The Bait

Xu Qingshan narrowed his eyes. He had seen this man before.

He was the one who had served tea in the County Yamen's main hall that afternoon. His surname was Liu.

Yamen Runner Liu walked in with a smile, set the teapot on the corner of the table, then took a teacup from his sleeve and poured a cup of hot tea.

"My lord, you've worked hard. Have some tea to warm yourself."

"Sorry for the trouble." Xu Qingshan smiled and reached for the cup.

Just as his fingers were about to touch it—

Yamen Runner Liu's right hand suddenly shot from his sleeve. His five fingers curved like hooks, flashing gray-white in the candlelight as they lunged straight for Xu Qingshan's face!

Xu Qingshan was already on guard. He leaned back, drew his sword with his left hand, and slashed at Yamen Runner Liu's wrist in a flash of steel!

Yamen Runner Liu's wrist came off with a snap. He reacted at once, leaping three steps back with his severed arm dangling. The smile still hung at the corners of his mouth.

"Lord Xu, what quick reflexes."

Its voice had changed.

Gone was Yamen Runner Liu's timid tone. Now it was shrill and cold, like fingernails scraping across an iron pot.

"What a pity. You dodged the first strike, but you won't dodge the second."

Yamen Runner Liu's face began to bulge.

Something writhed beneath his skin, as though countless maggots were crawling there. His whole face twisted out of shape.

Riiip!

With a sharp crack, the skin burst open like shattered porcelain.

Yamen Runner Liu's skin split vertically from his forehead. The tear ran down the bridge of his nose, all the way to his chin.

The old skin sagged over his shoulders, and a slick, contorted face pushed through the opening.

Its eyeballs were entirely gray-white, with pupils like narrow vertical slits.

Its gray-green skin was covered in folds. Its mouth stretched to its ears, packed with teeth like the serrated edge of a carpenter's saw.

"The skin of someone from the Demon Suppression Division would fit me perfectly..."

It let out a shrill laugh and sprang forward, unleashing the might of the Qi Gathering Realm. Its Bone Spikes thrust out again!

Xu Qingshan raised his sword to block. Liquid Condensation Early Stage spiritual power poured into the blade, and its gleam swept across the room like a bolt of silk!

The Painted-Skin Ghost Clone moved strangely, like a boneless snake. It barely slipped past the sword light, but its Bone Spikes grazed Xu Qingshan's sleeve, leaving a slash.

It licked its lips, the greed in its eyes deepening.

It lunged again, faster this time. Its Bone Spikes stabbed from different angles, every strike aimed at Xu Qingshan's face or throat.

Xu Qingshan was forced back again and again. His aptitude was ordinary, so he had put all his effort into studying internal cultivation. That was how he had reached the Liquid Condensation Early Stage.

But his martial techniques were still at a beginner's level, barely better than the crude moves of an ordinary yamen runner.

His Sword Qi was powerful, but the Painted-Skin Ghost Clone's movements were too strange. It was like a shapeless lump of mud; no matter how he cut, he could not land a solid blow.

Just as the Painted-Skin Ghost Clone lunged for Xu Qingshan's face again—

A streak of saber light cleaved in through the window!

Pale-blue Spirit Crystal sharpness wrapped the blade's gleam. It came without a sound, fast as lightning!

The Painted-Skin Ghost Clone's pupils contracted. It instinctively tried to dodge, but the blade was too fast.

Pfft!

The saber entered through its left shoulder and cut diagonally down, shearing away half the Painted-Skin Ghost Clone's body along with its left arm!

No blood spilled from the wound. Only gray-green slime gushed out, giving off a nauseating stench.

"The Demon Suppression Division!"

The Painted-Skin Ghost Clone shrieked and staggered back. Slime churned frantically at the wound, trying to reattach the severed half of its body.

But the Demon-Slaying Entry burned through the wound. Charred marks spread outward, stopping it from healing.

Yang Xiao vaulted in through the window, his Spring Embroidery Saber held across his body.

"Brother Yang!" Xu Qingshan cried, startled and delighted.

Yang Xiao did not answer. He burst forward with Astonishing Swan Steps, flashing toward the Painted-Skin Ghost Clone like lightning!

The Painted-Skin Ghost Clone was terrified. The Bone Spikes on its remaining right hand stabbed wildly, trying to hold him off.

Yang Xiao split the Bone Spikes with his first slash, took off its right arm with his second, and drove his third strike through its chest!

Pale-blue saber light pierced out through the Painted-Skin Ghost Clone's back. Wisps of smoke rose from the charred edges of the wound.

The Painted-Skin Ghost Clone collapsed. Its gray-green body rapidly shriveled like a dead leaf drained of water.

But it was not dead yet.

Its white, slit-pupiled eyes fixed on Yang Xiao, and its mouth twisted into an eerie smile.

"Hee hee hee... You killed one clone... So what..."

Its voice grew weaker and weaker, but its smile spread wider, revealing rows of tiny teeth in a mouth split to its ears.

"The people in the County Yamen... More than one was replaced long ago... You'll never kill them all..."

"Hee hee hee..."

The laughter stopped abruptly.

The Painted-Skin Ghost Clone's body shriveled completely into a crumpled mass of gray-green skin that gave off a piercing stench.

Yang Xiao crouched to inspect the corpse.

It was a clone. There was no Inner Core, only a dried-out skin that gave off faint Demonic Qi.

Xu Qingshan's face was grim.

Not with fear, but with a sickening mix of anger and disgust.

"More than one." Xu Qingshan's voice was hoarse. "It said more than one person in the County Yamen was replaced long ago."

Yang Xiao fell silent for a moment, his gaze passing over the flickering candle in the Side Room.

"Zhao Peng, who lured me out before, the yamen runner from that night, and this Yamen Runner Liu... At least three."

"Probably more." Xu Qingshan smiled bitterly. "The Painted-Skin Demon started changing skins three months ago. With three months and no one to stop it, it had enough time to replace everyone in the County Yamen."

Yang Xiao's expression tightened.

"We can't sleep tonight. We'll take turns keeping watch."

Xu Qingshan nodded and sheathed his sword.

Early the next morning.

The main hall of the Heishui County Yamen.

Chen Bonian sat behind his desk, his eyes sunken deep. There seemed to be a few more white hairs at his temples.

Yang Xiao and Xu Qingshan sat on either side, their faces stern.

Two yamen runners stood at the entrance to the hall. They had kept watch the night before, and Yang Xiao had confirmed there was no Demonic Qi on them. But that proved nothing.

"My lords, did you discover anything last night?" Chen Bonian asked cautiously.

Yang Xiao did not answer. His gaze settled on an unfamiliar figure in the corner of the hall.

The man was about fifty, thin, dressed in a long gray robe, and wore a goatee. He had the refined air of a scholar and looked like an adviser.

He seemed to sense Yang Xiao's gaze and looked up with a humble smile.

"My lords, there is something I would like to say."

"This is Assistant Magistrate Wang of Heishui County," Chen Bonian explained to the two of them before turning to him. "What is it?"

Assistant Magistrate Wang closed the documents in his hands, stood, straightened his robes, and walked to the center of the hall.

"In my humble opinion, since the demon is hiding in the city, we should seal the city gates."

Chen Bonian frowned. "Seal the gates?"

"Exactly," Assistant Magistrate Wang said evenly. "If we do not seal Heishui City, the demon can flee elsewhere at any moment. Once it escapes, finding it again will be difficult."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Yang Xiao and Xu Qingshan, heavy with meaning.

"Shut the gates and kill the demon. That is our best course."