Chapter 31

Everyone nodded in agreement, but some were skeptical about the arrangement.

Zhu Xiuzai was one of them.

He frowned and said, "Sir, if we all hide and wait until midnight, when the thieves come and see that we're not here, won't they get suspicious and ruin our plans? How can we track and investigate them then?"

"Don't worry, I can make the thieves think we're still in the room."

Qin Shaoyou smiled, having already made preparations.

Amidst the surprised and curious gazes of the others, Qin Shaoyou took out a small wooden box from his pocket.

The wooden box was covered with large patches of dark red, looking like dried blood. It also had many talismans stuck on it, making it seem quite extraordinary.

Opening the box, inside was a stack of shadow puppet figures tied with grass ropes.

These shadow puppet figures were different from the usual ones.

They were not finely crafted, only roughly human-shaped, without detailed facial features or coloring.

Qin Shaoyou took out one of the shadow puppet figures, blew on it, and then placed it on the large bed.

The shadow puppet figure quickly inflated like a startled pufferfish.

After a few breaths, it became as large as a human.

Looking at the face and features of the shadow puppet, it was shockingly identical to Qin Shaoyou.

Moreover, the figure, which was originally empty, now wore a set of clothes identical to what Qin Shaoyou was wearing.

Not only that, if you touched it, you would find that the shadow puppet had a body temperature, breathing, and a heartbeat.

Apart from being unable to move and having its eyes closed, the shadow puppet was almost indistinguishable from a living person.

Using it to impersonate a moving person wouldn't work, but it was sufficient to impersonate a sleeping person, making it impossible to spot any issues.

To be honest, this shadow puppet was far more realistic than the most lifelike wax figures and silicone dolls Qin Shaoyou had seen in his previous life!

This mystical item, numbered Yellow 23, was found by the Luocheng Demon Suppression Bureau a few years ago when they solved a case involving a ghostly theater troupe.

The ghost in question was once a pitiful person, a shadow puppet artist who traveled with his daughter, performing shadow puppet shows to make a living.

However, in a chaotic world, they were captured by a band of bandits on the road and forced to perform for their entertainment.

During the performance, the bandit leader took a fancy to the artist's daughter and tried to force himself on her right on the stage.

The daughter fought back and was strangled to death by the enraged bandit leader on the stage.

The shadow puppet artist tried to save her but was killed by the other bandits, his head smashed in.

As he lay on the shadow puppet stage, his blood stained the entire stage.

The bandits, who were used to killing, left the father and daughter's bodies in the wilderness to be eaten by wild dogs and crows.

What the bandits didn't expect was that seven days later, the shadow puppet artist, now a ghost, appeared in their camp.

That night, the camp was filled with screams, cries, and pleas for mercy.

After that night, the cruel bandits disappeared, and a ghostly theater troupe that liked to perform at night appeared in the world.

It was said that the performances of this troupe were very impressive, especially the fight scenes, which were extremely realistic and bloody...

However, everyone who saw the performances of this troupe died...

It wasn't until they encountered the Luocheng Demon Suppression Bureau that the ghostly troupe was finally stopped, leaving behind several mystical items.

Among them, the shadow puppet figures had the least side effects, only causing a loss of a bit of vital energy.

For martial cultivators, this side effect was completely manageable.

Moreover, its strange effects could be very useful in certain situations, so Qin Shaoyou brought it along.

And now, it was indeed useful.

Zhu Xiuzai and Ma Heshang, along with others, had worked in the Demon Suppression Bureau for several years but had never seen such a strange item. They gathered around Qin Shaoyou's shadow puppet, marveling at it.

"Is this a mystical item?"

"Just a breath can turn it into a person? Amazing."

"Shadow puppetry can be like this? I've learned something new."

Some immediately thought of other uses for the shadow puppet: "If I had one of these, I'd take it to a brothel and blow on it to find a courtesan!"

Wei Lishi, who wanted to take the shadow puppet to a brothel, was imagining a beautiful scene while reaching out to pull down the puppet's pants to see what was inside.

Qin Shaoyou quickly stopped him: "Hey, what are you doing? Just look, don't touch."

Although it wasn't his own pants being pulled down, seeing a shadow puppet identical to himself being undressed made Qin Shaoyou feel uncomfortable.

Wei Lishi withdrew his hand, smiling sheepishly and said, "I just wanted to see how realistic the shadow puppet is."

Qin Shaoyou frowned, feeling that there was something wrong with Wei Lishi's idea of "realistic."

He glared at Wei Lishi and then called out to everyone, "Alright, stop fooling around. Come and take a shadow puppet, blow on it to create your doppelganger."

Everyone followed his instructions, taking a shadow puppet, blowing on it, and placing it on the large bed.

In no time, the room was filled with over a dozen "people."

For some reason, looking at these doppelgangers for a long time made Zhu Xiuzai and Ma Heshang feel an inexplicable fear.

Zhu Xiuzai swallowed and looked away from his doppelganger, which made his scalp tingle.

He turned to Qin Shaoyou and asked curiously, "Sir, how many mystical items did you bring this time?"

Ma Heshang and the others were also curious about this.

Qin Shaoyou chuckled and vaguely replied, "Not many."

Everyone rolled their eyes.

Not many? We don't believe you!

You've used several mystical items on this trip! Who brings so many mystical items on a mission?

However, it was a blessing to have such a well-prepared superior on the mission.

At least it would reduce their injury and reincarnation rates.

Although the shadow puppets were a bit unsettling, they did solve the problem of alerting the thieves.

But some were sighing in regret.

"Too bad, I thought we could have a heart-to-heart talk with Sir tonight, but now this has happened. I don't know when we'll have another chance to talk openly with Sir."

Qin Shaoyou felt a chill in his buttocks.

He turned to look at the man who spoke, frowning: What are you up to?!

Qin Shaoyou suppressed the urge to question him and instructed everyone, "Rest quickly and get something to eat to prepare for tonight."

Then, he took the dog he bought from Zhang Shilang's house from Zhu Xiuzai and carefully examined it.

This examination revealed a problem...