Chapter 48: The Painted Skin Ghost’s Fury

Yingluo felt no surprise at Xia Zhiquiu’s sneak attack, having long since realized that the prey before her was no ordinary individual.

This very fact, however, only deepened her interest in Xia Zhiquiu; after deflecting the stone with a flick of her sleeve, Yingluo closed the distance in a series of swift blinks.

Seeing this, Xia Zhiquiu had no choice but to halt, launching a kick at the sinister figure before her.

Her expression faltered, however, when the other party effortlessly seized her leg and brutally slammed her to the ground.

Bang!

Instantly, Xia Zhiquiu was violently flung to the earth, feeling as though her internal organs had been shattered, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of her lips.

Upon witnessing this, Yingluo let out a soft tsk.

“Zhiquiu, you’re making things quite difficult for me; I truly had no desire to mar your delicate skin.”

As she spoke, the woman knelt, touching the blood at the corner of Xia Zhiquiu’s mouth with a finger, poised to return to the pavilion to complete her artwork.

Xia Zhiquiu’s heart grew increasingly uneasy at the sight.

Just then, Yingluo’s steps abruptly faltered, and she looked in a certain direction with a hint of surprise.

Following this, the once dim bamboo grove began to ripple as if disturbed, and a young man simply walked in.

“Who are you?”

Yingluo eyed the intruder into her domain, her tone instantly wary.

Bai Hao, however, paid her no mind, his gaze fixed solely on Aunt Xia, who lay injured on the ground.

The next moment, Xia Zhiquiu found herself enveloped in a warm embrace.

As Bai Hao looked at Aunt Xia’s slightly pale face, a pang of heartache flashed in his eyes, quickly followed by a surge of fiery rage.

“Aunt Xia, I’m sorry; I arrived too late.”

Xia Zhiquiu, seeing the raw distress in the young man’s eyes, felt her heart tremble involuntarily, and she awkwardly turned her face away.

“N-no, it’s alright, but you must be careful; this one is very strong.”

Hearing her words, Bai Hao coldly lifted his gaze to the woman not far away, who, in his perception, now exuded an ominous, chilling aura from head to toe.

“You deserve to die.”

Bai Hao was furious; in his heart, Aunt Xia had long been his private possession, and he would never tolerate anyone coveting her, much less harming her.

With that resolve, Bai Hao gently released Xia Zhiquiu and began to walk toward Yingluo, who stood a short distance away.

Though he appeared to emit no discernible aura, Yingluo felt an unsettling disquiet, a sensation that fueled her indignation.

“Boy, since you’re so eager to die, don’t blame me for taking your skin to complete my painting!”

As she spoke, Yingluo instantly flickered to Bai Hao’s side, her once beautiful fingernails suddenly elongating into sharp claws that lunged for the young man’s neck.

Bai Hao scoffed coldly at the sight; in his eyes, the lightning-fast Yingluo moved with the sluggishness of a tortoise.

*Snap!

Bai Hao seized the woman’s sharp claw, applying merciless force and directly snapping it.

“Ah! I’ll kill you!”

Yingluo let out a shriek of agony, her voice no longer possessing its initial charm, but becoming ancient and utterly sinister.

Bai Hao tilted his head slightly in response, then, without hesitation, raised his other fist and brutally smashed it into the woman’s face.

Thud!

The sheer aesthetic of raw power was manifested in that moment, sending the woman flying backward like a kite with a snapped string, to land squarely in the pond.

When she scrambled clumsily to her feet, Xia Zhiquiu was seized by a chilling revulsion.

For not only had Yingluo’s once perfect countenance been utterly disfigured by Bai Hao’s blow, but her skin had begun to peel away, revealing horrifying, putrid flesh beneath.

Yingluo’s fury intensified, and she frantically tried to cling to her steadily shedding skin, but it was all in vain, until she ultimately transformed into a skinless, grotesque creature of raw flesh, dissolving into the pond water.

“A-a-ah! Just you wait! I won’t let either of you off!”

The next moment, a humanoid entity scurried out of the lake, covered in countless wriggling pores that sent shivers down one’s spine, its voice emanating from these very orifices.

Seeing this, Bai Hao was overcome with disgust, for he suffered from Aesthetophobia (TL Note: A strong aversion to ugliness), unable to tolerate anything too unsightly.

With that thought, he summoned a longsword and hurled it directly at the monster.

The longsword transformed into a streak of crimson light, appearing dazzlingly brilliant.

Whoosh!

To Bai Hao’s surprise, however, his sword passed directly through the creature’s body, embedding itself in the ground nearby, its hilt still gently swaying.

“Haha, don’t waste your efforts! You can’t kill me!”

The monster laughed arrogantly, yet its current form was truly sickening to behold.

Suddenly, the monster turned its body towards Xia Zhiquiu, declaring indignantly.

“It’s all because of you that I lost my most satisfying skin! In that case, I’ll take your skin to appease my fury!”

As it spoke, the monstrous mass blurred into an afterimage, fleeing towards the pavilion.

***

Bai Hao raised an eyebrow at this.

“‘Can’t be killed?’ How interesting…”

With that, he instantly appeared before Xia Zhiquiu, taking her delicate hand.

“Aunt Xia, let’s follow it.”

Xia Zhiquiu looked perplexed.

“Perhaps we should just leave this dreadful place first; that creature is far too strange.”

Bai Hao shook his head, explaining.

“Aunt Xia, that creature was actually a Painted Skin Ghost (TL Note: A type of demon in Chinese folklore that peels off human skin to wear as a disguise).

It was born incredibly ugly, which is why it constantly covets the beautiful skins of others, stripping them to use as its own.”

“So, if my guess is correct, it’s likely trying to strip you of your skin right now, Aunt Xia, just as we learned happened to Wang Qian earlier today.”

Upon hearing Bai Hao’s words, Xia Zhiquiu’s face instantly paled, and a wave of terror washed over her at the thought of being skinned alive, of becoming a bloodied corpse.

This fate was far more unbearable than simply being killed and granted a dignified death!

“Then, what should we do? I don’t want to be skinned…”

Utterly distraught, Xia Zhiquiu clutched the young man’s hand like a frightened child, her voice trembling alluringly.

Shamelessly, Bai Hao leaned down to kiss the beauty in his arms, then declared with utter confidence.

“Don’t worry, wife, with me here, no one will dare bully you.”

As he spoke, he directly encircled Aunt Xia’s slender waist, moving swiftly towards the pavilion where the Painted Skin Ghost had fled.

Inside, the Painted Skin Ghost held a paintbrush with a writhing tentacle, the brush tip stained with Xia Zhiquiu’s blood.

Once it applied the final touch of crimson to the lips on the painting before it, it would acquire Xia Zhiquiu’s perfect, peerless skin; this had been its carefully laid scheme from the very beginning.

However, just as its paintbrush was about to touch the canvas, a longsword flew in the next instant, utterly shattering the lifelike painting before it!

Witnessing this, the Painted Skin Ghost was utterly dumbfounded; it had clearly set up restrictions around the pavilion! This was its domain, and no one should have been able to breach it!

“No, my painting! A-a-ah, I’ll make you both pay for destroying my artwork!”

The Painted Skin Ghost was truly seeing red now, for its most coveted skin was gone! It could not bear to look at its own repulsive form.