Chapter 9: Skin
“You did well. Go home and catch some well-deserved rest!” Fang Nianshui said after they returned to August Hill Village.
Ye Qing tilted his head in puzzlement, “What about you, Boss Fang?” He was asking because it looked like the hunter was going elsewhere.
Fang Nianshui replied with a weary voice, “Me? I have to report what happened today to Captain Lin. Two people were dead after all. Also, I need to inform him about that strange frog you named Kung Fu Frog. It’s no ordinary Stranger, and while it doesn’t seem to be hostile toward humans that is no reason for us to lower our guards. At the very least, our fellow brothers should know not to provoke it under any circumstances.”
He was about to take off when he suddenly turned back to Ye Qing. “I almost forgot. Take this. It’s a spirit snake ointment and one of the benefits we enjoy. It’s meant to be applied to external wounds. Just rub it over your skin, and your wounds should be healed the next day. Every watchman gets two free bottles each month. In the future, you may receive them yourself at the office.”
“Thank you, Boss Fang,” Ye Qing hurriedly accepted the medicine and thanked him.
Fang Nianshui gave him a careless wave. “Alright, I’m running off to see Captain Lin now. I’ll see you here at Rabbit Hour [1] tomorrow. Don’t be late.”
“Yes, boss!” Ye Qing nodded in affirmation before adding, “See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, yeah,” said Fang Nianshui while waving him off again. After Ye Qing had turned around and walked some distance, the hunter abruptly stared at his back with an inscrutable expression on his face.
When Ye Qing returned to his house, the first thing he did was to pour himself a full glass of tea and drain it all in one gulp. It took him a long time before he finally recollected himself. He knew that the outside world was dangerous, but it wasn’t until he actually stepped into it that he realized just what those dangers entailed. To put it simply, they represented death and slaughter.
Take this expedition for example. What should’ve been an easy and harmless tour around the area had claimed two lives just because. If it wasn’t for his unparalleled fortune, he would’ve died just like Zhou Nian and Li Er.
Ultimately, he was still too weak to survive in this harsh world.
Some time later, Ye Qing abruptly looked up from the table. “Oh right, I killed plenty of Strangers today. I wonder how many dragon-serpent runes were ignited?”
He took out the Annon Sutra and unfurled it across the table. As expected, a good amount of dragon-serpent runes were dazzling on the vellum. They looked like a river of stars.
“One, two, three… thirteen dragon-serpent runes in total! That’s what I’m talking about!” Ye Qing exclaimed in delight before a frown came to him. “Wait, that can’t be right. I killed an Echo Caterpillar and at least thousands of Bloodsucking Mosquitoes. Even if the conversion ratio is horribly bad, I should have received dozens of dragon-serpent runes at least.”
Thankfully, the answer came to him almost immediately. “Wait a second. These two runes over here are… silver-colored, not gray!”
Ye Qing’s eyes lit up. Every ignited rune on the Annon Sutra was gray except two. Not only were they silver, they were brimming with a profound air of Dao.
Did most of the gray runes join together to form these two silver runes? He thought. It was definitely possible. The Annon Sutra was only so big after all. It simply did not have enough space to fit thousands of dragon-serpent runes at the same time.
“Logically speaking, the silver runes should be better than the gray runes, right?” Ye Qing muttered to himself. It made sense. Even their appearance was cooler than the gray ones.
For a second, Ye Qing was tempted to absorb a silver rune. However, it lasted for only a second before he ditched it completely. There was no telling how many gray runes it took to form a silver rune. What if it contained more power than he could hold? It would be most ironic if he survived the dangers outside only to perish in his house because he couldn’t rein in a stupid impulse.
“Oh well. Thirteen gray runes should be enough to last me for a while. I’ll consider my options after I’ve used them all.”
And so Ye Qing rose to his feet, took a pose and began practicing the “Seven Forms of Demon Subjugation” once more. It was to refine the blood he had drained from the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes. Food could not provide energy if one did not have a digestive system. Just the same, the foreign blood in his veins must be subsumed before he could obtain their power. Otherwise, it would be like carrying sand in his blood—heavy, irritating and uncomfortable.
Two cycles later, the weight and awkwardness afflicting up till this point vanished completely. His strength and vigor had grown much stronger as well.
Just like that, I’ve gotten even stronger, Ye Qing thought with a smile. I wonder if I could become invincible if I devour an infinite amount of blood? That would be so awesome. It does feel kinda villainous though. Regardless, I mustn't get complacent.
Ye Qing thought back to the moment he—or more specifically, his blood—devoured the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes’ blood. It was like trying to control a mindless beast that was overflowing with greed and lust multiplied by a billion. Had he let go of the reins for even a second, he might have been pulled into the vortex of madness and be transformed into a bloodthirsty monster. That was why he mustn’t get complacent. He did not want to transform into a monster who was controlled by his greed and bloodlust.
“Now that that’s done, it’s time to do some actual cultivation!” Ye Qing declared cheerfully while touching a gray rune. Its tremendous power flooded his body in an instant.
Mind and spirit as one, Ye Qing practiced the “Seven Forms of Demon Subjugation” with sublime precision and smoothness. It was a euphoric experience he just could not get enough of.
“Hoo… hoo…”
His skin was flushed with heat and sweat. His bones and internal organs were humming with power. It took him merely two cycles to use up all of the rune’s energy.
I thought so. The stronger my body is, the easier it is to refine the dragon-serpent runes, thought Ye Qing with a satisfied smile on his face. Just a week ago, a single gray rune would almost be enough to make him explode. Now, it took him merely seven to eight minutes to refine and absorb it all. The difference was like night and day.
“Again!”
Ye Qing did not wait to absorb another gray rune. The outside world was as strange as it was dangerous, and Chen Zheng was at the minimum a late-stage Invoker. The pressure from both inside and outside the village was driving him to thirst for power like never before. He did not want to die without even knowing that a brain-eating caterpillar was eating through his skull, or go out with a whimper like Li Er.
He wanted to live!
……
Early next morning, Ye Qing ate some breakfast he threw together at random before hurrying to the village entrance. As expected, Fang Niangshui was already waiting for him. The hunter greeted Ye Qing before beckoning him over to his side, “Come, I’ve got a gift for you.”
“A gift? What is it?” Ye Qing asked curiously.
Fang Nianshui tossed what looked like a small sack into his hands. When he unraveled it, he was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a saber manual named the “Five Tigers Door Breaking Saber”.
“A saber manual?” Ye Qing exclaimed in pleasant surprise, “For me?”
Fang Nianshui smirked with his arms crossed. “Who else? I’ve noticed that your strength and vigor are pretty strong, so I reckon that you must have reached the initiate level of the Body Tempering stage already. That is enough for you to begin training in the ways of the saber. Captain Lin’s the one who told me to give it to you to improve your combat strength yesterday.”
“Thank you very much, Boss Fang!” Ye Qing declared while flipping through the manual with clear delight. Despite the manual’s rather… questionable name, it was exactly what he needed right now. In fact, he had planned on visiting Captain Lin in the next few days and see if he could learn a proper martial art to better defend himself. He wasn’t expecting it to fall into his lap before he even asked about it.
“I know you’re happy, but we still have a patrol to finish, so let’s not waste anymore time, shall we?” Fang Nianshui let out an uncaring chuckle before turning to leave.
It was at this moment the night watchmen came through the entrance. Normally, they would be celebrating the end of their shift or at least greeting their fellow watchmen, but today the entire squad was shrouded in a somber mood.
Fang Nianshui called out, “What’s wrong, Old Lin?”
A man in his forties with charcoal skin answered with a sorrowful sigh, “Last night, Yu The Third and his men were ambushed by a Night Owl. All three of them were killed without even leaving a corpse behind.”
Fang Nianshui’s expression immediately morphed into pity and sorrow. He gave the guy he called “Old Lin” a comforting pat on the shoulder before squeezing out a smile, “Chin up. Wherever they went, I’m sure it’s a better place than this one. With luck, we may join them soon enough… Anyway, you all look like shit, so go catch some sleep and leave the rest to us.”
They left the village after the somber conversation. Not even the beautiful scenery outside could change the mood for the better.
Suddenly, Fang Nianshui burst into a hearty laugh and slapped Ye Qing on the shoulder. “Alright, that’s enough black mood for the day. Everyone dies one day, and you and I are no exception, so chin up!”
Ye Qing nodded. “I know.”
And so Ye Qing began patrolling the surrounding farms with Fang Nianshui. At the beginning, they often ran into another watchmen squad who were performing their rounds as well. Instead of walking up to their fellow watchmen and greeting them in person, they merely gave an affirmative nod before resuming their business. The reason the watchmen stayed well out of each other’s way was because there was a possibility they could be controlled or possessed by a Stranger. Eventually, they came up with the rule to avoid such tragedies from happening again. Those who ignored it did so at their own peril.
“Ahhhhh!”
Suddenly, a horrified shriek cut through the air. It belonged to a farmer who was toiling the soil.
“Shit! Let’s go!”
Fang Nianshui and Ye Qing hurriedly ran toward the farmer.
The screaming villager was running toward them with obvious terror riddled across his face. He looked like he had just encountered the scariest monster of his life. Suddenly, Ye Qing noticed a thread appearing on the villager’s forehead out of nowhere. It pulled at the villager like a fish hook until horrifyingly, the skin itself started coming loose and exposing the muscle fibers underneath.
What was scary was that the villager did not seem to feel any pain at all, and the faster he ran the quicker his skin was stripped away from his flesh. Even stranger was the fact that his skin wasn’t damaged at all despite his frantic movement. It was almost as if he was taking off his shirt.
“Stop right there! Stop!” Fang Nianshui yelled urgently, but the villager ignored him completely. Eventually…
Rip!
When the villager finally got within ten meters away from the duo, his skin abruptly tore off with a crisp sound, leaving behind a fleshy body that was oozing blood and fluid from everywhere. As if on cue, the afflicted villager then collapsed on the ground and began convulsing violently. He was still alive, however. He started crawling toward them while mumbling, “Save me, save me” over and over. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the human skin that should’ve floated to the ground abruptly turned around and took off like the wind. Literally, it was running like it was a person with its own mind.
1. 5 am sharp. 卯 is between 5am to 7am, and 卯时 is 5 am ☜
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