Chapter 10: The Ten-Form Puppet Show

“Consort, it’s time to get up.” Still groggy with sleep, Mo Jiang felt the sweet fragrance beside him suddenly grow stronger. When he opened his eyes, he saw a doll-like girl standing nearby, dressed in dazzlingly bright and ornate clothes—she looked just like a sugar figurine brought to life.

“And you are…” Mo Jiang glanced at his side and noticed that the “White Rabbit Cream Candy” was gone. The girl before him seemed vaguely familiar, so he asked.

“Oh, you’re so mean! As soon as I put on clothes, you don’t recognize me anymore!” The sugar figurine girl turned her head away, feigning shyness.

Mo Jiang wanted to protest—this isn’t wearing clothes, this is putting on a disguise!

“Your Highness, shouldn’t we go to pay our respects to His Majesty?” He changed the subject without missing a beat.

“Yes, we have to see Father first. After that, you and I will head to our fief.”

“Our fief?” Only then did Mo Jiang learn the sugar princess’s name: she was called Xiao Rong.

“Yes,” she replied. “After marrying you, I must leave the palace and go to our fief. Yours is in the Heze Domain. The water there is famously beautiful, and there are all sorts of amusements.”

“Please wait a moment, Your Highness. I’ll get up at once.” Mo Jiang’s heart leapt when he heard they’d be heading to the Heze Domain. The Stone Gate had warned him in his attribute window that, with his current strength, entering Heze was impossible—unless he had the protection of the sugar people’s army.

After all, the first doll that had killed him was immediately presented to him as a betrothal gift from the sugar princess, a display of the Sugar Kingdom’s strength—and their goodwill.

Now, as Mo Jiang observed the Flower Castle closely, he realized that even considering the diminutive size of the sugar people, the castle itself was enormous—comparable to a whole city.

“Perhaps it’s not just a city,” Mo Jiang murmured, remembering his last world, which had been no larger than a town. “Perhaps it’s a world unto itself.”

After their audience with the Sugar King, Mo Jiang saw the army that would escort him and the sugar princess to the Heze Domain.

The first place they passed was the castle’s garden. Yet it was no longer a garden; the death of the Seventh Miss had transformed it into the Withered Ghost-Face Grove.

Only when Mo Jiang entered did he understand why the Stone Gate had given it such a name.

The grove was saturated with the stench of decay that would not disperse. The flowers and trees soared to incredible heights, exhaling clouds of gray-black miasma. Within their branches and leaves, ghostly faces flickered in and out of sight—sprites peculiar to this place, each one twisted and malicious in appearance, bristling with aggression.

But before the sugar soldiers, these ghost faces were crushed and swept aside, even rousing a doll hidden in the Withered Ghost-Face Grove.

This doll resembled the first one Mo Jiang had met, but it wasn’t one of the six required by the Stone Gate’s quest. It was a failed creation of the Seventh Miss, which had unexpectedly awakened after her death at the hands of an intruder. This doll was powerful—stronger even than the first—and the sugar soldiers sent against it were no match. Driven by awakened fury, it fought its way to Mo Jiang.

Mo Jiang drew his bone armor and bone-handled axe, instantly doubling his strength. He charged the doll, but after blocking just one punch, he was sent flying, crashing to the ground and rolling over and over.

Then, as Mo Jiang looked on in shock, the petite sugar princess sprang into action.

In her hand, a sugar figurine shot forth, as dark as black chocolate and resembling the princess herself. The chocolate sugar figure moved in a blur, landing a punch on the doll and driving it back. In a flash, the princess herself appeared at the doll’s side and struck again—a resounding crack.

The doll was strong but slow, completely outmatched by the sugar princess. In the end, it couldn’t even touch the hem of her dress before it was dismantled—reduced to a pile of fragments, screws, and odd, unnameable pieces.

“Consort, are you alright?” The sugar princess hurried over with concern, reaching out to help Mo Jiang up.

Mo Jiang spat out the dirt in his mouth and waved away her assistance. Instinctively, he asked, “What was that just now?”

That ghostly, elusive movement had been both terrifying and exhilarating.

“That was the Tenfold Puppet Play,” the princess replied. “But it requires a special talent, and you need to find an ancient underground puppet that’s compatible with you. If you find one, I can teach you.”

“What are these ancient underground puppets?” Mo Jiang asked.

“According to Father, they’re relics buried in ancient times. Some of them awaken by accident and become monsters like these.”

Hearing this, Mo Jiang thought of his quest.

“These ancient underground puppets are probably the failed products the Seventh Miss couldn’t revive when she made her seven great dolls.”

Mo Jiang glanced at the scattered parts on the ground with some regret. This wasn’t one of the six required for his quest; otherwise, he’d have been a third of the way done.

They continued their journey unimpeded, finally arriving at the Heze Domain.

It was a vast marshland, some pools deep and wide, others shallow. Flat stones were laid out for stepping, and small wooden bridges jutted up from the water’s surface.

At the heart of the marsh stood a pavilion—immense in scale.

The princess’s traveling palace was set atop this pavilion. When Mo Jiang climbed up, he found the palace was shaped like a stone stool—a gigantic one, hollowed out and converted into a residence, spacious enough even for him.

There, Mo Jiang met another doll.

According to the Stone Gate’s prompt, this was the third doll. However, it served the Sugar Kingdom loyally, guarding the princess’s palace.

“Consort, as you instructed, I found an ancient box there,” said a wooden female doll, approaching Mo Jiang with deference.

This was the third doll.

As she spoke, several sugar soldiers carried over a bronze chest.

Ding!

Reward: After marrying the sugar princess, congratulations on reaching the pinnacle of life. Doesn’t the power to command others feel exhilarating? But don’t forget your quest! (You’ve obtained one of the Seventh Miss’s failed dolls. Redeem it for the Witch’s Fruit of Sin and Redemption—trust me, you won’t lose out. The Tenfold Puppet Play is right before your eyes!)