The Whole World Was Shocked, Great Shang's First Case in Three Hundred Years!

Ji Qing ran faster and faster. When he passed a blacksmith's shop by the street, he stopped, then vaulted inside and picked out a blade that felt right in his hand.

He had no silver left on him, but he still had a jade pendant the prison guards had failed to search out, and it was worth some silver.

He placed the jade pendant on the blacksmith's table to pay for the blade.

With a blade in hand, Ji Qing's courage swelled.

Before long, Ji Qing arrived at Ji Manor. The manor was silent in the dead of night.

"Huff..."

A faint breeze swept past, and Ji Qing frowned.

"This is... the smell of blood?"

Why was there a smell of blood in Ji Manor?

Ji Qing immediately leaped over the wall and entered Ji Manor.

The moment he landed inside, Ji Qing caught an even stronger scent of blood.

He saw corpses scattered across the ground.

They were the bodies of guards, Maidservants, and other servants.

Moreover, every corpse had died miserably, the skin on their faces forcibly peeled away.

"Skin-Peeling Demon!"

Ji Qing was consumed by fury.

Before this, the Skin-Peeling Demon had been quite "restrained." Perhaps it had feared exposure, or perhaps it had wanted to take things slowly and steadily, so it had not laid a hand on anyone in Ji Manor.

But now?

The Skin-Peeling Demon had clearly revealed its true nature, attacking the people of Ji Manor without restraint.

Was this the Skin-Peeling Demon's revenge against him?

After all, the Skin-Peeling Demon had lost one of its clones. Demons were treacherous and cruel by nature, so slaughtering everyone in Ji Manor as revenge was perfectly normal.

"Ah..."

Suddenly, Ji Qing heard a scream coming from the rear courtyard.

Ji Qing immediately sprinted toward the rear courtyard.

Along the way, there were simply too many corpses on the ground.

The entire Ji Manor had become a living hell.

Ji Qing immediately rushed toward his father's room.

The door to the room stood open, and he could vaguely make out the figure of a Maidservant inside.

Yet this Maidservant was holding Master Ji's heart in her hands, blood still dripping from her fingers.

The sight was bizarre and horrifying.

"Clang."

Ji Qing instantly drew his blade.

"Demon, surrender your life!"

Ji Qing struck in hatred. The Thirteen Fast Blades came forth as if by instinct, and a gleaming flash of steel swept out. His sharp blade instantly cut across the Maidservant's neck.

"Splurt."

Blood sprayed everywhere.

A head fell to the ground.

"Thud."

The Maidservant's headless body also collapsed to the floor.

"Skin-Peeling Demon clone killed. One Origin Point obtained."

Sure enough, this Maidservant had also been a clone of the Skin-Peeling Demon.

This Skin-Peeling Demon clone did not seem particularly strong in combat.

With Ji Qing's current strength, he could kill clones like the Maidservant with a casual stroke.

The Maidservant's hand was still clutching a heart.

Ji Qing hurried to the bedside and saw his father, pale-faced, with a bloody hole in his chest.

"Father, I came too late..."

Master Ji had not yet completely died. He stared wide-eyed at Ji Qing.

"Qing... Qing'er, I wronged you. There really are demons in the manor... I cannot survive. Hurry... hurry and save Yao'er..."

After saying that, Master Ji lowered his head, his breath already gone.

"Yao'er..."

Ji Qing had only this one younger sister.

He immediately rushed toward Ji Yao's room.

Before he reached Ji Yao's room, Ji Qing spotted an old woman from the manor. A strange smile stretched across her face as she gnawed on a crimson heart.

"Die!"

Ji Qing naturally knew that this old woman had to be another Skin-Peeling Demon clone.

"Splurt."

Ji Qing cleaved the old woman into two halves with one stroke.

"Skin-Peeling Demon clone killed. One Origin Point obtained."

Ji Qing had already gained two Origin Points.

"Whoosh."

Just as Ji Qing ran wildly onward, a flash of blade light suddenly slashed out from a corner.

Ji Qing raised his blade to block it.

"Bang."

Ji Qing felt tremendous force travel through his blade. He could not help retreating five steps before dissipating the force and coming to a stop.

"Hm? Uncle Jiang?"

Ji Qing saw that the attacker was Jiang Dakui, once the strongest martial artist among Ji Manor's guards.

"No, you are a Skin-Peeling Demon clone!"

Ji Qing immediately came to his senses.

Jiang Dakui would never attack him. Only the Skin-Peeling Demon would.

"Ji Qing, you only began practicing martial arts a few months ago, yet you have already become a Third-Rate Martial Artist of the Jianghu. Your strength is quite impressive. Heh heh, if I peel off your skin, I will gain another powerful clone!"

Jiang Dakui licked the blood from his fingers, his expression gradually turning savage.

Ji Qing's heart sank.

He had roughly guessed the Skin-Peeling Demon's ability.

As long as it peeled off a person's skin, the Skin-Peeling Demon could turn that person into a clone.

Yun Niang from before, along with the Maidservant, the old woman, and the others—including Jiang Dakui before him—had likely all been skinned by the Skin-Peeling Demon and turned into its clones.

The strength of a Skin-Peeling Demon clone depended on how strong that person had been while alive.

If they had been powerful in life, then they would become correspondingly stronger as Skin-Peeling Demon clones.

Ji Qing knew exactly how strong Jiang Dakui was.

The man had fought and struggled through the Jianghu for twenty or thirty years.

Among Third-Rate Martial Artists, his strength was exceptional.

From that single exchange just now, Ji Qing already knew that at his current strength, he was likely no match for Jiang Dakui.

But he had two Origin Points and could increase his strength at any time.

Now that Ji Qing faced a fight to the death, his blade technique realm was especially important.

"Upgrade Thirteen Fast Blades!"

"Thirteen Fast Blades: Minor Accomplishment!"

"Continue."

"Thirteen Fast Blades: Major Accomplishment!"

Ji Qing consumed two Origin Points and directly raised the Thirteen Fast Blades to Major Accomplishment!

At Major Accomplishment, the Thirteen Fast Blades had basically reached the highest realm of this blade technique.

Scene after scene surfaced in Ji Qing's mind.

It seemed as though he had practiced the Thirteen Fast Blades diligently every single day.

He did not know whether it had been eight years, ten years, or perhaps twenty years.

Day after day, he had practiced the Thirteen Fast Blades until this blade technique had become his instinct.

He could execute it even with his eyes closed.

"Whoosh."

Ji Qing made his move.

He slashed at Jiang Dakui.

"Bang."

Jiang Dakui also raised his blade to parry. The two long blades collided, and Internal Force burst forth. Jiang Dakui's Internal Force was slightly stronger.

But it did not matter much.

Ji Qing's realm in blade technique, however, was superior!

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Ji Qing struck blade after blade. The Thirteen Fast Blades flowed from his hand with effortless ease, each stroke faster than the last. His attacks poured down like liquid mercury spilling across the ground, leaving Jiang Dakui barely able to catch his breath.

This was the Thirteen Fast Blades. Its focus was one word: "fast."

And its offensive never ceased. Fail to block it, and death awaited!

"Slash."

Jiang Dakui defended too long and was bound to make a mistake!

Ji Qing's blade sliced across Jiang Dakui's neck.

Jiang Dakui touched his neck, and his expression turned terrified, savage, and... furious!

"You ruined another one of my clones, Ji Qing. I will have you die..."

Jiang Dakui fell to the ground.

Though he was a Skin-Peeling Demon clone, he was still flesh and blood. A slit throat would kill him all the same!

Ji Qing did not stop. Instead, he rushed into Ji Yao's room.

"Ji Yao?"

Ji Qing did not see Ji Yao anywhere in the room.

Ji Qing's heart sank.

Had Ji Yao also been killed?

Just then, Ji Qing seemed to hear muffled sobbing from beneath the bed.

He lay on the ground and looked underneath. Ji Yao was hiding there.

"Brother... Rong Granny is dead, Xiaowan is dead too... I'm scared..."

When Ji Yao saw Ji Qing, her own brother, she could no longer hold back and burst into tears.

Ji Yao crawled out from under the bed.

Though she was filthy and bedraggled, the fact that she was unharmed was already a blessing amid misfortune.

Ji Qing picked Ji Yao up and said in a low voice, "Yao'er, it's all right now."

"Brother, there really are monsters. I saw one peeling skin..."

As she said this, Ji Yao trembled all over.

She had clearly recalled that horrifying scene.

She now believed there was indeed a demon in Ji Manor.

"Do not be afraid. I have already killed the Skin-Peeling Demon."

Ji Qing knew the Skin-Peeling Demon had many clones, so he carried Ji Yao around Ji Manor, searching for its clones.

In the end, he killed three more Skin-Peeling Demon clones and accumulated four Origin Points.

After searching for every Skin-Peeling Demon clone, Ji Qing's heart felt heavy.

Because everyone in Ji Manor was already dead.

Of the more than one hundred people in Ji Manor, no one but Ji Qing and Ji Yao had survived.

"Quick, arrest the fugitive Ji Qing! If Ji Qing resists, kill him without mercy!"

At that moment, waves of chaotic footsteps came from outside Ji Manor.

The constables had arrived.

Ji Qing was now a "fugitive," and the constables had to apprehend him.

Ji Qing looked at the Ji Manor as it now was. There was nothing left for him to miss.

Nor could he possibly sit still and await death.

"Go!"

Ji Qing immediately left Ji Manor silently through the back gate.

But just as he stepped out, he suddenly turned back.

At some point, a raging fire had ignited within Ji Manor.

"The Skin-Peeling Demon still has clones?"

Ji Qing's gaze turned cold.

But the roaring flames rose higher, and thick smoke gradually swallowed the entire Ji Manor. The fire had already become impossible to contain.

"Put out the fire..."

Faced with the blaze, the constables were thrown into a panic.

Ji Qing did not linger any longer. He turned and left resolutely.

"The Skin-Peeling Demon had merely lost a few avatars; the true Skin-Peeling Demon was not yet dead. No matter where it was, even if I had to chase it to the ends of the earth, I would make you die..."

Ji Qing's heart was icy cold.

The Skin-Peeling Demon had destroyed his family and killed nearly everyone in Ji Manor. Such a blood feud would never be forgotten, even for eternity!

The next day, Liang City's county office issued a wanted notice.

"On the eighth day of the seventh month in the tenth year of Yongchang, Liang City fugitive Ji Qing murdered his father and mother, committing an outrage against all human morality. He slaughtered the entire Ji Manor household, an offense intolerable to heaven's justice! This unfilial villain's crimes are among the ten evils and cannot be pardoned! Ji Qing is hereby stripped of his scholarly title and wanted throughout the realm. Whoever provides clues or captures Ji Qing shall be rewarded one thousand taels of silver..."

The wanted notice detailed Ji Qing's appearance and the crimes he had committed.

Clearly, the Government Authorities had also pinned the massacre of Ji Manor on Ji Qing's head.

The moment this wanted notice was issued, the whole realm was shaken!

Great Shang ruled the realm through filial piety.

Murdering one's father and mother—such monstrous defiance of all morality was the first case in Great Shang in three hundred years!