Chapter 19: Being Surrounded

“Why not? Don’t you want to learn more about puppet techniques?” An Shao points to the puppet in Yan Jin Chang’s hand.

“You should really like these, am I right? Some major sects have powerful puppet masters. If you can become their disciple, the speed at which you improve should be much faster than fumbling around on your own.”

Yan Jin Chang adjusts the puppet’s arm and replies coolly: “Not interested.”

“Gugugu…” A rumbling sound comes from An Shao’s stomach.

Yan Jin Chang: “.…..”

An Shao: “Well, actually, I wanted to ask if you smell something delicious?”

Yan Jin Chang’s fingertips move slightly, and the puppet begins to move. Its wooden arms hug a piece of something wrapped in leaves beside him. It waddles over to An Shao.

An Shao thanks him, he then unwraps the leaves to find out a perfectly roasted fish inside.

Yan Jin Chang: “Now no debts between us.”

“Don’t be so cold like that.” An Shao is genuinely hungry, he blows on the fish a few times before starting to eat. 

Even if he bites into a fishbone, he still chews and swallows it whole. But he still able to speak: “You went out earlier but you didn’t bring anyone back to catch me, so I owe you one this time.”

“.…..” Yan Jin Chang doesn’t understand the boy’s logic, but now he realizes the reason the boy’s previously bandaged wound has reopened. 

“You did think I went to get someone to catch you, didn’t you? That’s why you tried to escape.”

An Shao: “.…..”

Yan Jin Chang: “Your matters have nothing to do with me. So you can stay here.” 

He pauses and adds: “That piece of ebony wood is very useful.”

Just as his words finish, a barking sound suddenly erupts from beneath the tree! Hearing it both of them freeze. Yan Jin Chang pushes aside some branches to look down, and he sees a large brown dog standing below, barking non-stop in their direction.

At the same time, he hears a commotion of footsteps and other large dogs barking from a distance. Someone shouts: “Over here!”

Yan Jin Chang squints and realizes that the villagers have come running. They hold various tools, and some even have dogs on leashes. Clearly these dogs have come following the scent.

When the villagers see the dogs all stop and howling at the same tree, they immediately realize they have finally found them. “Great! So you were hiding here! We’ve searched high and low for you!”

“Who would have thought you would hide out in this forest? We wasted so much time searching over other forests last night!”

“Stop hiding! You ugly thing! Come down now! We know you’re up there!”

“You cursed thing! Ever since you arrived, the whole village has had no good luck! Today, we’ll get rid of you, what a disaster star!”

“Last night my son ate the grass you hid in that tree. He then threw up and had diarrhea all night long!”

“My child too!”

“That wasn’t any kind of spiritual herb! He just deliberately described the spiritual grass that way at the village entrance! Such a monster with wicked heart!”

“My older brother said he deliberately smeared slippery grass juice on that tree, causing my brother to slip and fall while climbing it, his head and legs are all injured.”

“There were even stones and thorns covered with weeds below the tree. If you say that wasn’t intentional, who would believe it?”

The arriving villagers quickly surround the tree, cursing loudly, their anger almost palpable. The dogs below sense their owners’ rage and start to bark even louder. For a moment, the noise of people and dogs blends together, making it hard to distinguish between the two.

Before Yan Jin Chang can speak, An Shao is already furious. Since they’ve been discovered by the dogs, there’s no need to hide anymore. 

An Shao shouts: “If you hadn’t harbored ill intentions and tried to steal the spiritual herbs he earned, would this have happened? This is clearly something you brought upon yourselves, and now you’re blaming others. A bunch of adults going after a child’s belongings and still thinking you’re in the right?”

Hearing this, the people below become even angrier, raising their weapons to stab at the tree trunk, trying to force the person above down. Some who brought axes even start to chop the tree.

An Shao, enduring the pain, sits up, he puts on his clothes, and prepares to fight back. But then he sees Yan Jin Chang in front of him raise a hand. From Yan Jin Chang’s fingertips, extremely thin spiritual threads extend, instantly piercing the body of the black puppet.

In the next moment, the small puppet about the size of two palms, comes to life. It moves its joints smoothly, even spins its sharpened head around on its neck. Then, the puppet jumps down from the tree, and a scream erupts below!

An Shao looks down to see several people who were chopping at the tree have fallen to the ground, their axes embedded deep into the soil beside them. One person’s axe even lands dangerously close to their throat. The blade pressing against their neck, already drawing some blood.

The black puppet immediately jumps over, about to step on the axe handle. The person rolls away just in time, narrowly escaping as the axe drops. That was a narrow escape. The person touches their throat, feeling a surge of fear, trembling uncontrollably.

He wants to back away but feels weak in the knees, ultimately sitting on the ground. Then, there is an unmistakable smell of urine fills the air. Everything happens so quickly. By the time those around react, the people closest to the tree have already fallen in a heap.

Especially the one who nearly had their throat crushed by the axe. Despite escaping a serious injury, his neck is still cut slightly, with blood still dripping down.

“What… what just happened?” Some who weren’t hit by the puppet controlled by Yan Jin Chang can only see the black puppet hanging there. They think it’s some kind of trick, and immediately raise their sticks to strike at it!