..."
The phantom slightly curved its lips, then slowly dissipated, transforming into a spirit that lingered in her hair.
"Soul..." Shi Yubai murmured. Only cultivators could leave behind a soul after death, but...
"Why is this soul so weak?"
Fu Yunyao gazed at Mo Tingchuan.
She reached out and wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, then spoke softly.
"Her name is Mo Chizhao. She is a true genius in mechanical arts and the first cultivator in our Central Continent, where there is almost no spiritual energy."
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, she will be the current head of the Mo family.
"Is she your... sister?" Shi Yubai asked hesitantly.
Mo Tingchuan shook his head. "She is Xiao Bei's older sister. I am an orphan she picked up from a refugee slum."
Even Fu Yunyao was taken aback.
Mo Tingchuan chuckled lightly, "Surprised, aren't you? Actually, many people in our Mo family were picked up by her. Only Xiao Bei truly shares the same blood as her."
She is gentle and kind; in my opinion, all the good qualities in the world are insufficient to describe her.
She even studied mechanical arts, using them to cultivate herself and become a cultivator. The ability to transform puppets into souls was her creation.
To attain enlightenment through mechanical arts, especially in the spiritually scarce Central Continent, what extraordinary talent that must be...
Mo Tingchuan felt as if she had returned to the time when she was still alive.
She would gently stroke her hair and softly call her name, "Ting'er."
She would take her, still so young, through every corner of the Central Plains city.
She would pat her back gently at night and softly sing lullabies to lull her to sleep.
"She is a prodigy, and there are many things that need her to handle. She often says that she is sorry to me, because she feels that she brought me back but was unable to be there for me as I grew up."
The puppet's soul transformation was actually a mechanical art she specially researched to prevent me from feeling lonely while I was alone in the Mo family.
Mo Tingchuan will always remember that day, under the spring sunshine, when Mo Chizhao handed that exquisite mechanical puppet to her hand.
She said, "I left a soul imprint here. She is me. When I'm not here, she will stay with you."
We hope our little one will grow up happy and healthy.
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The author's note: Liao Liao will show some leniency towards Yu Yu's soul blood because it belongs to Yu Yu, but she will not have any tenderness towards the mechanical puppet that tries to replace Yu Yu.
Although Liao Liao is still in the stage of wanting to kill Yu Yu, Yu Yu is still different to her, so she gets angry when she finds that the person next to her is a puppet.
More updates tomorrow!
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