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Chapter 413: Puppet Show [Start of Book 5]

On a simple but spacious wooden stage, two rather stiff human figures embraced each other. One was a man dressed in a robe made from yellow cloth, in the role of the crown prince. The other was a woman dressed in a robe made from white linen, in the role of his younger sister. Their faces looked no different from those of ordinary people, but their movements lacked a certain vitality.

As they embraced, a murmur of voices rose from the audience below.

"What are they performing?" a woman asked with a frown, feeling slightly displeased.

Dressed in a green dress, the woman had skin that was as fair as jade and a countenance that held a misty allure. She was clearly a beautiful young woman. However, there was a depth to her eyes like that of a deep lake. It gave her the air of someone much older who had experienced the vicissitudes of life.

There were around a hundred audience members behind her. About eighty percent of them were lively young women with diverse appearances. They were chatting noisily, complaining about the story being performed on stage.

As their discontent grew, the two figures on stage froze. Then a young noble with the air of someone extraordinary stepped out from backstage.

He was all smiles as he asked, "Your grace, do you not like this tale?"

"We want to see The Legend of the White Snake or Meng Jiangnu. What is this you\'re performing?" a woman in the back asked.

"Those tales are all fake; what\'s so interesting about watching them?" the young man replied with a smile.

"And this tale of yours is real?" the woman in green suddenly asked.

The young man answered, "It is, of course, a true story."

"All right." The woman in green nodded. "Then continue with the performance. I\'m curious to see what stories the human imperial family has."

The young man forced a smile. "Great."

Instead of returning backstage, he sat down in the audience. He formed a seal with his hands, and the puppets on stage began to move again.

This man was none other than Young Noble Xunyang, who had wandered to the Far West out of desperation.

In the past, Young Noble Xunyang sheltered the defeated Lu Chengchou, and that caused the imperial court to pursue him. With the imperial court on his tail, Young Noble Xunyang was recommended to flee to this demon territory, and that was exactly what he did. Fortunately, the queen of Qingqiu, one of the Seven Great Demon Kings, was exceptionally friendly to humans. Additionally, Young Noble Xunyang\'s cultivation level wasn\'t low, so he was able to use that to find a decent place to settle down.

As for why he was using his brilliant puppet divine skill to put on a puppet show, that was because he had eben commanded to do so by the Demon King of Qingqiu.

A few days ago, copies of the bi-monthly publication of The Seven Stars Gazette had found their way to the Far West. The demons of Qingqiu were captivated by the incomplete tales published in the gazette, and they wanted Young Noble Xunyang to turn the tales into puppet shows for them.

The reason they enjoyed the tales so much might have something to do with the culture in Qingqiu. Humans viewed all animals that cultivated and turned into supernatural beings as demons, but the demons were not a monolithic race. From the perspective of the various clans of demonic creatures, humans were fundamentally no different from another clan of demonic creatures.

When tigers cultivated, they would become tiger demons. When wolves cultivated, they would become wolf demons. And when humans cultivated, they would become human demons... In essence, they were all the same.

However, human demons were extraordinarily gifted. There were as many powerful figures among them as there were clouds. Consequently, they ended up dominating the nine provinces. That forced the other demonic creatures to unite as the demon race, while human demons separated themselves from this label and gave themselves a unique name—cultivators.

So, the conflict between the demon race and the human race was essentially a conflict between animal demons and human demons. Additionally, that "Demon God" from several thousands of years ago was actually just a title that the human race had given to a certain demon, but the demon race regarded that demon as their one true god.

In the Far West, the demon race was free from human oppression, and the Far West had long since become an independent state ruled by the Seven Great Demon Kings. The Seven Great Demon Kings were from different demon clans, and they each ruled a territory of their own. They only gathered when they were summoned by the Demon God Temple.

The Qingqiu Tribe was led by fox demons. Fox demons were extremely beautiful, and they were experts in transforming their appearance and bewitching others. Most fox demons were female, so they had a particular fondness for tales of love.

However, Young Noble Xunyang had never read tales like that. Despite being from the nine provinces, he had never paid attention to such things. He had only heard of the tragic love stories that were wildly popular among the common folk.

Nevertheless, with the Demon King of Qingqiu\'s command, Young Noble Xunyang had no choice but to have his puppets act out a love story from his own memories.

...

The puppets on the stage were moving again.

They played out scenes of the Crown Prince and Princess Luoyu growing up together. Due to an accident, subtle feelings of affection blossomed between them. They became deeply attached but were eventually forced to part. There were strict rules within the palace walls that made it impossible for them to be together.

"Why can\'t they be together?" a young voice sked from the back.

It likely belonged to a young fox demon who had only recently taken on human form.

This time, it was the Demon King of Qingqiu, who was sitting at the front, that answered.

"Because they are half-siblings," she said calmly. "Humans have their own morals and rules, especially within the imperial family. Such relationships are not permitted."

The young fox demon sighed, "Ah..."

The Qingqiu demons took on human forms, wore human clothes, and spoke the language of humans. Nonetheless, without having experienced life in the nine provinces, they would not be able to fully understand human behavior.

After becoming supernatural beings and gaining divine intelligence, demons avoided having romantic relationships with close family relations too. However, that was mainly because they had learned that close inbreeding could result in deformed offspring. Unlike humans, demons did not have the same morals deeply ingrained in them.

The puppet show continued.

The Crown Prince and Princess Luoyu lived within the small confines of the palace walls for many years. That was until one day, rumors spread that Princess Luoyu had reached the marriageable age, and the Emperor was choosing a consort for her.

This news brought sorrow to the Crown Prince and Princess Luoyu.

At this point, another character appeared—a palace attendant dressed in black with a small cap[1]. He seemed to cast some kind of dark magic on the Crown Prince and Princess Luoyu. Caught under a spell, they had a true union on a rainy night.

"Wow."

Upon seeing this, the fox demons in the audience clapped and cheered for the man in black.

Perhaps, in their view, two people who loved each other should be together, so the man in black had done a good deed. But it was soon revealed that he was not as benevolent as he seemed.

The man in black used this incident to blackmail the Crown Prince into doing his bidding. He wanted the Crown Prince to assassinate the Emperor!

The Emperor puppet on stage was dressed in just a simple yellow cloth, but he still exuded immense power. The moment he appeared, he exuded tremendous pressure.

At first, the Crown Prince refused to comply with the demands of the man in black. Nevertheless, when news arrived that the Emperor had chosen a consort for the Princess, the Crown Prince gave in. If he could assassinate the Emperor, he would become the new ruler of the nine provinces, and no one would ever control his choices again.

What followed was the thrilling night of the Dragon[2] Assassination.

Under the moonlight, the Crown Prince nearly succeeded in assassinating the Emperor with the help of the man in black. Unfortunately, he failed in the end.

The man in black\'s plot was exposed, and he was killed, along with all his followers. The Crown Prince took his own life. The Princess was married off to a small state in the Western Regions, never to return to her homeland.

That was the end of the puppet show.

As the story concluded, curses and shouts erupted from below the stage.

In the eyes of these fox demons, the human emperor was undoubtedly the greatest evil. The man in black, on the other hand, was seen as a righteous figure. The Crown Prince and the Princess were tragic lovers, ultimately separated by life and death. The tragic tale evoked deep pity from the fox demons.

The Demon King of Qingqiu remained silent for a moment, then she asked, "You said this was a true story. So, which dynasty is it set in? And which crown prince is featured in the tale? I have read through many volumes of human historical records, so why haven\'t I heard of this?"

"Historical records are written under the orders of emperors. How could they possibly record the scandals involving their own families?" Young Noble Xunyang replied with a smile. "As for which dynasty... it\'s the current Yu Dynasty, and this happened less than a hundred years ago."

"Humans seem to always find beauty in tragic love stories," the Demon King of Qingqiu murmured.

Her eyes, like a deep autumn lake, gazed into the clear distant sky. She seemed to be thinking of someone, the question was who.

Young Noble Xunyang smiled and said, "Your grace, it seems you have a story of your own."

1. Not the western kind of cap. See the translator\'s thoughts. ☜

2. Emperors were associated with dragons. ☜