Start practicing from Mr. Fox

Chapter 82 Human Skin Henchmen

Until he stood in front of the gate of Jinluoyuan.

Chen Ji was still a little dazed.

The scent of cosmetics filled my face, the sound of stringed instruments and singing filled my ears, and there were soft whispers that I had never heard before.

"Young Master, why don't you come in and have some fun?"

……

Chen Ji took a deep breath. This was the first time he had come to such a place in his two lifetimes.

One is that I am short of money, and the other is that I don’t like it.

Of course, the latter reason is more important.

So at this moment, I was still a little nervous and hesitant standing at the door.

I didn’t realize that the thirty taels I was carrying were now worth twenty-nine taels, seven qian and forty-six copper coins.

I spent some money on the meal, and also gave the waiter a few copper coins as a tip for asking questions.

I don’t know if the remaining money is enough.

I heard that drinking wine was not cheap in ancient times, and most of the poems I have memorized are about spending money lavishly.

The twenty-odd taels of silver I had seemed a little shabby.

"Young Master, why are you just standing there and not coming in to take a look? Are the girls going to eat you?"

The heavily made-up woman in front of the door teased and begged again.

The flower ornaments between the eyebrows make the forehead yellow, and the fragrant cheeks are like snow with the fragrance of spring.

Although crow's feet have appeared at the corners of her eyes, it can be seen that she was once a very beautiful woman.

Chen Ji felt a little embarrassed for standing at the door without going in and having the people from Jinluyuan ask him twice.

So I made up my mind.

I came here to exorcise demons and catch ghosts, not for fun.

What's more, with Taoist Xiyun and Miss Bai following us, there is naturally nothing else to be happy about.

So he found an excuse to go in and look for any trace of the demon or ghost. If he couldn't find any, he would do something else.

Chen Ji thought about it and looked at the heavily made-up woman.

"I'm here to treat the two Taoist priests to a drink. Please arrange a table for us. Ten...five taels of silver will be enough."

Only then did the woman notice the two Taoist priests behind Chen Ji.

One looked like an immortal, while the other looked like a street fortune teller.

And this young and handsome guy is also a Taoist priest.

But he did not despise them.

After being in the martial arts world for a long time, everyone knows that monks and Taoist priests are not easy to mess with, let alone there are three Taoist priests in front of them.

Then he confirmed it with Chen Ji.

"Just drinking?"

"What else can I do?"

"In the past, Taoist priests would come to our garden and would ask a few girls to accompany them."

"Then we don't have to."

"I didn't expect that you were all serious Taoist practitioners. I am sorry for being rude."

"But there will be girls performing on stage later, so it's worth watching."

The woman bowed, invited the three men in, and told the servant to take them to a private seat.

"Just in the lobby."

The white girl spoke.

The woman looked at Chen Ji with a questioning look.

Chen Ji knew what Miss Bai meant. If they were in private rooms or side rooms, no one would be visible, and it would be difficult to identify the identities of the demons and ghosts, so he nodded.

"Let's arrange it in the hall."

"Then find a good position for the three Taoist priests."

The woman then ordered.

There are many locations in the hall, and the quality varies greatly.

If a person is truly capable, there is no need to make enemies just because he sits in a bad position.

It’s not a big deal anyway, so just do me a favor.

Wait for Chen Ji and others to take their seats.

I also think this location is really good. There are no pillars blocking the view, and it is some distance away from other tables, so it is quite quiet.

"I'll be performing later. If the Taoist priest likes it, you can give him some silver. I can perform alone later."

There were some hints in the servant's words.

But he only said this much. After asking what kind of tea he wanted and what dietary restrictions he had, he didn't say another word and went straight to arrange the tea for the table.

After a while, several plates of cold dishes, fruits and other snacks were brought in.

"I didn't expect that the gentleman was so familiar with the affairs of the world that he hadn't forgotten them even after losing his soul."

Miss Bai teased as she peeled the peanuts.

Chen Ji coughed dryly to hide his embarrassment, but his eyes lit up when he saw Taoist Xiyun.

"The Taoist priest told me."

"When did I tell you this?"

Taoist Xiyun widened his eyes and stopped peeling peanuts for a moment.

"It was that day, you said you had a romantic time here..."

Miss Bai then looked at Taoist Xiyun.

Taoist Xiyun was speechless and sighed for a long time.

"That's not what I meant... Never mind, Fellow Daoist Chen, please stop talking. I can't beat Senior Fox."

"How could I bully you?"

Miss Bai turned her head and spoke slowly, but she no longer asked Chen Ji how he knew about what was happening here.

Chen Ji thought of something else and asked Miss Bai how she knew the Painted Skin Ghost was here, but didn't know who it belonged to?
"I used magic to track it here, but the Painted Skin Ghost is quite advanced and has been to many places. I only knew it was here after confirming it. If I got any closer, it would be easily startled, so I came to see it in person."

Chen Ji nodded, realizing that his idea was correct.

It turns out that you have to see it with your own eyes to know which one is the real Painted Skin Ghost.

I just don’t know how Miss Bai can tell.

But there is no need to ask this question, just recognize it when you see it.

Just then, there was a noise from the stage.

Chen Ji looked in the direction of the sound and saw a girl wearing gauze and holding a silk fan stepping onto the stage barefoot. Bells were tied to her ankles and wrists, which jingled as she moved.

The sound of stringed instruments and the melodious drum beats were heard, but the musicians playing the drums were invisible from the audience. It was truly magical.

“The drum is under the rug.”

Miss Bai glanced at it and spoke slowly.

Chen Ji was stunned for a moment, then he saw the bare feet landing on the ground and heard the sound, and then he understood what Miss Bai meant.

I feel even more deeply that Jinluyuan is indeed worthy of being a brothel that has been open for decades, and it has really put in a lot of effort.

Who would have thought that there was a drum under the cloud-like carpet on the stage.

"Bare feet in the Golden Thread Garden are light, silver bells entwined around wrists create melody...it's truly a beautiful dance!"

The song is over.

Chen Ji heard the sound of poetry being recited.

Glancing sideways, I saw Confucian scholars from nowhere gathered in groups of three or five, laughing and joking.

He then withdrew his gaze and looked at Miss Bai with a serious expression.

He used the art of looking at the qi to see it.

The aura of the girl in front of me was indeed a bit turbid, a mixture of human and ghost auras, which was very suspicious.

"is her."

Miss Bai nodded, confirming Chen Ji's observation. Just as she was about to say something, the next girl came on stage.

The dance is the Hu Xuan dance.

It’s a different style from before, but equally beautiful, and the aura around it is the same.

"Really?" Chen Ji raised his eyebrows, feeling that something was wrong.

I thought there were only two demons here.

But it can't necessarily be these two, right?

Looking at Miss Bai, she didn't make any other movements.

Chen Ji continued to read patiently.

But the more I look at it, the more frightened I become.

After more than a dozen girls had passed by, it turned out that every girl had a ghostly aura about her.

If they were all ghosts...

It is not an exaggeration to call Jinlu Garden a den of ghosts.

"Senior Fox, how should we deal with this?"

Taoist Master Xiyun also noticed something unusual and asked Miss Bai the same question.

"Let's take a look first."

Miss Bai said slowly.

"These women have ghostly auras, but they are not strong. They must be the human skin minions of the Painted Skin Ghost."

"Human skin minions?"

Chen Ji asked curiously.

"Ah."

Miss Bai nodded and explained to him.

"When the Painted Skin ghost harms someone, it leaves behind their skin. If someone possesses a grudge, they will become a ghost and help the Painted Skin ghost harm others."

"I just didn't expect this Painted Skin Ghost to harm so many people."

Are they all ghosts?

Chen Ji just felt cold all over.

Looking around, the wealthy scholars were all obsessed with beauty, completely unaware that the person dancing in front of them was a ghost with painted skin.

Taoist Xiyun also had some questions and asked Miss Bai for advice.

"If they were all accomplices, how could they let so many people escape? Mr. Ding seems to have simply been drained of his body. In the short term, his life is not in danger."

"Resurrection."

Miss Bai said lightly.

"The Painted Skin Ghost has a way to revive himself, but I don't know which one he uses."

"Your master must have targeted you because you were exposed during your training."

"But now she has learned to be smart. She takes it slow and steady, not harming anyone but absorbing their essence. She almost succeeded."

"If we hadn't discovered it just now, and waited for her to resurrect in a few days, I'm afraid the whole city would have become her minions in human skin."

Chen Ji couldn't help but shiver when he thought of this scene.

That is the real den of evil.

So he spoke.

"These are all ghost minions. How do we know where the Painted Skin Ghost is?"

The white girl looked around and her eyes fell on the last girl.

"Use it to find it!"

After saying this, he called the servant and handed him an ingot of silver.

"This girl dances well, so please arrange for us to meet her later."

The servant was stunned, his eyes widened in disbelief.

He swallowed before continuing to confirm.

"The three Taoist priests want to come together?"

"nature."

"Then this ingot of silver is not enough."

"Is that enough?"

Miss Bai handed over another ingot of silver.

"Enough is enough!"

The servant took the silver and quickly led the way.

"The next one won't be here. Taoist Priest, please go to the room with me and wait."

"it is good."

The three of them stood up and followed the servant into the backyard of Jinluoyuan.

After taking her to a room, he left to invite the woman who had just danced.

The three of them were left in the courtyard to enjoy the scenery.

The scenery in front of you is even more different from the previous one.

The winding water, the misty bridges, the pavilions, towers and rockery are all available, making it even more beautiful than the gardens in the south of the Yangtze River.

The most eye-catching thing is a peach tree in the yard. It is extremely thick, with lush branches and leaves, and the peach blossoms are in full bloom at this moment.

Even Chen Ji could see that there was something wrong with the peach blossom. It was emitting a faint black aura and also a demonic aura, but it was not as strong.

"Is it a peach demon?"

Chen Ji asked doubtfully.

The white girl shook her head.

"No, it's just that the plants here are infected by ghost energy day and night, and they have evil spirits."

"If I'm not mistaken, the bodies of those women are buried under this tree."

Chen Ji subconsciously looked at the tree roots.

Even the weeds are thicker than those in other places, and it is indeed much more fertile than other places.

"Mercy, mercy."

Taoist Xiyun clasped his hands together and sighed, feeling somewhat reluctant.

"Don't let this Painted Skin Ghost escape."

Miss Bai said slowly.

Chen Ji nodded.

"must."

Taoist Xiyun also solemnly touched the bag.

"Even if it costs my life, I will kill this beast!"

"Let me set up the formation first, so that we can act more conveniently after we trap them."

"Alright."

Soon.

The servant then brought the girl back and introduced her with a smile.

"It is these three Taoist priests who like your dance and want you to dance for them again, but they have given you 20 taels of silver!"

"Of course no problem, come in with me?"

The girl closed the door, her eyes moved around, and when they fell on Chen Ji, she looked a little happy, even biting her lips to pretend to be teasing.

"I wonder what kind of dance you like to watch?"

Chen Ji looked at Miss Bai and Taoist Xiyun.

The two men understood what Chen Ji meant and raised their hands to perform magic.

"Soul arrest."

"Qi Ban."

The aura spread out, and the face of the human-skinned minions in front of him changed drastically, and they immediately turned around and ran away.

But it felt like I had hit a wall and couldn't move away at all.

Chen Ji then spoke slowly.

"Why don't you tell me how you became what you are now?"

(End of this chapter)