Inner Demons

Chapter 121: Lady Hong

The woman was quite beautiful. Although she couldn't be compared to Liu Ling's stunning beauty that outshone the heavens and earth, nor did she have Bai Yunxin's tranquil and otherworldly temperament—at least, "seemingly"—she was still a first-class beauty.

She wore a grand red dress of palace gauze, and the ornaments in her cloud-like hair were mainly shells and tortoiseshell. She looked no older than sixteen or seventeen, with clear eyes, appearing to be an innocent and romantic young girl without any schemes.

But this girl, who seemed so out of place with the surrounding environment and people, was the main character of the night.

A quarter of an hour ago, Li Yunxin had seen things coming ashore from the lake.

The first two were burly men with ashen faces, dressed in armor. They walked out of the hazy mist, their eyes darting left and right, seemingly very vigilant.

Following them, two rows of strange people with hunched backs and sharp, pointed noses crawled out of the water. They followed closely behind the armored men, like soldiers in formation.

After emerging from the water, they were silent, only walking with stiff steps, much like a comical pantomime.

But mortals could not see them.

Only after these figures had come ashore and stood still in the overgrown grass was a sound heard.

Two plump, soft-looking women parted the water, each holding a musical instrument made from mud snails, blowing dissonant, strange, and piercing sounds—also inaudible to mortals.Next, a young maid in a white dress supported the lady now before Li Yunxin, who walked with a swaying gait along the small street toward Du Sheng's courtyard.

Behind this red-clad woman was an old man—he indeed had the appearance of a human, but he was also a hunchback, wearing a lake-green silk outer robe.

Upon reaching Du Sheng's courtyard, the lady in red and her maid stopped, while the old man walked straight through the bamboo fence to stand before Du Sheng.

At that moment... Du Sheng was still sitting with his eyes tightly shut.

The old man first inhaled the incense from the offering table, then grinned widely. He took a bite from the pig's head, the sheep's head, and the white chicken in succession. Mortals couldn't see anything unusual about the Three Sacrificial Animals, but Li Yunxin knew that he had "enjoyed" them.

Then... he reached out and tapped Du Sheng's head three times.

The soul of Du Zi'e... stood up.

The hunchbacked old man smiled and bowed to him, saying, "Young Master Du, you have shown great kindness to our Lady Hong. The Lord of Dongting has instructed me to come and thank you."

"But our Lady Hong, having spent much time with you and shared intimate moments, has come to admire your noble character and wishes to become your wife."

"Young Master, you may look outside the courtyard—if you are also interested in our Lady Hong, why not fulfill this beautiful affair?"

Du Sheng, completely unaware that his soul had left his body, looked outside the courtyard. He saw the lady in red looking at him. With her bright eyes and white teeth, she possessed a special charm in the night.

The scholar had tasted the pleasures between men and women in his dissolute youth, but when had he ever seen such a beauty? He quickly said, "It must be the fortune of three lifetimes for this humble scholar to meet Lady Hong. How could I dare to refuse! Excellent, excellent, excellent!"

After saying this, he looked triumphantly at Kunyangzi and the crowd on the street. But how could those people see a soul?

Just as Du Sheng was about to cause more trouble, the old man said, "In that case, please follow me quickly to the Red Flower City in the White Wood Forest. The Lord of Dongting is waiting to feast with you, Young Master."

With that, he reached out to pull Du Zi'e. With one pull, Du Zi'e became dazed and foolish again, as if he had lost his mind... and his soul finally left his body.

It was also at this moment that Li Yunxin tried to give a few words of warning to the people, only to be met with cold sarcasm.

The old man led Du Zi'e's soul out of the courtyard and saw the people on the street. His old eyes immediately curved into crescent moons, and he repeatedly said, "Good, good. Since it is Lady Hong's joyous occasion, let's invite these folks to celebrate with us. It will not be in vain that they captured Lady Hong from the lake and subjected her to the wind, sun, and salt, which led to this marriage."

After these words, the strange beings who had been standing in the weeds walked over and began to pull at the idle men and women.

Li Yunxin saw it clearly—as soon as they acted, they pulled the souls out of the people's bodies, as effortlessly as holding a child, a chicken, or a duck.

One of the strange beings also walked up to Li Yunxin and reached out to grab him.

But the lady in red had already seen him and gestured for the creature to back away. She paced back and forth in front of Li Yunxin for a few steps before asking, "I see you are not a mortal. Why did you warn them to flee? Do you admire these mortals and wish to be human?"

Therefore... Li Yunxin replied—"...Not really. Without people, where would our offerings come from?"

Hearing his words, the lady in red seemed to develop an interest in him that far surpassed her interest in Du Sheng. She asked again, "But they don't seem to appreciate your good intentions. What will you do?"

So Li Yunxin turned his head... and killed Kunyangzi with a single palm strike.

At this time, although the mortals on the street were still standing, their souls had already left their bodies. Li Yunxin knew that as soon as the strange beings escorted their souls away, those people would die suddenly—with no discernible cause of death.

The lady in red stood quietly, watching him accomplish all this. After hearing his words, she asked, "Which path of the netherworld gods are you from?"

Only then did Li Yunxin smile and say, "Me? Well, I was originally a human. Later, I was beaten to death and became what I am now, cultivating the path of a ghost."

The woman tilted her head to look at him, her interest seeming to grow. "Why were you beaten to death? Why weren't you taken away by that Yama King?"

"Oh. Because in my life, I enjoyed eating human flesh." Li Yunxin shrugged. "I harmed many people and became a Human Demon. The friends and relatives of those I ate found me and beat me to death. Because my baleful energy was too strong, I couldn't enter the cycle of reincarnation, so I cultivated the ghost path and became a netherworld god."

The girl blinked in surprise, seemingly finding the matter novel.

The maidservant beside her had been waiting quietly without a word. But now, looking at the moonlight, she whispered, "Lady Hong, it's getting late."

The girl ignored her, her eyes fixed on Li Yunxin. She thought for a moment and asked again, "Huh? You were a human in your past life, so why did you eat people?"

At this moment, the maidservant tugged at her sleeve again.

Lady Hong didn't even look at her. With a flick of her sleeve, she sent the maidservant flying back more than a dozen steps, smashing into Du Sheng's bamboo fence with a thud. Then, as if ordering a servant to offer a cup of tea, she said, "Gut her for me!"

Li Yunxin didn't see the maidservant's expression. He only saw the hunchbacked old man in the green robe, who was standing nearby, slowly take two steps forward. He produced a small knife from somewhere—with a single wave towards the maidservant on the ground, the pretty young lady vanished—

All that remained on the ground was a large white chub with its belly cut open. It flapped its tail a few times, kicking up dust from the ground, and then fell still.

But Li Yunxin only smiled faintly at Lady Hong, unfazed, and said, "Clouds have no heart, the water is naturally at ease—who's to blame that I had no heart in my past life? Back then, I didn't understand etiquette or morality; I only felt that eating a person was no different from eating a chicken or a duck."

Hearing his words, the girl's eyes brightened even more. "And what about now?"

Li Yunxin fell silent for a moment, then shook his head with a smile. "This life—now, do you think I have a heart?"

The girl tilted her head and thought for a while, then looked up at the moon. Her expression suddenly changed, and she covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my, it's getting late! That white chub was right, my father will be getting anxious!"

After saying this, she didn't leave but looked at Li Yunxin reluctantly. She felt that the things he had just done and the words he had said, for some reason, all suited her tastes—as if he knew everything she was thinking and everything she liked!

Lady Hong looked at the soul of Kunyangzi standing dumbly beside him and pointed at it. "What do you want him to do for you?"

Li Yunxin still smiled kindly, his smile gentle and honest, possessing a strange attraction under the moonlight. "Seeing Lady Hong's great joy, I thought I had no gift to offer. So I used a little trick to capture this Taoist priest's soul. I used a strand of my hair to transfer some Spiritual Power to him, so his soul is a bit more clever than those of ordinary people—I will give him to Lady Hong as a servant. It will also fulfill his wish for longevity."

Hearing this, Lady Hong seemed extremely happy. She jumped up and down on the spot, clapping her hands. "Good, good, good, I accept your gift. You are handsome and interesting—let me tell you, I am the new Dragon King of the Three Rivers' Mouth Dragon King Temple. If you want to see me, go there and call for me... Hmm, maybe I will see you?"

"Eek, I'm leaving, I'm leaving—you're not allowed to go. I'll come looking for you to play another day. If you dare to leave, I'll have someone gut you!"

After saying this, Lady Hong turned and left, seemingly truly afraid that the Lord of Dongting would get anxious.

Their conversation had only taken a few breaths. By now, the people on the street, having seen Li Yunxin kill the Taoist priest, were staring with wide, terrified eyes, wanting to flee—but they soon found themselves restrained by something, unable to move.

After they finished talking and Lady Hong had turned and left, the strange beings beside the mortals also escorted their souls away.

Therefore—

With a series of thuds, the forty or so people collapsed to the ground one after another... all dead.

The night was terrifyingly silent.

Li Yunxin remained standing under the tree, watching as the strange beings covering the mountains and plains returned to the water, and the night grew cold and clear once more.

Only then did he slowly tap the bamboo-ribbed fan in his hand, walk through the corpses on the small street, and slowly make his way down the road.

Who exactly was this Lord of Dongting?

Although he had only been near Weicheng for two months, it was normal for him not to know about the great demons in the vicinity. However... the Lord of Dongting. Wasn't he within the waters under Young Master Nine's jurisdiction?

This Lady Hong was undoubtedly the daughter of the Lord of Dongting who had been pickled into a salted fish. Her style and aura seemed even grander than Young Master Nine's. What kind of character would the Lord of Dongting be?

Such a person was right here, in the Wei River, in Dongting Lake, yet a great and arrogant demon like Young Master Nine never mentioned him!

He seemed to be a formidable figure.

Li Yunxin tapped his palm heavily with his folding fan and stopped in his tracks.

Suddenly, he laughed happily.

His daughter dared to occupy the Dragon King Temple, yet no other netherworld gods caused trouble.

A few days ago, he tried to find the Lucid Jade Slip left by Young Master Nine but couldn't find it.

It was probably all related to this Lord of Dongting.

He seems very strong.

Ah, but I wonder if he's strong enough... to take the fall for Bai Yunxin?

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