But the very next moment, something unexpected happened. The merchant was completely unharmed! Instead, the one-armed flayed woman was blasted straight out of his body by that palm. A single strike had driven the possessing spirit out! Shock filled her face. “This bastard’s not just some backwater thug!?” Her form twisted in midair, and she repeated her trick, lunging toward another person to try to possess again. Suddenly, from Li Yanchu’s palm burst an overwhelming surge of qi. His five fingers closed sharply. The flayed woman’s body gave a strange sound, and against her will, she was pulled toward him. Divine Astral Hands! Crane Control Hand and Dragonbind Hand! The peerless martial art had already reached a supernatural realm in Li Yanchu’s hands. At this time, the flayed woman was forcibly dragged back to him. The searing, razor-sharp qi he had driven into her earlier was already making her suffer in agony. Now, being seized by the Divine Astral Hands was like being thrust next to a roaring furnace, and the scorching heat was unbearable. “Ahhh!” The flayed woman let out a strange shriek, then suddenly twisted her head and spat out a foul, fishy, yin wind, which was aimed straight at Li Yanchu’s face. This yin wind carried an extremely sinister power, capable of corroding a person’s meridians and very soul. Li Yanchu involuntarily took a step back, releasing his grip. The flayed woman glared at him with venomous hatred, then slipped out through the crack in the door. She vanished without a trace, all in the blink of an eye. Meng Hai, clutching his chest and enduring the pain, asked worriedly, “Daoist Master Li, are you all right?” By rights, Li Yanchu should have been muddle-headed from the yin wind, and his internal qi should have been restricted. Instead, he simply winked at Meng Hai. There wasn’t the slightest sign of being harmed; in fact, his expression was calm and confident. Li Yanchu tossed him a string of prayer beads. This was a divine artifact brought out from a Blissful Land, and it was able to protect the group for a time. “No matter what you hear, do not leave this room. If you do, your life will be forfeit.” His voice was low and solemn. Before Meng Hai could recover from his surprise, Li Yanchu had already pushed open the door and stepped out. As he left, the large door suddenly swung shut by itself, sealing tightly without any wind. Li Yanchu used his Qi Sight, then unfolded the severed arm in his hand, which was, in fact, a strip of human skin from an arm. The others looked at one another. Though their faces still showed worry, there was no hiding the relief in their eyes. Li Yanchu had deliberately spared her just now, planning to use the flayed woman as bait to see what sort of “big fish” she might draw out. He opened his hand and gave a light squeeze, extracting from that severed arm a trace of special qi. Li Yanchu’s face darkened as he immediately locked onto the trail and followed it. Han Fortress had a population of over a thousand; it was not large, yet not small either. He used his Sun Veil, completely concealing his own presence. If the flayed woman tried to recall him now, even his appearance would be a blur, unless she saw him again in person. Such was the power of Sun Veil! His movement technique was swift as the wind, and before long, he had followed the qi trail to the place where the flayed woman was holed up. It was an exceptionally luxurious compound. It was three courtyards deep, with rockeries, flowing streams, and quaint little bridges over running water, everything in perfect harmony. This residence was the imperial suite of Han Fortress, the kind of place only the richest, most extravagant patrons could afford to stay in. The courtyard, built in the style of a wealthy household, was now unusually quiet and deep. By day, the place looked splendid and magnificent, but now, no matter how you looked at it, there was an undercurrent of eerie gloom. In the courtyard, a man in a blue robe, wearing plain clothes and a bamboo hat, was discussing matters with several others. If this guy showed up in Jiangnan, just his presence alone would be enough to make him a legend. He slayed demons and eliminated evil, and he walked the mortal world by the Dao of Merit! He was none other than a personal disciple of the Jiangnan Five Directions Temple, Daoist Song Shi. Suddenly, a twisted and hideous human skin appeared in the courtyard, bearing a look of extreme misery. The others immediately gathered around. “How could you be beaten ?” “Could it be that outside the frigid northern pass, there are still eminent monks or Daoists?” That was their first reaction. The flayed woman was not the strongest among them, but she was far from the weakest, and her methods were strange and unpredictable. In their minds, even a skilled monk or Daoist would most likely just utter “Boundless Heavenly Venerable” or “Amitabha” after witnessing her methods and then politely take their leave. More often than not, encountering her meant those monks and Daoists would have to run for their lives. The flayed woman was struggling to suppress the scorching qi force inside her; even her throat seemed injured by the yang qi within. Her voice was somewhat hoarse, and after she finished her account, her companions realized from her description that the opponent was merely a martial expert and not a cultivator of the Daoist arts. They all breathed a sigh of relief. Secular martial artists faced extreme difficulty in training to high levels, and against spirits, they were usually at a disadvantage as they were unable to see them nor strike them. They assumed she had simply failed in this instance and was making excuses, and the more formidable she made the opponent sound, the less embarrassing her own heavy defeat would seem. Daoist Song Shi frowned and asked, “He’s just a common jianghu martial artist, not a monk or a Daoist?” The flayed woman seemed somewhat wary of the Daoist and nodded firmly. “That’s right. This man’s martial arts skills are extremely fierce, but he is still just a martial artist. He’s strong in the body, weak in the soul. We were evenly matched, but I lost the initiative and was wounded by his martial qi and blood.” Daoist Song Shi gave a slight nod. As a disciple of the Jiangnan Five Directions Temple, he naturally looked down on jianghu ruffians. He thought to himself, So you, a wicked cultivator who turned yourself into a human skin, are also learning to exaggerate? A mere jianghu ruffian did this to you? Daoist Song’s gaze grew cold, locking onto the flayed woman’s face. She suddenly felt as if some great terror had fixed its eyes on her, like falling into an ice cellar. She hurriedly added, “He’s a formidable martial artist, but because his methods are limited, he cannot resist the yin wind entering his body. That’s how I managed to escape after being wounded!” Her yin wind could gradually sap a person’s physical strength, leaving them dazed and sluggish. That was the conclusion she had reached earlier. In the courtyard, besides the two of them, there was also a woman dressed in exotic attire, full of allure. Her figure was voluptuous, her eyes brimming with seduction. She was the kind of woman one might instantly imagine getting into bed with. But there was one flaw: her eyes had been gouged out, leaving two deep, dark, hollow sockets. The sight was chilling. Thıs text ıs hosted at 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦·𝘯𝘦𝘵 The rest of the group wore Kingdom of Qian clothing, but their features did not resemble those of Qian natives, more like the northern steppe tribes. As they were in the middle of their discussion, a cold-faced young man suddenly appeared. A faint, almost mocking smile hung on his lips. Everyone was instantly shocked, and the flayed woman’s eyes blazed with hatred. “You vulgar martial brute, you even dared to follow me here? You’re courting death!” she said coldly.