My Notoriety Spreads Throughout the World

"No, sister, look at me, I'm Tongtong, don't you recognize me?"

The girl was crying uncontrollably, with snot and tears running down her face, dressed in an old children's dress full of patches. A cartoon hairpin was clipped on her forehead, her face covered with dust and rough little wounds which on the snowy plain were often frozen again before they had time to heal — most of the children here were like this.

Looking at the girl's pitiful appearance, Tang Xin hesitated to speak.

The girl's dull long hair was similarly covered with dust and dirt, and upon closer inspection, a hint of nearly black blue could be seen.

The girl probably mistook Tang Xin for someone else, perhaps she bore some resemblance to her sister?

"Sister clearly said she would come back to find Tongtong after going out for a month, but it's been half a year before she returned." The girl cried, her eyes somewhat swollen as though she wanted to cry out all her grievances with tears.

Tang Xin thought, in a snowy plain, not returning for half a year, the girl's sister might very likely never return. After all, she was just a child, unable to comprehend such complicated affairs. As Tang Xin gently caressed the girl's head, pondering how to comfort her to accept reality, the girl's next words shocked both of them.

"Mom and dad and everyone have been acting so strange these days, I'm really scared, but I'm afraid to tell anyone. Sister, could you come home with me to see if they might have some illness?"

Tang Xin glanced at Xu Xiaoyou, who nodded to her.

She squatted down, reached out to wipe the girl's tears, her tone gentle: "Tell sister what's happening to mom and dad."

Tongtong took a long time to calm down, her nostrils slightly twitching, her words mixed with tears.

"They are all sick, sitting in bed all day without moving, not eating, and Tongtong's questions get no response."

As if she guessed what they had in mind, Tongtong rubbed her reddened eyes and continued: "I'm sure mom and dad are just sick because I can see their hearts are still pounding, and they are still breathing."

"I told the uncles and aunts, but no one believes me. I stay at home every day, really afraid, not knowing what to do..."

Listening to the little girl's description, the first thought that came to Xu Xiaoyou was the recent mention at the dining table of young adults disappearing in the village, connecting the clues to the Puppet Master. Could these events be related to that Puppet Master?

She thought so and signaled Tang Xin with her eyes.

"Let's go have a look first," Tang Xin said.

"Yes, yes." The girl nodded vigorously.

After the two girls followed the girl for a while, in the stilted living room, a man awoke from the table, appearing very sober, as if the drunkenness and staggering before were merely an act.

Chen San bypassed a few people who were down drunk on the table and walked quickly into a room. The center of the room had a brick stove with a large iron pot on it, looking relatively new, the surface black paint not entirely worn off yet, feeling rough to the touch. Such iron pots were often used in settlements for communal meals, capable of cooking a whole cow or sheep.

Recollecting the words he thought he heard earlier, the more he thought about it, the more something felt off, until finally he lifted the iron pot lid fiercely, his pupils shrunk dramatically at the sight inside.

Brown foam clustered atop the bubbling broth, gradually spreading apart to reveal two human heads floating up, their appearances familiar — precisely the personnel from the lookout station!

One of them had their skin flayed, lips splaying open, showing a horrifying smile towards him.

Chen San instinctively retreated a few steps, goosebumps arising all over, just as he turned around, he faced boundless, dead eyes.

A woman was looking at him, smiling gently, holding in her hand a sharp axe stained with blood.

Under the pale light shining into the living room, the woman's entire shadow underwent radical transformation, bulging circle after circle, as if countless growing limbs were bursting out from within her, her whole head splitting with her chest...

...

Along the way, the girl seemed to want to pour all the grievances of the past half year into the ears of the girls, and Tang Xin proved to be patient in this regard, serving as a considerate listener, softly comforting the girl at intervals.

Before long, they arrived before the girl's house.

The girl's house was in the corner of the village, a shed standing at the door. When the snow atop the shed melted, the melted water trickled down the fragmented brick path to this shed, where the melted snow was collected, filtered through a simple filter, and heated to become the daily water source for the refugees in the snowy plains, used for washing clothes, cooking, or direct consumption.

Tongtong pulled the girls by the hand and pushed opened the door, leading them inside.

The door in question was actually a misshapen scrap of iron plate, its edge a sharp, yellowish-brown rusty iron that could easily cut if not careful. This scrap was set up and wedged into the wall structure simply serving as a door, which seemed of little effectiveness, unable to fend off ferocious beasts, a mere forceful push or a kick would cause it to cave in, even collapse.

Yet for the refugees in the settlement, whose morality and ethics lingered on the edges, this door held significant importance, it might not fend off beasts, but it could not be without it — a house with its door wide open challenges the human heart far more than one with a slightly concealed one.

Upon entering the house, the thick scent of blood instantly alerted the two.

But the girl seemed unaware, maintaining her previous expression as she quickly pulled Tang Xin's hand, racing inside, pushing open the door to the inner room.

Seeing the scene inside, Tang Xin's heart skipped a beat.

Two silent human pig puppets were lying on chairs, bound together with sharp iron wires, swaying candlelight illuminating their hollow black eye sockets, at their heaving chests, hearts could be seen banging clearly.

Only then did Tang Xin notice the young girl behind her had transformed somehow, her eyes streaked with blood, black blood flowing from within — her whole body trembling with excitement:

"You saw it, didn't you, sister? I wasn't lying, mom and dad are still breathing, you can see their pounding hearts!"

"Everyone's sick, sister, why not join us too?"

Tang Xin said nothing, turned back with all her might, a swirling vortex of water smashing the girl's frail body violently away, causing her entire body to slam against the wall with a dull thud.

"Sister hit me so painfully, just like before, hehe."

Receiving Tang Xin's strike, the girl appeared unaffected, her body deftly bouncing off, crawling like a spider onto the ceiling.

Tang Xin watched the girl swiftly crawl, dodging successive attacks with her Water Technique, the girl emitting piercing strange laughter, a short knife appearing in her hand at some point, fiercely slashing towards Tang Xin's neck.

"So let me hurt sister properly too!"

A burning blade pierced through the girl's neck from the side, Xu Xiaoyou had stepped forward without hesitation, impaling the girl together with her body against the wall with her long blade.

The blade penetrated the wall, large cracks spreading across, even though her neck was pierced, her whole body pinned to the wall, the girl continued to cackle, waving her short knife repeatedly. Until a particular moment, she seemed to lose all power and support, her limbs dropping weakly, limbs colliding with limbs, producing crisp sounds reminiscent of wooden puppets in theaters.

Watching skin rapidly lose its luster, large patches rotting and falling off, growing maggots, the two felt their hearts churn.

In a moment's time, the girl transformed under their eyes into a dull puppet with no luster, all vitality slipping away.