Chapter 19: The Wailing Puppeteer—I'm Not Going!!
Words : 1140
Updated : Sep 10th, 2025
Lu Ding was still an at And as the saying goes, “A monk for a day must strike the bell for a day.” One of the Bureau’s fundamental principles was to eradicate evil completely.
Nothing wrong with that, right?
He wasn’t interested in questioning why was there.
The fact was, he there—mixing with the
Might as well take them all out in one go.
Lu Ding glanced at the distant mountain valley, then leaped into the trees, swiftly navigating through the forest.
The moment he left—
Wen Yuquan and the others arrived.
It wasn’t that Lu Ding was much faster.
It was just that he had ended the fight too quickly.
Despite their best efforts to catch up, the three still arrived late.
“Oh hoh, well, that’s that. They’re dead. And hey, bonus prize—a dead old man.”
Yin Feng clapped his hands, summing it up in two words:
Wen Yuquan’s face twitched with irritation.
Yin Feng stepped forward to inspect the brutally slain bodies. “Yep, it’s Ling Gu. And looks like was with her too. So, our primary target and the guy we were supposed to capture? Both dead. Killed by him. How the hell are we supposed to report this?”
“What, say we just went on a nature trip?”
“Spent the whole night wandering around, doing nothing? Damn it, even if we get contribution points for this, I wouldn’t feel right accepting them. What kind of mission is this?”
Then he turned to Yan Feifan.
“Hey, Yan Feifan, does Lu Ding have such a high kill count? Ling Gu just threw out some tough talk, and this guy traveled just to take her out?”
On the way over, Yan Feifan had given Wen Yuquan and Yin Feng a quick rundown of why they were even here.
And the more they listened, the more ridiculous it sounded.
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Yan Feifan replied. “Lu-ge’s just cautious. He didn’t know if Ling Gu was serious or not, so he figured it was safer to check it out himself. He didn’t even know if she’d really be here. But when he showed up, turns out—yep, she was.”
“And she wasn’t his match.”
“So really… she was just unlucky.”
Wen Yuquan let out an incredulous laugh.
“Fine, whatever. What’s done is done. Baiyao Ancient Town has a nice view. Let’s just pretend we came here for sightseeing.”
Yin Feng had no objections to that.
“Actually, I’m cool with a nature trip, but I wanna grab a drink with Lu Ding and get to know him. We seem to get along, and since we ran into each other, might as well make friends.”
He glanced around.
“But… where the hell did he go?”
Yan Feifan pulled out his phone. “I’ll text Lu-ge.”
But before his message even got a reply—
Wen Yuquan’s phone rang.
A voice message had come in.
He played it.
A woman’s voice came through:
“This mission only had six people, right? Why is there suddenly an extra ? This guy’s a freak—who the hell called in outside reinforcements?”
“I swear to god, did Lu Ding really just run into the valley?!”
Yin Feng’s eyes widened.
“He ”
Without hesitation, he turned and bolted toward the mountain valley.
—
A few moments earlier, as Lu Ding had entered the valley in search of the
He had run into a fierce battle between a sorcerer and a investigator—
The two had been locked in combat for over a hundred exchanges, neither gaining the upper hand.
Each had their own strengths, both already wounded.
But overall—Shi Yinghe was taking more damage.
“ of known as ”
“They say you hide your ultimate killing move in your long hair, and anyone who sees it never lives to tell the tale. But what if I don’t give you the chance to use it?”
In the darkness, shadowy figures flickered rapidly.
Suddenly—an attack shot forward.
Shi Yinghe swung her sword, slashing upward——metal clashed.
The attacker was sent flying backward.
A the size of a kettle, holding a bloodstained steel fork, hung upside-down from a tree in an aggressive stance.
Shi Yinghe’s eyes darted around, cursing internally.
She have a killing move. And yes, it was devastating.
But what was the use?
Her enemy wasn’t even
From the start of the battle, she had already destroyed several of his puppets.
But no matter how many she crushed, more kept appearing.
Like an endless supply.
She had tracked down the puppeteer’s hiding spot a few times,
but before she could finish him off, he always slipped away using his puppets.
If this dragged on, her fate would be
“Shi Yinghe, Shi Yinghe…”
“How about this—you beg me for mercy, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll spare your life. After all, I’d rather not be blamed for killing a investigator, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Alright, alright! I beg you! Spare me!”
Shi Yinghe threw down her sword and started pleading dramatically.
“Don’t kill me! I’ve had a rough life! I’m still a young, beautiful woman with no man and no money! Dying now would be too soon! Please, have mercy on me!”
The puppeteer, hidden in the shadows, froze.
His expression turned strange.
He was the one who suggested begging for mercy, but now that she actually it…
Most importantly—he never expected her to be spineless.
She gave up so fast!
She even
Sure, her surrender was probably mostly …
But still—**?!
For a brief moment, the puppeteer was caught in an awkward dilemma.
And that’s when a voice spoke behind him.
“See? She did what you asked, and you’re still not happy.”
“”
The puppeteer’s heart
He spun around, raising a short fork and stabbing backward.
A scream rang out—
His arm flew into the air.
Blood splattered.
Rustling came from the bushes as the puppeteer staggered out, terror in his eyes.
Slow, steady footsteps followed.
Lu Ding emerged, stepping onto the puppeteer’s heel—
“AAAHHHH!!!”
“You… who you?!”
Shi Yinghe finally got a good look at him.
And when she saw the single star on his shoulder, her face mirrored Wen Yuquan and Yin Feng’s earlier reactions—
Lu Ding sighed.
“Seriously, is that the only question you people know how to ask?”
Ignoring the puppeteer’s wails, he lifted him up effortlessly.
“Let’s try a different question—”
“Where’s the ”
The puppeteer’s eyes widened in horror.
Under Lu Ding’s gaze, his already plain face warped into something unspeakably terrifying.
He trembled violently, pointing toward the valley.
“Th-There… over there…”
Lu Ding smiled.
“Great. Then take me to it.”
The puppeteer
“NO!! I’M NOT GOING!!!”
“Shi Yinghe!!! Shi Yinghe!!! You’re a right?! I’ll confess!!! I’LL CONFESS EVERYTHING!!! JUST DON’T LET ME GO WITH HIM!!!”
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