Tianmiao went out with Little Hairy Pig and Kong Hou.
Yan Zhengya and Yuanyuan took Dong Xiao to the courtyard in the east. The courtyard was quite secluded, but it hadn’t been tended to for a long time, with weeds overgrowing the space and the house covered in a thick layer of dust.
Yan Zhengya looked at the somewhat desolate courtyard and, feeling a bit embarrassed, said, "It’s been too long since anyone lived here, so it looks like this. We’ll clean it up right away."
"No need," Dong Xiao said flatly, and then directly took out several Puppets. As soon as the Puppets hit the ground, they began to do their respective tasks, dealing with the weeds, cleaning the house, fetching water, and repairing the roof.
Yan Zhengya stared dumbfounded at the scene, unable to regain his senses for a while. It wasn’t until a Puppet carrying a bucket of water walked past him that he snapped back to reality and excitedly asked Dong Xiao, "Dong Immortal Master, these Puppets are just like real ones. It must be very difficult to make them, right? Were they made by the Taoist Alliance?"
"No, just call me Dong Xiao." Dong Xiao thought for a moment, "I don’t know if they’re difficult to make, but they’re definitely not cheap. We bought them." They were purchased from an employee of the Heavenly Dao Office. That person was very skilled at making Puppets; they were lifelike and could help with many tasks, highly intelligent. The owner liked them so much at the time that they bought ten. The seller even tried to gouge the owner by doubling the price, but the owner was shrewder, saying, ’If next time you fancy something I bring, don’t blame me if I charge you a hundred times the price.’ Scared, the seller immediately sold ten Puppets to the owner at an eighty-percent price.
But even at eighty percent, they were very expensive, not something everyone could afford. Not every employee at the Heavenly Dao Office is wealthy or resourceful. Their resources are directly tied to their performance.
Yan Zhengya listened in a daze; they weren’t made by the Taoist Alliance, but they bought them—then who did they buy them from? Who could make such incredible Puppets?
Yan Zhengya and Yuanyuan originally came to clean the house, but in the end, they did nothing and just watched the Puppets finish everything. What surprised and left them speechless came afterward.
Dong Xiao instructed the Puppets to move the old furniture from the master bedroom to another room, then took out a luxurious white jade bed, white jade furniture, and exquisite carpets. In no time, the bedroom transformed into a place of opulence and splendor.
Yan Zhengya looked at the lavish bedroom, then at Dong Xiao, feeling like he was dreaming. Is there really a Storage Bag that can hold so many things? Isn’t this the kind of thing that only exists in legends? Demon Exterminators also have Qiankun Bags, but those were made with secret techniques passed down from long ago. There are only two or three people in the Taoist Alliance who can make such Qiankun Bags, holding positions so high that a small Daoist like him has no chance of meeting them.
Every registered Demon Exterminator in the Taoist Alliance is issued a small Qiankun Bag for capturing demons. But he’d never heard of a Qiankun Bag used for storing items, let alone one so large!
"Is this bought too?" Yan Zhengya swallowed, incredulous as he asked.
"Ah, no, this one we made ourselves." Dong Xiao replied nonchalantly.
Yan Zhengya looked at the calm-faced Dong Xiao, but his heart was in turmoil. Who were they really? Were they truly from the Taoist Alliance?
"No matter who we are, you just need to know that we mean no harm to you," Dong Xiao, seemingly seeing through Yan Zhengya’s shock and confusion, said this lightly.
"Ah, okay." Yan Zhengya nodded.
"Oh, by the way, Little Rabbit, your cooking is quite good. Cook well for us during this time, and I won’t treat you poorly." Dong Xiao turned to look at the equally shocked rabbit spirit and said this.
"Ah? Sure, sure, sure." Yuanyuan nodded rapidly. He didn’t know why, but whenever he saw the two called Kong Hou and Dong Xiao, he felt an indescribable deep fear from the depths of his heart. But the Demon Exterminator called Tianmiao made him instinctively want to get close.
Who exactly are they?
Tianmiao had no idea about Yan Zhengya and Yuanyuan’s astonishment and confusion. She was busy shopping with Kong Hou, preparing to enjoy the days of free meals and drinks that lay ahead.