Painted Skin Ghost?

"Because I was afraid that during class... like this... it would seem a bit undignified... so I..." Song Qingyi stammered out an explanation, then suddenly frowned. "Why am I telling you this? If you don't have anything related to the strange case to say, hurry back!"

"Sorry, I was just a little curious." Chu Liang smiled and began asking about the main issue. "You must have examined the bodies of those two students. Was it really done by a vengeful spirit?"

"The deaths were gruesome, with a strong presence of Yin energy. It can be confirmed that a ghost killed them," Song Qingyi replied. "It's just... I always feel like it wasn't a vengeful spirit, but rather some higher-level ghost..."

Vengeful spirits have low intelligence and unclear thoughts, often appearing frequently in the same location. Although their obsession is deep, they won't perform any complex actions.

The act of luring two students from their homes to the lake to kill them doesn't seem like something a vengeful spirit could do.

Unless it was a coincidence.

"But Situ Yan was just an ordinary girl with no cultivation..." Chu Liang said.

An ordinary person without cultivation has very limited soul strength. Even if their resentment is deep after death, they would at most become a slightly stronger vengeful spirit.

If anyone could transform into a malevolent ghost with no upper limit to their strength, wouldn't they just take off immediately after death?

Higher-level ghosts either continue to strengthen through opportunities and cultivation after becoming ghosts, or they possessed strong cultivation and souls during their lives. This is certain.

And the recently deceased Situ Yan clearly did not meet these two conditions.

"So it's possible that another ghost committed the crime," Song Qingyi said. "It's also possible... that a demonic cultivator is behind it."

Chu Liang nodded in agreement.

Some demonic cultivators specialize in refining resentful souls, turning them into tools or weapons for their cultivation. Their methods are cruel and go against human nature.

For example, the Nether King Sect, which is currently very prominent in the demonic path, has many methods that rely on cultivating with Yin souls.

Chu Liang then revealed a little of what Li Jue had told him to Song Qingyi. He didn't mention the story between Li Jue and Situ Yan, only the names of the few students in the class who might be targeted by Situ Yan for revenge.

"Chen Da, Yan Xiaohu..." Song Qingyi nodded. "I'll go see them tomorrow."

After some discussion, Chu Liang left the back mountain.

He returned to the Li Estate in Yanjiao City.

"So Instructor Song is from the Gentleman Hall," Lin Bei was also a little surprised to hear this news.

There are only two Confucian sects among the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten. One is the Rising Dragon Academy, backed by the imperial court, which cultivates talents based on the entire Yu Dynasty. The other is the relatively independent Gentleman Hall.

The Jiangnan Gentleman Hall was initially founded by several great Confucian scholars. At that time, several contemporary great scholars often discussed learning and the Dao on the Misty Rain Tower in Jiangnan, exchanging knowledge, which was widely praised. Later, great scholars who were recognized by them could join, making it a hub for intellectual exchange.

Subsequently, someone proposed naming the place Gentleman Hall. Any Confucian gentleman whose character, learning, and cultivation were recognized could have their name inscribed in the Gentleman Hall, to be passed down through generations and remembered forever.

From then on, the Gentleman Hall became a hall of honor for Confucianism, and countless Confucian scholars made inscription in the Gentleman Hall their lifelong goal. Gradually, the Jiangnan Gentleman Hall also developed its own heritage and became one of the Ten Earths sects.

"Since the Confucian sect is handling the academy's affairs, we probably don't need to worry too much," Chu Liang said.

"Confucianism is good," Lin Bei didn't know what he was thinking, a strange smile on his face. "I really like Confucianism."

"Chen Da is dead?"

The next afternoon, Song Qingyi suddenly found Chu Liang and Lin Bei, bringing bad news.

It turned out that after finishing her morning class, she visited the student Chen Da's home under the guise of being an instructor. As a result, she saw the scene of sorrow and gloom at the Chen family's house.

"This matter is quite strange," Instructor Song said with a solemn expression.

Chu Liang and Lin Bei, who were listening to her account, also became serious.

"According to the Chen family, ever since Zhang Cong and Wu Shaoan died, Chen Da had been locking himself in his room, afraid to go out. They could only see him when his parents brought him food."

"Last night, when Chen Da's father was bringing his son food, he happened to see Chen Da's mother walking in with a tray. Father Chen found it a bit strange, as Mother Chen had clearly asked him to bring the food, so why was she coming herself now?"

"But when he returned to his room, he saw Mother Chen lying on the bed."

"Father Chen immediately felt something was wrong. He rushed back to Chen Da's room and found Chen Da lying on the ground, completely charred, clearly burned to death by a large fire."

"However, there was no smell of smoke or fire in the room, nor any signs of burning. Chen Da also didn't make any calls for help... He was just burned to death out of thin air in an instant."

"I checked; the Yin energy is dense. It's the work of a ghost."

Song Qingyi recounted the entire incident without any concealment. To her, the sooner the matter was resolved, the better. It was naturally good to have someone who could help.

"The one Father Chen saw... Mother Chen walking into Chen Da's room, was an illusion created by a ghost," Chu Liang mused for a moment before saying, "There aren't many ghosts that can arbitrarily transform into the appearance of others."

The illusion of transforming into a human form is not difficult; many evil spirits can do it. But to arbitrarily transform into the appearance of just anyone is very difficult.

Aside from possessing great divine abilities of myriad transformations, it requires unique racial talents, such as the Fox clan among demons, or among ghosts...

"Painted Skin Demon!" Lin Bei also exclaimed.

"That's right, only a Painted Skin Demon can arbitrarily transform into others. The two students before were likely also tricked to the lakeside by a Painted Skin Demon," Song Qingyi said.

But how could Situ Yan, who had only recently died, become a powerful Painted Skin Demon?

If the ghost committing the murders wasn't Situ Yan, then why was it killing only the people she wanted to take revenge on?

Painted Skin Demons are unpredictable and their whereabouts are uncertain, making them a hundred times more difficult to deal with than vengeful spirits.

One could see Song Qingyi's brows furrowed, clearly indicating she was having a severe headache.

"Instructor Song, don't worry. We Mount Shu disciples have always taken it upon ourselves to eliminate demons and protect the righteous path. We won't let evil spirits run rampant. We will definitely help you with all our might!" Lin Bei thumped his chest and guaranteed.

Then, upon returning to the Li Estate, he stared at Chu Liang.

"Think of something, handsome," he said eagerly, "I came on this mission with you precisely because I value your intelligence and wisdom."

"You guaranteed it to Instructor Song, why are you looking for me?" Chu Liang chuckled, "Isn't our mission just to keep an eye on Li Jue?"

"Don't you want to see Instructor Song's sweet smile?" Lin Bei paused and said.

"I just want to fight evil spirits," Chu Liang responded mercilessly.

However, he naturally wouldn't stand by and do nothing. After all, Painted Skin Demons pose a great danger to the world and must be eradicated as soon as possible.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Regardless of the identity of this Painted Skin Demon for now, its actions are following the trajectory of Situ Yan's revenge. Since that's the case, as long as we guard its targets, we will eventually catch it."

With that, he stood up and said, "You keep an eye on Li Jue, I'll go find Yan Xiaohu."

"Why are you going out again? You went out last night and happened to meet Instructor Song. I want to go out today!" Lin Bei stood up and said.

Chu Liang said, "Well, I have a way to distinguish a Painted Skin Demon, do you?"

"..." Lin Bei sat down gently again, "Bring me back some late-night snack."

Chu Liang went all the way to Yan Xiaohu's house, saying he was a good friend and wanted to visit him because of his injuries. As a result, he heard from the Yan family's servants that the young master had already gone out to play.

He was beaten so badly just yesterday, and Chu Liang thought he wasn't going to school because he was recovering at home. It turned out he had already run off to play.

It seemed this fellow's physical condition was quite good.

Chu Liang then asked another question, "Then may I ask where Yan Xiaohu went to play?"

He heard the servant laugh and reply, "You must not be very familiar with our young master. Of course, he went to the Colorful Moon Tower."