The wife that Cao Yanhu married with a betrothal gift of 500,000 yuan ran away in the blink of an eye. In a fit of rage, the groom who was cheated in the marriage turned his wife into a living puppet.
This is a terrifying story told to me by a police friend of mine.
In ancient times, there were often people traveling around everywhere to perform. They used extremely thin threads to connect puppets. The manipulator was above the puppet and manipulated the puppet’s movements through the movements of his fingers to achieve the puppet show effect. They were called puppeteers.
In modern times, few people know this trick anymore.
However, in Yongbo Village, a family surnamed Cao still inherits the puppet show.
Cao Yanhu was born on June 5, 1990. When he was four years old, his parents who went out to work were greedy for cheap and took an illegal taxi to go home. As a result, they died in a car accident on the way, leaving only him and his grandfather to depend on each other.
His grandfather was a puppeteer who often traveled around to perform puppet shows everywhere.
So Cao Yanhu followed him and also learned the puppet show.
Since childhood, watching those puppets that were as light as a swallow and exquisitely lovely under the pull of the silk threads, Cao Yanhu couldn’t take his eyes off them and liked them from the bottom of his heart.
Every time his grandfather performed, it would attract a crowd of people to watch.
The young Cao Yanhu would run around behind his grandfather’s buttocks.
Later, when his grandfather was old, Cao Yanhu followed him back to Yongbo Village. That year, he was twenty-three years old.
Over the years, his grandfather had saved a lot of money and used it to build a big house for Cao Yanhu in the village.
His grandfather’s health was getting worse day by day. He dreamed that his grandson could marry a wife, so he dragged his heavy body around to find matchmakers to introduce girlfriends to his grandson.
However, the local area was originally poor, with more men than women. Yongbo Village was even a well-known poor village, so the betrothal gifts were often sky-high.
Because of building the house, his grandfather didn’t have much money left. After looking for several matchmakers, he didn’t succeed.
His grandfather’s health was already not good, and at this time, he fell ill with depression. On his deathbed, he called Cao Yanhu to his bedside.
“I’m dying. It’s a pity that I can’t see the time when you get married and have children.” Grandpa’s face was full of regret, and his eyes were full of sighs.
Cao Yanhu knelt on the ground, with extremely sad eyes: “It’s all because I’m useless, Grandpa.”
“Forget it. It’s also my retribution.” Grandpa sighed and looked helpless.
Cao Yanhu looked at him in great surprise. Then Grandpa told a shocking secret.
It turned out that in his early years, he was bullied by the landlord. In a rage, he refined the landlord and his wife into living puppets. Later, he fled his hometown and settled here.
Living puppets!
Cao Yanhu was stunned. This was an evil method passed down from generation to generation among puppeteers.
In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient. When puppeteers traveled around to perform tricks, they would inevitably encounter mountain bandits. At that time, it was time for living puppets to play their role.
Living puppets were made by using knockout drops to make people stupid and then supplemented with training, eventually turning them into living dead who didn’t feel pain and didn’t fear life and death.
Living puppets only listened to the puppeteer’s words and would do whatever they were asked to do. Even if they were asked to commit suicide, they wouldn’t frown.
Therefore, even in ancient times, when puppeteers traveled around, nothing bad happened to them.
“I’m dying. I’ll teach you how to make living puppets.” After saying that, Grandpa took out a small notebook and handed it to him.
Cao Yanhu took a look. There were all kinds of steps and the formula of the knockout drops on it.
“Grandpa, what do I need this kind of thing for? Refining living puppets is illegal now.”
“I left it for you to defend yourself. Don’t use it randomly. This thing is black magic and will bring retribution.”
“I got it.” Cao Yanhu nodded earnestly.
“There are other more evil methods, but I won’t tell you. It will be a peaceful and prosperous time in the future, and you won’t need these anymore.”
“I’ll take them to the coffin. I can’t let them harm others.”
“You must find me a granddaughter-in-law with a big butt and have several children. By then, I can close my eyes in peace.” After saying these words, Grandpa soon passed away.
Cao Yanhu was extremely sad in his heart. He secretly vowed that he must marry a good wife to make up for Grandpa’s regret.
So he took the box left by Grandpa and left his hometown to continue traveling around to perform puppet shows.
During this period, Cao Yanhu was alone, only accompanied by puppets.
His skills became more and more exquisite. Under his hands, the puppets were vivid as if they were real people, winning cheers from countless audiences.
When he returned to the village again, it was already September 2018.
At that time, he was already twenty-eight years old, which could be regarded as an older single man in the countryside.
So he began to arrange to marry a wife everywhere.
In the countryside, it’s easy to do things with money. Soon, matchmakers came in a continuous stream.
It’s just that the betrothal gifts in the countryside are higher than before now. Especially in poorer places, the more betrothal gifts are required.
The local rules are:
“Ten thousand purple, one thousand red and a piece of green” (ten thousand five-yuan banknotes, one thousand one-hundred-yuan banknotes, and some one-yuan banknotes).
“One move, one don’t move” (a house and a car).
“Three golds and one diamond” (gold ring, gold earrings, gold necklace, diamond).
All these added up to one million yuan, while the local average salary was only three thousand yuan. Whenever someone got married, they would be impoverished.
Cao Yanhu had no parents or grandfather to help him, and several of his relatives didn’t have much money either. The money in his hand was far from enough.
Just when he was frowning with worry, a woman came to him.
This woman was named Wang Xiuhong. She said that her daughter was twenty-seven years old and had been worried about not having a boyfriend.
Cao Yanhu was naturally very excited when he heard it. So before long, Wang Xiuhong brought her daughter over.
Wu Lili was dressed in fashionable clothes, with big waves in her hair and was very beautiful.
Cao Yanhu fell in love with her at first sight and decided on it without hesitation.
Although Wang Xiuhong said that it was difficult for her daughter to find a boyfriend and the betrothal gift should be less, when it came to talking about the betrothal gift, Wang Xiuhong asked for 500,000 yuan.
500,000 yuan was a life-threatening number in this poor village.
But Cao Yanhu, who was blinded by lust, didn’t think too much and agreed readily.
After emptying his savings, he begged his aunt and finally managed to raise enough money to marry Wu Lili successfully.
On the wedding day, the house was decorated with lanterns and colored streamers, and it was very lively. Cao Yanhu drank a few glasses of wine dizzily and felt light-headed.
All his relatives came. Seeing the scene full of applause, Cao Yanhu only felt refreshed.
He murmured in his heart, “Grandpa, can you see it? I’m married.”
Thinking of this, his eyes were a little moist. Cao Yanhu walked dizzily towards his bridal chamber.
His bridal chamber was a two-story small foreign-style building left by his grandfather. It was renovated and decorated simply.
From the outside, it looked like a European-style villa, but when you walked in, the walls were not painted white, and there were no ceramic tiles on the floor. Moreover, there was no decoration around it at all. It was just a rough house.
There were even a lot of sundries piled up in the corridor like this.
The contrast before and after corresponded exactly to the situation in the countryside where people emptied their savings to buy cars and houses for marriage. It looked glamorous on the outside, but in fact, it was a mess inside.
Cao Yanhu came to the bedroom, pushed the door open and walked in. He was drunk and wanted to hug Wu Lili, but was pushed away hard.
“Don’t touch me if you’ve drunk.”
“Okay.” Cao Yanhu nodded and didn’t get angry. Then he just lay on the bed.
On the wedding night, nothing happened.
The next day, Cao Yanhu got up dizzily and heard quarreling voices.
When he walked over, he found that his aunt was quarreling with Wu Lili.
“What’s going on?” He asked in surprise.
Wu Lili told him angrily that her mother was suddenly hit by a car and she wanted to go back to have a look, but his aunt didn’t allow it.
“Mom had a car accident. I’ll go with you.” Cao Yanhu said.
“I don’t need you.” Wu Lili’s face looked a bit strange.
His aunt grabbed her arm and shouted angrily, “Don’t play tricks. You are the daughter-in-law who married into our Cao family. Even if your mother was really hit by a car, you can’t leave!”
She pulled Wu Lili’s arm, and her eyes were full of anger.
“My mother was hit by a car. Can’t I go to have a look?”
“If you want to go, I’ll go with you. Anyway, don’t think about sneaking away.” Aunt said.
“You’re so heartless!”
Cao Yanhu also thought his aunt was being unreasonable and walked up, muttering, “Aunt, just let her go if she wants to.”
“What if she never comes back? Then we’ll lose both people and money.” Aunt shouted sharply.
She was worried for a reason.
Bride fraud was very common in the countryside. The bride would come to the groom’s house, ask for a high betrothal gift, and then find an excuse to leave immediately after receiving the betrothal gift.
And the savings of a whole family would be cheated away like this and become impoverished. So in many places, when the bride got married, she couldn’t go back to her parents’ home in a short time.
Even the groom’s family would watch the bride day and night with sticks in their hands for fear that the bride would run away. Behind this absurd situation was the tragedy of countless rural families being impoverished because of marrying a wife.
Cao Yanhu didn’t want to think so badly of people. He shook his head and said, “There’s no such thing. Besides, we’ve got the marriage certificate. It’s different from those who didn’t get the certificate!”
But his aunt didn’t agree. What’s more, she moved into Cao Yanhu’s house and watched Wu Lili every day.
Wu Lili made a big fuss about it, but Cao Yanhu had no way to deal with it.
His aunt was like a door god guarding this home and this nephew, for fear that he would be cheated.
Out of trust in his aunt, even though Wu Lili had been strongly asking her to leave, Cao Yanhu didn’t agree.
In this family, his aunt was given the cold shoulder, but she didn’t care. As long as her nephew could have children, she thought it was better than anything else.
Wu Lili didn’t cook, so Aunt cooked by herself. At the dinner table, she also said sarcastic words to Wu Lili.
“If you want to leave, give birth to two sons and then I’ll let you go. Otherwise, don’t think about leaving this home.”
Behind this coldness was Aunt’s painstaking waiting. But if a person really wanted to leave, she couldn’t be kept no matter what.
Less than a month after getting married, Wu Lili said that she was pregnant and wanted to go to the hospital for an examination. Cao Yanhu had doubts in his heart, but still found a car in the village and went to the hospital.
His aunt also let down her guard against her. But in the blink of an eye, Wu Lili, who was standing on the roadside, hurriedly got into a man’s car.
The car drove very fast. Cao Yanhu chased after it like crazy, but still couldn’t catch up.
Aunt was so angry that she cried and shouted at Cao Yanhu, “Go and find your wife back!”
“How can I find her?” Cao Yanhu said blankly. He was at a loss because of the scene in front of him.
“Go to find her mother and try to get the money back.” Aunt cried and said.
As long as the money was got back, even if Wu Lili really ran away, Cao Yanhu could find another wife.
Although it was cruel, it was the truth.
In some remote and backward rural areas, sky-high betrothal gifts emerged in an endless stream. As long as you had money, it was no problem to marry a wife.
But if you didn’t have money, even an eighteen-year-old good young man couldn’t get married.
Wu Lili disappeared without a trace. She didn’t answer the phone calls. Cao Yanhu had no way out, so he could only go to find Wang Xiuhong.
When he and his aunt found the village where Wang Xiuhong lived and inquired about it, they were dumbfounded.
This Wang Xiuhong was a notorious shrew in the local area. She made a fortune by relying on betrothal gifts. Her daughter got engaged to several families. Every time after receiving the betrothal gifts from others, her daughter would run away to avoid debts.
Every time someone came to make trouble, but Wang Xiuhong would make a scene and only was willing to return a part of the money. In this way, Wang Xiuhong and her daughter had done this kind of business several times.
Every time Wu Lili would sleep with men for a few times. Then after asking for the betrothal gifts, she would disappear immediately. Even if someone came to her home to make trouble, there was Wang Xiuhong to deal with it.
In this way, they didn’t know how many families they had cheated, and Cao Yanhu was just one of them.
Aunt burst into tears when she knew it and was determined to find Wang Xiuhong and try to get the money back. When they found Wang Xiuhong, she was playing mahjong in a store.
After Aunt found Wang Xiuhong, she immediately asked her for money.
Who knew that Wang Xiuhong widened her eyes and looked innocent, “My daughter has already married your nephew. Why should we return the betrothal gift money?”
“But she ran away.”
“That was also driven away by you. What does it have to do with me?”
“Stop pretending. Your daughter must have come back.”
“I’ve already said that it has nothing to do with me.”
Seeing that she was going to deny it, Aunt was so angry that she cried and grabbed her arm to drag her to the police station.
Who knew that Wang Xiuhong wasn’t afraid at all, and they were in a stalemate like this.
Cao Yanhu was so angry that his face turned red. He looked at Wang Xiuhong and shouted, “You and your daughter joined hands to cheat me! Return the money to me quickly!”
“I’ve said that I don’t have money. The money is in my daughter’s hands.”
“Then you go and find your daughter back.”
“I don’t know where she is.”
Facing this unreasonable shrew, Cao Yanhu had no way to deal with her.
Wang Xiuhong argued plausibly, “My daughter hasn’t divorced your nephew. She just ran away What betrothal gift money do you want from me?”
Cao Yanhu thought about it and felt that she was right. He and Wu Lili were legal husband and wife.
Since Wu Lili had run away, it would be okay to find a way to get her back.
Aunt shouted, “You two are both cheaters. We don’t want to be in this marriage anymore. Return the betrothal gift money.”
“You haven’t divorced yet. Why should we return the betrothal gift money!”
This farce ended unhappily. Cao Yanhu began to look for Wu Lili everywhere. He wanted to know what he had done wrong.
Since they got married, Wu Lili had refused his request for sharing the same bed every time on the grounds of feeling unwell. Cao Yanhu had always treated her with respect. No one would have thought that such a thing would happen.
After looking for several days continuously, Cao Yanhu still hadn’t found her. Loneliness and despair shrouded his heart. He didn’t know what he had done wrong.
Aunt was still quarreling with Wang Xiuhong every day. Wang Xiuhong couldn’t bear it and decided to return 150,000 yuan.
But Aunt definitely wouldn’t agree, so the two of them quarreled again.
“My daughter slept with your nephew for a month. How do you calculate that?”
“Then you should return 450,000 yuan and leave 50,000 yuan for you.”
“No way.”
The two were quarreling. Cao Yanhu sat on the ground, with dull eyes. He inquired about Wu Lili’s whereabouts everywhere and finally got something.
In a rented house, he blocked Wu Lili. Wu Lili was still dressed fashionably and seemed to be living a good life.
“Come back with me.” Cao Yanhu said.
“I won’t go back. I don’t want to be with you.”
“Then return the money to me and I’ll find another wife.”
“No way. That money is the money I sold myself for.”
Cao Yanhu was enraged by her shameless words. He punched her and was about to drag her into the car.
Wu Lili kept struggling and shouted for help even louder. At this time, Cao Yanhu’s nephew, Cao Liang, covered her mouth.
In this way, they carried Wu Lili into the car and forcibly took her back to the village.
After Wu Lili returned home, Cao Yanhu’s aunt, auntie and others volunteered to move into Cao Yanhu’s house. They wanted to help him watch over Wu Lili.
Wu Lili was locked in the house. She shouted loudly, but these relatives watched her closely. All this seemed absurd, but in the countryside, 500,000 yuan was not just money but life.
Without this 500,000 yuan, a rural family would have no way to survive.
Wu Lili was imprisoned. Cao Yanhu earnestly persuaded her, “We are husband and wife. There’s no need to be so bitter and resentful.”
“Isn’t it good for us to live a good life together?”
“I’m very good at puppet shows and can make a lot of money.” So he picked up the box and prepared to perform a puppet show for Wu Lili.
But Wu Lili shouted loudly and knocked over his box, “I want to go out. Let me out!”
Cao Yanhu didn’t say anything. He put down a plate, then started to perform the puppet show.
The puppet was vivid as if it were a real person, and Wu Lili’s eyes were quickly attracted.
After watching for a full half an hour, she said, “I don’t like you at all. I want to marry a big boss. I don’t look up to someone like you who does magic tricks.”
“I’m a puppeteer, not someone who does magic tricks.”
“There’s no difference in my eyes.”
Cao Yanhu was extremely angry. If his grandfather had only taught him the method of making living puppets, he really wanted to let Wu Lili see the ancestral means.
The puppeteer, a mysterious and ancient profession, had inherited many unique skills. However, many of them were prohibited because they were too evil.
Cao Yanhu had heard from his grandfather that his second uncle had a unique skill.
His second uncle often went to a village to perform. Every time, he attracted a lot of children. Later, one day, while performing the puppet show, his second uncle suddenly walked outside.
The children around seemed to lose their minds and also walked outside. They seemed to lose their souls and were led out of the village by his second uncle.
Then his second uncle’s accomplices rushed forward and caught these children. These children didn’t resist and were caught blankly and stuffed into sacks.
Later, these children were all sold by his second uncle. He made a lot of money. But before long, his second uncle was killed by someone seeking revenge, and his whole family died.
Therefore, his grandfather often told him not to use puppet skills to do bad things.
In the next few days, Wu Lili was imprisoned at home.
Cao Yanhu’s relatives also colluded with each other and watched her, leaving her no chance at all.
To prevent Wang Xiuhong from coming to find her, Aunt continued to go to quarrel with Wang Xiuhong.
In this way, it seemed that Wu Lili disappeared overnight.
Cao Yanhu earnestly persuaded Wu Lili, but she still looked down on him.
Gradually, Cao Yanhu also lost his patience. He even wondered what method could make her obedient.
He still performed puppet shows for Wu Lili every day. But even if Wu Lili liked watching them, after watching, she would still say impolitely that it was already a modern age. Who still made money by handicrafts.
Cao Yanhu was both angry and anxious. The puppet show with silk threads was a handicraft passed down by his ancestors. Relying on this handicraft, even in famine years, no one in the Cao family had starved to death.
But Wu Lili denied his favorite puppet show, which made him very angry.
Wu Lili’s disappearance was still discovered by Wang Xiuhong.
She immediately came to find her, making a big fuss. But Cao Yanhu and the others firmly claimed that Wu Lili’s disappearance had nothing to do with them.
So Wang Xiuhong left angrily.
Wu Lili was then transferred to a dark cellar. In such a dark and damp place as the cellar, Wu Lili couldn’t bear it anymore.
“Let me out. I’ll tell my mother to return the money to you.”
Cao Yanhu hesitated. Wu Lili’s attitude towards him had never changed.
Since that was the case, it might be better to hand her over and get the betrothal gift money back.
“Don’t let her out!” Aunt stopped him.
She had inquired about Wang Xiuhong’s bad deeds and naturally knew that once Wu Lili was let out, it would be impossible to get the money back.
“It’s better to find a way to make her have a child and then let her go.”
“Yes, let’s do it like this.”
These relatives all planned to do so. Anyway, in their eyes, the main purpose of marriage was to carry on the family line, and other things were secondary.
Cao Yanhu also knew what Wang Xiuhong was like. After thinking about it, he immediately refused.
Wu Lili went crazy. She was imprisoned here every day. At the slightest sign of trouble, she would be locked in the cellar.
The dark cellar really made her feel painful. But she still didn’t want to submit to Cao Yanhu. From the bottom of her heart, she looked down on Cao Yanhu.
Cao Yanhu tried every means to make her happy every day and performed puppet shows for her. But no matter how fast the puppets walked, she didn’t show a slightest smile.
Cao Yanhu manipulated the puppets as he liked and made them dance.
Wu Lili watched silently. Although she wasn’t interested in this thing, it was also the only entertainment during her imprisonment.
On the third day, the police suddenly came to Cao Yanhu’s house. Cao Yanhu’s aunt hurriedly pulled Wu Lili into the cellar.
In the living room, several policemen sat on the sofa. In front of them was Cao Yanhu.
The police got straight to the point, “This time we’re here to understand the situation.”
Cao Yanhu was slightly stunned and nodded.
The police observed his expression and said directly, “I’ll be frank. Wu Lili is missing. I suspect it’s your doing. I know the conflict between you and Wu Lili.”
“But after all, you’ve seen the world. This is illegal detention. Even if you’re married, it’s not allowed.”
“So, I hope you can let her out. If there’s anything, we can discuss it with each other.”
The police’s eyes were very sincere. The situation of detaining the bride like this was quite common in the countryside.
A case like this happened in the local area the year before last.
At that time, the bride suddenly regretted the marriage. The groom’s family locked her up in a fit of anger. Unless the bride’s family returned the betrothal gift money, the bride couldn’t leave.
Finally, the bride’s family knew they were in the wrong and didn’t call the police. They spent money to redeem the bride.
It sounded absurd, but in the remote and economically backward countryside, marrying a daughter was like selling a daughter. It was impossible to sell her without squeezing the groom’s family.
“I know what you mean. My mother-in-law also asked me for money, but I won’t do such a thing.” Cao Yanhu said calmly, with no panic in his eyes.
“It’s good that you didn’t do it. There are disputes between you. You can sue her. But there’s no need to ruin your future.” The police reminded him earnestly.
Although the police didn’t want to admit it, Cao Yanhu indeed had a major suspicion.
Cao Yanhu wasn’t impatient and still repeated that he didn’t do such a thing and that Wu Lili’s disappearance had nothing to do with him.
Several policemen looked at each other and began to search.
Cao Yanhu’s face didn’t show panic. The cellar was very hidden and had two floors, so he wasn’t afraid at all.
Later, he simply picked up his mobile phone and played the game “Honor of Kings”.
The police took a look and found that he especially liked to use Luban No.7. “Why do you like to use Luban No.7 so much? It’s so fragile and easy to die.”
“Maybe it’s because it’s a puppet. I’ve liked puppets since I was a child.” Cao Yanhu said with a smile.
“I’ve heard that your family is a famous puppeteer family in the local area.”
Seeing that the police were so interested, Cao Yanhu put down his mobile phone, took out a puppet from the drawer, and then put silk threads on his ten fingers and controlled the puppet like this.
This puppet that was only three inches long walked nimbly at this time as if it were a real person, making people unforgettable at just one glance.
“It’s really amazing!” The police clapped their hands and praised.
“It’s a pity that not many people watch puppet shows with silk threads now.” Cao Yanhu took back the puppet, with a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
The police nodded and was about to speak when suddenly there was a noise from the cellar outside.
“What’s the noise?” The police’s face changed suddenly, and Cao Yanhu broke out in a cold sweat.
It must be that Aunt didn’t control Wu Lili well and made her make a noise.
“It should be the sound of my geese. I raise a lot of geese around here.”
“I don’t think so. It sounds like someone’s cry for help.” The police suddenly looked at him with sharp eyes. Cao Yanhu was extremely nervous in his heart, but his long-term performance of puppet shows with many audiences around had made his psychological quality quite high.
“You must have heard wrong. If you don’t believe it, you can go and have a look.”
Soon the police came back and found nothing. So they asked Cao Yanhu to keep his phone unblocked and then left.
Before leaving, the leading policeman said, “If you’re the one who imprisoned Wu Lili, please confess and you’ll be treated leniently. Otherwise, you’ll surely face severe punishment by the law.”
After they left, Cao Yanhu opened the cellar and saw that Aunt’s head was bleeding and Wu Lili had fainted beside her.
It turned out that just now Wu Lili had attacked Aunt and shouted loudly. Fortunately, Aunt picked up a stone beside her and knocked her out. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
In the evening, Cao Yanhu called several relatives to have a meeting. “What should we do?”
“The police will definitely find her. Then it’ll be all over.”
“Why don’t we send her back and ask her to return the money to me?”
“I’m afraid it’s not that easy. Even if we go to court, we won’t be able to get it back.”
What they said was not unfounded. Wang Xiuhong was shameless. Even if the court enforced it, she had ways to deny it. Anyway, she wasn’t afraid of becoming a deadbeat at all.
“No, we can’t send her back.”
“But she keeps quarreling. What if we’re not careful and she runs away?”
“Then what should we do?”
Just when everyone was frowning with worry, Aunt said with a sinister look, “Since that’s the case, we might as well go all the way and turn her into a living puppet!”
Living puppet?
The relatives around were all stunned.
“Is it okay to do this?”
“If she runs out to report to the police, we’ll be finished.”
“There’s no other way.”
Cao Yanhu hesitated for a long time and then gritted his teeth, “Okay, let’s do it like this.”
He was really fed up with Wu Lili’s indifference and was even more annoyed that he had been cheated. If he could recover the loss, he would do whatever it took.
Soon the people around reached a consensus. Their faces became ferocious and their eyes were full of fierceness.
Cao Yanhu immediately started to prepare the medicine. He crushed all kinds of herbs. Cao Yanhu was very focused on his actions.
The puppeteer, an ancient profession, was a low-class profession in a prosperous and peaceful era. It was no different from those who did magic tricks.
But in troubled times when lives were as cheap as grass, puppeteers would often do all kinds of crazy things to protect themselves.
The herbs were boiled into a bowl of soup. During the process of boiling the medicine, Cao Yanhu struggled in his eyes, but soon he made up his mind.
Soon Wu Lili was caught. Her four limbs were firmly grasped. Aunt held a bowl of prepared medicinal soup and poured it into Wu Lili’s mouth like this.
Wu Lili struggled desperately, but it was all in vain. In her sight, these people seemed to have become devils.
The next day, Wu Lili stopped making noise and would never make noise again. She was in a daze as if she had lost her mind.
Cao Yanhu was both nervous and happy. In a room, Aunt pushed him in.
“Now, she’ll never resist you again.”
Cao Yanhu took a look and couldn’t help but rush over.
On this day, he finally felt the pleasure of a man. Wu Lili let him do whatever he wanted and didn’t resist at all from beginning to end.
She was just like a puppet.
Looking at her lifeless eyes, Cao Yanhu didn’t feel any fear. There was only a sense of wantonness.
In the following days, Wu Lili became a fool. Cao Yanhu gradually felt dissatisfied and began to tame Wu Lili.
Yes, tame.
This word couldn’t be used on a person at all, but Wu Lili was no longer a person now.
Wu Lili was dull and didn’t know how to resist Whatever Cao Yanhu asked her to do, she was willing to do it.
Usually, she just lay on the sofa blankly, motionless. Even for eating and excreting, she needed Cao Yanhu’s help.
Wang Xiuhong was still looking for her daughter all over the world. The police also came to Cao Yanhu’s house several times.
The cellar had been discovered. If it hadn’t been for the cellar having two layers, it would have been discovered long ago.
Cao Yanhu sensed the danger and began to make a puppet big enough to hold Wu Lili.
It was an extremely huge puppet made of plastic, very soft and with good air permeability.
Its workmanship was so good, with a charming face and a vivid expression, just like a real person.
Cao Yanhu held his trembling heart and stuffed Wu Lili into the puppet. When Wu Lili entered the puppet and her body swayed because of discomfort,
Cao Yanhu stared at the puppet in front of him, his eyes full of excitement. At this moment, he seemed to understand what was in his heart.
What he wanted was such a puppet, a puppet that would never betray him.
So Wu Lili’s soul and body were all sealed in this puppet, and Cao Yanhu became her master.
The puppet only listened to his words. He really got what he wanted.
When the sick idea occupied Cao Yanhu’s heart, only evil was left.
Wang Xiuhong was still crazily looking for her daughter. For her, her daughter was a cash cow. She thought that her daughter had run away with the money.
But the police didn’t think so. They were trying hard to find clues to find the missing Wu Lili.
At night, after performing a puppet show, Cao Yanhu returned home tired. All his relatives had left.
Only a white puppet was sitting on the sofa, motionless.
“I’m back.” Cao Yanhu said.
As he spoke, the puppet on the sofa suddenly shook its arm and said, “Welcome back, master.”
If ordinary people saw this scene, they would surely be scared out of their wits, but Cao Yanhu nodded with satisfaction.
Wu Lili had now become a living puppet. When there was nothing to do, she would not move and not say a word.
But when Cao Yanhu said a word, she would immediately take corresponding actions.
However, besides that, the puppet had no thoughts of its own.
After eating, Cao Yanhu became interested. He looked at the puppet and asked, “Are you hungry?”
There was no answer. Wu Lili seemed to have lost all her humanity. Now she was just a puppet.
Cao Yanhu shook his head, took off her hood and fed her.
Wu Lili had no reaction at all, and even her eyeballs didn’t move. Only when eating would she swallow instinctively.
After eating, Cao Yanhu took her to the toilet to clean her. Although Wu Lili was like a living puppet, she still needed to eat and excrete.
After finishing these things, Cao Yanhu wiped the sweat off his forehead and let out a sigh of relief.
Wu Lili continued to stand there blankly, wearing the hood and motionless.
“Come here with me.” Cao Yanhu shouted.
Wu Lili didn’t respond.
“Oh, right.” Cao Yanhu thought of something and shouted to her, “Come here with master.”
This time Wu Lili reacted. The puppet wrapped in plastic walked over step by step like this.
Master, this was the title Cao Yanhu gave himself. After this period of transformation, Cao Yanhu had completely changed.
The cautious Cao Yanhu before had now become wanton. Just in a few days, facing a person who had no power to resist and could only obey his orders, Cao Yanhu showed his devilish nature.
Lying on the bed, Cao Yanhu said comfortably, “Now it’s time to give me a son.”
“Yes, master.”
At night, Cao Yanhu fell asleep in a daze. The puppet stood beside his bed, blankly standing there.
The next day, when Cao Yanhu woke up, he found that Wu Lili was standing beside his bed and had stood there all night.
He didn’t feel anything and just went to have breakfast.
Wu Lili only ate twice a day. Mainly because Cao Yanhu thought it was too troublesome.
After having breakfast, Cao Yanhu said, “Now stay on the sofa and wait for me to come back.”
So Wu Lili really sat on the sofa, motionless. Even if someone came in, what they saw was just a puppet.
During this process, she wouldn’t make any noise until she was awakened again.
Now she was just like an object, without her own thoughts.
At noon, Cao Yanhu didn’t come back, and she just sat blankly on the sofa.
In the afternoon, Cao Yanhu came back, and there were policemen beside him.
“I’ve said that Wu Lili’s disappearance has nothing to do with me.”
“But we’ve investigated that you’ve been looking for Wu Lili all the time.”
“I’ve been looking for her, but just haven’t found her.”
“I advise you to tell the truth. Otherwise, once we know that you’re hiding something, the consequences will be very serious.”
“I’ve said that Wu Lili’s disappearance has nothing to do with me.”
At this time, the policemen noticed the puppet on the sofa and couldn’t help asking, “Is this your puppet?”
“Yes. Isn’t it lifelike?” Cao Yanhu grabbed Wu Lili’s head and shook it left and right.
Wu Lili had no reaction at all. She was just like an object.
Cao Yanhu chatted and laughed with the policemen. The policemen searched around but didn’t search this puppet.
No one would suspect that there was a person inside a puppet.
The policemen left soon. Cao Yanhu let out a sigh of relief and sat on the sofa. He looked at the puppet and drank tea leisurely.
The puppet was still sitting beside him, like an ornament, without any thoughts of its own.
After a long time, Cao Yanhu said, “Master orders you to stand up.”
“Yes.” Wu Lili stood up.
“Sit down.”
“Yes.”
Wu Lili sat down again. Seeing this scene, Cao Yanhu was satisfied.
At night, he enjoyed himself again and then lay on the bed. Looking at Wu Lili lying on the bed, he felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart. He asked her to stand beside the bed and then turned off the light to sleep.
The next day, he opened his eyes, looked at the motionless puppet beside the bed and nodded with satisfaction.
Even though she had stood all night, Wu Lili still had no reaction. Cao Yanhu fed her and then asked her to sit on the sofa.
At this moment, Wu Lili was still sitting there numbly. At this time, her hair had all fallen out, so it was better integrated with the plastic.
The house was very dark. Wu Lili sat motionless on the sofa.
If you looked in through the window, you could only see a puppet sitting on the sofa, blankly maintaining a posture.
Cao Yanhu continued to perform. With silk threads on his fingers, under his pull, the puppet spun on the plate, and the people around kept clapping and burst into thunderous applause.
At night, Cao Yanhu returned home and was with Wu Lili.
He could command Wu Lili to do anything he wanted. But such days didn’t last long.
The police broke into the door again and ended all these sins.
Cao Yanhu didn’t escape punishment as he imagined. The police found the car that had taken Wu Lili through investigation. The owner of the car was Cao Yanhu’s nephew, Cao Liang.
After a short interrogation, his psychological defense was broken through and he confessed everything.
The whole family knew that Wu Lili had been turned into a puppet, but no one reported it and no one objected.
All these sins were hidden in the darkness until the truth came to light one day.
Cao Yanhu was still caught.
Wu Lili was rescued. At this time, her hair had all fallen out, and she was dull-eyed and had no reaction to the outside world.
Seeing this scene, Wang Xiuhong almost broke down. On the day when Cao Yanhu was taken away, he didn’t resist. He was handcuffed indifferently.
When the police car passed by the entrance of the village, the village was decorated with lanterns and colored streamers, and a wedding was going on. But among the onlookers, the bride refused to get out of the car no matter what.
“I won’t get out of the car without 50,000 yuan.”
“Where can I get 50,000 yuan at this time?” The groom begged bitterly.
“I don’t care. It must be 50,000 yuan.”
Seeing this scene, Cao Yanhu’s expression was dull and still extremely numb.
That’s where the story ended. I asked that police friend. What exactly was the knockout drug?
He told me that after forensic examination, the main ingredient of the knockout drug was thallium. It’s a toxin that can damage nerves. Now the formula has also been confiscated.
However, I heard that the living puppet was just the most insignificant evil technique of puppeteers. Some extremely vicious evil techniques hadn’t been passed down.
“It’s so terrifying. I didn’t expect the evil techniques of puppeteers to be so scary.”
“These evil techniques passed down from ancient times don’t know how many lives they have harmed. That’s why Cao Yanhu’s grandfather didn’t pass them down before he died.”
“There’s no need to inherit these harmful things. Isn’t it good to perform puppet shows properly?”
“Yes, puppet shows are the traditional culture worth inheriting.”
“By the way.” My police friend told me, “That Wang Xiuhong was also arrested later for being suspected of fraud.”
“It would have been better if it had been like this earlier.”
“You don’t understand. Some things are very complicated.”
“But now the country is cracking down on sky-high betrothal gifts. Maybe things like this will become history forever.”
