Heaven rewards diligence, but there are always fairies plotting against me.

"What?" Old Li's face twitched. "Chu Chang, you're too arrogant! Just because you've learned a little martial arts, do you really intend to bully people so much?"

Seeing this, Uncle Chu Fu hurriedly dropped his spoon and ran over, grabbing Chu Chang's arm and whispering, "Chang, what are you doing? Old Li was so polite today. He just sent two taels of silver to your house at noon, saying he wanted to buy you some tonics for your martial arts practice. You... you're making trouble now, aren't you putting your uncle in a difficult position?"

Chu Chang sneered inwardly.

He ignored Chu Fu's advice and stared intently at Old Man Li, his voice not loud but carrying throughout the courtyard: "Uncle, what if I told you that this old man Li isn't human at all, but an evil spirit that crawled out of the forbidden zone?"

"What?"

These words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky, and the noisy toasting sounds in the courtyard came to an abrupt halt.

Several villagers who were still making a fuss were so frightened that their hands trembled, and they subconsciously took several steps back, looking at Old Man Li with suspicion and uncertainty.

Old Li's pupils contracted slightly, then he feigned a wronged and indignant expression: "Chu Chang! Even if you want to seize my family property, you don't need to make up such lies to curse me! Look at me, I have a shadow, I breathe, how can I be an evil spirit?"

"That's right, Ah Chang, don't talk nonsense, it's broad daylight..." Chu Fu also chuckled dryly, trying to ease the atmosphere.

"I'm talking nonsense?" Chu Chang looked at Chu Fu expressionlessly. "Uncle, since you believe him, go over there now and touch the back of his neck, or listen to his chest. If he still has a heartbeat and body temperature, I, Chu Chang, will kowtow to him in public to apologize!"

"this……"

Chu Fu hesitated.

He looked into Chu Chang's cold eyes, then glanced at the two imposing Gu family guards behind him, their temples bulging.

He knew that his nephew had become a martial arts practitioner and his knowledge was no longer what it used to be, so he would never make such a thing up.

In an instant, all eyes were on Old Man Li, and the atmosphere became so tense that you could hear a pin drop.

"Chu Chang, you...you're utterly slanderous! I, Old Li, have lived in this village for most of my life, everyone has seen it. Don't spout nonsense and ruin my reputation!"

Old Li's image showed him extremely angry; his old face was flushed red, and his voice was trembling, but a fleeting, almost imperceptible look of panic flashed quickly in his cloudy eyes.

Chu Chang sneered, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword at his waist, pressing closer with each step: "Whether you're lying or not, we'll find out by examining you. Humans have flesh and blood; when injured, they bleed and feel pain. If you have nothing to hide, cut your hand and let the villagers see if it's human blood!"

After saying that, Chu Chang turned his head and glanced at Zhao Dayong!

"Brother, go! Attack with your greatsword..."

Zhao Dayong received the look and understood.

He then let out a sinister laugh and strode out.

He was originally a martial artist at the third level of the Gu family's Body Tempering Realm. When his aura exploded, the surrounding villagers were so shocked that they retreated one after another.

"Old man, you were all rosy-cheeked just now, why are you trembling now? Come on, let me bleed you a little!"

As Zhao Dayong spoke, he drew a gleaming dagger from his waist and charged forward menacingly.

"You...you all..."

Seeing that the other party was really going to make a move, Old Li finally couldn't hold back anymore.

His flushed face turned deathly pale in an instant, and he couldn't even utter a harsh word. He turned and pushed through the crowd, running like a madman towards the backyard!

"Trying to run? Get back here right now!"

As a bodyguard for the Gu family, how could Zhao Dayong let him escape like this?

He suddenly exerted force with both legs, and his whole body shot out like an arrow, delivering a powerful kick in mid-air that landed hard on Old Li's back.

"ah!!!"

A piercing scream rang out.

Old Li was thrown three to five meters away as if he had been hit by a speeding carriage, crashing heavily onto an octagonal table laden with food and wine.

The table shattered with a crack, and soup spilled all over the floor.

Old Li struggled to get up, but just then, the surrounding villagers suddenly let out a chilling scream, their faces filled with terror, and some even collapsed to the ground in fright.

"His face...his face has sunken in!"

Chu Chang stared intently and saw that the left side of Old Man Li's face, where he had just hit the ground, was deeply dented, like a paper lantern that had been flattened. There was no sound of bones breaking, nor did a single drop of blood flow out.

Half of his face was crookedly pressed against his head, presenting an extremely strange, flat arc.

This is hardly how a living person should behave.

It's like a brand new inflatable doll that gets broken from use!

"An evil spirit...it really is an evil spirit!"

"A monster has crawled out of the restricted area and is coming to claim your life!"

The villagers, who had initially wanted to watch the excitement, instantly erupted in chaos, with shouts rising and falling. Chu Fu, who had just been helping with the work, was so frightened that he scrambled to his feet and huddled behind Chu Chang, his teeth chattering.

"You beast, reveal your true form!"

Zhao Dayong was also provoked by this bizarre scene. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and with a whistling sound, he stabbed the steel knife in his hand into Old Li's chest!

This strike was fast, inaccurate, and ruthless, fully demonstrating that Zhao Dayong had absolutely no skill with knives!

"Pfft!"

A muffled thud.

The steel knife pierced through his chest without any resistance as it went into his flesh.

Immediately afterwards, a sickening hissing sound rang out, and Old Li's body deflated like a punctured balloon.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the once ruddy-faced old man Li's body rapidly withered and shrank, and his brand-new red silk cloak collapsed, leaving only a thin, wrinkled layer of human skin covering the remains of the wooden table.

"No...don't kill me..."

Intermittent sounds emanated from beneath that thin, cicada-wing-like skin.

The surrounding villagers were terrified by this horrifying scene; some of the more timid ones even collapsed to the ground, their crotches soaked with sweat.

"What...what kind of monster is this?!"

"His skin was broken, yet he could still talk!"

Zhao Dayong was also a little scared, and his grip on the knife tightened.

Although he was a body-tempering martial artist, he usually dealt with fierce bandits and beasts. This kind of bizarre thing that completely defied common sense made him feel uncertain.

"What are you all standing there for!"

Chu Chang suddenly shouted, "This thing is tough! Ordinary weapons can't kill it! Quickly, get firewood and burn this evil spirit! Hurry!"

"Oh, okay! I'll go right away!"

Startled awake by the shout, Uncle Chu Fu scrambled to his feet, grabbed two equally terrified village women beside him, and stumbled and staggered toward the woodshed in the backyard.

Soon after, bundles of dried firewood were frantically thrown into the center of the yard, completely covering the eerie skin.

"No...don't kill me! I have treasure! Want to know my story? A hundred years ago, I was from Zhao Family Village! The people there were simple and honest, living in peace and contentment. I was a merchant in the village. One day, our entire village was shrouded in thick fog!! Inside were monsters, monsters... But I am not one of them. I have intelligence. I just want to live, I just want to..."

The strange skin swelled up again as it spoke.

"Fire! Light it!"

Chu Chang was worried that this thing had a backup plan, so he snatched the torch from a villager and threw it into the woodpile without hesitation.

"call!!"

Flames shot into the sky in an instant.

"ah!!!"

From within the pile of firewood came a mournful wail, completely unlike any human's, sharp and piercing, like countless fingernails scratching at metal.

To everyone's horror, the human skin twisted and struggled violently in the flames!

"Ah! My Zhao Family Village, if Zhao Family Village is gone, you will all be gone too..."

"puff"

The entire human skin looked like a giant abscess that had been completely burned through.

A thick, black, foul-smelling plume of smoke billowed from the fire, but it quickly dissipated into the air under the combined scorching heat of the midday sun and the blazing flames.

It burned for a full half hour, until the pile of firewood turned into glowing red charcoal, before the cold, rotten smell finally disappeared completely.

Everyone watched helplessly as the skin gradually melted, curled up, and finally turned into ashes that scattered in the wind.

Only then did the Li family compound regain a semblance of normalcy.

The villagers looked at the pile of ashes, then at Chu Chang, who stood by the fire with a stern expression. Their eyes held not only fear but also a deep sense of awe.

"Ah Chang... is that all?" Chu Fu leaned closer, his voice still trembling.

"Of course not." Chu Chang patted Chu Fu on the shoulder: "Uncle, do you know Zhao Family Village?"

"Uh, I know, it's downstream. I used to play there when I was a kid. Oh, and I had a girlfriend there too. She was pretty..."

"You don't need to go into such detail!" Chu Chang scoffed.

"That area was designated a restricted zone a long time ago!" Chu Fu felt a wave of fear wash over him. "My lover never came to see me again, and she still owes me several taels of silver..."

"We owe this all to Ah Chang; if it weren't for him..."

At this point, everyone started talking at once.

At this moment, the villagers' eyes no longer held doubt, but gratitude!

However, Chu Chang rushed into Old Man Li's house with a face full of excitement.

"That old man Li can spend so much money to buy a wife, he must have saved up quite a bit!"

Unfortunately, after searching for a long time, I found nothing.

As it was getting late, Zhao Dayong and Qian Liu went home first.

In the vast Li family courtyard, only Chu Chang remained.

Looking at the ashes on the ground, Chu Chang frowned slightly: "Where would that guy hide the silver?"

He tried to put himself in the other person's shoes: "If I were that kind of evil spirit, I would definitely hide the silver in a place that would put my mind at ease, a place that would be difficult for others to obtain, but one that I could find at any time..."

Thinking of this, Chu Chang chuckled: "I know, maybe it's there!!!"