"Is this Blue Village?"
Jiang Qiao stood hovering above the riverbank, curiously surveying the small village before him.
First impression.
It had a very primitive atmosphere.
The village stood on an open stretch of land at a bend in the river, surrounded by dense jungle. A stone stele stood at the entrance, with several withered flowers and cracked fruits placed beneath it.
Except.
It differed from the village described in Richard's notes, which had supposedly remained peaceful and tranquil during the day at the very least.
In Jiang Qiao's field of vision.
The entire village lay shrouded in a deathly gray shadow.
At first glance, the shadow resembled one cast by buildings blocking the sunlight, but it actually seeped up from the ground, lurking within the village and controlling everything here.
As for the so-called villagers...
Strictly speaking.
There really were roosters crowing, dogs barking, cooking smoke curling into the air, and children playing and chasing each other in the open space.
It looked rather lively.
But.
Whether they were women washing clothes by the river, men fishing on it, or children running about, all of them had vacant eyes and stiff bodies.
With every movement they made, layers of wrinkles rose across their skin.
As though...
Their skin had not grown on them, but was merely "skin clothing" worn over their bodies.
"Painted Skin."
"The entire village is full of Painted Skins."
"And very crude ones at that."
Jiang Qiao's gaze passed through the villagers, clearly revealing the bloated corpses beneath their skin and flesh, each wreathed in gray mist like Drowned Ghosts.
And that gray mist clearly shared the same origin as the shadow shrouding the village.
"That explains it."
"Richard said in his notes that these villagers repeated the same actions every day."
"Painted Skins."
"That makes