For an instant, including Old Master Wang, most of the n in the temple unconsciously clenched their buttocks.
Of course, there were also quite a few whose gazes heatedly turned towards... the buttocks of Wu Wencai, salaciously licking their own lips.
It seed they had long been anticipating fresh goods.
Before Wu Wencai could throw away the box, the bellyband inside darted into his clothes like lightning and automatically dressed him.
Dozens of threads representing his life’s "fate" extended from his body and drifted towards the mysterious "Duke Wu" behind the curtain.
Realizing what he was about to face, this "innately evil" man who had done terrible things finally regretted his actions, screaming in agony:
"Save ! Save ! Lord Yama, I was wrong, let go to hell, let go to hell!
I will continue to push the millstone, I will earn rit badges, I will reform myself properly, I strive to be the model vanguard of the year.
Give another chance, give one more chance—!"
Old Master Wang, hiding inside Senior Brother Song, could only silently spread his hands, showing he was unable to help.
These scapegoats were all ant to die in his place, Old Wang’s. Sun Yueniang’s ascension was fate, and Wu Wencai’s life worse than death was also fate.
Once he took on the role of the "little official," his deanor suddenly turned feminine.
His face was adorned with gorgeous makeup, and he changed into a set of splendid clothes, every frown and smile exuding an allure different from that of won.
Whenever he tried to resist this state, his body rapidly beca more wooden to the naked eye.
He couldn’t tear off any of those threads representing "fate" however much he tried.
Until Wu Wencai was weakly caught between two hulking brutes like a helplessly fragile creature, stroking his buttocks and forcibly taken away.
Old Master Wang simply muted all his mories.
Not only to prevent the leakage of Yin Departnt secrets, but also to allow him to indulge in his brand-new profession without any psychological barriers.
This epitomized the phrase: "When luck is down and tis are adverse, don’t force the issue; toiling in vain will only waste your heart. A pond of clear water turned murky by today’s rain, the ground littered with last night’s wilted flowers, alas!"
Old Master Wang was simply too kind-hearted, unable to bear such human misery.
Though Wu Wencai was now a forr employee with no ties to him, he still wished him well... that he could love and enjoy his new line of work, all hail to that benevolence!
At this ti.
That spectator, who couldn’t wait to abandon the audience role because of Sun Yueniang, had just picked up a box but froze on the spot because of Wu Wencai’s tragic fate.
The box slipped quietly from his hands.
The lid flipped open, and out rolled a bamboo... dung scoop!
—Night Scent Man!
Divination: "On encountering the perilous paths of Shu, entering the Turbid River brings only murkiness. Sickness at year’s end is no blessing; without oil, even a light dims!"
Assign fate!
"Night Scent Man?! Am I dood to clean others’ excrent in this town for all eternity?!
No, no, I don’t want this!"
No matter how much he resisted, the "fate" of Night Scent Man propelled him to pick up the dung scoop and walk onto the main street.
Everyone’s personal desires are naturally beautiful.
But the social division of labor comprised of humans, just like the natural world, is always a pyramid structure of broad at the bottom and narrow at the top.
Only when there are enough people at the bottom, can those at the top reach sufficient heights!
The old adage goes, "Water overflows when it’s full, and the moon wanes when it’s full." Those who most wish for a static life, without any unexpected events, are precisely the few at the pinnacle of the pyramid.
Yet, for those at the lower rungs, every accident can be an opportunity for a desperate turnaround.
Once the lower levels lose that "unexpected," the "one that gets away," it also ans they have completely lost hope.
At that ti, a fish-seller, no matter how many tis he reads "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, is unlikely to break away from the predestined life path to beco a person above others.
It is plain to see.
Rather than allowing everyone to live the beautiful life of their dreams, "Weird," the one responsible for writing the script, prefers watching the desperation and despair on human faces as they witness the shattering of their Yellow Millet Dreams.
The so-called tragedy, is indeed... about showing the destruction of the most beautiful things to the audience!
"Accidents, outsiders, anomalies of heaven and earth, I seem to be seeing it all more and more clearly..."
Wang Yuan flipped his palm and took out the half-piece of "Heaven-Defying Half-Talisman.
"Taboo: Only those who have truly stepped out of the confines of Heavenly Dao, outsiders, can possibly realize a true challenge to Heaven, the Heaven-Defying Half-Talisman!"
Outside the dream realm, the Heavenly Dao on both sides are deadlocked in ssy battle, how similar is it to this dream realm where everything is designed by others?
No matter how much the natives struggle, how many conspiracies they unravel, their end is inevitable.
And Wang Yuan, as an outsider from Outer Heaven, an anomaly of heaven and earth, seems to be the "accident" the natives’ Heavenly Dao has long been waiting for!
This is why he has repeatedly caused the "Heavenly Officials" to miscalculate.
It is also the main reason why the "Great Fate" likes to involve him in all affairs.
...
Having lost three companions in one fell swoop, the remaining survivors truly recognized their situation.
They realized that the moon outside was not rounder than that of the mortal world.
Seeing the remaining seven people, frightened by the two unfortunate souls, no longer willingly gave up their audience identity.
The Old Temple Official was not disappointed at all and continued to say with a smile:
"Since none of the ’audience’ mbers wish to embrace a new fate, then please continue to enjoy the next act."
Li Tieniu, who was a bit slower and thus luckily avoided a disaster, boldly asked a question:
"What act?"
Only to see the old man’s face reveal a mysterious smile, as he slowly uttered two words:
"Life!
Since you’ve gone through Zhou, the act you will enjoy next is naturally life itself!"
Everyone’s eyes suddenly widened.
"Life? When will this act ever end?
We don’t want to stay in this weird place, we want to go to the next stop! Let us go!"
They all realized sothing was wrong.
"Rule Five: Only when this act is successfully perford to the end, can the audience proceed to the next stop."
When the lives of countless individuals in this small town beco acts, how could there ever be an end?
Generations will suffer without end.
Also, as "audience mbers," they could never interfere with the progression of the play.
That is to say, unless invited by the perforrs to cooperate, they couldn’t stay in inns or eat als here. They could only watch from the sidelines.
They only realized now that this rule had been a trap from the start.
The Puppet Theater had never planned to let any "audience" leave this place.
Seeing the angry expressions on the faces of the group, the Old Temple Official smiled even more gleefully:
"When does the play end? Of course, it only ends after the perforrs take their bows.
From the mont you set foot on stage, it was always inevitable that you’d beco one of us.
Perhaps you would like to forcibly interrupt this performance?
Very well, this old man will give you a chance!"
With that said, the disguises of "Deceitful Heart" were lifted from the townspeople within the temple, and they all revealed their true puppet forms.
Wooden bodies, limbs, rigid faces, and the five senses with minds of their own, beyond control...
Lines like taenia, drilling in and out of their bodies, also caused the wooden flesh to twitch uncontrollably.
It seed that with every performance that aligned with their character and predetermined fate, sothing was being pulled out, eaten away from inside their bodies.
Crackling and snapping...
With the crisp sounds of joints moving, the various puppets all started advancing with stiff steps, slowly encircling them.
Li Tieniu, who ca from a background of water bandits, was the most hot-headed. He had been fooled several tis and was already furious.
His fury surged, completely disregarding the consequences, he stepped forward and kicked the closest butcher puppet into pieces.
It clattered to the ground in a heap of parts.
"Haha, pitifully weak!
Grandpa Tie Niu will slaughter all of you clean today. Let’s see you play tricks now!"
Just as he was laughing and about to pounce on the second puppet, his body suddenly stiffened. Looking down in shock, he found his feet had turned into... wood.
And it was spreading rapidly to other parts of his body.
"Ahh—!"
He managed only to scream in agony before his whole body completely turned into a dark-faced puppet.
Looking at the butcher that had died, the strings that had been attached to him had all transferred to Li Tieniu.
In other words, after killing the butcher puppet, Li Tieniu had replaced his role.
[3. Even if the audience feels there is sothing wrong with the puppet show’s performance, they must not interfere or attack our perforrs.]
Seeing Li Tieniu, who had been the most powerful among them, rise from the ground and join the enemy ranks, the rest were even more desperate, only able to huddle together and retreat step by step toward the backstage curtain.
"Get away! Get away!"
"Don’t co near!"
"I want to return to Hell!"
Predestined to ill fortune due to their experience and knowledge, even Senior Brother Song Qian, who had been a Magician in life, was no different.
"When it cos down to it, you can only rely on yourself."
Wang Yuan had already snapped back to reality by this ti.
Most taboos involving mysterious killings followed a pattern.
In theory, as long as one could find the loophole, even a regular person might survive in their clutches.
"Audience" mbers did not know the taboos that "actors" had to follow.
But the [Heart Communication Conch] heard it all loud and clear.
"Ti for the actors to take their bows, huh?
As everyone knows, in a puppet show, the real perforrs aren’t these puppets on strings managed by people, but those who stay hidden behind the curtain..."
Just as the foremost townsperson sneered, about to grab Senior Brother Song’s neck,
Wang Yuan imdiately took control of his body, twisted around and ripped off the "curtain" that stood between Duke Wu and the front...
Whoosh—!
The scene behind the curtain was suddenly exposed to everyone’s view, while the drums and suonas providing the music abruptly beca raucously loud.
The townspeople, facing the group, then caught a glimpse of the true form of the ’divine spirit’ Duke Wu.
It appeared to be a giant centipede’s tail, carved out of rosewood, with a human torso bearing a thousand arms.
A masterful work of art, perfect in the eyes of any beholder.
But to those townspeople who had revered "Duke Wu" deeply, doubt now clouded their minds.
"Why?"
Why was this divine spirit, who governed their fates, with a fleshy upper body but a puppet-like lower body like theirs?
Why did he also have strings tied to him, like the taenia, constantly sucking sothing out?
The shock was too much, and they had forgotten the precepts they needed to abide by:
[Within the theater, Duke Wu is supre and must not be looked upon directly!]
[Don’t look up! Don’t look up!]
Following the strings on Duke Wu, they lifted their heads to see where they led.
And amidst the constantly changing clouds high above, they suddenly spotted a huge eye—the Hundred-Eyed Spirit Official!
This mont,
The seven "audience mbers" turned their backs to the divine spirit, their feet left the ground, and they finally managed to escape the theater.
Wang Yuan, watching the departing dream realm, thought to himself:
"Duke Wu feeds on the precious ’accidents’ of the townspeople to maintain his half-flesh half-puppet existence.
The slumbering [Hundred-Eyed Spirit Official] feeds on ’Duke Wu,’ his affiliate, cultivating his [Three Fates and Five Stars Dao].
Where is the supre divine spirit, Duke Wu?
Compared to the countless townspeople whose fates are manipulated, he’s just another puppet, pathetically and cowardly fleeing from his own destined role..."
In a trance, Wang Yuan felt as if he had gained a new understanding of his role as a "crossing pawn."
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