The rouge that beautifies someone

Early that day, I was once again chased out of bed by Zhang Jinya.

However, this time he didn't have me "paraded" through the streets of Dingtao Village, but instead instructed me to head towards the deserted areas outside the city, because tonight was the night of the full moon, one of the nights with the heaviest yin of the month. That filthy thing had been lying dormant for so long, and it should come out for a "stroll" tonight. After all, although I hadn't caught it in the past three days, I had scoured the village completely, and it was very likely already eyeing me. To someone like me, who is inherently weak in yang energy, I'm practically considered a delicacy in the eyes of such a creature. It would be truly strange if it didn't come looking for me tonight, and heading out of town would also make it convenient to lure it out so that they could take action!

Upon hearing Zhang Jinya's words, I was somewhat panicked. His implication seemed to be that that face-peeling thing had always been hidden in Dingtao Village. So, I asked him about this.

Zhang Jinya said that this was what his "expert" friend claimed. Whether it was true or not, he wasn't sure, and told me not to bother about the details. I just needed to find a spot outside the village to stay. He also said not to return to the village at night and if someone spoke to me during the night, I should not respond, leaving the rest to him and his friend.

Feeling rebellious in my heart, I was discomfited. It seemed that in every ten sentences, eight would be about his "expert" friend, but why haven't I ever met this person? However, I mumbled these thoughts to myself, knowing that asking would only lead to the same outcome as before. Zhang Jinya, that damn person, would definitely not tell me. So I had no choice but to head out of the village with a heavy heart. Still, to be safe and avoid being tricked by Zhang Jinya again, I took the Bai Pi Knife with me.

Dingtao Village is located in a deserted place, a small village in a mountain valley. Apart from the village's population, nothing but wilderness exists outside. Walking in such barren lands, my heart was thumping with fear. I dared not venture too far, for it's very easy to get lost in the mountains. If something unexpected happened, I would panic and not know where I would end up running to. The worst-case scenario would be that I starve to death in a small mountain hollow, instead of being killed by that face-peeling creature.

With this in mind, I walked to a small river about two or three miles from the village and stopped. Here I could still discern the path clearly and the distance from the village was just right. So, I found a clean spot beside the small river to sit and watch the clear water flow. My mind, filled with tumultuous thoughts, finally found some peace as I pondered over the strange incidents that had happened to me recently...

"Sister, what are you thinking about?"

Suddenly, a crisp and pleasant voice came from behind me, startling me. I turned around to see a young woman, about twenty-five or twenty-six in age, standing there with a tall frame and quite a beautiful appearance. I was stunned for a moment - sister? But then I remembered that I was still dressed as a woman, so it was normal for her to mistake my gender.

I chuckled inwardly, unsure why, but I felt this woman looked particularly familiar, as if I had seen her somewhere before. Since it was daytime with clear skies, even dirty things wouldn't "carry out their deeds against the wind" at such a time. So I didn't think too much about it, guessing that something about this woman's face seemed familiar because it resembled someone I knew.

It's a common phenomenon, I believe. Many people have had the experience of suddenly seeing someone in a crowd and feeling oddly familiar. It's not some so-called love at first sight nonsense, but rather because some aspect of that person resembles someone you know, which leads to this illusion!

"It's nothing, just thinking about some stuff."

I smiled and glanced at the woman, asking out of curiosity, "Sister, are you heading somewhere? Why come to this desolate place alone?"

"I'm from a nearby village. I was picking some stuff in the mountains and happened to see you on my way."

The woman smiled, then looked at the spot next to me and asked, "May I sit here?"

Instinctively, I nodded, and it was only then that I noticed she was wearing a pair of red patent leather high heels that looked particularly sexy. Walking on flat ground with them was torture, not to mention going into the mountains. I'd never seen anyone wear such high heels there! Moreover, she was wearing a tight-fitting red mini-skirt which seemed equally masochistic for a trip to the mountains – wasn't she afraid of the poisonous insects in the woods biting her?

The most important thing was, she claimed to have just come out of the mountains, but I couldn't see a speck of dirt on her, she was excessively clean, which was abnormal. And this woman was distinguished and graceful in her demeanor. Although I hadn't seen much of the world, I knew that a person's demeanor had a lot to do with their upbringing and status. Could a villager have such cultured manners?

Moreover, even though I was dressed as a woman and wore strange makeup, I still spoke with a man's voice. How could this woman still keep calling me 'sister', unable to realize I was actually a man?

In an instant, many doubts flashed through my mind, and I became more alert. There was something eerie about this woman, and I realized I needed to be cautious.

At that moment, the woman had already sat down beside me, and an enticing fragrance wafted into my nostrils. She had already slipped off her shoes and dipped her feet, white and delicate as jade, into the stream, creating a particularly lovely scene. She began laughing, her laughter sounding like tinkling bells, nearly melting my heart.

I'm not a nobody. Except for my "fifth lady" at home, I hadn't had close contact with any other women in over twenty years. Suddenly encountering such a beautiful and alluring woman playing out this scene of jade feet splashing water, it was only normal to be tempted on the spot. Fortunately, I consider myself a gentleman. I quickly collected myself and turned away, reminding myself to stay vigilant. Although it was unlikely to encounter anything untidy under clear skies, coming across a malicious person was possible. I had heard stories of people being ambushed in deep mountains, robbed, and dumped into the gorges without anyone ever finding out!

"Sister, why don't you look at me?"

The woman noticed that I had turned away and spoke again with a voice that stirred the senses, "Am I not pretty?"

Her voice held an indescribable power of seduction, and I subconsciously nodded my head.

"Wouldn't you like to be as pretty as me?"

Her voice was filled with an inexplicable enticing force, "Actually, I became this beautiful after using a special kind of rouge."

With that, the woman, as if performing a magic trick, suddenly produced a handful of glittering substance in her palm!

Hearing her words, I felt as if struck by lightning, and goosebumps erupted all over my body!

Rouge?!

I stared at the glittering substance in the woman's hand; my breathing almost came to a halt. My mind inexplicably drifted to the two words that Erniu mentioned before she was possessed—rouge!

Though Erniu didn't finish her sentence, I knew her death was related to rouge!!

Could it be...

I swallowed hard, struggling, and slowly looked up at the woman's face; the more I looked at it, the more familiar it seemed!

At that moment, I finally remembered where I had seen this face—it was in Qin Hongmei's house! Hanging in the bedroom where Qin Hongmei was murdered was her portrait, and the painted face of Qin Hongmei looked exactly like this woman's!!!

No wonder this woman looked so familiar. She was wearing the very face that had been cut from Qin Hongmei, which meant the woman before me wasn't some unusually behaving villain. She was the unclean thing that Zhang Jinya and I had been searching for these past few days!!!

Chills ran through my body, and I felt my breath seizing as I stared dumbfounded at the woman's smiling face, which seemed so hideous and terrifying at that moment—Wasn't she a filthy thing? How could she be out and about during the day? This was illogical! The sun's rays during the day are very harmful to these filthy things. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have been unconcerned at the very beginning, since I subconsciously believed that anyone who appears during the day must be human!

"Sister, what's wrong?"

The woman's face still had a smile on it, "Why not try it, it can really make you beautiful! Come, don't move, let me help you apply some!"

Saying this, the woman dipped her index finger into the glittering substance in her palm and moved her hand towards my face!

How could I dare to let that thing touch my skin? I presumed it was precisely this substance that allowed this filthy thing to remove a person's face without damaging the underlying tissues!!

I planned to run for it, but just then, an indifferent male voice came from the woods on the opposite bank of the river: "If you dare to put that thing on his face, I will destroy your soul immediately!"

As the voice faded, a man in a blue robe, with a unique sword on his back, who didn't look like a modern person, slowly walked out from the woods, followed by Zhang Jinya!

Seeing this, I knew that the man in blue must be the "expert" friend Zhang Jinya had mentioned. I immediately felt relieved—Zhang Jinya was finally reliable this time and didn't abandon me!

At this point, the unclean thing beside me no longer cared about me but stood up and stared across at Zhang Jinya and the man in blue from across the stream.

Zhang Jinya looked at me with a smile, "Kid, why don't you take this opportunity, while we're holding this thing off, and run for your life? You waiting to stay for supper?"

Snapping to my senses after his reminder, I quickly scrambled up from the river bank and ran off without a second thought. Fortunately, the filthy thing didn't chase me down. At that moment, it was fixedly staring at the man in blue on the opposite bank. Clearly, dealing with the blue-robed man was its priority!

That was the last thing I saw before running off. I was also curious, who exactly was the man in blue? Why did he seem so incredibly cool!?