Chapter 167: Corpses and Skin

Chapter 167: Corpses and Skin

A blast of power rushed through Jin Xian. Hui was forcibly expelled, and his vision blackened. Hui jolted out of his meditation and almost simultaneously spat a mouthful of blood. He jumped up and ran for the entrance to his vertebra, then hesitated. Dammit! Fa Chuyou has my ghoul skin. If I leave, I

Wait. Yunxu knows who I am. Then

No, he knows that Im the one who used the gem in the Blood Mist Valley. Erlan picked me up after I got the gem. Unless he saw me in that ancestral home, before I picked up the gem, I

Hui furrowed his brows. The snake-skin technique obviously would solve this, but I havent cultivated it yet! Argh! Even if it only takes me an hour to comprehend it, that could be too long!

He paced back and forth, moving toward the door, then retreating. Hui chewed his lip, nervous. At last, he fished a jade slip out of his storage ring, pressed it to his forehead, then sent it flying out the front of his vertebra.

A knock sounded at the front of his cave seconds later. Xie Hao, theres no way. You cant fool me, Bai Xue declared.

You came, Hui replied, waving his hand to let Bai Xue in.

Right, but you didnt fool me. You arent waiting anxiously for my arrival, unable to think of another way than getting there with me Bai Xue said, sweeping inside. He stopped abruptly and swept his eyes up and down Hui. Or are you? No ghoul skin. Thats practically naked, nowadays!

Hui hugged himself, suddenly feeling exposed. He shook his head. No! II meant literally going somewhere! I need your help toto go to Corpse Refining Valley. Fa Chuyous in danger! I dont have my ghoul skin, so I cant step outside myself without someone else to help hide my appearance and aura. Please, Bai Xue!

Bai Xue leaned against the vertebra wall, still taking Hui in. I dont know. I think I might need your help getting there

My, my ghoul-skin is in danger! Hui tried.

Bai Xue shrugged. He stepped toward Hui, swapping into female form. White hair flowed gracefully down her white robes. She lowered long lashes, cold eyes giving him a look that heated his skin. A cold hand traced his chin. Havent you considered that you might be in danger?

Bai Xue! I Hui swallowed. He started to speak, then gagged. Tried again.

Go on, Bai Xue purred, leaning close.

I Ill owe you one! Hui managed.

Bai Xue hesitated. She stopped, then sighed. When it comes time to cash in all that you owe me youd better not run away.

Hui barely heard him. He peered down into the coffin, frowning.

The skin laid below, wrinkled and dried up at the bottom of the coffin. It hissed and popped, as if cooking in oil. Hui frowned. Whered all the corpse refining fluid go?

He looked up at the retreating smoke, and realization passed over his face. Right.

Liquid. I need more liquid to refine this corpse! Hui cast around, searching for a vial of Yellow Springs River water. Nothing. I dont see any vials! Does Fa Chuyou keep them on her, in her personal bag of holding? But I wont be able to open her personal bag of holding without erasing her seal, and argh, itll take too long!

Liquid! Bai Xue, do you see any bottles around here? Anything with liquid?

Fourth realm I need to progress alreadyeh, huh? Ill go check, Bai Xue said, startled out of his thoughts. He rushed off into the cultivation zone, carefully dodging the various strange corpses.

Before Huis eyes, the ghoul skin continued to crack and pop. It blackened as it dried up, shriveling away. I dont have any time. I need something

Liquid. Water. An ocean

Hui lifted his hand to his storage ring and drew out the red gem. A sea of blood qi sloshed inside, liquid-like. Its qi, not liquid, but but its worth a try!

He held the gem over the coffin and released some of the blood qi into the coffin. The ghoul skin sizzled fiercely as the blood qi sloshed over it, boiling under the heat of the refining corpse. Hui added more, more. The sizzling quieted to a low boil, and the skin stopped shriveling. He poured more.

The blood qi duck hurtled out of his dantian and stood under the gem, beak wide open. Some of the qi diverted from the coffin and splashed down the ducks throat.

Hui frowned, then shrugged to himself. Oh well. I was planning to feed it blood qi anyways. Two birds, one stone!

Under the influence of the blood qi, the ghoul skin began to lighten. Black gunk lifted off its surface. The previously average-looking skin became perfectly clear, shining with health, so that Hui could hardly believe the skin originally came from a ghoul rather than a living human.

The scrap of snake skin glowed, half-merged into the ghoul skins chest. Hui fed his own qi into it, merging the snake skin into the ghoul skin. The blood qi instantly began to boil as the ghoul skin sucked down the blood qi.

Even as the refining process began anew, Jin Xian stepped up behind him and climbed into the coffin. She laid beside the ghoul skin, arms crossed over her chest, a dim expression on her face as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

Hui pressed his lips together, looking at the gluttonous blood qi duck and the cheeky ghoul. Is everyone going to try to steal my blood qi? Elder Sister, Senior Fatty, please! Theres no need! Everyone can have some, in their own time!