Chapter 23: Past Events of the Shang Family Head

"How did you figure out he was a painted skin ghost?" Tao Yaoye asked, posing the very question that Manager Zhang never lived to learn the answer to.

Lu Yang cleared away the remnants of the battle, sweeping the ghost’s ashes into a small pile with a broom, while Tao Yaoye mindfully held out a dustpan to catch them.

"It was quite simple if you recall what the parrot said: 'Who are you, and where is Manager Zhang?'"

"When we met Shang Yuan, she deliberately tried to drive us away, urging us to leave the Shang estate."

"This indicated that the current Manager Zhang was no longer the man the eldest young mistress knew, and that he was extremely dangerous."

"There were three possibilities regarding the replacement of Manager Zhang's identity."

"First, Manager Zhang had been possessed. But why would a possessing old monster stay in the Shang house for so long? If it were me, the first thing I would do after possessing someone would be to leave Taiping Village and find a blessed land of good fortune to continue my cultivation. Besides, Manager Zhang’s natural talent was mediocre at best; possessing the head of the Shang family would have been much better than possessing him." Lu Yang empathized, putting himself in the other's shoes.

"Second, someone had disguised themselves as Manager Zhang. Yet that didn't make sense either. The Shang family has nothing valuable; why pretend to be a manager? Does he have a peculiar fondness for serving people? Even if the Shang family did possess something of value, wouldn't it be easier just to seize it directly? With his late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, he could crawl through Taiping Village and no one would dare interfere." Lu Yang reasoned from his own perspective.

"The third possibility was a painted skin ghost. Painted skin ghosts love nothing more than collecting human skins, disguising themselves as humans, adopting the habits of their disguise, and living among humanity."

A painted skin ghost was human in life and a ghost in death, a type of ghost cultivator. Most varieties of ghost cultivators suffered from some form of psychological trauma.

For instance, painted skin ghosts dreaded nothing more than having their true identities exposed. They would strive to convince themselves that they were human, speaking as humans spoke and acting as humans acted. Once they grew weary of it, they would change into another skin and assume a fresh identity, repeating the cycle indefinitely.

Lu Yang's reasoning was so well-founded and structured that Tao Yaoye looked askance at him in deep admiration, unable to see any trace of the trembling Senior Brother Lu she had known on the flying boat.

She possessed all the knowledge Lu Yang did, but in that moment, she had not thought as deeply as he had. This was a gap in mental acuity.

"Keep the ashes safe; this is the proof of our completed mission." Lu Yang produced a white porcelain jar about two palms high and gathered the painted skin ghost's ashes inside.

The painted skin ghost was an extension of the mission, effectively a part of it; slaying it would surely yield a greater reward than merely finding the parrot.

A flurry of running footsteps echoed outside the room, coming to a sudden halt at the doorway, as though several people had been startled from their slumbers to investigate the eastern wing, yet dared not step inside.

The identity of those outside the door was not hard to guess. Lu Yang called out in a clear voice, "Master Shang, please come in. The painted skin ghost has been slain by my hand; it is safe here."

With a clatter, the wooden door was pushed open by Master Shang. Standing behind him were his wife, his daughter, and their maids and servants—twelve people in total, all bearing expressions of surviving a great calamity.

"Many thanks to both Immortal Masters for taking action to slay the painted skin ghost and saving the twelve lives of my Shang family!" Master Shang fell to his knees with a thud, and the people behind him knelt down in unison.

Painted skin ghosts were fickle and unpredictable; once he grew tired of his role as the manager, it was highly probable he would have slaughtered the entire Shang family down to the last soul.

"Think nothing of it, Master Shang. Slaying demons and defending the righteous path is exactly what we disciples of the Seeking Grand Sect ought to do." Lu Yang had never witnessed such a grand display before; startled, he hastily helped them up one by one.

"I must beg the two Immortal Masters for your forgiveness. The painted skin ghost came and went like a phantom, its movements unpredictable, and I knew not from whence he came."

"Ever since this painted skin ghost assumed Manager Zhang's identity, he forbade us from leaving the Shang estate. If anyone visited, we were forbidden from speaking of his affairs; to be discovered by him meant certain death!"

At this point, Shang Yuan, who stood to the side, also bore a look of shame. She was by nature a gentle, well-bred young lady; all her cold and harsh behavior in her chambers had been a pretense meant to drive Lu Yang and his companion away from danger.

The head of the Shang family continued, "Regrettably, I have retired to the countryside, and all my wealth as a cultivator has long been converted into gold, silver, and jewels, which are useless to the two of you, leaving me unable to repay your kindness. I know not what the two of you require, but this Shang will fulfill it even if I must sell off all my estate." Master Shang was not merely engaging in polite pleasantries; he truly wished to repay them for saving his life.

His wealth appeared to disciples of the Seeking Grand Sect as little more than scrap metal and broken tiles, utterly worthless.

Lu Yang, however, did indeed have a request.

"I heard that it was a great, life-threatening terror you encountered while grave-robbing that made you decide to wash your hands of the business and withdraw from the cultivation world. May I ask what exactly you encountered back then?"

Tao Yaoye looked at Master Shang with keen interest. Grave-robbing, a life-and-death crisis, a great terror, washing one's hands of the business—these words sounded rich with story, perhaps even hinting at some great opportunity. Her favorite pursuit was exploring the unknown in mysterious places.

Lu Yang did not share Tao Yaoye’s grand passion for exploring the unknown, but he did enjoy listening to strange tales and anomalies.

The corners of Master Shang's eyes twitched. To be perfectly honest, he was loath from the bottom of his heart to recall that terrifying past, but since his savior had asked, he could not refuse to answer.

He dismissed the crowd, specifically sending away Shang Yuan, who was attempting to linger covertly, leaving only Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye behind.

"What is spoken today must not be told to anyone else."

Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye nodded in agreement.

Only after receiving their firm assurance did Master Shang begin to recount the events of twenty years ago.

"Thirty years ago, I, Shang Zhongtian, possessed a modicum of fame within the grave-robbing circles of the Qi Condensation stage. If not notorious, I had at least reached the point where everyone detested the sight of me." The head of the Shang family stood with hands on his hips, reminiscing about those golden, glorious years.

Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye did not quite understand why Master Shang, or Shang Zhongtian, spoke of this with such pride.

What they failed to realize was that those in the same trade were bitter rivals, and grave-robbers competed fiercely with one another. For Shang Zhongtian to command such a reputation naturally spoke to his extraordinary skill.

"I always went about my grave-robbing with the utmost caution. I never laid a finger on those grand tombs or ancient sepulchers; 'grand tombs hold ghosts, ancient sepulchers hold immortals,' as everyone in our trade knows."

The ghosts mentioned here were not low-level entities like Foundation Establishment painted skin ghosts, but powerful existences that ruled as kings and tyrants among spirits.

"Qi Condensation cultivators are impoverished, leaving whatever valuables they have to their descendants; what could they possibly have to accompany them into the earth? I never touched the graves of Qi Condensation cultivators; there was no profit in them."

"Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators possess a modest amount of property. After death, they customarily pass the bulk of their estate to their offspring, leaving a small portion as burial goods. Yet even that small portion was enough for me to make a fortune."

"Alas, walk by the river often enough and you are bound to get your shoes wet. That one time, I was originally excavating a cluster of Golden Core graves. When I reached the end, I discovered it was actually a tomb within a tomb—the Golden Core graves were mere accompanying burials, and the main tomb belonged to the Nascent Soul stage!"

"According to the rules of our trade, one must not excavate a tomb that exceeds one's own cultivation by too much. But at that time, I was blinded by joy. Back then, I believed myself to be at the peak of Qi Condensation; if I truly ran for my life, my speed could match the Foundation Establishment stage. Besides, grave-robbing involves no combat, so rounding it up, I could consider myself at the Foundation Establishment stage. Excavating a Nascent Soul tomb that had fallen into my lap surely posed no danger."

"And so, after offering incense to the patriarchs and praying for their protection, I set to work excavating that Nascent Soul tomb."