Chapter 490 (2): Meticulous Skin City's Show of Strength
Chen Ping'an chose to travel directly to Green Cottage Town. Moreover, he wouldn't necessarily follow the so-called official road that had been painstakingly opened up by the Flax Robe Sect.
The young man who was clearly a disciple from a large sect joined the group of cultivators consisting of a ghost cultivator and a Militarian itinerant cultivator, and this newly formed group decided to make their way to Orchid Scent Town first. As for whether they took the risk to travel to Green Cottage Town afterward, this was hard to say.
What surprised Chen Ping'an slightly was the decision of the two Dao partners. Their cultivation bases didn't appear very high, but they surprisingly chose the dangerous path to Green Cottage Town as well.
It was extremely likely that the two of them were vagrant cultivators, and they spoke quietly to each other as they held hands and walked together toward the north. They were encouraging each other, and even though they appeared a little eager and hopeful, there was also a hint of steely resolve in their eyes.
They were truly risking everything for the sake of making money.
Chen Ping'an increased his speed and walked in front of them, creating a large gap between the two parties. Him walking in front of them was definitely better than him walking behind them. At the very least, it would eliminate any need for them to be suspicious of him.
The Dao partners also slowed down, whether intentionally or not, and they frequently stopped to either scoop up some soil or pull out some grass. In fact, they would even dig holes and look for stones, being picky and choosy about what they collected.
The distance between them grew greater and greater.
When the vagrant cultivator Dao partners raised their heads again, the figure of the young wanderer was already nowhere to be seen.
The sky in Malicious Ghost Valley was grey and gloomy, appearing as if it were overcast and about to rain. This environment somewhat limited one's vision.
Chen Ping'an walked faster and faster.
There was a long and winding small path to Green Cottage Town, and this path did its best to avoid the many large and small cities in the southern region of Malicious Ghost Valley. However, living people from the yang world walking through Malicious Ghost Valley, which was formed from the resentment of dead people, were like fireflies fluttering through the night sky. They were as eye-catching as could be.
Many malicious ghosts that had completely lost their minds were extremely sensitive to the existence of yang energy, so those who ventured through Malicious Ghost Valley could draw wave upon wave of malicious ghosts toward themselves if they accidentally caused too much commotion.
To powerful yin spirits who ruled over a city, these relatively powerful malicious ghosts were nothing but a nuisance. They couldn't be controlled if they were recruited as subordinates, and they would refuse to listen to commands and might even fight to the death with each other, weakening the entire city. Thus, they were allowed to roam freely in the desolate lands, and they would also be used as targets for military practice.
Chen Ping'an stopped at a dense forest beside the small path. There were crows silently resting on the branches, and as he looked back, he could see flickering shadows and swaying white garb in the depths of the forest, appearing suddenly before disappearing in a flash.
Chen Ping'an decided to leave the small path and walk toward the dense forest. The crows flapped their wings and flew away, causing the dry branches to sway and appear ghosts brandishing their claws and widening their maws.
When Chen Ping'an stepped into the dense forest however, there was nothing out of the ordinary apart from some worn and rusty armor poking out from the ground.
With a tap of his foot, Chen Ping'an leaped onto a tall branch before scanning the surroundings. He still wasn't able to detect anything out of the ordinary. When he suddenly shifted his gaze and looked carefully, however, he finally saw half a pale face sticking out from behind a tree. This looked like a woman with sanguine lips, and she locked gazes with Chen Ping'an in this completely lifeless forest. The movement of her pupils was stiff and limited, and it was as if she were looking Chen Ping'an up and down.
Chen Ping'an adjusted his bamboo hat and planned to ignore the lurking yin entity. He was just about to leap off the tall branch, yet he discovered that the branch underfoot had suddenly snapped without any warning. Chen Ping'an shifted aside and looked down, only to see blood slowly seeping from the break point and dripping onto the ground below.
After the blood seeped into the soil, it was as if the rusty suits of armor were being put on by someone, with the weapon in the ground also being "pulled out." In the end, more than a dozen invisible "armored soldiers" swayed back and forth as they surrounded the tall tree that Chen Ping'an was standing atop.
Chen Ping'an jumped down, perfectly landing on the shoulder of one of the armored soldiers. To his surprise, the suit of armor immediately scattered across the ground like ashes. Chen Ping'an flicked his sleeve, causing astral wind to sweep past and reduce all of the armored soldiers to ashes.
He then turned around and looked at someplace behind him, and the woman in white who had only shown half her face the entire time was hiding behind a tree and giggling with her hand over her mouth. However, her giggle didn't make a single sound.
Chen Ping'an smiled and asked, "Where do the powerful malicious ghosts appear in the nearby mountains and waters?"
The woman's movements were stiff as she slowly raised a hand and pointed at herself.
Chen Ping'an smiled and shook his head, saying, "I'm talking about the type that can't be killed with a single punch."
The woman in white faltered when she heard this, and her face immediately became twisted. It was as if there were worms wriggling under her deathly white skin, and she swung her palm and cut down the large tree with a well-sized trunk as if she were slicing through tofu. She then launched another powerful palm strike at Chen Ping'an.
Chen Ping'an also raised a hand, causing astral energy to gather in front of him like a wall. The severed tree was blasted into smithereens, with the flying debris temporarily blotting out heaven and earth.
There was a cool sensation at the sole of Chen Ping'an's feet, and this was because two snow-white sleeves had shot out of the ground and wrapped around his ankles. The head of the female yin entity soon poked out from the soil as well.
It was no wonder she only showed half her face to other people. As it turned out, even though half of her face was deathly pale, it was at least the face of a young woman. In stark contrast, the other half of her face was nothing more than a thin layer of skin wrapped around her skull. Looking at her complete appearance, it was as if she were an ugly woman who only had half a face.
The deathly pale side of her face was like a pitifully sobbing woman as she said in a quivering voice, "General, you can kill me if you resent me for being disloyal to you, but please stop cutting my face with your saber. I can't stand the pain."
Chen Ping'an allowed her to restrain his feet with her sleeves, and he looked down and asked, "You're one of the four trusted ghost generals of the nearby Meticulous Skin City's city lord, right? Why are you so close to the path? I have the jade tablet of the Flax Robe Sect on me, so you shouldn't be coming over here to search for food. Are you not afraid of being targeted by the cultivators of the Flax Robe Sect?"
The female ghost didn't pay any heed to his words, and she extended two fingers to rip away the skin on the featureless side of her face, exposing the harrowing sight of her skull that was also riddled with deep cuts from a saber. It was clear that she had suffered torturous physical pain before her death. She sobbed silently, and she pointed at her exposed bones and said, "General, it hurts. It really hurts."
Chen Ping'an surprisingly squatted down and held his hands inside opposite sleeves, looking into the female ghost's eye and saying, "Alright, that's enough. Your hypnosis technique is ineffective against me. I've heard that Meticulous Skin City has always maintained a good relationship with the Flax Robe Sect, but the city has a group of mortal enemies led by an earth immortal yin entity who's especially skilled at close-quarter combat. He has few subordinates, with only a dozen or so malicious ghosts under his command, but he always wanders around and causes trouble. He's as elusive as those elite scouts on the borders.
"The favorite activity of this Golden Core Tier yin entity is to eat living people, especially Qi refiners, and people who fall into his grasp will suffer a fate worse than death. They'll be raised like livestock, and they'll have a leg cut off one day and have a slab of flesh cut off another day. However, none of these injuries will be life-threatening.
"Moreover, this Golden Core Tier yin entity and his subordinates are quite smart, and they know better than to offend the ghosts of larger cities. They specifically target weaker cities, and this is the reason for them targeting Meticulous Skin City. They secretly kidnap one or two female yin entities from time to time, and the fate of those captured is as miserable as can be."
The female ghost in white continued to ignore Chen Ping'an's words, instead murmuring, "It hurts, it genuinely hurts... I know I was wrong, so please be more gentle with your blade, General."
At this moment, Chen Ping'an was already enveloped in thick white mist, making it appear as if he were inside a formless white cocoon.
Chen Ping'an's shoulder shuddered slightly, unleashing powerful astral energy that immediately dispersed the white mist.
The female ghost knew that the situation had turned against her, so she was just about to burrow into the ground to escape. However, Chen Ping'an's fist rapidly smashed into her forehead, causing the circulation of her yin energy to falter and stop. Chen Ping'an then grabbed her by the neck and dragged her out of the soil, following which he flicked his wrist and forcefully threw her to the ground. The female ghost in white curled up into a ball, lying limply on the ground like a snow-white snake whose bones had been completely snapped.
Chen Ping'an sighed and said, "I'll have no option but to get serious if you continue to dilly-dally like this."
The female ghost in white giggled and floated up, surprisingly transforming into a yin entity that measured nine meters in height. The snow-white dress that she was wearing also grew in size.
There were a few concise sentences in the Be At Ease Compilation introducing this female ghost of Meticulous Skin City.
The female ghost referred to herself as Half Face Makeup, and she had been the concubine of a meritorious general when she was still alive. She had transformed into a resentful spirit following her death, and due to her possession of a Dao robe that had come from some unknown origin, she was especially skilled at creating illusions of beautiful women and using fog barriers to cloud the eyes and judgement of cultivators.
This would then allow her to do as she pleased, cracking open her victims' bones to drink their bone marrow and lapping up their spiritual energy as if she were drinking wine. She was extremely difficult to kill, and she had managed to survive even after being struck by an earth immortal sword cultivator's sword strike one time.
The sleeves of the towering female ghost in white flowed in the air, undulating slightly like the ripples in a river. She raised a hand that was as large as a straw mat and quickly ran it down her face.
She locked gazes with Chen Ping'an, with her remaining eye shimmering with multiple colors.
In the next moment, her appearance immediately changed with no warning.
Chen Ping'an narrowed his eyes and said, "Now you're seeking death."
The female ghost started to circle around Chen Ping'an, swaying back and forth as her silvery voice reverberated around Chen Ping'an like a sweet and enchanting spell. "Can you bring yourself to kill me? Are you capable of killing me? Why don't you and I embrace and become one? You only need to sacrifice some yang energy and spiritual energy to indulge yourself with the woman whom you love. I'll benefit and you won't lose out either, so what's not to like about this deal?"
If this were the past, regardless of whether it was Chen Ping'an's journey through the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, his trip to the Parasol Leaf Continent, or his accidental visit to the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, Chen Ping'an would have carefully concealed his trump card and genuine abilities, only drawing on enough strength and techniques to defeat his enemy. It could be said that he was incredibly cautious as he took things one step at a time.
If he had encountered this female ghost at some other place in the past, he would have definitely fought against her using his fist techniques first, after which he would have used his talismans if required. Only if both of these were insufficient would he summon Fifteenth from his Sword Nurturing Gourd. After that, Sword Immortal on his back would be the final option.
Today was different, however, and Chen Ping'an directly drew Sword Immortal from the scabbard on his back, holding the sword in his hand and casually beheading the female ghost in a single stroke. After the female ghost's head and body were separated, the head that had reverted to its original appearance hovered in the air for a moment before crashing straight down into the ground, causing the female ghost to unleash a deafening wail.
She was just about to respond, yet Chen Ping'an had already driven his sword through her head, pinning her to the ground. With a casual yank, he then grabbed the snow-white Dao robe that immediately transformed into the size of a silk handkerchief. It was filled with spiritual energy and as light as a feather, feeling slightly cool in the hand yet not containing any murderous yin energy. This was a fairly decent Dao robe that was perhaps no inferior to the green Dao robe that he was currently wearing.
This female ghost didn't possess any combat power to speak of, and just like Chen Ping'an had said, he could easily leave her half dead with a single punch. However, the problem was that this wasn't her true body, so he wouldn't be able to wound her foundations no matter how he attacked and killed this clone. This female ghost was extremely difficult to deal with.
Moreover, the female ghost with no physical body could perhaps rely on her secret techniques to harass Chen Ping'an countless times in this area that was filled with abundant yin energy. She could harass him until her clone, which was much like a yin soul traveling far away from its owner, exhausted all of its yin energy and lost contact with her true body.
Chen Ping'an's flying swords, First and Fifteenth, suffered from a similar problem, and unlike the genuine bonded flying swords of those paramount terrestrial sword immortals, they were temporarily unable to pierce through time and ignore all barriers, following the smallest traces to silently kill enemies.
However, Sword Immortal was different.
The female ghost from Meticulous Skin City had mysteriously come, and now her clone had just as mysteriously been destroyed. Not only was her clone comprehensively obliterated in the blink of an eye, but there was no doubt that her true body had been wounded as well. Sword Immortal quietly returned to its scabbard by itself.
Right after Chen Ping'an placed the small and exquisite Dao robe inside his sleeve, he saw a hunchbacked old woman walk over from nearby. She appeared to be walking slowly, yet she was actually using a land-shortening technique, allowing her to arrive ten or so paces in front of Chen Ping'an in no time at all. The old woman had a dark expression as she said, "It was just some harmless probing, so was it necessary for you to use such resolute and lethal force? Do you really think Meticulous Skin City is an easy target for you to pick on? The city lord is already making her way over, so enjoy the final moments of your life."
Chen Ping'an looked up, and he saw a gigantic chariot rumbling over on the wind. It was surrounded by a magnificent convoy of female officials, with some holding treasured canopies to block the sun, some holding ritual batons to clear the path, and some holding huge feather-made fans to block the wind and dust. The female officials were like a myriad of stars surrounding the moon, making the chariot appear like that of an emperor patrolling his lands.
By the looks of it, the city lord of Meticulous Skin City had personally made her way over.
Regardless of whether it was heroic spirits ruling over a region or powerful yin spirits controlling the mountains and rivers of an area, all of the ghosts and yin entities in Malicious Ghost Valley were more unruly and unrestrained compared to the island masters in Bamboo Scroll Lake. It was only because the female ghosts of Meticulous Skin City weren't powerful enough that they weren't able to commit any huge sins. This was the reason why they enjoyed a slightly better reputation than the other cities.
Chen Ping'an adjusted his bamboo hat and retracted his gaze, looking at the hunchbacked old woman who had a cloudy expression and responding, "I wasn't brought up with fear."