Chapter 66: Mountains and Rivers Brush (Part Six)

Originally pristine Dan Yunni now looked utterly disheveled. Her carefully permed big wavy hair had frizzed up like a bird’s nest from the fight.

Her light-colored trench coat was covered in filth and dust, but her face remained as stunningly beautiful as when they first met. “You’ve caught me—what do you want to do?”

She asked this, but it was all bravado, stern on the outside while terrified within.

She hadn’t expected the food she planned to swallow whole to be this strong. Now captured by San Zhi, she feared he shared her intentions and wanted to eat her to evolve his Spirit Energy.

San Zhi grinned cheekily. “We’re not interested in you. But your natal Ghost Artifact? That piques our interest a bit.”

Hearing that they wanted to seize her natal Ghost Artifact—losing it was no different from losing her life—Dan Yunni’s expression turned stern. “You want to take my brush?”

Fu Mi politely adjusted his glasses. “Sister, we’re not trying to rob you of your brush. We just want to borrow it for some research.”

Earlier, Dan Yunni had enjoyed their show of weakness, calling her “sister.” But now that she was captured, the same term felt mocking.

Dan Yunni’s face flickered with uncertainty before she sneered. “You want to take my brush because you covet my face-painting skills? Let me tell you, even if you steal this brush, you won’t be able to wield it.”

Fu Mi smiled, clearly unconvinced that the brush only had the function of altering faces.

San Zhi ignored her toothless threat. “Have you heard that a forced melon isn’t sweet?”

Dan Yunni didn’t understand why he said that, but then he drawled, “My personality doesn’t care if the melon is sweet or not. I enjoy the process of forcing it. If I can’t have the sweet melon, no one else will.”

Even if he couldn’t wield the brush, Dan Yunni wouldn’t be able to use it to paint faces anymore.

Outraged by his shameless words, Dan Yunni trembled with fury. “You’ll get your comeuppance!”

San Zhi chuckled. “What, you trying to chat Liao Zhai with me?”

They were all Weirds; they’d surely killed plenty in the past.

If there was any comeuppance, they’d be the first to die.

Dan Yunni hung her head, trembling all over.

Yun Xueqing noticed something off about her. He looked down and saw no anger on her face—instead, she was smiling.

But it was a sinister, cold, malicious smile, as if she were brewing some scheme.

Yun Xueqing inexplicably thought of San Zhi. Do all ghosts like to smile so creepily?

He shook off the random thought and was about to ask how to remove the paint from her face when she suddenly shouted, “Someone’s trying to rob me of my brush—catch them!”

As soon as she spoke, a burly man burst through the glass and flew in!

San Zhi was shocked. “This is the 19th floor, right?”

Before he finished, the burly man who had flown in went berserk and swept a leg at San Zhi!

San Zhi was caught off guard and reacted too slowly. He got kicked in the ankle.

The burly man spotted Dan Yunni tied to the chair, rushed to the windowsill, and roared, “Sister Ni’s been kidnapped by bandits! Come quick and rescue her!”

His call drew an immediate response—chaotic voices echoed from outside.

San Zhi’s eyelid twitched. “Bad news—we need to go, now!”

He had underestimated Dan Yunni’s influence.

In a bizarre town full of plastic surgery freaks desperate to “beautify” themselves further, a top-tier face-painter like Dan Yunni was more valuable than gold.

San Zhi glared at the smile on Dan Yunni’s face, suddenly seeing her as a smug little villain.

Though he had wanted to torment her more, he said grimly, “We leave first. Any longer, and we won’t get out!”

He grabbed the brush he’d swiped from Dan Yunni, opened the window, and leaped down.

Sensing a horde chasing them—the whole building shook with footsteps closing in.

Yun Xueqing’s eyes flashed. He grabbed the windowsill, flipped over, and jumped down too.

Left alone, Fu Mi grumbled, “This is the 19th floor—you guys just jump?”

Resentment crept in; his doll-like face lost its initial innocence as the townsfolk drew nearer.

The door was no escape. Jumping the window really was the best option.

Fu Mi sighed deeply, muttering “San Zhi screwed me over,” then gripped the sill and jumped.

Yun Xueqing and the others didn’t jump blindly. They realized leaping from this windowsill let them land on the balcony of the floor below.

The burly man who’d crashed in had used the same method to enter Dan Yunni’s home.

By repeatedly jumping windows, the three safely reached the ground.

Relief showed on Fu Mi’s face. “We got out smoothly, huh.”

San Zhi, who loved dousing his enthusiasm, said, “Keep chatting here, and we’ll be caught in under two minutes.”

As he spoke, someone shouted behind them, “Stop, thieves!”

“Let thieves stop? Only if they’re idiots!”

San Zhi hadn’t finished before he bolted five meters ahead. Fu Mi and Yun Xueqing hurried after him.

They only slowed when they reached the town’s edge.

San Zhi pulled out the brush he’d swiped from Dan Yunni and examined it closely. “Doesn’t seem special. Just an ordinary writing brush.”

Plain wooden shaft, ordinary bristles—utterly unremarkable. Lost in a pile of brushes, it’d blend right in.

Fu Mi smiled. “You know, don’t judge a book by its cover.”

San Zhi’s eyes widened slightly. “You mean… this is the Mountains and Rivers Brush?”

Fu Mi: “Of course… not.”

San Zhi: “Don’t leave me hanging.”

Fu Mi had no patience to explain. “It lacks the aura of the Mountains and Rivers Brush.”

San Zhi’s face fell. “Figures it wouldn’t be that easy.”

Yun Xueqing suddenly spoke up. “Even if it’s not the Mountains and Rivers Brush, its unique function and properties might lead us to the real one.”

“Makes sense,” San Zhi nodded thoughtfully. “Besides, this brush probably does more than just paint faces.”

Yun Xueqing thought of the red paint stuck to his face and had a hunch: maybe it wouldn’t come off not because of the paint, but because of this weird brush.

But guesses needed verification, which they couldn’t get right now.

San Zhi whined, “Who knew Sister Ni was this formidable? Just snatching one brush from her, and half the town chases us down.”

Fu Mi smiled with pleasure at his distressed look. “Now, the real escape begins.”

San Zhi had been hunted countless times; this was routine.

His miserable expression vanished, replaced by excitement. “Where to hide now? How about kill a townsfolk at random and hide in their body?”

A true Weird’s idea—only he could pull it off.

Fu Mi and Yun Xueqing exchanged glances, speechless. Finally, Fu Mi said, “Let’s just flee to somewhere no one can find us.”

Yun Xueqing shook his head. “As long as we’re in this town, they’ll find us.”

Hiding from the entire town wasn’t feasible.

Fu Mi lowered his head, pondering. “If we can’t hide, kill them all.”

With his cutest doll face, he uttered the cruelest words.

Yun Xueqing gave him an extra glance and spoke before Fu Mi could start a massacre. “We can leave the town.”

Fu Mi was stunned by the idea. “Leave the town?”

Yun Xueqing nodded and repeated the theory he’d shared with Lin Zhi earlier.

Fu Mi listened, nodded, pinched a few divination signs, then confirmed, “I’ve calculated it. Your method gives us a slim chance if we head out.”

Yun Xueqing: “A slim chance?”

Fu Mi smiled. “The world outside the town is just as dangerous.”

Yun Xueqing got it. “But staying here means certain death.”

Fu Mi agreed. “So we leave now.”

Both were men of action. Only San Zhi dawdled, complaining, “I could shapeshift and hide alone. Now I have to suffer outside because of you two.”

Yun Xueqing didn’t indulge him. “You can stay.”

San Zhi snarked, “How heartless.”

Yun Xueqing’s tone was indeed cold. “Move it—the pursuers are coming.”

San Zhi: “…”

Truly ruthless.

He was just griping, not clueless. Knowing lingering was dangerous, he hurried after them out of town.

Outside was desolate wilderness, dense with lush trees—easy to lose direction.

Unsure where to go, they relied on Fu Mi’s divinations. After an hour, they spotted another town.

San Zhi, who’d complained nonstop, brightened. “Fu Mi, you’re actually useful.”

Fu Mi ignored him.

Entering the town, they found the residents’ aesthetics normal—no grotesquely deformed faces.

But as soon as they arrived, people pointed and whispered, “So ugly!”