Chapter 22: Who Said There is No Poison Aimed at Skin?

Struck full in the face, Housekeeper Zhang spun with the momentum to disperse the force of the blow, yet his mind remained thoroughly perplexed. The poison he had administered to Tao Yaoye was his crowning achievement, one that had cost the lives of countless cultivators who died with bitter regrets; how could it possibly have failed?

Tao Yaoye did not answer. Having confirmed that the parrot indeed belonged to the eldest Miss Shang, she had already heightened her vigilance.

The entire township knew of a talking demon bird flying about aimlessly. Had the Shang family dispatched so much as a single soul to search for it, they would have found the parrot easily, and none of these subsequent events would have transpired.

The Shang family's behavior defied all reason; there was bound to be something amiss!

Coupled with the eldest Miss Shang’s aloof and distant demeanor—which seemed less like driving them away and more like hinting that the Shang residence was perilous, urging them to depart with all haste.

A lazy voice drifted from behind, answering on Tao Yaoye's behalf: "The mandatory introductory course at the Wendao Sect covers eighteen hundred varieties of common poisons and their antidotes. Would you care to have a look?"

The poison Housekeeper Zhang took such pride in was nothing short of a farce in the eyes of the Wendao Sect. No matter how adept you were at brewing venom, could it truly surpass the concoctions of our Danding Peak?

Housekeeper Zhang whipped his head around, only to find Lu Yang leaning against the doorframe, an ancient sword cradled in his arms, watching him with a beaming smile.

Housekeeper Zhang understood then: Tao Yaoye was not the prey; he was.

He asked in a deep voice, "How did you discover me?"

He did not believe he had left any tracks; the Shang family was entirely under his control, and no one had leaked the secret.

When Shang Yuan and Lu Yang were conversing in the room, he had worried that releasing his divine sense would be detected, so he resorted to eavesdropping instead, thereby learning that Lu Yang and his companion were disciples of the Wendao Sect.

Yet even then, Shang Yuan had not revealed his identity.

Housekeeper Zhang possessed excellent hearing; even the scratching of a brush on paper could not escape his ears.

Lu Yang smiled and said, "Do you know what that parrot used to say in the township?"

"What did it say?"

"It said, 'Who are you, where is Zhang Guanji?'"

"At first, we thought the parrot was looking for Zhang Guanji. Later, we realized it was simply repeating words blindly. At that moment, I began to wonder: Zhang Guanji doesn't roam the martial world, so where did the parrot hear such a phrase?"

"Do you think it's possible that what the parrot said wasn't 'Who are you, where is Zhang Guanji?', but rather, 'Who are you, where is Housekeeper Zhang?'"

A scene flashed through Lu Yang's mind:

Twenty days ago, the eldest Miss Shang had accidentally discovered that Housekeeper Zhang's identity had been usurped. In her terror, she cried out, "Who are you, where is Housekeeper Zhang?", and subsequently knocked over the bird perch, frightening the parrot into flight. Those were the last words the parrot heard, which was why it repeated them before Mayor Huang in the tailor shop.

Perhaps the parrot's pronunciation was flawed, or perhaps Mayor Huang's immediate thought flew to Zhang Guanji, with whom he had the most contact. In any case, the parrot's words were transformed into "Who are you, where is Zhang Guanji?".

Housekeeper Zhang burned with rage, never expecting that his grand design would be thwarted by that mindless, repetitive bird.

Had he known sooner, he would have slaughtered it back then!

Housekeeper Zhang was no greenhorn to the martial world either. Surrounded by the two of them, he burst into a loud laugh: "As one in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, if I wish to flee, can you two truly hope to stop me?"

Tao Yaoye grew somewhat anxious. If Housekeeper Zhang escaped, they would have no choice but to report it to the sect and leave it to their senior brothers and sisters to handle, and whether his trail could be tracked remained entirely uncertain.

This brought a sense of disgrace to Tao Yaoye; she had completed two missions successfully, only for an unexpected complication to arise on her third.

Lu Yang maintained that same calm and unhurried composure, leaving Housekeeper Zhang utterly unsettled: "Did it never cross your mind that just as you could poison us, we could also poison you?"

Hearing this, Housekeeper Zhang relaxed and said with disdain, "And here I thought it was something formidable. Poison? What use could such a thing possibly have against me?"

As he spoke, Housekeeper Zhang's skin became loose and saggy, precisely like a snake shedding its skin. Flesh separated from hide, and the shed skin formed a complete human silhouette, standing erect in the center of the room with hollow features, staring rigidly at Tao Yaoye in a manner that made one's skin crawl. The skinless body fell to the floor with a dull thud.

A Painted-Skin Ghost.

Tao Yaoye's expression turned grave as she realized why Housekeeper Zhang claimed poison was useless.

Poisons had always targeted the physical body—to be precise, the internal organs, muscles, and meridians. Housekeeper Zhang was a Painted-Skin Ghost whose true form was a sheet of skin; who could poison skin?

Furthermore, how could there be a poison specifically designed for skin? At the very least, Housekeeper Zhang had never heard of such a thing.

Lu Yang had.

Just as Housekeeper Zhang was about to flaunt his constitution, he discovered to his horror that blisters the size of mung beans had sprouted across both his feet. Layer after layer of skin peeled away, and the pustules swelled with an agonizing itch that burst at the slightest scratch. Housekeeper Zhang had merely scraped against the floor a few times before a thick, yellow fluid began to ooze out.

"What... what is this?!" There was a trace of terror in Housekeeper Zhang's voice.

Housekeeper Zhang had never encountered such a plight; when had he been poisoned?

"Athlete's foot."

"What?" Housekeeper Zhang thought his ears were playing tricks on him.

"Did you truly think I spent all that time chatting with you just to pass the time? No, I was waiting for your symptoms to manifest."

"I calculated that you would come looking for Tao Yaoye, so I left a poison in this side chamber beforehand to trigger athlete's foot!"

Housekeeper Zhang's face turned pale.

Tao Yaoye's face turned dark.

Lu Yang grinned ferociously, advancing toward Housekeeper Zhang step by step, frightening the creature into retreating repeatedly until it sat heavily upon the ground.

"How... how did you know I was a Painted-Skin Ghost?!" Had he not known beforehand, how could he have applied such a precisely targeted poison!

Most importantly, Housekeeper Zhang had never heard of any Painted-Skin Ghost contracting athlete's foot!

Now, the itching in his feet was so maddening it nearly drove him insane, even engendering the urge to chop off his own feet. This forced him to divert the majority of his focus and spiritual energy to suppress the toxin, rendering escape utterly impossible.

Suddenly, Housekeeper Zhang's vision blurred, and Lu Yang vanished into thin air.

"How can this be!" Housekeeper Zhang's eyes nearly tore from their sockets. Lu Yang had only just reached Foundation Establishment; no matter how exquisite his movement techniques, it should have been impossible to elude his sight.

"An illusion!" Housekeeper Zhang reacted instantly, rolling desperately to vacate the spot.

Regrettably, it was already too late. A cold gleam erupted, swift as thunder. A thin line began from Housekeeper Zhang's forehead and ended at his crotch. Lu Yang sheathed his sword, and Housekeeper Zhang was severed in two, the cut as smooth as a mirror.

"Well done." Lu Yang gave Tao Yaoye a thumbs-up.

Just moments ago, Tao Yaoye had utilized the Thousand-Illusion Umbrella to plunge Housekeeper Zhang into an illusion. The illusion was imperfect; Housekeeper Zhang had drifted through the martial world for many years and would recognize it after a moment of daze.

Lu Yang required nothing more than that single instant of distraction. Drawing his sword, cleaving vertically, and sheathing it—all executed in one fluid motion.

Painted-Skin Ghosts were renowned for their bizarre nature, not their defensive prowess. Confronted by a sword cultivator wielding the ultimate offensive power, combined with a moment of daze wherein no protective arts were channeled, the battle was naturally decided in a single strike without the slightest suspense!

The moment Lu Yang exposed its identity, the bizarre advantage of the Painted-Skin Ghost vanished into thin air.

The Painted-Skin Ghost stared fixedly at Lu Yang in utter disbelief, its mouth opening and closing as it faintly seemed to ask: How did you recognize my true form?

Tao Yaoye looked toward Lu Yang, also desiring to know the answer.

Lu Yang offered no words. He swung his sword once more, hacking the Painted-Skin Ghost into four pieces, doused it with spiritual wine, and set it ablaze. Under the agonizing shrieks of the Painted-Skin Ghost, it was reduced to charcoal.

Who knew if this wretched thing possessed some hidden recourse; it was better to kill it first before explaining at leisure.