Chapter 50: Chapter 49: Pah! Despicable
Hanhai Province, the southernmost province of the Eastern Country, was a coastal region with a thriving tourism industry.
Despite its prime location, it had been rather unlucky and never quite took off, remaining average and middle-tier.
The main reason was that it had very few native inhabitants. Hanhai Province had almost no locals; it was a melting pot of people from all over. This was why they could genuinely claim to welcome everyone.
With so many people from diverse backgrounds, the culture was naturally just as eclectic.
Unlike other provinces where annual holiday celebrations were fairly uniform, Hanhai Province was different. In addition to the official holidays, countless smaller festivals were observed by its various communities.
"Eventually, the government decided it was too much of a hassle and set a standardized time. All rituals could only be performed within that designated period."
"Right, but they didn’t restrict the specific forms the rituals could take."
On the afternoon of October 4th, at the Hanhai Province airport, Xu Huo stepped outside. He glanced at the bustling crowd, yawned, and spoke casually.
"Like what?"
Chu Xi asked, sounding skeptical.
"For example, you have the great spirits from the northernmost provinces, traditions from the west, customs from the east, and rituals from the south."
Xu Huo explained casually. She nodded thoughtfully, and then, regardless of whether she truly understood, he pulled her toward a nearby food stall.
They had been on the plane all day and hadn’t eaten much.
Hanhai Province didn’t have a distinct culinary identity. True to its name, which meant "Vast Sea," it embraced everything; you could find sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty flavors all in one place.
Just as Xu Huo sat down, a strange cry suddenly rang out nearby.
He raised an eyebrow and looked over.
Not far away, he saw something resembling a stage, with several people standing on it.
Their positioning was deliberate. Despite the nearly forty-degree Celsius weather, they wore feathered garments, resembling primitive tribesmen and exuding a sense of raw, savage power.
They held drums in their hands.
"DONG!"
The beat of the drum sounded, followed immediately by a strange, shrill voice that echoed in everyone’s ears.
"The sun~ sinks past the western hills~ the sky turns black~!"
"Every family bolts its door tight..."
As the drumming continued, the rhythm of the chant grew clearer, and passersby began to watch with keen interest.
’Is this...’
’A shaman’s chant?’
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow, watching with great interest as he ate.
The shaman’s chant was a part of northern culture, believed in ancient times to be a way to communicate with spirits and allow them to possess one’s body.
Here in Hanhai Province, however, it had become a local tourist attraction.
"There are others getting ready over there,"
Chu Xi said, looking around with curiosity before pointing into the distance.
Xu Huo turned to look.
On another side, three men in makeup with protruding fangs sat on stools, surrounded by a crowd that seemed to be waiting for something.
This was a completely different cultural performance.
Xu Huo raised his eyebrows.
"Tsk, this place’s culture really is all-embracing."
After she finished eating, Xu Huo waited for her, and then they headed to their hotel.
The hotel was located near the suburbs of Linlan City, a part of Hanhai Province more suitable for a long-term stay than the bustling city center.
Chu Linhai had already booked them two rooms at the hotel; all they had to do was check in.
"Call me if you need anything."
Xu Huo said to Chu Xi before shutting his door.
"CLICK!"
Once the door was closed, Xu Huo opened his suitcase, took out a couple of items of clothing to hang up, and then grabbed another bag.
Inside was his laptop. Those things were hellishly expensive these days.
If it hadn’t been for those few mistresses who "voluntarily" let themselves get caught by Xu Huo, he never would have been able to afford it on his own.
He expertly opened the laptop and connected an external keyboard.
After a moment of contemplation, his hands began to fly across the keys.
...
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for scripting the plot ’Night of the Soul’s Return.’ Calculating reward.]
[Reward calculation in progress...]
[Plot Immersion: 76%. Reward obtained: ’Skin Painting Technique.’]
[Skin Painting Technique: Hey, ever heard of the Painted Skin? Legend tells of a beautiful woman who would remove her human skin at night, revealing her true, green-faced, fanged nature...]
[Note: Perhaps you, too, could paint a few human skins for yourself.]
[Note: With this Skill, your ability to disguise yourself is vastly enhanced. The idea of ’a thousand faces for one man’ will be mere child’s play to you. You could be a movie star, a high-ranking foreign official, or even a sexy bombshell... Perhaps your true face will no longer matter.]
’Disguise?’
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued.
Disguise was something you’d typically find in fiction, like cultivation or martial arts novels, but it had its real-world counterparts.
It went by a few other names.
Plastic surgery, beauty filters, and makeup.
The literal meaning of disguise is simply presenting a different face to the world, regardless of the method. Therefore, all three of these could loosely qualify.
The first two were self-explanatory, but the last one, makeup...
Now, that was a whole other level!
The advanced version of makeup is the *art* of makeup. It might seem like a small distinction, but that one word conceptually shifts it from ’civilian’ to ’military’ use!
Most people have probably heard of the military role known as a ’scout.’
Scouts learn how to use makeup, and the techniques used by top-tier special forces reach an uncanny, almost undetectable level.
In a short amount of time, they could completely transform their face, physique, and even their entire demeanor to become someone else entirely!
However, Xu Huo had another idea in mind.
’Hiss... If I’d gotten this thing earlier, I might have been able to grind for different achievements in my dreams.’
Xu Huo briefly contemplated the skill’s potential and sighed in amazement.
The effect was good—absurdly good. If he were to commit a crime right now, with current technology, nowhere in the world would be able to catch him quickly.
For example.
Let’s say Xu Huo killed four people and the entire city was on the lookout for him. He could simply kill a fifth person, bury the body on the spot, use makeup to replicate their face exactly, take their ID, and then hop on a train or plane to get away before the corpse was discovered.
He could even go so far as to kill the police captain investigating the case—assuming they were of a similar height—impersonate him, and destroy the captain’s body to fake his own death.
Of course, there was another potential use...
’Hmm, going by how the otaku from my past life would use this, it would probably be...’
’A new waifu every day?’
Xu Huo fell into a contemplative silence.
He realized that if he had a wife with a standard facial structure, he could use makeup on her to give her a new face every day, sculpting it into whatever he desired, and then spend a very pleasant day together.
Any celebrity from a TV show or movie, or even a character from an anime or video game...
After a good long while, Xu Huo hastily crushed the thought in his mind.
’Tsk, you degenerate!’
He cursed himself under his breath. Just as he was about to turn and check the time, a sound reached his ears.
"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK~"
A knock sounded at the door.
Xu Huo got up and went to the door.
He opened the door to find Chu Xi standing outside.
"Time for dinner?"
She asked, looking him up and down.
’Dinner?’
Xu Huo paused, then glanced back at the clock.
Eight-thirty at night.
"Let’s go eat."