Stranger Danger

Chapter 579: Art of Skin Painting

“I personally agree with Skin Painting Gentleman. There is no harm in being cautious.”

Limp Celestial hummed for a moment before adding, “It is said that Night Cat entered Peach Blossom Mountain two days ago. He hasn’t been seen since.”

“Night Cat? Are you sure about this, limp geezer?” Tiger Sovereign exclaimed in surprise.

Night Cat was no ordinary warrior. An infamous thief in Northern Xinjiang, he was most proficient in sneaking into houses, lock-picking, thieving and robbing. He also boasted an outstanding movement art and a wide repertoire of survival tools. Due to the numerous crimes he committed in Northern Xinjiang, he was hunted by both orthodox and unorthodox warriors. However, he remained at large to this day. His character notwithstanding, it was clear that he was no one to be trifled with.

“It’s something I heard on the streets. I have no idea if it’s real or not,” Limp Celestial said.

Tiger Sovereign made his doubt plain. “Then it’s probably just a rumor. Night Cat is one of the most slippery bastards I know. They even call him ‘Nine Lives’ because of his skills. There is no way he could die at such a place.”

“Regardless of the authenticity of the rumor, it’s always better to be safe than sorry, my friend!” Skin Painting Gentleman chimed in.

“What should we do then?” Tiger Sovereign asked impatiently.

Skin Painting Gentleman thought for a moment before answering, “How about this? Let’s ascend the mountain together. The three of us combined should be enough to handle any danger.”

“How will we split the treasure then?” A glint appeared in Tiger Sovereign’s eyes.

“Assuming there is a treasure, then we can split it evenly among us. If not, then any further discussion is wholly pointless,” Skin Painting Gentleman said. “Let’s not count our chickens before they hatch, yeah?”

“Very well. Let’s work together.” Limp Celestial nodded after a moment of consideration.

“I don’t have a problem with this arrangement either,” Tiger Sovereign also said.

“Good. Let us enter the mountain then.”

Skin Painting Gentleman smiled, and his four female attendants lifted the soft litter and walked toward Peach Blossom Mountain.

Limp Celestial and Tiger Sovereign exchanged a glance with each other before following behind him.

Peach Blossom Mountain looked exactly the same on the inside as it did from the outside. It was death and decay wherever they looked. When the Human-faced Peach Blossoms were blooming, their fragrance could be smelled from far, far away. Now, there was only the rotten stench of decay.

This was good news, of course. The dead Human-faced Peach Blossoms could not pose a threat against them. Still, the trio did not let down their guard and proceeded cautiously.

Suddenly, Skin Painting Gentleman pointed in a certain direction and declared, “There’s someone over there!”

Limp Celestial and Tiger Sovereign looked. They immediately saw six jianghu warriors lying on the ground ahead of them. They were all dead.

Limp Celestial disappeared and reappeared in front of the corpses. A quick examination later, he declared, “It... looks like they fought each other to the death.”

“I’m certain that is the case. You can tell just from the battle traces and their wounds,” Skin Painting Gentleman echoed in agreement.

“Doesn’t seem out of the ordinary. Everyone wants the treasure for themselves after all!” Tiger Sovereign shrugged and walked up to a dead woman. He then cut her chest open and ripped a bright red heart out of her chest cavity.

Limp Celestial frowned. “What are you doing, Tiger Sovereign?”

“I’m grabbing a snack, duh!” Tiger Sovereign licked the blood dripping out of the heart with an intoxicated expression. “It’s still fresh. It should taste pretty good.”

“They’re already dead. Must you desecrate their bodies as well?” Limp Celestial argued.

“Exactly! They’re already dead, and they’re going to waste away eventually. In that case, I might as well recycle some of their body parts!” Tiger Sovereign said before consuming the heart greedily. As he chewed, crimson blood streamed down the corners of his mouth and the gaps between his teeth. He looked terrifying to put it mildly.

“He’s right, you know. They’re already dead, so they wouldn’t care if we make good use of their shell!” Skin Painting Gentleman agreed with Tiger Sovereign’s logic.

Limp Celestial raised an eyebrow. “And what are you planning to do?”

“Didn’t you hear Tiger Sovereign? I’m going to recycle some of their body parts, of course!”

Skin Painting Gentleman chuckled as he lifted a slender finger from his sleeves. Countless invisible strings immediately flew out of his fingertip and sank into the corpses. As he twisted his wrist round and round, the corpses’ skins were stripped right off their flesh. Then, they slowly stood up as if they had a mind of their own.

After that, Skin Painting Gentleman waved his hand again and manipulated the strings to sew up the rips and tears on the skin. When the restoration process was complete, the skins looked almost exactly like a living person save for their stiff expression, movement, and near invisible tears on certain parts of the skin.

If Skin Painting Gentleman had enough time, he could’ve made it so that the skins looked exactly like a living human being. As it was, he had had to cut corners to create his skin puppets post-haste.

The “Art of Skin Painting” was a complex and intricate process. First, the practitioner must choose a suitable human skin. Any human skin was fine, but a living person’s skin made for the best material. It was because a living person’s skin was flexible, supple, and full of vitality. Besides that, the stronger the victim’s cultivation, the better the quality of their skin.

Next, the skin must be stripped perfectly. If there was even the slightest flaw in the skin, then the final quality of the skin puppet would be impacted.

The third step of the process was sewing. Again, it must be done perfectly.

The fourth step was the name of the martial art, skin painting. Both the living and the dead had their unique appearance, and skin painting was the art of transforming a dead person’s appearance into the living using the technique as the ink, and the spirit and intent as the brush.

The fifth and final step was imbuing the mind. The practitioner would detach a portion of their soul and inject it into the skin. This would transform it into a true puppet that was, on the surface, no different from a person.

The “Art of Skin Painting” was normally a long, difficult and complicated process, but Skin Painting Gentleman wasn’t trying to create perfect puppets out of these bodies. He just wanted to create a couple of fodders to scout the road ahead. Hence, he could afford to cut corners.

Tiger Sovereign clicked his tongue enviously. “Tsk tsk, your ‘Art of Skin Painting’ sure is convenient, sick boy. As long as you have the materials, you can fashion a bunch of puppets for your own use anytime, anywhere.”

“It’s just a heretical art. It does not deserve your praise,” said Skin Painting Gentleman humbly before commanding the six puppets to walk up the mountain. “Let’s continue on our way, shall we?”

The trio fell behind the puppets and continued their ascent up the mountain. Not long after, they encountered another two bodies.

“Huh? It’s the Bandit and the Whore!” Limp Celestial recognized their faces and exclaimed in surprise.

The Bandit and the Whore were a pair of somewhat famous villains in Northern Xinjiang. They were both Half-Step Spirit Masters. The man was a barefoot bandit who killed people, robbed caravans, plundered villages and more to enrich himself. The woman was a prostitute who especially enjoyed killing their customers in the middle of sex and robbing them afterward. Later, they were known together as the Bandit and the Whore.

“Do you know how they died?” Tiger Sovereign asked.

“I can’t see any clear marks on their body, but judging from their terrified expression...” Limp Celestial said slowly after inspecting the bodies, “I believe they were scared to death.”

“Scared to death?” Skin Painting Gentleman coughed twice before voicing his puzzlement. “The Bandit and the Whore aren’t exactly weaklings. What on earth could scare them to death?”

“I can’t say.” Limp Celestial shook his head.

After a brief discussion that led to nowhere, the trio abandoned their investigation and resumed their journey.

The Bandit and the Whore wouldn’t be the last bodies they found. Not even close. The higher they climbed, the bigger the number of bodies they found. The manner of death grew increasingly varied as well.

Some warriors had died killing each other, some had died out of sheer fright, some had gone crazy and killed themselves, some had died with a laugh permanently frozen on their face, and some had died out of sadness of all things.

Perhaps the most worrying discovery of them all was that some of the deceased were pretty powerful warriors. The trio recognized this and grew increasingly wary over time.

It was at this moment Peach Blossom Mountain shook once, and the black lotus appeared in the sky once more, radiating dreamy, phantasmal light in every direction.

Skin Painting Gentleman, Limp Celestial and Tiger Sovereign subconsciously looked up, and their eyes lost their focus just like that.

No one moved a single muscle.