I am a swordsman in a strange city

Chapter 92 Peeling Off the Face and Changing Minds
Pei Ju looked at the person lying next to him, who looked exactly like him.

His heart was pounding for no reason, and this panic seemed uncontrollable. His body was completely paralyzed at this moment, unable to move even a finger. Yet, his eyes could still see this unfamiliar version of himself.

The other person's face, eyes, nose, and other features are very similar to mine, exactly the same, yet they feel so unfamiliar.

The most familiar stranger.

However, as he looked, the face of the person next to him began to blur, and the features began to collapse like wax that had melted in the heat of fire, turning into a person without features.

At this moment, the other person reached out his hand, but Pei Ju was still unable to move. His hand slowly touched Pei Ju's chin and the area near his ear, and then Pei Ju felt pain.

It was a tearing pain, and his body was trembling. But then the faceless man suddenly exhaled a cloud of black gas from his mouth, and he fell into a daze, feeling somewhat drowsy. The excruciating pain that had made his whole body tremble quickly dissipated.

He felt something being lifted off his face and couldn't help but wonder, "I wasn't wearing a face mask, so how could it have been lifted off?"

Immediately afterward, his eyes clearly saw the other person lift a face mask off his face. At the bottom of the mask were bright red bloodstains, sticking to tender flesh, and tiny tentacles seemed to be moving on the tender flesh.

Although his mind had become dulled, he still considered a terrible possibility.

That's my face!
My face was ripped off.

The other person then peeled off the face mask and slowly placed it on their own face.

When he turned his head again, Pei Ju saw his own face once more, but this time, it was his own face, so familiar.

However, the other person had two holes in their face, and was missing two eyes.

Then, Pei Ju saw the other party stretch out his hand, with two dark blue fingers pointing towards his eyes.

He understood what the other person was going to do: to gouge out his own eyes and put them into the other person's eye sockets.

His vision went black, and the whole world went dark. He felt the world spinning, and his vision seemed to follow the camera lens. Then it fixed, and he saw a person lying next to him with a bloody face, no skin, and two holes in the eye sockets.

Pei Ju was taken aback at first. Who was this person? The change in his gaze made it difficult for him to adjust for a moment, but he quickly realized that the bloodied, faceless person was himself.

He saw himself trembling because he was struggling when he saw this scene.

Then, through the other person's eyes, Pei Ju saw Fang's hand make a cut on his mouth, and his mouth was cut off, revealing his teeth and flowing blood. His lips were then put back on by the other person.

Then, he heard the other person actually speak.

"I can make a sound now, haha, can you give me your ears again?"

It was his own voice; he could tell it was him speaking.

Immediately afterwards, Pei Ju felt his ear being cut off, and he lost his hearing, but soon regained it.

But at this moment, the voice seemed to come from someone else, as if through a layer.

He saw a person lying there without a face, mouth, eyes, or ears, trembling all over.

Then she saw that her nose had been cut off and put on another person's face.

Pei Ju couldn't smell anything anymore, but he quickly regained his sense of smell through another person.

Everything seemed unchanged, yet it had completely changed, because his own consciousness told him that another version of himself was replacing him.

"what are you thinking about?"

I really want to know what you're thinking!

"Give me your thoughts, okay? Then we'll be one, and we'll never be separate again. You are me, and I am you."

Pei Ju heard his own voice and saw his own bloodied self, but he knew very well that it wasn't him speaking, but a 'ghost'.

A ghost wants to take his place.

He knew that once his consciousness was taken away by the other party, he would truly have everything taken away from him. When he woke up again, he would not be himself, but a ghost, a 'ghost' that could think like him.

But if this 'ghost' can think like me and has the same physical body, then is it me or a 'ghost'?
Perhaps when I wake up, I'll just think it was all a dream.

At this moment, Pei Ju felt a surge of fear. This was something to be terrified of. But if his consciousness was taken away again, would he live or die?

His reason quickly told him that he had been possessed, that his body had been swapped.

"Give it to me, we are one, you are me and I am you, from now on we will be inseparable."

Pei Ju was naturally unwilling to give it up. He wanted to speak, but no sound came out. Soon, the words in his heart came out from another mouth.

"No!"

"Yes, yes, that's it."

Pei Ju felt his consciousness slipping away.

He suddenly realized that if he spoke, the words would come out of the other person's mouth, and if the words came out of the other person's mouth, it would be as if his consciousness passed through the other person's body, and thus his consciousness would be taken away by the other person.

He stopped talking and began to calm down.

The shock he had just witnessed made him panic, so much so that he couldn't calm down.

However, at this moment, what he heard and saw became detached from his consciousness. He began to calm himself down, like a drowning person who, after no longer being afraid, sinks into the water. Even if he knows that someone is holding his feet, as long as he stops struggling and relaxes, he will find that he does not actually need to breathe after sinking together.

The deeper you sink, the calmer your mind becomes.

It seemed that Pei Ju only remembered his sword at this moment.

In my heart, there is always a sword, with the sheath of the heart and the blade of consciousness, which can slay both the demons of the heart and the laws of the law.

When his thoughts returned to this place, he suddenly became clear-headed, and in an instant, he seemed to grasp the hilt of the sword in his heart.

The Demon-Slaying Sword-Drawing Style.

"What are you doing,……"

"Are you going to kill yourself?..."

"This is suicide..."

Pei Ju vaguely heard a voice calling out, warning him.

But since he had already grasped the sword in his heart, his will would not waver.

Draw your sword!

The sword comes out!

With a single sword strike, the world is illuminated.

The darkness was pierced.

It was as if light shone in and a torrent surged down.

All senses returned rapidly at that moment.

He felt his eyes return, his voice return, his hearing return, and his sense of smell return.

So he opened his eyes and sat up.

The light was dim in the darkness, but he could see that the door was still closed. However, a breeze was blowing in through the window, making him feel cool. Only then did he realize that he was covered in sweat.

He got up, got out of bed, and stepped barefoot on the ground. He opened the door, letting the wind blow on him. Standing on the second floor, looking at the quiet courtyard, he knew very well that the house had been cleaned yesterday and there was nothing conspicuous about it.

But on two occasions when he returned here, he did feel that there were 'people' in the house.

One of them even spied on himself.

However, he couldn't find it. What he was certain of was that the 'person' wasn't a real person, but a 'spirit'. There was a 'spirit' in this house that looked exactly like him.

Or rather, there is a 'spirit' that wants to take over his body.

Looking at the sky, he realized it was only half past night. He went to his room, took out a candle, lit it again, and then made his way down to the living room.

Old houses are said to give birth to spirits.

This is something many people know, so when the neighbors saw Pei Ju return, they all helped him clean the house and cooked meals there, which was equivalent to driving away the spirits that had been born from the long absence of people.

This is a common folk method, but in the end, it did not work.

He decided to try the psychic session again.

Strictly speaking, this was his first truly solo channeling session; previously, others had presided over the channeling sessions, and he participated as one of the participants.

The spirits in empty rooms are the kind that are relatively easy to communicate with.

All that's needed is the most common Three-Element Spirit Communication Method.

An incense burner was placed in the already spacious living room.

They used the incense left by their grandfather and then took out the brazier.

Take out the piece of raw meat that we didn't finish eating today.

He then took out a pen and wrote a 'memorial' in the room.

There are many types of petitions, including petitions of 'descendance', petitions of 'submission', and petitions of 'request'.

What he wrote was an invitation, asking the spirit of the house to come and meet him.

Of course, it is crucial that the final request be made to the correct recipient.

He pondered for a moment and then began to write according to the format.

[The spirits of the Pei Clan's Demon-Slaying Sword Hall!]

[In the Pei Clan's Demon-Slaying Sword Hall, where is the spirit of Wei hiding somewhere?]

[In the Pei Clan's Demon-Slaying Sword Hall, there's a spirit who looks remarkably like Pei Ju!]

[In the Pei Clan's Demon-Slaying Sword Hall, those who desire the spirit within Pei Ju's body are here!]

Please allow me, a traveler returning from my journey, to call out to you in this way!

I beg you to come and see me!

The smoke rising from this furnace will become your body!

The flesh and blood in this bowl will be your sacrifice!

If you appear before me and answer one of my questions correctly, I am willing to offer you my body.

When writing a psychic petition, you must clearly state the recipient's identity and include conditions that will move the recipient's heart. This way, the recipient will be unable to resist showing up.

After he finished writing, he sat cross-legged in front of the incense burner, with a brazier on his left and raw meat offerings on his right. He lit the fire and slowly ignited the petition.

Then he began to read the text on the memorial, tapping the bowl containing the offerings with his chopsticks as he read.

The frequency of the tapping should be three fast and two slow, and after three consecutive taps, stop. If the 'spirit' still has not appeared, tap it again.

Until the other party showed up.

Knocking on a bowl in an empty room has the effect of startling the spirit, equivalent to waking it up.

After he finished reciting it once, the spirit did not appear.

He read it again, but still did not appear.

He then realized that this spirit was not simple, and that ordinary methods could not summon it.

However, psychic abilities were not his forte, and he hadn't learned much about them from Teacher Han back then, so he was at a loss for what to do.

He couldn't sleep for a while, so he took a chair and sat at the doorway, waiting for dawn.

After dawn, I had breakfast and then thought about how Liu Yijia's friend seemed to run a psychic temple.

He decided to ask, so he sent a message to Liu Yijia. Liu Yijia replied to his message quickly and recommended her friend's contact information.

Shi Nanfeng.

After making the contact, he arrived at Shi Nanfeng's Nanfeng Spirit Hall.

The memorial hall is located on a commercial street in the center of an upscale residential area.

The interior is decorated in a quiet and secluded style, with dim lighting. It is filled with green plants and vines, and there is always a gentle breeze and fragrance blowing inside, which makes people feel relaxed.

A waiter who looked like a young college student led him into a room inside.

The waiter did not knock, but carefully pushed the door open. After pushing the door open, he heard soft and melodious piano music coming from inside.

The waiter didn't come in; he just gestured for him to come in without saying a word, as if speaking was taboo here.

Pei Ju didn't say anything, but quietly walked in and then gently closed the door.

He saw a person reclining on a dark green sofa, with wavy hair hanging down.

After he came in, he didn't say anything. Instead, he came to her, and she pointed to the sofa. Pei Ju sat down in the adjacent seat.

The music continued to play. Pei Ju turned his head and saw an ancient yet magnificent harp standing there, and the music was coming from it.

The instrument produced a sound on its own, even though no one was playing it, and it was a very pleasant sound.

He looked closely, trying to see if there was any spirit playing, but he caught Shi Nanfeng's movement. Shi Nanfeng covered his eyes with his hand, clearly indicating that he should not stare at it.

So he stopped looking, and Shi Nanfeng smiled at him, then closed his eyes as if listening to the music.

Pei Ju also calmed down and listened, and after a while, he felt his heart calm down.

It was as if I had been transported to a natural world, where I could hear the sounds of rain, wind, birds, and all the pure sounds of nature, as well as the sound of flowing water. Eventually, all the sounds faded away until they were inaudible.

He opened his eyes and saw Shi Nanfeng pick up a small hammer and gently tap a small bronze bell placed next to him.

"Ding!"

The imagery that existed in his heart dissipated with the sound of the bronze bell.

However, he still seemed relaxed.

"Welcome, handsome Pei, to Nanfeng Spirit Hall."

Pei Ju waved his hand and laughed, "No, he's not handsome. He's Liu Yijia's friend. Just call me Pei Ju, like him."

Shi Nanfeng smiled, did not refute, but asked, "Then Pei Ju, could you explain your situation in more detail?"

"Okay, it's like this..."

Pei Ju recounted his dream from the previous night. As he finished speaking, Shi Nanfeng frowned and said, "Your situation is quite unusual."

"I'm afraid I'll have to ask my teacher."

(End of this chapter)