CHAPTER 55: 55. SPRING BREEZE IN TRIUMPH, OBSERVE CHESS WITHOUT SPEAKING

The spring breeze is gentle, at least during the day.

The mountains nourished by Profound Qi are home to exotic flowers and herbs, even the slightest sniff along the cliffs or paths brings a refreshing fragrance that seeps into the heart.

Before the outbreak of the war, South Bamboo Peak disciples had only two ways to earn Contribution Points: going out to acquire Demon Beast Skin, or processing them in the Cave Mansion.

But now...

It has turned into one way: Skin Making.

This is strange. At least, what Song Yan originally thought was "additional patrol duties, night watch duties," etc.

"Patrol" and "night watch" are very necessary. The fox demon he killed in the tannery is proof of that.

And just a simple soul search made him understand the "invasion of the fox demon."

Lu Haiyi, Shangguan Jian, and others not knowing is one thing, but could the Sect truly be unaware?

How could it possibly be unaware?

Since they know, then why not make arrangements?

If he were only at the Profound Second Layer or Third Layer, he might think, ’maybe the Sect arranged it, but he doesn’t know.’ But he is at the Ninth Layer of Refining Profound, the highest level of the Refining Profound Realm, with strong perception. He staked out so many times at night and never saw any "Sect’s arrangements."

In the morning, sunlight falls from the irregular crystal skylight at the top of the Cave Mansion, casting patches of blurry light fields. But this light field not only fails to brighten the cave, it makes the corners even darker and more shadowy.

Song Yan came to the tannery after practicing the Shield Technique and Flying Knife Skill in the morning.

He skillfully drew drafts while contemplating and analyzing what he had seen and heard since returning to the Sect.

This anomaly made him feel inexplicably uneasy.

And at that moment, he felt the sunlight vanish suddenly.

Then came a rustling sound from above the skylight, and the mountain wind blowing in from the cave entrance became slightly moist.

It was raining.

The mountain climate is inherently changeable and impermanent; this is normal.

Raindrops fell on rocks, paths, flowers, forests, creating sources of sound, spreading ripples, overlapping, making the world seem to resonate in unison.

Drip-drip, patter...

The sound of rain falling on an umbrella came from the cave entrance.

A pure and graceful white figure withdrew a small red umbrella, gently stomped her embroidered shoes, then walked in with her legs together, placed the shields and knives by the table, and then sweetly called out, "Senior Brother Song."

Song Yan turned his head and saw it was Wang Susu.

Wang Susu had changed her "skin," wearing something both pure and conservative. If he didn’t know what kind of person Junior Sister Wang was, Song Yan might think she was a maiden.

Song Yan was truly speechless. Was this demoness giving herself a "pure" buff? What normal young man with raging hormones could resist?

"Nice clothing style."

He complimented.

Wang Susu seemed to know that seducing Song Yan was futile and did not tease him, but instead, like a well-behaved family girl, sat opposite him, took out some beast skin, and began Skin Making.

After a while, she suddenly said, "Senior Brother, it seems like South Bamboo Peak is going to completely become a place for nurturing Skin Masters, but Junior Sister... thinks Skin Making is pretty difficult."

Saying this, she sighed and said, "Am I very stupid?"

Song Yan, speechless, said, "Don’t use the way you talk to your home puppy here."

After speaking, he looked up at Wang Susu’s drafts and immediately spotted the problem.

So he directly grabbed the drafts and started guiding her simply.

After some "this and that," Wang Susu felt a sense of sudden enlightenment and sincerely said, "Thank you, Senior Brother Song."

...

...

Days later...

The tannery.

Late at night...

A handsome servant pushed open the door, poked his head out, and ghosts swarmed in, but the servant was surrounded by a layer of strange Profound Qi, resisting the ghosts.

The servant was about to whisk away quickly, when suddenly a black hand clutched and pinched tightly.

Crack...

The Protective Profound Qi formed cracks but was not completely shattered.

The black hand clenched tighter, turning the entire fist into darkness, which was condensed Evil Qi.

Boom...

Amid a slight explosion, the servant’s Protective Profound Qi shattered entirely, his neck broke, and his head twisted down.

Upon closer inspection, this was no handsome servant’s face—this was clearly an unusual foxhead with a beard stained in blood and meat between the teeth, and the room still held the unswept smell of blood, like a slaughterhouse.

The dark figure skillfully dragged the fox demon away, soul searched, skinned, returned to the mansion, crafted into a malformed shadow puppet, then stored it in the Storage Space, secretly pondering: ’This fox demon likely stepped into the level of an advanced demon beast.’

He nestled against, who knows which of the two women, slowly entering into a dreamland.

...

...

The next day, a batch of Little Profound Spirit Pills was distributed in the sect. As the senior brother, Song Yan went to the cliff top to wait. When the Shadow Puppet Void Ship arrived, he took the elixir and prepared to distribute it to the junior disciples.

The Peak Master’s Cave Mansion is right at the top of the cliff.

But Song Yan had been cautioned: unless summoned by Master Shi, he was not to approach proactively.

He adhered to this rule, so even though he passed by Master Shi’s Cave Mansion, he did not enter, and many people noticed that "he seemed like just a token disciple."

Today, as he descended the mountain, he saw from afar a figure riding a "Blood Blade Deer" shadow puppet approaching; it was Master Shi’s adopted son — Shi Peng.

Seeing him from afar, Shi Peng smiled wide, clasped his fists from a distance.

Song Yan returned the gesture but did not stop, continuing down the mountain.

After walking a few steps, he glanced back slightly, only to see Senior Brother Shi excitedly knocking on Master Shi’s Cave Mansion door, which opened with a loud rumble, allowing Shi Peng to walk inside.

...

...

A few days later.

The spring rain was misty.

Song Yan, Wang Susu, and others were making skins in the cave mansion when a figure suddenly appeared at the door.

"Senior Brother?!" Song Yan was the first to look up and stand up.

The others looked and saw a Shadow Puppet Peak Inner Sect Disciple in a red robe standing at the door, with a simple, honest face and a smile. Who else could it be but Shi Peng?

So, all the disciples hurriedly stood up.

Shi Peng chuckled and said, "Skin Master is an important talent of our Puppet Sect, and all of you at South Bamboo Peak are the future Skin Masters.

I... have gained some insights recently, and my master asked me to come and see all of you. If anyone has any questions, just ask."

However, no one dared to ask questions.

After all, who knows if this Inner Sect Disciple is just putting on a show.

Although Shi Peng was simple-minded, he understood everyone’s intentions, so he took the initiative to come down, first going to Song Yan’s side, looking at Song Yan’s sketches, and then touching the demon beast skin, sighing, "Junior Brother’s talent is truly high. When I was your age, I wasn’t as good as you, haha."

Song Yan quickly said, "Senior Brother overpraises me."

Shi Peng smiled and said, "But, there is a small problem here."

Song Yan looked and saw that Shi Peng was pointing right at the eye of the "Blood Blade Deer," so he smiled sheepishly, "The Blood Blade Deer is an intermediate demon beast, perhaps I was aiming too high."

Shi Peng said, "This eye is where the Shadow Puppet Divine Physiognomy resides, so ’painting demons without dotting the pupil, dotting the pupil consumes life,’ is praise for a great Skin Master. Without the eyes, no matter how good the shadow puppet is, it can’t live or summon the soul. Come, let me show you how your senior brother paints it."

With that, Shi Peng genuinely began to instruct Song Yan meticulously.

Song Yan found it somewhat amusing, but he could also feel Senior Brother Shi’s sincerity, so he earnestly "learned," and then showed a look of sudden enlightenment.

With Song Yan taking the lead, the other disciples understood that Shi Peng wasn’t just putting on a show and really started asking questions.

After all, being a "Skin Master" was quite good; they didn’t need to be on the front line in battle.

Wang Susu asked questions very earnestly.

Shi Peng seemed unaware of this Wang demoness’s true nature and taught very seriously as well. In the end, he even said, "Junior Sister looks pure, so her heart must be pure too. Pure people are the easiest to perceive the Divine Physiognomy, but... perhaps experiencing more of the cruelty of this world will allow one to blend it into their strokes and better grasp the Divine Physiognomy."

Wang Susu sweetly thanked him and then asked with a slight blush, "How can I perceive the cruelty of this world?"

Shi Peng seriously thought about it and said, "In a few days, Senior Brother plans to arrange a hunting expedition in Cuique Forest to observe demon beasts up close. Since it’s just a trial, only two or three people will go in the first batch. Junior Sister, would you like to join?"

"Thank you, Senior Brother," Wang Susu softly replied.

Lu Haiyi ran over immediately, shyly saying, "Senior Brother, can... can I go too?"

Shi Peng frowned and said, "You’re a grown man, why so effeminate? How can you paint the Divine Physiognomy well?"

Lu Haiyi: ...

Song Yan: ...

Suddenly, he realized that this Senior Brother Shi might have quite the talent; he obviously hadn’t struggled in the lower ranks.

On the other side, Wang Susu with a "Senior Brother Shi" here and a "Senior Brother Shi" there, actually had Shi Peng sit next to her and teach her carefully.

Of course, Shi Peng didn’t just teach her; he answered any questions from the surrounding disciples.

...

...

A few days later.

Shi Peng took Song Yan, Wang Susu, Lu Haiyi, Shangguan Jian, and others on a trip to Cuique Forest, where they even wandered around the edge of the Evil Land but didn’t encounter any ghosts, only some low-level demon beasts.

The three of them benefited greatly.

...

...

Since the trip to Cuique Forest, Shi Peng seemed to have become a frequent visitor at South Bamboo Peak.

Originally, such Inner Sect Disciples basically stayed at the main peak of Shadow Puppet Peak, so why would they frequently come to South Bamboo Peak?

One day, in the evening.

Wang Susu whispered, "I heard that Senior Shi seems to have a secret technique as part of his legacy, but he hasn’t passed it on to anyone despite considering it for a long time."

After saying that, she sighed softly.

The reason for the sigh was obvious.

Previously, Shadow Puppet Peak had many Skin Masters, including geniuses like Lv Hong and Gu Rufeng. Unfortunately, now the talent pool had dwindled, and only a few remained; there were hardly any true Skin Masters left.

Master Shi had no choice and was nearing the end of his life, and that’s why he chose to pass on his legacy to his relatives.

Song Yan said, "I’ve heard about it too, but such matters can’t be forced..."

Wang Susu agreed, "True," and the next day she was even more flattering towards Shi Peng.

...

...

But Song Yan felt something was odd.

Recalling Shi Peng’s words, "I pulled him out from a pile of corpses. His life is mine; you don’t have to befriend him," made it even stranger.

Song Yan had understood Shi Peng’s character very clearly by now.

For those with ulterior motives looking to rise in ranks, he was a... good pawn.

But if this was Shi Pong’s arrangement, what could he say?

Goodwill is a knife, and if it is destined to be thrust out, it must draw blood. But if it has not been thrust at the intended target, then... someone is bound to suffer.

Song Yan didn’t want Shi Peng to suffer.

Though they didn’t meet often and barely spoke when they did, he still remembered the words "I know your heart, you understand my intentions."

A true acquaintance is hard to find, both a mentor and a friend; he hoped Master Shi could enjoy his old age peacefully.