"Where? What kind of wraith?" Hao Ren had been watching the gas station the whole time, but everything looked normal. Red Candles were burning here. No wraith could approach unnoticed.
Unless the candles burned out.
Su Nian pointed toward the convenience store.
Moonlight poured through the window like a silver waterfall. The man standing between light and shadow felt his skin itch. He raised a hand and scratched his cheek, tearing away a large piece of skin as thin as a cicada's wing. Raw, scarlet flesh lay exposed beneath it, blood constantly seeping out.
The man's pupils trembled violently, and he let out a terrified scream.
The man examining the cabinets spun around. At the boundary between light and shadow, a figure with a blood-drenched face stared at his own hand. Large patches of skin peeled from his face and neck, and blood soaked his eyes.
"Ah..." The crouching man fell over, scrambling backward in terror until he hit a shelf. His chest heaved as dry, rasping sounds escaped his throat.
"Xiaofei, save me..." The blood-soaked figure walked toward him like a stiff-limbed zombie. Tears mingled with blood and flesh as they slid down his raw cheeks. His skin kept peeling away as he walked, leaving bloody liquid across the floor.
"Stay away... ah, ah..." The man's whole body went weak, his chest heaving violently. He wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go.
Strangely, the person operating the oil pump outside seemed to hear nothing.
[Lamp-Skin Wraith] [Wraith] [Killing rule: It takes the form of someone you care about and speaks to you. Once the conversation exceeds three consecutive sentences, its killing rule attaches to your skin, making it itch. The moment you raise a hand and touch it, the rule takes full effect. The peeled human skin becomes its new disguise.]
After learning its killing rule, Su Nian got out of the vehicle with the candle held up and left them with a name.
"Lamp-Skin Wraith."
Hao Ren hurried out after him, slinging his bag across his chest and stepping into the candlelight's protection.
He took out an Ink-Line Reel.
He handed one end to Su Nian. "Hold this... is the wraith still inside?"
Su Nian nodded.
Hao Ren said, "Pull it all the way out."
Su Nian cooperated, pulling out the ink line.
Hao Ren said, "That's enough."
They stood at opposite ends. Hao Ren held the taut line and gave it a gentle snap, leaving a bloody line on the ground.
They kept changing positions, drawing four bloody lines into a square around the fuel truck and the fuel dispensers.
Hao Ren took out a copper coin.
[Road-Cutting Coin] [Type: Curio] [Details: A single-use curio that blocks outside wraiths, but cannot stop curses arising within. The road-blocking effect ends when the coin breaks.]
He placed the coin on the bloody line, and the Ink-Line Reel's lines glowed red.
Standing in the middle of the square, Su Nian felt a pang of envy. All such good stuff. This filthy rich bastard kept claiming he was broke, but that bag was like Doraemon's magic pocket.
Who knew how much stuff he had in there?
What a cautious bastard.
[Ding! Spend 98,000 Survival Points to upgrade the Lamp-Skin Wraith?]
One-third of the Basket-Carrying Granny.
One plus one was greater than two, but two minus one might equal zero.
A tiger with wings was called a Qiongqi. What did you call one with two legs chopped off?
To Su Nian, the Lamp-Skin Wraith wasn't simply one-third as strong. Its strength had dropped on a fundamental level.
Killing a wraith... should earn plenty of Survival Points, right?
His strength depended entirely on Survival Points. He couldn't keep scraping by on the bare minimum forever.
Su Nian drew the Sin-Cleaving Butcher's Knife and stepped over the ink line.
"What are you doing? You're not going to kill that wraith, are you? Your Blood Eye is a support ability, and you're only Sequence 9. Even with a Wraith Artifact, you can't beat the Lamp-Skin Wraith."
Hao Ren's eyes widened. In the past year, he had seen plenty of cautious Sequence Transcendents, but never one this reckless.
What did he think a wraith was? Some stray dog?
"Let's give it a try. It looks a lot weaker than the Basket-Carrying Granny." Su Nian gritted his teeth, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold smile.
[Ding! Spend 200 Survival Points to enhance physique (11 points → 12 points)?]
"Enhance!"
[Ding! Spend 200 Survival Points to enhance physique (12 points → 13 points)?]
"Enhance!"
[Ding! Spend 200 Survival Points to enhance physique (13 points → 14 points)?]
"Enhance!"
[Survival Points: 450]
Hao Ren: ???
Would you listen to yourself? Did being weaker than the Basket-Carrying Granny mean it wasn't a wraith anymore?
The Basket-Carrying Granny, a powerful entity even among B-class wraiths, had become his yardstick.
Hao Ren sighed and took a Peachwood Dagger from his bag. Holding it off for a while would at least let them pump more fuel.
A middle-aged man stepped out of the convenience store, wearing his usual honest, friendly smile.
"Captain, it's safe inside. There are plenty of supplies. Come take a look. There's enough food to last us quite a while."
Su Nian sprinted forward and planted a heavy kick in the man's chest.
With a thud, the man flew back inside under the force of Su Nian's far-superhuman physique and slammed into a shelf.
Su Nian charged in like a bloodthirsty leopard and drove the Sin-Cleaving Butcher's Knife straight into the man's chest.
Sizzling sounds accompanied the Lamp-Skin Wraith's agonized screams.
Outside, Hao Ren blurted, "Holy shit!" and hurried forward. He felt that Su Nian's physique might rival his own, but dismissed the thought immediately.
That was impossible. How could a newborn be stronger than a grown adult?
[Sin-Cleaving Power: 4 → 5 points]
The skin covering the man's body instantly peeled away, gathering in midair like flowing mercury.
"You tore my skin! I'll kill you!"
The Lamp-Skin Wraith's voice sounded as though it came from hell, savage and terrifying.
Su Nian turned and slashed, sending a ghostly hand flying. The swollen skin, like a deboned chicken foot, landed on the floor and bounced.
The divine markings within his Blood Eye quivered, freezing the wraith skin for an instant. Su Nian lunged forward and slashed seven times, cutting the human skin into dozens of pieces.
Hao Ren rushed inside with a can of insecticide, holding the Red Candle's flame in front of the nozzle.
Whoosh...
Roaring flames swept over the wraith skin on the floor.
Fire was what the Lamp-Skin Wraith feared most.
The wraith skin curled in the flames. At the same time... the flesh of the red corpses on the floor dissolved into bright red liquid, which the sheet of wraith skin in the air absorbed.
A skeleton lunged at him.
Su Nian sidestepped and swung his knife, leaving a clean cut through the bones. One skeletal hand flew off, and he seized the opening to sever the other claw.
[Ding! Killed one sheet of wraith skin. Gained 500 Survival Points.]
Hao Ren immediately redirected the flames toward the sheet of wraith skin hovering in midair.
After absorbing the two red corpses, the wraith skin swelled like a waterlogged corpse. Countless blood-red earthworms writhed along its lower body.
The wraith skin lunged forward and struck the candlelight. A large section of the candle instantly burned away, sending a chill through Hao Ren.
Meanwhile, Su Nian hacked madly at the two skeletons like a corpse-dismembering demon. An excited smile even appeared on his face, while the Blood Eye between his brows shone continuously with bloody light.
The sight was so "beautiful" that even a sicko would call him a sicko.
[Ding! Killed one skeleton. Gained 200 Survival Points.]
Su Nian stopped and turned toward the other sheet of wraith skin, which was pummeling Hao Ren. He raised his foot and crushed a skull. Bone fragments bounced into a hidden corner, where a patch of deathly blackness darker than the night writhed.
[Ding! Killed one skeleton. Gained 200 Survival Points.] [Sin-Cleaving Power: 34 points] [Survival Points: 1,350]
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