Chapter 458: Peeling Skin

The night deepened. The dark sky resembled a colossal beast from the abyss, sprawling over the city’s scattered lights.

Creak—

Zong Wen pushed open the door. The dim room was devoid of light; faint starlight cast his shadow onto the expensive carpet as he slowly walked inside.

He didn’t turn on the electric lights. Instead, he lit a wick, then lit the glass candles placed on the desk and bedside table. The orange glow diffused through the dark room, creating a hazy, sensual atmosphere, like sheer gauze draped over a maiden’s body.

Zong Wen casually picked up a glass-like cup, uncorked a bottle of red wine, and in the candlelight, the intoxicating crimson liquid poured, swirling into his hand.

Wearing a red robe and holding the red wine, he stood by the dim window, looking down at the dazzling city lights.

His eyes narrowed slightly, intoxicated, like a king surveying his earthly domain.

Tap, tap, tap—

A light knock sounded at the door.

“Come in,” he said indifferently.

As the door opened, a woman in a black dress slowly entered the room. Facing Zong Wen, she naturally closed the door behind her with both hands.

Zong Wen turned from the window, his slightly flushed face bearing eyes that gleamed with greed and lust as he stared at Liu Qingyan, as if undressing a perfect work of art with his gaze.

He walked step by step towards Liu Qingyan, his red robe swaying gently in the dim candlelight. He slowly raised the glass of red wine he had been drinking.

“Care for a drink?” he asked, making his voice as gentle as possible, like a benevolent old father.

Liu Qingyan stood there calmly. In the flickering candlelight, her beauty seemed even more alluring, like a cold, ethereal angel fallen to earth, tempting one to defile her.

“I don’t want to drink this.”

“Don’t want to drink? It doesn’t matter then…”

Zong Wen shrugged, set the wine glass back on the table, and raised one hand to playfully run his fingers through Liu Qingyan’s dark hair. A smile spread across his tipsy old face.

“Do you know? You are truly beautiful… not in a contrived cute way, nor a seductive, overtly charming way. You have your own unique aura… The first time I saw you, I knew you were incomparable to those common, made-up women. Your figure, your face, your dance… you are a born superstar. It would be such a waste for you to languish in that Willow Town… Just give me a chance to let everyone see you, and I believe that one day, you will rise above everyone else, becoming the goddess everyone dreams of!”

As Zong Wen spoke, his flushed face grew increasingly agitated. He suddenly gripped Liu Qingyan’s slender shoulders with both hands, bringing his entire body close to her ear:

“I want to personally put you in that position, the position that truly belongs to you! To make you a goddess admired by all! But on one condition: you must belong to me… and only me.”

Zong Wen smiled, adding, “Like a loyal dog.”

Liu Qingyan calmly looked at the old face so close to hers, still reeking of alcohol, and slowly closed her eyes… Her slender eyelashes met in the candlelight. She stood there, like a cold, exquisite doll in a black dress.

Seeing this, Zong Wen’s perverse desire intensified, as if the maiden had completely given up resistance. He grinned viciously and lunged at Liu Qingyan, intending to push her directly onto the sofa!

But the next moment, his body stiffened abruptly, as if he had been electrocuted!

Zong Wen’s eyes widened involuntarily. He looked down in astonishment and saw a slender hand pressed against his chest… It was Liu Qingyan’s hand.

For some reason, Zong Wen felt currents flowing through his entire body; his limbs no longer felt like his own. He was frozen in place, like a statue.

At the same time… Liu Qingyan’s eyes slowly opened.

As those dark, obsidian-like eyes were revealed, the room’s temperature dropped abruptly. Liu Qingyan’s entire demeanor shifted, and an indescribable chill and sense of dread spread outwards from her black dress.

The dim candlelight flickered silently, but any trace of a sensual atmosphere had vanished. In Zong Wen’s eyes, the girl’s once exquisite face now seemed to come from the underworld, making his heart tremble involuntarily.

“You… you actually…” Zong Wen stared at Liu Qingyan in disbelief, as if he had seen a ghost, seemingly having realized something.

But under Liu Qingyan’s palm, even his vocal cords seemed suppressed. Zong Wen strained with all his might, yet could only stammer a few words.

He had never imagined that Liu Qingyan, so frail she seemed like she could be blown over, was actually a Divine Path practitioner!

He couldn’t understand, couldn’t fathom, why, if Liu Qingyan truly possessed such power, she would have participated in Willow Town’s selection, why she struggled in the mire of the Hua Du Consortium, or why she had remained silent under his constant bullying and harassment…

“Have I, perhaps, grown thorns?” Liu Qingyan murmured softly, her voice ethereal, like a whisper from misty rain.

“Not all flowers can be trampled upon… If one cannot control one’s desires, one must be prepared to be pierced by thorns.”

Liu Qingyan’s hand contracted, leaving only her index finger, which glided gently downwards from Zong Wen’s chest, tracing his skin.

However, as Liu Qingyan’s fingertip passed, Zong Wen’s flesh tore open as if unzipped. Crimson blood streamed down the girl’s fingertip onto the floor, and his glistening flesh was exposed to the air!

An unprecedented agony assailed Zong Wen’s nerves. He opened his mouth wide in pain, wanting to scream, but could only produce helpless whimpers.

Veins bulged on his neck. In this intense pain, he stared with bloodshot eyes, watching Liu Qingyan’s finger slide downwards… disemboweling him.

He was witnessing the entire process of his own ‘skinning’ with his own eyes.

“You all covet my appearance,” Liu Qingyan said softly. “But what does that mean? Beautiful or ugly, beneath this facade is the true ‘us’…”

“Do you want to see your truest self?”

Liu Qingyan’s fingertip reached Zong Wen’s lower abdomen and then slowly released. By this point, a ghastly, terrifying incision ran down Zong Wen’s torso, as if his ‘skin’ had been unzipped, exposing all his muscles, blood vessels, and organs to the air!

“No… No!!” Zong Wen struggled painfully, his features contorted by the excruciating agony. Under this silent flaying, his mind and body were tormented to the extreme!

Liu Qingyan raised her hand, gripped the collar of the red robe, and slowly peeled it off Zong Wen’s body… Zong Wen’s aged skin was revealed before Liu Qingyan, like a lamb waiting to be flayed.

Liu Qingyan looked at the blood-stained red robe on the floor and suddenly smiled:

“You, too, dare to wear red?”