Chapter 2: Facial Masks

Li Yelu’s actions stirred something within "Dr. Wang," or rather, the Skin-Peeler.

Since acquiring this ability, he had hunted many humans, assumed the identities of various people, and wantonly enjoyed different lives.

He was particularly fond of wearing someone else’s face and committing crimes the original owner would never have dared to, all while watching the victims’ expressions of utter disbelief.

There had been those who resisted, but this was the first prey who, upon seeing his true face, dared to actively approach and attempt an attack!

Terrified flight was the normal reaction of his prey, yet this guy was choosing to swim against the current and face him head-on?

His courage was truly commendable, but it was all in vain!

He was a chosen one, advancing toward a higher level of existence, a being with the potential to become a god!

How could a mere mortal compare? What did resistance matter? What did a desperate struggle matter?

In the face of absolute power, there was only one outcome!

Thinking this, he quickly hunched forward, his abnormally powerful muscles tensing as he assumed an attacking stance.

He had targeted Li Yelu because he had discovered in Dr. Wang’s patient files that he was a perfect candidate.

Abandoned by his father, mother passed away from illness, and left with only a younger sister who couldn't leave the house due to some psychological condition.

This was perfect for a Skin-Peeler looking to hide. No one would notice that Li Yelu had been replaced.

However, the moment the Skin-Peeler tensed to lunge, Li Yelu summoned all his strength, advancing instead of retreating. He lunged forward as well, his left hand diving into his backpack, using all his might to smash the bag into the Skin-Peeler while pulling something out.

The Skin-Peeler didn't care; without even a pause, he quickly swiped his hand to bat the backpack away from his face.

Yet, the moment the bag was knocked aside, Li Yelu swung his left hand again, and a cloud of white powder shot rapidly toward the Skin-Peeler’s face.

Caught off guard, the Skin-Peeler was blinded by the powder. It clung to his muscular face, naturally covering his lidless eyes, and he instantly lost his vision, forced to halt his charge.

It was quicklime!

One of the methods Li Yelu had prepared for dealing with the Shadow.

He had long since prepared for the worst regarding the Shadow’s existence and had made many preparations for it.

He had even specifically consulted a scavenger who came to the antique shop to sell goods.

Taking advantage of the Skin-Peeler being blinded by the quicklime, Li Yelu stepped forward with a "crushing step," swung his axe, and delivered a horizontal slash toward the Skin-Peeler’s neck!

With a monster like this, he wouldn't be safe unless he cut its head off.

However, the Skin-Peeler raised his left arm horizontally, and with startling precision, caught the blade of the axe, even clamping it tight.

To be able to catch a blade with his bare hands while blinded by quicklime?

Li Yelu was horrified, but he dared not pause; there was no turning back now!

He decisively abandoned the trapped axe.

He stepped in, fists clenched, middle knuckles protruding, and smashed both fists into the Skin-Peeler’s temples.

Following that, Li Yelu grabbed the Skin-Peeler by the neck, yanked him forward, and drove his right knee into the monster's forehead.

After the heavy knee strike, the Skin-Peeler’s head snapped back.

Li Yelu lunged again, slamming his elbow into the monster's chest!

He sent the Skin-Peeler stumbling back several steps!

Double fists to the temples! Neck-grab and knee strike! Lunge and elbow strike!

This was a set of extremely dangerous, even insidious, combat techniques. Especially the first move—the double strike to the temples, which was meant to hit the ear bones but was redirected to the temples instead; it was a lethal, dirty trick.

If he had to pay medical bills, this set of moves alone could put Li Yelu in debt for decades.

However, after this sequence, Li Yelu quickly clutched his own neck, feeling blood gushing out between his fingers. He collapsed onto one knee, powerless.

While suffering that combo, Li Yelu had been attacked as well. A hidden blade had swiftly sliced his throat.

"If I were still a mortal, I suppose I would be dead by now? You are a bit more dangerous than I imagined." The Skin-Peeler looked up at Li Yelu, revealing a terrifying smile. "Too bad."

His right arm hung limp, the skin shattered, but instead of blood, raw red muscle was exposed. The muscle surged and extended, and a sharp blade emerged from the base of the red arm muscle. This was the weapon the Skin-Peeler hid beneath his skin.

It was this eerie blade that had sliced Li Yelu’s throat in an instant.

It was only then that Li Yelu noticed the air around the Skin-Peeler had become visibly viscous.

The gelatinous air acted like an invisible barrier.

The previous quicklime, Li Yelu’s full-force axe swing, and the subsequent combo had all been blocked by this barrier of air, unable to get even an inch closer!

The gap between them was too vast.

Even though Li Yelu had used every trick he had, he hadn't injured him in the slightest.

Instead, he had been the one to have his throat slit.

Li Yelu knelt on one knee, his vision blackening. The sheer terror of life and death left his body rigid. He clutched his neck wound in vain.

As the danger of imminent death descended, he felt both resentment and terror.

In that instant, countless images flashed before him.

He saw his younger sister at home, reminding him to be careful on the road.

He saw his mother’s gentle gaze before she passed away, and the sign language she used to comfort him.

He saw the back of his father, who had left for the wilderness to make a fortune, only to never return.

At the same time, he saw that dark figure in the endless, dim dream, turning its head in that instant!

Is this a life review?

No, I don't want a life review!

If I die, my sister will truly have no one to rely on. What will happen to her illness? I haven't even earned the money to treat her yet!

Intense resentment and fear drove Li Yelu to stand up, but his vision was gradually blurring, and his pupils were dilating.

He was going to die.

"I will take your place and take good care of your sister. Don't worry, she will be very happy." The Skin-Peeler, completely unharmed, stepped closer. He intended to carefully peel off Li Yelu’s skin and become the new Li Yelu.

He did not know that it was these final words that made Li Yelu’s eyes widen.

A surge of intense rage caused his already dilated pupils to focus once more.

This son of a bitch, he still wants to hurt my little sister?

No, I absolutely cannot let this monster live!

He still had a trump card!

The final, most dangerous trump card!

In that instant, the approaching Skin-Peeler suddenly felt a massive sense of danger.

Every organ in his body trembled, and his previously vague intuition became clearer than ever before.

A flash of confusion crossed the Skin-Peeler’s eyes, but he suddenly accelerated toward Li Yelu.

He didn't understand why a dying prey would bring him such a sense of crisis.

But he had a feeling that he had to kill Li Yelu right now, immediately!

Otherwise, something truly terrifying would happen!

But... it was too late!

Li Yelu, clutching his bleeding neck, said with great difficulty.

"I am... here!"

Li Yelu had to kill this monster, kill this monster that threatened his sister, at any cost!

Even if... it meant summoning an even greater monster!

That’s right, he had actively summoned the Shadow that had been entangled with him for years!

And with Li Yelu’s active summons, it was as if a Pandora’s box had been opened.

Everything around them solidified; the flying lime and the flowing blood all froze in that instant. Even the Skin-Peeler was locked in that moment.

A power Li Yelu could not comprehend froze everything in an instant.

At the same time, Li Yelu saw that dark figure once again.

Its twisted body dragged four heavy chains as it walked through this frozen space. It passed the Skin-Peeler and came before Li Yelu, looking down at him.

It seemed to be mocking Li Yelu’s pathetic state.

"Finally found you."

The Shadow’s words were obscure and profound, the voice neither male nor female, yet Li Yelu understood the meaning.

Even now, with less than a meter between them, Li Yelu could not see its face, only vaguely discerning that it was a monster wearing a black robe with countless tentacles and fangs behind it.

It slowly extended an arm, as if inviting something. Or perhaps it was a transaction.

Vaguely, several voices warned Li Yelu: Refuse it! Even if you die, refuse it!

Otherwise, this world would face a terrifying end!

A terrifying end?

Ha, what could be more terrifying than dying and leaving his family to face danger and suffering?

Ignoring those faint, ethereal voices, Li Yelu did not hesitate; he reached out with difficulty and grabbed the Shadow’s arm.

In that instant, something in the world seemed to change, yet it also seemed as if nothing had changed at all.

"Hahahahaha!" The Shadow chuckled, the laughter growing louder and louder. Finally, it transformed into a proclamation that shook the world.

At the same time, one of the chains binding it shattered with a boom. It was as if the deal with Li Yelu had allowed it to break free further. If all the chains were to shatter, who knew what kind of disaster would occur?

Laughing, it reached out a finger and tapped Li Yelu’s forehead, the finger piercing into his brain.

Li Yelu’s brain throbbed in an instant, his soul feeling as if it were being torn apart.

A certain power was forcibly unlocked. His soul seemed to break free from his dying body, seeing a wider world, a vaster universe!

"Go witness heroes, imitate heroes, become a hero! Make your choice, move in the direction you desire! Even if it means swimming against the current from this Yellow Springs!" The Shadow dissipated into Li Yelu’s shadow, with only its words echoing in his mind.

And a scene of a bloody ancient battlefield flashed before Li Yelu’s eyes.

On the bloody battlefield, an unparalleled warrior clad in armor silently embraced a woman in red who had drawn her sword and taken her own life before him.

Then, the warrior held a long halberd and, leading twenty-eight cavalrymen, charged into thousands of armored horsemen!

'It is Heaven that destroys me, not the fault of the battle!'

'Follow me, slay the generals, break the enemy, and defeat the army again!'

With unstoppable power, he killed hundreds of soldiers in a row; wherever he went, men and horses were shattered!

The knights following him grew fewer and fewer, but his momentum grew ever stronger.

One man and one horse, yet he possessed the momentum of a thousand armies!

No one on the battlefield could defeat him!

When his warhorse finally neighed and collapsed to the ground.

The warrior threw aside his halberd and drew his sword.

His terrifying double-pupils looked down upon the thousands of armored horsemen, and he let out a fearless laugh.

Not one of the thousands of horsemen dared to attack first.

In that moment, Li Yelu felt as if he were there, as if he himself were that peerless warrior!

'Yu’s divine courage, unparalleled through the ages!'

On the other side, the charging Skin-Peeler’s expression changed; the immense sense of danger forced an instantaneous reaction.

Namely, to retreat immediately!

However, in the next instant, a figure had already appeared before him.

The Skin-Peeler saw the other’s face; on that handsome countenance, there was no longer any terror, but rather a mask.

A black and white mask.

Black forehead, white eyebrows...

And in his eyes... a pair of terrifying double-pupils!

Li Yelu? No, absolutely not!

"Who exactly are you..." The Skin-Peeler’s mind was shaken to its core, and he saw Li Yelu raise his right hand, forming a hand-blade, and strike down!

In that instant, he vaguely saw a long weapon emerge from the void!

The double-pupiled Overlord in heavy armor, wielding a halberd with one hand, struck down!

The Overlord dances with the halberd, eighteen strikes with one hand!

"The Overlord of Western Chu!"

(End of chapter)