I don't know why Xue Wuchang insisted on dragging me along, but I also knew that now was not the time to compete with him, so after a moment of hesitation, I followed him and flew towards the distant reef.
As far as I can remember, there was indeed a master from the Hell Gate guarding that reef, but when Xue Wuchang came to talk to me later, I never paid attention to that person's whereabouts again.
Half of the reef stood in the sea, and half was exposed above the water. In order to prevent our shoes from getting wet by the sea water, Xue Wuchang and I could only jump back and forth on the nearby rocks.
Xue Wuchang circled the reef twice but found no trace of his men. He could not help but ask in a deep voice: "Wu Zhao, can't you calculate?"
"No need." I pointed to the reef and said, "There are threads from clothes hanging here. The man must have slipped off the reef."
"Bullshit!" Xue Wuchang roared, "I know how skilled my men are. He is not stupid enough to slide off the reef."
I was too lazy to argue with him, so I just jumped into the water and reached my hand under the water to feel around. After a while, I pointed at the water and said, "Use your inner palm power to hit here and look under the water yourself."
Xue Wuchang pushed his palm towards the water surface with doubt. After his palm wind swept the water surface a foot away, Xue Wuchang also took a breath of cold air - there was a footprint clearly imprinted on the reef under the water, and the location of the footprint was just below the stone I pointed to.
In other words, the owner of the footprints not only slipped into the water, but also suffered a heavy blow after falling into the water, which caused him to instinctively exert force to crush the reef under his feet due to the severe pain.
Xue Wuchang's expression suddenly changed: "Come here! Everyone, come here and search in the water!"
"Everyone retreat!" I stopped Xue Wuchang in a stern voice, "If you want your own people to die, then let them go into the water. I don't mind watching all of you Hellmen die in the sea one by one."
Xue Wuchang's expression eased slightly and he said, "Then what do you think we should do?"
I took out three fortune-telling coins from my pocket and threw them on the reef, then pointed to the side and said, "Go in this direction. Don't go into the water. Just use a hook to fish in the water."
The people from Hell's Gate quickly found hooks from the boat and swept along the direction I indicated, but more than thirty people searched back and forth twice and still couldn't hook anything.
Xue Wuchang couldn't help but frown and looked at me: "Wu Zhao, is your calculation correct?"
I said coldly: "If you don't believe it, you don't have to look for it."
"You..." When Xue Wuchang was so angry that he was fuming, Gu Piaoran said to Hai Gouzi, "Brother Chen, could you please give it a try?"
Old Chen, the Sea Hook, reached out and took the iron hook from a Hell Gate disciple, strode to between two rocks, stirred the water twice with the hook, and pulled it up suddenly, actually pulling a red arm out of the water.
The human skin on the arm had disappeared, but the body was covered with a thin layer of mucous membrane, which prevented the blood from spreading. If Lao Chen hadn't pierced the body with an iron hook, he might not have been able to pull the body up.
Lao Chen said in a deep voice, "Come and fish it out! The body is too slippery. Either you guys go down and carry it up, or you pierce the body with a hook and pull it up. You guys decide how to do it. I won't do it."
To put it simply, sea scoopers are people who retrieve corpses and treasures from the sea. This industry has its own rules. Lao Chen's words may sound inhumane, but in fact he is following the rules.
Xue Wuchang said, "Put a rope around his arm and pull him up."
Someone tied the body with a noose and dragged it up slowly. As soon as the body came out of the water, the people on the shore gasped. The skin on the body had been peeled off completely. The body was wrapped in a thin film, except for the arm pierced by the hook, there was not a trace of blood. But such a body was more frightening than a bloody one.
In my eyes, the corpse was like a cicada that had just shed its skin and was waiting to dry its body. It might break out of the mucous membrane at any time.
After the people from Hell's Gate dragged the corpse onto the beach, they immediately retreated a few meters, drew their weapons, and carefully surrounded the corpse, waiting for Xue Wuchang to give the order.
Xue Wuchang turned to Gu Piaoran and asked, "Mr. Gu, you are well-informed, do you know what's going on?"
Gu Piaoran shook his head slightly and said, "It looks like a prisoner who has been tortured, but I don't know what that mucous membrane is. Lao Chen, do you know?"
Hai Gouzi Lao Chen also shook his head and said, "I haven't seen it either. But his skin is definitely not in the water. I just looked for it."
At this time, Su Youran whispered, “It seems like this person has been poisoned by the Snake Shedding Powder.”
Xue Wuchang turned around and asked, "What is that?"
Su Youran explained, “It’s a poison that has long been lost. Legend has it that people who are poisoned by the snake slough powder will shed their skin completely like a snake. Moreover, the person who sheds their skin will not die immediately because the mucous membrane on the snake slough powder replaces the human skin and locks the blood in the body, so the person will not die from excessive bleeding. However, that mucous membrane cannot block the sun and sea water like real human skin. If a poisoned person is thrown under the sun, he or she will die from the pain.”
"Hiss—" Xue Wuchang couldn't help but gasp, "What a poisonous Snake Shedding Powder."
Someone whispered, "God, it seems Zhao Xing is not dead yet."
I followed Xue Wuchang and looked at the body on the ground. I don't know if it was a psychological effect, but I always felt that the body that should have died seemed to still be breathing faintly.
After hesitating for a moment, Xue Wuchang pulled out a long knife from his men and fiercely slashed the man's neck. The blood spurting out from the corpse immediately added a bit of blood to Xue Wuchang's already dazzling red robe. Xue Wuchang put away the long knife and whispered, "Let's find a place to bury him!"
Gu Piaoran, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up: "Look around, especially in high places, to see if there is any human skin. Hurry!"
Xue Wuchang turned around with a sullen look on his face and asked, "What are you looking for?"
Gu Piaoran shook his head slightly and said: "I just doubt..."
Gu Piaoran didn't say what he suspected, but I said, "He suspected that the entire secret realm was a place of punishment. In ancient times, after using the torture of skinning, didn't they stuff hay into the human skin and hang it up for public display? If we find a human skin bag nearby, it means we have entered the place of punishment again."
Old Qiao's face turned extremely pale in an instant: "Don't talk nonsense! Where do so many places for punishing crimes come from? Besides, in ancient criminal law, can you still use snake slough powder to peel off the skin?"
Old Joe was afraid of death, and I didn't want to argue with him, so I just shook my head and looked into the distance.
After a while, someone shouted, "There's human skin here!"
We immediately ran over to the sound and saw a piece of human skin neatly stuck to the cliff. Although the skin was without flesh and bones, the features of the deceased could still be vaguely discerned.
Xue Wuchang said in a deep voice: "Go up and peel off the human skin."
"No!" Old Joe stopped him, "That's a public display, a public display! In ancient times, anyone who dared to take down a corpse on public display would be guilty of treason. Don't touch it, don't touch it!"
While Xue Wuchang's face changed slightly, I leaped into the air, kicked the cliff twice with my feet, reached out and grabbed a corner of the human skin, raised my hand and pulled the whole skin to the ground, and then I fell to the ground as well.
Old Qiao was frightened to death: "You...you...you are showing off your abilities. You dare to touch something on display? If you don't want to live, don't let us get in trouble! Mr. Gu, kick him out. If he attracts the criminal leader, it will be no joke!"
"Shut up first!" Gu Piaoran stopped him, "Mr. Wu, what are you doing?"
I lowered my head and touched the human skin a few times: "I want to verify whether it is Xing Kui who is killing people. Look carefully at this human skin, it should have been peeled off and stuck to the cliff not long ago."
Old Qiao said sharply, "Who can't see that? I think you are just trying to show off and get attention. You don't care about your life!"
I ignored Old Joe and continued, "Skinning was not a legitimate punishment in ancient times. Although ancient punishments were cruel, the rulers still had to uphold the word "benevolence", so skinning was not written directly into the criminal law. Skinning was mostly a matter of a certain period of time or for a certain person."
Ye Jin nodded and said, "Zhaozi is right. The punishment of skinning actually had a development process, and it did not reach its peak until the Ming and Qing dynasties, but it was not often used as a formal punishment. Except for Zhu Yuanzhang's founding of the country, it basically appeared in wars during turbulent times."
I continued, "The punishment of skinning is not about the punishment process, but about the deterrence during the public display. Therefore, all human skins displayed to the public will be treated with special nitrate, which is similar to the nitrate treatment of cowhide, in order to prevent the human skin from rotting quickly. But, look, has this human skin been treated with nitrate?"
Old Qiao said sternly, "What does that mean? When Senggelinqin of the Qing Dynasty killed the Taiping Army, didn't he just skin them and hang them on trees?"
I couldn't stand Old Joe's noise, so I just said, "Is the place of punishment used to execute prisoners? If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense there."
Gu Piaoran also glared at Lao Qiao fiercely: "Lao Qiao, you'd better be quiet for a while. Maybe things are not as bad as you think. Wu Zhao, please continue."
I continued, "The second doubt is that in ancient times, skinning was done with a knife from behind. The so-called mercury skinning is simply nonsense. Since this is a place to punish crimes, the chief criminal should execute the crime in front of us like he did at sea. Why is he doing it in secret? How is this different from assassination?"
I stood up and looked at Su Youran. (To be continued)