The moment the driver behind them saw Xing Yong’s police ID and then spotted Liang Ming Yue lying across the seats of the sedan, he immediately behaved himself.
Not only did he behave himself, he became extraordinarily enthusiastic. Despite having smashed half the headlight on his SUV, he got back inside and volunteered to lend a hand by following them to the hospital and helping clear the way.
After all, only the front passenger seat of Xing Yong’s sedan was still empty. There was no room left for both Qin Shu and Pei Zhao.
The situation was urgent, so Xing Yong accepted the other driver’s offer and had Qin Shu and Pei Zhao ride in the SUV while they all headed to the hospital together.
It happened to be evening rush hour, and Jiangcheng’s main roads were clogged with traffic everywhere. Moving together with two vehicles would be more efficient. Without showing it, Qin Shu let out a quiet breath of relief, tightened his grip on Pei Zhao’s hand, and climbed into the stranger’s back seat.
Wee-woo, wee-woo—
The sedan ahead had mounted its police beacon, and its piercing siren rang out as colored lights flashed, illuminating the interior of the SUV in dazzling bursts.
Pei Zhao lowered his eyes slightly, bit down on his straw, and took a large sip.
That was right. He was still holding the milk tea Qin Shu had barely touched, having quietly appropriated it for himself, and his hand remained remarkably steady. Even after the emergency braking and the violent rear-end collision, not a single drop of milk tea had spilled.
Without drawing attention to it, Qin Shu rested a hand on Pei Zhao’s thigh and gave it a squeeze. At the same time, he leaned slightly forward and struck up a conversation with the driver. “Uncle, judging from your license plate, you’re not from around here. Did you drive to Jiangcheng for a vacation?”
“Yeah. Never expected something like this after only two days here. Scared the hell out of me! That police officer isn’t going to hold a grudge against me, is he? Ah, I got worked up and cursed pretty badly… You two are still students, right? Sorry, sorry. Once you’re out in society, don’t learn that from me.”
The plump middle-aged driver was quite talkative, and his driving skills also seemed pretty good.
He kept talking without pause even as the SUV continued accelerating. “I’ve got that thing, what do you call it… Right, right, road rage! Seriously can’t keep blowing up at the slightest thing.”
“It’s fine. Brother Yong is a good police officer. Jiangcheng’s police are all very good. They wouldn’t target you over some personal grudge.”
Qin Shu glanced into the rearview mirror and continued smiling as he spoke. “Everyone had bad luck tonight because something supernatural happened… Who could’ve imagined that a woman would suddenly fall out of the sky and land directly on a police officer’s car?”
“Oof, kid, don’t say things like that. Talking about ghosts is bad luck.”
“Why shouldn’t I say it? Something supernatural clearly did happen. I saw it perfectly.”
Qin Shu’s smile did not change, but his speech gradually slowed, and an undisguised chill crept into his voice. “A woman I know drops out of the sky, and then a… porcupinefish wearing human skin crashes into us from behind. The odds of those two things happening at exactly the same time must be pretty low, right? What a coincidence that I happened to encounter both at once.”
Elio’s Notes: 刺豚 refers to a porcupinefish, a marine fish related to pufferfish that inflates its body and raises long spines when threatened. The distinction matters here because the source specifically identifies the driver as a porcupinefish yao.
The car abruptly fell silent. Only the hum of the engine remained, along with the sounds of gear changes, the turn signal, and the police siren vibrating faintly through the glass behind them.
The middle-aged driver silently gripped the steering wheel. His fingers involuntarily tightened around it, pressing so hard into the leather covering that it made a sticky little creak under the strain.
Qin Shu was not joking. What he saw really was a porcupinefish—a marine creature walking upright beneath a layer of human skin.
Even with the human skin covering him, the driver’s thick, squat build, his completely flat facial bone structure, and the protruding beaklike mouth beneath it were actually quite distinctive.
Whenever he became too emotional, his body would secretly swell larger, his eyes bulging slightly like those of someone with hyperthyroidism while countless backward-pointing spines rose all over him, pushing against the outermost layer of human skin and leaving faint bumps and ridges across its surface…
Just like now. Caught completely off guard by Qin Shu’s questioning, the middle-aged driver’s emotions shifted, and his body rapidly inflated again until he practically filled the driver’s seat, making the inside of the SUV feel noticeably more cramped.
“Don’t be nervous, Uncle. Porcupinefish have their own kind of cuteness too. I don’t care why you came onto land. I only have one question…”
Qin Shu paused and narrowed his eyes slightly. “Where did the human skin come from? Did you kill its owner? Steal it? Rob someone for it? Or buy it?”
The moment those words left his mouth, there was a sharp rrrip! as the middle-aged driver’s body expanded yet again. His tire-like down jacket suddenly split apart with him, and the goose feathers inside exploded outward like falling snow.
“Y-You insolent brat! How dare you slander a treasure bestowed by the Dragon Mother?!” He was furious, yet did not dare violate traffic laws. Even while shouting angrily at Qin Shu, he only squeezed the steering wheel harder until it creaked beneath his fingers.
“Wait, Dragon Mother… She gave you this human skin?” Qin Shu’s eyebrow twitched. “Then where did she get the human skin? Is that supply chain actually legitimate?”
“Boy, if you know the Dragon Mother’s name, then you should also know that she is Jiangcheng’s one and only deity, the guardian who has watched over these rivers and lands for countless thousands of years. You will not maliciously speculate about her like this!”
Qin Shu obediently went “Mm-hm, mm-hm” while listening to the porcupinefish’s righteous declaration, but his position did not budge in the slightest.
“So where did this complete human skin come from? And why were you following our car so closely earlier? What exactly were you planning to do? Why did Liang Ming Yue fall out of the sky? She’s seriously injured. Did that have anything to do with you?”
“…”
The middle-aged driver fell silent again, tightly pursing his lips as hesitation entered his eyes.
“Talk, Uncle. If you won’t, we can always fight first.” Qin Shu rolled up his sleeves and leaned even farther forward with absolutely no sense of personal boundaries, reaching out to poke the uneven skin of the porcupinefish. “We can see whether your spines are harder or my fists are.”
“Y-You… Stop touching me! I’m driving! Do you understand that traffic laws have to be obeyed?!” His roar sounded fierce, but a tremor had already entered his voice.
“The crime of illegally possessing human skin should be a lot more serious than distracting a driver. Even if I knocked you unconscious on the spot, I’d still be the one courageously intervening to stop a crime.”
By this point, touching the bizarre texture of the porcupinefish himself was enough for Qin Shu to confirm something else as well: this was absolutely human skin. The deceased had been in their early forties at the time of death. There was no other possibility.
Qin Shu’s patience gradually ran out. “Enough. Talk.”
“…Liang Ming Yue is a wanted criminal. What she did should have nothing to do with the rest of you humans. Why involve yourselves? Once you hear this, don’t spread it around. Anyone who leaks the secret will die a miserable death.”
“What?” Qin Shu paused. “Wanted by what organization? Don’t try to scare me. Explain properly.”
“She’s wanted across the Four Realms of Rivers, Streams, Lakes, and Seas! She stole a treasure from the Dragon Palace, and she stole the child of the jiao from the city-protecting river! Do you understand how serious that is? In recent years, the number of children disappearing from the river has risen sharply. She could very well be some utterly heartless fish trafficker!”
Elio’s Notes: A jiao (蛟) is an aquatic, serpentine dragonlike creature in Chinese mythology and cultivation fiction. It is distinct from a true dragon, a distinction that becomes important in the following chapter. The “fish trafficker” line is deliberately comic wordplay because the alleged victims are aquatic beings.
As the SUV drew closer and closer to First Municipal Hospital, the porcupinefish’s voice became increasingly urgent and agitated. “Ever since the flood dragon’s only child was stolen, the Dragon Mother issued a genuine arrest warrant. I followed the soul mark bestowed by the Dragon Mother to pursue her, but something went wrong. The mark kept showing up on you two… More precisely, on the student sitting next to you.”
“The mark is on Zhaozhao?”
Qin Shu paused again and turned toward Pei Zhao.
Pei Zhao silently lowered the milk tea and tilted his head back at him. “Mm?”
Being this cute at a time like this was really too much.
Qin Shu took a deep breath, and his tone immediately softened several degrees. “Zhaozhao, stay still for a moment. Just wait. You said the mark was placed on his soul, right…”
Qin Shu stared at him and rapidly began adjusting his mental state. His gaze locked tightly onto Pei Zhao’s pale-golden eyes as he drew in his concentration and focused as much of his attention as possible on a single point.
See Through.
Qin Shu was still not particularly skilled at using it, and he had absolutely no control over how long the state lasted, but if he really needed it, he could still force the ability out with enough effort.
The soul, the soul…
A person’s soul resided within the jeweled chamber, also known as the Niwan Palace or the Purple Palace. Of course, those were the more elegant terms for it. According to Daoist Xu’s tradition, in practical terms it was simply the tiny point where the space between the two eyebrows met, right at the center of the brow—the Yintang point.
Elio’s Notes: Niwan Palace (泥丸宫) and Purple Palace (紫府) are traditional Daoist terms for an inner spiritual locus in the head. Here the novel explicitly identifies that locus with the brow-center point previously referred to as Yintang.
If someone touched the spot, they could faintly feel a slight depression. Regularly rubbing and massaging it was said to provide a mild exercise for the soul, helping clear and calm the mind while easing grogginess, headaches, and some sleep problems.
What Qin Shu now wanted to see clearly was the point deep within Pei Zhao’s brow. Peering into another person’s Niwan Palace was nowhere near as simple as it sounded, however. Qin Shu needed a soul strong enough to support the attempt.
The moment he entered a state of extreme concentration, a faint stabbing ache quickly appeared at the back of his head. A powerful dryness overtook his eyes, and even his breathing gradually became obstructed and difficult.
“…Hm?”
Just then, an unfamiliar glimmer of blue light appeared between Pei Zhao’s brows.
Its color was strange yet gentle, and Qin Shu’s aching eyes instantly felt far more comfortable, as though they had been filled and wrapped in cool, tender lake water. It felt like a pair of hands almost exactly like a mother’s, patiently soothing his worries, healing his pain, and taking every burden from him so he could finally relax completely. There was no need to think anymore. He could simply leave everything to Mom…
“…Get lost.”
Qin Shu abruptly seized Pei Zhao’s shoulder and forced out those two words through clenched teeth, his voice ice-cold.
In the next instant, the soft, soothing illusion vanished completely. The blue light lingering between Pei Zhao’s brows shuddered and trembled as though an invisible force had suppressed it and was forcibly driving it away. In the blink of an eye, it cracked apart inch by inch and disappeared like frost scattered by a gale in the depths of winter.
Qin Shu closed his eyes briefly and slowly exhaled. Then he reached out and gently touched Pei Zhao’s face, beginning a much more cautious manual examination.
His warm fingertips traced Pei Zhao’s delicate jawline, reached the softly trembling lashes beside his eyes, then continued upward and kneaded his face without restraint for a while.
Pei Zhao’s face was being squished back and forth like a steamed bun until a beautiful pale pink flush appeared, so naturally his eyes began expressing protest. Qin Shu, however, showed no intention of stopping. His entire body was practically leaning against Pei Zhao now, and he looked as though he would have happily pressed his own face against him too.
Of course, Qin Shu had not forgotten the actual matter at hand. “Uncle Porcupinefish, is the mark you mentioned still there?”
“Let me see… Huh? It really is gone! Boy, are you a ghost cultivator? Being able to erase a mark personally placed by the Dragon Mother is incredible. That was a soul mark!”
By the time the porcupinefish finished marveling, the SUV had already entered the hospital parking area. Xing Yong’s sedan followed right behind and skidded to a stop outside the emergency entrance.
Qin Shu immediately opened the door, took Pei Zhao’s hand, and got out with him. Lowering his voice, he asked, “Zhaozhao, how do you feel? Anything uncomfortable? Are you hungry?”
Pei Zhao shook his head. “No to both.”
“Do you want to go back?”
“No.” Pei Zhao glanced at him, apparently wondering why Qin Shu was asking so many questions today.
“That’s good.”
Qin Shu smiled, then reached back and opened the driver’s door. Looking down at the slightly overweight middle-aged driver from above, he said, “Come on, Uncle Porcupinefish. I’m not a ghost cultivator, but I still have a lot of questions. Let’s wait until Liang Ming Yue is stabilized and then ask her to confirm what actually happened. As for the accusations that she stole treasure and abducted a child, words alone aren’t evidence… I’m not letting you casually take her away without proof.”
The porcupinefish took off the down jacket he had burst open and seemed to want to argue, but Qin Shu was smiling down at him so pleasantly that he did not quite dare take too forceful an attitude.
Qin Shu might not fully understand the extent of his own abilities, but the porcupinefish knew more than he did. If Qin Shu could erase a soul mark personally placed by the Dragon Mother, then that meant… as long as Qin Shu found the correct method, he could potentially kill someone just by looking at them.
Refining the soul was anything but easy. Cultivation methods specifically designed for it were extremely rare, and for most cultivators, the soul only grew stronger incidentally as their spiritual attainment advanced.
Even ordinary ghost cultivators usually relied on soul-devouring techniques, consuming ghosts and the souls of other cultivators to nourish their own. Yet soul devouring was extremely dangerous. A powerful target could retaliate and seize the cultivator instead, or the practitioner could suffer qi deviation and develop severe mental problems.
Moreover, once ghost cultivators refined their souls to a sufficiently high level, their physical bodies inevitably became a burden. In the end, they would have no choice but to abandon their flesh themselves.
And yet…
The porcupinefish obediently got out of the SUV and circled Qin Shu several times with a suspicious, scrutinizing gaze, but no matter how he looked, he could not see any sign that Qin Shu was preparing to abandon his physical body.
Someone who killed many people would accumulate killing intent, and someone who killed many ghosts would naturally acquire the same unmistakable air of danger. The porcupinefish could tell that this kid did not even need to use the power of his soul to deal with many problems. His fists alone were more than enough.
So whatever he had been about to say was swallowed back down. His tone remained unfriendly, but the deliberate urge to antagonize Qin Shu had clearly faded. “Boy, directly addressing a yao cultivator by his true species is extremely rude. I have a name. Call me Jin Bi.”
“Jinbi? As in ‘gold coin’?”
“Bi as in the jade in xiaojia biyü!”
Elio’s Notes: 金碧 (Jin Bi) is pronounced exactly like 金币, “coin” or “currency,” which is why Qin Shu deliberately mishears his name as “gold coin.” Jin Bi angrily clarifies that his 碧 means “jade-green,” as in the idiom 小家碧玉.
“All right, Uncle Jin. Can you answer me now? Where exactly did the human skin you’re wearing come from?”
Jin Bi’s eyes widened. His body showed signs of inflating all over again as he snapped, “…How would I know? I was born without the talent to take human form. I cultivated honestly and desperately in the sea, doing everything I could until I finally earned the Dragon Mother’s permission to walk on land. This fine human appearance was also personally bestowed upon me out of the Dragon Mother’s kindness!
“If you have this many questions, then why don’t you go to the Dragon Palace and ask the Dragon Mother herself?”
“No problem. I’ll be attending the Dragon Mother’s birthday banquet anyway, so I’ll personally go reconcile the accounts with her then. I’ll tell her you referred me.”
Qin Shu spoke with an ambiguous smile, stepped past the suddenly frozen Jin Bi with his long legs, and led Pei Zhao toward the emergency department.
It had not been long since Qin Shu’s previous visit to First Municipal Hospital, but his feelings were completely different now. The eyeball was still lying quietly inside the hood of his sweatshirt, emotionally stable and showing absolutely no sign of being disturbed by memories of this place.
More importantly, Director Wang of the emergency department was a stern middle-aged woman who had not participated in the vicious rumors from before at all. Before the incident erupted, she had known nothing about them.
Liang Ming Yue had already been sent for a CT scan. Xing Yong stood with his arms folded, exchanged a few quiet words with Director Wang, then turned and signaled Qin Shu with his eyes.
The group retreated together to the family waiting area and found a comparatively quiet corner.
“How is she, Brother Yong? What’s Liang Ming Yue’s condition?”
“She didn’t hit her head, so she should be all right. The blood from her mouth was because her teeth cut her lips and tongue… but we don’t know when she’ll wake up.”
Xing Yong sighed. “Good thing I wasn’t driving fast. If I’d actually hit Ms. Liang badly enough to leave her seriously injured, I’d become the greatest sinner in all of Jiangcheng.”
“No, no, Brother Yong. This one really wasn’t your fault. The true culprit is another fish entirely.”
Jin Bi immediately became anxious. “Hey! It wasn’t my fault either! I was following you, yes, but I obey the rules of the human world. I would never deliberately disrupt public order!”
“What? Rules of the human world? And who exactly are you?” Xing Yong narrowed his eyes at Jin Bi, instantly becoming wary.
Qin Shu hurriedly stepped between them. “It’s a little complicated. I’ll explain…”
Five minutes later, everyone sat together in the quiet waiting area, staring at one another in contemplation.
“If that’s what happened, then it really has nothing to do with unrelated humans, which means I should probably have my wife come over.” Xing Yong rubbed his chin. “Qin Shu, when you said my wife is pregnant, you weren’t joking, were you?”
Qin Shu nodded calmly. “Zhaozhao said it, so it definitely wasn’t a joke.”
“…”
Xing Yong fell silent for a moment. His tentative gaze weakly drifted toward Pei Zhao. Pei Zhao lifted his eyelids and stared expressionlessly back at him. After several seconds of stalemate, Xing Yong weakly looked away again.
“Fine. That’s wonderful news. I’ll give both of you red envelopes when the time comes. Cough… Anyway, let’s deal with the current problem first.”
Xing Yong rubbed his brow and took out his phone to message his wife, carefully considering his phrasing at the same time. “Mr. Jin, personally, I agree more with Student Qin’s position. You say Liang Ming Yue stole one of your children and also stole a treasure from the Dragon Palace. Do you have evidence? And what exactly is this treasure?”
Jin Bi hesitated briefly. “Ah, you’re a police officer, so I trust you. But this matter is an absolute secret of the Dragon Palace. You must never tell unrelated people, or it could bring catastrophic disaster.”
“Of course, of course.”
“She stole… the reverse scale of the Dragon’s Eldest Son.”
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