Chapter 3: The Human-Skin Catalog And The Killing Scripture

Black smoke spewed out, and in the blink of an eye it formed into a flying black snake.

The black snake lunged at Li Chaosheng’s face, slithered and slipped into his nostril, and Li Chaosheng immediately felt it crawling up his nasal cavity toward his brain. If it got into his brain, he probably wouldn’t survive!

“My life is over!”

Li Chaosheng gave a mournful cry in his heart as a sharp pain began deep in his nasal passages. Then the world spun, stars exploded behind his eyes, his body wavered, and he collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

He felt as if the black snake were gnawing at his brain. His eyes filled with bloodshot veins, a black aura swirled across his face, his life force faded, his breathing grew shallow and uneven. He looked near death.

At that moment the protective jade talisman hanging around Li Chaosheng’s neck snapped and burst with a pop, and a beam of white light entered his body.

Deep in his nasal cavity the black snake continued its frantic crawl toward his brain, but as it strained a white light appeared and shone on it, and the snake dissolved into nothing in an instant.

At the same time the pitch-black world before Li Chaosheng shifted. Countless white mists swelled up. Unaware, his spirit had entered his sea of consciousness, and in a daze he saw a mountain piled high with white bones. But the bones were not creepy looking. They were crystal-clear and translucent like fine jade.

On that bone mountain there were even flowers, grasses, and trees, all similarly crystalline. It was like an immortal’s mansion, a paradise beyond the world.

As Li Chaosheng marveled at this immortal scene, his spirit was suddenly pulled by an external force and in a blink he found himself atop the mountain. At the summit was a forest of steles, and in the center stood a huge blood-colored stone tablet inscribed with large characters: Killing Scripture!

The characters hit his eyes, and instantly a flood of knowledge poured into Li Chaosheng’s mind. Upon closer inspection it was the inscriptional content of the Killing Scripture.

The Killing Scripture opened with a clear declaration: Killing is not meant for bringing harm to the life of others. It is the Dao protecting all living beings!

Following that were instructions on how to use the Killing Scripture: in plain terms, it was established to safeguard living beings on behalf of the Heavenly Dao. Its contents were not ordinary scripture or technique but a treasury containing countless heavenly materials, cultivation secrets, and precious items. But to claim them you must carry out Heaven’s slaughter. To use the lives of living beings to open the treasury and receive rewards!

“Use the lives of living beings to open the treasury and receive rewards. That fits my executioner’s role perfectly. Who in this world is more suitable for the Killing Scripture than an executioner? It’s absolutely perfect for me.”

Li Chaosheng muttered to himself, and then the sound of an abacus suddenly clicked in front of him, clack-clack…

To work hard at killing to exchange for longevity. Heaven and Earth would tally the accounts clearly.

Clack-clack…

As he listened to the sound, a huge Human-Skin Catalog fell from the sky, its pages flipping of their own accord despite no wind. It quickly turned to a page, a wisp of blue smoke rose and a human portrait appeared. It was the woman killed today, with her name beside it: Bai Chunfeng (Ghost) Level: D, Fourth Grade.

One life trades for one item, lives and items are settled fair and square. Reward: Essence-Washing Marrow-Refining Fruit, from now on strengthen the body!

Hooo…

A breeze blew and Li Chaosheng came to slowly, opening his eyes to find himself sitting on the floor back in his room as if it had all been a dream. But black blood trickled from both his nostrils, reminding him it had not been a dream.

Li Chaosheng stood and looked at the room’s mess. He had no mind to clean at this hour. But when he reached into his bosom he found a fruit cold as frosted jade. Examining it closely, the fruit was crystalline and translucent, white with flushed red. Very enticing.

“Is this the Essence-Washing Marrow-Refining Fruit?”

Li Chaosheng muttered and couldn’t help but take a bite.

Juicy and sweet, it made his mouth water. The flavor was part pear, part watermelon.

Strange, but delicious. Li Chaosheng couldn’t stop eating. In a few bites he swallowed it. He immediately felt a warm flush in his abdomen, his bodily fatigue and mental listlessness vanished, and the deep damage in his head was instantly mended.

Gradually a warm current flowed from his lower abdomen through his meridians into his limbs and bones. He felt his body like parched earth suddenly touched by flowing water, greedily drinking the warmth, which grew increasingly abundant.

His organs also absorbed the warmth, and as they did, strands of black material seeped from within his viscera. The warm current carried these and other black substances out through his skin, leaving Li Chaosheng with a feeling of utter lightness.

His body reached an unprecedented state. The comfort radiated from the depths of his soul, an indescribable pleasure he’d never before experienced.

When Li Chaosheng fully came to, daylight had broken and warm sunlight streamed through the paper windows into the room.

“Ugh, what’s that awful stench?”

He opened his eyes and was hit by a foul stench, worse than a latrine. Looking down he saw blood, wine, and a thick layer of black goo on his body. It was nauseating. He had no choice but to run outside to fetch a wooden bucket. There was a well in the courtyard and the weather was warm, perfect for a wash. Li Chaosheng trusted his robust body.

He drew a bucket of well water and tested it. The temperature felt pleasant. So he stripped naked except for a small loincloth, stood in the courtyard, and poured the water over himself.

A bucket of water washed over him and the sticky black liquid and blood rinsed away. Li Chaosheng felt completely relaxed. The excess murderous qi built up over years of killing, which had caused damage to his liver and spleen, as well as the chronic back strain from swinging his cleaver were all healed. Clenching his fist, his strength had more than doubled. Essence-Washing Marrow-Refining Fruit was truly an immortal fruit!

Thinking to draw another bucket for a thorough rinse, the courtyard gate suddenly swung open and Wang Er came in carrying a clay pot of rice porridge. He froze as he entered!

In the courtyard Li Chaosheng stood naked, not an ounce of fat on him. The man was well-proportioned, fair-skinned, muscular, brimming with masculinity and the magnetism of a wild animal. He was practically pheromones with legs. Even Wang Er, a man, was taken aback by the shock of it!

“My goodness, Brother Li, look at that body. If the young maidens still in their boudoirs saw you, they’d nearly die of love. I’d wager many would hang themselves for you. You must protect yourself when you go out, don’t let any female bandits assault you!”

“Hahaha… Brother Er, you’re joking. It’s not that mystical, I’m just a bit muscular.”

“Muscular? That’s not just muscular, that’s perfection. Forget the rest: with Brother Li’s body, enter that Changchun Court and the courtesans would go mad. They’d gladly accept you without payment. If I had your assets, why go home? I’d live in Changchun Court… What were the girls’ names again? Perfume of a Hundred Miles, Nights of Revelry? I’d sample them all… it’ll be heavenly!”

Wang Er chuckled, and Li Chaosheng went back in to get dressed before saying, “Nah, I wouldn’t want to be a freeloader. By the way, Brother Er, what did you want with me?”