Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 337 Hakimi Kimi

Xu Pianpian was very satisfied with her new identity as Hu Wei, and this satisfaction began early the next morning.

She ate Hu Wei, thus gaining all her memories and habits, and learned that the disciples of the Shangchi Sect ate in the dining hall early in the morning. She disliked the food of the Central Plains, but knew that there weren't many disciples like her in the Shangchi Sect who were still at the Foundation Establishment stage, probably only about two hundred. Dapan Mountain was very large and divided into nine branches, and her branch only had sixteen Foundation Establishment disciples.

These sixteen people don't all eat at the canteen every day. Some are fasting, and some are busy, so she estimates that no more than seven people went to the canteen this morning.

So she had to go. She had been exhausted all night and had just returned to the mountain, so according to human habits, she would definitely be hungry this morning.

When she came back last night, almost everyone avoided her. This morning, everyone became much more enthusiastic. On her way to the cafeteria, she encountered eleven people who greeted her, and she had to respond to each one. While responding, she also had to think about who each person was. It was really tiring and annoying.

When she arrived at the canteen, she found that the food was sweet potato porridge and salted dried fish. The porridge tasted completely bland, like drinking mud. The dried fish was also unpleasant, smelly and hard. Xu Pianpian forced herself to finish the whole serving and then quickly ran away.

Then, something that pleased her happened.

It takes about 15 minutes to walk from the dining hall to the alchemy room, through a grove of trees. As she walked along the path in the woods, she suddenly smelled a human fragrance.

The people smelled wonderful. They had little hair and tender skin, and because they always ate salt, they had become quite flavorful. Moreover, the people on Dapan Mountain practiced cultivation, so their bodies were filled with spiritual energy, which made their fragrance very strong. Xu Pianpian could smell it from a mile away.

She could smell someone ahead. It was likely a disciple of the Shangchi Sect, also at the Foundation Establishment stage.

While on Qingpu Mountain, she couldn't indulge in her cravings because Tong Xu was difficult to talk to, and Xu Zhen was always nagging. But now, on Dapan Mountain, Xu Pianpian felt like she'd fallen into a honey pot. Surrounded by so many people, just the smell of food made her feel incredibly happy. Actually, last night, while carrying Tong Ling up the mountain, she couldn't help but ask, "Tong Ling, you're going to die on the mountain anyway, so why don't I bite you? That way you'll look even more pitiful."

But Tong Ling refused, saying that if she bit him, Li Wuxiang would be able to tell it was a human bite. Xu Pianpian said, "Then what if I bite him with my sharp teeth?" Tong Ling replied that there were no wild animals left in the nearby mountains, and that would also seem suspicious. Xu Pianpian then asked if she could use a knife to cut off a piece, which would at least be plausible. Tong Ling said, "If you keep asking me like this, I'll go back and report to the sect leader and Immortal Xu that you're incapable of achieving great things." Xu Pianpian had no choice but to stop asking.

Xu Zhen had cast a spell on her, a spell she had only been subjected to twice before, both times because she had angered Xu Zhen too much. Compared to that spell, she was still willing to endure it.

But it seems possible now. There's no one else here, and it's quite far from the alchemy room—

Xu Pianpian immediately took a quick step forward and saw the person in front of her. He was a tall, thin young man. She thought for a moment and realized that his name was Tang Zhong, and he was also from her lineage, so he was her junior brother.

Tang Zhong was walking down a slope. The road used to be paved with flagstones, but over the years, the flagstones were broken and crooked, making it very uneven. There had been a light rain last night, and the exposed soil was damp, with moss growing in some places, making the road even more slippery.

Xu Pianpian quietly walked five or six steps behind him and picked up a small pebble. Seeing Tang Zhong cautiously walk to the middle of the downhill path, she immediately threw the pebble at him.

She wasn't hitting Tang Zhong, but rather the loose stones beneath his feet. Her strength was perfectly controlled; one stone slipped, causing a small section to slide as well. Tang Zhong cried out in surprise and tumbled down the slope. Xu Pianpian rushed over, saying, "Junior Brother Tang!"

— She grabbed his arm.

Tang Zhong was grabbed tightly by her and then pulled up—his arm was scratched with deep bloodstains.

The downhill path was bordered by a cliff. Tang Zhong was still in shock after standing up. He stared blankly at the cliff, panting heavily, seemingly oblivious to the pain and speechless.

Xu Pianpian immediately jumped down the slope and continued walking forward—only after taking five or six steps did she hear Tang Zhong behind her, as if waking from a dream, say, "Thank you so much, Senior Sister, you—"

Xu Pianpian quickened her pace, turned into a grove of trees, and disappeared inside. After a short while, seeing Tang Zhong hurriedly walking past, clutching his arm, Xu Pianpian returned to the road.

Her hands were covered in blood, with flesh under her fingernails. She licked the blood off one by one, biting at the flesh with her front teeth to satisfy her craving, and slowly made her way to the alchemy room. By the time she had licked her hands clean, she had arrived at the alchemy room.

……

As she stepped into the courtyard of the alchemy room, Xu Pianpian hesitated slightly. She was a little afraid.

This fear wasn't because Li Wuxiang's cultivation was high—he was nothing in front of Xu Zhen. Actually, she was afraid of Xu Zhen, and she felt that Li Wuxiang and Xu Zhen looked very similar. They resembled each other somewhat in appearance, temperament, and even methods. Therefore, she transferred her fear of Xu Zhen onto Li Wuxiang.

She stopped in front of the courtyard gate and breathed into her palm. There was a faint smell of blood, just a tiny bit. If it was only a faint smell, Li Wuxiang probably wouldn't have been able to detect it. Xu Zhen had told her to take things slowly and not to rush. So she hadn't come to see Li Wuxiang today, but to see Xue Baoping. She, Xu Zhen, and Tong Xu all felt that gaining Xue Baoping's trust would be easier than gaining Li Wuxiang's.

The door was ajar, and she pushed it open and went inside.

The sun had already risen, but a thin layer of mist still lingered over the mountains, forests, and courtyard, giving the people and things in the courtyard a faint glow.

Xu Pianpian first saw Xue Baoping—she came out of a side room next to the west wing of the alchemy room. That side room should be a kitchen. She was carrying something in her hands—it looked like an iron plate or a stone plate, with a wooden board underneath. On it was a roasted fish, laid flat, with some vegetables on it.

The iron or stone plate must have been very hot, the fish sizzling on it. Xue Baoping carried it out carefully, almost stretching her arms out. Xu Pianpian didn't know why she was like that, but if she used Hu Wei's brain, she would understand—she was afraid of the oil splattering everywhere and getting it on her clothes.

She was looking at the threshold when she went out, so her arm and the thing she was carrying went out first. Just then, Xu Pianpian saw Li Wuxiang turn from the side room—he didn't see a plate suddenly sticking out of the doorway, and Xue Baoping didn't see someone suddenly turning the corner either—the plate and the grilled fish on it hit Li Wuxiang's chest, staining a large area of ​​his clothes, and then fell to the ground with a thud.

Xu Pianpian's body tensed up instantly. A chill ran from her heels to the top of her head, and her entire back went slightly numb.

Because she knew what was about to happen. Although it wasn't happening to her directly, countless past memories suddenly welled up from the depths of her heart, stirring up reactions and fear. Then she saw—Li Wuxiang reach out and steady Xue Baoping. The iron plate that had fallen to the ground bounced, and Li Wuxiang immediately kicked it away, preventing it from hitting Xue Baoping, and then asked, "Are you burned?"

The chill emanating from Xu Pianpian seemed to freeze. It neither deepened nor subsided. Because she couldn't understand why Li Wuxiang was reacting this way—completely contrary to her expectations!

The next moment she saw Xue Baoping frown.

A thought popped into Xu Pianpian's mind—she was scared.

But she heard Xue Baoping say, "Oh dear, why aren't you keeping an eye on things?"

Now that the chill had subsided and been replaced by utter confusion, Xu Pianpian still couldn't figure out why the two of them had reacted so strangely. She even stood at the door for a while before remembering to look for answers in Hu Wei's memories, but she didn't find them—she realized that Hu Wei's reaction and feelings when she saw this were almost identical to her own.

For example, when she was assigned by her two senior brothers to return to the sect for questioning a few days ago, she had a similar feeling—she felt panicked and thought about having to cross the mountains alone and walk a long way in the dark. However, her fear of her two senior brothers made her afraid to speak, and she could only bite the bullet and set off.

Xu Pianpian realized she was wrong. The relationship between Xue Baoping and Li Wuxiang was different from her relationship with Xu Zhen... no, it seemed like they had nothing in common.

After arriving in the Central Continent, she ate many people, but she couldn't possess all their memories. Each time she ate a new one, the old ones disappeared. Yet, she still learned a great deal from the memories and emotions of each person. Even if she hadn't eaten Hu Wei this time, she could have made herself appear like a Central Continent person—as long as she didn't spend too much time with others.

But among so many people, she never found this kind of relationship in their memories. There were some similar ones, but they were all too different!

The thin mist in the courtyard hadn't dissipated yet, and Xu Pianpian felt as if her mind was shrouded in a layer of fog as well. So she stood there in a daze until Li Wuxiang finished talking to Xue Baoping and picked up the grilled fish and the iron plate again. Only then did she hesitantly take two steps forward and say with great unease, "Master Li, I'm here."

Li Wuxiang, holding the iron plate in his hand, smiled at her and said, "Oh, find a place to sit down and wait for me."

Hu Wei didn't dare sit down, watching Li Wuxiang and Xue Baoping enter the side room. After a while, Li Wuxiang came out, shaking the water off his hands as he turned to the main hall and called out, "Elder Xie, are you done on your end?"

Xie Qi came out upon hearing the sound, holding a small purple brocade box in his hand: "Alright, alright."

Li Wuxiang beckoned to Hu Wei: "Junior Sister, come here."

The sense of satisfaction and ease she felt on the road was gone, and Hu Wei walked over cautiously. Li Wuxiang took the brocade box from Xie Qi and said to her, "I've been thinking about it. Actually, everything else is just material possessions, but this is more useful to you. How old are you this year?"

This one doesn't need to be found now; this is the one I remembered from the very beginning—"Eighteen years old."

"Shouldn't someone this age be practicing Qi cultivation?" Li Wuxiang turned to Xie Qi and asked.

Xie Qi was taken aback by his question—Huh? Normally speaking? What's normal about it? He could only say, "Huh? Oh..."

"So this is more useful to you. I had Elder Xie refine it overnight. It can't replenish your spiritual energy, but it can improve your aptitude." Li Wuxiang handed her the brocade box. "Take it with wine, it's very convenient. You don't need to go out for a few days after taking it, the medicinal effect will take ten days to dissipate. Don't worry about things over there, Elder Xie will send someone else to talk to them. Just stay on the mountain, in a while your Elder Xie will become the sect leader, it'll be quite lively."

Xu Pianpian actually understood the logic. She just wasn't very familiar with the lifestyle and customs of people from the Central Plains; she wasn't stupid. So she knew what was going on—

The man before him, Li Wuxiang, had frightened Hu Wei yesterday. Because Hu Wei had done a good deed by carrying someone up the mountain, he wanted to make it up to her. This was the same in the Eastern Continent.

Then, she came to this alchemy room today, and Li Wuxiang kept his word and gave her the compensation he promised yesterday. This is still the same in the Eastern Continent; at least Xu Zhen did just that.

Next was the small brocade box in front of her. Xu Pianpian smelled it, then searched through Hu Wei's memories, recognizing it as a "Great Rejuvenation Pill." This kind of thing could indeed improve one's aptitude, but Hu Wei had only heard of it before, never seen it—she had never seen any fellow disciple below the Golden Core cultivation level take it. To Hu Wei, this Great Rejuvenation Pill was incredibly precious.

So, the two reasons she could understand, combined with the Great Rejuvenation Pill, were something Xu Pianpian couldn't understand—why did he give this thing to her?
She stood there stunned again, unsure whether it was Li Wuxiang's lifestyle that was problematic, or whether her own behavior yesterday had been the issue.

Seeing her in a daze, Li Wuxiang suddenly thought of Xue Baoping again. Xue Baoping had been resolute when saving him, while Hu Wei was now acting very timid. Actually, these two seemingly contradictory behaviors were the same thing—Xue Baoping had nothing left to lose, while Hu Wei probably rarely felt this kind of kindness. Both girls were quite pitiful.

Hu Wei has a very pleasing appearance. She is not tall, but thin and fair-skinned. She doesn't look like she is eighteen years old, but rather like she is thirteen or fourteen.

Li Wuxiang couldn't help but sigh inwardly, handed the box to her, gently patted her head, and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

He regretted it immediately after making the gesture. He felt that perhaps spending so much time with Xue Baoping these days had softened his heart. In short, he had made the gesture inexplicably, illogically, and like teasing a child.

But the next moment, he saw Hu Wei smile, or rather, make a smile-like expression—her eyes narrowed slightly, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, and her teeth were revealed.

This smile-like expression vanished in an instant, but in that very moment, a thought flashed through Li Wuxiang's mind—

This is not a laugh.

It's more like it's baring its teeth—a feline, startled, hissing and baring its teeth.

(End of this chapter)