Shizun 012 - skin painting illusion

Long Jingtian had no experience with xuanxue or the business, but he thought the price was cheap, practically free. Feeling a little bad, he asked, “Master Lu, this, this price is... I want to...”

He wanted to give three hundred thousand yuan instead, but he didn’t know if it was appropriate.

“Absolutely not!” Lu Yunzhen was familiar with all kinds of haggling techniques. As soon as the opponent starts to look off then that’s the start of the haggling. He immediately put on the face of someone who was willing to let the deal go. Coldly and firmly, he said, “Three thousand! When a sect steps forth, it cannot be a bad deal, that’s part of the rules!”

Long Jingtian still wanted to reach for money, but he suddenly understood when he saw Master Lu’s strong gaze... Ah, so there really are good people left in the world. Master Lu didn’t care about money or profit, he’s simply here to save a life.

How merciful? How noble?

Lu Yunzhen’s presence in his eyes kept on growing.

Thinking back on his actions, Long Jingtian felt guilty for the stunts he pulled simply because he had the money to. He swore to himself that if he could overcome this problem he would stop fooling around with bad company.

What is money good for anyway?

Pah!

A person’s character is what’s important!

Long Jingtian stood up excitedly and made a 90 degree bow. Respectfully, he said, “I’ll listen to the great master.”

Lu Yunzhen finally relaxed knowing that he managed to land groceries for the next month. Mo Changkong said that one only needs to get the demon’s true body to deal with it, and it should take less than half an hour.

Three thousand yuan for a days work!

Such a good thing exists on earth! Xuanxue masters earned so much! And there’s no income tax! If they got lucky and got to 4 evil spirits a month they can get a 5figure income? If they got lucky and got a spirit every day that’s almost 6 figures?!

It seems like... evil spirits aren’t that scary anymore?

...

Long Jingtian hadn’t taken a car when he left home. He hailed a taxi, opened the doors for the two masters to get in, then got in the passenger side seat. He apologized profusely, insisting that if they weren’t so short on time he would have hired a driver with an off roader that would have been more comfortable for master Mo’s long legs.

After driving for about half an hour they arrived in the high end villa district. Each building was quite distant from the next with a lot of vegetation and security. Quite a lot of wealthy people and celebrities lived there.

The taxi couldn’t enter the area and Long Jingtian couldn’t reach his driver or housekeeper over the phone. Since he didn’t want to wait for security to arrange a separate vehicle they simply walked in.

Lu Yunzhen was a simple citizen and had never been inside a such a place before. He kept staring at everything and felt a great sense of novelty.

Suddenly, he realized that a nearby mansion with white walls and a red roof seemed to be surrounded by a faint black mist.

Lu Yunzhen pointed at the building and asked, “Is that your home?”

Long Jingtian nodded, “How did you know? Was it through fortune telling?”

Lu Yunzhen gave it a thought, then replied with an air of mystery, “Yes.”

Long Jingtian had already paid him on weibo without an ounce of hesitation. He’s a conscientious person. He had to put on the proper manner of an exorcist, be reliable, be serious, and let his golden goose think that he got his money’s worth.

Lu Yunzhen heid out his finger, pretended to do some calculations, then sighed, “the demon is already inside”.

Long Jingtian almost cried, “is my pops still ok?”

He didn’t know any magic, how could be know? But on the outside, Lu Yunzhen stayed calm and asked in the tone of an examiner, “Changkong, what do you think?”

“Yes, Shizun.”  Mo Changkong understood his intentions and answered respectfully, “There is no scent of blood, the skin painting demon has yet to harm anyone.”

Lu Yunzhen nodded, satisfied.

Long Jingtian relaxed, but started getting anxious again after a short while. “Jin Yunu... could the skin painting demon be doing the unspoken rules with my pops and uncle Wang?”

Now that was a question that couldn’t be answered with xuanxue...

Lu Yunzhen hand waved the matter, “We’ll see.”

He was a little nervous when he approached the mansion doors. After suffering at the hands of Jin Yunu, Long Jingtian was even more nervous. He huddled behind the other two while shivering. Even a light breeze or the sounds of an insect made him jump and grab onto Lu Yunzhen, almost screaming.

He’s the worst kind of friend to watch a ghost story with.

Lu Yunzhen felt like he was going to get scared to death by Long Jingtian before the demon would have a chance.

He comforted Long Jingtian, “Worry not, worry not.”

Examining the malicious energy around the manor, Lu Yunzhen realized that it was a little different from last time. Instead of a black mist, it was dark red and laced with a faint fragrance in some kind of pattern which emanated power.

He hazarded a guess, “The evil spirit is using magic.”

“Yes.” Mo Changkong chimed in. “Skin painting demons are skilled at illusions, and would use all kinds of terrors and traps to control the human heart.”

Long Jingtian didn’t understand the explanation and asked shakily, “What do we do?”

Lu Yunzhen didn’t understand either. He wanted to take Mo Changkong off to the side to discuss strategy then let his golden goose know.

He waved at Mo Changkong.

Mo Changkong never took the demon seriously, what need would he have for strategy? All he had to do was beat it up. He was already impatient and interpreted the wave as the go-ahead, immediately rushing into the manor.

Lu Yunzhen almost yelled. He thought to himself about how the two of them weren’t in sync and needed more practice while sneaking a gaze at Long Jingtian, noticing that the other man was full of questions.

He was worried that he couldn’t answer and would be force to give a refund. So instead he immediately headed into the manor. After all, being snugly up against Mo Changkong is the safest place to be.

As he pushed opened the doors the fragrance of cosmetics became even stronger.

He felt his head get dizzy and vision get blurry from the scent. In a daze, he saw the scene in front of him turn dark. The sun had disappeared, he was surrounded in the dark of night, as if time was being mismatched.

A delicate voice ran out by his ear. 

“Shen.”

“Dan.”

“Jing.”

“Wei.”

“Chou.” (TN1)

“The opera is beginning--”

The sound of rushing gongs urged the audience to quickly sit down.

Countless lanterns lit up in the darkness, and many actors with blurry faces entered the stage and started singing classic operas.

Lu Yunzhen shook out of his daze after a while, onyl to realize that he was standing beneath a creepy and ancient stage while holding a bag of sunflower seeds. Around him was the sound of faint laughter, mixed with what seems to be the happy murmur of an audience.

The seeds were quite good, and tasted similar to the ones from the convenience store.

He was startled, realizing that he had entered into one of the demon’s illusion. Throwing away the seeds, he immediately started looking for mo Changkong. But he failed, and only found two middle aged men. One of them looked rather like Long Jingtian, and he guessed they were Long Jingtian’s father and director Wang.

The two of them started at the stage in a daze with dumbstruck smiles on their faces, sprouting endless compliments.

“Yunu is the best performer after all, I’m going to pay to promote him.”

“He’s beautiful and his voice sweet, I think he’s lovely and his role should be expanded.”

“...”

Lu Yunzhen saw that the two men were being controlled and more than happy to give away the shirts on their backs. He hurried up, rolled up his sleeves professionally, and prepared to slap them awake and run out.

Suddenly, a clear and longing voice rang out from the stage.

“If you don’t go to the gardens, how would you know how much it has turned to spring-” (TN2)

Lu Yunzhen turned around, only to see a beautiful huadan wearing red sleeves glide his long sleeves across the stage in a dance while singing the old tune.

Those eyes held ten thousand loves, and everyone who looked at them felt like they were the sole recipient of the seductive gaze which hooked at men’s hearts.

Lu Yunzhen felt his heart being moved and was already controlled. Then he remembered how in ancient times the huadan roles were all played by men and the terrible events that befell Long Jingtian. That was enough to joke him awake.

This was a demon that specialized in scamming men! A male demon!

Lu Yunzhen tried to run away quietly.

Jin Yunu had noticed him from the stage and his eyes grew wide. In a flash he floated in front of Lu Yunzhen and cut off his escape route. Examining him carefully, he exclaimed, “This gongzi is so handsome, his yang energy has yet to be spilled, and he’s filled with the spiritual energy of the heavens and the earth, how rare...”

Lu Yunzhen thought about it and realized he was being called a virgin.

The lifelong single dog was indignant and wanted to argue, but he really couldn’t.

“Are you also an investor?” Jin Yunu thirsted after the body of spiritual energy and his eyes became even more seductive. He wriggled his thin waist and got closer, asking excitedly, “Is this one beautiful? How about gonzi pass this one some spiritual energy and this one do the unspoken rules with you?”

Lu Yunzhen kept on stepping back, “I’m not into men.”

Jin Yunyu wasn’t offended and only kept on trying to persuade him. “If you haven’t done it, how do you know you won’t enjoy being with a man? Long Gongzi had been very stubborn and said he was straight first, and then...”

He remembered something amusing and laughed while covering his mouth.

Lu Yunzhen stared with mouth agape at the cheerful evil spirit, and thought more and more than Long Jingtian was a fool of fools.

Jin Yunu remembered the spiritual energy in front of him and immediately suppressed his laughter. Seductively, he continued on, “Gongzi, just try it. This one’s technique is very good, whatever position you like, this one can try.”

Lu Yunzhen was shocked, “Don’t mess around! I’m a good person!”

“Don’t be embarrassed, Gongzi.” Jin Yunu reached out with a giggle. If such a good prey fell into his web, he must at least have a few bites and get his fill.

Suddenly, a violent energy like sword qi burst out of Lu Yunzhen’s body and stabbed his finger.

Jing Yunu held his hurt finger and took two steps back in shock. Giving it a sniff, he realized that this was a brand left by another made demon, to warn others not to touch his territory!

In the demon realm, the strong rule. The stronger a demon gets, the more possessive they are. They would place brands on sacrifices that caught their eye. The humans who were branded would then be a prisoner of the demon forever and be trapped by their side, never being escape life after life.

Ten thousand years ago, Mo Changkong had forcibly used his demonic powers to brand Lu Yunzhen when he did countless things in madness. That aura had been sealed deep within his soul.

Afterwards, his powers were sealed during his punishment and Lu Yunzhen’s brand was sealed with it.

Now, as Mo Changkong’s powers had returned, Lu Yunzhen’s brand has slowly reawakened and once again announced to all the demons the right of possession.

Skin painting demons are very weak.

Jin Yunu realized that there was no way he could sneak off some spiritual power via dual cultivation now and felt immensely wronged. He muttered in a small voice. “How shameless! You only know how to lie and trick demons. This one really thought you were a regular guy who didn’t like men, but turns out you’ve had a master all along!”

Lu Yunzhen was confused...

What is this evil spirit saying?

TN1: 生旦净末丑 are the five traditional roles in Chinese opera.

TN2: 不到园林，怎知春色几许. Like the song from the previous chapter, this is still from the Peony Pavillion