Chapter 581: Heart Demon Births Hundred Illusions

Skin Painting Gentleman was a former scholar who, after failing the imperial examination again and again and losing all hope, chose to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff. However, as the gods of web novels willed it, he somehow survived and even obtained a martial arts manual for his troubles. It was none other than the “Art of Skin Painting”.

Skin Painting Gentleman first practiced the “Art of Skin Painting” on tramps and beggars. He was forced to watch his victims struggling and screaming in pain as their skin was stripped away little by little.

He was just an inexperienced scholar at the time, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was as timid as a mouse. As a result, his nights were haunted by nightmares of his victims seeking to repay what he did to him and skin alive.

Even now after he had mastered the “Art of Skin Painting” in full, the nightmares still haunted him from time to time. It was practically his heart demon at this point.

Just now, he saw his victims coming back to life and demanding that he repaid his evil karma by surrendering his life and his skin. That was why he was as terrified and panicked as he was.

As for the Limp Celestial, he was a victim of a natural disaster that resulted in tens of thousands of civilians dying of starvation. He had been this close from starving to death himself. That was why he was obsessed with food from a young age, and why delicious food was the love of his life.

In his illusion, he was treated to an endless sea of delicious food of all kinds. They were perfect in every way including appearance, smell, taste and more. Once he ate his first “food”, he was unable to stop no matter what.

What they experienced in the illusions were some of their darkest secrets, fears and desires. Of course they couldn’t tell Xie Taohua about it.

“Please don’t misunderstand. I was just curious. If you don’t wish to talk about it, then so it shall be,” Xie Taohua said a little disappointedly. “I can tell I am not welcomed, so I’ll be taking my leave now. Try not to succumb to the illusions again, okay?”

“You misunderstand, Brother Xie. Rest assured that we have nothing against you,” Skin Painting Gentleman hurriedly explained before asking, “Do you know something about the illusion, brother?”

Xie Taohua shook his head. “Not at all! I only know from observation that it changes depending on the person’s perception, emotion and mental weakness. If you’re not careful, then you may never awake again. I can tell that all three of you have chinks in your mental defenses, so you should leave this mountain while you still can.”

Xie Taohua got ready to leave after saying that.

“Thank you, Brother Xie, but we’ve already come this far. We must catch a glimpse of that treasure if nothing else,” Skin Painting Gentleman replied.Ne/w novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

The fact that the phenomenon was so dangerous proved that whatever treasure resided at the peak of the mountain was incredibly potent. Opportunities like this one came only once in a lifetime, so they would be remiss to give up without having given it their all.

“It’s just my advice. It’s not up to me whether you heed it or not,” Xie Taohua said uncaringly as he began to leave.

“Wait, Brother Xie!”

Limp Celestial, Skin Painting Gentleman and Tiger Sovereign exchanged glances with each other before calling out to the feminine man. “It looks like you’re planning to ascend the mountain as well, and we now know just how strange and dangerous this place is. If you don’t mind, can we join you on your journey? Four heads are better than one, right?”

“My companions are right, Brother Xie. We can help each other out if the situation gets dicey,” Skin Painting Gentleman added.

More than once, they had nearly lost themselves in a terrible illusion, never to wake again. More than once, they had suspected and even fought each other over the stupidest things.

If it wasn’t for Xie Taohua and the Strange Artifact named the Wood Fish Girl, they would probably be dead a long, long time ago.

As if that wasn’t enough, the phenomenon’s power kept growing as they got closer and closer to the peak. It eventually got to the point where they were assaulted by illusions even when the phenomenon wasn’t happening.

The number of dead people kept growing as well, and a fair number of them were famous warriors of Bei You. There was the Night Cat they were discussing earlier, the Fat Fiend and the Thin Ghoul, Mo Bei Dhutanga [1], Six-fingered Evil Monk and more. Their manners of death were also extremely varied.

Previously, they would have wondered how these powerful warriors had suffered such tragic deaths. But now, everyone knew that it was because of the anomalous power at the mountain peak. They had either killed each other because their personality weaknesses were magnified, or they had succumbed to an illusion and died, or they had suffered a mental breakdown and committed suicide, and more.

“Phew... We’re finally here.”

Thankfully, no one in their group was a weakling. Despite the scares, they ultimately managed to reach the peak without any casualties.

“Huh? What’s that?”

As soon as they reached the peak, a gigantic black lotus appeared before their eyes. It had nine petals overflowing with mysterious air of dao, and profound energy seemed to ripple through the air with every sway. At the same time, all kinds of beautiful and phantasmal illusions came to life.

Skin Painting Gentleman, Limp Celestial, Tiger Sovereign and Xie Taohua all succumbed to fantastical light show in an instant. While wearing a dumb expression on their faces, they began to step toward the black lotus.

When the girl floating next to Xie Taohua saw that her master was in danger, she hurriedly raised her massive wooden hammer and brought it down on the wooden fish, hard.

Tok!

Xie Taohua trembled, and a hint of struggle flashed across his face. However, he quickly succumbed to the phenomenon and stepped toward the black lotus once more.

Tok! Tok! Tok! Tok...

Seeing this, the girl pouted and hit the wooden fish again and again. Over time, tiny cracks began to spread across the surface of the wooden fish.

The girl looked like she might burst into tears. It was as if she could feel the growing cracks on the wooden fish. However, her efforts seemed futile as Xie Taohua and the others continued to move toward the black lotus.

1. Dhutanga is a group of austerities or ascetic practices taught in Buddhism. ☜