Skin and Flesh

"Ah, it had not been easy to condense a soul body, and now, just like that, I was back before liberation!"

Mo Chuan opened his eyes and looked at the familiar ceiling. Though his words were dejected, a faint smile appeared on his face.

He got up, walked to the refrigerator, took out a can of Jolly Cola, and gulped down more than half of it in one go.

"Phew—"

"Refreshing!"

Mo Chuan let out a long breath!

These past few days of possessing Old Daoist Priest Yanzhen had nearly stifled him to death.

Especially when his mouth had become so bland it could have hatched birds!

Yet he had not dared return.

He had feared that once that dying body lost the nourishment of his soul, it would immediately drop dead on him.

"What heroes and champions, faces gray with dust and chills running down their backs..."

Humming a little tune, Mo Chuan carried his Jolly Cola to the sofa and pulled out his phone for a look.

Well then. After being gone for several days, aside from a pile of junk advertisement pop-ups, not even half a person had looked for him.

"Good thing I came here bodily. Otherwise, if I died one day and started rotting with maggots crawling all over me, no one would even know."

Mo Chuan laughed at himself. With a wild, unrestrained sweep of his hand, he brushed all the scattered odds and ends from the coffee table.

Amid the clattering across the floor, he swept his hand again, and a row of items appeared on the coffee table.

"The spoils I got from giving up seeking the Dao at Yunji Temple had better not disappoint me."

Mo Chuan muttered to himself, then took another long gulp of soda and belched. As the bubbles rushed into his nose, his gaze fell upon the items, examining them closely.

As expected, anything that could be carried by a soul body was naturally a spiritual item.

Looking carefully, there were several blood-red bone fragments, several beads of varying colors, a Daoist robe glowing with fluorescence, and a clay figurine.

Mo Chuan casually picked up a bead. After sensing it for a while, he had no choice but to set it down.

His knowledge was too limited; he truly could not figure out what this thing was.

As his gaze wandered downward, it settled on the clay figurine.

At first glance, the figurine had not seemed unusual.

But now that he looked closely, the more he looked, the stranger and more grotesque it became. Deep inside him, an indescribable feeling began to grow.

That feeling was extremely familiar.

Yet because it was too familiar, he had overlooked it instead.

What was it?

Mo Chuan picked up the clay figure and examined it from side to side. His pupils abruptly dilated.

Possession!

It was the urge of a soul body to possess a fleshly body for shelter!

As inspiration flashed through his mind, how could the clay figure still resemble a clay figure?

It was clearly a living, breathing fetus.

Mo Chuan's mind trembled.

Following the instincts of his Xian Body, he tried to disperse into vapor and possess it, but he could not do so at all.

Because between heaven and earth, there seemed to be an unseen pressure restraining his form.

"Perhaps this world really is the Netherworld Underworld!"

Mo Chuan murmured, casually sweeping the items on the coffee table into the Sacrificial Dao Furnace.

After a fierce battle, he was exhausted to the marrow.

Seeing that there was nothing worth studying among the spoils, Mo Chuan simply pulled the covers over his head and went to sleep.

When he woke from his sleep.

Good heavens, his dissipated soul body had already recovered completely.

Using incense offerings as a mirror to trace things back to their source, he discovered that apart from the incense offerings at Fu Luan Temple, he now had an extra memorial tablet in a Buddhist Hall.

At a closer look, it clearly read: "Yan Zhen, True Person of Yunji Temple."

"Interesting. I acted under Yan Zhen's identity, so even though these incense offerings are made in Yan Zhen's name, they ultimately still come to me?"

Mo Chuan smiled softly. His figure moved, and he vanished from the living room.

When he appeared again, he had followed the incense-offering passage and arrived at the main hall of Fu Luan Temple.

He dispersed into vapor, avoided the sunlight, slipped out along the shadows beneath the eaves, and casually found a spot beneath green shade in the woods behind the mountain before stopping.

He took out the clay figure and, without further hesitation, drilled into it.

In an instant, the clay figure swelled in the wind. Its rough facial features rapidly became distinct, while long hair sprouted from its bald head.

In less than two breaths, a naked young man of around twenty leaped out.

Mo Chuan froze.

He looked down at his body, then abruptly at his hands. An indescribably wondrous sensation surfaced in his heart.

This clay figure was actually a Kunlun Fetus.

Also known as an Earth-born Fetus.

When Fu Luan's old Daoist priest had passed down teachings to Xuan Yun the Daoist Boy, he had once systematically introduced the spirits, monsters, ghosts, and souls of the world.

Among them, he had mentioned Earth-born Fetuses.

As the saying went: all things could become spirits.

Earth veins were no exception.

An Earth-born Fetus was nurtured by an earth vein. After evolving over ten thousand years, it could develop intelligence and possess divine abilities. It was an innate mountain god and earth mother!

Generally speaking, Earth-born Fetuses were exceedingly rare.

In feng shui geomancy, Earth-born Fetuses were often born in the acupoints of earth veins.

If one dug out an Earth-born Fetus and buried a direct blood relative there, one could take its place and receive the fortune of the earth vein.

The common folk called it a Dragon Vein!

However, in most cases, even a Dragon's Lair might not nurture an Earth-born Fetus.

Even if it did nurture one, the earth vein might not remain unchanged for ten thousand years.

Thus, Earth-born Fetuses that truly developed intelligence were extraordinarily rare. Only scattered scraps of records existed in myths and legends.

"Earth-born Fetuses are born of heaven and raised by earth, embracing all things. Refining one into a skin would be a stroke of divine genius. No wonder Lu Fengbei had prepared a Daoist robe. So he had made preparations long ago."

"Wait!"

"An Earth-born Fetus needs ten thousand years of evolution. If it is too young, it is merely an oddly shaped curiosity. How could Lu Fengbei have been so lucky as to seize it before it developed intelligence?"

"Could it be..."

Mo Chuan lowered his head and sniffed his skin. The faintly fishy-sweet scent made his expression change slightly.

"No wonder Lu Fengbei scoured the entire city for men and women of utmost yin and utmost yang. If I'm not mistaken, this Earth-born Fetus was likely ripened using the fetal breath of humans."

Having pieced together the cause and effect, a complicated expression flashed over Mo Chuan's face.

"For every drink and every peck, was it all fated beforehand?"

With a sigh, he took out the Daoist robe and draped it over himself.

Then he slowly walked to the edge of the tree's shade and extended a hand into the sunlight. Warm sunlight fell across the back of his hand, making it translucent enough for veins to faintly show through.

Mo Chuan's heart stirred. He withdrew his hand and counted the whorls on his fingertips.

Six whorls and four flowing patterns.

Not one more, not one less.

"It seems this shell's appearance really is no different from my original face."

Even without a mirror, Mo Chuan had already vaguely guessed the answer.

He raised his eyes toward Fu Luan Temple. Seeing the unceasing stream of visitors along the mountain path and the never-ending incense offerings, he simply sat cross-legged beneath the tree and tried to leave this world.

He wanted to see whether his soul would return home this time, or whether he would travel bodily.

As his vision swayed, the familiar living room came into view.

He hurriedly looked down and saw the azure Daoist robe in his field of vision.

He rushed into the bathroom and took a glance. In the water-speckled mirror stood a young man with long hair flowing behind him.

"Damn!"

Mo Chuan was startled out of his wits.

His face was still that same lousy face, but the acne scars and blemishes left behind by his youthful years had vanished.

Only, that head of flowing long hair looked more awkward the more he looked at it, making him seem utterly effeminate.

Mo Chuan wanted to go out and cut it, but after thinking it over, he opened his phone camera, recorded a video, and made another trip to the world of incense offerings.

Only after returning and using the video to confirm that he had indeed traveled bodily did he finally relax.

However, after going back and forth, his original desire for a haircut quietly faded away.

This long hair would be just right to coil up and secure with a Daoist hairpin. It could help him avoid a few strange looks and make things more convenient.

"Looks like I'm really going to become a disciple of the Daoist sect now!"

"I need to find an opportunity to join a Daoist temple and learn some real skills!"

Mo Chuan secretly pondered, faintly forming a plan in his heart.

Little did he know, plans could never keep up with change.

Just as he was considering finding a master and learning the arts, a carriage nestled in the middle of an escort convoy rumbled dustily onto the official road leading to Xishan City.

"Chief Escort Luo, Xishan City is close."

A runner rode over on horseback, respectfully clasping his fists while holding his whip as he reported.

"Cough, cough... I know. Go handle your duties. Just send two men to escort me to Yunji Temple."

Inside the carriage, a dark-faced man who could not stop coughing spoke weakly.

—This man was none other than Huayin Flying Tiger, Luo Feibai.