On the tranquil mountain, the lingering mist and the people dressed in ancient clothing in the mist all seemed eerie. Three police officers immediately drew their guns, their faces full of vigilance, while Xuan Yi held a talisman between his fingers.

A burst of hearty laughter broke the tension and caution.

"You must be the officials from the city that Brother Chao mentioned. Yes, now they are called police officers. Haha, I am the village head of this village. Yesterday, Brother Chao called back, and we have been waiting for you on this mountain road."

A fifty-year-old man dressed in Ming Dynasty clothing but wearing leather shoes and a watch on his wrist walked out.

Xuan Yi retracted his talisman and sword, expressionless, "They are from Dazhen Village."

The police officers trusted the leader of the special action team and slowly put away their guns, but their eyes still held a hint of vigilance and curiosity. Xuan Yi and the other three followed the villagers of Dazhen Village back, and the village head was very talkative, but Xuan Yi noticed that the other villagers rarely showed any expression.

Their expressions were not so much simple as they were numb.

Because of the inconvenient transportation, Dazhen Village only had electricity and the villagers still fetched water and studied ancient language. Because there were many mosquitoes on this mountain, they wore the thick clothing of the Ming Dynasty.

............

The four people who came up the mountain this time each had their own duties.

Two of them were responsible for surveying the terrain, while the other was an artillery expert.

From this mountain, using high-power telescopes, they could see the suddenly appearing mountain range clearly and determine the parameters of the firearms. Xuan Yi, as a disciple of the Wei Ming Sect, came to survey the feng shui trend to determine the general location of the gathering of evil spirits on the opposite mountain.

Then they would concentrate their firepower to attack.

Faced with monsters like demons and ghosts, ordinary firearms, which were kinetic energy penetrating weapons, were difficult to use. Ordinary people also found it difficult to lock onto targets, but by directly using large-scale explosions and flames, even the fierce ghost king would shed a layer of skin.

The survey took about two hours to complete.

The information was transmitted back through their personal devices. They had originally planned to go down the mountain directly, but the villagers of Dazhen Village were very hospitable and invited the four of them to have a meal before leaving. Xuan Yi hesitated for a moment and agreed. The nearest town was also three hours away by car, and there wasn't much to take.

The dishes on the table were all mountain dishes, and the meat was home-raised pork and chicken, with a rich flavor that was not bad.

The village head on the table kept urging them to drink. Xuan Yi used the excuse of forbidden drinking during cultivation to avoid the persuasion. The others also said they would be driving later. In the midst of the conversation, Xuan Yi noticed a woman serving the food and then leaving with some difficulty in her steps.

Xuan Yi, who usually had no expression on his face, frowned slightly and said, "That lady seems to have just given birth. Why was she doing the work?"

The atmosphere at the table froze for a moment.

Someone seemed to mutter something, but in any case, no male child was born.

Xuan Yi raised his eyebrows in anger, and the village head quickly intervened, scolding the person who spoke up and then smiling at Xuan Yi."The village's affairs, Master Tao, please don't be offended. It's the modern era, giving birth to boys or girls is the same. It's just that our village has this tradition that women don't sit at the table when there are guests. If Master Tao insists on having her sit at the table, I'll go and call her," the old man said with a hidden agenda.

If Xuan Yi forced the woman to come over, there would probably be rumors after they left.

The young man who had been practicing in the temple since he was young looked unhappy but didn't know how to refute, so he could only say nothing. He was quite displeased in his heart. This not so luxurious banquet ended hastily, and Xuan Yi and his group got up to leave. Most of the villagers also felt embarrassed and surrounded them. The village head still had a hearty laugh on his face and sent Xuan Yi and his group off.

When Xuan Yi regained his senses, he saw the woman approaching from not far away, seeming to want to see him off too. But before she could get close, she was pulled away by another man.

Xuan Yi frowned, and the village head stopped him, explaining with a smile, "Ah, it's just a little quarrel between a young couple because they couldn't have a son. Don't worry, Master Tao. I'll talk to them later. Couples quarrel, but they'll make up in the end."

It was indeed a family matter, and he was an outsider, let alone a Taoist.

Xuan Yi became more and more unhappy in his heart but could only leave.

...................

That night.

Dazhen Village.

A short and thin man whipped the woman kneeling in front of him with a leather whip, cursing as he did so.

He was cursing her for not giving birth to a son and for being useless after he bought her. She wasted so much of his money. He also cursed her for daring to touch the daughter of the village head, making him uneasy for several months. She was called "sister-in-law," but she was so unwilling?!

"What does this note mean when it says 'save you'? Are you trying to die?!"

He whipped her a few more times.

When he got tired of whipping her, he sat down to catch his breath. He had a conflict with this wife he had bought.

Today, when he saw this wife walking towards the police officers, he realized something was wrong. He pulled her back and saw that she was holding a note with the words "save me" written crookedly on it, along with a phone number. This made him even angrier.

He drank a bottle of liquor and whipped her fiercely again.

Finally, in front of the woman, he burned the note with the phone number on it until it was completely gone.

"You will be my wife for the rest of your life!"

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"Where can you run?!"

The man was panting heavily and drank more alcohol. He sat in a chair and just wanted to rest for a while, but he fell asleep without realizing it. When he opened his eyes, it was already dark outside. He kicked the woman's body and told her to get up and cook. But he found that the woman was dead, her eyes wide open.

Liquid courage made him and the village head decide to throw the woman down the mountain.

...................

"Mom, I can take care of myself."

"Oh, don't worry about me..."

"I'll come back to see you and Dad this year, in case you're gone."

Memories from the past slowly surfaced, then disappeared like an illusion.

My name is Dong Yu.

I'm twenty-three years old...

I was abducted.

Sold to the mountains.Five thousand yuan.

This might be the salary of a college graduate, but I never thought it could also represent the entire future of a college student: love, marriage, having children, watching the children grow up, working, getting promoted, finding dreams, and traveling.

All these dreams disappeared after a donkey trip, on a creaking wooden bed.

I was locked up.

With a big iron chain.

After much effort and flattery, I managed to escape.

But I walked so far, so far that my feet blistered, and I still couldn't get out of this mountain. I saw a car and hurriedly stopped it. I knelt down in surprise, begging them to take me out. They agreed, and I got in the car, dozing off.

That day, I woke up in pain.

What I saw was an even darker and shorter wooden bed, and the angry, red eyes of a man.

I understood…

It takes three hours to drive from here, and everyone on the way is from this village.

I can't escape.

They said I belong here. I don't believe it, but when I looked in the mirror, I saw rough skin and wounds from being whipped. This isn't me, I don't believe it, but this is me… It seems like I've given up…

………………

I saw the daughter of the man who drove the car that day.

She was wearing fashionable clothes, her earrings were shiny, and her perfume was the one I used to like.

She reached out her hand, her palm was fair and tender, just like mine used to be.

She smiled at me and said, "Hello, sister-in-law."

It seemed like I saw my past self…

No, that's not right.

This is me, this is me!

You stole my original appearance, you stole my appearance!!

I don't belong here, I shouldn't look like this, that should be my face, that should be my life!

Give it back to me, give it back to me!

I pounced on her, crazily biting her face. The girl was terrified, and the men and women around me rushed to beat me. It hurt, it hurt so much…

The pain in my memory and the pain in reality surged together.

But it was as if there was a thin layer of mist separating them, not clear. The woman fell to the ground, full of unwillingness, trying hard to get up, but powerless. She could turn her head, and when she turned her head, she saw her own corpse.

Her heart was cold and desperate, dead as ashes.

Ah… So, I'm already dead.

It rained during the night.

But the biting cold of the mountain rain at night seemed to have no feeling.

An umbrella was placed over her head.

Under the umbrella was a man in white, his face hidden by the umbrella, not clearly visible. He just whispered:

"Skin is just skin, and appearance is just appearance… The art of witchcraft has been lost, but people's hearts are still the same as before, still able to strip a person's 'skin' and give them another 'skin'. The world is still a place where people judge by 'skin'."

Skin…

Dong Yu murmured, her face full of sorrow.

That's right, that's it.

My original identity, the life I should have had, this is that 'skin'.

My original skin was taken away, and I was given another skin…

The man leaned down and smiled, saying:

"Do you want revenge?"

"Take back your true 'skin'."