What did we see? What exactly happened in the bathroom?
Actually, when Huang Xin and I first peeked through the crack of the bathroom door, we saw a woman in a red qipao bathing in the bathroom, and she was washing something in the bathtub.
Just this sight made both Huang Xin and I think of the oddity of this woman.
A completely clean woman in a bathhouse, why would she be wearing a qipao?
Before we could think about this matter, we saw Xuniang, in the red qipao, pick up the thing she was washing in the bathtub.
It was a... human skin!
Xuniang's appearance also changed. She was no longer the charming woman from just now, but instead had a sharp, pale face, with dilated pupils and a very sinister gaze.
She put on the human skin, and once again became the naked Xuniang, but now her face had no more eyes, nose, mouth, or eyebrows.
With a pen in hand, she began drawing on the human skin, using the pen to depict eyes, nose, mouth, and eyebrows.
This woman was actually... painting skin!
"My goodness." It was my first time encountering such a sinister and eerie evil spirit, and Huang Xin was even more terrified. If I hadn't covered her mouth in time, she might have started screaming.
I quickly held onto Huang Xin and led her out. When we got outside the door, I immediately told her, "Xinxin, you go home first. I'll take care of everything here."
"You want to take care of it? Can you handle it? Your ghost buddies aren't here with you," Huang Xin had been in contact with me for so long, and she knew that I didn't have any real ability in dealing with ghosts, relying solely on attracting them to catch ghosts.
I shook my head and said that if I brought my ghost buddies with me, that eerie painted skin ghost wouldn't dare to come after me, and I had to personally extinguish this painted skin ghost and resolve this evil spirit.
"Then you'll die."
"No, trust me." I gave Huang Xin a determined look and took out a talisman, saying, "Look at this, I bought a magic tool, I'm not afraid of evil spirits."
Huang Xin could only nod and said she hoped I would be careful. When she left, she kept looking back three times, but I didn't have time to waste and went back into the guest room.
I lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling. Who knew if I would be able to fight the painted skin ghost of Xuniang?
After seven or eight minutes, the bathroom door opened, and Xuniang, wrapped in a towel, came out with grace, pointed at me and coquettishly said, "Hehe, I left the door open for you, but you didn't come in. You really don't understand romance."
After that, she was about to pounce on me, but I shouted, "Wait, let me ask you. In the past month, eight people have died in the bar, seven men and one woman, plus Yun Kong who had his heart removed last night, totaling eight men and one woman. These nine people, did they all die at your hands?"
"Ha? Buddy, you're really joking. It's up to you whether you want to have fun in bed, but what's with these false accusations? Do you take me, Xuniang, for a killer?"
"You stop it. I saw you painting skin in the toilet just now. You're not an ordinary woman. You're a ghost wearing human skin."
I wanted to confront Xuniang head on. Acting hesitant now would only increase her confidence. She narrowed her eyes and laughed out loud, "Hahaha, I was waiting to have fun with you, then peel off your skin and have another look. So, you've seen through me? Hahaha!"
"Evil spirits, there is a path for spirits, and there is a path for humans. Today, you encountered Li Shanshui, so you've strayed from the path. Now, self-expose your ghostly body, and there might still be a chance. If I make a move, I will extinguish your lantern."
I pointed at Xuniang and said.
Xuniang laughed again and said, "Don't joke around. You can also extinguish my lantern? I tested you yesterday. Your buddies may know some ghost techniques, causing me to be a little wary, but you know nothing. Why would I be afraid of you?
"Hmph, then let's test it." I sat up straight and secretly held a yellow talisman I bought from Miao Yanbo.
This symbol paper is called the Heavenly Master's Symbol, made by a Taoist who has reached the level of the Heavenly Master. It is extremely effective against evil spirits, and some weaker ghosts will be directly dispersed by it.
Xu Niang laughed heartily for a while and shamelessly took off her human skin in front of me.
On her skin, there were some small dents and patterns resembling ripples like water waves.
Then she viciously tore it, and with a splash, tore the whole piece of human skin off, revealing her true form - a woman wearing a cheongsam.
Xu Niang's hair was disheveled, covering half of her face. She pointed at me and said, "You seem like a decent fellow, better than the usual perverted ghosts. I don't want you to die so quickly. How about we chat? Let me tell you the story of a lonely ghost on the journey to the underworld?"
"Okay," I nodded and discreetly sent a text message to Da Jinya and the others, hoping they would come in time. The female ghost wanted to delay time now, and I couldn't ask for anything better.
"Good, good. So, what sect do you belong to? Taoist, or a witch doctor?"
"Li Shanshui," I declared my pseudonym.
Upon hearing this, Xu Niang nodded and said: "So you're a summoner of the yin spirits. It's said that those who summon yin spirits are loyal and righteous. Today's meeting does have a bit of meaning. Normally, other immortals dare not provoke you, a yin spirit summoner. But I am a lonely ghost, and whether I provoke you or not, skinning you will simply result in your death. It's nothing significant. After all, I, Xu Niang, have died once already and am not afraid to die a second time!"
"Well, you want a life-and-death struggle? I'm not afraid either!" I said loudly.
When it's unavoidable, I'm always able to overcome fear with my spirit.
Xu Niang mentioned that summoning yin spirits could also be a master of ghosts, and she wanted to ask me if I could speak for her - on her behalf.
I asked her what she meant by that.
Xu Niang then told her story.
She said she was originally an actress in the county's Han opera troupe, and at a young age, she married a local official who had some power.
In fact, the reason Xu Niang married the official was that the official had exerted pressure on her family.
Her relationship with the official was somewhat forced.
After the two got married, the official continued to fool around, keeping a mistress, and harassing attractive female subordinates in the office. He was a complete scoundrel.
On this point, Xu Niang and I had similar views. I waved my hand and said, "Xu Niang, please mind your words. Your husband is not just a scoundrel; he's even worse than that."
Xu Niang nodded at me and continued.
The official's villainy aside, the main issue was that he had taken a liking to a college student. He intended to marry the college student and, for that to happen, he had to divorce Xu Niang.
Xu Niang was not a bad person by nature, and she used to be quite nice. But after being forced into marriage with the official, her thoughts had become malicious.
She felt that the official had ruined her, so she was not going to let him off easily. She had made up her mind not to divorce.
If the husband initiated the divorce, it wouldn't do much for his official career, but if the couple divorced due to relationship problems, the official wouldn't mind. So Xu Niang believed that as long as she didn't divorce, the official wouldn't have any power over her.
Initially, the official pleaded with her, but when that didn't work, he resorted to secretly instigating some gangsters to intimidate Xu Niang.
Xu Niang was resolute in not getting a divorce.
This left the official in a difficult position. He was infatuated with the college student and was always thinking about how to cleanly break up with Xu Niang.
However, Xu Niang was unwavering, and she was determined not to divorce.
One night, the official got furious, drank too much, and in a drunken rage, he brutally beat Xu Niang!
Unable to bear the beating, Xu Niang cursed him, saying that he embezzled public funds and how much money he had embezzled was all in her hands. If the official didn't treat her well, she would fight to the death.
Even if both would end up dead!
Though the official was a scoundrel, he was smart. He knew that once exposed, the amount of embezzlement and bribe-taking, would be enough to warrant execution by firing squad in five minutes.
At that moment, he caved in and spent the whole night sweet-talking Xu Niang. He claimed that as a couple, they had mutual obligations, and that they were fated to travel on the same boat for ten years, and share the same pillow for a hundred years. All of this was part of their destiny from a previous life, and they should live in harmony. He even pledged that he would sincerely live with Xu Niang in the future, and that the college student could go to hell!
Xu Niang stopped at this point, gnashing her teeth and saying, "Damn it! I was genuinely naïve at that time and actually believed that bastard. I actually thought he had genuinely repented. At least, I had all his evidence in my hands. He surely would have treated me better in the future."
I sneered, "It seems that your problem started with exposing these things. If you had been resolute in not getting a divorce from the beginning, he might have eventually grown tired of the college student on his own, and would not have mentioned anything about divorce to you again. Instead, by exposing his weaknesses, you became a thorn in his side. He wouldn't have just let you, a ticking time bomb, be!
Xu Niang glared at me, then burst into a hearty laugh, saying, "Summoning yin spirits suits you. It's a pity you're wasting your potential and not working as an official. Those officials are just as cunning as you."
She said the situation was just like that. After a few peaceful days, she was suddenly abducted by a group of gangsters.
In an abandoned warehouse, that group of gangsters took turns abusing her.
Then the leader of the gangsters forced Xu Niang to hand over the accounting documents and all the evidence of the official's embezzlement, bribery, and dirty money.
He said that as long as Xu Niang handed them over, she could keep her life intact. If she didn't, there might not be much left of her.
At that time, Xu Niang thought, if death was inevitable, then what was the point of handing them over?
She didn't expect that the group of gangsters were very cruel. With two iron hooks, they hooked into her pelvic bones, then hung her up high, stripped off her skin using another "iron hanging tool" for skinning dogs.
Thinking of this scene, I was also disgusted. Gangsters bullying people really crosses the line.
I asked Xu Niang, "What happened next? How did you end up in your current state? Don't tell me it's because of your extreme resentment that you became a ghost."
I'm knowledgeable about this. I know that many wronged people, when they die, become vengeful ghosts, but Xu Niang's situation absolutely wouldn't produce a vengeful ghost because she died from being skinned alive by the "iron hanging tool" for skinning dogs.
Author's note: Thank you, brothers, for your enthusiastic subscriptions. The update from the khumu has arrived!