Chapter 9- The old ladies inn (Part 2)

In the middle of the night, when the moon is at its peak, Screams and cries of children rang across the entire city. Every door was locked, every window barricaded, but the sounds never died out.

In Willow City, there is a legend of a woman losing her child. This was a mysterious legend that gave fame to the city. But legends aren't always real...right?

The legend tells of a beautiful woman whose eyes were blue and skin was a white as jade. Her lips were of the brightest shade of red and her hair was like silk that flew with the wind. She came from a far away land and decided to stay at Willow city with his husband and child for the night. With the scarcity of their money they choose to stay at the cheapest inn in the city.

The inn was filled with beautiful young women, elegant and warm. Their face was always adorned with a smile and with one look, you would feel at home. So, the couple and child decided that this was a good choice.

Aside from the great atmosphere of the place, the inn was also filled with mothers and children.

When night came, One of the women knocked on their door. "Miss and sir, I've brought you dinner."

The husband opened the door and welcomed the woman in. "We've troubled you." He said with a sigh.

The woman laughs. "With such beauty right in front of me, how could I be troubled. This young master is so lucky to have such a beautiful wife."

The man smiled at the girl. He agreed with the other's comment and looked at his wife. "She is indeed a beauty, and our child is cute as well!" He boasted.

"I agree." said the girl.

The next day, the couple woke up and found that their child went missing. They felt that their sleep was very deep and they didn't notice just how their child disappeared.

It was possible that the child would have stood up on his own, because their were no signs of anyone braking in. The two began to panic and ran outside, only to find that the inn they stayed in now turned into a small shack in the middle of the woods.

The shack was familiar to them, very familiar. They have seen this shack before. It was where they used to live before they had a child.

The first thing he felt was fear. then confusion. doubt. revelation. then back to fear.

'What if all of that was a dream?' She thought to herself.

She turned to his husband, who was now looking at her with confusion. Then his fear seemed to deepen.

'Everything was just a dream.'

The woman walked hand-in-hand with her husband and seemed to still feel doubt. The times that she spent with his child felt so true that it would be more unbelievable if it was just a dream. She knew how his hair felt like when brushed, how his cheeks burn when teased, how his lips curve when he smiles. The times they spent together was her greatest treasure. But bow, life was telling her that it was nothing more than an illusion.

As a mother, losing your child was painful to the point of wanting to die as well. But she was a cultivator, her mind was strong which was why she knew that her child existed or at the very least, existed.

She sprinted towards Willow City. But what she faced was not the inn they went into that night, but a small house.

She had heard of the stories circulating the whole City. The sounds of children crying and screaming in the middle of the night. She was afraid that her child might have become one of the children who screamed and cried. She, as a mother, wouldn't be able to take it.

So, when faced with the black wooden door, she kicked it so hard that it flew backwards.

The house was empty.

The cries and screams started.

Got louder and louder.

But no children can be seen.

The house was empty.

When morning came, the people who lived in the City found a woman's body laying in front of the inn. She was beautiful. Her eyes were blue, but now empty socket s and her jade skin was no longer there. Her red lips were cut and her long silk hair now was just a bald scalp.

Her body laid on a pool of blood. No one can recognize the body. except for her husband, who kneeled in front of his dead wife. Their child was still missing and their family was now gone.

_______

Indeed the legend was true. But the inn was no longer the same as before, for the women that worked there were now old.

The women who worked in the inn were envious of other people's beauty. They set a bait for their target and let that person come to them.

The first thing they did was mix sleeping potion with the meat. Because of the seasoning, no one would notice anything wrong. Once their target and company fell into a deep sleep, they would capture the other's most important person and make them think that such a person never existed. This would force them to doubt themselves and check if what they think was true. And in the middle of the night, they would attack.

or

Qin Zuijia looked down from the tree that was his presence, as he watched the old ladies bring Xiao Ling to the black room. He knew that he was the target of these women the moment he saw the intent in the other's eyes. But because the inn was cheap, he chose to still stay. If he has known that the one they would take as a bait was the little boy, he wouldn't have felt bad for spending more money.

Just as he was cursing himself for being an idiot, a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulders.

He felt chill run up his spine. He started praying for all the Gods he knew and apologizing for everything he had ever done. He chanted sutras and praised the lords above. This all happens in the span of mere seconds.

"What are we going to do?" A deep and cold voice made Qin Zuijia feel dizzy and afraid. He knew that this was now Wei Xiao, but the fact that the other woke up even when he ate the meat laced with sleeping potion was frightening.

"How-" Qun Zuijia hasn't finished asking when Wei Xiao covered his mouth.

"I'll tell you when we're done."

They stayed AFK for a moment and watched as the ladies peel out their skins.

"Aiya!" exclaimed one of the ladies. "With how beautiful his skin is, I really wanted to peel it off!" She said clutching her chest?

The woman who had peeled off her skin, now looked like black smoke. But with one look they could tell that it was am existence and not just imagination. The place where the eyes should be was glowing red and the smoke mode as if it still have its body.

"Don't just casually throw your skin to the side." another woman rapped the smoke, though her hand just passed by her. "Getting a younger and beautiful skin is hard!"

The smoke humphed. "We have new skin laying in that room, why do I have to wear such ugly skin?"

"Who told you you could have his skin?" The other woman exclaimed. "I obviously have more power, I should have that skin!"

"I've already peeled off that disgusting skin, I get to have this one!"

"I have been using this skin for eighty year. you got that woman's skin, why fight against me!?"

"The skin isn't as beautiful as this one. I want the best!"

While the two were fighting, another person pushed open the door of the black room.

She had a very delicate face that gave off a feeling of goodwill. Her eyes were of peach blossoms and her lips bright red. She was clad in pink and was covered with intoxicating perfume. She had an aura that made one want to bow down and kneel, but also make others want to push her down and make her moan.

When she stepped outside of the room, she swept her glance from the black smoke woman to the other. Her lips raised in ridicule.

"My my. You two are always fighting for a new skin." She said coquettishly. She played with a strand of her hair as she laughed at the two women.

Her voice sounded like a temptress, and her words provocative, but the two women were stupefied. One person and one smoke stiffen as their eyes look at the beautiful woman in front of them.

"Ah! Saint! We were just arguing who the beautiful skin will belong to." The one with the human skin said.

"Yes! I have already taken off that ugly piece of skin and this one still said that that skin should be her's!" She said in contempt. Judging by how she speaks to the woman, she should have been spoiled by her.

"Then if Xiao Jiu wants the skin, why take it?" Sure enough the woman took her side.

The other woman was fuming with rage, but her face remained fearful and fawning. One has to know not to fight against giants when you were but a mere dog. She chose to step back even if she felt angry. What could she do against the Saint and her toy, she should just stay back and watch as the saint let her have everything she wanted, but end up losing everything later on.

With those thoughts in mind, the woman was put at ease.

When the women left to go find their prey, Wei Xiao and Qin Zuijia leaped out of the tree. They looked at the black room which was locked with spells and incantations. To mortals, this lock would be impossible to break, but to Wei Xiao, he would only need a few minutes to unlock it.

When the door opened, what they saw was darkness. To be precise, the room was so dark that it would be hard to even look at your own hand. Aside from the obvious darkness, the room was the scent of black opium. Its sweetness was overwhelming to one's nose. The sticky yet fragrant. It was intoxicating, but not so much.

When the two walk inside, the scent becomes rather weird. The sweet scent was assaulted by a musky smell of rotting flesh. Qin Zuijia wanted to retch. Hiding a horrible smell with a wonderful one would just make it worse. He covered his mouth and looked to where the smell was more rancid. However, the room was still too dark to see.

He stepped one to the direction of the smell, but found a soft object under his feet.

Qin Zuijia froze in fright. The smell of rotting flesh could either be of human or animal, he wanted to believe it was the latter. So, in order not to make himself vomit, He recited several sutras in his mind. But every time he does so, he'd feel his head hurt. 'Who told a demon cultivator to recite sutras?' might as well bathe in lava.

Wei Xiao followed closely, but was still unable to find where the other was. He spoke in a rather low and quiet voice. "We should stick closer together."

His word brush passed Qin Zuijia's ears, making him shiver. He uncharacteristically bends his body, shaking. "Could... you ...not talk.. like that."

Wei Xiao stared at the other, though he couldn't see him, he knew that the other was already too frightened to move. Then, an idea came to Wei Xiao.

Seconds later, the sound of a man/woman/banshee was heard in the black room. When examined closely, one would find that the one who screamed was a man whose face was already white as paper, and was named Qin Zuijia.

Wei Xiao, the man who just put a hand on the other's shoulder, remained cold and aloof on the outside, but inwardly trying his best not to say anything that would make the other lose face. The man with him was the villain that was feared by thousands, if they found out that said person is afraid of ghosts, people would be surprised. A demon cultivator who is afraid of ghosts, one would find it rather amusing and hard to believe.

That isn't the only thing that was weird with the idea. Because cultivators would inevitably encounter ghosts, demons and other creatures, what's more is that even the youngest cultivator wouldn't react as afraid as Qin Zuijia in the black room. It was rather humorous and unbelievable.

Wei Xiao retracted his hand from the other and coughed. "You...Are you afraid of ghos-"

"Not that!"

Before Wei Xiao finished his words Qin Zuijia retorted.

"I'm not afraid of ghosts, I'm afraid of what I can't see." Qin Zuijia said, trying his best not to sound like a dying mouse "Ghosts are everywhere, and things like that can be seen to people like us, but right now." He waved his hands everywhere. "One of my senses lost its function."

Wei Xiao didn't believe that Qin Zuijia would be totally blind in the black room, but then he remembered that the other seemed to have damaged his soul, and his spiritual energy failed to flow. He won't be able to sense anything with his soul, so he has to rely on his own body.

Wei Xiao felt sympathetic towards Qin Zuijia. As a cultivator, One has to feel the Qi flow in their meridians to be able to control all senses that not mere mortal can. But Qin Zuijia has damaged his dantian and is unable to make his Qi flow. He was no more than a human.

With that, the two proceed to walk hand in hand.

Qin Zuijia was still frightened to notice anything, but Wei Xiao was already feeling rather giddy. He found that the other has very slender fingers and his hands aren't as rough as his, to be precise, his hands were smooth and soft, not at all like other cultivators. Even if he was a mage, Qin Zuijia's hands were very smooth. Some images have rough hands, others have smooth hands, but they were rather compact, as if filled with muscles.

Wei Xiao held Qin Zuijia's hand as they made their way toward the rancid smell. One was shivering, the other was ice cold.

In the location of the smell, they saw a faint light. A boy was hanging from the ceiling, dripping wet with blood.

__________________

Mini theater....(I talk too much)...this doesn't really affect the story, it's okay to skip.

Lemon: Okay! how can we make this story interesting?

Qin Muyang: Sm*t *grins at Wei Xiao*

Wei Xiao: *pats Qin Muyang's hair* Early sm*t.

Lemon: I'm not allowed to do that!!!

Qin Xuan: How about you stop the Mini theater?

Dayan: How about you give me back my lover?

Lemon: Argh! Not really helping!! How can I make better stories!

Jue: Bring me back....

Lemon: No. Stay in the pit.

Jue: *pouts* I miss my ah-Yu.

Qin Muyang: How is he here? hasn't he been rein-

Lemon: The power of sm*t summoned him... Okay, let's be serious okay?

Qin Muyang: I think you should stop the Mini theaters...

Wei Xiao: I agree.

Qin Xuan: It confuses the readers.

Dayan:....Araya.

Lemon: *Sighs and cries in corner* I'm just trying to talk to you people.

(do you agree to stop this stupid mini theater?.. just tell me in the comments)