Just then, Old Knife made a move.

He turned stiffly to face the locust tree, and then took his first step.

"Old Dao, don't go!" Luo Tianhe raised the copper coin sword, but his hand was trembling. Old Dao ignored him and continued forward.

"He's been taken into custody! You know what to do, Luo Tianhe!" I shouted, afraid that Luo Tianhe would make the wrong judgment.

Luo Tianhe gritted his teeth, his forehead covered in cold sweat. After hesitating for a moment, he finally rushed forward, raised the copper coin sword, and stabbed it into Lao Dao's brow.

Old Dao's body jolted violently, and he stopped in his tracks. His face once again showed an expression of extreme pain, and the black lines began to writhe, crawling towards his eyes like living creatures.

Seeing this, the Taoist priest quickly stepped forward, took out a golden talisman from his cloth bag, and stuck it on Old Dao's forehead.

In an instant, the talisman spontaneously combusted without fire, burning away all the black lines on Old Knife's face.

As the strange patterns disappeared, the emptiness in Old Knife's eyes lessened slightly. He looked around blankly, his lips moving slightly:

"Boss, Chen Yan, you've finally come to save me."

His voice was choked with sobs, and I couldn't bear it any longer and turned my head away. Knowing Lao Dao's temperament, I wondered what kind of torment he had suffered to speak with such emotion.

"Old Dao! You're awake?!"

Luo Tianhe's face lit up with joy, and he shouted excitedly.

But the next second, Lao Dao's expression twisted again, and he clutched his hair, letting out a painful groan:

"My head hurts so much, and he's calling me, it's so noisy!"

"Hold on, you can't let him control you anymore. Thunder Strike Sword, it should be here to protect you!"

I called out to Lao Dao, while also feeling somewhat puzzled.

Upon hearing the words "Lightning Strike Sword," Old Knife's body trembled. He snapped back to reality and pointed with difficulty toward the interior of the tomb:

"The lightning sword, the lightning sword is inside. It protected me, but it also trapped me."

Old Dao's words were halting and hesitant, leaving me somewhat bewildered. I knew Lei Jijian was protecting him—that was my order—but what did he mean by saying he was trapped?!

Upon hearing this, the Taoist priest quickly took out a yellow talisman and began chanting incantations.

The next moment, the talisman transformed into a stream of light, burning in the air and piercing into the crack.

A slight tremor immediately came from inside the tomb, followed by a faint purple lightning bolt that shone through the crack – it was the lightning strike sword!

"The Lightning Sword seems to still be working, but it's being suppressed by the Yin energy. We need to strengthen its power while completely severing the Ghost Taoist's control!"

"Master, just tell me, what should I do?"

He looked at me: "Use your human skin sachet."

I was stunned. That was something that was supposed to be returned to the ghost bride.

But since my master had already said so, I had no choice but to take out the human skin capsule, and still hesitated before asking:

"Master, are you sure you want to use this?"

"Yes!" Daoist Zhang Qingxiao said solemnly.

"Although the ghost bride has her reasons for giving you this, we have no other choice now. The ghost Taoist priest craves human skin the most, and this sachet is made of the finest human skin; he will surely succumb to its temptation!"

I gripped the human skin sachet tightly, feeling the yin energy surging within. This thing was given to me by the ghost bride.

Perhaps later on, the ghost bride will need to help Old Knife.

Seeing my hesitation, Li Huai couldn't help but speak up:

"According to what you said before, this ghost bride should be protecting Lao Dao, but she doesn't seem to have done anything. Lao Dao is almost controlled by this ghost Taoist priest!"

"Besides, now that the Taoist priest is here, you don't have to put all your hopes on the ghost bride. He might be able to cure Old Knife!"

Li Huai's words made perfect sense, but I still can't get over that hurdle.

Although the ghost bride and I didn't make a formal promise, we had already reached a tacit agreement.

I pondered for a moment, but still couldn't help looking at Daoist Zhang Qingxiao:

"Master, this human skin sachet... no matter how high the quality of the human skin, it can't compare to a living person like me, and it shouldn't even require a large area..."

Upon hearing my words, Li Huai, Luo Tianhe, and the others immediately understood what I meant.

Their eyes widened in shock, revealing expressions of bewilderment.

It was clearly this ghost bride who broke her promise first, so why should I skin myself to use as bait?

But seeing my resolute expression, the Taoist priest understood what I meant and nodded silently.

Seeing that Master Ran was certain, I gritted my teeth and took out the three-edged bone needle.

With my skills as a cobbler, I can peel off the skin even with a three-edged bone needle.

However, I usually use this skill when sewing up corpses.

Sometimes the deceased's death is quite gruesome; the exposed parts of their body may have lost their skin.

I usually transplant skin from their backs so they can walk with dignity.

But now, I have to peel off my own skin myself.

The three-edged bone needle looked particularly cold under the moonlight.

In the past, I was proud of the sharpness of the three-edged bone needle, but now I feel a little scared.

My hand holding the needle was trembling, not from fear, but from my body's instinctive resistance.

As a second-rate craftsman, I know all too well what each step next means.

The needle tip will pierce the skin, cut along the muscle texture, and then there will be the tearing pain of the skin and flesh separating.

"Chen Yan, are you crazy? This is no joke!" Luo Tianhe's voice trembled slightly.

"I know, and now I'm fucking regretting it too, but the arrow is already on the bowstring, and I have no choice but to release it! Master, which part of the body should I use?!"

I gritted my teeth and, with that surge of energy, looked at Master Zhang Qingxiao and asked.

The Taoist priest's expression was somewhat complicated, but he finally spoke slowly:

"Use the skin from the back; it's more intact."

I nodded and started taking off my shirt, my fingers trembling, and the simple action took me a long time to complete.

I took off my shirt, and the cold wind in the cemetery made my bones ache.

I don't know if my master genuinely thinks the skin on my back is better, or if he's deliberately making things difficult for me, hoping I'll back down.

I used a triangular bone nail to peel off my own skin, which more than doubled the difficulty.

"Wait," seeing that I was determined to insist, Master Zhang Qingxiao suddenly shouted, and then took out a packet of medicinal powder from his cloth bag. "This is ash used to stop bleeding and relieve pain. Although its effect is limited, it is better than nothing."

He carefully sprinkled the powder on my back.

"Get ready and get started. We need to be quick, as time is of the essence."

I closed my eyes and remembered what my grandfather had once told me:

"In the art of skinning, a calm mind makes the knife steady, and a calm breath makes the blood flow slowly."

This is a rhyme that the second-rate cobbler used when peeling skin; I never imagined that one day I would use it on myself.

The tip of the triangular bone needle pierces the skin.