Song Zongwu's arms came down with a thunderous slap.
BOOM!!!
The shockwave sent Corpse Burners tumbling like bowling pins, knocking them unconscious.
Only Ren Qing clung to a sliver of awareness, which meant enduring the full brunt of his agonizing transformation.
Mastering the Human Skin Book took far longer than expected. He had no capacity left to process the chaos around him.
Song Zongwu opened his palm. The human face was unharmed, even cackling with a shrill, mocking laughter.
He struck again; slap! slap! slap!
The arrogance in Song Zongwu's grin faded slightly. The face was burrowing into his flesh like a parasitic worm, refusing to die.
"You think this can touch me?"
He ripped the face off along with a chunk of his own flesh and hurled it at the wall.
The impact cratered the brickwork, but the face simply scuttled through the cracks, seeking to heal itself by devouring some unconscious Corpse Burners.
Then; a skittering tide surged in.
Thousands of centipedes flooded the corridor, forming a living barrier around Ren Qing and the others.
"HAAAH!!"
Song Zongwu seized the moment. His legs propelled him forward, and a single punch splattered the face across the stones.
Though it reformed, its size had shrunk. The malice in its expression twisted into raw terror.
"Elder Song, we've secured the other skin fragments. Only this 'face' remains."
Li Yaoyang stepped into the stairwell.
His bamboo hat was gone, revealing a deceptively ordinary face; until he opened his mouth. Insects of every kind crawled between his teeth.
The face, now cornered by centipedes, had nowhere to run. Li Yaoyang moved in for the kill-
Too slow.
Miss Bai's instincts overrode all caution. Her sword left its sheath in a single fluid motion, hurled out with lethal precision.
The blade traced a graceful silver arc and pierced the face, pinning it straight to the wall.
It also sheared off half of Li Yaoyang's skull.
The latter touched the gaping wound, fingers coming away slick with blood and brain matter.
"Miss Bai... I explicitly told you not to draw your sword."
She blinked. "I see. As it turns out, my swordsmanship really is that strong."
Li Yaoyang opened his mouth, then closed it with a sigh. Maggots swarmed over his injury, knitting the bone and flesh back together.
Turning to Song Zongwu, he said, "Elder Song, this restricted zone's threat level may be low, but its tricks are... troublesome."
Song Zongwu snorted. In his heart, he conceded the point. Charging in blindly would have definitely risked possession.
He grabbed the pinned face, tore it in half, and tossed the pieces to Li Yaoyang: "Supernatural filth born from the [Human Skin Book] is undetectable unless seen with the naked eye."
"Well. Caution was justified."
Li Yaoyang raised his right hand, and the sea of centipedes flowed back into his body.
"I'll use brain-eating insects to erase parts of these Corpse Burners' memories. Prevent them from going mad. Also-"
His tone turned eager. "Those hollowed-out corpses are... fascinating."
Song Zongwu waved dismissively. "Do what you want with them."
Li Yaoyang reverted to his usual detached demeanor. He began gathering the prison's corpses, dumping them into pits dug by his centipedes.
By now, Ren Qing had stabilized. He first checked his status:
[Ren Qing]
[Age: Seventeen]
[Lifespan: Four years, ninety-three days]
[Arts: Blindless Method, Human Skin Book]
Losing a full year of lifespan just to master the Human Skin Book... The sting was real.
He couldn't fathom why the Blindless Method had only cost thirty days. Was it tied to the "exemption cost"?
Lifespan aside, a new sprout had taken root in his mind. When his consciousness brushed against it, the branches of the Human Skin Book unfurled:
[Flayer: Shed Skin to Cheat Death]
[Skin-Forger: Refine Flesh into Hide]
[Herd-Keeper: Livestock of Men]
After a quick scan, Ren Qing dismissed the interface.
Still, he didn't dare open his eyes; feigning unconsciousness to avoid the Restraint Officers' notice.
Song Zongwu yawned, impatience creeping in. "Release the brain-eaters. Time to go."
Li Yaoyang nodded. From his left ear emerged a black beetle the size of a fingernail. It flew into the mouths of every Corpse Burner
present.
Ren Qing was no exception. He clenched his teeth, blocking the beetle from entering; no way was he letting that thing near his brain.
Minutes later, the insects crawled back into Li Yaoyang's ear.
The three Restraint Officers turned to leave.
Ren Qing exhaled internally. Had their goal been harm, he couldn't have stopped them.
Then, Song Zongwu paused.
His six eyes swept the room. When they landed on Ren Qing, a flicker of... something crossed his face.
He prodded Ren Qing with his foot and muttered:
"They say one in ten thousand books becomes a Human Skin Book. The place with the most books in our Yamen... must be the Martial Arts Arena, right?"
With that, he strode out, leaving the mess for Clerk Zhao to handle.
The Yamen mobilized runners from all districts. Unconscious Corpse Burners were carried out, physicians attending to them.
Ren Qing kept playing dead; Song Zongwu had really rattled him just now.
But that prod had also revealed the elder's stats:
[Song Zongwu]
[Age: Eighty-six]
[Lifespan: Two hundred fifty-three years]
[Arts: Asura Method (Four-Armed Yama) ???]
[???]
The string of question marks confirmed it: against someone of Song Zongwu's power, Ren Qing's insight was limited.
The Asura Method likely only showed because Song Zongwu had actively used it. Other hidden abilities remained obscured.
[The Asura Method was created by an unnamed ascetic. Cultivation requires being born with missing arms and upholding Buddhism's Five Precepts without faltering. Mastery grows new limbs.]
[Four-Armed Yama evolves from Three-Armed Judge.]
Given this description, Song Zongwu should've been virtuous. So why that cryptic comment before leaving?
Ren Qing had a theory but he didn't test it yet. After the physician cleared him, he returned to the Corpse Burners' Hall.
Thirty-five Corpse Burners had survived, thanks largely to the Restraint Officers' timely intervention... and Ren Qing buying time against the face.
Those who died on the stairs were mostly trampled in the panic.
Xiao Wu and the other two? They'd hugged the walls and stayed put.
Tan Street's team surviving intact was a miracle. Some squads had lost all five members; not even leaving whole corpses.
But every Yamen runner knew death might come any day. Their families would receive generous compensation at least.
The survivors, their memories altered by the brain-eaters, moved like ghosts, hollow-eyed. Recovery would clearly take some time.
Ren Qing naturally didn't want to appear special, so he obediently stayed in the house for a few days.