YM778.TV Chapter 211 - 174: The Painted Skin!
Xu Yang also walked into the women’s restroom.
He “saw” the stall where the incident occurred.
In the stall, there was a young woman, dressed in cool summer clothes and with a head of non-mainstream light blue hair. She should be pretty young. She was sitting on the toilet.
Her bag, broken makeup mirror, and lipstick were scattered on the floor. Her face had been gruesomely cut off, and her bloody features were oozing blood non-stop.
“Bizarre case!”
Bai Wei glanced briefly and immediately made a judgment, saying, “Wang Lin, notify the Public Security Bureau, let them send people to seal off the scene, and get in touch with the mail’s management to request the surveillance footage!”
Wang Lin immediately took out his cell phone and made a call.
Xu Yang was somewhat surprised and asked, “How did you determine that this is a bizarre case? I didn’t detect any Yin energy residue at the scene! ” Indeed!
Xu Yang’s eyes may not be able to “see”.
But his spiritual power senses were even more powerful than his eyes.
As soon as he entered the restroom, he scanned it but found no trace of Yin energy residue. In his heart, he even ruled out the possibility of a bizarre case.
Bai Wei replied, “I judged based on the eye expression and time of death of the corpse. I have studied forensic medicine, and the body temperature of the corpse can roughly estimate that her time of death did not exceed 15 minutes. This is Wanda, the busiest mall in Wu City.”
“The fourth floor of Wanda is all sorts of food stores and cinemas. The buffet seafood restaurants on this floor don’t have restrooms, so people are constantly coming and going in this public restroom. If it wasn’t a bizarre event, it would be impossible to make no noise at all.”
Xu Yang nodded.
Bai Wei’s judgment made sense, but it was not enough to determine that this was indeed a bizarre case.
However, when Xu Yang “saw” the corpse’s eyes, he understood why Bai Wei was so certain!
There was not even a trace of fear or pain in the dead woman’s eyes; instead, her eyes exuded faint joy!
Bai Wei found the woman’s ID in the bag on the ground and said, “Zhang Li, 22 years old…”
“Zhang Li?”
Xu Yang was slightly taken aback.
This name… sounded familiar!
He leaned over to “see” the ID card and immediately remembered. This was one of the two girls that Ma Long had picked up when he just returned to Wu City. She was the one who sent him back to his funeral home when he was drunk. She had also harbored malicious intentions against him, but was then scared off by Liu Shishi.
She had left behind a black lace at his place.
Soon enough,
Mall management arrived.
A homicide in the mall was a big deal, so the management was very cooperative. In no tune, Xu Yang and the others saw the surveillance footage of the corridor outside the restroom.
According to the surveillance, Zhang Li entered the restroom at 12:28 p.m. on July 20, 2023.
At 12:38 p.m.,
She walked out of the restroom and even deliberately looked up at the camera with a strange smile on her face before walking away.
“Something’s wrong!”
“We entered the restroom at 12:42 p.m., and Zhang Li was already dead by then… What’s going on with her appearing in the surveillance footage?”
Wang Lin clearly remembered the time.
At that moment, Yang Yin, who was standing beside Xu Yang, said, “That’s not Zhang Li!”
She was very certain and said, “When Zhang Li entered the restroom, she had a bag on her back. Her bag remained in the restroom. The person who came out was a man. He entered the restroom 28 seconds before Zhang Li. He just wore Zhang Li’s face!”
Wang Lm and Bai Wei had been focusing on the faces of people entering and leaving the restroom, not noticing this detail.
They rewound the surveillance footage and watched it again, only to find that Yang Yin was indeed correct.
Moreover, Yang Yin continued, “We had encountered this man before when we left the phone store. I found him strange even then… He had the stature and manners of a man, yet he had a woman’s face… Now it seems that he cut off Zhang Li’s face and wore it on his own.”
Xu Yang couldn’t help but think of a term in his mind – Face Painting!
The earliest appearance of “Face Painting” is in “Mysteries of the Obscure,” which tells the story of evil spirits transforming into beautiful women to ‘ seduce lecherous and greedy men. The lecherous men were deceived, and the Daoist priest saw through it.
Later, it was recorded in Pu Songling’s “Strange Tales From a Chinese Studio” and had even been adapted into several big-screen movies.
Upon learning about the ability of this “ghost,” Wang Lin and Bai Wei’s faces grew solemn.
Regardless of the combat power of such a ghost,
Since “it” could peel off someone else’s face and impersonate them without revealing any Yin energy, it was extremely terrifying. In the vast ocean of people, as long as “it” killed someone, changed their face and disappeared into the crowd, how could one find it?
Now that a case had occurred, Wang Lin and Bai Wei could no longer focus on eating.
Xu Yang returned to the seafood buffet restaurant with the ladies and filled a big table with dishes.
At the dinner table, the group discussed the case.
Miss Yates said, “I never imagined Yang Yin’s observation skills would be so impressive.”
“When I was learning to paint, my teacher often said that if one were to paint well, it would require paying attention to details. Maybe we painters observe things from a different perspective than others!”
Xu Yang then asked with a change of expression, “Sister, you are the Ghost King and command numerous underworld soldiers with extensive connections and intelligence, and you are also relatively familiar with the ghost world of Xi Xia. Have you ever heard of such a ghost with these abilities in the Xi Xia region?”
Miss Yue shook her head and said, “In recent years, the number of Yin spirits and fierce ghosts has been increasing, and those that were once dormant are gradually awakening. Dead people or places where Yin energy gathers are also giving birth to new lost souls.”
“These lost souls have varying abilities, and some of them don’t even know of the Ghost Market’s existence. They wander around all day, either harming people, hiding in a certain place, or being devoured and refined by stronger Yin spirits and fierce ghosts… It’s normal for them to give birth to strange ghosts that I don’t know about.”
Yun Mengxi, who was standing beside, also said, “During the Song Dynasty, there was a face-changing ghost that caused great disturbance among the ’ living. Although the face-changing ghost did not have strong abilities, it possessed unparalleled skill in hiding. When this kind of ghost was weak, it only cut off people’s faces and transformed into their appearance, but its body could not change.”
“As it killed more people, the evil energy in its body became stronger, and the Yin energy became heavier. Its power grew deeper, and after killing people, it would peel off their entire skin, completely transforming into their appearance and even obtaining their memories, living as another person in the human world!”
“I remember that the face-changing ghost had caused trouble among the living for more than sixty years before it was finally subdued and killed by a Heavenly Master from Dragon Tiger Mountain who happened to witness it committing a murder.”
Shaking her head, Yun Mengxi sighed, “If the Spirits Management Bureau doesn’t find this face-changing ghost as soon as possible, I’m afraid many people will die this time!”
As it turned out, Yun Mengxi was not mistaken.
Around 12 o’clock on the night of July 20th, Xu Yang received a call from Feng Zhaoqing.
On the other end of the phone, Feng Zhaoqing helplessly said, “Master X11…I need your help again.”
“Has the face-changing ghost killed someone again?”
Upon hearing this, Xu Yang thought for a moment and said, “Where is the crime scene? I’m coming over.”
“Under the Yellow River Bridge.”
Feng Zhaoqing gave the location.
Xu Yang took a taxi and quickly arrived at Wu City’s Yellow River Bridge, where he saw police tape under the bridge. In the middle was a corpse covered in a white sheet.
“Master Xu!”
Feng Zhaoqing, a Grandmaster in the Innate Realm and captain of the Xi Xia branch of the Spirits Management Bureau stationed in Wu City, personally greeted Xu Yang. He opened the police tape and walked towards the corpse while introducing the scene to Xu Yang, “This is the fourth homicide case today… We have investigated, and the face that the killer used at the beginning was also obtained by murder!”
“After killing the woman at Wanda at noon, he killed another man at 6 pm…” “This body was discovered 30 minutes ago. According to the information left on the body, the victim is a 27-year-old male who was likely killed while fishing.”
Xu Yang lifted the white sheet and took a glance.
The body had the same death expression as Zhang Li.
There was joy in the eyes.
There were no other injuries on the body, and it seemed as if the person’s face had been cut off while alive. There was no trace of Yin energy left around, making it impossible to find any clues… As for the surveillance, there was no need to check.
Since the person could “change faces,” checking would be futile.
Moreover, Xu Yang discovered…
The “wounds” on this body’s face were smoother than those on Zhang Li’s face… This meant that the face-changing ghost was getting better at cutting faces!
Of course.
This was not the main point.
The main point was that there was another case!
An idea flashed through Xu Yang’s mind, and he asked, “Grandmaster Feng, what was the time of death for the other victim you mentioned?”
Feng Zhaoqing said, “The first victim was Ma Haiping, a decoration master. He was laying floor tiles for someone’s house when the incident occurred. We received the alarm call at 3 pm, and according to the forensic’s identification, the time of death should be between 7:30 am and 9 am.”
“Morning, noon, afternoon….”
Xu Yang muttered to himself.
He took out his cell phone and took a glance at the time with his spiritual power.
It was just past midnight.
Upon hearing Xu Yang’s mutterings, Feng Zhaoqing quickly asked, “Master Xu, have you discovered any clues?”
Xu Yang pondered for a few seconds and said, “The timing of the facechanging ghost’s killings… Is it a coincidence or…”
When he reached this point, he paused before saying, “Or is it following meal times?”
“Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner…?”
Feng Zhaoqing thought about it and couldn’t help but curse, “Damn it! Does this bastard need a midnight snack too? If it’s true, wouldn’t at least four people die every day?”
“By the way, Master Xu, you just mentioned the ghost is called a face-changing ghost?”
Xu Yang nodded and immediately briefed Feng Zhaoqing on the characteristics of face-changing ghosts, and also told him about the incident Yun Mengxi had mentioned. Feng Zhaoqing’s face changed upon hearing this, and he said seriously, “If it’s true, then it’s terrible… If it has to kill at least four people a day, I’m afraid it won’t take long for the entire Wu City to become frightened, and countless innocent civilians will fall victim to it!”
“Master Xu, do you have any way to find that face-changing ghost?”
“Difficult!”
Xu Yang shook his head with a wry smile, “This fellow can change faces at any time, and there’s no Yin energy escaping from its body. To find it… Oh!”
As he spoke, he suddenly had an idea and asked, “Grandmaster Feng, I have an idea we could try, but I’m not sure if it will actually be able to expose the ghost!”
Feng Zhaoqing’s eyes lit up and he asked, “What’s the plan?”
“It’s an occult technique that you might not believe, so there’s no need to mention it.”
In Xu Yang’s mind, Ma Long’s face appeared.
If he were to take Ma Long with him and wander around Wu City every day… would there be a chance of attracting the face-changing ghost?
PS: The second update is here. I’m taking my wife and children out to play today, so the third update will be a little later, around 12 o’clock. You can come back to read it tomorrow.