Here Lies The Wicked

Chapter 5: The Scripture Of Human Skin

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The change in the scripture of human skin left Fang Zheng in a state of restlessness at the entrance of the hospital.

This unusual behavior of his caught the attention of a security guard.

“Sir, do you need any help?”

He was a six feet tall, long-limbed security guard in possession of a good posture, fit body, and a decisive manner. He appeared through and through to be a stern individual.

Despite wearing the garb of a security guard, he did not hold himself like one. He seemed more of a…trained soldier.

Fang Zheng shook his head.

“Here for consultation?”

“Yes.”

“What’s your condition?”

“Anorectal.”

“Which doctor?”

“Dr. Song Jie of the Anorectal Department.”

The guard grabbed his walkie talkie and said, “This is Zone C, is there a Dr. Song Jie in the Anorectal Department? Over.”

A voice from the walkie talkie returned with a swift reply: the doctor existed. The guard’s suspicion was eased, and he allowed Fang Zheng through. He didn’t want anyone obstructing the entrance.

“The person who discovered that cow’s milk could be drunk, what do you think he did to the cow?” asked Fang Zheng, turning around.

The guard stared at him, confused.

Fang Zheng brought his hand up in an attempted fist bump. He proceeded to ask another question. “The question is: what did the person who first learnt of the anus and rectum do to the other men?”

The guard stared dazedly at Fang Zheng, his eyes unfocused.

“It has just hit me, I don’t need to see Dr. Song Jie any longer. Goodbye.” Fang Zheng spun around and walked away.

‘What’s so great about the anorectal department?’

Fang Zheng was thankful for his quick reaction. The guard was clearly a soldier; the People’s Hospital had been taken over by the military.

He would have been a lamb in a tiger’s den, and who knew what would happen to the scripture made of human skin after that.

The confused security guard watched Fang Zheng leave. He had been in a blur the entire time. ‘What?’

He could not understand. ‘What was the connection between the anorectal department and the milking of a cow?’

Fang Zheng felt that this must be his unlucky day.

Nothing went the way he wanted it to.

Once he had walked a distance of ten meters, while being extremely thankful for his brilliant idea that enabled his escape from the inspection of the security guard, things took a turn for the worst. Fang Zheng screamed. Someone had accidentally stepped on his foot.

Before Fang Zheng could make sense of the event, the individual shoved a few items into his hand, apologized and disappeared into the crowd.

At that moment there was a yell. “The city council is here! Run!” Within minutes, all the stall owners who had been gathered outside the hospital had fled.

It was obvious that it had been one of the stall owners who had stepped on Fang Zheng.

Fang Zheng thought stall owners like these had a hard time making a living, so if he ever bumped into another one, he was determined to compensate them.

As this was a minor mishap, Fang Zheng did not have any trouble seeing himself home. It took him about 20 minutes by cab to get home. Upon arriving home, he locked all his doors and drew his curtains shut before pulling out the scripture made of human skin.

At a mere glance, he noticed the change in the scripture made of human skin.

The first section of the ancient, worm-like runes were glowing.

“Is it…coming to life?”

Chills ran down Fang Zheng’s back.

‘It was made out of human skin.

‘It was something taken off a dead person.

‘This, in itself, was an ominous sign. And right now, it is coming to life?!’

Fang Zheng could not find any answers in it after that.

“Nothing seems different.”

If the first section of the runes had not begun flowing, Fang Zheng would have assumed that there was nothing wrong with the scripture.

On the flip side, all that moving around in the morning made his stomach growl. He decided to have a meal; there was nothing more important than eating right now. He would have two servings of everything if he could. He then caught sight of the objects that had been thrusted into his hands by the stall owner at the entrance of the hospital.

Golden Immunity Shield;

Golden Warrior Seal;

The True Arhat.

They were the three martial arts classics. Obviously, these books had been distributed by a conman.

‘Young man, you look extraordinarily fit! You look like a rare genius of the martial arts. It is now your responsibility to maintain world peace. Since fate brought us together, I will sell this copy of Buddha’s Palm to you for fifty cents.’1

How laughable.

Not even a novice monk would fall for such lies.

Nowadays, they were much smarter.

“The True Arhat? That’s used for training for the Eighteen Bronze Men of the Shaolin Temple.”

Fang Zheng was holding the scripture in his left hand and the book in his right. As he looked down at the copy of ‘The True Arhat’ and read out its title, something began to happen.

The first segment of the runes, which had been lit, vanished from the scripture.

Like a star falling from the sky.

Then, the copy of The True Arhat in his right hand began glowing at the same time. Fang Zheng was so horrified, he threw the book away.

Pages of the book that had landed on the floor began flipping quickly; their signs, characters, and paragraphs coming alive. They glowed and rearranged themselves with the speed of a movie being played 50 times faster.

When it was all over, the glow faded.

The words ‘The True Arhat’ were now overwritten with the gold plated ‘The Golden Immune Arhat’.

It was slicker than magic.

“This is either a curse or a dream.”

Hiss!

“After tearing off my 30 yuan’ worth of screen protector, I feel pain?! This isn’t some illusion!

“This is real!”

Thinking it through, Fang Zheng could make a guess at what the function of the human skin scripture was.

It could, theoretically, turn things into gold.

It could turn a stick of carrot into a ginseng root.

Even a fake martial arts book worth only ten dollars could be transformed into its true copy.

It was like it could turn anything into a powerful weapon!

Thinking about it now, the Liuwei Dihuang teapills he took earlier must have also been transformed. He just did not know what their side effects were now. Perhaps his body had been transformed and was granted a stronger kidney. It was like if two normal tanks had been upgraded into eight turbocharging tanks.

There was still one thing he could not figure out: What was it that made the human skin scripture light up?

What was that mysterious white smoke at the hospital?

He supposed he would have to risk it all and make another trip to the People’s Hospital…

The very thought filled him with dread.

Gulp! He swallowed.

“The scripture was already this powerful after having only one part of its runes lit up. It can turn a fake book into a truly magical martial arts book. If the scripture’s bright glow from last night was really caused by the runes, wasn’t it actually magical? What really happened after I took the Liuwei Dihuang pills last night? Did they turn into eight kidneys’ worth of Liuwei Dihuang pills?”

After a brief moment of excitement, Fang Zheng was overcome with fear.