Chapter Nine: The Book of Human Skin
1291 Words
Song Zongwu slammed his arm down hard.
Boom!!!
A deafening explosion echoed, and the resulting shockwave sent the surrounding fireworkers flying, most of them passing out on the spot.
Only Ren Qing barely clung to consciousness, which meant he had to continue enduring the searing pain.
It took even longer than expected to master the Book of Human Skin. Ren Qing had no energy to pay attention to what was happening around him.
Song Zongwu opened his palm—the face embedded in it hadn’t sustained much damage and even let out a sharp, eerie laugh.
He struck it several more times.
The wild grin on Song Zongwu’s face began to fade. He realized the face was like a maggot clinging to the bone, desperately trying to burrow into his body.
“You think you can beat me?”
He tore the face off along with some flesh and threw it against the wall.
The wall instantly caved in, creating a deep crater. But it had little effect—the face began crawling into the cracks between bricks, trying to absorb the fireworkers’ blood and flesh to heal itself.
Just then, hundreds of centipedes flooded in from the corridor, surrounding everyone present, including Ren Qing.
“Hah!!”
Seizing the opportunity, Song Zongwu closed the distance with a burst of speed and smashed the face with a single punch.
Though the face reformed, it was noticeably smaller, and its once hateful expression was now twisted with fear.
“Master Song, we’ve already retrieved all the Human Skin Fragments. Only this face remains,” said Li Yaoyang as he slowly stepped down the stairs.
He had removed his conical hat, and while he looked like an ordinary man, all sorts of insects were crawling in his open mouth.
The face had been driven into a corner by the centipedes, and Li Yaoyang prepared to strike the final blow.
Miss Bai, who was a step slower, instinctively drew the longsword from her waist and hurled it without hesitation.
The sword traced a graceful arc through the air, pinning the face to the wall. But it also sliced off half of Li Yaoyang’s head.
He reflexively reached up to touch it, only to find his hand drenched in blood and brain matter.
Somewhat helplessly, he muttered, “Miss Bai, I told you not to draw your sword...”
Miss Bai replied calmly, “Now I know my swordsmanship is that good.”
Li Yaoyang wanted to protest, but sighed instead. Soon, hundreds of maggots covered his wound, and his head slowly regenerated.
He turned to Song Zongwu. “Master Song, although this Forbidden Zone wasn’t particularly dangerous, it was still quite a headache.”
Song Zongwu snorted in disdain. Deep down, he had to admit that if one entered the Forbidden Zone carelessly, there was indeed a risk of possession.
He picked up the face and tore it in half before handing it to Li Yaoyang. “If you don’t see the Book of Human Skin with your own eyes, its manifestations are nearly impossible to detect.”
“Mm, better to be cautious,” Li Yaoyang agreed.
With a flick of his right hand, the swarm of centipedes returned into his body.
“I’ll use Brain-Eating Bugs to erase parts of the fireworkers’ memories to prevent them from going mad. Also...”
His tone grew excited. “Those corpses that were hollowed out are quite fascinating.”
“Handle them however you want,” Song Zongwu waved dismissively.
Li Yaoyang resumed his calm demeanor and began clearing out the corpses in the prison, tossing them all into the pit dug by the centipedes.
By now, Ren Qing had mostly recovered and immediately checked his status:
[Ren Qing]
Age: 17
Lifespan: 4 years, 93 days
Techniques: Eyeless Method, Book of Human Skin
Mastering the Book of Human Skin had cost him an entire year of lifespan—he couldn’t help but feel the sting of it.
Ren Qing didn’t understand. The Eyeless Method had only cost him 30 days—was it related to the kind of sacrifice required?
Setting lifespan aside for now.
In his mind, a new sprout emerged. When he gently touched it with his consciousness, a branch of the Book of Human Skin revealed itself:
Flayer – Flay to avoid death
Skin Refiner – Refine skin with one’s own flesh
Breeder – Raise humans as livestock
After a quick glance, Ren Qing closed the information stream.
Still, he didn’t dare open his eyes and pretended to remain unconscious to avoid drawing the Forbidden Guards’ attention.
Song Zongwu yawned impatiently. “Release the Brain-Eating Bugs. It’s about time we left.”
Li Yaoyang nodded. A black beetle, the size of a fingernail, crawled out of his left ear and flew into the mouths of all the fireworkers present.
Ren Qing included.
He clenched his teeth to prevent the beetle from entering, hoping to protect his brain from the bug’s effects.
Moments later, the beetle crawled back into Li Yaoyang’s ear.
The three men turned and left.
Ren Qing let out a quiet sigh of relief. If their intent had been to harm rather than subdue, he wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Suddenly, Song Zongwu stopped in his tracks. His six eyes scanned the area, and when they landed on Ren Qing, a flicker of something passed across his face.
He nudged Ren Qing with his foot and murmured to himself:
“They say that once every ten years, a book in this world becomes the Book of Human Skin. The place in our yamen with the most books... should be the Martial Practice Hall, right?”
Song Zongwu left the prison without another word, leaving the mess behind for Clerk Zhao.
The yamen quickly dispatched constables from every district. The unconscious fireworkers were carried out and given medical treatment.
Ren Qing continued to play dead—Song Zongwu had genuinely rattled him.
When Song Zongwu touched him, the information stream had been triggered:
[Song Zongwu]
Age: 86
Lifespan: 253 years
Technique: Asura Method (Four-Armed Yama)
???
A long string of question marks followed. Clearly, when faced with someone vastly more powerful, Ren Qing couldn’t see the full data.
As for why “Asura Method” appeared, it was likely because Song Zongwu had used it openly—any hidden abilities remained shrouded.
The Asura Method was created by a nameless ascetic monk. Practitioners must be born with two missing arms and survive the Five Great Precepts of Buddhism without falling. Success grants them two additional arms.
The Four-Armed Yama is an advancement of the Three-Armed Judge.
Judging by the description, Song Zongwu ought to be morally upright. Then what was the meaning behind his cryptic words before leaving?
Ren Qing had a vague guess, but he didn’t rush to confirm it. After passing a medical examination, he returned to the Firework Hall.
Thirty-five fireworkers survived, largely due to the timely intervention of the Forbidden Guards and Ren Qing buying time against the face.
Those who died on the stairs had mostly been trampled in the chaos.
As for Little Wu and the others, they had smartly stayed pressed against the wall without panicking.
It was rare for an entire squad like the one from Tan Street to survive. Others weren’t as lucky—some districts had lost all five members, not even leaving intact corpses.
Still, all yamen workers had long accepted death as part of the job. Their families would receive generous compensation in the event of their demise.
Due to the Brain-Eating Bugs, the survivors had no recollection of what happened in the prison. Their spirits were broken, and recovery would take time.
- Writer
