Chapter 98: Puppet Strings
“Brother Ning Zhuo, I’m here!” Zheng Jian laughed heartily. Upon seeing Ning Zhuo get off the carriage, he walked a few steps forward and quickly reached him.
Ning Zhuo hurriedly clasped his hands in salute. “Brother Zheng.”
“No need for such formalities!” Zheng Jian grabbed Ning Zhuo’s arm to stop him from continuing the salute. “Come on, let’s go to the second floor.”
Behind them, Ning Xiaohui slowly stepped down, using the back of a servant as a step.
Seeing Zheng Jian dragging Ning Zhuo along while completely ignoring her, her face was covered with a layer of frost.
Ever since the successful exploration of the Immortal Palace, Ning Zhuo had fully demonstrated his value among the top ranks of the three families, and his status had risen rapidly.
To better win over Ning Zhuo, Ning Xiaoren accelerated the process of fabricating evidence to frame Ning Ze!
It was known that Ning Ze had served under Ning Xiaoren for many years, with no great achievements but plenty of hard work.
Ning Xiaoren’s actions made Ning Zhuo secretly disdainful and wary.
Ning Zhuo and Zheng Jian walked arm in arm into a courtyard.
The plaque above the courtyard’s gate was inscribed with three large characters: *Ci You Yuan* (Kindergarten for Benevolence).
The courtyard was bustling with people, all engaged in conversation, discussing someone named Li Leifeng.
Li Leifeng had finally reached the end of his life. According to his will, *Ci You Yuan* had prepared a donation event, where all of Li Leifeng’s belongings would be given away.
“I didn’t expect old Li to pass away after all. I grew up watching his puppet shows!” Zheng Jian sighed.
Ning Zhuo also sighed. “Old Li was a respectable man. Ever since he took charge of *Ci You Yuan*, who knows how many orphans and homeless children he saved.”
Zheng Jian patted Ning Zhuo on the back. “Old Li had a good life and passed away peacefully. Look at how many people came today; you can see his reputation. His life was definitely worth it.”
Ning Zhuo nodded slightly and stopped talking.
Most of the crowd had gathered at a five-story pavilion.
The donation event was held here.
Ning Zhuo and the others also entered the building.
The pavilion was designed in a looped shape.
Climbing the stairs to the second-floor private room, Ning Zhuo saw the Zhou brothers.
“Come, sit down!”
“The food *Ci You Yuan* is serving today still has that nostalgic taste, really brings back memories!”
“Yes, I still remember how much I loved watching puppet shows when I was a child. That private room over there was where I used to go.”
“When I was little, I loved leaning on the railing to watch the shows!”
Ning Zhuo remained silent, his gaze falling on a corner of the main hall.
As a child, he would often sneak in unnoticed when the ticket inspectors weren’t looking.
Huddled in a corner or behind a pillar, he could watch the shows, and sometimes, after the performances, when the place hadn’t been cleaned up, he could pick up some leftover cakes or fruits that guests hadn’t finished.
Although Ning Zhuo had early wisdom, he also had a playful side.
His uncle and aunt often treated Ning Ji harshly, letting him eat snacks in front of Ning Zhuo without sharing a single sweet with him.
Even as a child, Ning Zhuo had cravings.
He remembered one time when he was caught. Just as he was trembling with fear, Li Leifeng approached him, patted his head, took his hand, and led him backstage, giving him a clean, untouched portion of cakes and fruits.
People came and went around them, and no one was surprised by the scene. They even gave Ning Zhuo kind looks.
The details of the event were hazy in Ning Zhuo’s memory.
In his mind, the entire experience was wrapped in a gentle light, and whenever he recalled it, a warm feeling would well up in his heart.
This was why, when Li Leifeng passed away, nearly everyone in the city came to pay their respects.
The cultivators participating in this donation event were mostly prominent figures.
“With Li Leifeng gone, who knows what will happen to *Ci You Yuan* now?”
“I heard that the next headmaster hasn’t been decided yet!”
“I know the reason. Li Leifeng entrusted Zhu Xuanji to have a Detective find his successor.”
Zheng Jian and Zhou Zhenshen exchanged information casually, revealing valuable intelligence.
Ning Zhuo silently noted this.
“By the way, how is your soul recovering?”
“Almost fully healed!”
“I’m about the same!”
“When will we explore the Lava Immortal Palace again?”
As they asked this question, everyone instinctively glanced at Ning Zhuo.
It was Ning Zhuo’s performance last time that had allowed them to make a qualitative breakthrough.
However, Ning Zhuo had no desire to do so. He had already obtained the techniques and had been diligently cultivating them.
Of course, the *Five Elements Qi Regulation Art* and *Demonic Blood Tendon Technique* were difficult to cultivate.
The techniques from the fourth to the sixth layer differed significantly in the breathwork from the first three layers.
But the *Mirror Platform Spirit Technique* could be cultivated.
All activity would be suppressed and completely gathered. This often left Ning Zhuo appearing to be in a daze, when in fact, he was secretly practicing his spiritual cultivation.
Ning Zhuo said, “I haven’t come up with any solutions for now. If we continue to explore the Immortal Palace, we’re likely to repeat our previous mistake and fall into that pitch-black trap again!”
Zheng Jian and the others shuddered.
Last time, when they fell into the trap, they couldn’t live or die, unable to hear, see, or touch anything. They had to endure until their soul power reached its limit before they were finally sent out of the Immortal Palace.
This nightmare-like experience was something they never wanted to go through again.
“Have you not thought of any good ideas during this time?” Zheng Jian asked.
Ning Zhuo shook his head, and Zhou Zhu sighed.
Zhou Zhenshen tried to boost morale. “I’m almost at the peak of the third layer. Once I reach it, let’s head out together and explore the Lava Immortal Palace again.”
Everyone nodded, agreeing on the plan.
At this moment, the donation event officially began.
All of Li Leifeng’s belongings were publicly displayed, free for anyone to choose from.
Whoever could select an item could take it directly—that was the donation.
Some lower-level cultivators were overjoyed after picking up items, reaping great rewards.
Some families or powerful cultivators also took items, usually insignificant ones.
They often donated a large sum of spirit stones or resources to *Ci You Yuan* in return.
Suddenly, Zhou Zhenshen let out a small exclamation, reached out, and used a formless power to grab a mechanical wooden board and brought it to the second floor.
He took it and played with it for a moment, then laughed. “As I thought, it’s this.”
“I remember when I was little, my father brought me here, and I wouldn’t stop crying, so Old Li took out this toy to amuse me!”
“This mechanical toy is very complex. You need to piece together each transformation to get a little bit of information!”
“Eventually, when you piece together all the information, it forms a legend about immortals.”
As he spoke, Zhou Zhenshen handed the mechanical toy to Zheng Jian.
Zheng Jian played with it for a while, lost interest, and passed it on to someone else.
Zhou Zhu took it and asked curiously, “Did you ever complete the legend?”
“Of course.” Zhou Zhenshen replied, “It took an entire summer, and the immortal legend I got was only a part of it, which made me so angry!”
“But I still copied the story and wrote it on a jade slip that I carry with me at all times!”
“Going through that experience gave me a lot of patience. Whenever I get impatient, I take out that jade slip, rub it a few times, and I can quickly calm down.”
As he spoke, Zhou Zhenshen took out the jade slip and passed it around for everyone to see.
Ning Zhuo played with the mechanical wooden board and then looked at the story on the jade slip.
The jade slip recorded a legend about immortals.
In the legend, a supreme immortal master crossed the void. Tired, he took out a mixed bag, held the bag’s opening, and prepared to shake it fifty times. At the forty-ninth shake, he was too tired to continue and released the bag, which spat out a mechanical world.
In this mechanical world, the heavens and earth fluctuated, water and soil mingled, and smoke and fire swirled.
The supreme immortal master then took out a five-element staff, threw it into the mechanical world, and made the five elements circulate, placing heaven above, earth below, the oceans, and the rivers—everything in perfect order.
The supreme immortal master then entered the mechanical world to rest. Wanting someone to serve him, he used three thousand puppet strings and flicked them three times. The first flick landed on celestial energy, creating celestial puppets.
The second flick landed on demonic energy, forming demonic puppets.
The third flick landed on divine energy, creating divine puppets.
The three puppets served the supreme immortal master with utmost care.
When the supreme immortal master had rested enough, he continued on his journey. Before leaving the mechanical world, the three puppets begged to follow him.
The supreme immortal master told them it wasn’t that he was unwilling, but that the three puppets couldn’t survive
outside.
Forcibly taking them would only lead to their demise.
The three puppets didn’t believe him!
The supreme immortal master pointed to them and said, “Look at the strings on your bodies!”
The three puppets were startled.
The celestial puppet saw the strings on its body were ideals, wisdom, freedom, and betrayal…
The demonic puppet saw the strings on its body were power, chaos, love…
The divine puppet saw the strings on its body were principles, order, fairness…
For a moment, Ning Zhuo’s heart was touched, and he suddenly thought of himself.
He thought of the historical books he had studied, of the various figures within them.
He thought of the countless times he had tried to understand their thoughts.
Their choices at critical moments.
As he grew older, he gradually realized that these people, regardless of their strength, all had patterns to follow.
He thought of Yuan Dasheng, who, despite his strength, had a string of loyalty and righteousness firmly attached to his head.
Wasn’t it because he grasped this string that Ning Zhuo was able to outmaneuver him?
He then thought of his uncle Ning Ze and Ning Xiaoren. They also had strings on their bodies.
He thought of Han Ming.
Even demon cultivators had a string named greed.
“As long as I can grasp these strings, I can control them like I control mechanisms. Can’t I?”
“So then,”
“Do I have a string on my body?”
The thought sent a shiver down Ning Zhuo’s spine.
He slowly raised his head, and in a daze, he saw it.
He saw a nearly transparent, enormous string.
That was—Life Hanging by a Thread.
At that moment, the Phantom True Lotus Seed in his divine sea quietly sprouted.
Lava Immortal Palace!
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit awoke from its slumber, pressing its chest, puzzled by a sudden, inexplicable sense of fear.
The Life Hanging by a Thread disappeared from Ning Zhuo’s vision, no longer visible.
Ning Zhuo lowered his head, expressionless.
“Quite an interesting little story!”
Ning Zhuo smiled as he returned the jade slip to Zhou Zhenshen.
“It does have a certain charm.”
Zhou Zhenshen took the jade slip and casually echoed.
He could never have imagined how much of an opportunity his casual action had brought to Ning Zhuo.