Chapter 36: “Don’t Come Any Closer!!!”

Chen Younan sneered disdainfully, “You’re really putting on a show. Who knows if it’s just a bunch of random drawings?”

As he spoke, he reached out and opened the door.

The moment it opened, a cold gust of air rushed out.

Chen Younan and the others shivered.

One of the boys beside him, who was wearing relatively light clothes, said with a trembling voice, “It’s so cold. Could there really be a ghost?”

Chen Younan glared at him. “Ghost, my ass. I probably just set the AC too low. The AC in my bedroom is on a separate control system.”

“Oh, that explains it. I was wondering.”

“Hmph!” Chen Younan turned to look at Tu Shanju, then made a mocking gesture. “After you, Master Tu.”

That “Master Tu” was dripping with sarcasm.

Tu Shanju retracted her aura and stepped inside.

Xie Jingzhou and Xie Jingting followed closely behind.

Well, one had to overlook Xie Jingting’s awkward, mismatched gait.

The others filed in as well. Thankfully, Chen Younan’s room was big enough that it didn’t feel crowded despite the number of people.

Once inside, Chen Younan walked to the control panel on the wall, intending to turn up the AC.

But one glance at the display showed the temperature was already set to 25 degrees Celsius.

What the hell?

Could the AC system be malfunctioning too?

While he was still puzzled, one of his friends spoke up: “Miss Tu, where’s that skin-flaying ghost you mentioned? There’s nothing here.”

Tu Shanju didn’t respond. Her gaze remained fixed on the walk-in closet at the very back of the room.

Suddenly, behind her, someone let out a creepy voice: “Jie-jie-jie~ Who… is looking for… me?”

Everyone turned toward the sound. It came from Wang Xin, who had been standing beside Xie Jingting.

At this moment, his slightly chubby face was contorted, his pupils rolled back showing only the whites.

Even more bizarre, he was twisting his body and stretching both arms forward.

“Jie-jie-jie, get out of here now or I’ll strangle you all!” Wang Xin hopped and lunged toward Chen Younan’s group.

The sudden spectacle left everyone frozen—including Tu Shanju.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“This… you… I…” Tu Shanju was dumbfounded. She didn’t even know what to say. That acting was truly unbearable.

This didn’t look like possession—it looked more like a bad zombie impersonation!

Still, Tu Shanju made a mental note of this chubby guy.

The Wang family, huh? Not bad at all.

The weather’s cooling—let’s help the Wang family rise a little higher.

Maybe Wang Xin’s acting was just that bad, because most people didn’t buy it.

Even Chen Younan’s heart only skipped a beat at first, but then he folded his arms and pretended to be scared: “Oh nooo~ I’m so scared~ A skin-flaying ghost, huh? Please don’t skin me~”

“Hahaha…” A burst of laughter filled the room.

Wang Xin, realizing he’d been exposed, scratched the back of his head awkwardly and looked apologetically at Tu Shanju.

But just then, Tu Shanju’s gaze shifted past them, toward something behind them.

Suddenly, the chandelier above went out, leaving only moonlight streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

A voice, eerie and androgynous, echoed through the room:

“That won’t do! I’ve had my eye on your skin for days—how could I not peel it off?”

Everyone froze.

Xie Jingting quickly moved behind Tu Shanju, covering his eyes with one hand.

Only, he left a gap between his fingers, peeking out with one squinting eye, scanning the room.

Chen Younan swallowed hard, but still bluffed, “Stop messing around! Who’s pulling this prank? Turn the lights back on and let me beat the crap out of you!”

“Hahaha, that’s a good joke. I’ve already died once—how are you going to kill me again?”

“What a little pervert. I didn’t even judge your special kink, and now you’re being all righteous?”

“Last night, when you wore the ancient dress I possessed and looked at yourself in the mirror, I wanted to skin you then. If your dad hadn’t called you and made you rush out to change clothes, I’d already be living your life by now.”

Chen Younan’s heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst out of his chest. “You—you—who the hell are you?! Come out! Stop trying to scare us!”

As soon as he finished, BANG!—a loud crash.

Everyone whipped around.

The sound had come from the walk-in closet.

Chen Younan felt like the blood in his veins had frozen.

The strange noises from the closet these past few days…

The room fell silent for two seconds. Then the chandelier abruptly flicked back on.

Everyone instinctively squinted.

But the next moment, they all gasped, stepping back in unison.

Some even collapsed to the floor in fright.

They say the scariest fear renders you silent. At that moment, no one made a sound as they stared at an ancient-style dress slowly “walking” out of the closet.

Xie Jingting immediately clamped his fingers shut and bit down hard on the lollipop in his mouth.

Tu Shanju remained motionless and silent.

If they were going to be taught a lesson, it needed to be frightening.

Xie Jingzhou was braver than Xie Jingting. He yanked the fleeing Wang Xin back to his side, then gestured subtly to a few of their close friends.

They reacted swiftly, all scrambling behind Tu Shanju.

The rest followed suit, tripping over themselves to get to safety.

At this point, who cared about profit or loyalty? Everyone for themselves.

Chen Younan suddenly found himself standing alone, legs trembling like sieves.

The skin-flaying ghost floated toward him. He dropped to the floor, frantically crawling backward, screaming:

“Don’t come any closer!!!”

The ghost teased him, grabbing his foot. “If I don’t come closer, how am I supposed to skin you? I’ll start from your feet—no one can see under your shoes. Perfect. Don’t worry, I’m very experienced. It won’t hurt a bit.”

“Let me go! AHH! HELP! Master Tu, I was wrong! I was wrong! Save me! Please!”

At that, the ghost paused and revealed its true form. “Hmm? Master? Where?”

The skin-flaying ghost’s true form looked like a human body stripped of its epidermis and dermis.

Bloody muscle fibers stretched across the entire body, with tendons and ligaments clearly visible.

Of course, it wasn’t real—this was simply the state she had died in.

She had been skinned alive.

Chen Younan, seeing the ghost take interest, quickly pointed to Tu Shanju. “Her! She’s the master! She’s the Knife-Borrower! She said she’d banish you earlier!”

Xie Jingting couldn’t take it anymore and cursed, “F*ck! Chen Younan, are you even a man? If I knew you were like this, I wouldn’t have bothered treating you as a rival!”

“Shut up, you smug bastard! Easy for you to talk when you’re not the one in danger!”

The ghost ignored their bickering and turned to Tu Shanju.

Her skull was exposed, brain matter visible, so it was hard to tell her expression.

But the empty eye sockets of her skull were clearly focused on Tu Shanju.

Tu Shanju was amused. “You can even see me like that? What are you looking at?”