After Swapping Identities With My Archenemy - Chapter 37

Chapter 37: The Screen

Jiang Huaiyi hadn’t seen her Master in quite a while. Hearing Chu Lianxue mention the “Old Lady” made her start counting the days in her head.

She wondered if she should pay her respects once they got out of this mess. It had been so long that Jiang Huaiyi felt a bit out of sorts, but her recent schedule had been so relentless that she usually collapsed into sleep the moment her head hit the pillow. Perhaps the little old lady was simply being considerate of her exhaustion and hadn’t summoned her.

After a brief moment of reflection, Jiang Huaiyi pulled her thoughts back to the present.

The weasel tied to the chair was still pleading incessantly: “Yes, yes! This lowly one will answer truthfully, not a single word of falsehood, I swear!”

Jiang Huaiyi asked, “Why did you come down here? How did you get in? What exactly is this place, and what is your purpose?”

She rattled off the questions in one breath. She refrained from bringing up the events at Xinmin Villa; although she was dying to know the connection, there were too many ears present.

The weasel didn’t hesitate and confessed everything.

“This place is a minor Yin Precinct (a small underworld jurisdiction). I came down following the Human-Skin Scroll that was stolen from the Ge family.”

Chu Lianxue gasped. “A Human-Skin Scroll? It’s actually dark sorcery??”

When the two of them had been commissioned to visit the main client’s house, they had seen the painting that brought them here. At first glance, Chu Lianxue had only thought it was strange; the paper was so soft and delicate, unlike anything she had ever seen.

Mu Ze, who had been in the warehouse with her, had stated flatly that it was human skin. Chu Lianxue hadn’t wanted to believe it back then. The client had claimed there were ghosts disturbing the house, and if the painting was the problem, they would have just thrown it away rather than hiring professionals.

As it turned out, the moment they realized something was wrong, the smiling client slammed the storage room door shut before they could react. Left staring at each other, Chu Lianxue realized she’d been duped. Before she could even think about calling the police, they were sucked into the scroll. She knew it was weird, but she hadn’t expected this.

The weasel nodded. “Yes. Anyone who comes down here was either forcibly taken or, as I suspect for most, came in voluntarily.”

Chu Lianxue gave Mu Ze a complicated look. Mu Ze, having “won” the argument about the material of the scroll, was looking back at her with a smug, triumphant grin. Chu Lianxue turned away in annoyance, cursing her own lack of expertise.

She shouldn’t have missed it, but then again, looking at human skin and actually holding a refined object made from it were two very different sensations. Seeing the weasel pause, she poked it with her sword. “Keep talking.”

The weasel trembled, terrified the sword would go up its nostril. “Everyone who comes down is seeking something. I heard the elders of my clan mention the Evil Version of the Chao Yuan Heavenly Host. When the ‘Lead Painting’ is activated, anyone holding a copy can enter to seek their fortune. During the day, this town is an observation post for the ‘Falling Guanyin’; at night, it becomes a minor Yin Precinct.”

“I wanted to try my luck and see if my ‘Celestial Fate’ had arrived, and perhaps add a few things to my Yuan Chen Palace (Spiritual Life Palace).”

Jiang Huaiyi mused on this. No wonder the town seemed so ordinary during the day and so horrific at night. According to the weasel, this place was half sightseeing tour, half underworld court. If an outsider didn’t leave within the allotted time, their fate wouldn’t be much better than the people currently being processed in the hall.

Her main concern now was the exit. She let the weasel continue.

“However, to realize a wish here, a price must be paid.” A glint of malice flashed in its beady eyes, but it quickly regained a “pure” look when Chu Lianxue’s sword nudged it again.

“Speak plainly. No riddles.”

The weasel fawned: “Yes, yes. To achieve what one desires down here, everyone must sacrifice a living being.”

Jiang Huaiyi immediately thought of the group in the hall. Connecting the dots, she realized that besides their own group, there were likely no “accidental” visitors here.

“How do we get out?” she asked.

The weasel turned to her. “You must also sacrifice a living being.”

Jiang Huaiyi’s gaze sharpened instantly. “And what living being were you planning to sacrifice?”

The weasel’s eyes darted around, looking away. It certainly couldn’t say it had planned to capture Jiang Huaiyi to use as its ticket out. If it said that, it would be skewered instantly. The silence was answer enough.

Jiang Huaiyi didn’t press further; she already knew. She had already decided to kill the creature. She felt herself becoming cold-blooded, but with the weasel’s track record, letting it go was an invitation to be stabbed in the back.

Seeing the silence, the weasel put on its fawning smile again. “I’ve told you everything. Can you let me go now?”

Jiang Huaiyi narrowed her eyes. “We never said you’d get to live.”

The weasel’s eyes widened. It had been preparing to bolt the moment the ropes were loosened. Now, this person was refusing to let it leave. It dropped the act, baring its teeth and shrieking: “You stinking human! Breaker of promises! Deceitful, cunning—”

Before it could finish its tirade, Mu Ze slammed a stool onto its head, knocking it out cold. The weasel’s head wobbled for a second before it collapsed.

Mu Ze gave Jiang Huaiyi a thumbs-up. “Now that sounds like you. I might not like you, but you should stop hanging out with these Taoist ‘ox-noses’—it ruins our reputation.”

Chu Lianxue sheathed her sword and snorted. “Reputation? You people have a reputation? That’s rich.”

As Mu Ze’s face turned red with rage, Jiang Huaiyi quickly interrupted the brewing argument. She looked past Shen Wensi to Song Rong. “How did you get here?”

Song Rong really didn’t look like someone who would seek out a dark realm for a wish. She seemed just as clueless as they were.

Song Rong sighed, reflecting. “I don’t know. I just woke up here.”

“Woke up? You were sleeping at home?”

Song Rong nodded. “I don’t have any human-skin scroll. It’s almost the end of the year, and I just graduated. My mom saw I was free before my internship started and asked me to go to my grandmother’s house in the countryside to help out.”

“Grandmother’s house is far from town. By the end of the year, the shops close, so we had to start preparing for the Lunar New Year early.”

Jiang Huaiyi’s lip twitched. It was only December. New Year was nearly two months away.

Song Rong explained, “It’s cheaper to buy supplies now. Prices skyrocket in January. Plus, my mom is grandmother’s adopted daughter and very filial. She usually keeps grandmother with her, but this year the village tradition says when an elder turns sixty-six, they have to return to their old house for a banquet. So we went back.”

Suddenly, she seemed to remember something and bolted upright.

“That scroll you mentioned… does it have long wooden rods on the sides? And the whole thing is very long?”

As the others nodded, Song Rong said excitedly, “I know! I’ve seen it! But the one in our house is different it’s massive!”

She gestured with her hands to describe the size. “It’s about this high, over four meters long. A huge floor screen.”

“I noticed it because we stayed in grandmother’s old house. It’s a very old traditional building, poorly maintained and falling apart. There’s no electricity. Many relatives came back for the New Year, even people I barely know.”

“The old house is creepy. We younger kids hated staying there. The stairs creak in the middle of the night, and without lights, you have to carry a candlestick. Most of my uncles and aunts booked hotels nearby, but I arrived late and everywhere was full. So, I had to make do in the old house for one night.”

Song Rong took a gulp of water. “I remember it clearly because there was a giant screen in my room. It stood right in front of my bed while I slept. I was too scared to blow out the candle, so I fell asleep with it lit.”

She paused, looking at Jiang Huaiyi. “If I’m not mistaken, that screen is the ‘painting’ you’re talking about, isn’t it?”

The screen was taller than her. Just looking at it had filled her with dread; under the flickering candlelight, the various figures depicted on it looked as if they were about to step out. Coupled with the howling wind outside, she felt like her soul was about to leave her body. She eventually fell asleep from exhaustion, only to wake up in this hellish place.

Jiang Huaiyi and Shen Wensi exchanged a look, immediately understanding each other. Their scroll was already large, but a four-meter-long screen? She couldn’t imagine how many skins that would require.

“Did you see if it was double-sided or single-sided?” Jiang Huaiyi asked.

The others froze, their hearts racing as they awaited the answer.

Song Rong thought for a moment and said firmly: “Double-sided.”

Jiang Huaiyi felt a wave of clarity. She had been wrong—her scroll wasn’t the “Lead Painting.” The lead had a special significance. Song Rong’s screen, a double-sided scroll, was the true key to getting them all out.

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