Chapter 68: Madam Bone

When he was young, Zhou You’s language teacher had once solemnly taught him a proverb.

Fine on the outside, rotten on the inside.

Back then, Zhou You had been a lazy student.

The saying had gone in one ear and out the other.

Other than for exams, he had never taken it to heart.

But now, he understood its meaning with extraordinary clarity.

He looked at that face.

Enchanting beyond measure, seemingly untouched by the mortal world.

Then he looked inside.

Rotting organs and a nauseating stench.

Following Zhou You’s gaze, the woman lowered her eyes as well.

She saw the condition inside her own body.

Yet she showed no unusual reaction.

She merely tightened her clothing, concealing all that rot beneath layers of fabric and silk.

Then, quite suddenly, she flashed a smile.

“My, little brother, you’re quite impatient.”

“Men may all be lustful, but you’re taking things a bit too fast.”

“We haven’t even known each other for half an incense stick’s worth of time, and you’re already so eager to see what’s inside me?”

Before Zhou You could respond, the woman laughed again.

“Well, whatever.”

“Such a lovely body exists to be admired by men, doesn’t it?”

“Let’s return to our previous topic.”

“Just who exactly are you, little brother?”

“A commoner? A refugee?”

“Or perhaps... someone who heard certain rumors and came here looking for a good time?”

Her delicate hands roamed boldly across Zhou You’s body.

Had he not already seen what lay inside this beauty, it might have seemed like a heavenly stroke of fortune.

The problem was that Zhou You did not even spare her a glance.

Instead, he raised his head and looked behind the counter.

A breeze swept through the room, lifting the red cloth covering something nearby.

Behind it, neatly arranged across the rough wooden wall, hung dozens of horrifying curiosities.

They were human faces.

The skin had been carefully flayed, tanned into leather, and turned into decorations.

The woman also noticed where Zhou You was looking.

The smile on her beautiful face grew even brighter.

“You noticed them too, little brother?”

“Those are treasures I’ve collected with great care.”

“They all belonged to ordinary people who wandered into my inn by mistake during these past months.”

“Men or women, I spent a wonderful night with every one of them.”

“Afterward, they became so reluctant to leave.”

“So I had no choice but to turn them into this.”

“That way they can remain with me forever.”

Though she was smiling as she spoke, every word radiated chilling coldness.

And Zhou You understood perfectly well that this woman, no, this female ghost, meant only one thing.

Don’t worry. You’ll be next soon enough.

Yet Zhou You suddenly grinned.

“Miss, I assume you usually only make those masks from humans, right?”

The female ghost looked at him with amusement.

Her expression resembled that of a cat enjoying the hunt.

“That’s correct.”

“Lord Grand Duke Jupiter has issued strict orders.”

“Until his birthday arrives, demons and ghosts aren’t allowed to attack one another.”

“But judging by how you look, little brother, surely you’re not about to tell me you’re some kind of ghost...”

Well, that was exactly what he needed to hear.

The next moment.

Right before her eyes, Yin energy flooded Zhou You’s body.

His skin turned bluish-purple.

All color vanished from his face.

In the blink of an eye, he resembled a corpse-like monster.

Without anyone noticing, he had already drawn out a small portion of the heart from the Bone Jade Chime.

Zhou You had conducted several experiments before.

This amount was not enough to immediately attract White Dew Spitting Silk.

But it was more than sufficient to disguise him as a ghost.

The female ghost took a step backward.

The smile she had been wearing vanished like a receding tide.

Frowning, she demanded in a low voice,

“What exactly are you? No... what kind of thing are you?”

Only then did Zhou You smile.

“I’m nothing remarkable.”

“Just a zombie.”

This was not a spur-of-the-moment idea.

Back when he had been saving that villager, the thought had already occurred to him.

The world was upside down.

Humans were either food or livestock.

Even staying quietly at home carried the risk of being captured and eaten.

So why not think about it differently?

When gathering information, who said he had to pretend to be human?

Looking at his appearance, the female ghost asked in astonishment,

“...A zombie?”

“That’s right.”

“The kind that crawls out of graves?”

“Exactly.”

“You’re really not human?”

Seeing that she still doubted him, Zhou You immediately cut his own arm with a smile.

The wound turned pale white.

Just as before, not a single drop of blood emerged.

Only then did the female ghost let out a long sigh of relief.

“Honestly, little brother, you should’ve said so earlier.”

“I thought some Daoist master had come to kill me.”

After saying that, she once again put on her seductive smile.

Then she pressed her body against Zhou You’s.

“So then, I’ve never actually been with a zombie before.”

“I wonder what it’s like.”

Still smiling, she reached a hand downward.

But moments later, her expression became extremely unpleasant.

“Why isn’t it getting hard?”

“...Come on, big sister.”

“Have you ever seen a corpse that could still get hard after death?”

The female ghost’s expression became extremely awkward.

Smacking her lips, she rolled her eyes and retreated.

“What a waste of my feelings.”

“Oh right, what exactly did you come here for again?”

Seeing the conversation finally return to the main topic, Zhou You smiled once more.

“I told you from the beginning.”

“I’m here to do business.”

Looking at the female ghost, he continued,

“I heard you have a considerable amount of stored grain.”

“So I’d like to see whether I can buy some.”

Zhou You walked over to the counter, picked up a brush, and wrote down a number.

The female ghost glanced at it once and immediately frowned.

“That’s quite a lot.”

“Zombies don’t even need to eat.”

“Why are you buying so much food?”

Zhou You did not answer.

He merely maintained that smile.

His expression became increasingly mysterious.

Thanks to the boost from his basic acting skills, the female ghost noticed nothing suspicious.

After staring at him for a while, she suddenly pushed the ledger back.

“Forget it.”

“You’re probably another one of those people keeping humans around.”

“But unfortunately, I can’t sell you that much.”

Zhou You paused.

Then he said,

“I have money.”

“Even with money, I can’t sell it.”

The female ghost sounded somewhat impatient.

“In another ten days or so, it’ll be Lord Grand Duke Jupiter’s birthday.”

“To celebrate it, a great number of human transport caravans have been passing through recently.”

“You know how those creatures are.”

“Unlike us, if they only eat Grand Duke Jupiter flesh, they easily develop deformities.”

“So nearly all the grain in the inn has already been sold to them.”

“As for what’s left...”

The female ghost counted on her fingers.

“Probably only about twenty percent of what you’re asking for.”

“But I still have plenty of human meat and bestial transformation meat.”

“Especially bestial transformation meat.”

“I’m not bragging, but when it comes to Animal Transformation, throughout all of Cangzhou, if I claim second place, no one would dare claim first.”

“So if you’re willing to lower your standards, I can make up the difference with those instead.”

Zhou You shook his head.

If he were willing to eat human flesh, he would have done so long ago.

Why would he have persisted until now?

Yet just as he frowned in frustration, the inn’s front door suddenly opened once more.

Then, accompanied by a thick smell of blood, a slick and oily voice rang out.

“Madam Bone, I’ve brought some good merchandise.”

“Could I trouble you to process it for me?”

“Huh? There’s actually a fresh face here?”