Chapter 4: Puppet Ballad
“What… is happening?”
Luo Ling stared intently at Li Tianming, struggling to free her impaled arm.
Logically, it should have been excruciatingly painful, but Luo Ling felt nothing. A surging impulse filled her mind, her vision gradually tinged with a deepening, bloody red.
Why… had the kind Dr. Li suddenly changed?
What was this “Awakened One” he spoke of?
What was this so-called “treatment”?
And what about the uncanny abilities displayed by Dr. Wu…?
Luo Ling didn’t understand these things, but she knew that what Li Tianming intended to do to her… was definitely not good.
“It’s useless. Anything fixed by a ‘Bone Spike’ cannot move,” Li Tianming said coldly. “Miss Luo Ling, I advise you not to resist the ‘Puppet Ballad.’ If I have to force it, your appearance will become as hideous as Dr. Wu’s, and I’ll have a hard time explaining it to Sister Su.”
As he spoke, Li Tianming rolled up his sleeve, revealing a prominent white mark on his arm.
The white mark squirmed, and tentacle-like white threads pierced his skin, slowly extending outwards.
Was this… the “Puppet Ballad”?
Luo Ling seemed to smell a familiar stench, very similar to the monstrous infant she had seen yesterday.
So, was Li Tianming a monster too?
What about Dr. Wu?
These beings, which Luo Ling had thought were hallucinations, were now vividly displayed before her.
“Miss Luo Ling, are you feeling wronged?” Li Tianming looked at Luo Ling, his hateful gaze softening. “But this is your fate. From the moment you became an ‘Awakened One,’ countless people were destined to die at your hands. I’m only doing this for them.
“I’ve witnessed an ‘Awakened One’ slaughter an entire city overnight. I’ve experienced their terror and irrationality firsthand. So, after I mastered the ‘Puppet Ballad,’ I swore to bring all ‘Awakened Ones’ under my control, to prevent such tragedies from ever happening again.
“Come, accept my ‘treatment’…”
A white tentacle slowly reached towards the crown of Luo Ling’s head. With her arm pinned by the ‘Bone Spike,’ escape seemed impossible.
Just as the white tentacle was about to touch her, Luo Ling suddenly jerked back several meters, leaving Li Tianming grasping at air.
“Hmm?”
Li Tianming looked surprised, then noticed the severed arm still pinned to the floor by the ‘Bone Spike.’
Not far away, Luo Ling leaned against the wall, panting, blood gushing from the stump of her right arm.
But she felt no pain. Instead, a strange, exhilarating impulse surged through her, threatening to overwhelm her.
“Why bother?” Li Tianming sighed, retracting the white tentacle. “Miss Luo Ling, the ‘Puppet Ballad’ can read your memories, control your body, and perfectly replicate your past appearance. The only thing you’ll lose is your self-awareness.
“That way, you’ll be free from the torment of your illness, your sister will see her sister recovered, and I will have eliminated a factor of social instability. Everything will have a happy ending. Isn’t that a win-win situation?”
Wasn’t that just becoming his puppet?
Luo Ling glanced at the vacant Dr. Wu and understood.
The so-called “Puppet Ballad” simply turned people into mindless puppets. What was the difference between that and being killed?
She couldn’t surrender!
“Not… a… chance…”
Luo Ling stared unblinkingly at Li Tianming, each word a low growl.
For some reason, her voice had become hoarse and raspy, like a demon from hell.
“As expected, no ‘Awakened One’ ever heeds my advice or accepts ‘treatment’… Fortunately, I anticipated this and brought Wu Qin with me.” Li Tianming’s face darkened, thinking to himself,
“Her ability, ‘Bone,’ has two skills. Although I don’t know what this girl’s ability is yet, she’s only recently awakened and shouldn’t be a match for Wu Qin.”
With that thought, Li Tianming willed Wu Qin to teleport in front of Luo Ling again, another bone spike aimed at her.
But this time, Luo Ling, despite her lack of combat experience, instinctively dodged the attack. Seizing the opportunity, she swung the makeshift weapon in her hand towards Wu Qin’s throat.
Crack!
A snapping sound echoed.
It wasn’t Wu Qin’s throat that was severed, but the weapon in Luo Ling’s hand.
Li Tianming had been startled by Luo Ling’s decisive strike, but after seeing the so-called weapon in her hand, he couldn’t help but laugh.
“A pen? Miss Luo Ling, you don’t seriously think you can break through ‘Bone Steel’s’ defense with an ordinary pen, do you?”
Wu Qin’s skin at her throat had been cut open, but instead of blood, a strange, white, viscous substance oozed out, looking like clumps of thread.
However, her neck bone was unharmed, so Luo Ling’s attack hadn’t even managed to hinder Wu Qin’s movements.
Wu Qin, expressionless, pulled out another rib, wielding the two bone spikes in a cross grip as she advanced towards Luo Ling again.
At the same time, Li Tianming’s calm voice sounded once more,
“Miss Luo Ling, it’s best not to struggle too much. Just accept my ‘treatment.’ Your sister will be very worried if you injure yourself further.”
Wu Qin’s movements were concise and swift. The two bone spikes blocked Luo Ling’s escape routes, forcing her into a corner.
There was no way for her to dodge this attack.
Li Tianming wore a triumphant expression, a smirk playing on his lips as he looked at Luo Ling.
But the moment his eyes met Luo Ling’s, all his composure vanished, replaced by uncontainable terror.
What kind of eyes were these…?
Burning, dark-gold vertical pupils, slightly slitted, gazed down at him with an indifferent yet heavy gaze, filled with an arrogance that seemed to look down on everything. It was hard to believe these eyes belonged to a young girl.
Under such a terrifying gaze, even Wu Qin’s swift movements slowed.
“Hah…”
Luo Ling exhaled softly, looking at the bone spikes about to impale her against the wall. She clenched her right hand into a fist, extending only her thumb, and swung it in a seemingly slow but unavoidable motion.
Rip—
In an instant, more white threads gushed out, and Wu Qin froze mid-motion.
The two bone spikes clattered to the floor, followed by her body.
A hole pierced Wu Qin’s temple, yet a faint, relieved smile appeared on her lips.
Leave a Reply to dweeb Cancel reply