novellhall Chapter 16 [The Painted Skin Inn]
Chapter 16 [The Painted Skin Inn]
The creaking wooden door of the inn was pushed open a crack.
A pale, paper-white face with exaggerated blush peeked out.
The smile was perfectly stiff, and his eyes were curved into two dark slits, with not a trace of white showing.
【Painted Skin Demon (Human Form)】
Lu Qingfeng's senses allowed him to instantly detect the thick, inhuman aura emanating from the other party, mixed with blood and decay, as well as a trace of... a violent greed that was forcibly suppressed.
He suppressed the urge to draw his sword, forced a weary traveler's expression onto his face, and said in a hoarse voice, "Passing through this place, I'd like to ask for lodging for the night."
"Alright~ Please come in! We've prepared hot soup and hot water for you!"
The pale-faced waiter enthusiastically opened the door.
The light inside the inn was even dimmer.
A few dim oil lamps barely illuminated the small hall.
A few greasy square tables and a few long benches.
In the corner, two other men, equally pale-faced and with eerie smiles, were slowly wiping the tables and chairs, their movements stiff as puppets.
The sweet, meaty aroma reached its peak here, seemingly originating from the direction of the kitchen.
Lu Qingfeng chose a seat against the wall where he could see the entrance and the kitchen.
The pale-faced waiter immediately fawned over, "What would you like to eat, sir? Our signature meat soup is absolutely amazing, famous for miles around!"
"No need."
Lu Qingfeng waved his hand, his voice hoarse.
"I'm exhausted from the journey and just want to rest as soon as possible. A clean room will do."
"No problem, no problem, I'll take you up right away."
A barely perceptible hint of disappointment flashed in the pale-faced waiter's eyes, but his smile remained unchanged.
He led Lu Qingfeng toward the creaking stairs.
The stairs were narrow and steep, and each step made a teeth-grinding groan.
The air grew increasingly stuffy, and in addition to the smell of rotting wood and meat, there seemed to be a faint... bloody odor.
The guest rooms are located at the end of the corridor on the second floor.
Pushing open the door, a strong smell of dust and mildew hit me.
Inside the room was only a simple wooden bed, a broken table, and an oil lamp with a missing shade.
The windows were boarded up, leaving only a gap.
"Please rest, sir. Just let me know if you need anything."
The pale-faced waiter bowed slightly at the door, his smile unchanged, and gently closed the door.
The sound of the door hinges turning was exceptionally clear in the deathly silence.
Lu Qingfeng did not act immediately, but held his breath and concentrated.
Outside the door, the faint, almost imperceptible footsteps did not leave, but stopped.
A full quarter of an hour passed before the footsteps moved away very slowly and disappeared at the end of the corridor.
"Stay by my side?"
Lu Qingfeng's eyes were icy cold.
He returned to the table and sat down, without lighting a lamp, closing his eyes and regulating his breathing in absolute darkness.
The body's Qi and blood flow like warm magma, slowly circulating along the path of Qi accumulation, nourishing the muscles, bones, and flesh.
Time passed by, and the inn was eerily quiet; even the slightest noises from the waiters downstairs had disappeared.
It was as if the whole world consisted only of his own heartbeat and breath.
After an unknown amount of time, a faint sobbing sound drifted in.
The voice was very soft, as if it came from the next room; it was the voice of a young woman, filled with sorrow and fear.
"Waaah... Let me out... Please... Let me out..."
The sobs were intermittent, yet exceptionally clear in the deathly silence of the night, piercing straight into one's heart.
An indescribable sense of sorrow and despair, like a cold tide, tried to invade Lu Qingfeng's consciousness through the sound.
You are being subjected to mental interference!
[Willpower test in progress...]
[Test successful! Psychological interference ineffective!]
At the same time, Lu Qingfeng's blood and qi suddenly surged, like a furnace blowing wind, and the extremely yang and strong aura burst forth, instantly evaporating the negative emotions that were trying to invade!
Lu Qingfeng suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze clear and unwavering, showing no sign of being misled.
To him, the crying sounded like nothing more than affected falsehood and lurking malice.
"Illusion?"
"Trying to lure me out?"
These low-level tricks made him laugh.
The crying continued for a while, but gradually subsided when there was no response.
Then, another voice rang out:
It was the sound of fingernails gently scraping against the door panel, a soft, rustling sound, coming closer and closer, as if something was slowly scraping the wooden floor of the corridor and the door panel next door with long fingernails.
The voice carried a chilling patience and hunger.
The sound finally stopped outside Lu Qingfeng's door.
Lu Qingfeng's hand was already on the hilt of the Chongyue Sword, his muscles tense.
The body's Qi and blood are flowing rapidly, ready to unleash a thunderous strike at any moment.
suddenly!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A violent banging on the door erupted without warning! It was no longer a scraping, but a violent slam!
The thin wooden door trembled violently, dust fell in clumps, as if it were about to be smashed open at any moment!
"Sir! Open the door, sir!"
The pale-faced waiter's shrill voice rang out from outside the door, now filled with a twisted anxiety and an inhuman excitement.
"Thief! Thief has broken in! Open the door quickly and let me in to protect you!"
"Sir/Madam! Open the door quickly!"
Two other stiff voices joined in the banging and screaming, and the three voices overlapped, creating a sense of madness.
The force of the impact increased, and the door bolt groaned under the strain.
Lu Qingfeng's eyes sharpened, knowing that pretending was no longer meaningful.
Instead of retreating, he took a step forward, his chest heaving, and a scorching current of energy, mixed with violent power and abundant blood, exploded like a thunderclap from a clear sky:
"roll--!!!"
The sound wave, carrying with it the most yang and powerful energy, erupted with a deafening roar!
The air vibrated violently with a low growl!
The dust on the door was instantly shaken off, and even the force of the impact from outside the door was momentarily halted!
The banging and screaming outside the door stopped abruptly.
After a brief silence, there was a teeth-grinding hissing sound!
Three pale faces, like a cheap painting being violently torn apart, squeezed in through the gap in the door!
The skin was stretched and torn, revealing the dark red, writhing, mucus-covered, and fascial true face underneath!
It has no nose, only two dark, gaping holes, and its gaping maw is filled with countless tiny, sharp teeth, like files!
【Painted Skin Demon (Skin-Peeling Form)】!
They completely tore off their disguises, and three skinned monsters crowded at the doorway, their dark red muscles twisting and writhing, emitting a strong stench of blood and decay.
Their cloudy eyes, devoid of eyelids, were fixed on Lu Qingfeng inside the room. They let out greedy hissing cries and pounced into the room!
"court death!"
Instead of retreating, Lu Qingfeng advanced! The Chongyue Sword instantly appeared in his hand, accompanied by a muffled, thunderous sound of air being pierced!
A faint crimson aura of blood emanated from the sword's blade!
A violent upward slash from the bottom up!
"Pfft—!"
The sword's edge precisely cleaved the chest of the foremost skinned demon.
Accompanied by a clear cracking sound and a dull thud as muscle fibers were forcibly torn apart!
A surge of scorching blood energy flowed into the sword's edge, like molten lead being injected into the ghostly creature!
"Awooo!!"
The skinning demon let out a piercing, distorted scream, as filthy blood and fragments of broken internal organs gushed from its enormous wound.
The inside of the wound was even sizzling from the burning hot blood and qi!
The continuous bleeding effect from the shattering, combined with this extreme yang energy, caused its life force to drain away rapidly like a burst dam, causing it to stagger backward and crash into the other two.
Enraged by the horrific state of their companion, the other two skinning demons let out even sharper, more piercing screechs and pounced on them from both sides simultaneously!
Their sharp claws, carrying a foul stench, reached for Lu Qingfeng's arms and neck!
It was so fast that it almost left a blur!
"Intercept the attack!"
With a small amount of arcane power consumed, the world instantly slows down.
The trajectory of the two ghostly claws was crystal clear to Lu Qingfeng.
He slightly turned his body, and the Chongyue Sword blocked his front at an incredible angle, precisely blocking both ghost claws at the same time!
"Clang! Clang!"
Two resounding thuds, like heavy hammers striking an anvil!
A tremendous force emanated from the sword, but against the resilient physique of the [Steel Body], this impact was like a tickle!
Lu Qingfeng remained completely still, and the force of the recoil even caused the two painted skin ghosts' claws to slightly bounce away!
[Successfully blocked the attack]
Counterattack effect triggered!
Lu Qingfeng exerted force from his waist and hips, like a tightly wound spring being released in an instant!
Using the recoil from the parry, the Chongyue Sword, like a giant beast unleashed from its cage, drew a deadly arc with an unstoppable force, slashing fiercely at the neck of the skinning demon on the right!
The crimson light on the sword's edge shone even brighter!
"Snap! Sizzle—!"
The hideous head, with an expression of disbelief, flew into the air, spraying blood and filth into the sky.
Lu Qingfeng would never let go of this fleeting opportunity!
He shifted his feet, his blood and qi surged, and even the tip of his sword faintly emitted a red glow!
"puff!"
The blade pierced right through his body!
[Shatter] triggered again!
Dark purple cracks spread inside the skinning demon's chest cavity, accompanied by terrifying sounds of bones and muscles being torn apart and burned!
It let out a short, sharp cry, then collapsed to the ground, its dark red muscles twitching violently, and its filthy blood quickly soaking the floor.
The first skinned ghost, which was severely injured, struggled to get up. Lu Qingfeng stepped forward, his eyes cold, and the Chongyue Sword, carrying immense force, slashed down like Mount Tai pressing down!
"puff!"
Blood splattered everywhere, the head was completely split open, and that was the end.
The battle is over.
The room was a mess, and the strong smell of blood and decay almost drowned out the sweet aroma of meat.
The three dark red corpses quickly dried up and weathered, turning into three tattered, stained human skins and some grayish-white bone powder.
"How can he be so weak?"
Lu, who was tortured by supermodel Red Moon and then tortured even more severely, couldn't help but ask this question.
The room was deathly silent, with only the faint crackling of the burning oil lamp wick.
And the nauseating, burnt stench emanating from the tattered human skin and bone powder left behind after the three puddles on the ground quickly dried up and weathered.
Lu Qingfeng stood still, the Chongyue Sword hanging at his side, a drop of viscous, dark blood slowly sliding down from the tip of the sword.
He frowned slightly, looked down at his unharmed arms and robes, and then glanced at the three painted masks at his feet that were rapidly losing moisture and becoming like tattered rags.
"Tsk, that's... it's over?"
His tone carried a clear hint of uncertainty, even a touch of...disappointment?
The battle just now broke out abruptly and ended even more swiftly.
The mental shock, the illusionary battle, and even the intense scenes that he had envisioned, which would have required the use of his homemade exorcising Molotov cocktails and red rope nets, all failed to materialize.
These three skinners, aside from their disgusting appearance and piercing screech after tearing off human skin, are far less threatening than an ordinary goblin in the Goblin Tribe equipped with a stone axe.
The entire battle proceeded smoothly, and he didn't even feel any significant depletion of his stamina.
Not to mention the carefully prepared cinnabar, realgar, rooster blood, Molotov cocktails, and red rope net bags in the backpack.
They were still safely inside the tactical pouch, with the zipper still closed.
Lu Qingfeng flicked the Chongyue Sword, shaking off the remaining blood and dirt, which produced a dull whistling sound as it cut through the air.
He walked up to a tattered human skin and picked it up with the tip of his sword.
The human skin was light and airy, with a strange texture, like some kind of specially treated leather. It still had faint, unsettling, and cold energy fluctuations, but they were extremely weak.
"All show and no substance? Or... are they just lowly gatekeepers?"
He pondered, "The proprietress hasn't shown up yet... the source of that meaty aroma..."
He put away Chongyue and walked to the door.
The door panel was somewhat deformed from the impact, and the door bolt was completely broken.
He listened intently; the corridor was deathly silent, and there was no sound from downstairs either.
It was as if the frantic banging and screaming of the three men had never happened, and he was the only living thing left in the entire inn.
"Playing tricks."
Lu Qingfeng snorted coldly, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
But he did not let his guard down.
The warnings about mental illusions from the forum still echoed in my ears, and this inn exuded an indescribable eeriness.
The fact that those guys were easily killed doesn't mean the threat lurking in the shadows doesn't exist.
Perhaps the real killer move lies in the source of that sweet and savory meaty aroma.
The unknown boss lady on a spiritual level still requires caution.
Without further hesitation, he kicked open the already rickety door and stepped into the gloomy, dark corridor.
The rotting wooden planks beneath his feet groaned under the weight, and a thick, nauseating aroma of meat wafted up from the stairwell and the hall below, even more intense than before.
The objective is clear—the kitchen!
He wanted to see what kind of meat was being stewed in that ten-mile-long fragrance that wafted through the Yue Lai Inn!
Lu Qingfeng took a deep breath, and his internal energy and blood circulated faster once again.
He made a fist with his right hand, ready to summon Chongyue at any moment, and walked down the creaking stairs step by step, heading towards the back of the inn where the aroma of meat was strongest and the darkness was deepest.
The dim, flickering light cast his long, distorted shadow onto the stained wall.
…………
The lobby on the first floor of the inn was deathly silent, and the flame of the oil lamp flickered extremely weakly, as if it would be extinguished at any moment by the heavy atmosphere.
The guy who used to wipe the tables and chairs was nowhere to be seen, leaving only empty tables and chairs and solidified darkness.
His goal was clear: the core source of that meaty aroma was the kitchen.
Passing through the greasy hall, a half-open wooden door covered in grease stains came into view.
A dimmer, flickering light shone through the crack in the door, along with an even stronger, almost dizzying aroma of meat.
And there was... an indescribable rustling sound, like the whispers of millions.
Lu Qingfeng's eyes narrowed, and his blood and qi surged faster. He stretched out his left hand and pushed open the kitchen door!
"Squeak—!"