Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 391 Murder
"Huh?!" Zhao Qi jumped up abruptly. "Why didn't you say so sooner?! No, if you knew, why didn't you help? What happened? Who did it?!"

“I didn’t have time. My spirit was watching over you when the accident happened, but it was too late. As for why I didn’t say anything sooner, it would have been useless anyway, I don’t know who did it. Zhang Jingzhong’s body is in that pine forest now, no one has found it yet, go and take a look.”

Zhao Qi immediately took two steps forward, but then stopped and turned back: "Aren't you coming with me?"

Li Wuxiang pointed to the large lake in front of him: "I still need to figure out how to incorporate this lake into the Wanhua Fang. This matter cannot be delayed. Although the Daoist temple is in the Wanhua Fang, we still need to find a place to settle down. With so many people, not to mention food, we need someone to provide all kinds of daily necessities. So in addition to these people, we need at least a small town with many workshops that can produce goods that meet our basic needs."

"I plan to head towards the sea, find a place with many refugees, gather them together, and build a small town, a town under the jurisdiction of our sect, which also needs to be far from the diocese. I've calculated that if you're in the Myriad Transformations Realm and I'm using this to travel by sword, it will take three or four months to get from here to the northwest coast, far from the diocese, and that doesn't even account for any unexpected events along the way. So this lake is very important. If we can't gather this lake and the fish in it, we can't set off."

"Alright, what about Li Guichen? What about Xue Baoping? Can't I have them keep me company? By the way, where have they been these past few days?"

“Bao Ping is practicing in the training ground. She’s not even at the Foundation Establishment stage yet, what use would she be to you? Li Guichen, I’ve sent him to take care of other matters.”

Zhao Qi sighed: "Well... okay, if it doesn't work, I'll come back to you for help."

Li Wuxiang smiled at him: "Okay, if it doesn't work, come find me again."

……

Zhao Qi hurried back in the darkness, cursing himself for running so far while sleepwalking that night—no, sleepwalking was Li Wuxiang's term; the proper term should be "spiritual deficiency."

These past few days he had felt both mentally and physically exhausted, and at times he didn't want to care about anything anymore. But when he heard Li Wuxiang say that Zhang Jingzhong was dead, he suddenly felt very uncomfortable. At first, he thought this discomfort was because Li Wuxiang was late in speaking and unwilling to help, but after traveling through the dense forest for a while, he realized that this discomfort was actually sadness.

In just four or five days, he remembered the Ranshan Sect. Although he was poor and struggling at that time, there were many happy memories of being with his fellow disciples.

His fate afterwards was incredibly unpredictable, a rollercoaster of highs and lows. But no matter what, he never forgot his original purpose for going to Jinshui—

If Zhao Kui is found and is dead, collect his remains, obtain the Golden Entanglement, find a secluded place to cultivate until he reaches the Golden Core stage, and then establish his own sect.

Now I can say that I've established my own sect, even if it's done on behalf of Li Wuxiang...

Wait a minute. Zhao Qi paused, slowed down, and frowned slightly. As he walked, a thought popped into his head—he's been making me do all these things these past few days… recruiting people, coordinating, commanding, could it just be to let me have a go at it?
Have I told him about this?
Zhao Qi couldn't remember clearly. It seemed like he had mentioned it, that he had told him something when they were at Ling Mountain. At that time, he was still Zhao Kui's accomplice, and his mind wasn't very clear, but he vaguely remembered talking to him about many things in fits and starts.

He was speechless for a moment, his feelings a complex mix. He had never imagined that his relationship with someone would be so complicated, but he also never expected that someone could be so kind-hearted, survive in this world, and even cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage.

Thinking about such things easily makes one sentimental, and Zhao Qi thought of Zhang Jingzhong again. Zhang Jingzhong, She Mu, Yu Wuyi, and Tu Nan had left a deep impression on him, not only because Tu Nan suffered from hysteria, but also because the four of them were truly supportive fellow disciples. They had managed to get all this way, so their character and temperament must be excellent; they were promising candidates to become swordsmen. But Zhang Jingzhong had suddenly died like that?

Who did it?
As Zhao Qi walked, he pondered, and by the time he saw Zhang Jingzhong's body, some thoughts had become clear in his mind. These past few days, Zhang Jingzhong had been one of the de facto managers, directing nine men under his command. Among those nine men was a man named Liu Jieling, who got along well with Zhang Jingzhong and they immediately became sworn brothers, making Liu Jieling his de facto deputy.

In Zhao Qi's view, Liu Jieling was a warm and straightforward person, and was well-liked by everyone. But there was one problem—this person, like Tu Nan, was at the peak of Qi Refining and was about to form the Core.

Such a person is highly skilled and has a good character; he should actually be in charge. However, the previous seven people who spoke first left a deep impression on him, so he didn't want to choose anyone else.

It was because when he was on his way to Jinshui, thinking about establishing his own sect, he had pondered how to manage it—he couldn't entrust only the top figures in the sect with important responsibilities; he had to select a few who were competent but average in other areas. That way, people would think, "If someone of his level can do this and that, can't I do it too?"

In this way, others would both compete to do their jobs and show off, and also compete to please their mentor. So this time, he put all his previous insights and experiences to use.

However, he wasn't sure if it was because of his own thoughts that Zhang Jingzhong died—getting rid of Zhang Jingzhong would allow Liu Jieling to become the manager. And Li Wuxiang said Zhang Jingzhong died in the pine forest without alerting anyone… What was he doing there in the middle of the night? Who could call him out without warning? Liu Jieling was the one who lived in the same house as Zhang Jingzhong!
Zhao Qi felt he had almost uncovered the truth. Li Wuxiang's refusal to help and his silence were likely a way of training him to take charge. Li Wuxiang needed to cultivate, Li Guichen wasn't very bright, and Xue Baoping's cultivation was too weak; sooner or later, the sect's responsibilities would have to be shouldered by him alone.

Thinking of this, he rushed back to the pine forest in Maple Valley and saw Zhang Jingzhong's body.

So almost everything I had just thought of was overturned.

The body was easy to find because of the strong smell of blood; Zhao Qi went there just by the smell.

Zhang Jingzhong's body wasn't lying on the ground, but hanging from a tree—the branches left after extracting pine resin were thick and sharp, with half a thick branch protruding from his chest. But it was more like a skin than a corpse; his abdomen and chest cavity had been opened, and all his internal organs were gone. If someone had killed him and hung him here to remove his organs, there should have been a lot of blood on the ground, but there wasn't much blood under the tree. When Zhao Qi inserted his hand into the soil under the tree, he found that it was only soaked to a depth of half a finger.

He suddenly felt a chill run through his body. Although Li Wuxiang said his spirit had come to investigate but couldn't find the murderer, he still felt something in the surrounding darkness was watching him—something that had eaten Zhang Jingzhong's internal organs and drunk his blood…

Ghouls!?
The corpse demon that Li Wuxiang couldn't find!?

Zhao Qi immediately pinched a talisman in his hand, stood still and listened quietly, then slowly walked towards the newly built wooden house in the valley. He took six or seven steps and then stopped to listen again.

A quarter of an hour later, he saw the easternmost building. Right at the edge of this pine forest, a thin, peeled tree trunk stood by the door, with many branches still attached, clothes hanging out to dry. This was the residence of Zhang Jingzhong and Liu Jieling.

As Zhao Qi walked over, he considered whether to immediately wake up all fifty-odd people nearby. If it were truly a ghoul hiding in the vicinity killing people, so many wouldn't be able to stop it. However, he immediately realized that would only make the situation worse. None of these people had ever seen a ghoul, nor did they know what supernatural powers it possessed, while Zhao Qi did.

Li Wuxiang said—as Tong Xu had said before—that there was a corpse demon from the Blood God Sect in Qingpu Mountain, who was a "Qi Refining Immortal".

Zhao Qi still retained some memories from his time as the Blood God, knowing that neither Qi Refining Immortals nor Pill Immortals were actually very mentally sound, especially those without a swordsman as their guiding principle. With so many people's thoughts fighting within one body, even the smartest person would become confused.

Therefore, it's extremely difficult for an ordinary Qi Refining Immortal to hide, lure, kill, hang themselves on a tree as a show of force, and then silently leave. If possible, it would require a Qi Refining swordsman to be integrated into the group, unifying all under one roof, and maintaining a clear mind. Such a Qi Refining Immortal is far stronger than a peak Qi Refining swordsman cultivating the True Immortal Body Dao Chapter. If the group descends into chaos, and the immortal is hiding among them, they might very well unleash a massacre.

Then Zhao Qi remembered what he had been thinking about in the forest on his way back—Li Wuxiang seemed to be entrusting all the affairs of the Sword Sect to him, allowing him to indulge in the fantasy of founding his own sect. Therefore, he didn't want that guy to laugh at him, and even less did he want to disappoint him.

Therefore, he cannot be afraid, and when he does things, he cannot think of himself first, but must think of the newly established "Sword Sect".

As the acting sect leader, he had to protect his disciples and couldn't send them into danger first!

Zhao Qi walked to the door of the wooden house and knocked three times, bracing himself for the ghouls to rush out—he had a gut feeling, just like the one he had when he saw Zhang Jingzhong's corpse, that this matter was related to ghouls. And now this gut feeling was telling him that there might be ghouls inside the house, and that Liu Jieling might even have been murdered!

But a little while later, he heard someone inside say, "The door isn't locked, Brother Zhang."

The voice was somewhat muffled, as if he had just been startled awake by the knocking and was only now realizing what was happening.

Zhao Qi reached out and pushed the door open, then went inside.

The log cabin was built from felled logs, with moss filling the gaps between the wood, which would be replaced with yellow mud later. The room was small, containing only two wooden beds against the wall, each with a rough wooden box at the head of its bed.

He could hear Liu Jieling breathing in the darkness—lying on a bed to the left of the door, yawning and humming twice, as if he was about to turn over and continue sleeping.

But after Zhao Qi stood at the door for a couple of breaths, Liu Jieling seemed to sense something was wrong and got out of bed alertly: "Who!?"

Zhao Qi flicked his hand, and the talisman in his palm burst into flames with a hiss. He then pointed to the torch by the door and lit it.

Liu Jieling was stunned for a moment, then sat on the bed: "Great Sword Master, you..."

"I have a question for you, but don't panic." Zhao Qi recalled his appearance in Jinshui and Li Wuxiang's appearance, put his hands behind his back, and said softly, "Zhang Jingzhong, when did he go out? Has someone found him?"

Liu Jieling was stunned. The moment Zhao Qi saw the expression on his face, he knew there was something wrong with this man.

Because he was stunned for too long. Not the kind of stunned silence where he didn't come to his senses for a moment, but the kind where he suddenly understood what he had said, but didn't know how to reply, and was frantically thinking about how to respond!

Was Zhang Jingzhong really murdered by him?

Zhao Qi pretended to slowly stroll around and survey his surroundings before retreating outside the door.

At this moment, Liu Jieling finally spoke. As if he had just barely managed to calm himself after a fierce internal struggle, he sounded extremely insincere and seemed to be someone who wasn't usually good at doing this kind of thing: "I... don't know, Great Sword Master. I don't know when Brother Zhang went out, nor did I see anyone looking for him. He probably went out to relieve himself. I slept all night and didn't notice anything."

Zhao Qi sighed inwardly. Greed had clouded his judgment. Even now, this Liu Jieling was still trying to bluff his way out of this. Did he think he, the acting sect leader, was a fool?!

His face darkened: "Liu Jieling, do you regret it now?"

Liu Jieling's face flushed red, and his fists clenched, as if he had been provoked by Zhao Qi's words. Just when Zhao Qi thought he was about to explode, his fists loosened. He slowly got off the bed and stood on the ground, almost gritting his teeth as he said, "Great Sword Master, I rarely regret what I do, and today is no exception. I only want to survive in this chaotic world. The reputation of Sect Master Li and Little Divine Lord has spread throughout the world. Being able to enter the Sword Sect is already a blessing I have accumulated over three lifetimes. As for anything else, if the Great Sword Master gives the order, this disciple will not dare to disobey."

"But just this one won't do!"

What nonsense is this guy spouting?! Zhao Qi was stunned by his words—was he saying he killed Zhang Jingzhong to become the steward? But that didn't sound like it.

"This one? What are you talking about? Which one?"

But Liu Jieling suddenly gritted his teeth, closed his mouth tightly, walked to the door, and slammed it shut.

Zhao Qi was locked outside. Meanwhile, Li Wuxiang's spirit stood in the darkness not far away, under a pine tree, watching him intently.

(End of this chapter)