By now, Xie Mingchi had spent three days and two nights in the Marionette Realm, facing life-and-death trials—but in the real world, only fifteen minutes had passed since he was pulled into the mirror.
It was as if he had just woken up from a short yet harrowing nightmare.
His eyes weren't even red anymore. It was like nothing had happened at all.
He Heqi slumped onto the sofa with a dazed look, unable to stay on his feet. "Bro… I remember Brother Wu Qiu said you were dying?"
Xie Mingchi twitched his lips. "…Yeah, that's what the ghostfire girl said too."
Even if someone's perfectly healthy in the real world, getting yanked into the Marionette Realm out of nowhere probably still counts as being on the verge of death.
"No way, bro," Heqi frowned and slapped his thigh. "We're going to the hospital first thing tomorrow!"
Xie Mingchi sighed but didn't argue. "Alright, we'll go tomorrow. Let's get some sleep now."
Heqi kept asking, "Are we gonna go back to the Marionette Realm again?"
Xie Mingchi: "No idea. Sleep."
Heqi: "Will we see Brother Wu Qiu and Brother Feinian again?"
Xie Mingchi: "…No idea. Sleep."
Heqi: "Did you get Brother Wu Qiu's contact info?"
Xie Mingchi: "..."
He didn't feel like talking anymore. He shot Heqi a look sharp enough to kill.
Heqi got the message instantly, zipped his lips, and trotted off to his room without another word.
After a while, Xie Mingchi glanced around the living room, paused, and headed to his room too.
He crawled under the covers, but sleep wouldn't come.
Maybe it was the lingering effects of the Marionette Realm. He was genuinely scared that if he closed his eyes and opened them again, he'd be face-to-face with some horror.
It seemed like the influence of the Realm bled into reality—just more faintly. But death? Death was very real.
It wasn't until dawn began to creep in that sleep hit him like a flood.
—
Early the next morning, Heqi was bursting with energy, practically dragging Xie Mingchi out of bed to go to the hospital.
Half-asleep, Xie Mingchi went to wash up. As he was about to take off the bracelet on his wrist, he suddenly froze.
He remembered clearly: the two beads that had turned gold were on the far left.
Now, they were on the right.
He swore he hadn't touched it at all last night.
Frowning, Xie Mingchi left the bracelet alone. A suspicion had started to form in his mind.
After getting ready, they passed through the dining area on the first floor, where Heqi's attention was immediately caught by the table—"Whoa, bro, did you go out and buy breakfast?"
Xie Mingchi: "..."
Sometimes he really wanted to crack open Heqi's skull and see what was inside.
Heqi was the one who dragged him out of bed—when would he have had time to buy breakfast?
Still, Xie Mingchi kept his expression neutral. "Yeah. I bought it."
Heqi was about to unwrap the food when Xie Mingchi snatched the bag away.
Inside the paper bag was a steaming bowl of savory tofu pudding and crispy golden fried dough sticks, all carefully packed in an insulated bag.
Just looking at them made their stomachs growl.
Xie Mingchi said, "They're cold. Don't eat that. I'll buy you fresh ones on the way out."
Heqi: "?"
Since when did his brother become so wasteful? Just microwave it—it'd be fine.
Also, they weren't even cold.
But before he could protest, Xie Mingchi had already walked out the door and dumped the entire bag into the trash bin at the entrance.
He'd picked this suburban villa for peace and quiet. It was a bit of a drive to the city, so he decided to just take Heqi there himself.
On the drive, Heqi was glued to the window, taking in the familiar sights. He never realized how comforting his own neighborhood was.
He even had the sudden urge to hug the greenery on the median strip.
Xie Mingchi, on the other hand, was a different story.
Something about today felt... off.
The biggest difference was—the "things" weren't there.
He took a deep breath, remembering those voices that used to echo in his ears—
"You deserve to die."
"Why should I be the one left behind?"
"You'll never escape. Never find peace."
All curses. All venomous.
But none of them showed up today.
Without those distractions, Xie Mingchi made it to the hospital without issue. With Heqi fussing around, he underwent a full medical check-up.
By evening, all the test results came back.
And every single one said he was in perfect health.
Nothing out of the ordinary. All his vitals were strong and stable.
He was fit as a bull.
Xie Mingchi couldn't understand how anyone could say he was "dying."
Heqi was baffled too. "Bro, could the tests be wrong? Maybe this hospital's full of quacks?"
Xie Mingchi quickly clamped a hand over his mouth. "Are you crazy? You're in a hospital—don't say stuff like that!"
Heqi zipped it, and the two of them hurried out.
Since everything looked fine, Xie Mingchi decided to head home. Heqi still worried, but with night falling, he figured he'd try another hospital tomorrow.
On the way back to the suburbs, they passed by a villa where the second-floor lights were on.
Xie Mingchi remembered something about that house—it had never been sold. Rumor had it the place was haunted, and the feng shui was terrible. Even the surrounding homes were hard to sell.
He had specifically bought the one farthest away.
But now, lights were on. Did someone finally buy it?
If the haunting was real, they probably wouldn't stay long.
As he drifted in thought, they reached home.
Heqi was still on summer break after finishing the college entrance exam, and Xie Mingchi had taken two months off. After a long day, both were exhausted and quickly got ready for bed.
But with the bracelet incident in the back of his mind, Xie Mingchi stayed alert.
He lay still, eyes closed, trying to meditate instead of sleep.
He held that position for hours—until about three or four in the morning—when sleep finally began to overpower him.
And that's when he heard it.
Footsteps.
They were soft—so soft that you'd miss them if you weren't fully tuned in.
But after all that time in the Marionette Realm, Xie Mingchi had developed a keen ear for strange sounds. His body instantly tensed. He focused, pinpointing the footfalls.
He slowed his breathing, making it long and even, pretending to be asleep.
Closer… closer… closer…
The footsteps stopped right beside his bed.
He felt a gaze watching him. Then—fingers brushing against his wrist.
Now!
Xie Mingchi suddenly twisted his wrist, grabbed the person's arm, and sat up in one fluid motion. "Got you!"
He hadn't drawn the curtains, so the moonlight lit the figure by his bed.
It was Wan Wu Qiu.
He paused for a moment, then smiled. "You were pretending to be asleep?"
Xie Mingchi snorted. "I figured it was you, so I waited."
After a beat, the corner of his lips curved upward. "Isn't that right… my ghost puppet?"
Wan Wu Qiu looked at him for a while, smile not fading. "So, you figured it out."
"What, you think you're good at lying?" Xie Mingchi said dryly. "You've been full of holes from the start."
"Hm… I guess," Wan Wu Qiu mused. "When did you start suspecting?"
"The moment you said you wanted to ally with me."
Sure, what he said made sense—small alliances are more reliable than large ones—but something didn't add up. He claimed to be a seasoned player yet wanted to partner with a newbie?
Newbies are dead weight at best.
But Wan Wu Qiu didn't seem to be testing him, nor did he care that Xie was a rookie. And sure, Xie had held his own in the Realm, but no one could've known that beforehand.
Even Xiao Xiao had said his red eyes looked unhealthy.
Most people stayed away. Wan Wu Qiu kept getting closer.
And he instantly knew Heqi wasn't Xie's ghost puppet. That alone raised questions.
Over the past few days, Xie had started to spot who was a puppeteer and who was a puppet, but he was often unsure. He couldn't even confidently place Xiao Xiao and Chu You.
Yet even with Xie wearing the bracelet and Heqi right next to him, Wan Wu Qiu still said Heqi wasn't his puppet.
There was only one explanation—Wan Wu Qiu knew who the real puppet was.
And that Mr. Du's game? Xie had figured it out later—he had simply paired up two teams. Wan Wu Qiu was just muddying the waters by claiming he'd rigged it.
The way they met was too coincidental. The way they survived the Realm together… too aligned.
He'd claimed Shen Feinian was his ghost puppet, but there was no visible rapport between them. For a pair that had supposedly survived multiple Realms together, they showed no chemistry.
Then there was the bracelet that shifted overnight. The sudden breakfast that appeared on the table…
All signs pointed to one thing—his missing ghost puppet had come home, and did it out of "kindness."
Putting all that together, Xie was 99.99% sure Wan Wu Qiu was his ghost puppet.
And it didn't seem like Wu Qiu had tried all that hard to hide it.
Wan Wu Qiu nodded, silently admitting it. "Want to go out for a walk? Chat a bit."
The cool summer night air was especially crisp after the previous day's rain. The damp earth added a chill to the breeze.
Xie didn't wake Heqi. He followed Wan Wu Qiu out of the villa and strolled around the neighborhood.
"I remember when I picked my puppet," Xie said, "you didn't look like this."
"That was how I used to look," Wu Qiu nodded. "I figured that version of me would feel more familiar to you, and you'd be more likely to pick me."
Xie was about to ask what that meant, but stopped himself. Come to think of it—he had chosen Wu Qiu at first glance.
So he changed the subject. "You said puppeteers and puppets usually have a connection?"
"Yeah."
"But the version of you I saw looked ancient."
"Who says it wasn't?" Wu Qiu rubbed his chin. "Maybe we were connected in a past life."
Xie Mingchi: "..."
He refused to dignify that with a response.
Wu Qiu grinned. "Hey, just kidding. You remember that kid I said used to visit me at my neighbor's house?"
"Yeah."
"…That was you."
Xie Mingchi's expression twisted. "Wait. That was me?!"
"Yep. Think of it as your past life."
Xie fell silent. His face went through about four different expressions before he finally asked, "So how long… have you been dead?"
The night wind rustled the trees. Wu Qiu didn't answer right away.
Realizing his question was out of line, Xie quickly added, "Sorry, I didn't mean—"
"About a thousand years," Wu Qiu said after a pause. "I never really kept count."
Xie was speechless.
After a while, he asked, "You've never reincarnated?"
Wu Qiu smiled. "Didn't I say? I was waiting for someone."
Xie: "Who?"
Wu Qiu: "You."
The cicadas buzzed in the trees. Even the streetlights ahead seemed dimmer.
The atmosphere was starting to get a little too heavy for Xie. He changed the topic. "What about Shen Feinian? He's not anyone's ghost puppet—how does he enter the Realm?"
"He normally couldn't," Wu Qiu said, "but he has some special privileges."
"Why?"
"Probably because of his seniority."
"He your junior?"
"He's yours too."
"So we were all classmates—if he has seniority, then you must too. That'd mean you also get special privileges."
Wu Qiu chuckled. "Something like that. You really do have a unique way of thinking."
Xie could tell he was being compared to his "past self," and felt uneasy. "I'm living this life now."
Wu Qiu nodded. "I know. A thousand years of the past… just smoke and dust."
Xie hesitated. "Are we going to keep entering the Marionette Realm?"
Wu Qiu looked up. "Probably. Until you're truly healthy."
Xie frowned. "But what's wrong with me?"
His checkups all came back normal.
"Nothing serious. Just complicated," Wu Qiu said vaguely. "But hey… we've wandered a bit far."
Xie immediately snapped to attention and looked around.
Only then did he realize—they had somehow ended up near that haunted villa.
Except now, it wasn't a villa.
It had become a crumbling, ancient castle.
One of the windows glowed with an eerie red light.
And in that window stood a woman, hair hanging loose, placing her hand slowly… against the glass.