Chapter 233: The Painted Skin Corpse Lock
Lin Jiayao opened her eyes to a vista of mist-shrouded mountains.
Although she lacked a sense of smell, the sight of the verdant peaks and white clouds before her evoked the sensation of fresh, clean air.
Glancing around, she noted the Extraction Point about a kilometer away and the stone platform she stood upon.
As she turned, a rattling sound came from below.
Looking down, she saw that her bare feet, beneath a black, pleated skirt, were bound by shackles and chains. The chains didn’t restrict her movements at all.
This is a controlled zombie, isn’t it? Why the shackles? And they’re practically useless…
Lin Jiayao noticed the chains were quite intricate, as if deliberately crafted.
A deliberately useless chain for a zombie?
[Inherited same-type evolutions: [Flight Lv.2], [Hunting Rhythm Lv.1], [Hemophagy Lv.1]]
Huh?
Flight?
The belated appearance of the inherited evolution prompt surprised Lin Jiayao.
Then, she felt an itching sensation on her back, as if something was wriggling beneath her black robes, unable to break through.
Lin Jiayao reached back and felt a strange texture beneath her clothes.
Strange… very strange…
Raising her hand, Lin Jiayao noticed something else, drawing her attention to her skin.
Despite being a Hunter evolution, her hands and feet looked nothing like a zombie’s. Lifting the black veil and touching her face, she found smooth skin.
Aside from her lack of expression, she was almost indistinguishable from a living human.
She poked a finger into her eye socket and popped out her eyeball, finding that it didn’t affect her vision. It seemed to be purely decorative.
She felt no pain, only a slight resistance from a tough membrane.
Unsure of the consequences of puncturing it, Lin Jiayao simply replaced the eyeball.
It felt like she was wearing a skin suit, but it didn’t restrict her movements at all.
It must have been another Awakened who modified this zombie. If it were an inherent evolution, the system would have indicated it.
Lin Jiayao temporarily put aside her questions about her body and looked up at the mountain behind her. A stone path led upwards.
There seemed to be buildings among the misty peaks, but they were too far away to see clearly.
This must be Fuquan Mountain.
She was quite lucky to have logged in directly to the location of the person who sent the distress call.
She checked her main body’s vision. The flapping-wing insect, carrying her sister and Huayibai, had already flown away from the obstacle-filled Kun City and was flying smoothly.
No longer concerned about their journey, she started up the mountain path, the chains rattling with each step.
The path was spotless, not even a single fallen leaf, clearly swept regularly.
Soon, Lin Jiayao reached a flat area on the mountainside, as if carved out by a knife.
A large Taoist temple stood there, seemingly capable of holding thousands of people… Many of the buildings looked new, likely built after the apocalypse.
In the large courtyard in front of the temple, several people in blue Taoist robes, looking like characters from a Xianxia drama, were practicing swordsmanship.
Hearing the rattling of the chains, the Taoists turned and looked in Lin Jiayao’s direction, puzzled expressions on their faces.
They didn’t seem afraid of Lin Jiayao, as if they had seen her like this before.
“Go ask Abbot Tong why Martial Uncle Yan came up here alone…”
“Okay, I’ll go get the Abbot. You keep an eye on Martial Uncle Yan…”
Lin Jiayao overheard their conversation. Knowing they were going to inform “Abbot Tong,” she stopped and examined the large temple before her.
Corpse Immortal Temple…
Their naming skills were on par with hers.
Could this Abbot Tong be the Tong Xin who sent the distress call?
They called her Martial Uncle Yan. Was this a pre-apocalypse name, or a title given after the apocalypse?
Regardless, this temple gave Lin Jiayao a bad feeling…
It was a bit like the Ino Cult in Japan, a doomsday cult evolved from an ordinary religion.
Lin Jiayao noticed that they not only grew vegetables here, but she could also hear the sounds of chickens and ducks in the distance.
They even raised livestock.
Was this a self-sufficient, secluded religious sect that used Blood Crystals as a form of cultivation?
Lin Jiayao speculated.
After a few minutes, several people hurried over. The one in the lead, wearing a white Taoist robe, her hair tied in a bun with a jade hairpin, walked directly to Lin Jiayao.
This somewhat short, young Taoist nun frowned slightly, circled Lin Jiayao, and looked her up and down.
“Who are you?” The nun stopped in front of Lin Jiayao and asked in a childish voice that didn’t match her age.
It seemed she had already realized that the person before her wasn’t “Martial Uncle Yan.”
“Are you Tong Xin?” Lin Jiayao asked directly, “The radio.”
“From Kun City?”
“Yes.”
Tong Xin frowned, staring at her for a long moment, then her brow relaxed, and she sighed, shaking her head.
“Did Martial Uncle Yan use her immortal destiny to exchange for help… So be it. Corpse liberation and immortality… it’s not that simple.”
Tong Xin lowered her head, a blood-red key, covered in capillary-like patterns, appearing in her hand.
“Don’t move, I’ll unlock these shackles for you.”
Tong Xin inserted the key into the chains around Lin Jiayao’s ankles and turned it slightly.
“Click—!”
With a crisp cracking sound, the intricate chains shattered, scattering into Blood Crystal fragments.
But before these fragments could fly too far, a Taoist priest behind Tong Xin raised his hand and made a gesture. All the Blood Crystal fragments stopped in mid-air, slowly drifting towards the priest and coalescing into Blood Crystals.
Lin Jiayao was stunned.
If she didn’t know that these were Awakened using evolutionary abilities, she would have thought they were cultivating immortality.
The moment the shackles broke, Lin Jiayao felt her muscles rapidly expanding.
The smooth skin on her body quickly dried and cracked, falling to the ground as tiny Blood Crystal fragments.
As the outer layer of skin ruptured, as if a seal had been broken, Lin Jiayao’s eyes and other organs bulged out. Finally, her body tore through the human skin, revealing her original slender, dark blue torso and limbs.
Although she was shorter than a typical Hunter, her hunched, slender form was undoubtedly that of a Hunter.
Unlike ordinary Hunters, she also had three somewhat tattered bone wings on her back, which, with Lin Jiayao’s instinctive shudder, shed bloody, blue feathers.
Everyone looked up at this scene, their eyes wide.
“How could this be…” Tong Xin stared at the wings on Lin Jiayao’s back, her mouth agape. After a long while, she murmured, “Martial Uncle Yan has truly achieved corpse liberation… ascended to immortality…”
Lin Jiayao: “…”
This was just a normal Hunter with wings. The well-informed Lin Jiayao could even explain how it was formed.
It was simply an Awakened with the Bone Spur ability who had failed to evolve while maintaining a bone wing form, and because they originally had C-rank level Blood Crystals in their body, they evolved into a Hunter while retaining part of their original body.
But Lin Jiayao didn’t intend to explain this to the people in front of her. Explaining to these religious people that gods didn’t exist was like explaining to Huayibai that she wasn’t her mother. They simply wouldn’t believe it.
“Tell me about that B-rank zombie,” Lin Jiayao said to the Taoist nun.
Perhaps because the “shackles” had been released, Lin Jiayao’s voice, originally the clear, cold voice of the zombie, had become a hoarse rasp.
This voice was more familiar to Lin Jiayao.
“Alright… Is your main body here? Should we discuss the details in person?” Tong Xin asked, her tone much more respectful than before.
“No.” Lin Jiayao shook her head.
“Alright, then I’ll get straight to the point.” Tong Xin didn’t believe Lin Jiayao’s claim that her main body wasn’t nearby, assuming it was just caution.
Quickly, she recounted their encounter with the B-rank zombie.
She also had someone bring out a figure wrapped in bandages, letting the injured person himself explain the details to Lin Jiayao.
Originally, that fellow Daoist had gone down the mountain to search for “medicinal herbs,” but on his way back, he was attacked by a figure lurking on the ground.
He had discarded all his “medicinal herbs” and the Blood Crystals he carried, barely escaping with his life.
Lin Jiayao had them remove the bandages so she could see the extent of his injuries. The man’s body was almost entirely corroded by acid, not a patch of healthy skin remaining.
“How do you know it was a B-rank?” Lin Jiayao asked, looking at the man on the stretcher.
If it was a B-rank, how did a C-rank escape? Based on the B-ranks Lin Jiayao had encountered, none would let a C-rank Awakened escape.
It would have been a complete rout. Surviving a single blow would have been pure luck; a second would have been fatal.
“I had collected a lot of medicinal primers this time and used them as a distraction… I was no match in a direct confrontation, so I believe it must have been a B-rank zombie…”
After saying this, the man began coughing up blood. His injuries were too severe for him to continue.
Letting the injured man rest, Lin Jiayao directly asked Tong Xin for details.
After careful questioning, she finally understood.
It turned out that the “medicinal herbs” and “medicinal primers” they mentioned weren’t actual medicine, but zombies. The man who went down the mountain was a C-rank control-type Awakened.
His control wasn’t about commanding zombies to fight, but simply preventing them from attacking him.
And because he didn’t need to control the zombies, every time he went down the mountain, he would bring back hundreds of low-level zombies to the temple, likely using them as a distraction.
Now that zombie was still lurking at the foot of the mountain, and it might climb back up at any time.
And the radio they used was a high-frequency military radio transceiver they had scavenged. They had been using it to passively monitor broadcasts, never expecting it would come in handy like this.
Lin Jiayao also asked if they had any other useful information besides the B-rank, but only received a confused shake of the head.
They had been staying on the mountain. While people had sought refuge with them in the earlier years, or asked for help finding family members, in the past two years, they had rarely left the mountain except to search for “medicinal primers.”
Although the temple looked large, there were only about a hundred living people. The rest were those they called “Corpse Liberation Immortals” who were cultivating.
They were all Awakened who had failed to evolve, numbering in the hundreds.
More than all the Awakened Lin Jiayao had ever seen combined.
So many Awakened? How did they come here?
Lin Jiayao tentatively asked this question, and unexpectedly, they answered.
The answer was “alchemy.”
Zombie pills.
That is, pills refined from low-level or C-rank zombies, taken together with Blood Crystals, to increase the probability of awakening and assist in the process.
Lin Jiayao frowned upon hearing this.
Just ingesting Blood Crystals would increase the probability of mutation, let alone continuously consuming zombie flesh and blood… It was likely that many of these so-called “Corpse Liberation Immortals” were people who had directly mutated into zombies after consuming zombie flesh and blood.
The reason they could maintain their human form was because of the Taoist priest here, Tong Xin.
Her awakening ability, if used alone, was quite useless.
It was to use blood crystals and flesh and blood to create a human skin suit and special shackles. After locking up a zombie, the skin suit would seal the zombie inside, making it look human and preventing it from actively attacking humans.
It was with this evolution that they maintained this strange scene of humans and zombies coexisting and “cultivating immortality,” which had continued until now.
As the saying goes, in a large forest, there are all kinds of birds. Lin Jiayao was no longer surprised.
Their “cultivation” was just practicing with zombie meat and wouldn’t harm innocent people, so there was no need for Lin Jiayao to interfere.
After all, she herself had eaten far more than them.
Lin Jiayao lost interest in this Taoist temple and began to think about going down the mountain to take a look at that B-rank. If possible, she would simulate the battle beforehand to kill it faster.
“Reinforcements will arrive in an hour. If the matter is resolved, they will come and inform you… By the way.”
While giving instructions, Lin Jiayao suddenly thought of something and looked at Tong Xin.
“Your skin suit, after it’s created, doesn’t it take up your mental energy?” Lin Jiayao asked.
“No, the Painted Skin Lock is just an external object. Once created, it has nothing to do with me. I only keep the key to unlock it.” Tong Xin said, slightly lifting her Taoist robe, and Lin Jiayao saw the strangely shaped flesh and blood keys inside.
“This skin suit of yours… can it be used on any zombie?” Lin Jiayao asked.
“Theoretically, as long as it touches the zombie, it will completely wrap and lock it. Of course, I can’t pass this on to outsiders. I have to prepare enough skin suits for the fellow Daoists preparing for corpse liberation…”
Tong Xin shook her head as she spoke, seemingly guessing Lin Jiayao’s thoughts.
This Painted Skin Lock, to put it simply, was just something that locked up a zombie and made it lose its desire to attack. It was somewhat useful in actual combat, but its use was limited.
It wasn’t so useful against zombies of the same level.
But on a larger scale, this Painted Skin Lock was something many people needed, a lifesaver in the eyes of some.
Because it could permanently preserve the zombified loved ones of others, and they wouldn’t attack, and even their appearance could be customized.
Tong Xin didn’t want to pass this on to outsiders, also because she didn’t want those who weren’t cultivators to continue to hold onto their loved ones with this morbid obsession.
“Will you sell it?” Lin Jiayao raised her hand, holding up a bag of Blood Crystal Serum.
“I’ll sell it.” Tong Xin’s eyes lit up at the sight of the Blood Crystal Serum, agreeing without hesitation.
This was immortal medicine… top-grade material for refining corpses!
“This way, fellow Daoist. I’ve made many skin suits. What type do you want?” Tong Xin tried to suppress her smile, gesturing towards a room.
“Do you have any for little girls? Something cute and pleasing to the eye.”
“No, but I can make one for you on the spot. What kind of appearance do you like? Do you have a reference picture? 2D or 3D are both fine…”
Lin Jiayao: “…”
Lin Jiayao just wanted to bring back a skin suit to lock up a piece of the Black Stem Fungus, so she could give it commands without having to go there in person every time.
Why not just keep that terrifying Black Stem Scarecrow by her side?
The answer was that her sister definitely wouldn’t like it. Not to mention her sister, even Lin Jiayao found it creepy.
Just treat it as spending a Blood Crystal to buy a skin for her pet, and by the way, increase its “loyalty”.
After all, judging by the way the Black Stem Fungus wanted to mimic a human, it probably wouldn’t resist, and might even like this skin suit.
And Lin Jiayao had taken a lot of Blood Crystals from the Black Stem Fungus, so it wasn’t too much to give it one.
It could be said that she was very generous.
After some selection and customization, in less than five minutes, Lin Jiayao held a delicate black ring with a thin chain attached to the front.
The size of the ring, it probably couldn’t lock thin arms or legs, it looked like it could just fit around the neck.
Lin Jiayao swore that she didn’t customize this lock, it became like this after the other party made it with Blood Crystals.
“The Painted Skin Lock is ready. This is the key. If you unlock it with the key, the Painted Skin Lock will automatically shatter, so don’t unlock it unless necessary… Here’s the key.”
“When you encounter a zombie you want to control, just put it around its neck. The Painted Skin Lock will automatically tighten, and any force below C-rank can’t break it…”
While listening to Tong Xin’s instructions, Lin Jiayao put the Painted Skin Lock into the Safehouse.
Next, she would go down the mountain and see if she could find that B-rank.
After saying goodbye to Daoist Priest Tong, Lin Jiayao started down the stone steps.
