1.
Ghost painters, also known as demon-drawing masters, are divided into three types: skin painting, bone painting, and soul painting.
Skin painting can improve one's luck, bone painting can change one's fate, and soul painting can destroy evil spirits.
I'm a student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and I'm also Tần Miên, the seventy-third-generation demon-drawing master.
Recently, my soul-painting practice has shown signs of a breakthrough, so I'm taking advantage of summer vacation to livestream portraits online and look for a chance to break through.
2.
Thanks to the promotional gimmick of being a Central Academy of Fine Arts student, my livestream attracted a modest number of viewers as soon as I went live.
[The streamer really is a gifted student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. This kingfisher painting is so lifelike, it's as if the bird were alive.]
[A painting like that is worth ten treasure maps. She could've just taken the money, but instead she gave me the painting. I'm literally crying!]
I painted each feather on the kingfisher's wings, one stroke at a time. Nobody noticed the bird's big, bean-sized black eyes swiveling around.
Just then, a notification popped up in the livestream saying someone had tipped me.
[Heavenly Beam King Breaker tipped you ten treasure maps]
I'm alive again!
I set the unfinished kingfisher painting aside and clicked to connect with Heavenly Beam King Breaker's livestream.
On the other side of the screen was a very handsome young man. His thin lips curled up slightly, but there was a wickedness between his brows that didn't quite fit his face.
“Beautiful, I sent you the treasure maps. Paint me a portrait, will you?”
As soon as the man's face appeared, the chat erupted.
[Holy crap, Thẩm Triết! What level am I even on right now? I'm sharing a livestream with Thẩm Triết!]
[Who's Thẩm Triết?]
[You don't know Thẩm Triết? He's the only son of Thẩm Vạn Xuyên, the richest man in the country. He's known as the Crown Prince of Beijing—and he's my long-lost older brother.]
[Stop claiming random relatives! He's obviously my older brother. Thẩm Triết, I'm the long-lost younger brother of the Thẩm family!]
The Crown Prince of Beijing? This beast is quite something.
I saw a thick cloud of black qi gathered between Thẩm Triết's brows, with a trace of gold in it, and broke into a dazzling smile.
“Great.”
This might be a kid who could bring me good luck. Looks like my soul-painting skills will break through soon.
3.
Seated across from me, Thẩm Triết saw my lovestruck expression and teased me suggestively. “If you paint me well, I'll let you do whatever you want with me.”
I gave him a meaningful look. “You said it yourself. I can do whatever I want with you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Of course. Whatever you want to do, I'll satisfy you.”
[Haha, Thẩm Triết's really playing along. I'll wait and see him embarrass himself.]
[The streamer has fair skin and long legs. Thẩm Triết really likes hitting on girls with that kind of look.]
[The streamer would be pretty lucky if Thẩm Triết liked her.]
I ignored the nasty jokes in the chat.
I took out a box of paints containing blood from the three kinds of livestock and the five domestic animals, along with ink ground from black stone powder, then began drawing on the paper with the Spirit-Gathering Brush.
A round face with pointed ears, bulging eyes, a split mouth, a flat nose, a long tail, and all four limbs touching the ground. After sketching the outline in a few strokes, I colored the portrait with the blood of the three kinds of livestock.
On the page appeared a bloody lynx, skinned alive, its cold, wicked eyes staring straight at me.
When I put the brush away, I picked up the painting, blew on it, and held it up to the screen.
[Holy crap, why did the streamer paint a dead cat? That cat's eyes are so evil, staring at me like that gives me chills.]
[The streamer has gone crazy. They asked her for a portrait, and she painted a dead cat to scare them.]
[I accidentally saw it… Ptooey… bad luck, go away… ptooey… don't bother me… ptooey… get out of here.]
Across from me, Thẩm Triết stared darkly at the painting. Only after a long while did he give a sinister smile. “What does this mean?”
I looked at him sharply. “Have you ever heard the story of the lynx that replaced the Crown Prince? Two concubines of Emperor Zhenzong of Song were pregnant at the same time. To become empress, Consort Liu used a skinned lynx to replace Consort Li's newborn son with her own. Later, Consort Li was banished to the Cold Palace. The skinned lynx's resentment never faded, and it turned into a ghost. It specializes in taking other people's babies while their mothers are giving birth, borrowing their good fortune to cultivate itself.”
Hearing this, Thẩm Triết clapped and laughed loudly. “Wonderful! Wonderful! When you painted this, were you thinking I was that lynx?”
[This is the twenty-first century, and the streamer is still acting like some superstitious fanatic. She'll say anything to get famous.]
[I'm dying. If Prince Thẩm is a lynx, then I must be a rat.]
[That girl looks pretty cute. How can she be such an idiot?]
4.
This beast is pretty stubborn. It seems it won't admit it unless it shows its true form.
“We'll find out soon enough.”
I took a few drops of blood from my hand, dipped the Spirit-Gathering Brush in it, and wrote the character “Command” on the lynx's forehead and all four limbs.
Thẩm Triết, who'd been completely unconcerned moments earlier, suddenly turned pale and fell to the ground, convulsing. His handsome face twisted as he writhed in pain, and the faint shape of a lynx could be seen.
It gritted its teeth and raised a hand, straining to press the talisman between its brows. Gradually, its body stopped convulsing.
“After stealing people's fortune, this beast really has changed. Now it can break my spell.”
I joked aloud, but grew more serious inside.
“Heh, heh, heh. I never thought you'd be a sorcerer. But you can blame your poor training for running into me. Today's the day you die.”
Thẩm Triết laughed strangely, baring sharp fangs.
It crouched on all fours. Black qi gathered behind its back into a tail that stood straight up, its spine arched in a pouncing stance, its eyes turned green, and its pupils narrowed.
This lynx has a thousand years of cultivation. It has borrowed the good fortune of many wealthy families’ children and is on the verge of a breakthrough. Without the Spirit-Gathering Brush, there’d truly be nothing I could do to it.
I took out some spirit ink and used the Spirit-Gathering Brush to write a spell across the portrait. Golden talismans appeared all around Thẩm Triết.
It shot upward, trying to escape the formation, but was blocked. The spell spun faster and faster, tightening around it.
From inside, Thẩm Triết let out a piercing shriek, then turned into a wisp of black smoke that slowly dissipated.
The lynx I’d drawn on the paper looked a little more lifelike.
[What just happened? Is this a sci-fi movie? Maybe I stayed up too late and I’m hallucinating.]
[Turns out I had the wrong channel on. This isn’t about science—it’s a supernatural movie.]
[Too bad I’m illiterate, so all I can do is express my admiration for the streamer—no, I mean, for the great immortal.]
[At night, I was so scared I didn’t dare go to sleep. The moment I lifted the covers, I saw Thẩm Triết—oh no, the lynx.]
After subduing the cat spirit, I felt a little tired, so I ended the livestream.
As soon as I took a break, someone named Ngôi Sao Siêu May Mắn sent me a message.
But I had very little soul energy left, so I ignored it.
Besides, this lynx’s baleful aura was powerful. I’d need to refine it extensively before I could absorb its cultivation.
At the same time, a post about a lynx spirit replacing the Crown Prince quietly appeared on the trending list.
The top comment read, “I wonder which unlucky person had their life as a rich kid stolen from them?”