Chapter 111: The Puppet Turned into a Human Stick

A tall figure tossed the two onto the ground; they twitched a few times and then died.

The gloomy courtyard fell silent.

Xiaosi came to his senses, hurriedly crawled to Xiaoshi Nu's side, took off his outer garment to cover her, then kowtowed toward the figure while crying, "Thank you, Benefactor! Thank you, Benefactor!"

"Sister! Quick... quickly kowtow to the Benefactor!"

He trembled as he helped Xiaoshi Nu to her feet.

"No need," the person half-squatted, "I've already dealt with the guards outside the back gate; you two leave quickly."

At that moment, Xiaosi and Xiaoshi Nu clearly saw the other's face.

Just now they were too panicked, their minds blank; although they felt the person's figure looked familiar, they didn't think further.

At this moment, a face that terrified them to the core came into view, frightening Xiaosi so much his whole body went limp.

Xiaoshi Nu was even more frightened, opening her mouth to scream.

"Don't shout." Suddenly another figure appeared behind them, quickly covering the siblings' mouths, "Don't be afraid, he's not the person you know."

Until the siblings calmed down, the hand covering their mouths slowly loosened.

The ones who struck down those sturdy men were none other than Xiao Qidi and Li Yao.

"That person really looks just like me?" Xiao Qidi asked softly.

The siblings, still shaken, mustered their courage and took a look at Xiao Qidi's face.

If it weren't for Xiao Qidi's distinctly different aura and gaze, the siblings would have almost fainted from fright.

Xiaosi stammered, "So alike... no... practically like they came from the same mold, Benefactor... you, who are you? Are you and the master of this manor... twins?"

Xiao Qidi took the water flask from his waist and handed it over, "Have some water first."

"Thank you, Benefactor..." Xiaosi first gave his sister a few sips, then drank a little himself.

After drinking the water, the siblings had mostly calmed down.

Xiao Qidi then briefly questioned the two and quickly learned what they had just experienced.

"Beasts!" Li Yao exclaimed, veins bulging on his forehead in anger.

Xiao Qidi's killing intent grew; after a moment's thought, he said, "Take these siblings out, find an inn to settle them, then come back to find me; I'll leave you a marker."

Li Yao obeyed, picked up Xiaoshi Nu on his back, and quickly left with Xiaosi.

Xiao Qidi dragged the corpses in the courtyard into the bushes to conceal them, then slipped back into the darkness.

The night grew deeper.

The man in the hall, after indulging in pleasure, left a mess all over the floor.

Drunk as mud, he was escorted by the servants to the bedroom.

The servants cleaned his body and changed his clothes, then left the room; shortly after, Xiao Qidi slipped in through the window.

"Who would have thought there really exists someone in the world so like me?" Upon seeing the man's appearance, Xiao Qidi was greatly startled.

This feeling was practically like his soul leaving his body to stand aside and watch his own flesh.

Suddenly, the man opened his eyes a slit, "You... give me... pour water, I'm so thirsty..."

Xiao Qidi was even more astonished, because even their voices were indistinguishable.

The man was so drunk his vision blurred; he thought the person standing by the bed was a servant, and seeing the servants not obeying, he angrily shouted, "I told you... give me... give me water! Are you deaf?"

As he spoke, he still wanted to kick someone.

In the end he didn't kick anyone, but instead he himself rolled off the bed.

"Quick... quick... come help me!" the man lay on the ground, weakly commanding.

Xiao Qidi directly kicked him in the stomach.

"Ugh!" the man immediately clutched his stomach and vomited all over the floor.

Xiao Qidi frowned, feeling a wave of nausea.

It wasn't because the scene before him was nauseating.

But because he thought of how, in the parallel universe where Ning Jinli resides, another version of himself had actually been replaced by such a scoundrel.

Moreover, if not for the spacetime portal between the two worlds and his gaining Ning Jinli's help, he too would eventually be replaced by this beast before him.

This is utterly a disgrace and humiliation!

"You... you..." the man vomited while cursing, "You damned bastard, I... I'll skin you and tear your bones apart!"

Xiao Qidi lifted his foot to press on the man's chest, disgustedly saying, "If you weren't still useful, I would have already cut you to pieces."

"You have the gall of a dog!" the man, forcing himself despite his drunkenness, said, "Do you know... do you know who I am... who?"

Xiao Qidi sneered, "Who are you?"

The man, eyes bleary with drunkenness, expression exceedingly proud, said, "I... I am the most important person of the current Prime Minister! I will... I will replace the current His Majesty, I will become... become Xiao Qidi!"

"With your conduct, aside from looking like him, what else could compare to him?" Xiao Qidi's eyes flashed with cold light.

The man grinned, "Looking like him... that's enough; once I replace him, I'll be able to... help the Prime Minister firmly control Daxuan, otherwise the Prime Minister... wouldn't feed and pamper me so well..."

"That's really too bad," Xiao Qidi said, grabbing his collar and lifting him up, "You have no chance."

At this moment, the man finally got a rough look at the face of the person before him.

He froze for a moment, his eyes gradually widening, expression like seeing a ghost, "You... you how do you look exactly like me? Who are you!"

Xiao Qidi lifted a fist as big as a sandbag and smashed it into the man's face.

With one punch, the man passed out on the spot.

Afterwards, Xiao Qidi changed into the man's clothes, and then put his own clothes on the man.

"Master, are you awake?" a servant's cautious voice came from outside the door, "Shall we come in to attend?"

Xiao Qidi mimicked the feeling of drunkenness, adopting an arrogant and overbearing tone, shouting, "No need... get lost!"

"Master, please calm your anger, we'll leave at once!" the servant outside immediately departed.

Soon it was the third watch.

Li Yao followed the markers left by Xiao Qidi, tracked him all the way here, lightly climbed through the window, and at first sight saw the person lying on the floor.

"His Majesty?" Li Yao hurried over, "Why are you lying here?"

"I'm here." A low voice came from the corner of the bedroom.

Li Yao quickly turned toward the sound, stared for a moment, then immediately turned back to look at the person on the ground, and then looked again in shock at Xiao Qidi.

Xiao Qidi walked up to him, "You look just like him, right? When I first saw him, I was startled too."

Li Yao gasped, "As a subordinate, I actually couldn't tell them apart!"

As they spoke, a flicker of wariness flashed in Li Yao's eyes, and he unconsciously stepped back half a step.

"On your way here from Shuncheng, you ate six cans of meat, gnawed eight pieces of bread, and drank fifteen packs of yogurt," Xiao Qidi said softly, "and you urinated three times and defecated twice."

Li Yao instantly let out a quiet sigh of relief, a hint of embarrassment appearing on his face.

The canned meat, bread, and yogurt were given by Jinli Fairy for them to eat on the road.

Only His Majesty knew these details, and knew them so precisely.

Even the number of times he urinated and defecated on the way was mentioned; that definitely couldn't be wrong.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty!" Li Yao hastily bowed his head, "It's just… this person looks too much like you."

Xiao Qidi waved his hand, "Being vigilant is a good thing; that's also exactly why I chose to bring you along when I left Xi Tun Guan."

Li Yao clasped his fists, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Xiao Qidi glanced at the man on the floor, "Take him away and follow the plan: not only must you turn him into a human stick, but also pull out his tongue so he cannot speak."

"Yes!" Li Yao also looked at the man on the ground, a fierce chill in his eyes, "I will certainly give this beast a proper reception!"

——

In the blink of an eye, several days passed.

During this period, Ning Jinli often thought of Xiao Qidi, several times almost unable to resist opening a spacetime portal to find him.

Now she has confirmed that, no matter where Xiao Qidi is, she can generate some kind of sensation, thereby moving the entrance and exit of the spacetime portal's other end to his area.

However, this time Xiao Qidi's actions must be especially cautious and secret.

She didn't want to run over and cause trouble, so she could only wait patiently.

On the factory side, with Shangguan Ying's covert assistance, the military-industry production license has been issued, and the corresponding workshops are being built in full swing.

As for the talent, equipment, and raw materials needed to produce military-industry products, Ning Jinli doesn't need to worry; once the workshops are finished, everything will be in place.

Moreover, she discussed with Ye Zhiqiu building a direct road connecting Xi Tun Guan, Yaowang Gu, and Yuqi Mountain.

These three points happen to form a triangle; although modern large excavators cannot be used yet, Ning Jinli provides sufficient basic modern tools.

**Working together to build three roads is no problem.

"To get rich, first build roads"—this saying holds true at any time.

Once successfully connected, transporting materials and joint construction among the three places will be much easier.

Building a modern metropolis on the western frontier of Xuan Guo will certainly not be a pipe dream.

Besides these matters, the earlier factory accident involving loss of life has also been thoroughly investigated.

Just as Shangguan Ying and Ning Jinli had suspected, the mastermind behind it was indeed Ning Hai.

The local police personnel involved and the people arranged by Ning Hai all received corresponding legal sanctions.

Except for Ning Hai.

Because he noticed something was wrong that night and fled immediately, not even going home, buying a ticket straight to the airport and escaping abroad overnight.

Since Ning Hai kept those deeds hidden from his family, his wife, daughter, and all the heads of the Ning Family enterprise were unaware, so they were not implicated.

Another few days passed——

On the Xuan Guo side, an unexpected guest arrived at the Prime Minister's Residence in the royal city.

Originally, as Prime Minister, Si Tu Wei would not casually meet an unfamiliar person.

But when the servant reported that the visitor claimed to be a commander from Xi Tun Guan with important news to deliver in person, he made an exception and summoned him.

"Subordinate Li Yao greets the Prime Minister!" Li Yao performed a deep bow.

Si Tu Wei sized up this young man, his face weathered and clothes ragged, and said casually, "You'd better really have important news."

Li Yao glanced around.

Si Tu Wei waved his hand, signaling the servants to retreat.

"Prime Minister," Li Yao lowered his voice, "His Majesty is being held captive in Xi Tun Guan by an unknown hostile force."

Although Si Tu Wei is as steady as Mount Tai, hearing this also slightly changed his expression: "Is this really true?!"

Li Yao continued: "Absolutely certain!"

"What is the situation now?" Si Tu Wei stood up and walked over to Li Yao.

Li Yao slightly bowed his head, "I led the Xi Tun Guan troops in pursuit and wiped out that enemy force, but… it was already too late…"

Si Tu Wei's face twitched: "Is he dead?!"

"No…" Li Yao said with grief and indignation, "His Majesty is still alive, but… he has been tortured by the enemy into an inhuman shape! Both his legs and arms have been cut off, leaving only his torso! The enemy… also gouged out his eyes, cut off his ears, nose, and tongue!"

Si Tu Wei froze on the spot, his pupils constricting.

Li Yao knelt heavily, "I fully understand that this matter is of great importance; if leaked, it will shock the court and populace, frighten the people, and the remaining Six Nations might take advantage to cause trouble for our Daxuan! Therefore, I dare to secretly bring the already inhuman His Majesty back to the royal city to report to the Prime Minister, and ask the Prime Minister to decide!"

Si Tu Wei took a while to recover from the shock.

He helped Li Yao up, stared into his eyes, and asked, "Where is His Majesty?!"

"He's in my carriage," Li Yao strained, his eyes turning red, "Please, Prime Minister, send people to help lift His Majesty inside."

Si Tu Wei immediately agreed, "Alright, you go first; I'll arrange people right away!"

Not long after, a blood-soaked large cloth bundle that could barely be made out as a torso shape was carefully lifted by someone into a secluded side room.

Si Tu Wei blocked the sides, stepped forward himself, and slowly lifted the blood‑soaked cloth.

A heavy, pungent medicinal odor mixed with the scent of blood rushed at him, making him cover his nose.

Li Yao quickly approached, "Prime Minister, let me handle it…"

Si Tu Wei's complexion turned slightly pale as he covered his mouth and nose and stepped back two paces.

In front of him, Li Yao peeled back the blood‑soaked cloth layer by layer, revealing a torso‑only corpse, its mouth open, breathing feebly, a hoarse sound emanating from its throat that could not be heard clearly.

"His Majesty… His Majesty! It really is you! How… how did you become like this!" Si Tu Wei thumped a sound and knelt at the bedside.

"Ugh… ugh…" The remains on the bed twitched, seeming to struggle.

Si Tu Wei's hands trembled as he gently cradled the remains, old tears streaming, unable to make a sound.

Li Yao standing nearby felt rather surprised.

Seeing the old one's reaction, it didn't seem feigned.

If it were pretended, his acting would be too good.

"Help… help!" Si Tu Wei suddenly shouted, "Bring the best doctor from the Royal City here at once!"

The servant outside responded, "Yes, Prime Minister!"

When the doctor arrived, Si Tu Wei stayed by his side without moving a step, watching the doctor clean the wounds of the remains and then bandage them.

It wasn't until two hours later that the doctor finished.

Si Tu Wei hurriedly asked, "How is his condition?"

The doctor sighed deeply, "His life is temporarily saved, but… living like this is no different from death, even more painful than death."

Si Tu Wei forced back his tears, saw the doctor away, steadied his emotions, then turned, back to Li Yao, a cold glint appearing in his eyes.

"General Li."

"Your servant is here."

"You… rescued His Majesty; your merit reaches the heavens, but this matter must not be publicized. I can only reward you privately; I cannot announce any commendation, so don't blame me…"

The hoarse, aged voice sounded very calm.

Yet Li Yao had already sensed the murderous intent surging beneath.

This old fool intends to silence him!