It was now late at night, and the surroundings were pitch black. It was so dark one could not see their own hand in front of them, and it seemed even the dogs in the alley had gone silent.
They were tiny three and a third inch feet. While an ordinary woman's feet might be delicate and exquisite, they were never this strange.
The owner of the embroidered shoes seemed to float in, landing silently in the courtyard.
Game characters had night vision, and after Nanzhi turned the screen brightness to the maximum, she indeed saw a glamorous and beautiful woman.
The woman had a head of beautiful black hair, raven black in color, styled in a bun with a two pronged golden hairpin tucked in at an angle.
She was draped in a yellow short shirt so thin and light that it revealed the incredibly seductive red chest wrap underneath.
A red sash was loosely tied around the waist of her hundred pleat skirt, and with every step she took, a wave of fragrant wind followed her.
Cloud like hair and fragrant cheeks, vermilion lips and pearly teeth, a powdered face and raven tresses—her posture was like a swaying willow branch as she walked.
In all honesty, this was the most beautiful woman Nanzhi had ever seen.
But above her head sat a red character name representing the hostile faction:
【Painted Skin Ghost (Injured)】
This Painted Skin Ghost was injured?
Nanzhi was a bit surprised, but she tightened her grip on her butchering knife.
Seeing someone blocking the courtyard so boldly, the woman was first stunned, then looked Nanzhi up and down.
Seeing a dark and sturdy young girl, the Painted Skin Ghost immediately showed a look of intense disgust:
“How could that beautiful lady’s elder sister be born so ugly? I thought I could get two beautiful skins today—”
Nanzhi: “???”
You are a monster that peels off people's skin, and you are being picky?!
This damn game randomized her identity and appearance; did she even have a choice?!
Anger rose from her heart, and malice sprouted from her gut.
“Take off that human skin, and it is not certain who is truly ugly!”
Nanzhi raised her butchering knife and slashed fiercely at the Painted Skin Ghost’s calf!
【You have entered combat status】
【Equipped Title: “Butcher’s Daughter” (Constitution +1, Reputation +2, Deterrence against beasts +1)】
【Equipped Weapon: “Nan Dazhuang’s Butchering Knife” (Combat Power +15, Deterrence against ghosts +2, chance to intimidate enemy units)】
The Painted Skin Ghost had not taken the girl seriously, but Nanzhi struck without warning. Caught off guard, the butchering knife actually bit into its calf—
The butchering knife felt as if it were sinking into dough, sinking in an inch. No blood came from the wound; instead, it looked like a cut in white paper, with a jagged gap forced open by the blade.
“Aaaaaah! This is my favorite skin! How dare you! You bitch!”
The Painted Skin Ghost was furious, its eyes glowing with a green light as it shrieked:
“You ugly woman, to have such nerve!
I will gouge out your heart! No, I will peel off your skin and find a mangy dog’s skin to drape over you, making you a mangy dog for the rest of your life!”
With that, its eyes rolled back, and the beautiful skin split open from the top of its head. Like someone taking off clothes, a ten foot tall, massive demon crawled out from the tear in the human skin.
This demon was blue faced and fanged, with a bulging head like a flat peach. Cold light shot from its yellow eyes, and it was bare chested, its shriveled breasts hanging down to its belly.
The demon’s entire body was a greyish green. Upon closer inspection, blood vessels like banyan tree roots crawled across its skin. It had eagle claws and bear feet, appearing truly terrifying.
Coupled with its ten foot stature, it was identical to the images of hellish demons depicted in ancient paintings.
【Painted Skin Ghost (Injured): HP 1500】
Nanzhi nearly slipped. She said to the Painted Skin Ghost with great sincerity: “If I said this was a misunderstanding, would you believe me?”
What were the designers thinking?
Her HP was only a hundred, yet the Painted Skin Ghost had fifteen hundred HP even in an injured state? Did this make any sense?
Huh?!
“Waaaaah—I will twist off your head!”
The Painted Skin Ghost laughed hideously, stretching out its eagle claws to grab at Nanzhi:
“After I eat your heart, I will go and peel that little lady’s skin! Hehehehe!”
“The character modeling is truly detailed, and the setting of the ghost crawling out of human skin is also very striking, very characteristic of Chinese ghost stories.”
Nanzhi manipulated her character to roll on the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack range of the Painted Skin Ghost displayed on the floor:
“Is the Painted Skin Ghost a boss of the starting village? Although it is tall and massive, its movements are slow, and its attack methods are mostly physical—”
Despite looking incredibly fierce and terrifying, the Painted Skin Ghost’s attack patterns seemed to consist only of using its eagle claws to swipe at the player and using its large feet to stomp the ground.
“I understand!”
Nanzhi suddenly had a flash of insight, feeling she had understood the game designer’s good intentions:
“I knew it. How could the starting village have an invincible boss?
As long as the player dodges the attacks of the 【Painted Skin Ghost】, they can kite it and slowly wear it down to death—”
Seeing the red HP bar above the Painted Skin Ghost’s head, Nanzhi was suddenly filled with confidence.
There was a saying: as long as you dare to show an HP bar, players will kill even a god for you to see!
Relying on her familiarity with the surroundings, Nanzhi led the Painted Skin Ghost in circles around the courtyard, stubbornly wearing down half of its HP!
The Painted Skin Ghost felt this dark, sturdy girl was like a slippery loach!
Whether it reached out to gouge her heart or raised its foot to stomp her, this dark brat could always narrowly avoid it!
It was as if she could guess exactly what it was going to do!
“Waaaaah—you dark thief who only knows how to run around!
When I catch you, I will tear your skin to shreds! I will swallow your heart whole! Then I will pull out your tendons and throw them into the river to feed the fish!”
The Painted Skin Ghost seemed to be driven to madness by rage. It thrust out its large black foot to stomp on Nanzhi’s chest, but she manipulated her character to leap onto the wall!
A gust of wind brushed past her ear. The Painted Skin Ghost had feinted, and its massive ghost palm slammed into the stone mill standing by the wall!
“Crash!”
The stone mill was struck by the immense force and let out a loud bang, instantly shattering. Broken stones rolled all over the ground, naturally waking the sleeping Nan family.
Nan Dazhuang’s thick voice rang out, shouting with full vigor:
“Who is in my courtyard! Where did this little thief come from? My eldest son works at the county office—”
With this roar, sounds also came from the neighboring houses, and some people could even be heard shouting “Catch the thief!”
Torchlight flickered all around, and shadows loomed. The Painted Skin Ghost was terrified. It did not even want the human skin on the ground anymore and stumbled toward the gate—
“No way, the player can’t mute the sound during combat?! Damn designer, do you even know how to design a game?!”
Nanzhi cursed the game company once again, but her hands never stopped. Rolling, jumping, back slashing, and sliding—she performed a series of movements that would be impossible in reality in one fluid motion!
“Pfft!!!”
She swung her butchering knife, and the blade sank into the Painted Skin Ghost’s thigh. A spray of black blood erupted—
“Aaaaaah! Give me your life!”
In extreme pain, the Painted Skin Ghost ignored the butchering knife still lodged in its flesh and exerted all its strength to turn back and grab her. Without a weapon in hand, Nanzhi could only retreat by instinct!
In that critical moment, a flash of snowy light streaked through the air. With a sharp “crack,” a pair of thick ghost palms fell to the ground, and black blood spurted like a gusher!
“Waaaaah!!!!”
The Painted Skin Ghost shrieked and collapsed, its HP bar finally reaching the bottom.
Nanzhi turned back and saw Nan Dazhuang, who was covered in sweat.
She would never curse the designer again.
You did a great job!
Nan Dazhuang held a wood chopping axe, foul smelling black blood dripping from it. He looked even more ferocious than the Painted Skin Ghost:
“Hah! You demon!! You have come to harm my family again!
I only regret that I did not split you in two with one blow back then to avenge my two dead children!
Today you dare to come to my door again to harm my Eldest Daughter! Ptui!”
This spit landed right on the Painted Skin Ghost’s large, peach like head, causing it even more pain:
“Mercy! Mercy! I never harmed your family—”
A butcher’s yang energy was strong, and their baleful aura was heavy. The Painted Skin Ghost was already on its last breath, and when that spit landed, it felt its entire skin burning as if it had been thrown into an oil vat!
While it had indeed targeted the little lady of this house, it had not succeeded yet!
Where did these dead children come from!
Injustice!
What a massive injustice!
But Nanzhi did not wait for its answer. She raised the long axe high and used all her strength to chop down!
“Crack.”
As if slicing a melon, the Painted Skin Ghost’s head and body were severed into two. The ghost head rolled twice on the ground before landing at Nanzhi’s feet.
Nan Dazhuang was a rough man used to hard labor. This axe blow was both accurate and ruthless.
Yet the Painted Skin Ghost still would not die.
The bloated corpse struggled and writhed on the ground, its two thick legs kicking wildly.
The two severed ghost hands also crawled around on the ground, seemingly searching for the head, wanting to put it back on.
Nanzhi did not give it the chance.
She picked up her butchering knife and plunged the long blade through the ghost eyes and deep into the skull:
“Shink—”
She stirred it a few more times with force, not stopping until she had turned the brain matter into mush.
This could be considered revenge.
Finally, the head lost its sentience, and the massive body collapsed heavily to the ground.
—Fortunately, this was a game. Otherwise, the scene she just caused would have made Nanzhi so disgusted she would not be able to eat for three days.
Nan Dazhuang tried his best to force a “gentle” smile to comfort his daughter, saying softly:
“Eldest Daughter, you weren’t scared, were you?”
But his face was still stained with some of the Painted Skin Ghost’s black blood, and combined with his bushy beard, he looked rather terrifying.
Nanzhi: “...”
She had heard the “legends” about the Nan family’s struggle to have children. After a bit of thought, she understood:
Nan Dazhuang had likely mistaken this Painted Skin Ghost for the great ghost from back then.
Simply put, he had identified the wrong ghost.
The ghost head’s eyes were wide open, its mouth agape, as if it were unwilling to die with eyes open.
No wonder even the Painted Skin Ghost had cried out about the injustice.
Nanzhi held her knife and kicked the head of the creature on the ground.
Falling into her hands, this ghost could be considered truly unlucky.
Rate on N.U.
