Skinned Corpse

By the dim moonlight, Xia Lun looked up toward the source of the sound, and his pupils contracted slightly.

A humanoid figure with its head hanging low crawled out on all fours, twitching constantly like a beast.

It was a skinless, bloody corpse. From its face to its feet, it had no skin at all. Crimson tendons lay exposed, while several fat maggots wriggled back and forth between its reddened muscles and pale fascia.

There really are Walking Corpses? Xia Lun grumbled inwardly.

Though the Skinned Corpse's appearance was exceptionally terrifying, Xia Lun felt little stirring inside. After all, he had seen far too many undead in the previous script. By now, he was completely numb to them.

With a thought, he materialized the short sword Night Plume in his left hand, then slipped into the shadows.

--The situation was unclear, so it definitely was not the time to use a loud revolver. If this place was full of Walking Corpses, gunfire would be no different from ringing a dinner bell to summon a horde of them. He should observe first, then deal with them using cold weapons.

The icy hilt settled into his hand. Xia Lun subtly turned the blade to keep its reflection from revealing his position, then patiently observed his enemy.

The Skinned Corpse's nasal cartilage had already rotted away. Though it was humanoid, it crawled along the ground like a hunting dog, constantly sniffing about.

Seeing the Skinned Corpse's behavior, Xia Lun was immediately seized by a bad feeling.

The next moment, the Skinned Corpse paused, then violently twisted its neck to the right. Its head turned a full ninety degrees like a wound-up spring, staring straight at Xia Lun in the shadows!

"Ugh!" A muffled, hoarse sound poured from the Skinned Corpse's throat, like a low bark.

His stealth had failed.

Though his stealth had failed, Xia Lun did not feel discouraged. He tightened his grip on the hilt and slowly stepped out of the shadows.

Even now, he was still completely in the dark about the script's basic situation. He did not know where he was, nor did he know what identity he held in the script. But none of that mattered now, because battle was at hand!

A strange thrill rose from within him like a shivering electric current. Xia Lun's heartbeat gradually quickened, and his pupils began to dilate slightly with excitement...

Yet the next moment, a cold, stern rebuke interrupted his enjoyment. "Don't shout. Over here!"

With the rebuke, an eerie red glow suddenly lit up in a ruined side room in the distance. A gaunt figure wearing a loose, plain black robe and a red wooden ritual mask strode over quickly.

The Skinned Corpse whimpered, then truly lay prone on the ground like a house dog with a broken spine. Seeing a humanoid make such a movement, Xia Lun could not help frowning.

The strange masked figure raised a large red lantern and shone it into the shadows where Xia Lun stood.

After considering for a moment, Xia Lun did not immediately shoot the other party. Instead, he cooperatively walked out.

--Having learned from the previous script, he decided he could not be so aggressively domineering this time. He would treat others kindly, make full use of his talents as a merchant, broadly help others solve their problems, communicate and cooperate with them, and avoid slaughtering his way through everything.

Besides, he had only just entered the script and truly needed a channel through which to obtain information.

At that thought, a warm smile suddenly appeared on Xia Lun's face. He spread his hands, signaling that he bore no hostility for the moment.

However, the ritual-masked figure, who looked very much like a cultist, did not seem appreciative. The moment he opened his mouth, he hurled a blunt question at him. "Where is Xuan Yan?"

As the other party spoke, another masked figure and several flayed Walking Corpses approached from the side rooms in the distance.

They were clearly not the original residents of these side rooms, but from Xia Lun's observations, they appeared to have been here for some time. They might have been searching for something, or perhaps someone.

Xia Lun swiftly counted their numbers, then withdrew his gaze.

--There were not many of them. Including the first cultist with the red mask, there were only two cultists and four Skinned Corpses. One round of rapid fire would be enough to kill them all.

After confirming that the situation remained under control, he shook his head and answered honestly, "Sorry, I don't know who Xuan Yan is. I only just arrived in Sorrow Hill City too—do you know where I can obtain Yin Longevity Pills?"

"Just arrived?" Hearing Xia Lun's words, the masked figure laughed, then spoke mockingly. "That lie of yours is far too ridiculous."

"I wasn't telling a joke..."

"Heh. Do you need me to teach you some common sense? In Sorrow Hill City, everyone craves Yin Longevity Pills. We begin here, and we end here. As they say, 'Cast off the limbs, banish cleverness, leave behind form and shed the skin, then commune with the Great Unity.' Here, no one pities those who play dumb."

The masked figure's voice grew ever colder. As he spoke, he slowly approached, while his free left hand gradually gripped a dagger.

"A fool with a bad brain has only one ending here: becoming human material. Are you human material?"

Although Xia Lun completely failed to understand what the other party was talking about, he could still clearly sense the malice hidden beneath his words.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, intending to retort, but the next moment, drawing on his classical Chinese knowledge from his previous life and the strange murmurs he had heard upon entering the game, an absurd yet brilliant idea suddenly came to mind.

After weighing it for a moment, he decided the idea was workable and looked up at the masked cultist.

"Hahaha, I see, I see! A pleasure to meet you!" Xia Lun's gloomy expression suddenly brightened. He laughed heartily, clasped his hands together, and bowed to the cultist opposite him.

The masked cultist froze, apparently confused by this strange turn of events. "A pleasure to meet me? What pleasure?"

"We are both people of the Way." Xia Lun raised his brows slightly and calmly began spouting nonsense. "Hearing stops at the ears, the heart stops at talismans. Qi is that which is empty and awaits things. Fellow Daoist, are we not fellow travelers on the same path?"

"This?" The masked cultist sounded quite hesitant. His movements stiffened for a moment, and his tone paused. "You are also a follower of Master 'Man in the Flesh'? You are also from the Mind Fasting Sect? You... are also here to ambush Xuan Yan?"

Xia Lun did not answer. He merely glanced at the other party.

That was a trap!

Drawing on his rich social experience, he instinctively grasped the other party's intent. Smiling, he shook his head as countless thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning and considered how to respond.

After thinking for a while, he recalled the classical text the other party had first quoted. It seemed somewhat similar to the "The Great and Venerable Master" from the Zhuangzi that he had read in his previous life. He raised his right index finger and spoke with devout sincerity.

"No, I am not from the Mind Fasting Sect, and I know even less about any Xuan Yan. I am from the Way of Sitting and Forgetting."

"The Way of Sitting and Forgetting?"