"Ah!!!"
As the Evil-Subduing Saber grazed Murong Yuhan's face, half of her face immediately turned into a bloody mess.
Qin Yuesheng reversed the saber in his hand and slashed back, striking his opponent's chin, slicing off the entire chunk of flesh, freeing his arm from danger.
The Evil-Subduing Saber had a great restraining effect on Murong Yuhan. The wounds it inflicted on her expanded as if eroded, enlarging visibly.
"Ah! You, you—who are you really, and why do you have that kind of thing?" Murong Yuhan stared at Qin Yuesheng in terror. Her face had become more horrifying than a ghost's, half skin, half flesh, half bone, with an eyeball seemingly about to drop from its socket at any moment.
Blame her impatience; had she waited until lying in bed before making her move, Qin Yuesheng would be dead without a doubt.
Qin Yuesheng couldn't be bothered with her babble and forcefully hacked at her neck with the saber, instantly splitting Murong Yuhan's head from her body, leaving just a fragment of skin connecting them.
Unable to hold his disgust, Qin Yuesheng frowned, quickly turning to the window, opening it to breathe deeply under the bright moon, suppressing his nausea.
"The blade above the word 'lust'—ancient wisdom deceives nobody," Qin Yuesheng muttered, clutching his side, hurriedly tearing off his robe's sleeve as a bandage.
Having arrived in the Otherworld with the status of a Young Master, isn't it normal to visit a brothel to find a courtesan for entertainment?
Even if the world truly harbors ghosts, they aren't everywhere, visibly roaming, right? Otherwise, Cyan Yang City's residents would've perished long ago.
Unluckily, he had such bad luck, encountering this scenario on his first brothel visit; truly ominous, truly cursed.
After ensuring his nausea subsided, Qin Yuesheng returned to the bed, grasping Murong Yuhan's body to activate the decomposition function.
[Yes/No—Decompose the Skin-Stealer Demon]
"Skin-Stealer...this person certainly isn't Murong Yuhan, but a demon that replaced her using human skin." Qin Yuesheng lightly sliced Murong Yuhan's chest with the Evil-Subduing Saber, creating a layer of completely detached skin underneath.
Below Murong Yuhan's skin was a shriveled, wrinkled body.
"Yes."
With that, the Skin-Stealer demon vanished instantly, leaving only a full-body human skin—Murong Yuhan's—on the bed.
Qin Yuesheng picked up the human skin, quickly contemplating.
Previously, Murong Yuhan didn't accept clients, indicating she was herself then; upon becoming a victim, the Skin-Stealer stole her skin, intending to harm people using her identity at the Celestial Immortal Pavilion.
Du Beilun had mentioned Murong Yuhan remains a virgin till now, meaning he was likely the first victim.
"If I hadn't discovered this tonight, who would believe that demons hide among us?" Qin Yuesheng dropped the human skin and started searching the room.
Soon, the floor corner caught his attention.
Wherever left uncleaned, dust tends to accumulate evenly. But Qin Yuesheng noticed dust layered around this area, with an untouched spot at the center.
Grabbing the Evil-Subduing Saber, he pried open a wooden plank, releasing a bloody scent from the gap, hitting him directly.
"Could it be..." Qin Yuesheng sped up prying the plank, soon revealing a blood-solidified skinned female corpse before him.
"Ugh!"
This time he couldn't help it; the decapitated corpse and skinned corpse's visual impact differed drastically, the latter undoubtedly far more nauseating and haunting.
"Decompose."
Without hesitation, Qin Yuesheng chose to decompose it directly.
Upon decomposing the skinned female corpse, two sparks appeared on the ground.
"Murong Yuhan disappeared without a trace, killed by a demon—seems I must act more cautiously from now on; patronizing should end here, safety is paramount."
Crushing the two light spheres, Qin Yuesheng gained two new martial arts instantly.
Plum Blossom Eight Trigram Palm (0/20) Beginner
Stepping on Snow without Trace (0/20) Beginner
Murong Yuhan's parents were renowned dual heroes known for Plum Blossom Eight Trigram Palm and Lightweight Technique Stepping on Snow without Trace across Jiangnan, dealing with bandit thieves and villains, garnering numerous enemies.
Eventually, they were slain by Jiangnan's infamous demon, Bloodhand Butcher, leaving many regretting and mourning.
"Being Plum and Snow Dual Heroes' daughter, surely Murong Yuhan learned some skills from her parents. Unexpectedly, by decomposing her body, I could acquire her martial arts directly." Qin Yuesheng mused, glancing at the Super Auxiliary Device.
Murong Yuhan could live peacefully at the Celestial Immortal Pavilion as a courtesan, never forced into sexual acts, likely due to knowing these martial arts. Yet she still met a tragic end at a demon's hands."
With a serious expression, Qin Yuesheng reassembled the wooden planks.
At this moment, he was immensely relieved for acquiring the Buddha statue from Nanyan Treasure Studio, giving him some power against demons and ghosts, else Murong Yuhan, despite being skilled, could only perish with resentment.
After completing everything, Qin Yuesheng feigned panic, swiftly running to the door, opening it and shouting outside: "Help! Help! A monster! That woman is a monster!!"
Instantly, numerous Celestial Immortal Pavilion guards rushed over, quickly entering the room to protect Qin Yuesheng.
"Where's the person?"
"Where's the person?"
Qin Yuesheng pointed at the bed's human skin: "Person my ass, that woman was a monster, she already escaped out the window."
Illuminated by the candlelight, Celestial Immortal Pavilion guards approached the intact human skin resting on the bed, appearing peeled directly off a human body.
Instantly, everyone couldn't help but shiver, horrifyingly surveying the human skin.
"It really might be Miss Murong."
"Go take a look."
"Why don't you go."
Soon, the shopkeeper of Celestial Immortal Pavilion hurried over hearing the news, quickly helping Qin Yuesheng from the ground by the door.
"Young Master Qin, are you alright?"
Qin Yuesheng grabbed the opponent's collar, shouting angrily: "What the hell do you guys mean by this? Sending a monster to accompany me, if I hadn't reacted quickly enough and stabbed her a few times, I would already be dead, you know that?"
"Monster? How could there be any monster here at Young Master Qin?"
"If you don't believe me, go see for yourself." Qin Yuesheng pushed him towards the bed.
He had quite some strength, and the shopkeeper had no time to react, getting pushed right to the bedside. When he saw that human skin, he was so frightened he stumbled backward and fell to the ground.
"Ah! This, this, help me up quickly."
Two hospital guards hurriedly helped the shopkeeper up and patted his back.
"Young Master Qin, what on earth is going on here?"
"You're asking me? I should be asking you." Qin Yuesheng pressed on the wound on his lower back: "Hurry and get me some doctors, I've been injured by that monster."
The news of Qin Yuesheng's injury quickly spread, and Du Beilun, Lu Juncheng, Cao Zhengchun, and others rushed over in their robes, leaving the girls on the bed behind.
"Yuesheng! Yuesheng!"
"Young Master Qin!"
"Young Master!"
They saw Qin Yuesheng sitting in the first-floor hall, with a doctor hired by the Celestial Immortal Pavilion applying medicine to his wounds.
This injury of Qin Yuesheng was not just an ordinary surface wound.
The painted skin demon's fingers seemed to carry some kind of venom, with the ten wounds on Qin Yuesheng's back showing faint signs of black and purple.
The shopkeeper of the Celestial Immortal Pavilion stood beside him, urgently asking: "How is it? Is Young Master Qin's condition serious?"
The doctor shook his head: "I've practiced medicine for many years and have never seen wounds like these. It's like poison, yet not poison. Strange, very strange."
Qin Yuesheng said: "If you know how to speak, then speak properly. How exactly is my injury? Is it serious?"
The doctor stroked his beard: "I've already applied detoxifying powder on you. This bottle is the Detoxification Pill for internal use, try taking it first."
"It was a monster that injured me, not a venomous snake or insect. Is your method really effective?"
The doctor looked at the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper looked at Qin Yuesheng.
"Why are you looking at me? I told you to keep that human skin safe and report it to the authorities. Have you done it?"
The shopkeeper looked troubled: "Young Master Qin, can't we skip reporting to the authorities?"
"Why?"
"We're in business, and if people find out such a thing happened in the Celestial Immortal Pavilion, how can we open our doors for business in the future?"
Du Beilun walked up to Qin Yuesheng, looking at the already bandaged wound on his back.
"Yuesheng, are you okay with this?"
"I won't die."
Du Beilun then turned his tone and angrily shouted at the shopkeeper: "What is the meaning of this? Do you want to continue operating in Cyan Yang City? How could you let Young Master Qin get hurt like this? Who did this? Step forward now."
"This..." The shopkeeper was quite troubled, although he was the shopkeeper, he was merely the public manager of the Celestial Immortal Pavilion. The real owner was the proprietor, Ouyang Haichen.
After what happened to Qin Yuesheng, the proprietor instructed that this matter must not be blown up and should be suppressed no matter the cost.
"Young Master Qin, this is 'Dragon Tiger Frost Jade Dew,' made from extracting the essence of various precious herbs. It can strengthen the body, nourish the kidneys and essence, and make your body as vigorous as a dragon and as strong as a tiger."
The shopkeeper took a small jade bottle narrow at the top and wide at the bottom from his sleeve and slowly handed it to Qin Yuesheng: "This is our apology from the Celestial Immortal Pavilion. We hope you will accept it, be understanding, and let us handle your injury."
Clearly, this was hush money.
The Celestial Immortal Pavilion didn't want the human skin incident to be reported.
"Dragon Tiger Frost Jade Dew?" Qin Yuesheng raised his eyebrows, thought a bit, and decided to agree to the Celestial Immortal Pavilion's request.
Regarding the painted skin demon, he was fully aware, and reporting or not would not change anything, as the painted skin demon had already been killed by him, but others didn't know that.
Reporting to the authorities would bring him no benefits, but not reporting could bring him benefits.
Medicinal materials were all-purpose essence to Qin Yuesheng, and products made from various medicinal materials represented more all-purpose essence.
He had just verified this when he took the Small Rejuvenation Pill.
Exchanging a non-report to the authorities for a bottle of Dragon Tiger Frost Jade Dew, Qin Yuesheng thought it was worth it.
"Dragon Tiger Frost Jade Dew? Dragon Tiger Frost Jade Dew?!" Du Beilun was shocked.
The shopkeeper nodded: "Exactly."
"Wow, what a treasure. Do you have any more? Sell me three bottles."
The shopkeeper was at a loss: "Young Master Du, you should know how precious Dragon Tiger Frost Jade Dew is. It's a Holy Grade product found only in the capital's official circles, something ordinary people rarely see. I went through great effort and connections to get just this small bottle."
Qin Yuesheng tightened his grip on the jade bottle: "Alright, I won't pursue this matter any further."
The shopkeeper was quick to act, immediately bowing gratefully: "The deposit that Young Master Qin paid earlier will also be refunded by the Celestial Immortal Pavilion. We hope you can calm down."
Qin Yuesheng stood up, his interest for the night already gone, and staying any longer in the Celestial Immortal Pavilion was meaningless, so he decided to return home.
He said goodbye to Du Beilun and the others, then walked out of the Celestial Immortal Pavilion and boarded his carriage to leave.
Watching the Qin Mansion's carriage leave, Du Beilun puzzledly asked the shopkeeper: "I ask you, how exactly did Yuesheng get hurt?"
The shopkeeper, slick as ever, bowed slightly: "Young Master Du, it was just a trivial matter. A petty thief broke into the Celestial Immortal Pavilion, accidentally slipping into Young Master Qin's room and injuring him. I've already had him beaten to death, so you needn't worry anymore."