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Peeling Night Whispers: The Skinning Trick
墨書 Inktalez
“Ah—”
The phone slipped from my hand.
It slid across the tiled floor, producing a sharp and piercing sound.
Mom paused her chopping and turned to look at me.
“Qian Qian, what’s wrong?”
Just a moment ago, I had seen her bloodshot eyes glaring ominously at the fish on the cutting board.
But now, those eyes were filled with gentle light.
She hurried over, picked up the phone scattered on the floor, and placed it back in my palm.
“Sweetheart, the kitchen is filled with smoke; it’s easy to slip.”
“If you fall, it would hurt so much.”
As she spoke, Mom helped wipe the dust off my phone.
“Go watch TV outside.”
“I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”
She turned back to continue cooking.
I watched her retreating figure and glanced at the cutting board where a plate of vibrant green stir-fried broccoli, a bright red tomato and egg stir-fry, and a bowl of pale bone soup were laid out.
Unbidden, my mind recalled the comment I had just seen on the screen.
“All this is ghost food made by Painted-Skin Ghost.”
Could it all be fake?
But then I thought, that comment had already stirred up quite a commotion.
Everyone was leaving messages condemning that nonsense-spouting user.
“What kind of ghost food is that?”
“It looks just like what we usually eat. Are you saying this is all ghost food?”
“Streamer, don’t scare us! Last time I ate the food your mom made and didn’t do well on my exam, are you going to ‘peel’ my skin off?”
“That’s all nonsense! There are no ghosts in this world!”
“Exactly!”
The comments were all sorts of bizarre, but unanimously, everyone thought I was overreacting.
That comment was just a scary joke.
Besides, my mom had been diligently researching how to cook lately.
She sliced the carrots into perfectly even strips.
The simmered bone broth was fragrant, and the glistening rice served at the table made everyone’s appetite soar.
It was just ordinary home-cooked dishes!
Where was the slightest hint of ghost food?
Just as I was about to put down my phone, a user with the ID “ Daoist Master Wu Xie ” sent another comment—
“Qian Qian, trust me.”
"There's something wrong with this food."
"Take a closer look; there's no salt in any of these dishes."
I turned to the screen and asked the viewers watching the livestream:
"Did any of you see Mom add salt just now?"
"I didn't notice. Besides, what does it matter whether she added salt or not?"
"What do you mean, what does it matter?"
"Don't say that. My grandma sometimes forgets to add salt when she cooks."
"Oh, my mom does the same. One time she forgot to add salt when making pickled fish, and we ended up with a table full of inedible dishes."
"Fortunately, I reminded her in time, or it would have been a disaster."
The viewers' responses eased my mind a little.
Indeed, Mom has high blood pressure and prefers light flavors, so she tries to minimize seasoning.
But Daoist Master Wu Xie sent another comment:
"In Feng Shui, salt has the power to purify and ward off evil."
"Painted-Skin Ghost doesn't dare to touch salt."
"So the Ghost Feast it prepares won't have any salt in it."
I pondered over this comment.
It seemed… that might actually be true.
I recalled the suspenseful thrillers I had watched in the past, where salt was often used to ward off ghosts.
But…
Could I really conclude that my mother had been taken by the Skin Snatcher just because of that?
I didn’t believe it.
So, I said to Daoist Master Wu Xie,
“Just based on this evidence, we can’t determine anything.”
“Do you have any other evidence?”
Daoist Master Wu Xie replied through the comments,
“Of course I do.”
“After the Skin Snatcher takes a human's skin, it leaves behind wounds resembling skin being peeled off at the back of the neck.”
“You can lift your mother’s collar and take a look.”
“If there are large areas of similar peeling marks on her back, then we can conclude that she was indeed taken by the Skin Snatcher.”
As I read the comment left by Daoist Master Wu Xie, a chill ran down my spine.
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