Love from the Male Protagonist’s Harem - Chapter 17-2

Chapter 17-Puppet Master Part 2

Translated by Snowfall77

“Ye Ze,” Xia Ge collected her thoughts, “Right now you’re better than me.”

Ye Ze shifted slightly.

“You have to keep being better than me if you want me to call you Brother.” Xia Ge theatrically sighed, “But look at you being all mopey right now, I can barely recognize you.”

Ye Ze: “……”

Could ivory come from a dog’s mouth?

Standing up, Ye Ze declared darkly: “You’d better not call me ‘Brother’ the rest of your days.”

Xia Ge: “What about breakfast tomorrow?”

Ye Ze sneered: “I’ll throw you to the dogs first.”

The sound of the young man’s footsteps gradually faded away. Face dejected, Xia Ge asked: “Say, little puppet, do I really speak hurtfully?”

The system replied word by word: [You Are Trash.]

Xia Ge: “……don’t be like that.”

Taking her blindfold off and sluggishly tucking the new puppet up a sleeve, Xia Ge opened her door.

The young man hadn’t walked away very far yet, his steps slow, confusion and dejection radiating off of him.

A distance of one hundred steps……that was just right.

Between being influenced and not being influenced, Ye Ze was now at the right distance for {soul capture} not to affect him.

“Hey.”

The moon was a luminous pearl in the night sky, stars strewn about it, and a cool breeze flowed.

The young man turned his head in a flash.

The youth with the green ribbon, yellow cloth in hand, had eyes so glittering in the moonlight that their tint couldn’t be detected, bright like stars.

“Brother Ye, even if you didn’t work hard, you’d still be a hidden gem.”

“It’s just that you tried in the wrong direction.”

Two eyes like shining orbs, holding incalculable power.

“I believe you’ll become the most dazzling person in all of Lingxi Sect, and you will achieve your long-cherished hopes!”

Taken aback, Ye Ze took a second to recover before scoffing: “Good words don’t come from a lowlife……what a load of nonsense.”

“Go back to bed.”

The green-ribboned youth showed a bright smile to Ye Ze, more radiant than the glowing moon, crystalline like a high mountain stream.

Ye Ze paused, his tone softened.

“Oh, by the way, Senior Sister told me to tell you……take two days to get some good rest, then go find her by the river on the third day.”

“Got it! Thanks for passing the message along Brother!”

“……stinky brat.”

That night, the shimmering moonlight, the stars, the boy’s clear voice.

A scene Ye Ze never forgot for the rest of his life.

And every time he thought about it in the years to come, his heart would ache.

= =

Having successfully sent Ye Ze off, Xia Ge closed her door with a sigh of relief, throwing the yellow strip of cloth on the table. Next she eyed the holes she’d poked in her own window, lamenting: “Why am I always the one getting hurt……”

The system judiciously ignored the question.

“Forget it, it was for the sake of my meal ticket……so I guess I don’t have to go upriver tomorrow?”

System: [Were You Not Already Intent On Not Going?]

Xia Ge smirked: “Little puppet still understands me.”
System: [……]

Xia Ge took the newly-made puppet out of her sleeve.

The pure translucent puppet, the size of a palm, had slender limbs like a human, and two glimmering black stones eyes framed by fine black silk hair falling down over delicate shoulders. It quietly gazed at Xia Ge, like it was staring at all of itself.

Tender, yet resolute.

Looking back at this tiny puppet, Xia Ge tilted her head.

……it was like the feeling of watching over a child.

A child who should be doted on.

“This is a strange feeling,” Xia Ge mused, “Why would I think I’m raising a child……”

The system answered lazily: [It’s Normal. The Puppet Master Will Have Telepathy With The Puppet They Have Made, And The Puppet Will Unconditionally Obey Whatever Order The Master Gives It. But In Return, It Will Expect Some Affection From You.]

“Affection?” Xia Ge was a little baffled. “But it’s a puppet.”

Wasn’t a puppet like a doll or a robot, something without emotion?

[It Is Precisely Because Puppets Do Not Have Emotions That They Need The Feelings Of Others.] The system helpfully explained.

Xia Ge: “……” Rather odd logic.

[Generally Speaking, During Puppet Synthesis Emotions Will Be Drawn Out From The Maker And Be Divided With The Puppet Created.] Then the system cautioned: [You Must Ensure That Your Affection Gives This Puppet A Sense Of Security. That Will Prevent It From Biting Back.]

[Different From Demon Puppets, Once An Ordinary Puppet Is Made By Its Master, The Puppet Will Have Immediate Unconditional Trust In The Master.]

[So You Must Invest Your Affection In It. Let It Know That You Will Not Abandon It Or Discard It. That Way It Will Unquestioningly Listen To And Obey Your Orders, Protecting You Forever.]

“Wait……so every time I make a puppet, I have to invest affection in the puppet?” Xia Ge asked.

[Correct.] The system continued: [However, A Person’s Affections Are Not Limitless. To Reach The Apex Of Puppet Mastery, One Must Be Able To Create An Army Of Puppets And Move Said Army With The Wave Of A Hand. But To Give Of Their Feelings In Such A Way Is Not Possible For Every Person.]

[Therefore, There Is A Second Method.]

[A Sensible Puppet Master Will Invest Their Feelings In Their First Puppet. After Which, When Making Additional Puppets, The Master Will Use The First Puppet As The ‘Leader.’ In That Way The Additional Puppets Will Look To The ‘Leader’ For Their Sense Of Security.]

Xia Ge: “Ai, sounds complicated. If you put one puppet in charge of subsequent puppets, wouldn’t that still mean that the ‘leader’ lacks emotions? And if the ‘leader’ has no feelings, how can it command puppets who need affection?”

no ivory comes from the mouth of a dog (idiom) / no good words are to be expected from a scoundrel

a dog’s mouth emits no ivory; a filthy mouth can’t water decent language; what can you expect from a dog but a bark

Source: Ba Jin’s “Autumn” 5: “‘Also, I will speak for you: the dog can’t spit out ivory.’ Shuhua laughed mischievously.”