Ji Yunshu wanted to move, but her body was bound extremely tightly, making it impossible to break free.

“Don’t struggle. It’s useless—it will only get tighter.”

Mei Xiang’er’s voice came from no more than two meters in front of her.

The cold, damp air around her spread wantonly over her body. Combined with the smell of wood shavings and the stench of rotting corpses and blood, she could roughly guess where she was!

She stopped struggling, lifted her chin, and faced forward, asking a question.

“Why?”

“Why? What do you think?”

“I don’t know!”

Mei Xiang’er laughed eerily.

Accompanied by the sound of metal striking—

One tap after another, drawing closer and closer to Ji Yunshu’s ears.

She clearly felt something cold press against her face, patting it twice, then slowly sliding under her half-mask.

Calling to her, “Miss Ji.”

Eh!

Ji Yunshu’s body stiffened slightly. “You knew all along?”

Mei Xiang’er bent down, speaking into her ear in a chilling tone, “Actually, from the first moment I saw you, I knew you were a woman. Miss Ji, you’re different from others—you didn’t look down on me. That kindness truly moved me!”

As her words ended, the cloth covering her eyes loosened and fell away.

The entire space was filled with dampness permeated by a thick stench of rotting corpses and blood, stabbing at her eyes so that she couldn’t adjust. She blinked several times before opening them.

But everything before her eyes made her choke!

In a dim, lightless wooden house, only one oil lamp was lit, yet it was enough to illuminate everything around.

The interior was completely visible and extremely simple.

Two high wooden platforms were placed in the center of the room, covered with bloody bits of flesh and wood shavings, and a sharp butcher’s knife lay on top.

Five meters away in the corner of the room, two corpses were piled together, blood-soaked—both had their hands severed and their faces flayed.

They were Jingrong’s two guards!

Eh!

She had touched too many skeletal remains before, but when she saw everything before her eyes, all the imagined scenes flooded her mind, churning like turbulent waves in her head.

That nauseating feeling instantly surged from Ji Yunshu’s chest, causing her to furrow her brow tightly and dry-heave twice.

Seeing Ji Yunshu like this, Mei Xiang’er bit her lip wickedly, looking at the sharp dagger in her hand, her slender fingertips stroking the blade edge repeatedly.

Was this woman still the timid and shy Mei Xiang’er from the tavern?

She was simply a psychopath!

“Miss Ji, don’t be afraid. Rest assured, I won’t hurt you.”

“What exactly… do you want to do?” Ji Yunshu raised her head, looking at her with a pale face.

Mei Xiang’er walked to the high wooden platform, using the knife to pick up the remaining bits of flesh on it, tilting her head.

She said, “I wonder if Miss Ji is interested in hearing my story?”

Ji Yunshu remained silent, forcibly suppressing the discomfort in her throat.

Mei Xiang’er smiled, with a sinister tone, pulling her clothing down below her neck to expose that extremely hideous dark red scar.

“This scar was torn off while I was still alive, then burned smooth with fire, bit by bit—that’s how this terrifying scar was left. Because of this scar, for over ten years, I’ve lived as if in hell on earth, enduring contemptuous looks, coldness, and endless mockery. But I endured it, kept enduring.”

“…”

“So, do you want to know who flayed this piece of my skin?” Mei Xiang’er maintained her smile throughout, stroking the scar on her body, a ferocious light flashing in her eyes as she slowly said, “It was my mother. She flayed it off me while I was still alive.”

What?

Ji Yunshu was stunned!

She hadn’t misheard!

“You must be thinking, what kind of mother would do such a thing? But it’s true, because my mother heard someone say that only skin from a woman’s body could help her son become a normal person again!”

Ji Yunshu digested her words, then suddenly realized.

She asked, “So that person wasn’t your father at all—he’s your brother?”

Mei Xiang’er nodded. “How did you know?”

Ji Yunshu’s eyes dimmed.

She said slowly, “Because a person’s bones are different at different life stages. Though his flesh was like that of an old man, his bones were not—firm but not hard. Plus the indentations between his hand bones weren’t even two inches apart—these weren’t symptoms of an old person’s bones.”

“Truly impressive. No wonder they had you investigate this case.” Mei Xiang’er even applauded her, saying frankly, “He’s indeed not my father—he’s my brother!”

Ji Yunshu stared at her intently, wanting her to continue.

“He was born with a disease—his entire skin was like an old person’s. Everyone around treated him like a monster. My mother heard someone say that only by using women’s skin to replace my brother’s skin piece by piece could he become a normal person. So my mother first flayed the skin from my chest to my neck, but it turned out to be useless—it had to be skin from a woman’s face.”

“This is all completely absurd!”

“Is it?” Mei Xiang’er laughed coldly. “Even if it’s absurd, my mother still believed it. Until the moment she died, she still believed. I didn’t believe it, but then over two months ago, I killed the first woman who humiliated me, let my brother give her a good lesson, let her taste the shame of a woman losing her chastity. But unexpectedly, there really are miracles in this world!”

Her voice grew increasingly eerie!

“When I flayed the skin from the first woman and grafted it onto my brother’s wrist, unexpectedly, it actually worked! It’s real—it really works!”

“This is your reason for killing people?”

“Yes! But not entirely!”

Mei Xiang’er raised her hand, stabbing the dagger into the wooden platform, then walked behind Ji Yunshu, placing her ten fingers on her shoulders.

She said, “Those women deserved to die! From birth, they had everything they wanted, never lacked anything. But that doesn’t mean they can casually humiliate people. What gives them the right? What right do they have!”

She ground her teeth in a low growl!

Ji Yunshu tensed her neck, raised her head, her gaze firm and resolute. “You killed people—you must pay the price. Soon someone will find this place and bring you to justice.”

Mei Xiang’er’s expression darkened. “Miss Ji, I know you’re determined to solve this case, but that fool Gan Chouliang is willing to take the blame for me, willing to help me dispose of those bodies. And he’s already confessed. Since that’s the case, why do you keep investigating? You and I are both unfortunate souls—why won’t you let me go?”

“I’m different from you!”

Just as Ji Yunshu finished speaking, the half-mask on her face was suddenly flipped off and fell to the ground.

Revealing the long scar on her face!