23: Chapter 23 The Ghoul-Eating Sensual Painter

The holes on the Demon Ghost's face turned toward Wu Xi, a rumbling sound rolling from its throat.

It did not pounce immediately; its two hind hooves scraped against the ground, leaving two white marks.

Wu Xi's six Tentacles surged out from his body simultaneously; the two tail Tentacles lashed out first, the two chest Tentacles slithered along the ground, and the two elbow Tentacles raised up, spreading the six Tentacles into a fan shape, surrounding the Demon Ghost in the center.

The Tentacles whipped toward the Demon Ghost's face like lashes, while the elbow Tentacles swept in from the flank, aiming straight for the Demon Ghost's waist.

However, the moment the Tentacles were about to make contact, the Demon Ghost lowered its body, kicked off the ground with its two front hooves, and slid across the floor.

Wu Xi frowned; the flexibility of this beast exceeded his expectations.

The Demon Ghost circled to the left, using its hind hooves to gain leverage and pouncing back.

Its speed was thirty percent faster than before, and the wind it stirred up carried a stench of rotting flesh.

Wu Xi turned, his chest Tentacles recoiling upward to wrap around the Demon Ghost's neck.

The Demon Ghost did not dodge or avoid, letting the Tentacles wrap around it; it suddenly sank its body, using the pulling force of the Tentacles to change direction and pounce straight at Wu Xi's face.

It spread its two front claws, the tips gleaming with a dark, greenish light.

Wu Xi leaned back, his waist almost bending at a right angle.

The wind of the claws brushed past his nose, bringing a stinging, burning pain.

He kicked off the ground with his right foot and slid back two steps, while his elbow Tentacles seized the opportunity to flick upward from below, the joints acting like spears, piercing toward the Demon Ghost's abdomen.

Pfft.

The Demon Ghost's abdomen caved in, deflecting the force of the strike, and it took advantage of the momentum to push off the Tentacles, springing up again and landing deep in the shadows to the right.

Wu Xi did not pursue.

He looked down at his elbows; a layer of sticky black liquid was smeared on the Tentacle joints, dripping down and making a faint sizzling sound wherever it passed.

This blood was corrosive.

"Interesting."

Wu Xi shook his Tentacles, and the black liquid splattered onto the ground, burning out a few small pits.

The Demon Ghost circled in the shadows, its hooves scraping the ground, making a teeth-grinding creaking sound.

It was waiting for Wu Xi to show a weakness.

Wu Xi took a deep breath, and his six Tentacles readjusted their angles.

This time, he did not test it; two blocked the left, two blocked the right, and two hung above his head as he approached the Demon Ghost step by step.

The Demon Ghost suddenly exerted force, rushing toward the left along the ground, trying to squeeze through the gap between the two Tentacles.

This was exactly what Wu Xi was waiting for; the two Tentacles on the left suddenly contracted—not to strike, but to intercept—and the joints collided, creating a sound like clashing metal.

The Demon Ghost slammed headfirst into the web woven by the Tentacles and was bounced back.

It let out a strange cry and turned to the right, but the right-side Tentacles were already waiting there; a whip-like strike hit its shoulder, tearing off a piece of blackened skin and flesh.

Feeling the pain, the Demon Ghost did not retreat but advanced instead, pouncing toward Wu Xi's main body.

Wu Xi sneered, crossing his elbow Tentacles to block.

The Demon Ghost's claws raked against the Tentacles, sparking a few embers.

Wu Xi cursed, lashing out with his tail Tentacles to wrap around the Demon Ghost's hind legs.

The Demon Ghost's momentum did not slow, and its front claws were already reaching toward the wooden board.

Wu Xi gritted his teeth, his arm muscles bulging, and all six Tentacles exerted force simultaneously, the joints emitting a groan under the unbearable strain.

Wu Xi turned sideways, holding his elbow Tentacles across his chest to block.

The Demon Ghost's teeth bit into the Tentacle joints, making a hair-raising grinding sound.

Wu Xi let out a muffled grunt, his chest Tentacles wrapping around the Demon Ghost's waist from below and tightening violently.

The Demon Ghost's claws were still flailing, adding several more wounds to Wu Xi's arms.

The Demon Ghost was knocked backward, and Wu Xi seized the chance to let go; all six Tentacles surged up at once, wrapping around the Demon Ghost's limbs and neck, swinging it around, and smashing it against the large tree opposite.

Boom.

The large tree trembled, the Demon Ghost's body cracking the bark upon impact before bouncing back to the ground.

Wu Xi controlled his Tentacles, attacking the surroundings frantically, allowing more sunlight to pour in.

The Demon Ghost panicked.

It searched everywhere for shadows, but with every step it took, the area of light expanded.

The Demon Ghost was forced to the edge of the largest beam of light in the center.

It still wanted to escape, but Wu Xi would not give it the chance.

The six Tentacles surged up simultaneously, not to attack, but to intercept.

Two blocked the left, two blocked the right, and two pressed down from above; the Demon Ghost fell at the edge of the light patch, half its body already inside the sunlight.

Sizzle.

It was like cold water poured into boiling oil.

The fur on that half of the Demon Ghost's body instantly curled, emitting white smoke and the smell of singed pig hair.

It struggled frantically, wanting to crawl back into the shadows, but the elbow Tentacles pressed down, pinning it firmly in the light.

"What are you running for?"

Wu Xi walked over, panting; he looked down at the Demon Ghost struggling in the light, his elbow Tentacles wrapping around its waist and lifting its entire body up.

The sunlight shone directly upon it.

The Demon Ghost's skin peeled off in flakes, revealing the pink muscle underneath, which turned charred black the very next second.

It struggled twice, kicking its hooves wildly in the air, making a creaking sound of bones grinding against each other.

Then, it stopped moving.

Its body curled into a ball, edges shriveling and shrinking, finally turning into a pile of gray-black powder.

Wu Xi retracted his Tentacles. "Come out, it's taken care of."

There was a rustling sound behind the tree shadows.

A figure crawled out, their knees hitting the ground with a dull thud.

It was a young man, his face pale, lips still trembling, his hands tightly gripping a long bundle wrapped in oilcloth.

He looked up at Wu Xi, his eyes full of fear—even more terrified than when he looked at the Demon Ghost earlier.

"You…" His voice sounded like it was squeezed from his throat, raspy beyond recognition. "Who are you?"

"A good person."

Wu Xi's gaze fell on the bundle in the young man's hands.

The oilcloth was not wrapped tightly, revealing the edge of a scroll inside.

"However," Wu Xi tilted his head. "You must have a reason for provoking something like this, right?"

The young man hugged the bundle tighter, his knuckles turning pale, the oilcloth making a rustling friction sound.

He shrank back, his eyes darting around in panic, not daring to look at Wu Xi's face.

"I… I really don't know…"

"You don't know?"

Wu Xi laughed. "If you didn't have something it wanted on you, would it chase you this far like a dog after shit?"

The young man's face turned even paler, his lips moving a few times, but no words came out.

Wu Xi wanted to tease him a bit more, but the young man suddenly shuddered; his hand loosened, the oilcloth bundle slipped, and a scroll rolled out, unfurling on the ground.

The painting paper spread out half a meter wide on the concrete floor.

As the scroll unfurled, three humanoid monsters were shown leaning against a stone platform; the rags at their crotches were soaked through, digging tightly into their inner thighs, gray-green scales expanding and contracting with their breathing, and slime flowed down the inner thighs, pooling in the hollows of their knees.

The center figure was kneeling with its waist and hips raised high, a fleshy tail rising from the base of its legs, dark green fluid hanging from the tip of the tail, its tongue hanging down to its chin, slowly licking its fangs.

The right figure showed two bodies entwined, forelimbs embracing, claws digging into waist indentations, scales scraping against slick, moist skin.

Six pairs of murky, seductive eyes glared over, pupils narrowing into slits, mouths grinning ear to ear.

Wu Xi crouched down, his knees almost touching the ground, and leaned his head over the painting to look for two seconds.

His expression changed from playful to serious, and then from serious to grave.

"Whoa."

He stretched out a finger and tapped the edge of the painting. "This is quite lewdly drawn."

He looked up at the young man.

"Since this ghost thing chased you so hard, did you draw its wife on here?"

Gray Fur walked over and first looked down at the painting on the ground. "Drawn lewd enough. Although a Ghoul can't be a Demon Ghost's wife, tsk tsk, I still give you a thumbs up."

"You recognize it?"

Wu Xi raised an eyebrow.

"Common in underground nests."

Gray Fur's nose was almost touching the painting. "Half-hooved legs, good jumping and endurance, and pointed ears with a hearing range three times wider than a human's."

The young man's gaze jumped between the scroll and Wu Xi, like a rabbit ready to run at any moment.

"They're not much different from humans," Wu Xi said, brushing the dust off his knees and standing up. "Just uglier, with heavier tastes and living in a gloomier place."

"They have scales on their claws," Gray Fur looked up, his silver-gray pupils narrowing into slits. "They specialize in drilling holes in tomb walls to eat corpses, and they also attack living people who live in underground tombs; their intelligence isn't low."

Gray Fur turned to stare at the young man. "Ghouls and Demon Ghosts are mortal enemies underground; they fight over territory and corpses."

Wu Xi walked up to Qi Ling, crouched down, and tilted his head to examine him. "What's your name? With your skill, you could get rich drawing erotic art, so why draw a Ghoul?"

Qi Ling's voice rose and then quickly lowered. "My name is… Qi Ling… This isn't pornography… This is art, it's beauty… It's inspiration gifted to me by the Heavens!"

"Bullshit."

Gray Fur stepped up to Qi Ling in two strides; his nostrils flared as he sniffed, the direction of his sniffing moving from Qi Ling's face downward, past his neck, and stopping beside his ear.

His nostrils flared, and he sniffed further down, pausing at the wrist, the sound of his inhalation clearly audible.

Qi Ling shrank his neck, hiding his right hand behind him, his fingertips touching his ear quickly before dropping again.

"Your ears," Gray Fur said, "are very pointed."

Qi Ling stiffened all over.

His hand froze completely at his side.

"Your skin also has a problem," Gray Fur's voice was lower, almost touching Qi Ling's side face. "The rubbery texture is exactly the same as in the painting. Touch the back of your hand—can you not feel any body hair anymore?"

Qi Ling looked down at his hand; he slowly raised his right hand, flipped it over, and rubbed the back of it.

His other hand touched his ear, fingertips lingering on the sharp contour for a moment before recoiling as if burned.

No body hair.

The skin was smooth, with a rubbery, tacky feel, and when his fingertips slid across it, it made a faint friction sound.

"It's not just the skin," Gray Fur stepped back half a step, the slits in his pupils narrowing into needle points. "Your body temperature is two degrees lower than a normal person's, and your breathing has changed. Have you been waking up in the middle of the night lately?"

Qi Ling's lips trembled. "You… how did you know?"

Gray Fur's gaze shifted from Qi Ling to the scroll, then back again. "It's your painting; this painting has established a connection with the Ghoul."

"A connection?"

Wu Xi scratched his head. "What does that mean?"

"He drew it too realistically," Gray Fur stared at Qi Ling, his pupils narrowing to needle points. "The Ghoul sensed you through the painting, and you are transforming into a Ghoul. The Demon Ghost chasing you must have smelled the Ghoul scent on you."

"Wait," Wu Xi raised his hand. "Draw an erotic painting and you turn into a Ghoul yourself?"

Gray Fur's voice was deep. "You could say that; this painting accelerated his mutation."

"Among painters and musicians, many Geniuses with high Spirit Sight," Gray Fur continued, "will, like priests, see indescribable illusions, leading to their own mutation. Eventually, they suffer psychological collapse, hallucinations, and suicide. Priests have holy artifacts to prevent deterioration, but painters do not."

"What is Spirit Sight?"

Wu Xi asked.

"It's perception."

Gray Fur turned to look at him. "Perception of 'indescribable things.' Only with this ability can one serve the gods and perceive the power of the gods."

Qi Ling suddenly looked up, his eyes full of fear. "Save me… I don't want to become that kind of thing…"