The woman in the tavern sized Baili An up from head to toe for a long time, and her cool gaze was inexplicable.

After a moment, she spoke softly, her voice clear and pure, "Sir, you have traveled far. Here is a cup of poor wine, may I invite you to have a taste?"

Baili An set down the extinguished lantern in his hand and calmly said, "As far as I know, miss, you don’t seem to be the owner of this tavern."

The woman lifted her deep gemstone-like eyes, nodding slightly, "I know, this tavern is a new outpost of your Demon Alliance."

Baili An’s lips tightened, "Where is Qingxin?"

"Don’t worry, she’s unharmed. Though our stances differ, I have no reason to kill her. So..."

The woman gestured invitingly to Baili An, "Can I invite you to sit now?"

Baili An’s gaze flickered slightly, but he did not refuse her invitation and sat down at the table.

He raised the cup, making a slight toast towards the woman, and then downed it in one go, "This cup of wine, thank you for sparing Qingxin."

The woman watched Baili An drink the cold wine in one gulp, her expression unchanged, yet a faint blush quickly spread across her face.

Clearly, she couldn’t handle her liquor, her face betraying her.

Seeing this, the woman with a cool demeanor actually smiled slightly, and said, "Your drinking ability, sir, reminds me of an old acquaintance." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Baili An lightly twirled the wine cup with his fingers, "Puppets, would they also have old acquaintances to miss?"

The smile on the woman’s face disappeared immediately, her gaze suddenly becoming intense.

Baili An glanced around, saying, "The six guards accompanying miss here, they don’t seem human either. Are they puppets from Shifang City?"

The woman was clearly someone with deep scheming, her eyes’ chill receding, turning calm, "They are codenamed ’Suixing.’"

"Codename... Suixing?"

The woman replied, "Shifang City began testing the Puppet Mecha Technique more than a decade ago, trying to create puppets with personal consciousness.

Such puppets have always been Shifang City’s biggest secret. Once born into the world, to easily distinguish them, every batch of puppets produced is given a codename."

Baili An was shocked by Shifang City’s ambition, and he slowly set down the cup, "In that case, miss, you should be their predecessor."

"Modestly." The woman’s gaze was indifferent, "I am the first-generation puppet, codenamed ’Yinghuo.’"

"Codename? Miss doesn’t have a name?"

"Puppets need no names. If you need a distinction for convenience, you may call me ’Jiushijiu.’"

Jiushijiu...

More than a name, it seemed like a cold numeric designation.

However, although the woman before him claimed to be ’Yinghuo,’ possessing a self-awareness different from other puppets...

But... it’s limited to just ’self-awareness.’

Through those flawless gemstone-like eyes, Baili An couldn’t discern her ’inner heart.’

Nor could he observe any emotional change.

Even her earlier cold gaze was merely a mechanical form of expression.

Her appearance showed no difference from a human.

Even compared to Baili An, she seemed more human. Her breathing, heartbeat, and pulse were all like those of a human.

Compared to the six Suixing, who do not drink wine, she seemed more perfect, naturally becoming stronger.

At this moment, Baili An could fully confirm that the puppet woman who called herself Jiushijiu stood before him.

She came from Shifang City, but at this moment, she certainly was not serving Shifang City!