Skin and flesh rapidly extended along Wang Yuan's cheeks.
Unlike the previous use of the "Human Face Painting Skill" by the Wild Dog Taoist, this time it turned into a mask of the Deceit Object, which did not wrap Wang Yuan's clothes along with it but merely clung to his skin, covering his entire body.
Wang Yuan felt as if he had put on another layer of light clothing, without feeling suffocated at all.
Suddenly, Wang Yuan heard various voices by his ear: men and women, old and young, masculine and feminine, enthusiastic and indifferent, upright and malicious, all starting to introduce themselves:
Qu Mingda, Yue Shao, Han Gao, Zhao Shi, Cui Tong, Zhu Wuliu...
Jin Ling, Shen Mei, Gao Erniang, Fourth Lady Sun, Xu Zhaodi, Er Ya...
Semi-transparent, ethereal faces also emerged in Wang Yuan's spiritual sense, forming a circle around him.
They were the owners of those voices, and also the Painting Spirits once captured and practiced upon by the Wild Dog Taoist.
Wang Yuan glanced over; there were a total of twenty-four Painting Spirits, all expressionless, silently waiting for him to turn the cards.
He surmised in his heart that it must be due to the effect of the "Enlightenment Immortal Light," which had cleansed these Painting Spirits of all their resentment and malevolence.
Otherwise, at this moment he would most likely be seeing all sorts of fierce and terrifying forms of death.
He had always had great confidence in the eccentric style of the Deceit Object.
Now, having been transformed by the immortal light, this "Deceit Object: Human Face Painting" seemed to have become an accessory to the Small Book of Life and Death and Wang Yuan, with its "life story" also recorded in the biography.
After all, it was also a living "creature."
Name: Human Face Painting
Life story: Made from the wood of the human-faced peach and human skin and soul. Born through the painting skill of the Wild Dog Taoist, later transformed into a "Deceit Object" by the book owner Yi King Yuan.
Responsible for the killing and harming of twenty-four people.
Precept Taboo:
[One, when using the 'Human Face Painting,' one must not contradict the corresponding personality tags.
Each Painting Spirit has three to five tags, which are the deepest obsessions and traits of the soul - these do not fade even in death; everything else is arbitrary.
You can fully disguise as the corresponding person, borrow their abilities and obscure your own fate, making it undetectable even for magicians skilled in the art of divination.
If the performance of the personality tags is accurate, there is a chance to assimilate the other's abilities.]
[Two, having been refined by transformation, it can switch multiple times within a day, but depending on one's Taoist ability, ideally it should not exceed three times.
The duration of a single use should not exceed three days; exceeding this will cause it to gradually merge with your own skin, making it impossible to separate again.]
[Three, it can continue to hunt for Painting Spirits, stealing their faces and souls.
However, unlike the original twenty-four Painting Spirits which were permanently confined, the confinement time depends on the other's 'Yin Morality'; those with a replete record of evil can be confined for a maximum of one year.
If you steal the face and soul of a kind person, it will detract from the book owner's corresponding Yin Morality; when Yin Morality is negative, it becomes a debt.]
Clearly, although the origin of the Small Book of Life and Death remains a mystery, it has always been encouraging Wang Yuan, the book owner, to accumulate "Yin Morality" and be a good person.
Moreover, it's not mandatory; as long as you can bear the cost of being evil, it's fine.
"This mode is quite comfortable; it feels a bit like I am the master, and the book is the servant."
As Wang Yuan was thinking, one of the twenty-four faces, a Painting Spirit who introduced himself as Han Gao, suddenly rushed towards him.
The still-unsettled watery layer of skin on his body instantly rippled from the face outwards, and in the blink of an eye, Wang Yuan had another appearance.
His features were delicate, his complexion pale and rosy, his limbs slender, and he even had a pair of watery, peach-blossom eyes.
Although he looked like a man, he surprisingly possessed the gentle, boneless demeanor of a willow tree.
"Hiss!"
Immediately thereafter, Wang Yuan felt a void in his body and quickly turned to look at the glazed mirror in the room.
He discovered that his current appearance, beneath the superficial skin, also carried a hint of the paleness that comes from excessive indulgence.
Suddenly, he had an ominous premonition.
Just as expected, as he solidified his identity, Han Gao's memories also began to surface in front of Wang Yuan, like a passing glance.
The young man's background was fairly decent, being the illegitimate son of a salt merchant family in Jiangnan.
However, this gentleman had no right to inherit the family business, and unable to endure the hardship of studying or martial arts, he could only squander the monthly allowance given by his family in the pleasure quarters.
In the opulent land of Jiangnan.
The wealthier the family's young masters were, the less they could bear the sun, the less they ventured out, and the more they loved to wear flamboyant women's clothes, always adorning their heads with a fresh flower when stepping out.
Even slightly masculine voices were looked down upon by other young masters in their circles.
This Young Master Han was certainly no exception.
If that were all, it might be forgivable, but Young Master Han also had another nickname: "Delicate Willow Master."
While other young masters took pride in applying makeup and wearing extravagant robes of red or pink, accompanied by a handsome young page to show off their refinement,
this "Delicate Willow Master" took it a step further, with a retinue not of handsome pages but of sturdy protectors who stood tall and firm like iron towers.
Further, Young Master Han's personality tags were four: frail, sentimental, fond of luxurious clothes, and a penchant for... "strong men."
Wang Yuan felt as if stung by a scorpion and hastily removed the mask.
Goosebumps still uncontrollably sprang up all over his body.
"Pfft, pfft, pfft! This 'Human Face Painting Skill' is a real pitfall, requiring a wide range of people to hunt on one hand, yet demanding fulfillment of obsessions to assume their identities on the other.
If it were me, faced with such a pervert, I would definitely choose to 'kill' instead of indulging in 'a tribute of strong men,'" he said.
Cautiously avoiding further transformations, he proceeded to examine the life stories of these male masks one by one.
Inside, there were evil ghosts operating as officials; lascivious men who loved to collect the camisoles of brothel women; and the Night Scent Man who suffered from severe mysophobia, washing his hands a hundred times a day.
There were beggars yearning to eat meat at every meal; miserly wealthy old men to the extreme; and soldiers determined to protect their homeland but stabbed in the back by their own people...
Anyway, during practice, all were replaced with "killing" instead of "obsession." The harder the "obsession" was to satisfy, the more the Wild Dog Daoist enjoyed it.
Because the more distinct and bizarre the personality, the more it could enhance the foundation of the "Human Face Painting Skill."
This also allowed Wang Yuan to witness all sorts of eccentricities.
As for the female "Painting Spirits," although they included beautiful women, they most fit the term "Painted Skin."
Yet, Wang Yuan merely browsed through their memories and did not personally experience the transformation.
Because he felt that if he couldn't resist the temptation to try it once, he feared that a gate of taboo even more terrifying than cross-dressing would open.
Then, there would undoubtedly be a second time, a third time...
After browsing through the life stories of all the painting spirits, Wang Yuan discovered that among these people there were good people, average people who were neither good nor bad, and evil people who had done numerous bad deeds.
After some thought, he took off the mask and gently tapped it.
Slap!
An illusory figure of a woman was knocked out from the Painted Skin, precisely the daughter-in-law of the Elder Care Pavilion that the Wild Dog Daoist had used to deceive Wang Yuan but had failed to enslave.
Having finally realized that she was dead, she gave Wang Yuan a deep bow.
"Go," he said.
Wang Yuan waved his hand, and the soul immediately vanished in a stream of light, heading to the Underworld.
Then, one by one, the souls imprisoned in the "Human Face Painting" were released by Wang Yuan.
In principle, ordinary people were released on the spot, and evil people were put under his control.
Moreover, there was an unexpected bonus; every time he released a good person, he would gain 8 to 12 points of "Yin Morality."
In the end, after releasing twenty-one people, his "Yin Morality" reached 332 points, and only three people with negative "Yin Morality" were left in the "Human Face Painting."
It wasn't because there were so many good people and so few bad people in this world, but purely because even the Evil Dao like the Wild Dog Daoist was reluctant to provoke those bad people.
However, these three people, apart from their disguised identities, each had their unique traits.
"First Hand Qin," real name: Qin Yong'an.
He could create talismans and chants, compose green verses to entertain spirits, and was skilled in one of the thirteen branches of the medical field called the Divination Department.
His most distinct personality traits were the greed of "plucking feathers from passing geese" and the stinginess of not giving a single hair away.
He not only lacked a doctor's compassionate heart and the talk of benevolent healing but also often treated minor illnesses severely until he had drained all the remaining wealth from his patients' homes.
"Master Xingming," real name: Yu Sanliang.
An old discipline master in the Government, there was no mouth he couldn't pry open, and he could even make a corpse "speak."
His most notable traits were "cruelty" and "severity."
Often employing heavy torture, the criminals interrogated by him usually looked horribly mutilated yet couldn't die, and had to cry out day and night. Even his colleagues and superiors were fearful and wary of him.
Later, as his quirks deepened, he began to secretly torture ordinary people, poking into their private affairs, fabricating charges, and extorting merchants.
Yet, the last person surprised Wang Yuan the most.
"Thief Cat," real name: Cui Tong.
He was originally an arrest officer in the Government, practicing an elegantly named Martial Art called the "Butterfly Soldier Skill."
Because a court cat named "Butterfly Slave" had a white body with only patterns on its mouth, this "Butterfly Soldier Skill" could also be called the "Imperial Cat Martial Art."
Many in the public service practiced this skill.
No need to mention his martial prowess, he also possessed two special skills: unparalleled body techniques, following like a shadow; and mimicry, making it hard to tell real from fake.
The nickname "Thief Cat" not only explained his background but also described his skillful movement and theft techniques, making it seem like changing pillars and beams was not difficult for him.
After being made a scapegoat by his superior, he angrily joined the bandits in Green Forest, committing major crimes successively, gradually turning from the righteous path to the wicked path.
His personality traits were "never leaving empty-handed," "fond of vain glory," "showing divinity in front of good people," and "generous in righteousness."
It was also because of these character traits.
When Master Ge, famous for making various elixirs, in the region of Junzhou recruited familiar fierce bandits and strong people to boost his forces, offering heavy rewards and claiming that without him the task couldn't be accomplished, Cui Tong gladly went to Beimang Mountain for the meeting.
Yes, this man was one of the good hands from the Green Forest recruited by Master Ge.
Just that nobody expected that on his way close to the destination, he coincidentally met the Wild Dog Daoist.
Because he mocked the appearance of the Evil Taoist, he was confusedly drugged, skinned, and transformed into a "Painting Spirit."
Now that the Wild Dog Daoist was dead, by taking on this identity, Wang Yuan could not only return to Daling Village openly but also naturally blend into Master Ge's group.
This was absolutely a hundred times stronger than his original plan of sneaking around.
The newly arisen Wang Yuan had now transformed into the appearance of "Thief Cat" Cui Tong, casually picking up the byproduct spit out by the "Enlightenment Immortal Light" after treating the "Human Face Painting" from the table.
The golden-colored bone looked like a gold ingot, its body faintly glowing with treasure light, clearly not a mundane object.
But deeply understanding the dangerous nature of this item, Wang Yuan glanced at the specific introduction described in the biography, and a strange expression crossed his face:
"Rashamon Bone? I never thought that one day, I would be impersonating those fishers like the Weird who consume humans.
No, it should be 'A treasure formed naturally is for those who possess virtue.'
My virtue is insufficient, my Yin Morality is insufficient, my lifespan is also insufficient. Let me think, going to Daling Village, who among those potential great talents deserves this treasure?"