Skin-Painting Martial Scholar

After Xia Qi'an and the other two entered Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Zhang Hu turned around with a feral grin and left.

Who could have known that the moment he turned around, a hand as mighty as an iron vise would seize him by the throat.

The force in that hand was so great that Zhang Hu could not summon even a trace of strength before being lifted off the ground.

The blood-and-qi power radiating from the palm was like a scorching branding iron, burning Zhang Hu until he shrieked and strange black smoke poured from his body.

Xia Qi'an held Zhang Hu in his grip and found him as light as a feather, yet cold to the touch.

Zhang Hu really wasn't human!

Xia Qi'an's face was as cold as frost as he asked in an icy voice, "What are you laughing at?"

Zhang Hu flailed desperately, but could not break free, like a moth stuck in a spiderweb. "No... no... hero, spare my life..."

Then Xia Qi'an suddenly tightened his grip.

With a "puff," Zhang Hu exploded like a mass of black smoke, which then drifted toward Tiger Leaping Gorge.

All that remained on the spot was a beast-skin garment pieced together from wild-animal hides.

The garment had been sewn from all kinds of animal skins, with small pieces of human skin mixed in. It looked like a skin sack cobbled together from the hides and fur of different animals.

The Skin-Painting Ghosts were transformed from people devoured by the tiger demon, and lived by attaching themselves to it.

As long as the tiger demon did not die, they could put on human skin again and use it to resurrect.

After a Skin-Painting Ghost died, it would inevitably return to the tiger demon to be reborn.

Therefore, following the direction in which the black smoke fled would lead them to the tiger demon.

"That ghost looks no different from an ordinary person and can even move about in broad daylight. How did you see that something was wrong with him?" Su Changqing asked curiously as he watched Zhang Hu turn into black smoke.

"When I took the hatchet from Zhang Hu earlier, I noticed that the handle was cold," Xia Qi'an explained casually.

"I see!..."

Su Changqing suddenly understood. Zhang Hu had been using the hatchet to clear the way ahead, so the handle should have been warmed by his grip long ago.

Yet when Xia Qi'an took the hatchet, he had not felt the slightest warmth. That was clearly abnormal.

Besides, Xia Qi'an had Crimson Pupils. He had seen from the beginning that Zhang Hu was a Skin-Painting Ghost; he had simply remained outwardly calm.

Afterward, the three of them followed the black smoke into Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Who could have known that just after they emerged from the mountain pass, they would be surrounded by a group of bandits dressed in animal skins, wielding blades and spears, and possessing grotesquely strange appearances?

"Yo! That Zhang Hu brat has brought three more suckers..." one underling said excitedly.

"Those two in official uniforms have some fine skins. The boss will definitely be pleased..."

On the mountaintop, the bandits chattered among themselves.

Seeing this, Su Changqing moved closer to Xia Qi'an and asked in a low voice, "Should we make a move?"

Xia Qi'an shook his head. "We'll mix into their stronghold first and see what happens!"

Su Changqing gave a slight nod.

Afterward, amid the shouts of a group of underlings, Xia Qi'an and the other two were driven toward the stronghold where the tiger demon resided like cattle and sheep.

As they smoothly entered the stronghold's gate, Xia Qi'an discovered that the tiger demon's stronghold had been built with considerable care. Its layout was easy to defend and difficult to attack, while its entire perimeter had been enclosed with sharpened logs, making it resemble an impregnable fortress.

Moreover, human skins hung drying from wooden poles in the open ground of the stronghold, fluttering like flags.

These human skins had all been taken from strong young men and women living below the mountain—and they had to be good-looking men and women at that.

These fine skins were naturally prepared for the tiger demon. The underlings in the stronghold had no right to use them.

Like Zhang Hu, they could only make do by draping themselves in animal skins mixed with inferior human skins.

At the sight, Su Changqing trembled with rage and nearly drew his sword.

Xia Qi'an hurriedly restrained him. "Wait a little longer... The big one hasn't come out yet!"

Then someone walked out of the cave deep within the stronghold.

The man was handsome, but his clothing and makeup were extremely strange, as though he had stepped straight out of an opera—a martial scholar.

"Second Boss... these are today's pieces of dried meat..." An underling with a wild-boar hide wrapped around his neck fawned at the newcomer.

The second boss, dressed as a martial scholar, pointed at Xia Qi'an. "Leave this one's skin for me. Send the other one to the First Boss. As for that big fellow, have the brothers kill him and eat his meat!"

"Yes..."

The underlings immediately beamed with delight.

Of course, a few were disappointed because they had not been assigned a skin.

"Make your move..."

Seeing this, Xia Qi'an cried out inwardly that something was wrong and immediately roared.

At his words, Su Changqing and Bata pounced on the surrounding underlings like hungry tigers springing on their prey.

Xia Qi'an unleashed Ghost Shadow Evasion, splitting into several afterimages, his body swift as lightning.

In the blink of an eye, he crossed several hundred meters, and a massive fist smashed into the second boss's face like a meteor.

"Waah!"

The second boss, Jade-Faced Martial Scholar, was sent flying by the punch like a cannonball and crashed into the cave.

Yet Xia Qi'an's brows drew tightly together. With that punch, he had felt as though he had struck cotton—soft and yielding, with none of the sensation of hitting a solid body.

Sure enough, the second boss, Jade-Faced Martial Scholar, soon charged out of the cave again, jumping and frolicking as if unharmed.

"Yaa, yaa, yaa... Who goes there?..." Jade-Faced Martial Scholar spoke like an opera singer, his voice shrill and grating.

At that moment, a huge fist-shaped dent marred the second boss's originally handsome face. His features had been squeezed into a lump, like wrinkled dough, making him look extremely bizarre.

Yet Jade-Faced Martial Scholar acted as though nothing had happened, shrieking at Xia Qi'an.

Xia Qi'an knew he was not human, so he could not be bothered to answer. He struck directly with Vajra's Fury.

"Impudent scoundrel... know your limits..."

Relying on the tiger demon's several centuries of cultivation and strength equivalent to a Mid Bone Forging Realm martial artist, Jade-Faced Martial Scholar took Xia Qi'an's punch head-on.

"Bang..."

The force of Great Strength Vajra Fist pierced straight through his body.

Jade-Faced Martial Scholar's back exploded like an airbag, and a mass of black smoke immediately leaked out.

"Yaa, yaa, yaa..."

Jade-Faced Martial Scholar hurriedly covered his back.

The skin sack covering his body had been shattered by that fierce and overbearing punch, throwing Jade-Faced Martial Scholar into utter panic.

Terrified, Jade-Faced Martial Scholar shook the human-skin cloak from his shoulders. It transformed into black smoke and fled toward the depths of the cave.

"He got away?"

Xia Qi'an had not expected this Chou Ghost to be so decisive.

He immediately called for Su Changqing and Bata to pursue.

As for the Skin-Painting Ghosts in the stronghold, they were all minor ghosts born by attaching themselves to the tiger demon.

Working together, Su Changqing and Bata soon slaughtered the enemies to the last one, like an autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves away.

"Bata... you're truly a good servant!" Su Changqing gave Bata a thumbs-up in praise.

Xia Qi'an shouted at him, "All right! The big one is still inside! I estimate that tiger demon has probably cultivated for over a thousand years..."

"What? Wouldn't that make it equivalent to a Spirit Condensation martial artist? Can the three of us even fill its stomach with one bite?" Su Changqing stared in shock, his mouth wide enough to swallow an egg.

Xia Qi'an shook his head. "It still falls a little short of entering the Spirit Condensation Realm. The three of us still have a chance!"

"But... to be safe... we'd better call for reinforcements first..."

With that, Xia Qi'an pulled out a Cloud-Piercing Arrow. It streaked across the sky like a shooting star, launching away with a long flaming trail.

"I thought you'd charge straight in like a wild bull, hotheaded and thoughtless! I didn't expect you knew how to call for help too..." Su Changqing teased.

"Keep spouting this crap... and I'll shove my fist into your mouth!"

At his words, Su Changqing held his own mouth against Xia Qi'an's fist to compare them, then could not help shivering.

With that, Xia Qi'an called Bata over and strode into the cave.