Puppet Demon

Check out the upcoming story, Don't Ship Us Yet, He's My Brother [ABO]. The blurb is below.

This story:

A greedy, slick-talking, sharp-tongued, mischievous bottom vs. a cold, world-weary, top-tier beauty of a top

Zhong Shen, founding master of the Puppet Sect, loved agarwood above all else.

He was said to be a master of his craft, able to control wooden puppets and paper dolls with ease, and even manipulate living people as if they were puppets. But after falling into his disciple's trap, he lost his three souls and seven spirits, becoming a living puppet whom everyone fought to claim and exploit. His end was tragic.

Time passed, the art of puppetry fell into decline, and its bustling past became a source of amusement for outsiders. Only a room full of ancestral tablets remained to comfort his descendants.

By the fifteenth generation, Chen Tangjiu was so broke he couldn't even heed the ancestral precepts. He stole the family heirloom magical artifacts and went out to make money. Within a few years, he'd become a prominent figure in Baoding.

In private, though, he offered fine food and drink to his ancestors, and would even talk to an agarwood tablet bearing the name “Zhong Shen.”

“Ancestor, you invented all those puppet arts, but our Chen family didn't pass them down. If we're not allowed to use the artifacts either, how are our descendants supposed to make a living?”

“Fine, never mind whether we can make a living. If we don't show outsiders what we're made of, won't our Puppet Sect disappear?”

Zhong Shen was so enraged he came back to life.

Not a single member of the Chen family was any good. They'd forgotten their ancestors and traditions, and turned the world upside down!

He pretended to be from the same branch of the Puppet Sect, took the alias Zhong Sanhuo, and used the magical artifacts to tempt money-loving Chen Tangjiu into serving him.

From then on, he took Chen Tangjiu along to slay demons and exorcise ghosts, while also searching for his own “corpse,” which had not decayed in a hundred years.

Chen Tangjiu was left utterly bewildered.

Zhong Sanhuo: “With low-level puppet arts, a fake doll becomes anything the moment it hits the ground. With intermediate arts, everything becomes a doll. With advanced arts, a doll is transformed into a soul and shaped into a human body. With the highest arts, you extract a living soul and make a living puppet. That's called soul separation. What level are you at, disciple's descendant?”

Chen Tangjiu: “?”

What level?

Wait, what do you mean, descendant?

I've already prepared a token of love, and now you're telling me you're my ancestor?

“Question: What's the biggest age gap you can have with your sweetheart... Uh, I mean, how many years apart can you be? Four...”

“Four years is fine, right?”

“What about four hundred?”

*Important: Chen Tangjiu thinks he's the top!

*Set in the Republican era.

Next story: Don't Ship Us Yet, He's My Brother [ABO]

Ten years ago, Guan Yi arrived at the illustrious An family with his little backpack, following his mother into her new marriage.

At eighteen, he was classified as an ordinary Beta.

A Beta entering military academy was bound to face mockery from the many Alphas, especially An Shenqing.

After all, Guan Yi was the older stepbrother who'd stolen his father's love, and An Shenqing had loved pinching his face and bullying him until his eyes welled with tears since they were children.

To his surprise, An Shenqing was unusually easygoing this time, and even smiled at him.

Guan Yi did his best to act like a loving brother, as if their old distance had never existed.

After all, they were both grown up now.

Until one day, his belated heat hit and shattered every last bit of his politeness and reserve.

At a loss, he went and knocked on An Shenqing's door.

The usually reserved and courteous Guan Yi wrapped his arms around his brother's waist and wouldn't let go, pressing himself into his embrace.

Omega pheromones filled the room, and he was like an ice crystal about to melt in the sunlight, fragile yet dazzling.

As Guan Yi went through his heat, he was like a delicate rose slowly unfurling, its floral pheromones spilling out nonstop and repeatedly testing An Shenqing's self-control.

The hand holding the suppressants trembled slightly. At last, he threw them far away.

-

“Have you heard? The military academy's strongest Alpha, An Shenqing, is dating that genius new arrival from the mecha department!”

“Yeah! An Shenqing brought Guan Yi dinner yesterday and stayed in his dorm until dawn!”

“Didn't you notice? An Shenqing's been looking at Guan Yi like that from the very beginning!”

Inside the mecha cockpit, Guan Yi grabbed An Shenqing by the lapels, took a deep breath of his scent, opened the hatch, and yelled down at the people gossiping about him: “Don't ship us! He's my brother!”

An Shenqing pulled him back into his arms and gave his earlobe a gentle bite. “Does any other little brother depend on his big brother's pheromones this much?”

Check out my adorable friend's sweet romance, The Real Young Master Is Dangerous and Irresistible, by Strawberry Guava Soda.

Ding Ci struggled to survive in the urban village until he was eighteen, only to learn that he was the real young master of a wealthy family, abducted as a child.

When his birth parents came to find him, he was in the middle of a one-on-five alley brawl, a snarling little leopard who frightened everyone into keeping their distance.

Only the tall, composed adopted son beside his parents calmly walked up to him, took the wooden stick from his hands, and said, “Let's go home.”

Ding Ci, returned to his family, became their precious treasure. Everyone did their best to make up for the years he'd suffered, but he still felt out of place.

The poverty and harshness of his past had left their mark. He had neither a top-notch education nor great intelligence, and he couldn't possess the refined elegance and grace of someone like the Jiang family.

By comparison, the adopted son, Jiang Yiye, seemed more like a young master of the Jiang family. He could charm people in social circles, expertly manage the company's affairs, handle every matter with care, and make their parents happier.

Ding Ci disliked Jiang Yiye, but Jiang Yiye was the only person in the family who dared to discipline him.

When Ding Ci wouldn't study, Jiang Yiye made him do extra lessons.

When Ding Ci wouldn't come home, Jiang Yiye made him do extra lessons.

When Ding Ci got into a fight, Jiang Yiye rushed over to back him up, then made him do extra lessons.

When Ding Ci got hurt by accident, Jiang Yiye carefully tended to his wounds, then still made him do extra lessons.

Ding Ci inexplicably began to depend on Jiang Yiye. With him by his side, Ding Ci tucked away his little fangs and showed his soft white belly. He gradually adapted to life with the Jiang family and grew ever more cheerful and adorable.

At last, Ding Ci knocked on the door of Jiang Yiye's study and stammered out a confession. “Brother, is there someone you like? If not, could you...”

Before he could finish, someone lifted him onto the always immaculate desk.

Books and documents scattered across the floor. Jiang Yiye leaned over him, but still didn't kiss him.

His rough fingers played with Ding Ci's flushed earlobe. “Keep improving on your next exam, and you'll get a reward.”

Sensitive, hot-tempered real young master bottom X aloof, scheming, fatherly fake young master top

Theme: Unwavering devotion