Chapter 14: The Mysterious Puppet Master

"Are you looking to die? Don't you know your own strength?" Lin Wurou glanced at Bai Wu.

The spotlight wasn't enough to illuminate the end of the corridor, and as the footsteps grew clearer, the group also heard the sound of a venomous snake hissing.

Bai Wu whispered:

"I have a sense of measure, don't worry. Later on, don't speak and try to act indifferent and aloof as much as possible; you can refer to the captain's usual expression. In any case, don't act before the monster does."

Though they didn't know what Bai Wu was planning, the team members subconsciously recalled Wu Jiu's usual demeanor, and suddenly everyone became aloof.

Wu Jiu felt his reputation was being harmed.

However, he didn't stop Bai Wu from taking the risk. Since coming out of the tower, he had been covertly evaluating the newbie's every move.

No sense of fear, facing the Evil Fallen, the various encounters in the sick ward, there was no emotional fluctuation.

To put it nicely, he was composed. Less favorably, Bai Wu was like a machine without emotions.

But for out-of-tower investigations, such teammates, if their strength is developed, are the most reliable, especially since Bai Wu's analytical abilities are extremely strong.

But how was a new soldier with only a first-rank Innate Force to confront an Evil Fallen of at least fourth-level Mutation?

A blurry shadow appeared at the end of the corridor. It looked like a giant spider at first, but as the figure drew closer, Wu Jiu realized it was not a giant spider but rather, its back had grown four pairs of blood-red arms.

These arms were much thicker than its actual arms.

Although it hardly resembled the young man in the photo, Wu Jiu still recognized that face.

The black curly hair had turned dark red, the pupils were purple, and the Curse Mark on his face was still there, but starting from the neck, it was covered in blood-red scales, like armor made of red crystal.

"Hiss..."

The sound of a venomous tongue hissing did not come from Evil Fallen's mouth but the second pair of arms on his back. It would be more appropriate to call them two thick, blood-red pythons rather than arms.

Wu Jiu had encountered this level of Evil Fallen three times before, and they were like a patchwork of various monsters.

He looked unfazed; the first four hours outside the tower were when he was at his strongest.

The rest of the team was also quite calm, imitating Wu Jiu's demeanor very accurately.

Bai White was different; he had no trace of aloofness, exuding full affinity.

The abnormal data in the notes didn't give him any sense of pressure; on the contrary, his smile grew even more brilliant.

[Level Six Evil Fallen, Mutation Entries: Iron Cutting, Acidic Corrosion, Spider Web Entanglement, Toxic Permeation, Limb Extension, Quick Reflexes.

Rare Mutation Entries: Brute Strength, Limb Regeneration, Block.

Perfect Mutation Entry: Life and Death Sensing.

I truly didn't expect Elijah to turn out like this. Dismantle his body and take it to the Journey to the West crew; he could earn the wages of several monsters. Loved it. Lastly, a reminder: Killing him with any method other than utilizing Little Dwarf will cause this arrogant yet insecure little mischief to drop a Talent Sequence you aren't too fond of.]

With data that wasn't clear on impact, the useful information was still about extreme arrogance and extreme inferiority, which did fit in with the notes seen before.

And the special way of dying, obviously, wasn't by being killed by Wu Jiu... My previous guess wasn't wrong; it's related to this comb. As for the Talent Sequence I dislike, well, that's not the point.

His name is Elijah... that's actually a good starting point.

The pair of snake-like arms on Elijah's back began to move slowly.

"Coming from... the tower... I want, to eat you..." Elijah's dim purple pupils surged with excitement.

His speech was stilted, but Bai Wu did not think it was due to sluggish thinking; it must have been because he hadn't spoken for a long time.

```

"Elijah, my good child, I didn't come from the tower," Bai Wu said faintly.

The three pairs of arms that were ready to tear Bai Wu apart suddenly stopped, and Elijah's eyes widened abruptly.

"Don't you remember? You're my most precious perfected being, a great work of art, and the most obedient of all my children."

Confusion and suspicion surged in Elijah's purple pupils; he neither advanced nor retreated at Bai Wu's approach.

Bai Wu's smile was gentle, but his gaze gradually became indifferent.

"Just kidding, don't take it seriously. You're just a failure, I never had any hopes for you. I've even almost forgotten your existence."

His pupils, like galaxies, exploded with countless stars all at once, and Elijah looked at Bai Wu in horror.

Bai Wu had already arrived in front of Elijah, even reaching out a hand to gently touch the Curse Mark on the little boy's face.

Elijah stared hard at Bai Wu, trying to find the emotion befitting food in the other's eyes.

As a top-ranked Evil Fallen, he could even sense the faint fear emanating from several people behind him. Even if they hid it deep, Elijah could smell it.

But in the face of Bai Wu, he didn't feel a trace of fear; in the depths of Bai Wu's eyes, there was only playfulness and disappointment.

"Te... teacher? No, that's impossible, how can this be..."

"It seems time hasn't made you dumber, which is one of your few good points."

Elijah didn't understand why his teacher would be here. Every Evil Fallen could not leave a specific range, which was an iron rule of this world.

The world outside the tower was divided into numerous regions, each with boundaries. Evil Fallen could not leave their boundaries, only humans from inside the tower could cross them.

In fact, on this investigation, Wu Jiu and his companions were right on the border of two regions, with the hospital being in another region.

Elijah was not the most confused; Wu Jiu and Lin Wurou and the others were utterly baffled. What information had Bai Wu grasped inside that room?

What's with this intense feeling of a behind-the-scenes mastermind?

"Impossible... you're not the teacher! You're not! If the teacher were alive, why wouldn't he come to see me?"

Elijah became so emotional that his speech lost its usual stiffness.

Bai Wu smiled faintly:

"Pitiful, you thought I was dead, that's why I didn't come to see you. Maybe I should have come to remind myself that I am more of a failure than the hospital's people."

"They created a relatively intact semi-finished product, while you are a failure, even less than a semi-finished product."

"Elijah, it really pains me, I cannot accept that in my perfect career, there's a blemish like you."

These words completely matched the information deep within Elijah's heart, turning his look of confusion and suspicion toward Bai Wu into one of panic.

"No... that's not it! Teacher... it's not like that. I am your most perfect work!" Elijah protested subconsciously.

Bai Wu's smile faded, but inwardly, he felt the unfamiliar joy of completing a game.

The information obtained from the notes allowed Bai Wu to make a bold yet reasonable speculation.

Of course, although he didn't know what fear was, Bai Wu cherished life. He dared to blatantly impersonate some behind-the-scenes mastermind, and his confidence... was still rooted in Wu Jiu.

"Alright, Elijah, this look is too unsightly. I put you here because this place has the means to refine you, but you've disappointed me. You feared facing the little girl in the fourth building. In the end, it was I who had to take action personally."

Bai Wu's words shocked Elijah again. The teacher dealt with that monster personally?

Wu Jiu and the others remained in a state of confusion as if to say, "Aren't we in the same area? Aren't we following the same script?"

```

However, it wasn't yet time for Bai Wu to reveal the mystery; he further destroyed Elijah:

"Over the years, your failures have been a blow to me. The tower still stands, and I have created many children like you, who are better than you and brilliantly fulfilled my demands. But you have always been my stain."

There was one thing Bai Wu had to admit, he was fairly lucky.

The behind-the-scenes manipulator he referenced, in voice, tone, and demeanor, was all modeled after his own father.

But, coincidentally, it seemed to closely resemble the style of Elijah's teacher.

This was another pitiful child, but he did not sympathize with Elijah.

Elijah actually broke down into tears:

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, teacher, give me one more chance, just one more chance! I'm not a failure... I'm not a failure, I'm not!"

The little pitiful from the fourth building shattered Elijah's confidence three times in a row.

So much so that in Elijah's heart, he believed he could never defeat the monster of the fourth building.

His teacher, certainly, must be very familiar with Elijah's personality; a child lacking love, once recognized by someone, would desperately seek even more recognition.

Arrogant, inferior, loyal like a dog, lacking love.

These were the personality tags Bai Wu extracted from the notes about Elijah.

In the notes from the ninth and thirteenth floors, Elijah mentioned the hospital authorities and his teacher.

This child feigned submission to the hospital, but towards his teacher, he had fanatic worship, outright saying he wanted to become the teacher's weapon.

From this, Bai Wu deduced that within this hospital, the Evil Fallen were split into two camps.

One side was the Ninth Psychiatric Hospital authorities, the other was Elijah's mysterious teacher.

He arranged for Elijah to come here because Elijah had some ability within him that could grow stronger by preying on other Evil Fallen.

Thus, the mysterious teacher's goal must be to have Elijah masquerade as one of the hospital's Evil Fallen, and using the hospital as a cover, continuously devour the hospital's Evil Fallen to achieve the purpose of evolution.

It's just a pity that the hospital created a more terrifying monster—that is, the little girl from the eleventh floor of the first building.

The little pitiful defeated Elijah three times with a crushing method, and the extremely inferior Elijah gave up on himself, accepting his identity as a failure.

The little girl is the next target to pass through.

But Bai Wu had a premonition that he would definitely confront Elijah's teacher in some area. That was truly the presence of evil.

Apart from Wu Jiu as his trump card, Bai Wu dared to impersonate this teacher because he was sure that Elijah had never seen the teacher.

The teacher's face was likely hidden behind a mask, and his voice had been processed.

He did this because the teacher wasn't sure if Elijah could complete the task, nor was he certain the hospital wouldn't extract information through Elijah.

Therefore, the best approach was to keep Elijah in the dark about everything.

The constant suppression of Elijah was because of the loyal dog nature within him.

The more the master was disappointed in him, the more he would blame and feel guilty about himself, and when given a task again, the loyal dog would spare no expense to complete it. This could be deduced from the notes seen on the thirteenth floor.

Bai Wu remembered that in novels from his past life with a female perspective, male protagonists branded as loyal dogs were very much liked by female readers.

However, in those novels, the good-looking and wealthy ones are called loyal dogs; in reality, such people are only called bootlickers.

Clearly, Elijah saw his teacher as a deity, but Elijah himself was just one of the many pawns to this teacher.

As long as he misled Elijah into believing he was meeting his former teacher, he had already won half the game.

...

Bai Wu began to leverage the information from the first note upon entering the second building. He took out that comb.

Seeing that comb, Elijah's memories flooded back: the little girl combing her hair while feeling sorry for herself, and the ease with which she defeated the other Evil Fallen...

It appeared the teacher had indeed killed her... At this point, Elijah had no more doubts, and his fear of the little girl gradually transformed into a fanatical worship of the teacher.

Once again, Bai Wu revealed a gentle smile:

"Elijah, my good child, the plan for the complete form failed because of you. I have never forgotten you. Look, haven't I come to find you? I believe you won't disappoint me a second time."

The gentle smile at the corner of his mouth, combined with the coldness deep in his eyes, made Elijah anxiously express his loyalty.

"Give me another chance... Teacher, I will definitely complete your task; I won't let you down again!"

"To create the complete form, you are an indispensable part; you know the artifacts showcased in museums, half their value comes from craftsmanship, and the other half from the history and stories behind them. The latter grants them eternity, and I want to bestow that eternity upon you."

Holding the comb, he slowly brushed Elijah's curly red hair, and Bai Wu spoke methodically:

"They have become a part of you, bringing you closer to the complete form, but we both know there's still a long way to go. I hope you can become a part of me, to be with me forever. Your body will find eternity in my presence, but before that, it needs to be free of your will."

"What must I do?" Elijah looked up at Bai Wu with devotion, not understanding the meaning of his words.

Leaning close to his ear, Bai Wu whispered the explanation.

...

...

Elijah was dead.

Under the puzzled gazes of Wu Jiu and his companions, the four pairs of arms on his back pierced through himself. As the young man collapsed before Bai Wu, the frenzy in his eyes slowly faded away.

About half a minute later, Lin Wurou, whose mouth had opened wide in shock, finally closed it. Coming back to his senses, he looked at Bai Wu, confused:

"What in the world just happened? Why did he commit suicide? What is this complete form plan you mentioned, and who is the teacher?"

Wu Jiu also wanted to know; every conversation's development requires certain data support, but from what point did Bai Wu receive data support?

"I've said before, I'll say it only once, and in the future, you should just choose to believe my words, do not question the reasons. Since we're teammates, trust is sufficient."

This time, without the information in the notes, Bai Wu wouldn't have been able to draw some conclusions.

So for things that are inexplicable and logically flawed, one should never attempt to fabricate an explanation; it's better to choose not to explain at all.

This was a pitiful child, but Bai Wu felt no guilt, for Elijah's end had only two scenarios: either die in Wu Jiu's hands, filled with fear and unwillingness, or end his own life without any regrets.

Gazing at Elijah's corpse, Bai Wu noticed another piece of the note:

[I have good news and bad news for you. I'll tell you the bad news first: the Journey to the West production team isn't hiring dead monsters, so this body is useless now, remember to disembowel it before destroying it, and take the key from inside. The good news is, Elijah's unique death has granted you Talent Sequence 76: Taotie.]

Bai Wu still remembered, when Liu Mu showed him Talent Sequence 75: Absolute Dissolution, he also glanced at 76: Taotie—able to acquire some characteristics of an opponent by devouring them.

Combining Elijah's grotesque body, Bai Wu now understood why the note suggested he wouldn't like this Sequence much.

He had no interest in the flesh of Evil Fallen; even if he were to starve to death or jump off the nineteenth floor, he would never take a bite of Evil Fallen.

"The key is inside the belly of Evil Fallen; we need to retrieve it before heading to the third building."