Chapter 31: The Next Unlucky Victim Targeted by the Skin-Flaying Ghost

The difference between the Skin-Flaying Ghost and the Skin-Painting Ghost is that one has artistic talent and the other does not.

The one without artistic talent is the Skin-Flaying Ghost.

Because it can’t paint, it can only flay ready-made skins.

At least, that’s how Tu Shanjiu understood it.

So when she asked, “You mean the kind of skin-flaying ghost without any artistic talent?” Lin Xiuer and Liu Li completely missed her point.

“Pfft, hahaha!” Lin Xiuer and Liu Li both burst out laughing, clutching their stomachs.

Unable to hold it in, Lin Xiuer reached out and pinched Tu Shanjiu’s cheek. “Tu Shanjiu, you seriously just told me a joke with a straight face? A Skin-Flaying Ghost does it because it can’t paint? Hahaha, you’re just too adorable!”

Tu Shanjiu pressed her lips together, firmly believing that her understanding was correct.

She pulled a nail clipper from her pocket. “I’ll take the knife on credit. Do you want the location or the delivery?”

It was Liu Li’s first time taking a knife on credit. With no prior experience, he asked, “Is there a difference between the two?”

Tu Shanjiu didn’t even need to explain—Lin Xiuer immediately jumped in to clarify:
“Of course, the payment is different. Think of it like buying something—one is self-pickup, the other is delivery. Naturally, the one with delivery costs more. How do you not get that?”

Liu Li scratched his head sheepishly and looked at Tu Shanjiu. “It works like that?”

Tu Shanjiu nodded. “It didn’t before, but later, clients began requesting it, and of course we had to adapt. After all, knife credit is still a form of business.”

Rules are dead, but people are alive.

If you can make more money, why not? Not making money when it’s right there would be foolish.

That said, the change in rules was something only Tu Shanjiu’s generation had officially implemented.

Because apart from her, the other clan members really weren’t that good at spells or martial arts.

Liu Li nodded in understanding, though he looked a little conflicted.

No one had told him when he came that there were two options—self-pickup or delivery.

Which should he choose?

The main issue was that he didn’t know how the payment was calculated.

How? Obviously, it was whatever Tu Shanjiu said.

Sensing his hesitation, Tu Shanjiu directly gave him two numbers.
“Self-pickup: ten thirty-year ghost-power lollipops.
Delivery: thirty fifty-year lollipops.”

Tu Shanjiu looked up at him and said slowly,
“You six are holding exactly thirty fifty-year ghost energies, right? Since you don’t want to keep getting scolded, you have to pay a price.”

Hearing this, Liu Li’s eyes widened. He gasped.

She had figured out exactly what their group was holding in reserves. And she hadn’t even used any divination tools!

No wonder she was said to be the most untouchable figure in the metaphysics world. A knife-barterer’s ability to divine was downright terrifying!

Liu Li gritted his teeth. “Alright, I’ll take the knife—delivered!”

His colleagues had already told him before they came: no matter the cost. They didn’t want to be nagged by Qian Hu anymore—they all felt like their heads were about to explode!

“Transaction preliminarily completed. Just prepare the payment and wait for the delivery tomorrow.” Tu Shanjiu took another sip of her milk tea, her eyes narrowing into a slight smile.

“Tom—tomorrow? That fast?” Liu Li was stunned, barely able to speak.

They had been tracking this Skin-Flaying Ghost for two whole months. It was incredibly cunning and changed skins frequently. Whenever it sensed even a hint of yin energy, it would possess something and escape.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so frustrated.

Yet now she was saying she could deliver by tomorrow?

Well… knife-barterers were known for their words being as solid as iron.

He’d better go tell the others right away.

They needed to quickly convert their ghost power into lollipops.

Just thinking about it made him want to howl at the sky. What if she really caught the ghost before they even finished making the lollipops?

That would be a huge embarrassment!

Liu Li snapped out of it and rushed out of the office.

Once he left, Tu Shanjiu didn’t linger.

She’d taken on another job today—unexpectedly.

She couldn’t divine for herself, so she always carried a nail clipper.

It was small, delicate, and easy to carry.

Most importantly, it wouldn’t get confiscated wherever she went.

The entrance and exit of the Bureau’s building weren’t in the same location. The exit led to an empty alley.

In other words, both the entrance and exit were one-way.

This was different from Yun City.

Tu Shanjiu glanced at the wall behind her and raised an eyebrow.
“Big cities sure are something else.”

Not far away, a black stray cat on the wall arched its back, fur bristling, its eyes full of alarm.

It had been here the whole time—how did this person suddenly appear?

Tu Shanjiu tilted her head, grinned at the black cat, and put her index finger to her lips in a “shh” gesture.

The terrified cat bolted like a rat was chasing it.

Tu Shanjiu hadn’t played around like that in a while. She found it kind of fun.

Walking out of the alley, she glanced at the time on her phone.

Still over an hour until dinner.

She closed her eyes, facing the sun.

At that moment, a massive Taiji Eight Trigrams diagram suddenly appeared beneath her feet.

As soon as she closed her eyes, the diagram began to rotate.

Ordinary people couldn’t see it, but if there were any metaphysical practitioners nearby, they’d be absolutely stunned.

And right on cue—someone was stunned.

It was Liu Li.

He’d forgotten to ask Tu Shanjiu if the lollipops needed any specific sweetness level.

He’d gone to Lin Xiuer’s office and was told she had just left, so he rushed out after her.

And now, he ran right into this scene.

He was completely awestruck.

Q: What is the highest realm of cultivation in metaphysics?
A: Naturally, it’s mastering and integrating all spell techniques.

But that level was something many people couldn’t reach even after decades—or a lifetime—of practice!

Besides, spells and divinations weren’t even the same discipline.

It had been many years since anyone had heard of a divination master being able to materialize their spell techniques.

As far as he knew, the last one to pull it off was the blind sect leader who lived to be 108 and succeeded right before his death.

And this girl—how old was she? Nineteen! She was three years younger than him!

And he had only just passed the civil servant exam for the Underworld at twenty-two—a source of pride at his temple.

Now… he just felt useless.

Heart shattered, he realized there was no going back through the one-way exit. He could only brace himself and wait for Tu Shanjiu to finish her divination.

Not long after, the yin-yang diagram beneath her feet stopped rotating.

She slowly opened her eyes, a flash of gold crossing her pupils.

She had known the moment Liu Li arrived. But since he didn’t seem to have anything urgent, she let him wait until she finished.

And this reading… was quite the coincidence.

The next unlucky victim targeted by the Skin-Flaying Ghost—
She’d just seen them a few days ago.