Chapter 38

Sitting in front of the easel, the person who was painting the human skin was entirely blood red.

Because he had no human skin, his flesh and blood were exposed to the air, and one could clearly see the blood vessels in his body pulsing. As for his facial features, they were just a few bloody holes.

Looking at the brush in his hand, it was no ordinary thing.

The brush handle looked like a human bone, and the bristles were made of some unknown material.

While painting the skin, every few strokes, he would turn his head to the unconscious maid and wet nurse lying beside him, open his mouth, which was like a bloody hole, and take a breath.

What he was sucking was the yang energy and vitality of these people.

Each time he sucked their yang energy and vitality, the maid and wet nurse would grow a few more white hairs, and the wrinkles around their eyes would deepen.

After absorbing the yang energy and vitality, he would let it circulate through his body, then open his mouth, stick out his forked tongue like a snake, lick the tip of the brush, and continue painting the human skin.

He was using human yang energy and vitality as ink.

Only in this way could the human skin remain uncorrupted and undecayed, and could it suppress his deathly and demonic aura, preventing others from noticing anything amiss.

The paper man that had attacked the station was placed on a nearby desk.

At this moment, the paper man no longer had a sinister and eerie feel; it looked like a cute and chubby New Year's painting doll.

No one would easily associate them with the demonic ghosts that could take human lives.

Although Zhu Xiuzai had long suspected that Zhang Benwu was problematic, he still couldn't help but shiver when he saw the bizarre scene of painting the skin.

Even Su Jianqing had a serious expression.

Only Qin Shaoyou and Su Tingyu had different reactions.

Or rather, their reactions were abnormal.

When Qin Shaoyou saw the fake Zhang Benwu, the same thought that had come to him when he saw Ruan Xiangxiang popped into his mind: This guy should be very tasty!

Moreover, for some reason, whether it was psychological or something else, he actually smelled an enticing aroma that stimulated his taste buds, making his mouth water.

In short, he thought: This guy smells so good, I really want to eat him!

Su Tingyu was also very excited, but she was interested in the fake Zhang Benwu for a different reason.

She wasn't thinking about eating the fake Zhang Benwu, but rather found the demonic ghost very novel and interesting, and wanted to take it back to the Jade Emperor Temple to dissect and study it.

The two people who were interested in the fake Zhang Benwu soon noticed each other's abnormal reactions.

They both raised their heads and glanced at each other.

Seeing the anticipation and excitement on the other's face, they both frowned and thought: What's wrong with this woman (man)? Why is she (he) so excited to see a demonic ghost? Is she (he) crazy?

Then they both thought: Could she (he) be like me, wanting to study (eat) the demonic ghost?

Is she (he) a kindred spirit?

Qin Shaoyou and Su Tingyu didn't feel happy; instead, they were on guard.

One was afraid the other would snatch his ingredients.

The other was worried the other would take away her research material.

Su Jianqing was closely watching the fake Zhang Benwu painting the skin and didn't notice her sister and Qin Shaoyou staring at each other.

She said in a very low voice, "This is a skin-painting ghost. They love to peel the skin off living people to wear, mixing in with the crowd to steal the yang energy and vitality of the living. Those who are sucked of their yang energy and vitality will, at best, fall seriously ill, and at worst, be plagued by misfortune or even die!"

Zhu Xiuzai also spoke in a low voice, "Why is this skin-painting ghost pretending to be Zhang Benwu? It can't just be to steal the yang energy and vitality of the Zhang family's servants, right?"

Su Tingyu was eager to try, "Why think so much? Just catch it and ask it, and you'll know everything. When it takes off its skin, it's at its weakest. With our four people's strength, it's not hard to capture it alive."

She couldn't wait to take the skin-painting ghost back and conduct various experiments on it.

Before Qin Shaoyou could speak to stop her, Su Jianqing preempted, "No. This skin-painting ghost is pretending to be Zhang Benwu for a big plan, possibly related to the Black Lotus Sect's subsequent actions. If we move now, we'll alert the Black Lotus Sect's demons, which could ruin our plans."

"Right," Qin Shaoyou nodded in agreement.

Although he also wanted to pounce and eat the skin-painting ghost, it wasn't the right time yet, so he had to suppress his strong appetite.

Disappointed that her suggestion was rejected, Su Tingyu didn't insist.

Qin Shaoyou thought for a moment and felt that although they couldn't alert the skin-painting ghost, doing nothing was also unsatisfactory.

So he said, "Daoists Su, do you have any way to secretly sabotage the skin-painting ghost without it noticing?"

Su Tingyu shook her head.

Her Daoist methods were all straightforward and didn't include any underhanded tricks.

However, Su Jianqing had an idea, "I can place a curse on the human skin, which can be activated when needed to briefly immobilize the skin-painting ghost, making it unable to move. But I need someone to distract it from the human skin."

"How long do you need to distract it?" Zhu Xiuzai asked.

"At least five breaths."

"Five breaths? I'll try."

Zhu Xiuzai silently climbed down the wall and disappeared into the darkness.

A moment later, a few barks came from outside the Zhang family's wall.

The skin-painting ghost in the study stood up abruptly when it heard the barks.

The barks were very similar to those of the dog Qin Shaoyou had bought.

The skin-painting ghost instinctively wanted to rush out of the study, but quickly realized it wasn't wearing the human skin and restrained itself.

After thinking for a moment, it walked to the closed door of the study and shouted, "Someone!"

The guards stationed nearby rushed over and asked through the door, "Young Master, what do you need?"

"Go and find out where those barks are coming from and bring the dog to me."

The skin-painting ghost's voice had changed again since the afternoon when Qin Shaoyou and the others had seen it.

The hoarseness was much less, and it sounded more like Zhang Benwu.

Although the guard outside was surprised by the order, he didn't dare to question or refuse it. He left a few elite guards to continue watching the outside, and the rest went out to find the dog.

But the skin-painting ghost was still unsatisfied.

It genuinely wanted to find the dog to serve it to Zhang Shilang as a sign of filial piety.

So after giving the order to the guards outside, it returned to the desk, picked up the New Year's painting doll with its bare hand, and muttered some words.

A moment later, the cute and chubby New Year's painting dolls swayed and transformed into pale and eerie paper men, which slipped out through the gaps in the doors and windows.

At the same time, the agile Zhu Xiuzai had returned to the roof and eagerly asked, "How did it go, Daoist Su? Did your curse work?"

"It worked," Su Jianqing nodded.

While the skin-painting ghost was giving orders to the guards, Su Jianqing, relying on her ghostly spirit form, passed through the roof, flew to the human skin on the easel, and added a few strokes with her magic.

The few strokes she added formed a curse, but because it was colorless and traceless, the skin-painting ghost couldn't detect it.

Qin Shaoyou, however, was worried about something else, "The monks are still outside. Won't your dog barking harm them?"

Zhu Xiuzai said, "Don't worry, sir. I went out to warn the monks to hide. And the place where I imitated the dog barking is far from where they are hiding."

"That's good," Qin Shaoyou was relieved.

Since they had uncovered the fake Zhang Benwu's identity and tampered with its human skin, Qin Shaoyou and the others decided to leave the Zhang family's residence and investigate the next suspicious location to prepare for the large-scale operation when the main force arrived.

But just as they were about to leave, a servant with a lantern led Zhang Shilang over.

Zhang Shilang was about to rest when he suddenly heard the commotion outside. He asked a servant and learned that his grandson had sent guards to find a dog, so he came to check.

The Zhang Benwu in the study appeared somewhat flustered when he sensed Zhang Shilang's arrival.

He couldn't continue painting the skin and quickly grabbed it to put on, then blew a breath at the unconscious maid and wet nurse.

The maid and wet nurse immediately woke up, feeling both guilty and puzzled about why they had fallen asleep.

Zhang Shilang soon entered the study.

After Zhang Benwu greeted him, he asked, "It's so late, what are you doing?"

The skin-painting ghost put on a serious and studious demeanor, "I'm reading the Book of Documents. The sixteen-character heart transmission that helped me escape the demonic ghost has made me realize the importance of the sages' teachings."

Zhang Shilang was indeed delighted. After encouraging him with a few words, he asked him several questions from the Book of Documents. Seeing that he answered them well, he was very pleased and nodded repeatedly.

"If you have any questions in your studies, you can come to me anytime."

"Thank you, Grandfather."

After a while of the skin-painting ghost being filial to Zhang Shilang, he suddenly said, "Grandfather, can you tell me about your experiences in office?"

Zhang Shilang was surprised, "Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

The skin-painting ghost said, "Because I want to be like you, a clean and upright official who serves the emperor and cares for the people, taking the state and the people as my responsibility!"

"Ha ha ha."

Zhang Shilang was delighted by his "obedient grandson's" flattery and began to recount his experiences in office.

During this process, the skin-painting ghost occasionally asked a few questions, subtly steering the conversation from how to be a good official to discussing Zhang Shilang's interpersonal relationships.

Despite being a seasoned official, Zhang Shilang, a cunning old fox, never suspected that his "obedient grandson" had ulterior motives.

But Qin Shaoyou and the others, hiding on the roof, felt increasingly uneasy as they listened.

This skin-painting ghost really wanted to be an official!

More accurately, it wanted to be Zhang Shilang!