Wet viviparity

Chapter 931 Human Skin, A Foreboding Feeling
"Little Saint!"

Inside the Peeling Pavilion, Da Qinggu's skin-and-bones face showed no intense hatred, or perhaps she was trying her best to hide it; in any case, her expression was extremely complex.

Ji Ming noticed her rosy crown. This magical treasure, the Golden Vault Shade Crown, was forged by Da Qing Gu. Although it couldn't compare to his Yuan Pi Ruyi, it was still among the top-tier magical treasures in the mortal realm, and should not be underestimated.

"Little Saint, I am waiting here for you. I have a request to make."

Ji Ming stood beside the Blood River and asked, "Is it about your sister or your master?"

In the deep-set eye sockets of Da Qing Gu, two seemingly detached eyeballs moved strangely. "Little Saint is indeed a brilliant strategist. My sister, under my care, had already severed her worldly ties and was living in seclusion on the hill at the far end of the East Sea, not concerning herself with worldly affairs."

Who would have thought that not long ago, while cultivating profound magic and subduing the demons in the underworld, she was provoked by someone's words, which stirred up her beloved's tragic feelings. In her depression, she committed suicide at the Hill of Earth, and now her soul is in the Hill of Ten Woods.

Later, I rushed to the Cuihuan Palace on Mount Wuli and asked the Daoist nun Tianwa to calculate the cause of my death. Only then did I learn that my younger sister had been persuaded by a dog-spirit official in Evil Dog Ridge to disrupt your funeral rites at Shimu Hill after her death, in order to avenge the murder of her husband.

Needless to say, the dog-spirit official of Evil Dog Ridge must have been sent by Zen Master Caihu.

Moreover, this was clearly not a spur-of-the-moment decision; it's likely that Zen Master Caihu had planned this all along, or had a pre-arranged plan. Furthermore, the fact that Xiaoqinggu was so easily persuaded, just to ruin his test, shows that she had long been determined to die.

Thinking about it this way, it's unlikely that the three sinners in the trial of salvation were all vengeful spirits with whom he had deep hatred. That doesn't make sense either, given his past fighting style. It would be extremely difficult for him to find a mortal enemy who could be transformed into a vengeful spirit after death.

"Rat Four!"

Ji Ming suddenly thought of his old subordinate and quickly made a calculation in secret. He found that the rat's fourth reincarnation body was still safe and sound, and he was relieved.

"How do you want me to release her?"

Ji Ming asked a question first, then said, "Given your sister's hostility towards me, she will probably fight me to the death. Even if you, her own sister, step in, it won't be enough to quell her hatred. In this situation, unless I admit defeat, there is no solution."

"There's a way. If we can get her husband to reappear, we can make her temporarily give up her deep hatred," Daqinggu said urgently.

Ji Ming was silent for a moment, then said to Da Qing Gu, "I don't mind helping you, but you must know that few people under my command can remain intact after death, and that Black Owl is no exception."

"I see."

Daqinggu said to Ji Ming, "I have come here only to ask for one thing—Jiang Heixiao's skin."

Ji Ming stretched out his palm and pulled in the air, pulling out a piece of human skin. The "Emperor's Incense Chariot Mantra Diagram" left by Zen Master Caihu on this skin had long since disappeared and was of no value to Ji Ming.

The skin floated down from the Blood River into the pavilion. Da Qing Gu took the skin and was surprised that Ling Xu Zi was so easy to talk to. Could it be that because of the huge difference in their status, the other party had long since disdained to take an enemy like her seriously?

Before Daqinggu could think too deeply, she hurriedly cast a spell, pulling out streaks of blood from the river and stuffing them into her skin.

Before long, the skin came to life, as if it had come alive. A fierce aura arose on it, and vivid expressions appeared on the skin with its eye holes and mouth holes.

"You killed members of the Jiang family?!" Ji Ming knew that Da Qing Gu's magic could only bring dead skin back to life by extracting the flesh and soul of members of the Jiang family, making them seem as if they were still alive. Without a doubt, those blood shadows were created from members of the Jiang family.

"madman."

Tu and Lei said from the side.

Even those two ghost kings wouldn't dare to touch the Ji, Jiang, Zhao, and Zheng families of the True Spirit Sect. For Da Qing Gu to do this is tantamount to cutting herself off from the world, and she will definitely have nowhere to go in the future.

When the blood shadow was exhausted and the human skin was completely revitalized, Da Qinggu patted her rosy crown and summoned a faceless, holeless, formless, and indistinct deity. This deity burrowed into the human skin, instantly stretching the light, flimsy skin to reveal a strong, ugly man standing in place. "Does he look like him?"

Da Qinggu asked Ji Ming, "I haven't seen Hei Xiao for a long time. Xiao Qinggu used to be wary of me contacting Hei Xiao. You are the last person to meet him, so you must have some understanding of his demeanor."

"It doesn't look like it!"

Ji Ming said it simply.

"In my opinion, this is a poor strategy. No matter who puts on this skin, they cannot truly play the role of Jiang Heixiao, so no matter how similar they are, it is useless."

The best way is to stand at a distance, remain still and silent, and only let your sister glance at it from afar. Once you've lured her away from Ten-Wood Hill, immediately put the skin away.

Daqinggu nodded, wanting to say something to express her gratitude, but the words caught in her throat and before she could speak, she saw Lingxuzi and the two gods had already left and continued walking forward.

“Brother Xiao Sheng, this isn’t like you,” Lei said from the side.

Tu winked and said, "We two brothers have been keeping an eye on Peach Blossom Fairy for you. We've put in a lot of good words for you and send you fruits and flowers every now and then in your name. We guarantee that when you go to the thatched hut again, you'll feel a big difference. This Qing Gu is so skinny, what kind of taste can she have?"

“The fairy will not see through your tricks. Don’t make things worse and cause me to suffer.” Ji Ming did not believe that these two gods could help him succeed. He added, “Immortals are focused on cultivation and have renounced worldly affairs. She and I are just fellow seekers of the Dao.”

As they traversed mountains of knives and hills of fire, the howling fire winds in the sky grew increasingly fierce. Wild ghosts huddled in caves, and evil spirits fled to the depths of the ravines. Occasionally, a few ghosts would be swept away by the fire winds, desperately spewing out black mist to protect themselves, only to perish in the winds shortly afterward.

Unbeknownst to them, they had already arrived at the scorching hell along the path.

In Ji Ming's eyes, apart from being a bit hot and occasionally having towering curtains of fire erupting from cracks in the ground, this place was no different from the way they had come; it remained desolate.

Of course, the difference was that "people" started to greet him enthusiastically from a distance. For example, a tall and strong ghostly figure, as tall as a mountain bear, stood in the distance, raised its arms and waved, calling to him in a voice as thin as a mosquito's buzz. Before Ji Ming could even feel the bewitching magic cast by this ghost, he was scared away by the two gods.

Here, Ji Ming and the two gods began to talk about serious matters, about sensing the lingering chaotic energy at the edge of the Avici Hell.

“To sense the lingering breath, we need to bribe the Iron Plow Rakshasa God who patrols outside the Avici Hell. Only he knows where the lingering breath remains at the edge,” Lei said.

Tu said worriedly from the side, "That Iron Plow Rakshasa God is said to be insatiable. Once you ask him for something, he will pester you day and night until he drains you dry, like skinning you alive."

"Haha, I'm not afraid of him pestering me, I'm just afraid he won't dare to pester me."

Ji Ming chuckled.

He had barely finished speaking when Pupil God had already calculated the second sinner among the Ten Wood Hills—Midnight Warrior.

Upon careful consideration, Ji Ming realized that this person had not actually died at the hands of others, but rather had died naturally after being possessed by Hong Gu during a magical battle in Daci Village, Tianteng Mountain. Unexpectedly, her spirit was found and sent to Shimu Hill. Zen Master Caihu had truly gone to great lengths.

Ji Ming felt an increasingly ominous premonition about the third sinner at the foot of the Ten Wood Hill.

"Could it be my master?!"

Ji Ming said with a gloomy expression.

If that's the case, then the Zen master should really fight him to the death.

(End of this chapter)