Inner Demons

Chapter 100: Three Travelers

It was already past noon when he started walking back to the city. As he turned off the small path, flanked by a hundred li of fertile fields, onto the official road, he heard the sound of suona. A moment's thought told him that the Liu Family was holding a funeral procession.

That night, he had only heard the assistant say someone had died, but he didn't know the Liu Family's background. Now, looking at the official road, it was clear.

The people of Qing Kingdom have a rather strange way of conducting funerals—foreigners coming to Qing Kingdom might think they are "celebrating" rather than "mourning." When someone dies in an ordinary family, a makeshift opera troupe would be hired to perform briefly, with standard repertoire usually being "The Twin Lords" or "The Tale of the River Willow." But this Liu Family had actually set up an opera stage outside the city.

Li Yunxin realized this was the legendary custom of "Immortal music sending off the coffin, uninterrupted for a hundred li." Presumably, an opera stage was set up every ten li, and regardless of whether anyone watched, the performance had to last for twelve hours.

He walked for a while and saw the opera stage. A three-foot-high stage had been built in a morning, with a canopy to shield from rain and sun. Three actors were singing joyfully on stage, and only three passersby were watching below.

They were an old man with hair tied in two buns, a strong middle-aged man, and a young boy with hair styled in two small tufts.

Li Yunxin walked to the side of the stage and casually glanced at it, but suddenly felt... a bit interesting.

It wasn't the kind of "opera" he had imagined. Rather than opera, it was more like a play—it was his first time seeing "drama" in Qing Kingdom. The melodies and singing styles were very popular, and there were even dialogues and realistic props in the middle of the performance. He felt this was more like a combination of opera and spoken drama from his own time.

This was amusing...

This unexpectedly novel form made him involuntarily slow his steps and watch for a few more glances.He found that they were performing "The Twin Lords."

In this world, "Lords" generally referred to the Black and White Yama Kings. Li Yunxin had dealt with those two, so he decided to stop and see what the Twin Lords looked like in the eyes of mortals.

He found that "The Twin Lords" told the legendary story of how the Black and White Yama Kings became "Black and White Yama Kings."

It said that the Twin Lords were originally heavenly beings, a pair of brothers. Black Yama King was the elder brother, and White Yama King was the younger brother. White Lord acted recklessly, constantly causing trouble, so Black Lord, as the elder brother, repeatedly admonished him, but White Lord never corrected his ways.

One day, White Lord, being short of money for wine, secretly took the Celestial Emperor's golden dung scoop and sold it for wine. A few days later, when the Celestial Emperor went to clean his own cesspit, he found the dung scoop missing and became furious.

When the Celestial Emperor became furious, fiery rain fell upon the human world. This fiery rain fell for three hundred years, eventually burning all humans to death. Only when humanity was wiped out did the Celestial Emperor discover that White Lord had stolen the dung scoop. He declared that White Lord was guilty of grave sins because humanity had perished due to him, and ordered his execution.

But Black Lord again pleaded for his younger brother, saying that since humans had died, and the mortal realm was filled with departed souls, he was willing to dwell with his brother forever in the gloomy center of the Celestial Sphere, becoming a pair of Yama Kings who accompany departed souls and deal with them.

The Celestial Emperor was moved by the deep affection between the brothers and granted their request. However, fearing that they might reveal heavenly secrets if they came to the mortal realm, he erased most of their memories.

The two brothers repeatedly thanked him, and then descended to the mortal realm, becoming the later Black and White Yama Kings.

When Li Yunxin was watching, it was precisely when the Black Lord and White Lord, disguised as various heavenly figures, were singing, "My Celestial Emperor is magnanimous and deeply benevolent, ordering the black and white brothers to take human form—"

He was slightly stunned, and after a long while, he exhaled: "What the hell kind of values are these?"

His voice was a little loud, startling the old man in front of him. The old man seemed to come from a well-off family, wearing a finely stitched cotton robe and with a clean, soft beard. He turned to examine Li Yunxin and asked, "Why do you say such things, young man?"

Li Yunxin originally intended to turn and leave, but for some reason, a wave of irritation surged within him. He frowned slightly, squinted his eyes in the scorching sunlight, and looked at the simple-minded man and the naive boy who had also turned to look at him. He stuck out his tongue and licked his dry lips, saying, "Old man, haven't you noticed anything amiss?"

The old man stroked his beard and thought for a moment: "No, not really?"

Li Yunxin sighed: "This Celestial Emperor is sick. His own dung scoop was stolen, and he kills mortals to vent his anger. After killing everyone, he says it's because of White Yama King, and then everyone still sings his praises and says good things about him. What kind of logic is that?"

The old man thought about it but didn't speak. However, the dark-skinned, seemingly simple-minded man said, "Hmph, how can you say that? The Celestial Emperor is the Celestial Emperor, after all. How can the Celestial Emperor do anything wrong? Besides, heaven and earth are vast, and the Celestial Emperor is the greatest. What he does, who can control him?"

He thought for a moment, then rubbed the dried yellow mud from his wooden hoe with his straw sandals: "Besides, this world is inherently one where the wicked drink and eat meat, and the good suffer cold and poverty. I understand what you're saying, young man, you want to talk about heavenly justice. But where is there any heavenly justice in this world? Teachers lecture children that there is inherent heavenly justice in the world. I say there is no justice, whether something is just or not, isn't it decided by the adults?"

The old man heard him speak and quickly shook his head: "No, no, no. There is indeed justice in this world. Not only justice, but also kindness in people's hearts and harmony between neighbors. If there were none of these, the world would be in chaos. What's the difference between people and birds and beasts? For example, if you go up the mountain to cut grass today and are injured by a wild beast by the roadside, and I, an old man, see that you are seriously injured, I will definitely help you. That is justice and kindness—"

"Bah! How unlucky!" The strong man suddenly grew angry and spat heavily on the ground, "Listening to these unlucky words for no reason, you old rascal!"

He finished and then snorted, picking up his wooden hoe and leaving.

The old man's face turned red, and after a moment of stunned silence, he stomped his foot: "Hey, this person, he's unreasonable!"

Li Yunxin had some thoughts brewing in his mind. He wanted to speak, but looking at the old man and the young boy in front of him, he felt his enthusiasm wane.

At that moment, the three actors on stage finished their performance, changed out of their costumes, and sat by the stage drinking cool tea to rest. Seeing the old man stomping his foot in anger, the actor playing the Celestial Emperor laughed: "Look at you, old man, you're not an unreasonable person. That fellow clearly has a hard life, making a living in the fields and mountains. You cursed him for being seriously injured by a wild beast for no reason, aren't you cursing him to die? How could he not be angry."

He took a sip of water, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then said to Li Yunxin: "You, young man, seem to be from a well-off family, and you don't know the hardships of the human world. Where is there so much justice and righteousness in this world? Isn't this world inherently about the strong preying on the weak? Look, even if our Great Qing Dynasty's Emperor is wise and fairly resolves human suffering—you'll still think that this world has its own justice. But where did the Great Qing Dynasty's empire come from? Emperor Taizu seized it from the previous dynasty's emperor."

"The justice and righteousness of this Great Qing Dynasty, in the end, aren't they also because of the strong preying on the weak and the powerful being revered? So this world, you see, has always been like this, there has never been any true justice or righteousness. But even though there isn't, people must believe in these things. Because if there isn't, and people stop believing, then humans truly become no different from beasts and livestock. So, little children always like to say that this is unfair, that is unfair, or think, 'Oh, this world has no heavenly principles, so I can do anything evil.'"

"But only those who truly understand know that this world truly lacks justice and morality. But precisely because it lacks them, one must believe in them. Otherwise, if this world loses its rules, etiquette, and ethics—then bad things aren't something only you can do—if you go out and do bad things, and return home to find your whole family has been killed by others, wouldn't that be even more disastrous? If the world falls apart, what good can you gain?"

"So I really dislike people who constantly say that this world has no morality and everyone should be selfish. And I also dislike those who think this world should be just and reasonable—both of these are childish."

He said all this in one breath, and the Black and White Yama Kings next to him laughed, punching him on the shoulder: "You, who used to be a religious person, are quite articulate, but unfortunately, I didn't understand any of it."

The old man listened to his words, standing still, frowning in thought.

Li Yunxin, however, smiled, carefully observing the middle-aged actor playing the Celestial Emperor, and cupped his hands: "What is your name, sir?"

"Eh, an actor, what name could I have. Call me Old Wang." The actor smiled, waved his hand, put down his bowl, and then called to the two beside him, "Get up. Let's do another 'Instructing the Family Elder,' we can't be lazy and take people's money for nothing!"

Li Yunxin smiled and watched him change back into his costume. He thought for a moment, then took out a talisman from his sleeve. He then bit his finger until it bled, and drew a simple, crooked stick figure on the talisman paper.

Then he placed the paper by the side of the stage—a slightly stronger gust of wind would blow it away.

"A talisman for you," he said to the actor who had already started singing, "It can save your life."

The actor glanced at him, still singing, unclear if he had heard clearly. But Li Yunxin had already turned and walked away.

The midday sun was the fiercest, and the air on the road seemed to shimmer. The music from the opera stage quickly faded into a faint background sound. A little while later, there was only the rough sound of his shoes rubbing against the road.

After walking for a while, he suddenly heard someone next to him ask, "Why did you give him a talisman? A talisman drawn with your own essence blood, and by someone of your realm, is something even mortal emperors would find hard to obtain."

Li Yunxin glanced at her from the side, then looked up at the sky: "Ah. I forgot something—you're a Manifestation Realm Taoist priest, you can ascend to the sky. So you were following me just now?"

"Mm," Lingkongzi said.

Li Yunxin sighed slightly: "I hope you can understand."

Lingkongzi remained silent. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Why did you give him a talisman? He's just a mortal."

"When three walk together, one is bound to be my teacher. What he said made me feel better. When a person feels better, they want to be willful, so I was just being willful just now," Li Yunxin turned to look at her, "I'm only fourteen, it's the age for being willful. How old are you?"

Lingkongzi walked with him, but her steps were light, as if she were flying. She hesitated for a moment: "Eighteen."

"A genius girl, indeed. Manifestation Realm peak at eighteen," Li Yunxin genuinely marveled, "But you're Manifestation Realm peak, can you handle the Dragon's Son?"

"First, tell me what you were doing when you saw him just now?"

"Didn't you hear us talking?"

"I could listen. But you would definitely notice. So I just watched from afar."

"Oh..." Li Yunxin smiled. After walking a while longer, he said, "I replaced all his divine positions nearby. He lost his incense and votive power, so he'll become weaker... at least he won't get stronger. I told him I did this because you coerced me. I did this to gain your trust. I will pretend to be on your side during your fight, then deliver a fatal blow to him."

"He believed you?"

"Logically, he shouldn't have, but he couldn't not believe it—I absorbed all the replaced incense and votive power into my own body. When a dying man says these things, how can he not believe it?"

He was still walking forward, but Lingkongzi stopped. She only paused for an instant, then grabbed his arm from behind, clasping his pulse gate.

Two breaths later, she released her hand: "You!"

"...You! Why did you do that!?"

"You're only fourteen, and almost at the peak of the Manifestation Realm! Do you know what this means!?"

"A genius, indeed. The kind seen once every few hundred or even thousands of years," Li Yunxin said casually, "In short, it's very impressive."

Lingkongzi stared at him, her chest rising and falling rapidly several times as she forced herself to calm down quickly.

Seeing that she was not as agitated, Li Yunxin continued to walk forward.

Now, at this very moment...

Perhaps a few temples had already replaced their statues with those paintings.

Because...

He felt an even more intense, knife-like pain! This pain made his steps slightly falter, and his complexion worsened. When Lingkongzi caught up again, he said, "Do you know that last night... someone died in the Yin Family."

"Oh, of course, you don't know the Yin Family. The Yin Family... has a pretty high status in Weicheng, there's a Head Constable named Yin Pingzhi who's very influential. But none of that matters... there's a little girl in his family. Fifteen or sixteen years old, she liked me very much."

"She used to come to the Dragon King Temple to play and talk to me. But she was a girl, and although lively and bold, she wasn't so bold as to confess to me. So she would pester me every day, smiling whenever she saw me."

"She doesn't like to eat green onions."

"Hmm, spring onions are fine."

"She died last night. Casually eaten by the Dragon's Son. Because I borrowed a mirror from that family earlier."

Li Yunxin was silent for a moment, then sighed, and turned to look seriously at Liu Ling: "Do you think she died because of me? Do you think this Dragon's Son... all those great demons, should they all die?"

After a moment, Liu Ling said softly, "You should be accustomed to seeing dead people. And you should have killed people."

"I have indeed caused the death of many people. But it was always those people... who came after me first," Li Yunxin smiled, "But she was kind to me."

Liu Ling stopped speaking.

"So I am also partly responsible for the evil I committed with that Dragon's Son. Just now, that actor spoke of morality. In terms of humanity, I shouldn't associate with demons; I should die. In terms of righteousness, since I also consider that Young Master Nine a friend, I shouldn't conspire with you to harm him; I should also die. A person as immoral as I am... can only die to be worthy of myself."

"I said before that I would return to the mountain with you, I'm sorry. I can't."

"You..." Liu Ling said the word, but then didn't know what else to say.

Li Yunxin smiled: "So I'm doing this voluntarily. This is called self-salvation, right? Using my life to gain his trust. In fact, it can also gain your trust. If I didn't do this, how would you know if my words were true or false?"

"Then... I want to know, can you, at the peak of the Manifestation Realm, plus me, truly kill the Dragon's Son?"

"If the Dragon's Son were stronger, like... two Dragon's Sons' worth of power, or even a little stronger... would we have a chance?"