Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 338 Wuwuwuwuwu

The thought arose as the sun rose higher. Sunlight streamed over the lush forests surrounding the alchemy room, instantly spilling into the courtyard. The thin mist in the courtyard seemed to vanish in an instant, as did the mist in Li Wuxiang's mind.

Just moments before, he had thought Hu Wei was quite pleasing to the eye. But now, looking at her again, it was as if the soft glow that had enveloped her had vanished. Li Wuxiang realized that Hu Wei's appearance was actually quite ordinary, even a little too ordinary.

She was extremely thin, and although her skin was white, it was more like the paleness of someone suffering from malnutrition. Perhaps due to improper cultivation methods, there were light brown spots on her exposed skin, and her hair was dry and yellowish, making her look more like a young girl.

An alarm bell rang in his mind, and Li Wuxiang felt a slight chill, as if he had stepped out of a stuffy room, and his mind became clear as a result.

Anyone can have a momentary lapse of judgment, but a Nascent Soul cultivator practicing the Great Calamity Sword Scripture is an exception. The Great Calamity Sword Scripture involves numerous tribulations, so Li Wuxiang's vigilance has always been extremely high. Therefore, he absolutely shouldn't have any lapses of judgment, and he absolutely shouldn't have acted inexplicably against his will, as he did just now…

Weird!
He immediately withdrew his hand and smiled at Hu Wei: "Why are you so happy? It's not like it's anything special."

"Sigh, Lord, this is considered top-notch even on our mountain. I put a lot of thought into it."

Li Wuxiang ignored Xie Qi and stared at Hu Wei—after her fleeting smile faded, she said timidly, "Yes, I think it's excellent. Thank you, Master."

Li Wuxiang smelled it. He should have smelled it earlier, but for some reason he ignored it—Hu Wei's breath smelled of blood.

There was blood in her mouth and on her fingers. But there were no injuries on her hands, and her internal energy seemed to be circulating normally, so it didn't look like she was bleeding from anywhere inside her body.

Something's off about Hu Wei.

But this strange feeling made Li Wuxiang realize that what happened last night made a lot of sense—if Tong Xuzhen really sent an assassin, he shouldn't have sent a Qi Refining cultivator, nor should he have acted so quickly.

She carried Tong Ling back alone yesterday… This Hu Wei might not actually be Hu Wei. If there's anything in this world that can perfectly impersonate another person, Li Wuxiang currently knows of it: a corpse demon. It's not really impersonation; all it needs to be is a Foundation Establishment or Qi Refining corpse demon, and then devour Hu Wei herself.

She seemed to have the ability to make him lower his guard and develop an ambiguous fondness for her. None of the Thirty-Six Sects had such a method, and even if they did, it shouldn't affect his Great Tribulation Nascent Soul stage if it were used by someone like Hu Wei with Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Taking her down immediately shouldn't be difficult, but another thought prevented Li Wuxiang from acting immediately—

She'd been kept in the dark by this thing for a whole night; she really had some tricks up her sleeve. Now that she'd been captured, she wondered if Tong Xu would send anyone else. She couldn't figure out how this thing had captivated her; it was now a situation where she couldn't guard against it at all.

A more decisive approach would be to do as he suggested last night: go directly to Qingpu Mountain and ask Tong Xu why he sought death. However, he now realizes that his state yesterday was likely influenced by Hu Wei's supernatural powers and methods, hence his erratic behavior and thoughts—

Tong Xu is quite a smart person. She should have been able to foresee the outcome of her actions. Since she's not afraid, it means she has something to rely on—Bao Ping was absolutely right, there might be a trap on Qingpu Mountain, or someone Tong Xu thinks she can easily protect.

Li Wuxiang realized that his intelligence was finally truly online now.

He turned to Xie Qi and said, "Elder Xie, you're worried about the medicine. How about this? I looked at your disciples last night, and apart from Li Jianbai, well, they're not very satisfactory. Since you're worried about the medicine, why not keep the young girl by your side as a disciple? You're an old man, having a little girl to keep you company and amuse you would be a way to enjoy family life, and it would save her from running around and suffering."

Li Wuxiang found Xie Qi to be a decent person, but a bit stingy. He had managed to refine a Great Extinction Pill in just one night, which showed there were good things in the pill room, yet he had only offered him a bunch of Life-Sustaining Pills to appease him – truly speechless.

Sure enough, Xie Qi immediately replied upon hearing this, "Sure, great, girl, would you like to come here?"

Hu Wei looked at Li Wuxiang, then at Xie Qi, and said, "I will listen to the Master and the Elder."

Li Wuxiang waved his hand: "Then it's settled. Elder Xie, go and talk to her master. Hu Wei, tell Elder Xie what kind of cultivation techniques you used to practice and how you trained. I think you're acting a bit strange. Who is your master? Is he not very attentive? It would be good to ask Elder Xie—never mind, let me take a look at you first. Give me your hand."

If she were a ghoul, his investigation would immediately expose her. But to his surprise, Hu Wei obediently extended her hand.

Li Wuxiang took her pulse, channeled a wisp of true energy into her, and carefully examined her pulse. He was then somewhat surprised.

Hu Wei seemed genuinely Hu Wei; the cultivation technique circulating within her body was entirely from the Shangchi Sect, only she hadn't practiced it correctly. If she were a corpse demon, she wouldn't be like this… She wasn't a corpse demon; had she been turned?

Li Wuxiang hesitated for only a moment before summoning the starlight of the Great Calamity Star in his divine sense.

Yesterday, this young girl somehow managed to bewitch him. In return—he wasn't going to be outdone—he used his divine sense to seduce her, intending to plant a seed of lust in her heart.

This ordeal can excite and invigorate a person, amplifying many emotions. For an undercover agent, emotional fluctuations are the worst thing, as they make it easier to give themselves away. Using this to trick her is the perfect solution.

Then, in such a short time, Li Wuxiang was surprised for the second time.

It was strenuous. Not just a little strenuous, but extremely strenuous; to the point that he had to be incredibly careful to avoid alerting Hu Wei that he was trying to take advantage of her!

The higher one's cultivation level, the more difficult it is to plant a tribulation seed. But even for a Nascent Soul sect leader like Zheng Jingxi—who is considered a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator among the thirty-six sects—Li Wuxiang didn't find it difficult to plant the tribulation seed on him... What level is Hu Wei? Is she about the same as me? Only slightly weaker?

This doesn't make sense!
Once the True Immortal Body Dao Chapter reached the Nascent Soul stage, he was immediately stronger than the peak Nascent Soul cultivators of the Thirty-Six Sects. Above the True Immortal Body Dao Chapter was the Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture, and above the Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture was the Greater Tribulation Sword Scripture. Even if his Greater Tribulation Sword Scripture was only a beggar's version of the Nascent Soul, he should be able to teach the peak Nascent Soul cultivators of the Thirty-Six Sects a lesson like a grandfather disciplining his grandson. What kind of cultivation did Hu Wei cultivate?
A Nascent Soul cultivator from the Six Departments of the Mysterious Sect? And he can conceal his inner energy to this extent? Unheard of!

He immediately withdrew his hand, realizing that his move of planting the ko seed was a risky one, a really close call.

He carefully observed Hu Wei's expression to make sure she hadn't noticed before saying, "There are indeed some parts where you practiced incorrectly—Elder Xie, please take good care of me in the future."

Xie Qi said happily, "Of course! Of course! Girl, come with me!" Hu Wei acted normally, only bowing to Li Wuxiang to thank him before following him.

Li Wuxiang slowly walked into the east wing room, where Xue Baoping was dealing with the grilled fish that had just fallen on the ground—cleaning the fish, reheating the iron plate, brushing oil on both sides of the fish, and frying it again.

Li Wuxiang walked to the cutting board and prepared some side dishes for her, then said, "The fog has lifted. Let's go and eat it on the mountain; it'll be more rustic."

The two carried the iron plate out of the house and headed towards the small gate in the backyard. Xie Qi had already smelled the aroma and quickly asked, "Eating in the backyard?"

Since they didn't add "we," things are much easier—Li Wuxiang said, "No, let's go eat in the mountains."

The two went out through the back gate, and Xue Baoping said, "Elder Xie seems to have a rather greedy appetite."

Li Wuxiang smiled and followed her up the small hill until they found a secluded spot surrounded by fragrant grass—a place from which they could see the scene in the alchemy room courtyard. Xue Baoping found a rock, and Li Wuxiang placed the iron plate on it, then said, "That Hu Wei might not be Hu Wei."

"what?"

"What did you feel when you saw her? Did you find her quite likable? Now let me tell you this—she might have some kind of supernatural power that can captivate people. After hearing what I've said, think about her again, how do you feel?"

The advantage of mutual trust is that when it comes to matters like this, there's no need to waste time with pointless questions like "Really?" Xue Baoping frowned, looking down at the small courtyard at the foot of the mountain. She squinted, thought for a moment, and then her face showed a slight daze: "Now that you mention it, I do feel something's not right. Not that she's not right, but I'm the one who's wrong—yesterday, seeing her like that felt like seeing my own sister. But I've seen far more people in worse shape than her on the way here, and none of them made me feel this way."

Li Wuxiang nodded: "Let's go. Let's go to the place she mentioned and take a look."

Yesterday, he asked Hu Wei to write down the whole story in detail, and he still keeps that piece of paper. The location on the paper is recorded in great detail—they came by the riverside road along the Mohe River, and there are mountains on the other side of the river. The place Hu Wei mentioned is in those mountains, called "Flying Eagle's Edge".

The two easily crossed the river and found a slightly higher spot to look around. They then saw Flying Eagle's Edge—the mountainside Hu Wei had described had few trees, with large sections of exposed rock. At the top of the cliff, a triangular boulder protruded, resembling a soaring eagle. The sunlight shone directly on it, turning the already yellowish-white rock face into a shimmering golden glow, as if a golden eagle were perched there.

The two went up the cliff to take a look—this should be where the fight Hu Wei mentioned had taken place. There were indeed broken branches on the edge of the cliff, with clean cuts, looking like they had been cut off by swords.

Li Wuxiang asked, "What do you think?"

Xue Baoping thought for a moment: "They put them here on purpose. There aren't many trees here. Tong Ling was only at the Qi Refining stage and still had to jump off a cliff. The people who chased her were at least at the Qi Refining stage. If they were using swords, it means they found swords convenient. Since they were convenient, they wouldn't have cut down so many branches. That can only mean that their skills were too poor."

Li Wuxiang nodded: "I think so too. Let's go down and take a look."

He grabbed Xue Baoping by the waist and jumped onto the cliff face with her. The trees growing on the cliff face also had broken branches, but there was still blood on them. This time, without Li Wuxiang asking, Xue Baoping spoke up: "Tong Ling doesn't have this much blood on her. It looks more like someone was thrown from up there—she was already badly injured before she was thrown down, and she was still vomiting blood as she fell."

Li Wuxiang nodded: "The one who was left behind might be the real Hu Wei."

The two jumped down. Birds and beasts had disappeared for several months, so even with Li Wuxiang's keen sense of smell, he couldn't detect any other scents, only the rich fragrance of grass and trees, and an even stronger stench of blood.

He followed the scent to a spot, brushed aside the decaying leaves and pine cones, and discovered blood soaking into the soil. He reached into the ground and rummaged through it, finding some scattered bone fragments and bits of flesh, which he then silently showed to Xue Baoping, dabbed on his fingertips.

Xue Baoping's expression turned grave: "Did the one in the alchemy room eat the real Hu Wei? Is she a corpse demon or...?"

“A demon,” Li Wuxiang said. “The flow of her internal energy is no different from that of a human. I suspect she might be a powerful demon. I just cast a 'lust tribulation' on her, and it was very difficult for me to do so, which means her true cultivation level is not much weaker than mine.”

Xue Baoping was stunned for a moment: "No wonder Tong Xu dared to do those things yesterday, not afraid that you would go to her—there really is a trap on Qingpu Mountain?"

Li Wuxiang nodded: "Tong Xu has seen me fight, so she should know my level of skill. She's not stupid either; she won't rely solely on Hu Wei. I suspect there are other experts on Qingpu Mountain."

"What does Tong Xu want to do?"

“Yes.” Li Wuxiang leaned against a tree and thought for a moment. “What does she want to do? We should think about what we want to do—we want to help the Taiyi Sect subdue the Thirty-Six Sects, but Tong Xu doesn’t want me to succeed.”

Xue Baoping picked up where he left off: "There are two options. One is to kill you. But this option... either her experts might not be confident, or they might be worried about Senior Sister Mei."

“The second one is that you ruined things yourself. You almost went to Qingpu Mountain yesterday... Hu Wei... Hu Wei!” Xue Baoping’s eyes lit up. “Hu Wei will anger you and implicate the Shangchi Sect... me.”

Li Wuxiang nodded: "She might try to harm you. So what do you plan to do? Play along with them, or should I take her away?"

Xue Baoping's eyes lit up: "They think they can use me to blackmail you... Since Hu Wei in the alchemy room is not much weaker than you, she must be very important to them. Maybe we can use her to blackmail them? I'm not afraid. We'll find out about her, make preparations, and then capture her alive. I'll stay by your side for the next few days."

Li Wuxiang laughed: "Alright. Then let's play along with her and have some fun."

Xue Baoping smiled too—they quickly sorted things out and made a decision in a flash; few people in the world could achieve such tacit understanding. Therefore, this smile could be considered a knowing smile.

But one voice shattered this beautiful atmosphere—

"Stop arguing...stop arguing...it hurts so much...waaaaaah..."

(End of this chapter)