Chapter 17 - Ten Forms, Pen of Non-Life.

The surrounding white mist grew thicker and more turbulent.

The Sui Demon, hair disheveled, tilted its head, gazing at the masked Daoist wearing a bamboo hat before it.

"I said my face is gone."

"I know," Li Shiwu nodded.

"But I want your face," the Sui Demon shrieked.

"Understood. You hand over the money, I hand over the goods. That's reasonable."

Li Shiwu pinched his chin, carefully observing the Sui Demon before him.

He felt its body wasn't made of flesh and blood, nor was it a ghost-like soul. He truly couldn't figure out what it was.

"Uh, right," Li Shiwu cleared his throat.

He then asked, "One hundred and two people died in Jule Town. Were all their faces bought by you?"

The Faceless Sui Demon nodded, "Naturally. Honest dealings with all, young and old."

"For each person, I made an agreement beforehand to peel off their face for the price of one hundred gold coins."

Hearing this, Li Shiwu was puzzled.

"You're a Sui Demon, and you pay money to peel off ordinary people's faces?"

The Sui Demon impatiently said, "What are you dawdling for? Name your price quickly."

"This demon doesn't have much wealth left. After I finish your transaction, I'll have to find a place to earn money, and then I'll come out again to continue peeling faces."

Li Shiwu: "..."

Without a word, he removed his bamboo hat and took off the black cloth covering his face, revealing his shriveled countenance.

He declared, "This face of mine is worth two hundred gold coins."

Unexpectedly, after a moment of愣, the Sui Demon directly shook its head.

"No, you're too ugly."

"In my opinion, ten gold coins at most."

As these words were uttered, Li Shiwu's gaze sharpened, and his five fingers instantly clenched into a fist.

In an instant, a mighty surge of energy spread from his body, then radiated in all directions.

"Beast, die..."

But in the next instant, the Faceless Sui Demon lightly tossed a yellow paper, which landed precisely on his chest.

Li Shiwu's imposing aura immediately dissipated, his clenched fist loosened, and his entire being seemed to sink into a mire.

The Faceless Sui Demon clapped its hands, saying indifferently, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, is that all?"

"However, for your aged body to unleash such flesh-and-blood power, you do have some skill."

"But we're demons, you know. Who has time to play around with fisticuffs? Are you stupid?" Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

It was also then that a line of text began to manifest on the yellow paper on Li Shiwu's chest.

'One face for ten gold coins, buyer and seller, contract sealed, no regrets.'

The Faceless Sui Demon smiled, "Don't worry, this yellow paper is my life-bound contract. Neither you nor I can go back on it."

"I'm a principled one. Otherwise, if I peeled off your face and then reneged on paying the gold, what would you do?"

After saying that, it stepped forward, took Li Shiwu's hand, and pressed a thumbprint onto the yellow paper.

Then.

Li Shiwu, like a puppet on strings, held Qianyuanzi's black kindling knife along his jawline...

It was also at this moment.

The white mist shrouding Jule Town slowly dispersed.

The sword-wielding youth, the basket-carrying woman, and the old monk in yellow robes all noticed the situation here. Their pupils constricted, and they rushed to the rescue.

But when they were a hundred meters away.

A woman in a floral white dress, with her dark hair simply tied up, exuding a hint of innocence, suddenly appeared and reached out to stop the three.

"Benefactress, saving a life is urgent. Please step aside," the old monk tightened his grip on his monk's staff.

"Young lady, though that Li fellow is sinister, I cannot stand by and watch him die," the sword-wielding youth glared.

The woman smiled faintly, "You're not allowed to go."

"This Faceless Sui Demon is new to me. I need to observe it carefully first, to see its methods and techniques."

The youth glared, "Hmph, why should we listen to you?"

The woman smiled without speaking, but with a flick of light in her hand, a pen appeared in her grasp.

The pen was entirely white like jade, and crystal-clear like snow. A clear pattern of a Spider Lily was carved on its body.

However, the basket-carrying woman among the three was greatly alarmed the moment she saw the pen.

"Pen... Pen of Non-Life."

"Ten Forms Gate, one of the Ten Forms, the Pen of Non-Life."

Hearing these words, both the old monk and the youth bowed in salute.

"Subjects of Great Yao, greetings, Your Excellency."

The Ten Forms Gate, alongside the Human Rearing Sect, was one of Great Yao's two major national religions. They could not afford to treat it carelessly.

Especially this Ten Forms Gate; every cultivator within it was extremely sinister.

On the other side.

Li Shiwu had already cut off his wrinkled face and casually handed it to the Faceless Sui Demon.

The Sui Demon took it, nodding in satisfaction, "You're good. Keep these ten gold coins."

With that, it tossed over ten gold coins, each the size of a thumb. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

But then, it froze in place, as if witnessing something incredible.

Li Shiwu's face churned with flesh and blood, and root-like tendrils constantly wriggled. In the blink of an eye, a new human face simply grew out of nowhere.

Although still shriveled, it had indeed grown back.

Li Shiwu reached out to touch his face, then held the yellow paper from his chest in his hand.

He calmly said, "You said this yellow paper is your life-bound contract?"

"Yes... so what?" the Sui Demon feigned composure.

"Contract sealed, no regrets?"

"Right."

Li Shiwu said nothing more, merely staring at the strange black soil beneath his feet.

He could feel that after his new face grew, the 'nutrients' in the soil diminished slightly.

Then he looked up, his pair of dark eyes now filled with savagery.

"Heh, I've had enough of being skinned at Seed Immortal Temple."

"You dog, you actually dare to make me peel my face."

"Since that's the case, then I'll give it to you, give you enough!"

After Li Shiwu spoke, his five fingers curled like knives, covering his face, and the newly grown face was completely torn off.

"Pay up!"

What followed was a flash of light over the words 'One face for ten gold coins' on the yellow paper contract.

This meant that the Sui Demon before him had to act according to the contract.

"Fine, I'll pay!"

The Sui Demon, as if gritting its teeth, continued to toss out ten gold coins.

But by this time, Li Shiwu had already peeled off his third face, raw and bloody, throwing it onto the ground amidst the dust.

A hundred meters away.

The old monk in yellow robes and the other two watched this dramatic scene, all stunned in place, unable to believe it.

However, the woman in the floral white dress from the Ten Forms Gate had a smile in her eyes, full of pleasant surprise.

"I never expected it, truly never expected it."

"Today, not only did I see a completely new type of Sui Demon, but I also encountered such an interesting young man."

"I have a premonition that from now on, Great Yao will have much entertainment to behold..."

And in such a short time.

On the ground before Li Shiwu, there was a dense pile of faces he had discarded, a truly shocking and horrifying sight.

As for himself, his hands and Daoist robe seemed to be soaked in blood, making him even more terrifying. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

The Sui Demon cried in horror, "Stop, you stop it!"

"I don't have any more gold to pay you, and I don't want your faces anymore."

"Stop... stop!"