Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 484 The Thousand Machines of the Puppet Master
Lu Zheng led the now-conscious Xiao Qingyi down the mountain and came to Zhu Yang's side.

Lu Zheng said, "I have read the letter. Please ask Miss Zhu Yang to pass on a message that I have received the letter."

Upon hearing this, and seeing that Lu Zheng remained silent, Zhu Yang couldn't help but ask, "That's it?"

"Gone."

Lu Zheng said that he really didn't have anything good to reply to, nor did he have anything that needed to trouble too many people.

Zhu Yang said, "I heard you received a reward from the Chu Emperor?"

Lu Zheng explained, "During the previous drought, I took out some bean seeds and sent them to the Chu Emperor... Perhaps the Chu Emperor was in a good mood and sent me some gifts and gave me an oral decree, allowing me to perform judicial duties in the Chu Kingdom."

Zhu Yang said, "This matter has spread far and wide. I thought it was just a rumor before, but I didn't expect Young Master Lu to have such abilities."

"However, what goes up must come down. Your reputation in Chu and the rewards from the Chu Emperor are not necessarily a good thing."

Zhu Yang's expression turned serious, and he said in a low voice, "In the State of Chu, family background is highly valued. You are very talented, but you are ultimately an outsider. If you do something out of line, the consequences will be unpredictable."

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Thank you for the reminder, young lady."

Lu Zheng paused for a moment, then said, "I heard the young lady comes from a good family?"

Zhu Yang said calmly, "There are many scions of powerful clans, and everything depends on competition. I don't want to compete with them; I just want to do what I like."

Lu Zheng thought so too. No matter how good one's background is, once a family grows large, it will have to compete with others for power.

In the State of Chu, there were plenty of people qualified and capable of holding even a slightly higher-ranking clerical position, but there weren't enough positions available.

Zhu Yang said slowly, "Although I was born in the State of Chu, I went to the Immortal Sect to cultivate when I was young and made many friends. Now I occasionally live in the State of Chu, and I have no distinction between family and country. So if there are things I can help with, it is because of our friendship."

Lu Zheng nodded upon hearing this. "I understand."

Zhu Yang then asked, "How did you get involved with Wang Tong?"

Lu Zheng explained, "He came to find me, and then..."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yang suddenly realized, "No wonder. It wasn't you who came to see him. He must have listened to someone and wanted to see your abilities, but you convinced him instead."

"Wang Tong acts erratically and has an eccentric personality, but he's not a bad person at heart. He's quite an interesting person to discuss philosophy with occasionally. But you can't stay with him for long, or he'll become very noisy..."

Zhu Yang made no attempt to hide his evaluation of Wang Tong here.

A horse-drawn carriage sped across the sky.

A white jade carriage, pulled by two pure white horses, gallops through the air, riding the wind at breakneck speed.

Under the cover of night, it looked like a white shooting star.

Upon seeing the carriages and horses in the sky, Zhu Yang exclaimed, "It's Luo Qianji! A fifth-realm cultivator, a very famous puppeteer..."

The carriage sped by, quickly passing through the clouds and landing steadily on the ground.

A tall, thin middle-aged man stepped out of the carriage.

Upon seeing Lu Zheng and his companions, the man immediately cupped his hands in greeting, saying, "Zhu Yang, you've arrived first. This must be Lu Zheng, Young Master Lu? It's an honor to meet you! I am Luo Qianji."

Lu Zheng politely returned the greeting, saying, "Greetings, Fellow Daoist Luo."

Luo Qianji flicked his sleeve and put the carriage away.

He then approached and saw the little girl next to Lu Zheng. He couldn't help but blink. Was he out and about with a child?

He thought for a moment, then took out a box and said with a smile, "Oh, I was in a hurry when I left, I didn't expect to see a child here. Come, come, here's a little gift for you, take it and play with it." Seeing this, Lu Zheng thought to himself that Qingyi might be small in stature, but her cultivation level was higher than theirs…

Qingyi looked at the box that was handed to her with a calm expression and did not take it.

Luo Qianji thought the child was just being shy, so he stuffed the box into Qingyi's hands and said, "Hey, don't be shy, take it!"

Luo Qianji looked around again and asked curiously, "Where is Wang Tong? I was asked to come here, but I can't even see a trace of him. He used to be chattering away."

Lu Zheng then said, "Wang Tong is in seclusion."

"Seclusion? What kind of seclusion is this at a time like this?"

Luo Qianji glared, rolled up his sleeves, and made a move to drag Wang Tong out.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng said, "Wang Tongxin had some insights after observing a senior break through to the Dao Inquiry Realm."

"Ask the Way!" Luo Qianji exclaimed in surprise, "When did this happen? I didn't even know about it! Where is it?"

Zhu Yang, who was standing next to him, also turned his gaze over, his eyes filled with curiosity.

"Uh, it's not far from here..." Lu Zheng said slowly, "The rain and darkness earlier were caused by that senior's breakthrough. Didn't you see the rain?"

The two looked at each other strangely. They had indeed seen rain before, but they thought it was a priest performing a ritual to relieve the drought, so they didn't pay much attention to it.

Luo Qianji's expression changed several times. "Sigh, I actually missed something like this. What a pity! I should have come out and taken a look back then. That brat Wang Tong didn't even remind me!"

Lu Zheng thought about it and realized that Wang Tong really hadn't communicated things properly.

After all, Meng Yuan spent some time preparing before his breakthrough.

Since things have come to this point, it's best not to go into any more detail, lest this person get so angry that he drags Wang Tong out and beats him up.

With a thought, Lu Zheng took out a puppet, which was the same puppet he had obtained in Yunmengze.

Luo Qianji was immediately distracted when a combat puppet suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Hey, this is..."

Luo Qianji's eyes lit up as he stepped forward to examine the puppet closely.

Lu Zheng said from the side, "This is a puppet that I obtained by chance. I wonder if Fellow Daoist Luo can tell its origin."

"Oh, I'll have to take a closer look," Luo Qianji said.

Luo Qianji immediately took action, getting close to examine the object carefully and even groping around in various places.

In a short while, Luo Qianji had completely dismantled the puppet.

He then found a spirit core hidden among the parts; the core had already exhausted its spiritual energy.

Luo Qianji said quietly, "When I first saw this puppet, I thought it was something I sold that had been modified, but it turns out it wasn't..."

Luo Qianji paused for a moment, then said, "My puppetry technique originates from the legacy of a master from the previous dynasty. The crafting method of this puppet is closer to that master's than what I have learned. Moreover, this puppet should not be a recent creation, not from the previous dynasty."

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng asked, "So someone else has also learned that master's teachings?"

Luo Qianji frowned and said, "That shouldn't be the case. Because I am that master's descendant, the art of puppetry has been passed down to this day, and no one else knows it except me. Moreover, it has never been passed on to outsiders. I am the only one who knows it."

When Lu Zheng saw Luo Qianji speaking with such conviction, he couldn't help but feel strange. If that's the case, then who made this puppet?

(End of this chapter)