Chapter 766: Chapter 766: Slaying the Dragon!

The mysterious person in the ancient house invited Huang Xiaolong inside for a chat.

Huang Xiaolong flashed a faint smile and walked towards the ancient house.

Ji Zhengyu, Ma Chuxia, Xia Ying, Old Master Jin and the others, hastily followed along.

Xuanyuan Ao’s eyes narrowed as the Ghost King let out a shrill shriek like a vulture, and a mangy dog barked incessantly… It seemed they were somewhat displeased about Huang Xiaolong and his group entering the ancient house, yet they dared not defy the master of the house and could only obey begrudgingly.

Inside the house!

As soon as they set foot in the house, a wave of pleasantly aromatic sandalwood scent greeted them.

A dim light shone.

Surprisingly, the house was designed like a large Buddhist hall.

In the center of the room, an altar held the divine statue of Sakyamuni. A monk, dressed in a golden Kasaya, sitting cross-legged on a cushion, held a string of prayer beads in his hands.

His face was fair and clean-shaven, and at a glance, it was impossible to guess his age. He appeared quite young on first glance, but his eyes held an ancient and timeless quality. Upon seeing Huang Xiaolong and the others enter, his eyes sparkled, and he smiled a little, “Honoured guests, please take a seat.”

There were quite a few chairs in the hall. Without standing on ceremony, Huang Xiaolong gestured for everyone to sit down.

Xuanyuan Ao, Ghost King, and the mangy dog returned to the room one by one.

Huang Xiaolong beamed as he looked at the string of prayer beads in the monk’s hand. Each bead was shiny and smooth. Inside each bead, it seemed as if there was a Buddha sitting there, chanting scriptures.

“This Buddha bead string of yours is a rather good artifact.” Huang Xiaolong suddenly chuckled.

The monk’s expression slightly changed and then he resumed smiling. “Indeed, indeed, young man, you have a unique perspective. Each bead on this string is crafted from the relics of accomplished monks from previous generations.”

Just then!

“That… that is!” Old Master Jin’s face abruptly changed, staring fixedly at a corner of the hall.

In that corner, were human skins, hung out to dry like clothes. Each one was peeled off completely, even faithfully preserving the expressions of fear, despair, pain, and anger on the victims’ faces…

“These… these are the people… the people from the city… their skins… Monk, you did all this?” Ma Chuxia was terrified, but she also felt a surge of rage brewing within her!

What a seemingly solemn and sacred monk to be committing great evil and murdering innocents in such a place! Not only did he kill people, but he also skinned them alive, truly a perverse individual!

Upon hearing her, the monk faintly laughed, “Miss, my skinning technique is pretty good, isn’t it?”

“You!” Ma Chuxia, full of righteous indignation, hated to kill him on the spot when she heard the monk openly admit his crimes, all while smiling. “You lured those people to Chu Family Village, just to skin them and kill them all here. Your actions are an unforgivable crime! You will suffer divine punishment! Why would you do such a thing?”

“Ignorance!” Xuanyuan Ao sneered in scorn.

The monk mentioned cryptically, “Skinning? Hmm, it prefers fresh blood from the flayed bodies.”

Huang Xiaolong simply smiled and remained silent.

The monk glanced at Ma Chuxia, “Miss, you possess some sort of power and artifact. I didn’t expect that so many skilled people would come to Chu Family Village this time. It seems that fate is really on my side… Miss, your surname is Ma?”

“So what if it is!” Ma Chuxia replied irritably. She couldn’t help looking at Huang Xiaolong who was sitting there calm as a cucumber, seemingly indifferent to the monk’s heinous crimes. She thought Huang Xiaolong, who appeared carefree, was actually a hot-blooded young man who couldn’t tolerate a speck of injustice. Faced with this perverse, wicked monk, he should have taken action now!

“Hehe, so it really is the offspring of an old acquaintance.” The monk gave a kindly smile, then pointed at a piece of human skin. “This is a young girl, she was just 19 when I skinned her. Her name was ‘Shi Xiu’, just started her first year of college.”

Everyone looked over, the skin was incredibly delicate and white, with scattered strands of black hair, through her facial features, one could vaguely tell that she was a beautiful young woman before she lost her life.

“Monster! You’re simply a monster!” Old Master Jin’s face turned ashen.

The monk continued. “Shi Xiu came from a blended family. Her biological mother died when she was 7. Her father remarried and although her stepmother may have been harsh, she wasn’t a bad person. However, at the age of 13, Shi Xiu used an axe to kill her 8-year-old stepbrother. She then poisoned her stepmother and her own father. At the age of 17, she used slow-acting poison, causing the liver and kidney failure of three of her dorm mates with whom she didn’t get along…”

At his words, Ma Chuxia, Old Master Jin, Ji Zhengyu, and others stiffened, struggling to breathe.

A teenage girl, not only slaughtering her whole family but also poisoning her classmates… this is truly a culmination of wickedness that words can’t adequately describe!

The monk gave a slight smile. “When I was skinning Shi Xiu alive, only then did she finally realize the gravity of her deeds, and started confessing her sins. Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a regret pill in this world.”

As the monk spoke, a glint of satisfaction ran through his eyes.

The monk then pointed to another piece of skin. “This is the skin of a middle-aged man. Ten years ago, he killed his business partner in a rental house and cut the body into thousands of pieces… this has remained an unsolved case to this day.”

“This skin belongs to a businessman who seemed to be running a funeral business, but in the shadows, he was actually trading human organs.”

…

Thus, the monk introduced each piece of skin and their stories. They were all evildoers who had somehow remained untouched by justice in their lifetimes.

“You… you… you trick these criminals into coming to Chu Family Village, only to skin them alive…” Ma Chuxia said, half believing, half doubting. “Are you… are you enforcing justice?”

“Darling, what he said is all true.” Huang Xiaolong laughed. “The reason why I didn’t save those three people who were about to encounter terrible calamity during the day was that I could see through them. They are not just bad people, they are rotten to the core and deserve to die. What’s more, all the city folks who came to Chu Family Village to shoot a documentary are all bad people.”

Hearing Huang Xiaolong’s explanation, Ma Chuxia, Old Master Jin, and the others finally realized. Looking at those pieces of human skin, they each felt a sense of satisfaction.

“Feeding a beast to kill evildoers, that’s actually not bad. But, with just the four of you, can you really slay it? Hahahaha~~~” Huang Xiaolong laughed carelessly.

“Humph! Quality matters, not quantity!” Xuanyuan Ao retorted disdainfully.

“Young man, you already know what we are trying to kill is ….” The monk stared directly at Huang Xiaolong.

“A dragon, right?” Ma Chuxia blurted out.

“Impudence! Shut up!” Xuanyuan Ao was both shocked and enraged, seemingly about to take action against Ma Chuxia. “To pronounce its name in its presence is an offence to its dignity! The mere utterance of this word is a cardinal sin! We mustn’t speak it! ”

BOOOOM~~~!!

Suddenly, a thunderclap echoed through the air outside, with lightning tearing across the sky. An inexplicable aura of majesty descended.

“What difference does it make if I say it? Hahahahaha~~~” With a flash of brilliance in his eyes, Huang Xiaolong looked out of the window. “You dare not even pronounce the word ‘dragon’, how are you going to slay it? Give it up!”

As soon as Huang Xiaolong finished speaking, the thunder and lightning outside ceased, and everything returned to calm.

“This… this…” The monk finally showed a different expression, looking at Huang Xiaolong with amazement. “You… you…”

“Alright, enough with the nonsense, tell me about your dragon-slaying plan, and let’s see if I’m interested.” Huang Xiaolong said impatiently.

…