On the other side.
Ye Wangchuan led a few people to a flat grassland.
On the grassland, there was a small grove of trees.
Ye Wangchuan looked around, confirming that the surrounding terrain was vast and not easy for anyone to hide and ambush.
Then, with a thought, he placed a small wooden cabin on an empty patch of land.
This cabin had been stored in Ye Wangchuan's spatial ring earlier.
Now, he took it out to serve as a temporary shelter.
The cabin wasn't large, with only three rooms and a living area.
Fortunately, the puppet didn’t need to sleep, so it was just enough.
Walking into the cabin,
Ye Wangchuan and Li Luo both lay down on recliners.
With another thought, Ye Wangchuan took out a pot of hot tea from his spatial ring.
Taking a sip of the tea, he looked completely at ease.
In front of them, Murong stood still, surveying her surroundings.
At this moment,
Ye Wangchuan took a sip of tea and spoke casually to Murong.
"Miss, I assume you wouldn’t want the Murong family to be wiped out, would you?"
"Wait, why are you threatening me again? Please, don’t harm my family! I’ll do anything!"
Hearing Ye Wangchuan’s threat, Murong immediately grew nervous.
"Oh, anything?"
Ye Wangchuan smirked mischievously.
Then…
He took out an axe from his spatial ring and tossed it to Murong, saying,
"Then I want you to chop down all the trees outside with this axe."
"Huh?"
Murong was stunned.
She had thought Ye Wangchuan was threatening her for… well, something else.
"Also, you go chop trees too. Later, I’ll infuse you with some spiritual energy to help you switch forms."
Ye Wangchuan turned to the puppet beside him.
"Uh… alright."
The puppet didn’t complain much.
After all, she was a puppet. As long as she switched to combat mode, she wouldn’t feel pain or fatigue.
Of course, in her current loli form, she could still feel pain and exhaustion.
She trotted over to Ye Wangchuan on her short legs.
The puppet asked, puzzled, "How are you going to infuse me with spiritual energy? Are you going to return my heart to me for a while?"
Ye Wangchuan waved his hand dismissively. "No, if I give you your heart, you might run away. Isn’t there another way to infuse spiritual energy?"
The puppet replied, "There is."
Ye Wangchuan asked, "What is it?"
The puppet: "…"
Ye Wangchuan: "…"
The puppet: "…"
Ye Wangchuan: "…"
After a long silence,
Ye Wangchuan sighed and rubbed his forehead, then led the puppet into the bedroom of the cabin.
As they walked, he said to Li Luo,
"Li Luo, go out and supervise Murong. I’m going to infuse this puppet with spiritual energy so she can chop trees."
"Huh? Alright."
Li Luo nodded, then looked up at Murong and said,
"Go chop trees! Hurry up! No slacking! You’re working sixteen hours a day, you weakling!"
"…"
Murong’s mouth twitched as she shouldered the axe and went outside to start chopping trees.
Truth be told, Murong still had some Immortal-Binding Ropes tied around her body beneath her clothes.
They weren’t restricting her limbs, making it easier for her to move, but the knots were on her back, making it hard for her to untie them herself.
This meant her spiritual energy was sealed, and she couldn’t use any abilities.
Fortunately, her third-level physique was strong enough that even without spiritual energy, she could chop down a tree with a single swing of the axe.
In fact, she didn’t even need the axe—a single slap could reduce a tree trunk to splinters.
Murong was busy chopping trees, while Li Luo supervised and also collected some stray herbs, fruits, and flowers into a basket.
The two of them worked hard.
Li Luo watched as the villainous energy points kept rising, feeling incredibly satisfied.
…
Two hours later,
Ye Wangchuan and the puppet finally emerged from the cabin.
It was clear that the puppet was now fully infused with spiritual energy.
The puppet took a deep breath.
"Eighteen Martial Arts—Axe—"
As soon as she spoke, the puppet began to glow, growing larger and transforming.
In no time, she had become a ten-meter-tall wooden terracotta warrior.
Not only that, but her right arm had also transformed into a giant axe.
Swinging the axe, the puppet charged into the grove, hacking away at the trees as if they were mere saplings.
In just a few seconds, she had cleared an entire section of the forest.
Meanwhile, Ye Wangchuan set up a recliner, put on sunglasses, and lay down to sunbathe.
On the surface, it looked like he was slacking off.
In reality, his eyes behind the sunglasses were constantly scanning the surroundings.
Based on his assumptions, since the young lady was being exploited by a villain, the protagonist should soon arrive to rescue her.
In other words, Luo Nangui was probably on his way.
Ye Wangchuan wasn’t sure whether Luo Nangui would bring reinforcements or if he had gained some kind of power-up.
But either way, he already had a plan in mind.
After about an hour,
A half-heart-shaped stone in Ye Wangchuan’s pocket suddenly began to glow.
He took out the stone and examined it carefully.
After capturing Murong, Ye Wangchuan had already taken all her system items and spatial rings.
However, he didn’t know the functions of these items.
Even if Murong explained their uses, Ye Wangchuan wouldn’t believe her.
"Hmm… Luo Nangui’s system items for Murong are mostly used in pairs, somewhat like couple items."
"So, what could this system item do?"
After some thought, Ye Wangchuan decided to strike first and prepare for Luo Nangui’s potential sneak attack.
"Puppet, come here."
"Okay—"
The puppet stopped chopping trees and strode over to Ye Wangchuan.
Without wasting time, Ye Wangchuan asked directly,
"Puppet, can you transform into Murong’s appearance?"
"Yes—Mimicry—Murong—"
The puppet nodded.
In the next second, her entire body glowed, and in moments, she had transformed into Murong’s likeness.
Once the transformation was complete, the puppet, now resembling Murong, snorted coldly at Ye Wangchuan and said,
"Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m only doing this because I’m worried you won’t give me my heart! It’s not like I’m doing this for you or anything!"
"Alright, alright," Ye Wangchuan chuckled, clearly pleased.
The imitation was absolutely perfect!
"Here, put on this outfit."
Ye Wangchuan rummaged through his spatial ring and pulled out a set of couple’s clothing.
This set had been stored in Murong’s spatial ring.
The female version went to the puppet, while the male version was for Ye Wangchuan.
After they both changed, Ye Wangchuan placed the system items he had taken from Murong onto the puppet.
He spoke seriously to the puppet,
"From now on, you must tell everyone except me that you are Murong, not a puppet."
"I’ll reluctantly agree to that."
The puppet complied.
Once the disguise was flawless, Ye Wangchuan shifted on the recliner to make some space.
He patted the empty spot and said to the puppet,
"Come, lie in my arms. And remember to look shy."
"Huh? Alright, fine."
The puppet walked over, showing a mix of reluctance, shyness, and vulnerability, then lay down beside Ye Wangchuan.