Zhen-style Clay Duck

“Zhu Zeyu! We’re coming for you!”

Chen Zhaoxing’s lively voice rang out from a distance, startling Zhu Yan mid-sprint.

God above, heavens below, his jacket and his coat—how did this thing get out?

Had Qi Yinming failed to keep it under control?

“Zhu Zeyu?” It was Xu Tongguang’s voice now.

A clatter of footsteps sounded behind him. Zhu Yan quickly screeched to a halt, activating his ability [Shield] and reaching back to grab hold of the pursuing Skin Tailor.

“Daddy, where is the Fog?”

Too late.

The effect of [Glorify the Ancestors] was still too strong—this Skin Tailor still thought he was its son.

Zhu Yan gripped the military saber in his hand.

At this point, he had no choice but to hastily fish for the information he needed, then use some clever little tricks to shut this thing up.

The Skin Tailor faltered. “It’s in Dorm 508. What’s wrong, so—”

Chop.

The saber swung out with crisp precision, cleanly severing the Skin Tailor’s head.

Its body wobbled; from the stump of its neck, streams of blood gushed out like a fountain.

Zhu Yan quickly focused his mind, stowing the corpse and head into his ring. Then he broke into a sprint, eyes darting rapidly over the dorm door numbers on either side.

Getting rid of the body probably wouldn’t do much to the Skin Tailor.

But…

A bead of cold sweat broke out on Zhu Yan’s temple.

If he was lucky, he could exploit a bug!

The Skin Tailor was a monster very similar to the Fog—it had to knock and receive a response before it could enter a room.

It likely had plenty of spare skins lying around, but all those were kept inside rooms.

If it wanted to enter those rooms to grab its skins, it would have to knock and ask first.

Zhu Yan glanced back. Behind him, the hallway was empty; only the faintest trace of air currents could be seen stirring.

Now, without a body, it was nothing but an invisible, obsessive mass. How was it supposed to knock on anything?

The players currently outside were Xu Tongguang and Chen Zhaoxing; Zhu Yan didn’t know if the others had come out.

Chen Zhaoxing’s level was too high—it couldn’t handle him.

If it turned to Xu Tongguang instead…

The thought of what might happen almost made Zhu Yan laugh.

Devouring someone, taking over their body—that counted as “harm,” didn’t it?

What would happen if that harm was doubled and sent back?

With a flick of his mind, Zhu Yan [Disguised] himself as the male student the Skin Tailor had consumed.

He spotted Dorm 508—

About ten meters ahead of him, an ordinary iron door was shrouded in thin white mist.

Without hesitation, Zhu Yan charged forward, slammed his hand against the door, and started yelling in the Skin Tailor’s mournful tone.

“Open up! Open up!”

After advancing [Disguise] to Level 6, he had unlocked the attribute [Hack].

Now, by [Disguising] as the Skin Tailor, Zhu Yan could wield six percent of its abilities.

The Skin Tailor’s level was low, so even six percent of its power was naturally very weak.

But this iron door was far too ordinary—ordinary enough to have no level at all—and Zhu Yan didn’t need to consume others or acquire a new “skin.”

All he had to do was use that six percent ability to transform himself into a sheet of skin and squeeze through the crack in the door.

Zhu Yan knocked faster.

“Give me an answer!” he shouted. “Are you willing to take me in?”

Die, hurry up and knock.

Zhu Yan prayed in his heart that the [Skin Tailor] would get its act together and go find Xu Tongguang.

Otherwise, Chen Zhaoxing would come and feed him super spicy cockroaches!

Inside the door.

Two puppets looked at each other, then simultaneously broke into a smile.

“Who can be sure whether the person outside the door is a [Hunter] or a [Skin Tailor]? Can you?”

The other puppet shook its head. “Oh no, not me.”

Then, they both took a step back in unison and spoke as one.

“Then we’ll just wait for it to come in on its own.”

“[Skin Tailor] doesn’t need us to worry, does it?”

…

In the air Zhu Yan couldn’t see.

The real [Skin Tailor] flew about in a furious rage, slamming downward frantically, trying to attack Zhu Yan’s mind.

But it was useless—

Its level was too low. Not only was Zhu Yan himself a Level 7 player, it couldn’t even break through his constantly active Level 3 [Shield]!

But still, but still…

The invisible current spun rapidly in midair, letting out a silent scream.

But as a [Skin Tailor], without a body, it couldn’t knock on the door!

If it couldn’t knock, how could it get inside to reunite with its companions? How could it retrieve the skins it had hoarded in the room?

“Zhu Zeyu!”

At that moment, Xu Tongguang’s voice came again from far away.

Chen Zhaoxing was hiding behind Xu Tongguang, holding three cockroaches in his hands—one red, one green, and one pink.

Mexican super spicy flavor, ultra-concentrated wasabi flavor, and a sour essence flavor that could rot your teeth.

Echoing Xu Tongguang, he grinned with a strange smile and asked, “Zhu Zeyu, are you alright?”

Whether Zhu Zeyu was alright or not, he planned to shove all three flavors into the [Skin Tailor]’s mouth.

Having taken over a human body, would it also inherit human taste buds?

Physical attacks didn’t work on this thing, so maybe magical attacks would?

Not far away.

As soon as Zhu Yan heard Chen Zhaoxing’s voice, he wanted to die.

He quickened his knocking on the door, his hands already red.

“Boo hoo hoo, just open the door for me! I really mean no harm!”

With only 6% of its ability, [Skin Tailor] was indeed much weaker. Only now did Zhu Yan feel a strange sensation of being able to turn into a piece of skin.

In midair, the current stopped spinning and “looked” toward the direction of the voice.

Human skin.

New human skin!

Wasn’t this a gift from heaven?

Once it had human skin, it would have room to maneuver!

The [Skin Tailor] quickly changed direction, crawling along the ceiling, racing toward the sound as fast as possible!

This time, it needed to be smarter.

After taking over the new human skin, it would just pretend to be human, follow them into the dorm, and never bother knocking so loudly again!

Soon, the [Skin Tailor] spotted two figures below.

One was a small, hat-wearing figure; the other, a sickly-looking player with yellow hair.

The [Skin Tailor] revealed an invisible smile.

Perfect, just perfect!

The hat-wearing player—it might not be able to handle him, because this one’s level was clearly unknown.

But that pathetic, weak-looking one? It could definitely take him!

The [Skin Tailor] locked onto Xu Tongguang and swooped downward in a rush.

At the same time…

Zhu Yan went through immense hardship, finally shrinking his body down into a thin sheet of human skin.

He slipped in bit by bit through the crack of the door, complaining with irritation.

“You idiots, why didn’t you open the door for me?”

Inside the room, two puppets saw the skin squeezing its way in and smiled with delight.

“Oh dear, it really is you!”