Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 344 Generosity and Kindness
Xu Pianpian found the water in the Heavenly Pool strange. When she first entered the water, nothing seemed amiss, except that it was very cold. But after swimming deeper into the pool while chasing the little demon, the water gradually became heavier.

However, this kind of thing is very common in the Eastern Continent—lakes and rivers are all the training grounds of various demon kings, and they are bound to be sealed with restrictions. She was only thinking about catching up with the crocodile demon, and for a moment she put all other thoughts to the back of her mind.

It grew darker and darker in the depths, but she could still clearly see only the small figure of the crocodile demon. But after diving a little deeper, she discovered something else on the seabed—

At the bottom of the great lake, it looked like there was a small town. At first, she thought it was built on a mountaintop that had sunk into the lake due to flooding. But when she swam closer, she realized something was wrong; it really was a small town, and it didn't appear small because it was far away.

The city was about the size of a room, complete with city walls, gates, barbicans, and houses. However, it looked like a toy made by a child; the city walls weren't square, but round, and inside there were only a dozen or so crooked little houses.

That's not the strangest thing. What's strange is that there seem to be people in the city! People the size of a thumb are walking around in the city, as if they had always lived there.

The crocodile demon fled straight into the small town, shrinking smaller as she got closer. By the time she reached the town gate, she was only the size of a thumb. She seemed to say something to the little guards, and a series of bubbles came out of her mouth. Then the town gate opened. The crocodile demon slipped inside and ran into a small house in the town.

This must be the little demon's lair! She hadn't expected the little thing to create such a wonderful place underwater; those little people must all be transformed little demons—Xu Pianpian was overjoyed at this thought. Because in the Eastern Continent, she didn't yet have her own dojo and could only stay in Xu Zhen's dojo.

Xu Zhen's place has so many rules and regulations, it's so annoying. She's long envied those demon kings who can make their own decisions. Yesterday, she even told the crocodile demon that if she ever had her own dojo and became the city lord, she'd have the crocodile demon guard her gate.

Although this underwater town is small, it has so many little things inside. In the few days she stays in Dapan Mountain, she can become the town's lord!
She immediately chased after it into the city, but the closer she got, the more resistance she felt—it felt like someone trying to crawl through a cave, which was getting narrower and narrower until her body was stuck. This resistance was neither visible nor tangible; it was more like some kind of supernatural restriction.

Xu Pianpian struggled hard, trying to free herself from what was holding her. But with just that one effort, the city walls and houses within the small town began to shake, and the little figures inside ran around in a panic, babbling incoherently.

She knew that this restriction was part of the small town—if it were broken, the town might be destroyed.

She dared not exert any more force, so she could only submit to the restriction, letting her body be gradually suppressed and shrunk by this power, and thus the city grew larger and larger in her field of vision.

Xu Pianpian found it extremely interesting—she shrank, and the fish in the water grew bigger. She even saw some strange-looking things that she had never seen before swoop past her, which must be the things that fish usually ate in the water.

When she reached the city wall, she saw that it gleamed coldly, as if cast from iron. The bricks on the wall were also strange; they weren't long and narrow, but diamond-shaped. Two small figures, fully armored and wearing helmets, stood on the wall and asked her, "Who goes there?"

Xu Pianpian took a closer look and found that the two little creatures were truly comical. Their round faces had no noses, only a pair of eyes, a pair of eyebrows, and a mouth. These features looked as if they had been drawn randomly, crooked and crooked, and they became even more ridiculous when they spoke.

She found it incredibly amusing and said, "I'm Xu Pianpian, who are you?"

But the two little figures didn't answer her question; instead, they asked again, "Who goes there?"

Hearing the two little creatures' tone was exactly the same as last time, Xu Pianpian knew they were some kind of dim-witted, unintelligent little devils. She liked to play, but not with dim-witted creatures, so she jumped onto the city wall.

The two little city guards panicked, unable to speak human language, and tried to run away by making incoherent noises. Xu Pianpian punched them one by one, flattening them both—but instead of turning them into blood and flesh, they became two small river crabs with broken shells.

It turns out it was full of these little demons!

Xu Pianpian jumped off the city wall and landed on the street. The little people on the street were so frightened when they saw her that they ran around screaming. Xu Pianpian found their screaming annoying, so she walked and fought them. As a result, she beat up a bunch of broken crab shells, flattened shrimp, and small fish that had turned into minced meat.

The little girl shouted and yelled, and the crocodile demon in the city finally appeared—she crawled out of the house closest to the opposite city wall, jumped onto the city wall, and stood there looking at her: "Hey! Why did you kill them? Hey! Hey!"

Xu Pianpian was delighted to see the crocodile demon. Standing on the short street, she waved to him: "Come down! Did you create this place? It's really nice!"

The crocodile demon ignored her and asked again, "You knew I was the one who caused this, so why did you kill them?"

Xu Pianpian was taken aback: "Don't you usually eat their food? Don't be so stingy, I'll just buy you something even more fun, okay? You see—"

She reached up and grabbed a bead from the necklace. The bead had a twisted, pained expression. After being pulled off by Xu Pianpian, it seemed to swell in water, immediately transforming into a dense black shadow, which then turned into dozens of bluish-green spirits. As soon as these spirits dispersed, they screamed and ran east and west across the city, as if trying to escape. But as soon as they moved more than ten paces away from Xu Pianpian, they were suddenly pulled back by some force, unable to break free.

The screams and wails of these spirits were far louder than those of the babbling little people in the city before. Xu Pianpian asked smugly, "Look, aren't mine much more interesting than yours? Do you want some?"

The crocodile demon stood atop the city wall and sighed, "Alas! Alas!"

Why are you sighing? You're so boring—

"Alas! Li Wuxiang is right! You really are no good!"

Xu Pianpian was stunned: "Li Wuxiang? You're talking nonsense, Li Wuxiang just now—"

Something's not right, Li Wuxiang?! Xu Pianpian's heart skipped a beat, and she felt a sense of impending danger creeping into her mind. But it was as if a thick film of oil covered her brain, suppressing these thoughts beneath it. It was a strange feeling—she told herself that something might be wrong with Li Wuxiang, but the goodwill she had developed for him over the past few days was forcefully pushing these thoughts down, until—

The crocodile demon suddenly leaped off the city wall and submerged back into the water. She seemed to be fleeing in panic, running very fast. The farther she got from the small town, the larger her body became, until finally, in the water, she appeared to be a giant.

Xu Pianpian stopped thinking about it. Instinct made her think of a simple thing—go!
But it was too late. The entire city suddenly shook and rose upwards. Only then did Xu Pianpian realize that the small houses in the city were not houses at all, but pieces of food scraps, made up of huge grains of rice, vegetable leaves, and fish bones.

And the wall surrounding her wasn't a wall at all, but a ring of thin iron wire... She had never seen such a thing before and didn't know what it was, but a quick search of Hu Wei's memory revealed the answer—

Crab cage!

This isn't a small town, it's a crab trap! And she's trapped in that crab trap!
The entire crab trap was being lifted upwards. Xu Pianpian already knew what was happening; she had fallen into a trap, lured by that damned little demon! At this moment, she wouldn't think about where or when she had been exposed—she never regretted what had already happened. All she could think about was smashing this thing and killing it all! Killing them all!
She screamed angrily, channeling her demonic power, and her body swelled—

But the crab trap remained completely unmoved!

It's like someone trying to squeeze into a crack in a rock. When they're outside, their demonic power is like a shovel and a pickaxe, easily chiseling open the hole. But once inside—as if the surrounding restrictions were slowly shrinking them, it's as if their entire body and limbs are tightly clamped by the crack, making it impossible to wield a shovel or a pickaxe!
She struggled angrily three times, each time with greater force. But the crab trap seemed to be a magic weapon, only expanding outwards by a size—Xu Pianpian's body grew larger, filling the entire trap. The wires on the trap tightly bound her, squeezing her into a ball, causing her flesh to bulge out from the mesh.

Her body was contorted, her face pressed against the wire mesh. The crab trap was too small, and she was too big, so as the trap was pulled out of the water, chunks of diamond-shaped flesh fell off piece by piece. One of her eyeballs was constricted, with only a thin nerve connecting it, dangling out. Her other eye was held in place by a wire, and as soon as it emerged from the water, it burst open with a snap.

She screamed in pain, but with her remaining eye, she saw the scene by the lake—

There were three people standing by the lake: Li Wuxiang, Xie Qi, and another person I didn't recognize.

Now, the man she didn't recognize was raising one hand and suspending the crab trap in mid-air. As he did so, he said to Li Wuxiang beside him, "Divine Lord, look, I'm really going to use my skills, even my best moves. Now you believe me, right? I really don't know what that crazy woman Tong Ling is up to!"

Li Wuxiang ignored Li Yin and looked at Xu Pianpian, who was trapped in the magic artifact.

She looked terrible... no, she was beyond recognition, just a bloody, gooey lump of flesh.

She must be using her remaining eyeball to see—although there are only faint traces of connection left, she can still lift the eyeball like a muscle and turn it toward the three people.

"Li Wuxiang! Li Wuxiang! Let me go!"

Xu Pianpian's voice sounded strange at this moment—it sounded like she was very angry, but not so angry, and it was mixed with a little bit of grievance and expectation.

"You audacious vixen! You—" Li Yin shouted, pointing a finger, but Li Wuxiang raised his hand to stop him. Then, looking at Xu Pianpian, he asked, "What's your real name?"

"Xu Pianpian!"

"That's satisfying." Li Wuxiang nodded. "Did you eat Hu Wei and impersonate her?"

"So what if I am? I—"

"You're not human, you're a demon, you're an old man, aren't you?"

"You already know, why are you still asking! Li Wuxiang, just let me go!"

Li Wuxiang smiled and said, "Oh? Why should I let you go?"

"I won't kill you! I only came to kill Xue Baoping, Xie Qi, and Li Jianbai! I won't kill you!"

Li Yin and Xie Qi couldn't help but sneer. Li Yin said, "Divine Lord, this demon is truly inhuman. What nonsense is it spouting!"

He then cursed at Xu Pianpian, "You stupid demon, you damned thing! You wanted to kill the people around the God-King, how could I let you live?!"

"Shut up!" Xu Pianpian suddenly shouted in the cage. Her voice was still full of energy, and when she shouted, it was extremely clear, as if it came from her body, and immediately soared into the sky, then exploded with a thunderous sound in mid-air.

A small, eerie wind suddenly arose around Tianchi after she shouted that. Though small, the wind felt like a knife scraping bones. Li Yin and Xie Qi felt a chill seep into their bones as soon as the wind blew, their legs went weak and their hands trembled, and they almost caused the crab cage to fall back into the water.

"Li Wuxiang, I already said I wouldn't kill you! I should have killed them these past few days, but I didn't because I like you! Now that you've captured me, I'm not even angry anymore, and you still won't let me go!"

Li Yin and Xie Qi exchanged glances. Li Wuxiang then asked, "So what now? If I release you, will you still kill them in a few days?"

"Of course I want to! But don't be afraid. If you don't cause trouble for Xu Zhen, I'll have him take you back to the Eastern Continent with us. You can find any kind of person you want there. If I don't have them, Xu Zhen will. There are several who are even more... more... more fun than Xue Baoping, Xie Qi, and Li Jianbai. You can have as many as you want. Xu Zhen will definitely like you too! Anyway, you're quite likable!"

Xie Qi sighed and shook his head: "Divine Lord, demonic nature is hard to eradicate."

Li Wuxiang asked, "Who is Xu Zhen?"

“He’s my brother, he’s in charge!” Xu Pianpian’s voice became cheerful. “He can even be in charge of Qingpu Mountain! All the people from the Six Departments of the Mysterious Sect here are afraid of him! Oh, I’m talking about Wu… Wu…”

"Five Mountains True Form Sect?"

"Yes! That's right! Hey, hurry up! It hurts so much!"

Li Wuxiang turned to look at Li Yin: "Do it. Preserve the soul."

Li Yin, who had just been hurling insults while pretending to be invincible, hesitated now: "My Lord, why don't we listen to what she has to say? That Xu Zhen sounds a bit... isn't he the Demon King of the Eastern Continent? From what I've heard, he's said to be on Qingpu Mountain?"

Xu Pianpian's eyes widened instantly, as if she had suddenly opened her eyes wide and stared straight at Li Wuxiang: "What did you say?! You want to kill me?!"

(End of this chapter)