I am truly strange and wicked.

Pain!
Such excruciating pain!
The Reaper Ghost was driven mad by agony, feeling as though its body no longer belonged to itself. It was as if it had been transformed entirely into a suit of armor, stripped of all control over its own form. What terrified it even more was the sight of wisps of black smoke curling from the gaps in its bones, swirling around its body like the raging flames of a malevolent spirit. At some point, bizarre characters, resembling birds, flowers, fish, and insects, had crawled over its entire body. These characters writhed and squirmed, densely packed together, overlapping and entwining in a way that made even a single glance induce a splitting, brain-shattering pain.

"Master, what have you done to me?"
This voice echoed within Chen Huangpi's mind, for the Reaper Ghost could no longer even control its mouth to speak aloud. The moment it enveloped Chen Huangpi's head, something inside the latter's mind had been activated, triggering this strange transformation.

"Ah Gui, I haven't done anything," Chen Huangpi replied, feeling the skin that now wrapped his body. "But I must say, I feel great. Your body is quite something—tall and strong."
As he spoke, a mere thought caused his outer shell, already over two meters tall, to stretch even higher with a clatter.
Crackling sounds echoed as a tree beside him was nearly snapped in two by the expanding body.
Another thought, and he began to play with the body's size, growing larger and smaller at will.

This scene left the Brass Oil Lamp so shocked that it nearly popped its eyes out. If it weren't for the spiritual connection with Chen Huangpi, it would have thought the Reaper Ghost had possessed him instead.

"Chen Huangpi, stop fooling around," the Brass Oil Lamp said anxiously. "Try changing back first. If you can't take the skin off, you'll be in trouble."
The Reaper Ghost roared, "Yes, it's right! Give my body back!"
"Let me try," Chen Huangpi said, realizing the potential problem. He placed his enormous skeletal hands under his chin and pushed upward with all his might.

But as he pushed, he felt nothing, while the Reaper Ghost shrieked and howled in pain.
"Stop! It hurts! Master, please, stop!"
Chen Huangpi's strength was immense. Even when he first started cultivating, he could punch the oil out of the Brass Oil Lamp. Now that his Kidney Temple was nearly complete—the kidneys being the foundation of the five viscera—his power had grown even more monstrous.

The Reaper Ghost wailed, "Stop! The pain is unbearable! Aaaahhh!"
Its anguished cries echoed madly within Chen Huangpi's mind, leaving him momentarily stunned. "Ah Gui, is it really that painful? I don't feel a thing..."
"Of course you don't! You're not the one in pain!"
The Reaper Ghost felt that if Chen Huangpi didn't stop, its jaw would shatter. Yet its body now belonged entirely to Chen Huangpi, who could control it as easily as his own limbs and felt none of its suffering. All the benefits, it seemed, were his.

Chen Huangpi was about to relent, but the Brass Oil Lamp urged, "Try a little harder—I think its head is about to come off."
"But Ah Gui is really hurting."
"It's not the lamp that's hurting, so what are you afraid of?"
Chen Huangpi hesitated.

When the full text of the Yin-Yang Unity and Spirit Transformation Technique exploded in his mind, something seemed to emerge from his brow—a part of himself that immediately and imperiously seized control of the Reaper Ghost's body.

Immediately, wisps of black smoke began to seep from his pores. He couldn't see where they originated within his body, but these tendrils of smoke seemed alive, like fleshly tendrils, tightly adhering to the yellow-boned skin. He knew that with just a little more force, he could tear the skin apart.

Sensing Chen Huangpi's intentions, the Reaper Ghost cried out in terror, "Master, it's me, Ah Gui!"
That familiar plea steeled Chen Huangpi's resolve.

"Dusk is falling. If I take off the skin now, I won't be able to enter the Morning Market and get that one who is fated to die a hundred deaths."

At these words, the Reaper Ghost breathed a sigh of relief.
"Master, you really are a good person."
"Yes, I'm very kind," Chen Huangpi replied sincerely, comforting the Reaper Ghost. "You know my master, how much he cares for me. He's all-powerful—when we return, I'll have him peel your skin off. Don't worry."
"Peel it off?"
The Reaper Ghost was dumbfounded, unsure whether Chen Huangpi spoke in jest or earnest. But Chen Huangpi offered no explanation, and the ghost dared not press the matter. If Chen Huangpi meant it literally, it would be little better than death.

Resigned, the Reaper Ghost said, "Master, for now my body is entirely under your control. I can't even speak. When you enter the cave, you must act like a deviant spirit. If anyone suspects you, all the others will kill you."

"I'll do my best to play the part," Chen Huangpi replied.

"A deviant spirit needs to 'act' at all?" the Brass Oil Lamp scoffed inwardly. "In this whole vast mountain range, who could look more like a deviant spirit than you?"

Indeed, Chen Huangpi, now clad in a hide of yellowed, black-stained bones, moved with trailing black smoke and eyes that glowed red-black. With every step, more black smoke curled from his eye sockets in arcs. If he wasn't a deviant spirit, even deviant spirits wouldn't believe it.

Night was approaching. Chen Huangpi wasted no more time, hung the Brass Oil Lamp at his chest, and instinctively took to the air, streaking away as a plume of black smoke under the last rays of the setting sun.

Soon, a barren mountain appeared ahead—utterly devoid of life, not a blade of grass or a tree in sight. Hovering in the air, his vision enhanced by both his natural sight and the Reaper Ghost's skin, he surveyed the entire mountain at once.

"I see the cave," Chen Huangpi announced, descending in a straight line.
It was less a cave than a massive fissure in the mountainside, hundreds of meters high. The widest part in the middle was nearly twenty meters across, while the upper and lower ends narrowed sharply like sword edges. Even so, it was wide enough for massive creatures to pass through.

The Brass Oil Lamp took in the cave's full appearance, sensing something strange but unable to articulate it. Not until Chen Huangpi entered did it suddenly exclaim, "Chen Huangpi, doesn't this cave look like it was stabbed open by a sword?"

"Not really—what kind of sword could be that big?"
"A sword follows the heart; as vast as the mind, so great it can be," the Brass Oil Lamp explained, then scoffed at itself. "But never mind, it was the Abbot's sword, a blade for killing. If it really was that sword, one thrust would have reduced this whole mountain to dust."

Just then, the Brass Oil Lamp seemed to sense something, growing tense.
"Not good, a deviant spirit is coming! Be careful, Chen Huangpi."
Before it finished speaking, it concealed all its aura, becoming utterly ordinary and unremarkable.

Chen Huangpi, too, sensed the approaching presence. Looking over, he saw a deviant spirit crawling toward him—a massive head atop a frail, thin body, like a grotesque child with a single eye in its head. Its mouth was tiny, and its tongue flicked out like a snake's, as if tasting the air.

"Don't worry," the Reaper Ghost's voice sounded in Chen Huangpi's mind. "I see this one every time I came here with my former master. It stays here year-round and remembers every deviant spirit's scent."

Trusting this, Chen Huangpi stood quietly, assuming the spirit would recognize Ah Gui's skin and scent. But the next instant, the deviant spirit shrieked.

"Fierce! Most fierce! Where did you come from, deviant spirit—why do you eat your own kind?"
Without waiting for a reply, the big-headed spirit recoiled in terror, its single eye filled with dread and suspicion.

Chen Huangpi suddenly understood.
"It recognizes Ah Gui's scent, but Ah Gui didn't look like this. It must think I ate Ah Gui."
He quickly said, "No, I didn't eat him! I'm a good deviant spirit, don't be afraid."
"Liar! Liar!" the big-headed spirit screamed. "You must have eaten him. You're a fierce one—too cruel!"

Chen Huangpi groaned inwardly.
So deviant spirits aren't supposed to eat their own kind? If you do, you're not a good deviant spirit? What if it blocks my entry—surely I can't force my way in?

But in the next moment, the big-headed deviant spirit declared, "You, fierce deviant, are smarter than me. I must personally lead the way for you! You're the big one, I'm the little one."
As it spoke, it stretched out its long, thin arm, giving a thumbs-up, then a little finger.

This left Chen Huangpi stunned.
So even deviant spirits have a pecking order? It assumes I eat deviant spirits and look smarter than it, so I'm the big one and it's the little one?

...

The cave's interior was not large, narrowing as one went deeper, like the tip of a sword. Led by the big-headed deviant, Chen Huangpi reached the deepest part—a pitch-black opening where icy winds howled through. Any ordinary cultivator would have been reduced to pulp in an instant.

The big-headed deviant spirit glanced at Chen Huangpi in fear.
"Please follow me inside. If you're hungry, eat humans, but don't eat deviant spirits—it will cause trouble."
Chen Huangpi nodded. "Don't worry, I don't eat people. I'm a good deviant spirit."

Though the deviant spirit could speak, its thinking was completely different from a human's. Instinctively, it felt something was off in Chen Huangpi's words, but after a moment's thought decided he sounded right after all.

"Yes, you're a good deviant spirit—a fierce one!"
The big-headed deviant crawled into the black opening, and Chen Huangpi followed. Suddenly, darkness swallowed his sight, as if he had gone blind. But in less than a heartbeat, colors began to bloom before his eyes, and he saw an absurd, impossible morning market.

The sky was black, the ground was white.
Elegant pavilions, bridges, flowing water.
Deviant spirits of every conceivable shape and form walked the streets. If they all wore human skins, it would have been indistinguishable from any ordinary town.

Curiosity stirred in Chen Huangpi, and he started forward to take a closer look. But the big-headed deviant beside him suddenly shrieked, "Fierce! Fierce deviant spirit is here! Make way, quickly, or it'll eat you all!"

Instantly, every deviant spirit turned to stare at Chen Huangpi, as if a cat had had its tail stepped on.