Painted Skin: Brother Dies and Sister Survives

  He's a man with a lot of heart, he saw that Yue Qing had real skills, although he couldn't tell whether it was magic or extremely high-level internal strength, but in any case, he was willing to become his apprentice and learn from him. So he followed him to the Zhu mansion, also wanting to see Yue Qing's foundation and character. As they say, a master chooses his disciples, and a disciple also chooses his master. If Yue Qing were an evil person, he wouldn't have become his apprentice. Therefore, when Yue Qing asked him to be bait to lure Feng Wu, he just thought it was the master testing him, although he couldn't help but feel a little nervous in his heart, he still agreed readily. As a young man with a lot of vigor and impulsiveness, he thought that if Yue Qing were really a powerful person from the outside world, he would immediately become his apprentice after defeating the demon, and if Yue Qing were just a charlatan, at worst he would lose his life!

  Yue Qing had Zhu Yuanwai bring the tools and also disguised You Huo as a Taoist priest with a bun and long beard, wearing a blue robe and yellow crown. He handed over all the flags, bells, and sword holders to him, and when night fell, he had him guard the garden where the embroidery building was located.

  Yue Qing himself, however, asked Zhu for a quiet room: "I want to practice my skills here, you are not allowed to disturb me! In case Feng Wu finds out, once the snake is startled, your family will have endless troubles!" Scared, Zhu hurried back to instruct his servants and workers to hide in their own rooms, not allowing them to come out until dawn.

  He closed all the windows and doors, took out the Taichung Eight Scenic Lamp and placed it on the table, then sat cross-legged on the couch, quietly practicing his inner strength.

  Night falls, stars fill the sky, the clock strikes twice, and suddenly the flames of the Taichung Eight Scenic Spots lamp on the table begin to dance.

  "Whoosh!" The flame shot up more than two feet high, but the brightness in the room didn't increase, only revealing the outside scene through the flames.

  All that was seen was a middle-aged man in black robes falling from the sky, his clothes tattered and half his body covered in blood, his face smeared with mud and sweat, crawling into the flower bushes under the eaves. At the same time, a white sword light streaked across the sky from north to south like a meteor.

  Yue Qing saw that it was Baiyun Dashi, the master of Emei Sect, who flew over with his sword. He stretched out his hand and pressed down, and in the flames, the face of the black-robed man appeared in a close-up shot. Yue Qing recognized him as Shen Wu, one of the Bone Demon Sect members who had been captured not long ago at Qingluo Gorge. He was the eldest disciple of Tianmen Shengjun Lin Rui, the elder of the Bone Demon Sect, and his Taoist skills were not weak. Unfortunately, he had encountered Baiyun Dashi, and it was already a stroke of luck for him to be able to escape with his life.

  Na Shenwu waited in the flower cluster for nearly half a time before daring to show his face, carefully crawling out, looking around, and making sure that Master Baiyun had walked far away before he could completely relax. He didn't rush to escape, but instead rushed into the nearby kitchen, wanting to find something to eat. With his Taoist skills on him, even without lighting a lamp, he could see clearly. He found a piece of venison sent by Zhuangzi during the day and, unafraid of the strong smell, directly put it in his mouth and chewed loudly.

  He had just taken two bites when suddenly there was a loud crash from behind, the door was knocked down by gravity, and the entire board slammed over. He was startled at first, thinking that Master Baiyun had returned, but then he heard a man's scolding and immediately felt relieved.

  "Who is this hairy thief, daring to disturb the earth on my Ta Sui's head!" The newcomer was also a practitioner, and with a loud noise, an iron palm print stuck tightly to the door panel and slapped past.

  Na Shenwu sneered and his body swayed with the wind, transforming into a thick smoke. The door panel passed through the smoke and heavily slammed onto the stove.

  The other party was a martial artist named Shen Chun, who had been invited by Luo to teach him the art of combat. He had mastered the "Soul- Absorbing Palm" technique, which could shatter stone and kill with a single strike. Every night at midnight, he would sneak out to practice his skills. Tonight was no exception, as he flew onto the rooftop, assumed the "Two Instruments" stance, raised his hands to the sky, and began to breathe in the moon's energy. Suddenly, he heard a noise coming from the kitchen, so he quietly made his way over to investigate, just in time to see someone sneaking into the kitchen.

  Luó Jiǎo had been fond of martial arts since childhood, and spent a lot of money to invite famous masters. Shēn Chún had already been at the Luó estate for half a year, and Luó Jiǎo saw that he had real skills, so every month he gave him a large amount of silver and treated him with great respect as his master. Shēn Chún was deeply grateful in his heart, and now that there was a thief in the estate, how could he just stand by and do nothing?

  Shen Chun followed closely behind the door panel and slapped his palm, only to see the person suddenly disappear into thin air. Just as he was stunned, a severe pain struck the back of his neck, and an icy large hand grasped him like a vice, lifting him up. Shen Chun's feet left the ground, and he tried to use the "Inverted Kick of Seven Stars" move, but a bone-piercing chill poured in from both sides of his neck, filling his entire body instantly, cooling him through and through, and he let out a final cry.

  Shen Wu casually threw the corpse to the ground and continued eating a piece of venison, his appetite was quite large, he could eat two yellow sheep in one meal, now after eating three large pieces of dried venison, he finally felt somewhat full.

  As he was about to leave, he picked up Shen Chun's corpse from the ground, intending to bring it back to worship the White Bone Demon. This time, he lifted it by the waistband, but unexpectedly, Shen Chun had been practicing his skills that night and wore a thin and soft practice uniform, with only a piece of cloth tied around his waist. When Shen Wu pulled it up with his hand, it immediately broke, and the corpse fell to the ground again.

  Shen Wu cursed and kicked the corpse, flipping it over. In the darkness, he saw the face and was shocked to discover that the man he had just killed was his own brother. The two brothers had not seen each other in over ten years. Shen Wu had been taken away by Lin Rui when he was only 13 years old, while his brother was already over 20. Although his appearance had changed over the years, Shen Wu still recognized him at a glance. He remembered that their family was from the Green Forest Road in Hanzhong, and his brother was skilled with a knife, with an exceptionally domineering air. So why had he come to Chengdu?

  Shen Wu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly bent down and stripped off Shen Chun's clothes and pants, throwing him naked on the case. Then he took out a small black knife with fog swirling around it, and from the neck downwards, he cut open the skin with one hand and peeled it off with the other. His technique was very skilled, and soon he had completely removed a whole piece of human skin. He then took off his own clothes, shook open the bloody skin and put it on himself. With a spiritual symbol in his hand, he spat out a stream of emerald fire that enveloped him. The flames caused his skeleton to crackle rapidly as it grew, and his muscles swelled up, inflating the skin and causing the seams to stick together and heal.

  After a moment, the green flame dissipated, and Shen Wu had transformed back into his original form as Shen Chun, with a body that was neither tall nor short, fat nor thin, completely ordinary.

  He picked up Shen Chun's clothes and put them on, then spat out a mouthful of red flames, incinerating the corpse that had shed its skin, along with his previous clothes, leaving no trace behind.

  At the same time as Shen Wu's murder, a flame suddenly burst out from the lamp in front of Yue Qing, showing the scene outside Zhu's Embroidered Building.

  Under the starry moonlight, a faint pink mist gradually emerged in the air around the embroidered building, and the sweet fragrance made people feel lazy all over.

  You Huo took the Dan medicine given by Yue Qing first, and he was still sober. He followed Yue Qing's teachings, sniffed the fragrance, and immediately took action. He used a red rope to pull out the warp and weft around the embroidery building, forming an eight-trigram shape. Then, he nailed eight wooden stakes with ghostly paintings on them into the ground. Holding a peach wood sword in one hand, he chopped randomly while shaking the three clear bells: "Halt! What kind of evil spirit dares to be so presumptuous here? I am Qingxu Daode Tianjun from Ziyang Cave, Qingfeng Mountain! You'd better die quickly!" He took out a talisman paper and tied it to the sword. After igniting it with the candle flame on the altar, he recited the incantation given by Yue Qing. The talisman immediately turned into a firelight that shot towards the sky.

  "Bang!" The spirit symbol exploded into a huge firework at a height of about 30 feet, and in the flames, a young Taoist priest with feathered clothes and a star crown appeared, looking down angrily. Seeing the pavilion in the garden, he saw a desk altar set up next to it, with four thick candles burning on it, surrounded by red threads forming an eight-trigram pattern. A young Taoist was holding a peach wood sword, waving it wildly, causing the copper bell to ring loudly. He couldn't help but laugh: "You're some kind of wild Taoist from who-knows-which mountain? You've only learned these few moves that can't even be shown on stage, and instead of scamming ignorant men and women for food and drink, you come here to mess with me?"

  Yu Hu saw him floating in the air, with a crown of stars on his head, his long sleeves fluttering, and he looked so delicate and handsome, just like a legendary celestial boy. She couldn't believe that he would do something as evil as forcing himself on a mortal woman. She wanted to ask if he was Feng Wu, but swallowed her words, fearing to startle the snake in the grass. Instead, she said: "You are a Taoist from which place? Are you passing by or have you come specifically for this purpose? The Heavenly Master is here to subdue the demon, so if you're just passing through, please hurry up and leave! Don't delay the Heavenly Master's beheading of the demon!"