Day 81 – The Flaying Chamber
The Flaying Chamber was a cathedral of pain. Walls lined with hooks of human ribs. A central rack of iron chains. The air reeked of vinegar and rotting skin.
Monk Xie held a flensing knife—curved, serrated, forged from a monk's own femur.
"Skin is a cage. We remove it. Re-stitch with demon silk. You will be bulletproof. Blade-proof. Unbreakable."
Wuya was strung up—wrists and ankles chained to the four corners.
The bowl-claw whip—now a living serpent of black-red crystal—coiled around his torso like a second spine. Its porcelain shard pulsed against his sternum, syncing with his heartbeat.
The Flaying
Phase 1: The Back
Xie began at the nape.
SLICE.
The knife parted skin from muscle—clean, surgical.
Wuya's back peeled like wet parchment.
Scapula region: skin lifted in one sheet—rip.
Spine: flayed to the bone—vertebrae gleamed white.
Lower back: fat globules dripped like candle wax.
Blood cascaded.
Wuya did not scream.
He counted:
"One layer for Father's forge. Two for Mother's lullaby…"
Phase 2: Chest & Abdomen
Xie circled.
SHRRRRIP.
Pectorals peeled—nipples torn free like buttons.
SHNK.
Abdominal skin lifted—six-pack muscles twitching.
The bowl-claw shard glowed—absorbing pain-qi.
Wuya's ribs parted voluntarily—the whip commanded them.
Xie flayed between the bones—scrape, scrape.
Heart exposed—beating, black-veined.
Phase 3: Limbs
Arms. Legs.
PEEL-PEEL-PEEL.
Skin came off in stockings—rolled down like silk.
Tendons gleamed.
Wuya's demon-bone fingers clawed the air, craving flesh.
Phase 4: Face
The final taboo.
Xie's knife hovered.
"Eyes last. You must watch."
SLICE.
Cheeks peeled—muscles of smile exposed.
RIP.
Forehead skin lifted—skull gleaming.
SHNK.
Eyelids flayed—corneas stared unblinking.
Wuya saw his own reflection in Xie's knife: a skull with crimson eyes.
The bowl-claw whip screamed—a sound only Wuya heard:
"ZHAO HENG… SOUTH… BLOOD SAND CITY…"
The Re-Stitching
Wuya's flayed skin was soaked in demon blood—turned black, rubbery.
Demon silk—spun from Alpha King intestines—was threaded through iron needles.
They sewed him back:
Back: 108 stitches—each knot a killing vow.
Chest: silk crisscrossed ribs like armor.
Face: eyelids reattached—now transparent, pupils visible beneath.
The bowl-claw shard fused deeper—now embedded in his heart cavity, visible through transparent sternum skin.
It whispered constantly:
"Blood… Sand… City…"
The Blade-Proof Test
Training Ground: Abbot Hei wielded a Heaven-Grade Saber—Crimson Moon Cleaver.
"Block with your eyelid."
Wuya blinked.
The saber slashed—CLANG.
Blade shattered against his transparent eyelid.
Shards rained.
Wuya's eye did not blink.
He caught a shard with his tongue—swallowed.
"Tastes like Zhao Heng's future."
The Bowl-Claw Sentience
Night 85.
In his cell, the whip spoke aloud—a child's voice, Lan's voice:
"Brother… he's in Blood Sand City. Salt mines. Children in chains."
Wuya wept blood.
The whip coiled around his throat—not to kill, but to comfort.
"We will flay him alive."
He carved a new tally into his transparent cheek:
十二 – Twelve.
For the monk who screamed during stitching.
Iron Corpse Skill Complete
Physical Changes:
Skin: Black, rubbery, bulletproof.
Eyelids: Transparent, blade-proof.
Heart: Visible, black, bowl-shard embedded.
Bowl-Claw Whip: 20 feet, sentient, Lan's voice.
Qi Level: Qi Condensation Mid-Stage (from pain-qi absorption).
New Skill: Iron Corpse Skin – blades bounce, bullets embed harmlessly.
Abbot Hei nodded.
"The Iron Corpse walks. Next: Ghost Step Mastery—kill without touching."
End of Chapter 8