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The blade grated against the stone with a piercing noise. As time passed, the sound of honing eventually faded away.

Zhu Si methodically locked the bathroom door behind him.

He was not concerned that the screams of his victim during the skinning process would be heard by neighbors.

For... this place was too isolated.

With the camera switched on, Zhu Si advanced toward A'Zhen, wielding the cleaver and wearing a malevolent grin in his eyes.

A'Zhen lay unconscious on the ceramic tiles, while the bathtub was filled to the brim with water. The stench of blood was overpowering, and in the trash can, the unprocessed intestines from the previous victim, a crimson mass, attracted swarms of flies.

The human skin hanging from the ceiling began to sway gently, as if a breeze had stirred it.

"Why? I only helped him gain confidence, took him out on the street to teach him to step beyond his doorstep."

"Why did he kill me?"

"Why? I merely saw that his clothes were dirty, so I gave him a few sets of my brother's clothing."

"Why did he want to kill me?"

As Chu Yuening stepped into the warehouse, she heard the hollow and mournful question echoing.

After they were killed, they couldn't even get close to Zhu Si. He was the one who took their lives, and their spirits were still terrified of him.

The two female ghosts stood dripping in blood at the entrance of the bathroom, their severed heads slanted and precariously hanging on their necks as bloodshot eyes fixated on the direction of the toilet.

"A foolish girl, why be kind? Why be compassionate?"

Suddenly,

the two ghosts' heads turned in unison, their bleeding eyes locking onto Chu Yuening.

"He's going to kill again..."

He's going to kill again...

He's going to kill again...

The echoes of their voices resonated through the air.

"Help us... save her... use our power to save her."

Chu Yuening pulled out a charm from the back pocket of her jeans. Her eyes were cold, with a strand of hair resting on the bridge of her nose above a mole. With her left hand encircling her right wrist, she held the charm between her fingers.

Ghosts came in different ranks.

The more vengeful a ghost, the more tangible they became.

If their resentment was not resolved, they would turn into malevolent spirits, losing their sanity and killing indiscriminately until they were eventually vanquished by Taoist exorcists, dispersing into the universe.

"Ma Yu, Peng Xiaojuan, if you use all your strength to save A'Zhen, her soul might become unstable and unable to reincarnate. Are you willing to do this?"

"We're willing! We're doing this willingly!"

With those words spoken,

the two female ghosts transformed into two beams of red light, piercing into the charm.

Zhu Si pressed the record button on the camera and approached A'Zhen with the knife in hand. He squatted down, letting the blade glide by the side of her face, then gestured as if measuring at her neck.

Just like the previous two times, he intended to first sever A'Zhen's head, then cut open her back to peel her skin.

Suddenly, an idea struck him, and a faint smile tugged at his lips. The blade lifted away from A'Zhen's neck.

"No, no," he muttered. "Last time, when I didn't bleed her out before tearing off the skin, it was still stained with coagulated black blood. It ruined the quality of the skin."

Zhu Si scanned the area, grabbed the knife, and stood up to retrieve a dusty basin from the corner of the bathroom. He then placed it under A'Zhen's wrist.

The razor-sharp tip was just about to slice through the vein.

Suddenly, Zhu Si became incredibly agitated.

He found himself unable to control his actions. The sharp knife veered away from the vein and turned towards himself.

"Ahhhhhh!"

Zhu Si attempted to cry for help, only to find his throat seemingly choked, preventing any other sound from escaping. The knife sliced through his clothes, exposing his skin to the air.

Terror gripped him, his eyes widening in horror. Memories of the scenes when he killed the two previous girls flashed before him.

Ma Yu was a law student. When she saw someone throwing stones at him, she stepped forward to chase away the culprit, declaring that she studied law and would sue anyone who dared to throw stones again.

It was Ma Yu who encouraged him to bravely enter society and embrace the world beyond his home.

It was Ma Yu who told him that, despite his age, modern medical technology could still repair his skin with skin grafts. She even offered to lend him money if needed, knowing that her family was well-off and she had been pampered since childhood, enjoying a life with milk and nourished skin.

Recalling these memories, Zhu Si's face twisted into a maniacal grin.

Grasping at his last straw, he visited one cosmetic clinic after another. The doctors looked at him with disdain, informing him that money alone wasn't enough. With the extent of his scars, even if they took all the skin from his buttocks, it wouldn't cover them. They suggested considering skin from other animals, like pigskin.

"Pigskin?" Zhu Si sneered at the suggestion. How could pigskin compare to human skin?

With no justification to let a life-saving opportunity slip by, he killed Ma Yu once more, retrieving the first human skin.

To prevent the crime from being exposed and Ma Yu being identified, he concealed the severed head and dismembered the body before disposing of it.

Thus, no one could uncover the truth.

Events unfolded as Zhu Si had anticipated; the police were unable to trace anything back to him. However, he became picky about the quality of the human skin.

Wasn't Ma Yu from a wealthy family? Why would she have a tattoo? A rose inked on her chest – how could he settle for such an inferior piece of skin?

And thus, Peng Xiaojuan entered the picture.

Peng Xiaojuan worked at a fast-food restaurant. One day, while sorting through her brother's old clothes to store away, she noticed Zhu Si passing by downstairs in tattered attire and asked if he needed any help.

What was Zhu Si like then?

His hair was untidy, his body greasy and reeking of unpleasant odors. Gazing at Peng Xiaojuan's delicate skin, a slow grin spread across his face, revealing his yellowed teeth.

"I do need them, but my handcart is quite dirty. Would it be too much trouble for Miss to carry them back to my place for me?"

Upon closer inspection, Peng Xiaojuan confirmed it was indeed him. She left the windowsill, descended the stairs of the village house in her slippers, and carried a heavy sack filled with clothes – winter coats, autumn wear, and jackets – enough for Zhu Si to wear throughout the year.