A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

Ji Zuodao finally made a move.

He didn't look at Azi, who was trembling like a falling leaf at his feet. He simply stood up slowly and dusted off the corner of his clothes—even though it was spotless.

Then, he walked up to Azi and stopped.

"certainly."

He spoke, his voice unlike anything Azi had ever heard before… a gentle, steady tone.

"Good boy, you survived."

The moment the words fell—

"Clang."

A crisp, cold metallic clang.

A small skinning knife, no longer than the palm of a hand, was carelessly tossed onto the blood-soaked carpet in front of Azi.

The blade reflected her pale, distorted face.

Azi shuddered violently, almost collapsing.

Ji Zuodao's voice rang out again, still so steady, even with a hint of patient persuasion, as if he were instructing someone on a very ordinary household chore:

"Well then, my good boy."

"Do one more thing."

"Skin them... off."

Be careful.

Ji Zuodao paused, his tone still gentle, but his words were icy and chilling:

"It's ruined..."

"Take your skin and pay me back."

After saying that, he didn't look at Azi again, as if she were no different from the other inanimate objects in the room.

He casually picked up the last remaining plate of pastries, unstained by blood, from the overturned table beside him.

With his other hand, he naturally took Qiqi's hand, who was waiting quietly, turned around, pushed open the nearest still intact private room door, and went inside.

"Click".

The door was gently closed, separating the inside from the outside.

Deathly silence returned.

No, it wasn't completely silent.

A slow, low breath, carrying a certain damp, sticky heat, gently sprayed onto the back of her neck.

Ah Zi stiffened her neck and slowly, bit by bit, raised her head.

Diagonally in front of her, Dog Master had somehow already squatted down next to where Yunniang had just collapsed, watching her with a leisurely air.

The dog's dark eyes held no emotion, only a bottomless darkness.

What made her blood almost freeze was—

"Hiss... rustling..."

A faint, teeth-grinding rustling sound came from under the tightly closed door of the private room.

Immediately afterwards, hundreds of slippery tendons, like a swarm of venomous snakes with their own lives, slowly extended out from under the door cracks and from the shadows of the wall.

They spread silently, coiled and occupied key positions throughout the lobby, and finally, all the wriggling tips seemed to point at her, albeit subtly.

Azi's vision blurred; immense fear gripped her throat, almost suffocating her.

She lowered her head, looking at the cold, sharp knife in front of her, and then at the scattered corpses of her fellow disciples, once familiar but now cold and unfamiliar.

His gaze finally fell on Yunniang's body not far away, where half a jade pipe was still stuck in her neck.

"Hmm..."

She made a leaky sound in her throat.

Then, as if she had used up all her strength, she reached out her hand, her trembling fingers touching the even colder hilt of the knife.

Hold on tight.

"Don't blame me..."

Her lips moved, her voice so low it was almost inaudible, and tears mingled with the blood on her face as they rolled down her cheeks.

"Don't blame me... anyway... anyway, you're all dead..."

"I...I'll grant my sister's wish..."

It sounded like she was chanting a spell, or perhaps it was a final attempt at self-persuasion.

The moment she finished speaking, the last faint glimmer of humanity in her eyes was extinguished, leaving only an empty, almost numb resolve.

She crawled to the nearest still-warm corpse, closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and tightened her wrists—

"laugh……"

The sound of a sharp blade slicing through flesh was faint, yet in the deathly silence it was so clear it sent chills down one's spine.

The peeling process was slow, clumsy, and filled with nauseatingly sticky sounds.

Ah Zi's face was as pale as a ghost. She couldn't help but gag several times, but she forced herself to suppress it. Her movements became increasingly mechanical and numb.

After an unknown amount of time, the first body was completed.

She slumped to the ground, clutching the bloody, still-warm skin in her hand, her eyes glazed over.

After catching her breath, she moved to the next corpse like a wind-up toy.

It repeats a chilling process.

Just as she was focusing on her work, almost sinking into this mechanical numbness—

"Pfft."

Not far behind, a clear, crisp sound suddenly came, like a sharp object piercing flesh.

Ah Zi paused in her movements.

Immediately afterwards—

"Crack... Glug... Hiss..."

The sickening, wet sounds of gnawing and swallowing filled the air.

The sound wasn't loud, but it carried an indescribable greed and satisfaction, amplifying infinitely in the silent, blood-red hall, drilling into her ears and tearing at her fragile nerves.

Azi's body instantly stiffened like iron, and cold sweat instantly soaked through her already blood-stained undergarments.

She didn't dare to turn around.

She bit her lower lip so hard it almost bled, forcing herself to focus on the knife in her hand and the flesh beneath it.

However, the sound persisted, like a persistent, intractable infection.

Finally, after dealing with the body at hand, she braced her weak legs and tried to move to the next one.

Out of the corner of my eye, I couldn't help but look towards the source of the sound—

He glanced quickly at the direction where Yunniang and the corpses had been lying.

Just one glance.

"Ho—!"

She gasped sharply, staggered back half a step, and fell heavily onto her backside in a pool of blood, the small knife slipping from her hand with a clang.

There……

The several skinned corpses that had been piled up were now...

Empty.

There was only a damp carpet, trampled even more ravaged and dark in color.

And on the carpet, the dozen or so large black veins that had previously spread out were now slowly wriggling and shrinking back into the shadows.

The once dark muscles now appeared as if they had drunk their fill of blood, displaying a dark, viscous, and unsettling deep red.

And right in the center of this void.

The big black dog slowly raised one of its front paws and licked the fresh, scarlet blood that stained the back of its paw.

Seemingly sensing Ah Zi's gaze, it slowly turned its head.

There were obvious, still-drying bloodstains on the edge of the dog's mouth.

A pair of dog eyes, glowing eerily in the dim light, calmly and unblinkingly locked onto Azi, who was slumped on the ground, her face ashen.

There was no ferocity in that gaze, yet it was more despairing than any threat.

Inside the private room.

Ji Zuodao sat leisurely in a large, cushioned armchair, one hand casually resting on the armrest, his fingertips lightly tapping the smooth wood.

With her other hand, she held the plate of delicate pastries, taking one for herself and handing one to Qiqi, who was nestled beside her.

His entire being was now focused on his body.

Sinking into that sea of ​​jubilant blood.

He could "hear" the satisfied sighs of the waves.

You can "smell" that rich, irresistible fragrance, unique to the most essential part of life.

I can "feel" my own power, and with the rising "seawater," it's changing every minute, every second...

More abundant.

More solid.

Until it is perfect.

A trembling, pleasurable moan escaped from Ji Zuodao's throat.

"Mmm~ That feels good."