I Possess a Scroll of Demon-Subduing Records

The book happened to contain a classic case, less than a hundred words long, which sent chills down Lin Yi's spine...

Chapter 44 The Skin of the Painted Skin Ghost

“In the capital there was a scholar whose wife was a noblewoman. She was destined to be a ghost. I waited until she was seven months pregnant, then captured her husband and humiliated him. I waited until he wept and begged for mercy, saying that if he did not disobey my command in seven days, one of them could be spared. The two of them protected each other and endured the humiliation together. When the day came, I killed the two of them and obtained three ghosts, all of which were of the highest quality.”

The secret technique of the Hundred Ghosts Sect is to destroy a person's happiness, torture them in every way, and then obtain a vengeful ghost.

Lin Yi used to agree with the saying that cultivation methods are neither good nor evil; it is only people who are good or evil.

But this secret art of raising ghosts was born out of evil from beginning to end, and it teaches people to commit even more cruel crimes.

Lin Yi was so angry that his hands were trembling. He gripped the Ghost-Raising Secret Technique in his hand, wishing he could tear it apart.

But he persevered and finished reading the "Raising Ghosts" chapter.

The chapter on raising ghosts is also divided into two parts: taming and raising.

Taming is the process of domestication. Initially, ghosts possess emotions; even vengeful ghosts retain human feelings, though their rationality is overwhelmed by anger and hatred. However, as the ghost tamer domesticates them, the ghosts gradually become numb, eventually becoming ghost slaves.

During the taming process, the ghost will continuously generate resentment and its strength will further increase, but as long as the forbidden spell is in place, the ghost cannot rebel against its master.

Next comes nurturing. Ghosts are the convergence of yin energy, making them more likely to attract evil energy. Yin energy and evil energy constitute the power of ghosts. However, in order to grow, yang energy is their essential need.

In the process of feeding ghosts, the vengeful spirits only need to kill people and absorb their yang energy to gain power tainted by bloodlust.

The more people you kill, the stronger the ghost becomes.

Lin Yi felt a chill run through him when he finished reading.

This is a book that teaches people how to harm others, and the cost of doing so is very low, it's easy to imitate, and the benefits are enormous.

Lin Yi placed the book on the oil lamp and burned it.

He also knew that this was just a copy of a book by He Dong, and its status in the Hundred Ghosts Sect was roughly equivalent to the basic techniques in the Jingye Division. It probably couldn't be completely burned away by a single fire.

So, we might have to set more fires in the future.

When Lin Yi set the fire, He Dong also came over by the smell. She hadn't gone far and was thinking of sneaking up on Lin Yi after he fell asleep, but she didn't expect to feel a large amount of yang energy dissipating.

Normally, she couldn't absorb the yang energy that Lin Yi exhaled without special methods, but as Lin Yi's aura fluctuated, this yang energy surged and couldn't be taken back.

Ordinary people are prone to illness after experiencing great joy or sorrow, precisely because emotional excitement easily depletes their Yang energy.

He Dong naturally wouldn't let this yang energy go to waste, so he ate it without thinking. He didn't know how much he ate, but the whole ghost felt warm and comfortable, so comfortable that he wanted to groan softly.

But when she saw Lin Yi, she couldn't bring herself to show it, so she "pretended" to ask him a question.

Lin Yi said in a deep voice, "It's nothing. I'm sorry, I burned your book."

He Dong said nonchalantly, "It's alright. It's not that precious. We were just keeping it for emergencies anyway. Let it burn. You should adjust your emotions. Getting so agitated won't do you any good for your cultivation."

Although the free yang energy was delicious, He Dong didn't want Lin Yi to be too fixated on it.

Lin Yi had defected because he felt that the secret techniques of the Hundred Ghosts Sect were inhumane. If he hadn't fled, he would have used such methods to persecute others.

So when Lin Yi arrived in Xingsha County, he still thought of casting a wide net to find a suitable vengeful ghost to raise, rather than creating one himself.

However, before he lost his memory, he hadn't found a suitable ghost. He Dong showed him the secret technique of raising ghosts only to answer his question.

I never expected that I would make him so angry.

He Dong could only advise, "You've already tried very hard to be a good person, but one person's strength is ultimately limited. They are all stronger than you, so all you can do is cultivate yourself well and protect yourself."

Lin Yi smiled slightly and said, "Thank you for your concern."

"Come on, I'm not concerned about you, I just don't want to see my companion's Dao heart unstable."

He Dong's arrogant little face actually tickled Lin Yi's cute spot.

He didn't take the opportunity to tease her, after all, she was still worried about him.

Lin Yi said calmly, "Don't worry, rather than saying that my Dao heart is unstable, it's more accurate to say that I have truly developed a Dao heart now."

Feeling that Lin Yi's breathing had become stable, He Dong felt a little regretful that his yang energy was gone, but he was also happy for him.

"That's good."

He Dong didn't ask Lin Yi what he had figured out; as long as he understood, that was enough. She had absorbed enough yang energy and was now feeling a little sleepy.

"Oh, right, I'll give you something."

He Dong took out a small bag and said, "This is a cloud bag. I prepared it for you before, but I forgot about it."

She had originally planned to accept a thousand gold coins from Lin Yi, but considering how much yang energy she had consumed from him, she decided to let it go this time.

Lin Yi, of course, took it with great interest. It was a very simple thing; you could just open it and see what was inside.

The cloud bag was empty, containing only a white, transparent, skin-like object the size of a mask.

Lin Yi took it out and subconsciously asked, "What is this?"

"A painted mask, once worn, can change your appearance."

He Dong didn't say when Lin Yi should use it, but presumably Lin Yi would find out on his own.

The blacksmith shop was already forging things for Lin Yi. He Dong also knew that if it weren't for her, Lin Yi wouldn't have needed to expose himself to the governor's gaze.

Therefore, she also secretly prepared a backup plan for Lin Yi.

If she couldn't help Lin Yi at that crucial moment when he was undergoing his tribulation, Lin Yi would at least have a way to escape.

To everyone's surprise, when Lin Yi heard it was a painted skin, he quickly threw it back into the bag.

"Could it be human skin?"

Human skin masks are often seen in movies and TV shows, but the thought of actually wearing one on his own face made Lin Yi's scalp tingle.

He Dong's face turned dark.

"Give it back to me if you don't want it!"

Seeing He Dong reach out to snatch it, Lin Yi subconsciously withdrew his hand.

The painted skin given by the female ghost must be a good thing. I may not use it, but I can't refuse something given to me for free.

"Yes, yes, thank you!"

"Humph!"

He Dong gave a haughty snort before explaining, "This is the skin of a rare spiritual creature. It has the ability to transform and has been imbued with my Yin energy for a long time, giving it the effect of concealment. If you wear the mask, no one will be able to recognize who you are."

"I see..."

Lin Yi suddenly had a flash of inspiration, picked up the mask and smelled it.

He Dong looked completely bewildered: "What are you doing?"

"I was wondering, could this skin have been peeled off you? Does it smell nice?"

He Dong: "..."

Lin Yi guessed correctly. This skin was cut from a piece of the painted skin on her body. Spiritual objects were scarce, and she didn't have any more.

At the time, all I was thinking about was saving Lin Yi's life. Losing a piece of my own skin wouldn't be a big deal. I never expected that Lin Yi would guess the origin of the human skin mask so quickly and even sniff it with his nose.

It felt like Lin Yi was nudging and prodding at a certain spot on my body.

"Shameless! Vulgar!"

He Dong shouted angrily and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

He was so shy that he couldn't face anyone, leaving Lin Yi alone, touching his skin in deep thought.

By the way, which part of the skin is this from?

Chapter 45 Sugar Oil Cake

Lin Yi studied where the skin came from for a while, but couldn't find a single clue.

With his keen sense of smell, he determined that the skin had a faint fragrance, but the fragrance did not come from He Dong, but from the grass.

That's true. Ghosts themselves have no physical form, so naturally they don't emit any scent.

However, He Dong possessed a false entity through the painted skin, and this entity would naturally be tainted by a scent.

Lin Yi could already picture Xiao Cao lying in He Dong's arms; it was quite adorable.

"Oh right, speaking of Xiaocao, I'll go make breakfast now, so I don't forget about her again."

Lin Yi noticed this in the kitchen last time; the house was quite well-stocked, but He Dong had squandered it all. Now that it was his turn, he naturally wouldn't waste anything in this era of food scarcity.

There was half a jar of rice in the rice bin, and a ceramic jar of glutinous rice flour in the cupboard. Seeing these, Lin Yi perked up.

Several ways of cooking it had already come to mind, but it was getting late and the sun was high in the sky, so he decided to make the simplest and quickest way possible!

I've decided on you—the sugar-coated glutinous rice cake!

Lin Yi poured some glutinous rice flour into a ceramic bowl, added water and mixed it into a dough. He then took some brown sugar, added water and stirred it. Xiao Cao then walked in.

"Brother Lin."

"Little grass, what's wrong?"

Lin Yi offered his gentlest and kindest smile, but Xiao Cao remained rather reserved, her head slightly lowered, and she whispered, "Sister Dong'er asked me to see if there's anything I can help with."

Actually, Xiaocao gets up very early. Back in the village, she would get up before dawn to do chores such as cleaning, gathering firewood, starting a fire, and cooking.

These were all things that she, as the eldest sister, had to do, and she was used to this kind of life. But since she was living under Lin Yi's roof, she didn't dare to clean for him without permission. There were no chickens or ducks to feed, and she didn't need to cook or burn firewood.

Little Grass didn't dare to disturb her two older brothers and sisters' lives, and she was careful even when she was outside. So when she had nothing to do, she would sit in this small room.

It wasn't until He Dong came in and instructed her to go find Lin Yi that things changed.

He Dong actually wanted Xiao Cao to go and see what Lin Yi was doing, so that he wouldn't keep sniffing that piece of leather.

Lin Yi is actually a very detail-oriented person. Judging from Xiao Cao's appearance, he could roughly guess Xiao Cao's mindset.

If we let Xiaocao continue like this, she might develop depression one day.

The key is to help Xiaocao integrate into their new family, which takes time and care.

Of course, the care that Little Grass needs is not to hold her in your arms and protect her. That will not help her integrate, but will instead make her feel detached from life.

We need to find her something to do to keep her from overthinking.