After revealing himself to be an elderly man in his sixties or seventies, Uncle Bai suddenly opened up as if a floodgate had been unleashed, forcing Wang Little Puppet to listen to his continued chatter.
“…”
Uncle, are you a little princess who enjoys talking to Barbie dolls?
In other words, an uncle who dresses up his own puppet as Sailor Moon… Wang Xiaomie twitched his lips, you’re quite trendy, sir.
“When Yan Chun and Zhen Bei didn’t come back, I knew they had failed, but it’s okay. Besides them, I have many other customers.”
Yi Yan stood up, picked up the suitcase, placed it on the table, and opened it. Inside, there were no clothes, just various gadgets that Wang Xiaomie couldn’t make sense of.
“Actually, I didn’t intend to do anything to you from the beginning. Although you and him have lived for a long time, in my eyes, you both belong within the scope of the human race. I never take the life of a living creature.”
He laughed, while Wang Xiaomie wanted to deliver a friendly punch to his face! You indeed don’t destroy life! But you’re even more despicable than destroying life!
Yi Yan couldn’t hear Wang Xiaomie’s inner voice and continued, “The first ones to discover your presence on land were my puppets.”
“I left a puppet by Bai Yu’s side. That kid is very talented. Actually, I didn’t want him to enter the craftsmen circle, but he kept researching on his own. I had no choice but to protect him using this method. I didn’t expect him to accidentally provoke you and form a connection with you… Later, when you rescued him from the monster and took him in…”
“At that time, I thought it might be an opportunity.” Yi Yan continued to sort items while lowering his head, speaking softly, “Later, the crazy woman and the puppet you encountered at Bai Yu’s house were all my doing. Dispatching the monster that broke into your house was also to have a reason to approach you.”
He suddenly tilted his head and smiled at Wang Xiaomie, who was sitting in the chair, unable to move.
“Your body is truly the most beautiful craftsmanship in the world. It’s simply perfect for making a puppet.”
“……”
I see your noggin is quite round as well. How about you let me twist it off! Wang Xiaomie gritted his teeth.
No wonder that day at Bai Yu’s house, they almost got chopped to death by the girl mistaking them for Cheng-ge. No wonder afterwards, when they encountered attacks from another zombie, Yi Yan suddenly appeared.
So, he had been scheming all along. However, Wen Fengjin had already caught wind of it. Wen Fengjin had mentioned seeing a note in the ancient book brought by Bai Yu: [If you encounter a monster surnamed Yan, take his blood.]
Moreover, they had seen the character ‘Bai’ written in the special script of craftsmen on the little flag at Yi Yan’s door.
Perhaps Yi Yan (Bai Cheng) hadn’t expected anyone to recognize the script of craftsmen, but after Wang Xiaomie’s death, Wen Fengjin had recruited talents with extraordinary abilities from all over to resurrect Wang Xiaomie, including craftsmen and Taoists.
Wen Fengjin had also studied their script.
However, Wen Fengjin only speculated that Bai Yu and Yi Yan were relatives, possibly father and son.
When Wen Fengjin told Wang Xiaomie his speculation, Wang Xiaomie was so shocked that his jaw almost hit the ground. And learning from Bai Yu that Bai Yu had actually fallen in love with Yi Yan, Wang Xiaomie’s heart was filled with nothing but ellipses…
Now Yi Yan was claiming to be Bai Cheng, Bai Yu’s grandfather…
Wang Xiaomie: …Oh god, grandpa! Oh god, what a plot twist!
Oh fuck, being shocked by a father-son romance was enough, and now you’re telling me it’s a grandfather-grandson romance?
Grandfather-grandson romance!!
Thinking that this might have been Bai Yu’s first love, Wang Xiaomie: …
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He felt bitterly disappointed about being betrayed by Da Bai, but still felt inexplicably sympathetic.
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Lbqf atfgf’r cb Ojb Djl lc tfjnfc~
Coafg atgff rfmbcvr bo gfrqfmaoei rlifcmf, Qjcu Wljbwlf’r ygjlc revvfcis milmxfv. Eluta, la’r ecvfgrajcvjyif atja Djl Te kbeiv wlrecvfgrajcv Tl Tjc lo Tl Tjc agfjafv Djl Te rb kfii yfmjerf Tl Tjc lr Djl Te’r ugjcvojatfg. C ugjcvojatfg rqblilcu tlr ugjcvmtliv lrc’a ecmbwwbc, jcv lclaljiis cba cbalmlcu Djl Te’r offilcur mbeiv jirb yf jaaglyeafv ab biv juf jcv cba atlcxlcu lc atja vlgfmalbc.
But what about later?
If Yi Yan didn’t notice in ten or twenty days, what about one or two months?
Would the astute Yi Yan not notice Bai Yu’s obvious desire for intimacy?
Thinking back to the words Yi Yan had said when he and Bai Yu separated rooms just now, Wang Xiaomie felt certain that Yi Yan must have realized…
Tragic!
His sole heir had been bent by his own hands, and their family line had been broken. If only he could speak freely, Wang Xiaomie really wanted to interview Yi Yan about his current inner feelings.
Wouldn’t it be super sour and refreshing?
Ahem, I’m not gloating, Wang Xiaomie smirked secretly, really not, hehe…
Yi Yan casually placed the puppet materials into the wooden cabinet in the room, and Wang Xiaomie’s eyes were drawn to an unsecured lacquered mahogany box.
Yi Yan opened it and checked inside briefly, and Wang Xiaomie managed to steal a glance.
Inside was a small puppet with joints wrapped in transparent threads, allowing it to move. Wang Xiaomu’s eyes lit up, guessing that it was the thing controlling him.
Yi Yan quickly closed the wooden box and locked it inside the cabinet.
“I still need to use this thing to control you and have Wen Fengjin deal with the Drought Demon for me,” Yi Yan said, a smirk playing on his lips, his eyes narrowing like a fox’s.
“In a few days, I’ll join a group of tomb raiders to enter Qishan and steal the other zombie that the Drought Demon cherishes. What do you think if I use you and that zombie to threaten the Drought Demon and Wen Fengjin into fighting each other? Whoever wins, you or the zombie, gets to live. How about that? Hehe~”
Damn, this uncle is treacherous as hell! Wang Xiaomie thought. When the time comes, Wen Fengjin would fight for him to live, An Xie would fight for his family’s Purple Hair to live. They would definitely fight each other to the death, and both of them are not easy opponents. The survivor would surely be severely injured, and in the end, Yi Yan would still have the final say, right?
Gritting his teeth, Wang Xiaomie remained silent. Yi Yan walked over and ruffled his hair like petting a dog.
“Good boy~”
Wang Xiaomie: Good boy your ass!
Suddenly, there was a call from downstairs.
“It seems they’ve arrived.”
“They” referred to the tomb raiders hired by Yi Yan. He glanced at the quartz clock on the wall and mused, “Wen Fengjin will need at least four days to catch up here. We have enough time.”
After Yi Yan finished speaking, he descended the stairs with a smug smile, confident that Wang Xiaomie couldn’t escape.
And indeed, Wang Xiaomie couldn’t make any unnecessary movements, so he obediently sat there without moving.
…Is sitting like this for an hour going to make my legs numb? Puppets have no rights. Wang Xiaomie teared up.
They didn’t know how Yi Yan had persuaded those people. The wooden building wasn’t well soundproofed, and Wang Xiaomie’s ears were keen. He could hear that there were a lot of tomb raiders, probably dozens of them, with voices overlapping in a cacophony. Some of the men had loud voices, and Wang Xiaomie even heard Yi Yan giving each of them a golden tool…
Wow! One for each person… An Xie and Little Purple Hair are really unlucky.
With time pressing, Yi Yan made sure nothing was overlooked and decided to depart immediately after determining Wen Fengjin’s arrival time. In the evening, Yi Yan came up to control Wang Xiaomie to address his physiological needs before making him sit on a chair.
The chaotic noises of the group of people faded into the distance, and Wang Xiaomie didn’t see Yi Yan anymore.
After Yi Yan left, Wang Xiaomie, who’d been subjected to Wen Fengjin’s blood ritual for the last time which slightly restored movement to his fingers and body, could move. However, to prevent getting caught by any surveillance device or thing in the room, he stayed put.
The next morning, it was Bai Yu who came up carrying a suitcase.
Having sat all night, Wang Xiaomie felt like he had developed a slipped disc, frozen shoulder, and cervical spondylosis.
Bai Yu used a small key to unlock the cabinet door and took out the wooden box. From inside, he pulled out the small puppet to control Wang Xiaomie to stand up. The moment he stood up, Wang Xiaomie could clearly hear his joints creaking in agony with each movement.
“……”
Fortunately, Wang Xiaomie couldn’t sense much below his neck at the moment, or it would have been much more sore and refreshing!
Bai Yu’s manipulation wasn’t as skillful as Yi Yan’s, and he had to make several awkward movements with Wang Xiaomie before stabilizing him. After using the restroom and washing his face, Wang Xiaomie was once again helped back to the chair.
Wang Xiaomie: …You two really live up to being grandfather and grandson! Can’t you let me lie down for a while?! Even standing for a while would be fine!
It’s a pity Bai Yu didn’t hear Wang Xiaomie’s inner thoughts. He squatted on the floor to tidy up the suitcase, which contained various green or light blue mandarin jackets and some personal items. It explained why Yi Yan’s suitcase had few toiletries – they were all here!
Surreptitiously observing Bai Yu’s earnest profile while he organized Yi Yan’s clothes, Wang Xiaomie sighed inwardly.
Oh Da Bai, do you really like him that much?
To give up friends, feeling Yi Yan’s alienation and still following him without hesitation…
In the eyes of Wang Xiaomie, who had experience in two lifetimes of love (and Shura Field), Bai Yu’s initial feelings were indeed pure and deep love. However, they had been skewed by Yi Yan and mixed with many other emotions.
For example, the sadness after being distanced by the beloved, and the stubbornness towards the first love. If one truly loved deeply, letting go would certainly be difficult. Since ancient times, there wouldn’t be so many lovelorn men and women if breaking up were easy.
This can all be understood, but… Wang Xiaomie wanted to cover his face.
Da Bai, Yi Yan is your grandfather!
Your own grandfather!
He couldn’t even dare to imagine how Bai Yu would react once he found out the truth. Wang Xiaomie imagined their conversation after Bai Yu’s confession.
The imagined dialogue went like this:
Da Bai: Yi Yan, I like you. Let’s be together!
Yi Yan: Out of the question.
Da Bai: Why?
Yi Yan: Because I’m your grandfather, grandson.
Da Bai: ……
Wang Xiaomie, coming out of his reverie, thought: This is too scary, really too scary. It’s so heartbreaking that it makes me want to shed tears of sadness for Da Bai and Lao Bai’s love story.
As he was thinking this, suddenly there was a ‘ding’ sound from somewhere.
Wang Xiaomie discreetly glanced over and noticed that when Bai Yu picked up a piece of clothing, a pocket watch fell out from the inner pocket, rolling on the ground for a few turns before settling.
Bai Yu was momentarily stunned, then picked up the pocket watch. Its surface was smooth from frequent handling, clearly a personal possession. Such a vintage item falling from Yi Yan’s pocket couldn’t belong to anyone else.
Perhaps it had accidentally been left in the inner pocket when changing clothes.
Bai Yu ran his fingers over the surface of the pocket watch, a faint smile appearing on his face. He then opened it to reveal a pair of stationary hands, with a round photograph tucked inside.
The men’s pocket watch was rather large, so the photo inside was a close-up of two people. The photo was quite blurry, but one could vaguely discern Yi Yan and a woman standing closely together.
In the black and white photo, the woman appeared slightly darker than the man next to her. She had round eyes, a small and delicate nose, naturally upturned corners of the mouth, plump lips, and a face radiating boundless vitality. Not only was she very attractive, but she also exuded a playful and adorable charm.
Upon closer inspection, Wang Xiaomie realized that this woman bore a striking resemblance to Bai Yu!
Bai Yu gazed at the photo for a moment, his smile suddenly freezing.
He showed an expression of disbelief as he turned the photo over.
The compartment for the photo in the pocket watch was obviously specially designed. A small round frame could be opened, revealing the back of the photo, where a few small words were written.
[Gift to my wife.]
“……”
Wang Xiaomie: Oh no, it’s all over.
“How is this possible?!” Bai Yu muttered to himself, then suddenly rushed out as if remembering something.
After a few minutes, Wang Xiaomie heard him running back up, holding a creased photo in his hand, which he placed on the ground, and then he placed the pocket watch next to it.
Playful smile, delicate and adorable features…
The woman in the photo and the woman in the pocket watch were clearly the same person!
“Grandma…”
Bai Yu collapsed to the ground, his eyes empty.
“How is this possible… How is this possible?!”
Author’s Note:
Yi Yan did not approach his family because he didn’t want his family to follow his path. The injuries he sustained back then weren’t something that could be healed quickly. There might be craftsmen, some tomb raiders’ families, and those monsters who had been dealt with by Yi Yan, who might come knocking.
So he simply faked his death.
As for Yi Yan’s feelings towards Wang Xiaomie, it’s similar to playing a card game and drawing the best hand.
There are no other emotions involved; he just sees Wang Xiaomie as good material, capable of becoming his best masterpiece.
