Arrival Under Skin

"This world is truly... treacherous!"

Mo Chuan looked at the familiar ceiling of his bedroom, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

After a long moment, he sat up.

Carefully assessing the situation, his night excursion in Qingshui County had resulted in the loss of a pile of worthless Ghost Subduing Talismans, but no other damage.

He had even gained a Soul Binding Whip.

Yet, he was still furious!

If not for the Sacrificial Dao Furnace, he would have already become food for that Headless Ghost.

The way Chong Shizi acted without hesitation made it clear he intended to kill him!

"My experience in this world is still too limited!"

"And I was too trusting of Daoist priests! Fu Luan Temple left a good impression on me, giving me a natural fondness for Daoists. Little did I know, there are rotten apples in every barrel."

"What's more, Chong Shizi might not even be a real Daoist priest!"

"Most importantly..."

Mo Chuan's expression turned grim:

"I overlooked my identity... In that world, I am ultimately a disreputable ghost, a natural-born villain."

"I won't let this matter go!"

Mo Chuan wanted to return to that "incense world," but there was no incense channel available at the moment.

In the incense world, he could linger by continuously consuming incense power and return to his real body at any time.

However, to travel to the incense world from reality, someone from that world needed to offer incense and pray to establish a connection.

"Chong Shizi, I hope you don't leave Qingshui County."

Mo Chuan reluctantly gave up, pulled out his phone, and saw it was two in the morning.

Unable to sleep, he decided to practice his talisman drawing.

After all, having absorbed incense power, his reliance on sleep and even food seemed to be diminishing.

Even without eating or sleeping, he felt energetic, no different from a Ghost Immortal.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, the sound of someone offering incense startled Mo Chuan awake.

He used the incense power as a mirror and was overjoyed to see it was Madam Liu, Li Guanqi's wife, offering her prayers.

He didn't hesitate and quickly followed the incense channel, teleporting over.

At this moment, Madam Liu, who had woken early, moved like a zombie. She offered an incense stick, muttered a few words, spaced out for a while, and then left.

Mo Chuan wanted to follow, but the bright sunlight shining through the doorway made him hesitant to approach.

He considered putting on the Painted Skin to go, but thinking about traveling to Qingshui County with a corporeal body, he figured he wouldn't arrive until noon.

If something went wrong midway, being forced back to his original body was a minor issue, but the destruction of the Painted Skin would be a major problem.

It was his only means of manifesting.

If it were destroyed, he had no idea when he could obtain another.

He had no choice but to remain attached to the incense, patiently waiting for nightfall.

Fortunately, soon after, Fu Luan Temple began its morning rituals. Listening to the old Daoist priest instructing his disciples, the morning passed quickly.

In the afternoon, Mo Chuan grew bored.

He ended up witnessing a scene of human greed and pettiness.

It turned out Li Guanqi's relatives had come to visit Madam Liu. Before they could exchange pleasantries, they used clan rules to demand the return of Li Guanqi's terraced fields.

Then, they pressured Madam Liu to remarry an old bachelor from the Li clan, who, judging by their conversation, was in his late fifties.

Of course, the Li clan phrased their demands nicely.

They said things like, "We are all of the Li bloodline, why distinguish between you and me?" and "We're all family anyway."

Not only Madam Liu, but Mo Chuan, listening nearby, couldn't help but frown.

Madam Liu remained silent throughout.

She didn't even dare to mention that she was carrying Li Guanqi's child.

She feared that if she spoke, instead of gaining status through her child and inheriting Li Guanqi's estate, she would be subjected to the "pig cage" punishment and drowned alive, her and her child's lives extinguished.

Finally, after the Li clan departed, as darkness fell, Madam Liu lit all the remaining incense in the house, placed it in a ceramic bowl, and without a word, took out scissors and began silently cutting up a quilt cover.

Mo Chuan glanced at Madam Liu, dispersed into ethereal energy, and quietly left.

"Sir, when did you... come back?"

Before the half-man-tall Earth God Temple at the entrance of the mountain stronghold, the Old Earth God stared dumbfounded at Mo Chuan emerging from the village.

"Earth Lord, Li Guanqi is not dead yet, and Madam Liu is still pregnant. Yet someone wants to seize Li Guanqi's property and exploit the family's misfortune. This is truly unsightly. Although you receive incense offerings from the Li family, Madam Liu has married into the Li family. I hope you can send a dream to guide us and not trouble the orphaned wife and child."

Mo Chuan approached and bowed respectfully.

"Sir, you think too highly of me. This old man is willing but unable! I was also a member of the Li clan and received incense offerings from them, which is why I was able to ascend to godhood. I can handle minor frights in children, but interfering in such worldly matters is truly asking the impossible," the Old Earth God repeatedly refused.

Mo Chuan fell silent upon hearing this. He wondered if Li Guanqi would regret his past offerings if he heard this.

Not saving someone could be explained as an inability to interfere with worldly laws or limited cultivation! But sending a dream would be considered interference? Then handling children's frights wouldn't be? Never mind, know people but don't expose them, criticize people but don't condemn them entirely. Perhaps the Earth God also had unspeakable difficulties. It's better to mind one's own business!

"I have disturbed you. Farewell!" Mo Chuan cupped his hands and then fled westward.

Seeing Mo Chuan leave and go far, the Old Earth God spat, "Ptooey!"

"A bald brat, and he has the audacity to tell this god what to do?"

"Finally, it's done. It wasn't easy!"

In a civilian house in Qingshui County, Chong Shizi, seated majestically, happily played with the Three Pure Ones Bell in his hand.

"Ding ding ding..."

He gently shook the bell, and a wisp of resentment spewed from its opening, instantly forming a Headless Ghost below.

As soon as the Headless Ghost appeared, it instinctively began searching everywhere, trying to find its head.

Little did it know, its head was the bell in Chong Shizi's hand.

"As expected of one of the Four Ghosts of the Daoist Sect, even my Soul Binding Whip was completely consumed."

Chong Shizi marveled at the Headless Ghost with delight.

After subduing this Headless Ghost, he patiently waited for a day and a night.

—Even though the bell had long since stopped making noise, and he couldn't feel the presence of the Ghost Immortal You Xuzi even with his mana poured into it.

His enduring patience had paid off with absolute certainty.

Under the Headless Ghost's devouring, You Xuzi had indeed been reduced to nothing, and even the Soul Binding Whip he had gifted was completely eaten.

"Wait another day. By tomorrow, when the market execution takes place, I'll absorb the prisoner's tainted blood and essence, and my Headless Ghost will surely reach another level!"

Chong Shizi secretly planned his schedule.

The reason he was rushing to subdue the Headless Ghost before the market execution was his concern that after the Headless Ghost consumed the prisoner's tainted blood and essence, it would grow stronger and become even more difficult to subdue.

"Dong dong dong..."

A knock on the door interrupted Chong Shizi's thoughts.

He gently shook the bell, recalled the Headless Ghost, and then got up, walked into the small courtyard, and opened the door.

"Creak—"

The door opened, and a young man with a clean face, no beard, and a pale complexion stood at the door, cupping his hands. "A disciple under Huang Buyu greets the True Person!"

Chong Shizi smelled the lingering incense offerings on the young man and frowned. "Chuma Immortal?"

The young man cupped his hands. "Indeed."

Chong Shizi slightly raised his head, putting on airs. "What business do you have with this humble Daoist?"

The young man looked up, smiled slightly, and said, "Please, True Person, prepare to die!"

Chong Shizi's pupils constricted. Before he could react, the young man ducked, crashing into his embrace.

A common street thug's Nangzi dagger fiercely pierced his spleen. [Nang, nǎng]

"Ding ding ding..."

A clear bell sound rang out, and the Headless Ghost materialized out of thin air, about to obey its master's will and attack the assailant.

Looking around, where was the assailant?

Only a blood-soaked Nangzi dagger lay in the courtyard, its blade covered in mud and grass.

Beside it, Chong Shizi collapsed to the ground, clutching his abdomen, struggling desperately, with blood gushing from between his fingers.

"Who—"

Chong Shizi roared, but his voice was already weak as he spoke.

In the dark night, the small courtyard was empty, as if haunted.

"Cough... cough..."

Chong Shizi coughed incessantly, blood frothing at his mouth. After a few coughs, his head drooped, and with a thud, he collapsed completely, lifeless.

A wisp of remnant soul emerged from the corpse.

Before it could escape, the Headless Ghost lurking nearby let out a low growl, rushed over, grabbed the remnant soul, tore it into soul energy, and inhaled it through its severed neck.

Soon, the Headless Ghost was sated, dissipated into energy, and returned to the Three Pure Ones Bell.

"Dada dada..."

A sound of footsteps approached, and the young man who had disappeared reappeared at the entrance of the small courtyard.

Who was this young man?

—It was Mo Chuan, hidden behind the Painted Skin!

After the Nangzi dagger pierced Chong Shizi's abdomen, he dispersed into mist, swept up the Painted Skin, and fled outside the courtyard. Only when the dust settled did he reveal himself.

Even so, he cautiously raised his hand and shot several Ghost Subduing Talismans, ensuring Chong Shizi was as dead as he could possibly be, before approaching to loot the body.

After collecting the spoils of war, he immediately closed the courtyard gate, dropped the bolt, then went outside the courtyard to lock the main door. Only then did he depart gracefully.

[Note: Nangzi, shaped like a dagger or short sword, is a distinctive weapon from Shandong.]