Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 43 He deserves it
Lu Zheng looked at the human skin in the pottery jar, took a deep breath, and suppressed the murderous intent in his heart.

He asked coldly, "Are there any other painted skins?"

"No...yes! There's another one!"

The snake demon felt a sharp pain on his back and quickly changed his words.

The snake demon raised his hand tremblingly and pointed to a place, saying, "There is another one for my own use, which was given to me by that person. It's right there!"

Lu Zheng looked in the direction of the snake demon's finger and saw a neatly folded object on a stone bed.

He walked over and spread out his hand, revealing a man's painted skin.

"Have you used it?" Lu Zheng asked.

The snake demon whispered, "I've gone out a few times wearing this painted skin."

"Did you kill this man?" Lu Zheng asked again.

The snake demon quickly shook his head and said, "It's not me. This painted skin was really not made by me. He gave it to me. He saw that I had not yet cultivated into a human form, so he gave me a well-refined painted skin."

Lu Zheng said calmly: "Go draw the portrait!"

The snake demon staggered to a stone table, on which were all pens, ink, paper and inkstone.

The snake demon tore out a piece of paper and tremblingly picked up a pen, wanting to draw a picture, but he was so nervous that his mind went blank for a moment and his hands were shaking.

"Scholar, my hands are out of control..." the snake demon said weakly.

Lu Zheng had no expression on his face as he placed his sword on the snake demon's arm.

"Change your hand. This arm is no longer necessary."

Feeling the sting of the sword cutting through his skin, the snake demon shuddered and exclaimed in surprise, "No, no, no, I can draw!"

Lu Zheng ordered, "Start with the most recent victim and tell us where the crime was committed."

The snake demon painted with shaking hands and stammered out what he had done.

After drawing several portraits, the snake demon could no longer control his emotions.

He felt that if he continued to paint like this and told everything he had ever done, he would die a miserable death.

"Scholar, if you spare me, I will give you all my gold, silver, and treasures, as well as some spiritual stones and elixirs, all hidden in the secret compartment under the stone bed... If you spare my life, I will be your insider and help you find that man!"

In order to survive, the snake demon had to speak up and show his value.

"Keep painting." Lu Zheng turned a deaf ear.

The snake demon said, "I really can't remember what those people look like..."

Lu Zheng responded coldly and didn't believe the snake demon's words at all.

"You personally peeled people's skins to make painted skins, and turned people into evil spirits in exchange for benefits. How could you not remember?"

"No, I don't remember..." the snake demon said in a panic, "Scholar, please forgive me, I was wrong!"

"You just know you're going to die."

Lu Zheng kicked the snake demon to the ground and stabbed the snake demon's abdomen with the sword in his hand.

The snake demon screamed in pain and tried to struggle to get up, but Lu Zheng stepped hard on him and he couldn't move.

Lu Zheng asked sternly, "How many people have you made into painted skins, how many have you turned into evil spirits, and how many have you harmed in total? Tell me!"

The snake demon was so frightened that he gritted his teeth and said nothing.

He would die anyway whether he told it or not, so he might as well say nothing.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng squatted down, scratched the wound on the snake demon's abdomen with one hand, and began to tear it slowly, slowly separating the skin and flesh.

The snake demon's pupils suddenly shrank, and his body straightened. He felt extreme pain in an instant, and then it seemed as if he could no longer feel the pain in his body.

"I exchanged twenty-seven painted skins and thirty-three evil spirits with him... I really don't remember how many people I harmed."

The snake demon managed to utter a word, then said hoarsely, "Scholar, please let me die, please..."

"Didn't they beg you for help?" It was a dark night with strong winds. Qinggang Mountain was completely dark except for one cave where a faint light flickered.

If you get closer, you can hear the painful groans coming from the cave, which last for a long time.

Time passed slowly, and finally even the trace of sound died down.

[You hate evil and slay a 20nd level snake demon. Your Wen Qi increases by !]

Lu Zheng stood in front of a copper basin, washing the blood off his body with cold water.

Not far behind him, there was a pool of muddy flesh and blood, and a bloody skin.

The snake demon has committed many evil deeds, and even if you peel off its skin and extract its bones, it is difficult to atone for its sins.

Lu Zheng couldn't calm down when he thought about what the snake demon had done.

After washing his hands, Lu Zheng came to the stone bed, groped and searched for a while, found the secret compartment that the snake demon mentioned, and then took out a sandalwood box from it.

The box contained ten translucent stones the size of a little finger and a bottle of medicine.

Lu Zheng picked up a small stone and looked at it, knowing that this was the spirit stone that the snake demon had mentioned.

There is spiritual energy in the stone, and Lu Zheng can vaguely feel it.

But he had never learned any method of refining Qi, and didn't know how to use spirit stones to practice.

However, Lu Zheng heard that such a small piece of spirit stone was worth ten taels of gold, which was quite rare.

Then, Lu Zheng opened the medicine bottle again and found four blood-colored pills inside.

The pill gave off a medicinal and bloody smell, and it didn't look like a legitimate pill.

Both of these things are useful, so Lu Zheng collected them all.

Then he continued to search the cave.

A sharp long sword was found. It was no ordinary item and had a hint of evil aura. It should be the weapon of the snake demon.

Unfortunately, Lu Zheng has only just started using the sword, so this long sword is useless.

Apart from this, no other valuable treasures were found.

No clues were found about the person the snake demon was talking about.

Seeing that there was nothing to gain, Lu Zheng found a box and took Zhang Wei's painted skin out of the pottery jar and put it away.

He then cut off the snake demon's head and wrapped it in cloth, collected several portraits and the man's painted skin, and took some money.

After staying in the snake demon's cave for a while, Lu Zheng went down the mountain along the same path he came from.

Not long after he left, a raging fire broke out in the snake demon's cave, and everything inside was burned to ashes.

By the time Lu Zheng returned to Qinghe Village, it was already midnight.

Huang Shu was dozing on a rock when he suddenly heard a noise. He opened his eyes and found that it was Lu Zheng who had returned.

"Young Master, you're back!" He quickly stood up and went to greet him.

Seeing the dried blood on Lu Zheng's clothes, Huang Shu couldn't help but ask with concern: "Are you injured, sir?"

"No, it's just a small snake." Lu Zheng shook his head. "Let's go and get Miss Zhang Er's body. We'll take her home."

Huang Shu was slightly surprised when he heard this. He was indeed an extraordinary scholar who killed the murderer so quickly.

He hurriedly took steps with his short legs to keep up with Lu Zheng.

A man and a demon came to the place where Zhang Yan was buried and dug out the body again.

Lu Zheng personally dressed the corpse in leather and clothes.

The girl returned to her original appearance, her peaceful and pale face showing a hint of relief.

Lu Zheng sighed inwardly. With so many victims, he could only help one person get relief. In the end, he was willing but unable to do anything.

(End of this chapter)