I can't be a demon

"Yes, it is human skin."

Zhu Yihong looked up at Shen Lian.

She looked at the picture of the lady for a while, and then put it into the cloth bag on her waist.

"Young Master has good eyesight. Take a look and see if this fragment of the painting is from the same source."

Zhu Yihong took out a palm-sized picture. Only half of the woman's face was left on the picture. The painting styles of the two were indeed very similar.

Shen Lian pretended to identify it, secretly using his wisdom to see the details.

[The identification of the picture of the lady is successful]

[Fragment of the picture of the lady of the Tang Dynasty]

[Drawn by Zhu Sanxing, the scroll has a history of 521 years. The raw material is the patchwork of women's skin, which is easy to breed insects and difficult to preserve. ]

Shen Lian muttered a few words in his heart, thinking that he could gain some experience.

"They are all human skin, but the fragments are several dozen years older, and the specific information is unknown. The incompleteness is really serious."

"Ah, Master Ba..."

Ba Ge wanted to add a few words, but Shen Lian quickly grabbed his neck.

"Excuse me, my mynah bird often says dirty words, I'm afraid it will disturb the official's mood."

"Yes."

Zhu Yihong handed Shen Lian a warrant for arrest, a faint fragrance hit his face, "The wanted man is related to the painting of the ladies, he is... a bandit, young master, please pay attention to it on weekdays."

"Report to the government office if you find anything."

She said no more, and saw that another Jinwu Guard had finished cleaning up the body, so she turned around and left Hefeng Street with the latter.

The constable was responsible for carrying the body and wiping the bloodstains on the spot with lime.

The Jinwu Guards had walked away one after another.

When they came to the entrance of the alley with few people, they whispered to each other.

Zhu Yihong took the lead and said: "Wang Xin, the painting of the ladies comes from [Painted Skin Ghost], but there is no resentment in the painting, it should have been warded off evil long ago."

The Jinwu Guards seem to have a general duty, but in fact they are the demon suppression department established by the Tang Dynasty, specializing in dealing with the frequent demons and monsters in various places.

Wang Xin paused.

Zhu Yihong continued to add: "The painting of the ladies is so pure, it has been used to ward off evil spirits for some time, the Taoist priest who made it must be at a high level..."

"Give it to me?!!"

Wang Xin's pupils shrank slightly, and he immediately snatched the painting of the ladies.

He noticed that what Zhu Yihong said was true, there was no resentment left in the painting of the ladies, but through the painting itself, it was determined that it came from the [Painted Skin Ghost].

"What about the pawnshop? Are there any suspicious people in it? You know, some special demons can affect the [cognition] of ordinary people."

Zhu Yihong heard Wang Xin's solemnity, shook his head and said: "They are all ordinary people who have not practiced. I have inquired about the pawnshop. It has been run for three generations."

"Strange."

Wang Xin said in disbelief: "Although Li Duan was not killed by ghosts, there is a faint resentment in his heart."

"Some of the resentment obviously entered the body not long ago. Li Duan had contact with ghosts before his death."

Zhu Yihong was stunned.

There is another possibility that can make the resentment disappear in a short time, in addition to the cultivators warding off evil spirits.

When the painting of the ladies encounters a more terrifying demon, different grievances cannot coexist, and the weaker one will dissipate.

Zhu Yihong subconsciously looked towards the pawnshop.

There was a faint candlelight in the half-open door, as if the demon's eyes were peeping.

"Don't think too much, maybe Li Duan still had a scroll before his death. Zhu Yihong, you know that the Painted Skin Ghost has been very active recently."

"Yeah."

Zhu Yihong gave up the idea.

It's not realistic to think about it. It's impossible for a monstrous demon to disguise himself as a mortal and quietly mix in the pawnshop, right?

………

At the same time.

Shen Lian opened the sea arrest document.

The man in the document looked ugly, with his facial features squeezed in the middle of his fat face. The back of the paper was attached with the wanted person's information.

"Even the Jinwu Guards can be attracted. Yanliang Town should not have a peaceful life recently. Could it be that there are murderers killing people and skinning people everywhere?"

Shen Lian couldn't help but shudder and stared at the sea arrest document.

On the back of the arrest warrant was written: Zhu Sanxing, born in Gaojia Town, has committed seven murders recently, and a reward of three hundred taels is offered for clues.

"Wait, Zhu Sanxing?"

Shen Lian was thinking about a lot of things, and his first reaction was that they had the same name and surname.

"It can't be such a coincidence, is it that this world is not a low-level martial arts world, and people who practice martial arts can actually live for more than 500 years?"

Chapter 4 The Collapse of Journey to the West

Shen Lian was inevitably moved after seeing the tip of the iceberg of this world.

"Since there is hope to lie flat for 500 years, it is still necessary to work hard."

It is said that life is not only about the present, but also about the future, and suddenly there is one more reason to practice martial arts.

He put away the arrest warrant and went to the wing room to check on Old Wang, who was fine.

The next few days were relatively calm.

Shen Lian noticed that the experience of appraisal was indeed reduced by ten times, and the occasional treasure appraisal income was only increased by one thousandth.

Seeing this, he decided to put martial arts on the agenda.

It just so happens that the efficiency of the Nine-Eared Court Official's slacking has decreased. Well, I might as well take up another martial artist profession. Double slacking is the way to go.

Of course, martial arts cannot be practiced blindly in the mixed Yanliang Town.

Shen Lian asked Wang Lao to help select martial arts schools. Several assistants also inquired about the news intentionally or unintentionally when purchasing daily supplies.

After half a month of investigation, the scope was finally narrowed down to five martial arts schools.

After he declined Ding's follow-up, he chose a sunny morning to walk out of the store and planned to check the current situation of each martial arts school by himself.

A cold wind blew in the face.

"Hiss..."

Shen Lian shuddered, and the starling screamed and got into his clothes. It seemed that the man and the bird had not left the house since late autumn.

"Ah~ Master Ba is going to hibernate!"

"If you poop on me, I'll kill you."

Birds are straightforward, but after being bound to the profession of court official, the starling has indeed changed its habit of solving problems anywhere.

"Speaking of that."

Shen Lian weighed the starling and couldn't help complaining: "Why don't I get any benefit from career advancement, but you, Master Ba, are much stronger, and have already caught up with crows."

"Master Ba, call me Master Ba."

"Hey, you're my dad, okay."

Shen Lian rubbed his hands in the cold and moved towards the martial arts hall.

There are New Year decorations on the streets along the way, and inverted blessing calligraphy is common, and bright red lanterns are emitting a faint light.

There are poor scholars selling calligraphy at stalls, with reluctance written all over their faces.

When the weather gets warmer, the business of pitching pots and hooping will also appear. The Spring Festival market in the Tang Dynasty is still very interesting.

"But, whether it is the Tang Dynasty in the previous life is debatable."

The Tang Dynasty in Shen Lian's impression was completely destroyed in two or three hundred years.

But in today's world, the Tang Dynasty actually continued for a thousand years, and the geographical location in the private school textbooks even marked [Southern Continent].

Only in Journey to the West did the world be divided into four continents. In addition to Southern Continent, there are Dongsheng Shenzhou, Xiniu Hezhou and Beijuluzhou.

"Southern Continent? Eastern Tang? If I hadn't seen monsters and ghosts, and there was no Jin Chanzi, I would have thought I had come to the world of Journey to the West."

The world of Journey to the West is completely a fight between gods and immortals, and the Taoism and Buddhism are constantly arguing.

And in the Eastern Tang where Shen Lian is, Taoism and Buddhism are not prosperous, but the court has a strong presence, and the Jinwu Guards are all over the town.

"It's the morning market."

Shen Lian passed by the morning market at the junction of the northwest urban area, and what came into his eyes was a surging crowd.

There was an endless stream of vendors hawking their wares, the aroma of all kinds of pastries wafted in the air, and the voice of the storyteller chatting away could be heard from the teahouse.