Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 394 Hunting Expert Zhao Qi
Li Wuxiang reached out and gently patted his shoulder, saying in a voice as soft as the wind, "Actually, this is alright. Let's go, none of these are suitable."

Zhao Qi sighed: "Wait, let me take another look. Maybe it will make me feel better."

Li Wuxiang knew what he wanted to see—Xue Baoping shrank back after being scolded by Zhao Qi. But there was no fear on her face; instead, she smiled at Chen Xiu. Chen Xiu was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter through tears.

Then Xue Baoping walked to the entrance of the stone cave and called inside, "Come out and eat! You're all dressed inside. Come to the door and I'll open it, otherwise all the heat will escape!"

Several responses came from the stone cave, all children's voices. After a short while, Xue Baoping asked, "Is it done yet?"

Inside, someone mumbled incoherently, "Okay!"

She suddenly opened the door, and six children, ranging in age from five or six to eight or nine, ran out. Startled by the cold wind, they screamed and ran towards the cooking shed. Xue Baoping quickly closed the door behind them.

The noise must have disturbed Zhao Qi inside the house, but he remained silent.

Li Wuxiang glanced at Zhao Qi beside him and mouthed, "Not bad."

A hint of joy appeared on Zhao Qi's face. He nodded and gestured to him, "Let's go!"

The two had come quietly in the wind and snow, and they were leaving quietly as well. They first slowly retreated down the slope, then jumped into a ditch and crouched low, before leaping into the ditch below the gentle slope. They had expected the snow in the ditch to be deep, but because of the terrain and the stronger wind, the snow was only a thin, hard layer. Beneath the snow was a thin layer of frozen ice, and Zhao Qi fell in with a plop. Li Wuxiang pulled him up.

Earlier, while walking on the mountain, Zhao Qi was full of energy and didn't feel cold. But now, crouching by the wall to eavesdrop, he felt cold again. Grabbing Li Wuxiang's hand, Zhao Qi trembled and said, "Hurry, hurry! Let me think about it some more. Take me away quickly, or I'll really freeze to death!"

Li Wuxiang applied a little force to his hand, and a warm current flowed over it, causing Zhao Qi to immediately let out a long, comfortable breath.

“We were lucky both times; you didn’t go far. But it might not be the same next time. You might be nowhere to be found,” Li Wuxiang said in a low voice, looking up at the sky.

But just as he looked up, he saw something—and quickly shrank back over the ditch.

Li Wuxiang immediately leaped into the air. He didn't jump directly onto the gentle slope beside him, but instead hovered in mid-air, his head peeking out, just enough to see the people on the slope.

He and Xue Baoping here locked eyes.

Xue Baoping was so frightened that she shrank back, but then she stopped, staring at him with wide eyes.

When he was in Jinshui, when he emerged from the darkness as a human skin, he remembered that Xue Baoping had the same gaze, and the same unwavering determination.

"What's wrong!?" Zhao Qi was about to jump up, but Li Wuxiang raised his hand and stopped him, lifting him into the air so that only his head was visible.

Their eyes met, and finally Xue Baoping spoke first: "...Who are you people?"

"A passerby," Li Wuxiang said.

Do you have relatives in Jinshui? In the past?

Li Wuxiang thought for a moment and said, "I guess so."

Xue Baoping fell silent, turning to look at the hillside and then at Li Wuxiang. She was crouching down; she must have been lying on the snow peering into the ditch, only pulling her face back when she saw Li Wuxiang looking up.

Seeing her reaction, a thought flashed through his mind like lightning. Li Wuxiang asked directly, "What's wrong? Is there a problem with your master, Zhao Qi?"

Xue Baoping opened her mouth, paused for a moment, and then asked, "Why are you asking this?"

“You just discovered that we were hiding there, but you didn’t say anything. After we met, you asked us if we had any relatives living in Jinshui. You should have asked us why we came here, whether it was for our relatives or for some other purpose. But why did you think we had relatives here? You must think that if we did, then you might know something. And you have to keep these things from your master—of course, this is all just my guess.”

Xue Baoping hesitated, a state that perfectly embodied the phrase: wanting to say something but holding back.

Li Wuxiang smiled and said, "If we were afraid of your master, you would be shouting now, and even if we killed you, we wouldn't be able to escape. If we weren't afraid, why would we be asking you here? Little girl, just say what you want to say. We may not be good people, but we are not people who kill innocent people indiscriminately."

"Who...who are your relatives?"

Li Wuxiang blurted out, "There's a Chen family shop in your town, and there's an old shopkeeper there, tall and thin. Three generations back, he was my grandfather's cousin. My brother and I were passing by and wanted to visit him, but we found the town destroyed, with corpses everywhere. Was it that evil Taoist priest you mentioned who killed him?"

Xue Baoping bit her lip. Her lips were already so dry that they were chapped and peeling, and the bite drew blood.

"My master killed them all. My master's name is Zhao Qi! Have you ever heard of him?"

Zhao Qi, who was standing next to him, jumped up, but Li Wuxiang held him down: "You saw it?"

"I saw him kill people in the Chen family's courtyard. After he finished, he set a fire and said that a wicked Taoist priest had come to town. He shouted along the street that everyone should stay indoors, and then he set fires outside..."

"How could he—" Zhao Qi exclaimed in surprise. But his voice was different from the one on the slope. The one on the slope spoke with composure and a low voice. The one beside him had changed somewhat, and spoke in a slightly high-pitched voice. When he was surprised, his voice was even sharper.

After calling out that, Zhao Qi realized his mistake and continued in a slightly shrill tone, "Then why did you call him 'Master'? You were even trying to please him just now—"

Li Wuxiang and Xue Baoping both looked at Zhao Qi. Zhao Qi was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening: "Oh, you were faking it. Sigh."

Li Wuxiang thought for a moment: "Do you know why your master killed people?"

"……do not know."

"So what do you want us to do? Kill your master? If he dies, you children might not survive."

“I can keep them alive. We still have food, and I can trade some for other things. If you want a reward, we have plenty of grain here…”

Li Wuxiang laughed: "That's not necessary. Alright, little girl, you can go back now. But let me tell you, we may not intervene. We are cultivators, and we've already taken family and relatives lightly. Facing tribulation is their fate, whether or not to seek revenge is our own fate."

Li Wuxiang carried Zhao Qi back into the ditch. The two stood there for a while, and Xue Baoping didn't stick her head out again. Then they heard a very faint rustling sound in the wind; it must have gone far away.

Zhao Qi kicked the frozen soil in the ditch: "He really is no good! Sigh!"

Li Wuxiang was a little surprised by his reaction: "I thought you would say that you wouldn't do such a thing yourself."

“I could do it, sigh.” Zhao Qi sighed. “I’m not that kind of person, but I felt I might be capable of it… I did it and then regretted it, so I brought those kids here! Damn it, why did I do this? Li Wuxiang!”

He turned his face away: "If I kill him, wouldn't that be atonement? Taking his life is too easy for me. I know what he's capable of, and I know how to deal with him!"

Li Wuxiang reached out and patted him on the shoulder: "Ask him in person first and find out the truth."

Zhao Qi was stunned: "What else is there to ask? Is Xue Baoping lying?"

"Well, it's possible."

"Oh... Ah!? Xue Baoping, you think Xue Baoping is lying to you??"

“Like I said, a person will do different things depending on their circumstances. Aquarius saved me because I killed the Wang family and saved her. But I know that if a demon had saved her, she might have worshipped the demon. You think she wouldn't be a bad person, but do you think I would be? Let me tell you, I wasn't a good person either.”

"So stop worrying about whether you're good or bad. In Lao Zeng's words, just be true to yourself as you are now. Let's go."

……

Having decided to take action, Li Wuxiang could now use his supernatural powers—to transfer warmth to Zhao Qi. The two sat by the earthen wall in the ditch, chatting idly for a few moments. But Zhao Qi wasn't very talkative today, probably because he was quite uneasy about dealing with "himself."

Winter nights fall early, and after sunset, the wind in Bishan grows even stronger, howling like ghosts. The two returned to the gentle slope, but this time they didn't sneak back; instead, they went straight to the shed.

Zhao Qi inside the house probably didn't hear the footsteps, while Zhao Qi outside the house reached out and knocked on the door.

After knocking three times, there was no response from inside. Zhao Qi assumed he was asleep, so he knocked five or six more times. By this time, the night wind was stronger and the howling was louder, so the knocking didn't carry far in the darkness and couldn't be heard by the person inside the cave.

But Zhao Qi inside must have been startled awake, because he shouted, "What's wrong? What is it?"

Zhao Qi, standing outside, called out, "Friends from the martial world, I'd like to ask for lodging for the night!" There was silence inside for a moment, and then Zhao Qi said from within, "There's a shed over there, you can go and rest there. Be quiet, my master is in seclusion in the stone cave, don't disturb him."

After a brief pause, he added, "There is food inside; you can take it yourself."

Li Wuxiang smiled, while Zhao Qi sighed softly. If it were him, he would have answered the same way—no good person would come to the mountains in the middle of the night asking for lodging. But this didn't look like a place with valuables, and they didn't know the other party's level of cultivation. The safest course of action was to remain calm. Stay if you want, eat if you want, take if you want—but I have a master in seclusion, so don't make any rash moves!

But Zhao Qi outside said, "Zhao Qi, how can we dare to stay without seeing you?"

Silence filled the room. After a couple of breaths, a sharp clang of a sword was heard—he must have drawn his sword. Then came the soft clatter of wooden planks—he must have gotten out of bed or grabbed something else.

"Oh, so you're here to seek revenge?" The person inside sneered, their voice icy. "Fine, come in and let's see what you've got in common!"

Zhao Qi said from outside, "I didn't intend to fight you, I just wanted to find out what happened in Jinshui first. I have relatives in Jinshui Town, and I've heard that a Qi cultivator named Zhao Qi once came to the town. Now the town is deserted, but you're hiding in the mountains with food—did you kill them all?"

The person inside didn't answer, only the sound of fingers lightly flicking a sword's blade could be heard. Li Wuxiang could imagine the scene inside just from that sound: Zhao Qi's face was tense, sitting cross-legged in the darkness, sword in hand, lightly flicking the blade with his fingers. There should have been talismans placed inside, and the hand he was using to flick the sword should also be holding something like a sleeping potion—it couldn't be placed in advance because the shed was drafty, and anything cast prematurely would be blown away by the wind.

He asked in a low voice, "Do you want me to shake this house apart?"

Zhao Qi hesitated for a moment, about to speak, when his expression changed! Before Li Wuxiang could figure out what was going on, Zhao Qi had already kicked the door open and rushed in.

Li Wuxiang followed closely behind and saw a flash of sword light—the hilt of a long sword was stuck in the ground, and the blade stood upright. A thin rope hung from the roof of the shed, with a piece of wood tied to one end, dangling near the blade. The shed was drafty, and the wind blew the wood, causing it to strike the blade, which Li Wuxiang thought was the sound of someone inside flicking their sword.

He was stunned for a moment before realizing that, when it came to dealing with "Zhao Qi," the one who understood Zhao Qi best was indeed himself!

The hut was narrow and low, containing only a straw bed. Zhao Qi lifted the straw on top and pushed aside the wooden branches underneath, and sure enough, he saw a hole in the ground. The hole was very small, only big enough for one person to crawl into, and both of them could feel a gust of wind blowing out from inside.

"He ran away! I knew it!" Zhao Qi kicked up the sword on the ground, grabbed it, and rushed out of the shed. He stood still in the wind and snow, looking around. But there was no one in front of the cave, and the surroundings were shrouded in darkness amidst the wind and snow. Seeing him like this, Li Wuxiang could truly say that he was "drawing his sword and looking around, feeling lost and bewildered."

He went out of the house and pointed to the northwest: "There's some noise over there."

Zhao Qi immediately ran wildly into the darkness, while Li Wuxiang, with his hands behind his back, walked slowly step by step in the wind, managing to keep up with him.

The tunnel inside the house wasn't very long; it was probably just for escaping in an emergency. Zhao Qi ran about thirty paces to the northwest when he suddenly saw a flash of silver light in the darkness. He sneered, raised his sword, and twirled it twice in front of him. With a few clanging sounds, iron beads fell to the ground.

After taking two more steps, a gigantic figure suddenly emerged from the darkness—a demon king with a blue face and fangs! The demon king roared, "Where are you—"

Zhao Qi took two steps to the side and thrust his sword towards the Ghost King's ribs. Before the creature could finish speaking, it immediately turned into a tattered talisman and drifted away in the wind.

"Zhao Qi!" he called out as he chased after him, "Those talismans of yours were offered up in the Ranshan Secret Realm. Every one you use is one less available. Can they withstand such wasteful treatment?"

No one answered in the darkness. Zhao Qi took two more steps and reached the ditch. The snow on the ground had fallen a few days ago; although it had frozen solid, it was still knee-deep. There was a pile of snow mixed with yellow soil where the ghostly illusion had appeared; the life-saving hole dug by the person inside the house should be there.

From there to this ditch, you can see his footprints. But when you get to this side, there are no footprints, but a large snowdrift in the snow, as if the person inside the house ran here, accidentally fell, struggled a few times, and then fell into the ditch.

Zhao Qi was about to jump, but stopped and stood still in the wind and snow.

Li Wuxiang followed, unsure of Zhao Qi's intentions, and didn't rush to ask. Zhao Qi himself was an expert; he must have his reasons for doing this.

Zhao Qi stood quietly for a moment before speaking, "Do you know why I just told him about the talisman?"

At this moment, Brother Zhao stood tall and straight, sword in hand, his voice deep and serious, giving Li Wuxiang the air of a highly accomplished master. He shook his head: "I don't know."

“Because this way, he’ll know I know his background. Knowing his background, he also knows Ranshan’s background.” Zhao Qi slowly paced back and forth a couple of times. “The people who know these people are most likely from the Thirty-Six Sects. Ranshan is the weakest among the Thirty-Six Sects, and its disciples should also be the weakest. So he should know that he can’t escape.”

After saying this, he turned his face to the side and looked at the snow.

Li Wuxiang also turned to look and immediately understood.

There was someone under the snow. The snow that had accumulated for several days was slowly melting a little under the sun, but it would freeze again at night. As a result, the outer layer was actually quite hard, enough to support the cavity below—the person inside hadn't fallen into the ditch, but instead made a snowdrift and slowly crawled under the snow layer.

Zhao Qi lowered his longsword at an angle and slowly traced lines on the snow: "Will you come out on your own, or will I stab you out with my sword?"

"Wait!" A voice came from the snow. "I'm coming out, fellow Daoist, please show mercy!"

Zhao Qi withdrew his sword, and the snow surface suddenly flipped open—the person inside the house turned over, and only after seeing that there was no sword blade in front of them did they slowly sit up.

He was also dressed in tattered clothes, his head and face covered in snow, his face pale with cold, and his lips trembling. He looked at Li Wuxiang, then at the masked Zhao Qi, and sat down, raising his hands in a fist salute: "I am a disciple of Ranshan. Are you two fellow Daoists senior brothers from the Thirty-Six Sects? Is there some misunderstanding? I did not kill the people from Jinshui."

Zhao Qi looked at him coldly: "You didn't kill them all. Someone survived and saw you setting fires and killing people along the street. That person ran to Deyang and happened to run into us, master and apprentice."

The person inside the room was taken aback, a look of astonishment appearing on their face.

But both Li Wuxiang and Zhao Qi could see that the astonishment wasn't because "how could anyone say such a thing?" but because "how could anyone still be alive?"

Zhao Qi asked again, "Is there anything else to say?"

The seated person opened their mouth, but didn't speak, shake their head, or nod.

Zhao Qi asked again, "You brought a group of children to hide in these mountains. What, did you regret killing them and then have a change of heart?"

At this point, he finally spoke: "Yes...yes. I...I went berserk that day, and I don't even know what I did. When I came to my senses, I realized I had made a terrible mistake, and now only these few children are left playing in the river. I regret it, I regret it so much. I originally wanted to atone with my death, but then I thought, what will happen to these children? They won't survive the winter, so I thought I'd stay here with them through the winter, and then send them to Qingjiang City in the spring to find them families to adopt...I've been saving this food to send with them, and then I'll commit suicide to atone for my sins!"

Zhao Qi was taken aback and turned to look at Li Wuxiang. Li Wuxiang also frowned, but then relaxed.

Seeing their expressions, the man on the ground quickly added, "I'm telling the truth. If you don't believe me, then... then... Ranshan is still there, and my master is still on the mountain. If you don't believe me, go to Ranshan and tell him what happened. At worst, we can make it public! At that time, my master will definitely not let me live in order to silence the gossip! What I mean is, after I send these children away in the spring, my master will definitely not let me live!"

"Your master has already succeeded, hasn't he?" Zhao Qi asked.

The person on the ground suddenly opened their mouth, unable to utter a word.

"You're telling us to go to Ran Mountain to find your master? Are you telling us to go and die?" Zhao Qi asked again.

The person on the ground shifted his gaze, looking to both sides, seemingly searching for an opportunity to fight back.

Why didn't you go back to Ran Mountain with your master?

The man on the ground suddenly sprang up! He had been sitting with his hands on the ground, buried in the snow. Now, a short sword appeared in his hand, aimed straight for Zhao Qi's heart. But Zhao Qi had anticipated this and easily dodged it with a slight sidestep—avoiding this attack, and then seven more in a row. The man's attacks seemed to deliberately follow the snow and wind around him; if there had been a fourth person present, they would have thought he was deliberately avoiding the attacks, intentionally not striking.

After seven moves, his movements slowed down. Taking advantage of this, Zhao Qi raised his sword and struck, hitting the pressure point on his knee. He fell to the ground again, panting heavily, his eyes filled with extreme fear, seemingly unable to comprehend how Zhao Qi's kung fu could be so superb!
"You piece of trash!" Zhao Qi raised his hand, the sword tip pointing directly at his nose. "Aren't you going to talk?!"

The person on the ground gasped for breath for a while, then suddenly turned their face to the side, gritted their teeth, closed their eyes, and remained motionless.

"Did your master kill that person?! He mastered the skills at the Xue family in Jinshui, and then he possessed you? Or what? You piece of trash, you won't tell me just because he's your master? You're thinking of his kindness in raising you?! Then why don't you go back with him?!" Zhao Qi turned to look at Li Wuxiang, "Has Zhao Kui also become a disciple here? He wants incense offerings? So he'll use human sacrifices?"

Li Wuxiang shook his head: "I am not here. But it is possible that he may have also become the God of Fate, or something else."

Zhao Qi turned his head and spat on the ground: "Pah! What a piece of trash! So stupid! So wicked!"

Zhao Qi, still lying on the ground, turned his head to the side and tilted it back, avoiding the sword's edge: "You already know, so why are you asking me? I just... I just couldn't stand what he did, but he's my master... I just won't go back with him, what else can I do? You're all so capable, go find him! Can't you just leave me alone! I... I really want to teach these children cultivation, I've already expelled myself from Ran Mountain!"

"Pah!" Zhao Qi spat again, his long sword trembling slightly, but he didn't hand it over.

He suddenly threw his longsword, which landed beside Zhao Qi with a whoosh, and turned to leave. But after a few steps, he stopped, ripped off his mask, and cursed, "Look carefully at who I am! If you don't want to become a second Zhao Kui, don't teach disciples like him! Li Wuxiang, I'm leaving!"

……

6000 words today. I'll tell you a secret: that leader on the reader ranking list named "Kong Juxin" is also an author, and he wrote a book called *Xuanjian Immortal Clan*! I don't know if you've heard of him!
(End of this chapter)