CHAPTER 35: CHAPTER 24: SKINNING MASTER

More than ten minutes ago, when Yan Daozi arrived at the broken temple in the Deserted Forest with Skinny, he smelled a strong stench of blood from afar.

He immediately drew his iron sword for defense, clutching a talisman in one hand, and had Skinny take two black dogs inside to scout the way.

Skinny hadn’t been inside long when a scream echoed out, and the two black dogs dashed out with their tails between their legs, almost knocking down Yan Daozi.

Instinctively, Yan Daozi retreated, having no desire to enter the broken temple.

Yet, his purpose in staying in Black Mountain Village to find someone was secondary; with Mid-Autumn approaching, that was the most important matter.

The Evil Suppression Bureau wouldn’t intervene in trivial matters like the Wheat Evil due to a shortage of manpower, but serious issues like illicit rituals required them to mobilize elite forces to annihilate, especially those involving the former National Temple, as the court was particularly sensitive and cautious about it.

Once the Evil Suppression Bureau arrived, all his arrangements would be in vain. When that group’s investigation concluded, his fate would be worse than suffering backlash from the Evil Spirits.

Moreover, the Skinning Master he commanded was a ferocious and reckless person in life, and he always had to tread carefully, never able to connect with it properly—a grave concern.

Forget it, here they are...

Yan Daozi swallowed hard, steeled himself, and walked into the broken temple. As soon as he entered, the temple wall suddenly collapsed, and a wisp of black hair swiftly scurried from the corner.

Yan Daozi’s brow twitched. He pinched a talisman between his fingers, inflaming it in an instant, staying on high alert.

Under the harsh noon sun, Yan Daozi cautiously stood where the sunlight was strongest, avoiding any shadows, sweating profusely under the heat.

There was no sign of Skinny inside the broken temple, but the interior did indeed have plenty of bloodstains, especially the headless Divine Statue of the Witch Lady, which inexplicably had cracked open.

The black hair didn’t appear again, and Yan Daozi couldn’t sense any trace of Evil Spirits. Clutching his talisman and sword, he quickly searched the broken temple but found nothing.

After a brief pondering, Yan Daozi’s brow furrowed profoundly.

"Damn it!"

He rushed out of the broken temple towards his residence. Just as he exited the forest, he saw thick black smoke billowing.

His place had been set on fire!

Fuming with rage, images of Xia Chan and Sang Que flashed in Yan Daozi’s mind—he couldn’t tell whether it was one of them, or the temple priest’s daughter he was searching for, who had been hiding in the shadows, waiting to rob his house!

When Yan Daozi saw Sang Que running out of his yard from afar, carrying a huge bundle—his bedsheet as the bundle cover, with his Peach Wood Sword sticking out of it—he was shocked as if struck by lightning, in complete disbelief!

Those clear and sharp eyes, how could they seem so naive before!

An act, it was all an act, too deceitful!

Yan Daozi was furious, had that girl taken all of his savings from these years?

He didn’t even know if the ten Ghost Soldier Talismans locked in his box had been stolen or not, a huge price he paid to have them crafted with the Power of Daoist Lord, and he could only create two a year!

And those two life-saving Exorcism Red Candles, for which he sold five years of his life to the Evil Suppression Bureau, only to exchange for them!

It was all his fault for leaving so hastily before and being unguarded against that girl; although Ming Zhang hadn’t fused well with the yin object, it was still a powerful zombie—he thought it could scare off petty thieves, not realizing that girl had hidden so deeply.

Regret filled him!

Yan Daozi was both furious and anxious, burning with the urge to recover his belongings. Without hesitation, he summoned the Evil Spirits, and for those villagers, killing a few along the way was of no consequence.

"Get out of my way!"

Sang Que yelled at the surrounding villagers, sprinting towards the less populated part of the village.

Just at that moment, Kou Yushan also returned, noticing the situation was off. He immediately led the villagers to hide in their homes; he had heard Sang Que’s shout earlier and didn’t expect her to take all of Yan Daozi’s belongings and even set his yard on fire.

He thought she merely wanted to sneak in to investigate some clues.

Divine Thief Sect? Could she really be a ’Kongkong’er’, even fooling him?

Suddenly, the sky darkened, cold winds howled, vegetables withered instantly in nearby courtyards, and chickens in coops fell and rotted. A heavy smell of blood mingled with the stench of corpses spread far and wide.

Kou Yushan hoisted a nearby child and darted into the adjacent courtyard.

An old man couldn’t flee in time, and an icy hand swiftly skimmed over his scalp.

"Ahhh!!!"

In his agonizing screams, the old man’s skin was forcefully peeled from his body, ripped apart hard from the top, leaving behind a gory, blood-soaked corpse on the ground.

The villagers screamed in terror, scrambling away in a panic.

Sang Que hadn’t run far when she was suddenly blocked by a slender ghostly figure. She abruptly halted, instantly igniting a prepared Exorcism Talisman.

The flaying hands on either side were immediately repelled by the talisman’s power; the shadow dispersed, and a heavy hand clapped down on Sang Que’s shoulder from behind.

Cold, stiff, particularly heavy.

The light of the Exorcism Talisman suddenly turned green and burned out instantly.

Bitter cold attacked her body, and without hesitation, Sang Que silently recited Gui Chou’s name within her heart, using her second hand to seize the opportunity.

Gray Evil Mist spread out in an instant, and the cold on Sang Que’s shoulder vanished immediately. Without looking back, she continued her sprint forward.

Yan Daozi saw the gray mist billowing around the village paths, almost spitting a mouthful of old blood—it was the Evil Mist, the Yin Child’s Evil Mist!

That little wench had thoroughly deceived him—even mastering the Yin Child, how was that possible? Something even those guys from the Evil Suppression Bureau couldn’t achieve, yet she managed!

Yan Daozi felt a heavy blow to his spirit. The Skinning Master, frustrated because the Evil Mist obscured Sang Que’s trail, turned his wrath on the hiding villagers and began slaughtering them.

Retreating a great distance, Yan Daozi slapped three talismans successively onto himself, holding an iron sword in one hand and a Dao Bell in another, vigilant for the Yin Child’s sudden appearance.

As long as there was no backlash against him, once the Skinning Master had killed enough, he would naturally stop, as all these people would die when Mid-Autumn eventually arrived anyway!

Screams arose one after another, mixed with the sound of flesh tearing, intensifying the stench of blood, turning the entire village into a living hell.

Sang Que heard the continuous screams from behind, gripping her fists tightly, her gaze gradually sharpening—instead of struggling to find other Evil Spirits to complete the trigram during the day, why not turn back and strike?

Win or lose, only through trying would it become clear!

With this thought determined, Sang Que decisively tore open the red string and red cloth wrapping the severed hand.

"Gui Chou, before I promised to help you retrieve your belongings, but never said I would return them—you must agree that our deal in the Nine Netherworld counts as an unbreakable rule, otherwise you would’ve come out to snatch the severed hand long ago, wouldn’t you?"

"Now I’m returning your belongings, help me deal with Yan Daozi and his Evil Spirits, then we’ll call it even!"

With that, Sang Que sliced her palm with a machete, smearing blood onto the severed hand.

The originally shrunken hand immediately seemed to come alive, the blood vessels under its skin pulsated, absorbing the blood thoroughly, and Sang Que’s right arm’s blood vessels began to twitch as well, turning icy and stiff quickly.

A small greenish-black hand reached out from the mist, swiftly seizing the severed hand.

As Sang Que raised her eyes, Gui Chou, with hollow, bleeding eyes, stood quietly within the circulating gray mist; where there once was nothing but an empty shoulder, his arm was now attached correctly.

Yet Gui Chou kept staring at her dully, not moving an inch.

Perplexed, Sang Que didn’t understand why Gui Chou wasn’t going after the Skinning Master. As she scanned her surroundings, she suddenly realized that the Skinning Master was likely at the same level as Gui Chou, if not stronger.

Gui Chou couldn’t find the Skinning Master!

Then...could she use her eyes to find it?

With a thought, Sang Que dispersed the surrounding Evil Mist, swiftly scanning the shadowy, eerie village paths. On a distant courtyard wall, she discovered the slender ghostly figure.

The cold wind disturbed the Evil Mist, and Gui Chou disappeared without a trace.

Indeed, she had to use her eyes to locate the Skinning Master for Gui Chou to take action; her higher level did have its advantages.

At that moment, He Shouhui tightly covered her mouth, hiding behind a courtyard wall of a nearby home, eyes filled with terror and tears brimming.

A shadow cast downward over her head, as He Shouhui nervously looked up, facing a taut, featureless face, a hand of mere skin aiming a heavy blow towards her crown.