Flaying

Zhang Xuliang's grandfather was a board member at City No. 1 High School. Although the family had never become nobility, they still had the right to buy property in Sky City.

Zhang Xuliang himself was a third-generation rich kid.

His parents had been in business since he was little, constantly traveling between cities. He only saw them a few times a year, so he had considerable freedom.

He had grown up in an extremely wealthy family, born at the finish line. Even if he never amounted to anything, his life would still be happier than that of more than ninety-nine percent of the people in the wasteland.

At that moment, Zhang Xuliang wore sunglasses, an unbuttoned floral shirt, and flip-flops. His lackey, Qian Bing, followed beside him.

The two arrived at the school's underground parking garage.

Classes were in session, and the newly built garage still had no electricity. The air was thick with the smell of adhesive, which stung Zhang Xuliang's lungs and made him sneeze.

"Liang, I've arranged everything. She'll be here any minute. Heh, I know you like mature women, so I specially booked a forty-year-old woman from the refugee district. She's even more mature than Wang Yong's mom. Damn." Qian Bing raised his eyebrows and gave Zhang Xuliang a knowing look.

"Full service, too. Guaranteed to leave you tingling all over."

"Fuck."

Zhang Xuliang suddenly frowned and clutched his stomach. "Of all times for this to happen. I'm going to the bathroom. You entertain her. Lucky you."

"Remember our rule: don't pay. Those cheap bitches from the refugee district aren't worth wasting our money on. They actually think they can use us to climb the social ladder."

"Got it, Liang."

Qian Bing rubbed his hands together and respectfully watched Zhang Xuliang leave. Then he happily ran to the car, took off his shoes, and rested his feet on the steering wheel to wait for the woman.

"Fuck, that damn woman isn't standing me up, is she?"

Just as he was complaining, a clacking sound echoed through the underground garage.

Qian Bing looked toward the sound. First, he saw a pair of somewhat worn red high heels. Above them were shapely, long legs wrapped in black stockings, making it impossible to judge the condition of her skin.

As though trying to conceal the traces of age, the woman wore heavy makeup, with a frighteningly thick layer of foundation. Her lipstick was poorly applied, smeared beyond her lips.

She carried a designer handbag, but Qian Bing could tell at a glance that it was fake.

"This... she looks nothing like her photo!"

"Whatever. She's already here."

Qian Bing steeled himself. Once he turned off the car lights, it would be dark inside anyway, and it wouldn't make much difference.

He opened the door, walked a few steps, and beckoned to the woman.

The woman seemed uneasy. She looked around and, once she confirmed there really was no one else here, hurried over at a jog.

An overpowering smell of cheap perfume hit him. Qian Bing couldn't help sneezing.

"Um... I was busy with work. Sorry I'm late." The woman kept her head lowered, not daring to look up.

Qian Bing cast a sidelong glance over her, found that her figure was pretty good, and asked, "You have a job, too? A legitimate one?"

The woman nodded. "My main job is tailoring. This is a sideline."

"Heh."

Qian Bing gave a mocking laugh. Not wanting to waste more words on her, he immediately pulled her into the back seat and shut the doors and windows, then turned off the car lights.

"Be careful," the woman said anxiously.

"Fuck, you're a pain."

Qian Bing closed his eyes and sat back comfortably, ready to enjoy himself.

But out of his sight, inside the dark car, the woman took a pair of scissors from her bag.

Droplets of water trickled down her black hair.

Drip.

Drip.

Qian Bing wrinkled his nose. For some reason, he smelled rotting seafood.

"I wonder if Qian Bing's finished yet. Damn it, this stomachache couldn't have come at a worse time. Lucky bastard." Zhang Xuliang pulled up his pants and sauntered out of the bathroom.

From a distance, he saw his car with its door wide open.

"That bastard really has no shame."

He chuckled twice, tilted his head, and walked over. But a moment later, he saw a bloody corpse sitting in his back seat.

The corpse had no skin anywhere on its body. Muscles, blood vessels, and bones lay naked before Zhang Xuliang's eyes.

It looked just like a human specimen in a biology textbook.

Plop, plop.

Two eyeballs fell out, staring hideously at Zhang Xuliang from the ground.

Zhang Xuliang saw the gold pendant around the corpse's neck. It belonged to Qian Bing.

Qian Bing's full-service treatment had included taking every inch of his skin!

That absurd thought flashed through Zhang Xuliang's mind.

In an instant, the sight left him gasping for breath. He desperately wanted to scream, but all that came out was a sound like wind blowing through a leaky pipe.

Clack, clack! Clack, clack!

Just then, the sound of high heels echoed through the dim underground garage.

He hurriedly looked back.

There was a pair of dull red high heels.

A human skin was wearing them.

That skin was Qian Bing's!

Bizarre. Terrifying.

Qian Bing's skin walked along in those high heels.

As it moved, car lights switched on one after another in the dim garage, accompanied by piercing alarms.

"Fuck!"

Goosebumps shot from the soles of his feet all the way to his scalp.

Run!

Spoiled since childhood, Zhang Xuliang behaved like a madman.

He was crazy, but he wasn't stupid.

He immediately took off his shoes, tiptoed between the cars, and hid behind the trunk of one of them.

Under cover of the car alarms sounding all around him, Zhang Xuliang shakily took out his phone and made a call.

"Hello, this is the Night Spirit City Patrol Team. How can we help you?"

"I'm Zhang Xuliang from the Zhang Group. My grandfather is Zhang Nian. Please, save me! Save me!"

"..."

"Young Master Zhang, please try to compose yourself. What exactly happened?"

"I'm being hunted! A pair of red high heels is hunting me! It peeled off my classmate's skin, and his skin is walking around in the heels! I think there's a ghost!"

"..."

"Young Master Zhang, please calm down. Are you sure you haven't been drinking? You called us drunk three times last month."

"No... this time is different... I haven't been drinking... you have to believe me!"

Zhang Xuliang's low, hoarse voice abruptly stopped.

His eyes widened, bloodshot, as he watched through the gap beneath the car. The high heels carrying the human skin slowly walked past the front of the car where he was hiding.

The lights of the cars ahead switched on, and alarms erupted all around.

He let out a small breath of relief.

"Young Master Zhang? Young Master Zhang... are you all right?"

"No, I'm not! It just walked past me! Damn it, get here now, or I'll have my grandfather cut this year's donation to the Patrol Team!"

"All right... if you insist... where are you now? We'll send someone to pick you up."

"I'm in the school's underground parking garage, hiding behind parking space C44."

"..."

"When will you get here?"

"..."

"What's wrong? Is the signal bad? Can you hear me?"

"..."

"...It's fine. I've already found you."

The tone on the other end abruptly changed, and an eerie woman's voice came through.

Drip!

Drip!

Drops of icy water fell from above, landing on Zhang Xuliang's face.

They slid down.

Drip!

Then fell to the ground.

Zhang Xuliang wiped his face, and his hand came away covered in blood.

He mechanically raised his head.

On the ceiling of the underground garage was a heavily made-up woman holding a phone. A counterfeit luxury handbag hung from her neck. Her eyes glowed green as she swayed her head from side to side, staring eerily at him. Her wet hair hung straight down, dripping bloody water.

Two additional long, pale legs protruded from the woman's waist.

Six limbs in all, bent at unnatural angles, clung to the ceiling.

Like a spider.

"Aaaaaah!!!"