Chapter 40: 39, The Ritual of Quli Bai Ma

39, The Ritual of Quli Bai Ma

The paper face in the painting pressed her lips, her expression masked in frost; she gazed at the thangka on the wall, saying not a word.

Seeing this, Zhou Chang turned and said, "If that cannot be spoken, then can you tell me your name?"

Upon hearing this, the paper face showed a smile; she looked at Zhou Chang, raised her chin slightly, her eyes somewhat proud: "If adopting Han surnames, my surname should be Liu."

"Hmm." Zhou Chang felt a slight stir in his heart.

Since the other party brought up her own surname first, it indicated she had once been in the Secret Realm, unlike the vast majority of surname-less inhabitants of the Secret Realm.

People from the Secret Realm who possess surnames are often of noble birth.

"In our local language of the Secret Realm, my surname should be 'Dege'.

My name is Dege Quli Bai Ma." The paper face showed a hint of reminiscence; she did not know what she had thought of, but after a moment, the radiance that had appeared on her beautiful face due to mentioning her own surname vanished, "These are all things of the past.

Now I have no surname.

You may call me 'Bai Ma'."

"Good."

Zhou Chang recorded Bai Ma's full name, preparing to find an opportunity to ask the local merchants who travel to and from the Secret Realm for some information.

He rolled up that poster again, tucked it into his lower back, turned and left the room, then went to search another room—another room which was similarly an empty room dedicated to the thangka of the God of Wealth.

Zhou Chang left the room and continued walking forward.

Previously, when he and Bai Ma conversed, exchanging sharp words and setting traps, quite a bit of time was consumed.

But so much time had passed, yet there was still no sign of Li Xiamei's eldest daughter or second daughter.

Had they encountered some other matter that delayed them, or were they currently setting a trap targeting Zhou Chang?

Zhou Chang was not anxious; he walked forward along the path, and almost every time he passed a room, he opened it to look inside.

After all, opportunities to sneak into the homes of Thought Demons and Ghosts like the present were rare.

Especially since Zhou Chang had previously probed from Bai Ma that Li Xiamei was currently not at home, the Great Thought Demon was not at home, leaving only two little ghosts, Zhou Chang had to seize the opportunity to search.

After such a meticulous search, it truly caused Zhou Chang to discover some things.

He pushed the door open and walked into a room; this room, which looked ordinary from the outside, upon entering, would make one suddenly feel that the layout and arrangement inside had changed—

This room clearly looked like just a side room from the outside, but stepping inside, one would be startled to realize this place was distinctly the main central hall.

On the four walls of the central hall, everywhere were traces of smoke and fire.

The roof beams and rafters above were all blackened by smoke.

Long robes that looked pitch black hung on the walls on both sides of the door.

On the wall facing the door, at a position one foot off the ground, a shrine was nailed.

That shrine was truly too low, so that Zhou Chang noticed it at a single glance.

He walked up to the shrine and saw a fire basin placed before it; the incense ash and embers inside the basin still held some heat.

In front of the fire basin, three plates of offerings were also arranged.

In the large central plate lay a human head with its skin peeled off, unable to distinguish male or female; on the head's vivid red muscles and yellowish fat, fresh blood that had not yet dried still clung.

In the plate on the left was a complete set of intestines, washed clean, which were also taken from a living person.

In the plate on the right lay a piece of braised skin; the aroma of the braising liquid mixed with the thick scent of blood all around, drilling straight into Zhou Chang's nostrils.

A light flashed in Zhou Chang's eyes; he raised his gaze and saw the single tablet standing in that shrine one foot off the ground: Cold, Raw, Black, Wild, Feng Si, God Banner, Altar Tablet.

"Old Feng's family..." Zhou Chang murmured softly, drew the poster from his waist, and unfolded it before that skin-peeled human head.

He stared at Bai Ma in the painting and asked, "Li Xiamei's husband, Old Feng, your adopted father, it seems now he is no longer a Thought Demon, but has become a vulgar god who has raised a banner?"

Bai Ma gazed into Zhou Chang's eyes.

At this moment, Zhou Chang's gaze made her feel strange, somewhat panicked; she lowered her raised head, her voice growing colder: "Yes."

"He does not seem to be at home today either."

"Vulgar gods can mostly only sleep, unless they find a flesh body capable of carrying their thoughts.

A fate and endowment like Bai Xiue's would be most to their taste.

Perhaps my adopted father is in this room right now, but without a flesh body to descend and possess, it can do nothing to you at present.

—Even if it is a vulgar god, it is merely a wandering wild spirit one foot off the ground."

Zhou Chang nodded, looked at Bai Ma, and suddenly asked, "Have you ever harmed anyone?"

His expression was not as cold and hard as before; when asking this question, he appeared casual and gentle.

But Bai Ma's heart gave a jolt; she suddenly had a feeling that how she answered this question would determine whether the two sides would be enemies or friends in the future.

Bai Ma hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke the truth: "I have not yet killed anyone.

However, if there is an opportunity in the future, I would like to try what fun there is in plotting murder..."

Zhou Chang looked at her deeply, treating her last sentence as nonsense.

He placed the three plates of 'offerings' one by one into the fire basin, took a fire starter from the corner of the room, and burned them to ash.

Afterwards, he picked up the bamboo pole behind the door and took down one of the 'long robes' hanging on the wall.

The four walls were covered with these pitch-black long robes; only when Zhou Chang took action to remove one did he discover that these pitch-black robes were actually complete human skins with slits opened only on the back.

Inside the tanned human skins, the patterns of blood vessels were faintly visible.

There was even a faint flow of thought-energy circulating within those shriveled blood vessel patterns.

As soon as Zhou Chang touched them, he discovered that these human skins were not merely used to decorate the central hall of this vulgar god; they had another practical use.

"Could this be the ghost skin that Li Xiamei's eldest and second daughters need?" Zhou Chang asked.

Bai Ma's voice came from behind him: "These are the 'skin shells' that Thought Demons rely on to preserve their sanity in the world and mingle among the crowds, but they are not some kind of ghost skin.

When a Thought Demon removes this skin shell, it becomes the most terrifying of ghosts, yet it does not need to wear ghost skin like some little ghosts do in order to show its claws and fangs.

These skin shells were all collected by Li Xiamei over the years."

It uses these skin shells to blend into the crowd, allowing itself to be nurtured by human qi and maintain its sanity.

Without these human-skin garments, its sanity would dwindle further, driving it increasingly mad, slaughtering everywhere according to its unchanging killing pattern until someone cracked that pattern.

By then, these Xiang Mo would fall into 'silence'.

If the silence lasts too long, people forget the Xiang Mo, and the Xiang Mo will gradually 'dissolve', entering a state of death."

According to Bai Ma, these 'skin shells' are equivalent to the Xiang Mo's 'respawn tokens'.

Possessing these skin shells means that even if its killing pattern is cracked and suppressed, it can still break free from suppression and return to its original state.

But once its skin shells are exhausted, with nowhere left to restore sanity, it faces the possibility of being subdued, falling into silence, or even dying.

Zhou Chang understood Bai Ma's words, so he removed all dozen or so 'Xiang Mo skin shells' from the four walls.

"Those daughters in Li Xiamei's household are truly something; they give it no peace of mind at all.

Clearly, the household still hides the treasure that sustains its life, yet these daughters keep bringing outsiders into the home!

Now look—" Zhou Chang looked at the pile of Xiang Mo skin shells stacked in the middle of the room, feigning regret in his tone. "These skin shells are to me like a firecracker with its fuse hanging before a child, while the child holds a lit incense stick in hand.

—How could you expect me to resist lighting the firecracker?"

"The skin shells are vital to the Xiang Mo. If you were to burn your adopted mother's skin shells in a blaze right now, your adopted mother would certainly sense it.

By then, it would come with your eldest and second sisters to capture you... Do not regret it." The paper-faced one smiled, "However, stepping into the Xiang Mo's home was never an easy matter.

Most people never cross the threshold of a Xiang Mo's home in their entire lives; you were merely fortunate by chance..."

"Indeed," Zhou Chang sighed. "Opportunities are hard-won and must be cherished all the more."

He directly tossed one skin shell into the brazier, igniting it first. When multicolored flames surged forth from the brazier, he threw the entire pile of skin shells into the fire!

Whoosh!

The illusory, multicolored flames erupted violently, nearly swallowing the entire room!

From the eye sockets of each burning Xiang Mo skin shell, multicolored flames poured forth; their wrinkled faces were smoothed by the flames, yet in an instant they appeared even more ferocious!

From the cold, black Feng Si tablet hovering a foot above the ground, streams of black blood flowed down!

All the burning skin shells shrieked in unison: "Three daughters! Three daughters!

You deliberately lured thieves into the house; this matter must be reported to the Treasure Heavenly King!"