Inner Demons

Chapter 129: You Are Not a Fish

But he still tried to make a good final impression.

He was silent for a moment, cooperating with the great demon's possible "sad emotions." He wasn't yet sure why he was so sad—perhaps it was because this demon was an anomaly, naturally sentimental. Or perhaps at certain times... demons were actually more simple and sensitive than humans?

For some reason, he thought of that night, when Young Master Nine was dying and looking at him, talking to him, the mist rising from his nostrils and ears.

At the time, he thought he was angry.

After a few more breaths, the Lord of Dongting suddenly stretched out a shiny hand from the clouds and mist and waved it at Cong Yunzi.

The layer of water light on the cultivator's body immediately receded, as if it had been absorbed into his body. Cong Yunzi came to his senses and, as soon as he opened his eyes, he shouted, "I don't know everything Liu Ling did..."

But the Lord of Dongting didn't seem to want to hear this cultivator speak anymore. With another wave of his hand, a demonic wind rose from the flat ground, wrapping up Li Yunxin, Cong Yunzi, and the three men, Ding, Zhao, and Sun, and sending them straight out of the middle hall's window and down the mountain.

In a single breath, as if riding the clouds and mist, the five of them were already in a dense forest.

Looking into the distance, they could see Dongting Lake in the night, and a faint fishy smell in the air.

The three mortals were so frightened they couldn't speak, still lying on the ground trembling, as if they would fall from mid-air if they stood up.Li Yunxin glanced at them and said in a deep voice, "If you don't leave now, you really will lose your lives. If you want to live, don't speak nonsense about today's events when you get back."

Seeing that the three men's legs were still weak, he snorted and flicked his sleeve—another demonic wind rose, sweeping all three of them into the lake. Shocked by the cold water, the three men finally came to their senses a little, and began to wail and paddle in the water, their voices carrying far into the night.

After doing this, Li Yunxin turned to look at Cong Yunzi, who was standing opposite him.

This School cultivator seemed very surprised—he could hardly believe he had been sent down the mountain by the Lord of Dongting just like that.

He even closed his eyes for a moment, felt the flow of Spiritual Power within his body for a while, and then suddenly a cruel smile appeared in the darkness.

He then spoke first, "Boy, your time of death has come."

Li Yunxin blinked. "Hmm?"

"Do you think the Lord of Dongting placed a restriction on me, imprisoning my magical power?" Cong Yunzi slowly reached his hand into his sleeve, as if fumbling for something. "Fool. He injected demonic power into me, temporarily increasing my strength!"

"Heh heh. It seems he doesn't fully believe your words either!"

"I—watch me—how I'll teach you a lesson, you little scoundrel!!"

After saying this, Cong Yunzi's hand shot out from his sleeve and he flung it at Li Yunxin—

With a loud bang, a burst of fire erupted in front of Li Yunxin!

"Damn it," Li Yunxin cursed under his breath and turned to run.

But he didn't use demonic power or magic, he just ran—towards the shore on the other side.

Junshan was in Dongting Lake, but it was actually a peninsula separated from the mainland by the lake water. Therefore, the distance between Junshan and the shore of Dongting was not far—a good swimmer could reach the other side in about ten minutes. On this side of Junshan Island, you could even hear the shouts of people on the other side.

Li Yunxin ran at a speed that Cong Yunzi could just barely keep up with. The cultivator chased behind him. Although the Shangqing Elixir Cauldron Sect was part of the Daoist Orthodoxy, it seemed to have a unique cultivation method—at least Li Yunxin currently felt that this Cong Yunzi was a mobile arsenal.

He continuously pulled out pellets from his sleeve and threw them at him, occasionally stuffing one or two into his mouth.

Very unhygienic.

Li Yunxin ran to the shore. He could have jumped into the water or used his divine ability to cross, but he did not.

He was like a person truly frantic and afraid of the water, playing cat and mouse with Cong Yunzi for a while longer, before finally spotting a small sampan half-submerged in the water among a patch of calamus.

Then he jumped onto this sampan, and with a push, he stood on it and headed straight for the opposite shore.

Cong Yunzi, chasing closely behind him, cursed incessantly. Now seeing him escape, he cursed even more loudly—cursing him for being afraid of water and death, for being a smooth talker, and that he would soon torture him until he wished he were dead.

While cursing, he did not stop his feet. He took out another talisman from his treasure-like sleeve, licked it, and slapped it on his forehead. Then he jumped into the water and ran on its surface, continuing to chase after Li Yunxin.

The small sampan quickly reached the other shore. Li Yunxin abandoned the boat and went ashore, heading straight into the woods on the bank.

The feeling was gone.

The faint feeling of being enveloped by the Lord of Dongting's demonic power on Junshan was gone.

Cong Yunzi rushed into the woods right after him, shouting even louder. Seeing Li Yunxin, he pounced fiercely. "You lonely ghost, where do you think you're going—"

Li Yunxin raised his hand and slapped him across the face. The second half of Cong Yunzi's sentence was slapped back into his mouth, and two front teeth flew out.

"Shut up, idiot." Li Yunxin slapped him to the ground and didn't even look at him. Instead, he walked two steps out of the woods, frowning slightly as he looked at the distant Junshan to confirm that he was completely free from the surveillance of the Lord of Dongting's demonic power.

Cong Yunzi lay on the ground, dizzy, for a while before he came to his senses. For a moment, he couldn't accept this sudden change. But he soon tried to get up from the ground and was about to reach into his sleeve for more pellets.

But Li Yunxin had already walked back into the woods. He kicked him over again. "Speak. What's the deal with Liu Ling's dharma body?"

Cong Yunzi was an Illusory Realm cultivator. He had tempered his Spiritual Soul and body for decades with the Celestial Heart Orthodox Law. The so-called "first-class masters" in the secular world were like clowns in his eyes; he could stand there and let them hit him without getting hurt.

Moreover, the Celestial Heart Orthodox Law was the grand and righteous path, the ultimate counter to ghost cultivators.

Yet such a body...

Was kicked by Li Yunxin until he couldn't move!

Cong Yunzi couldn't understand what was happening—the Lord of Dongting had clearly transferred some demonic power to him, making him even stronger than usual!

But Li Yunxin knew what was going on.

He found a smooth, large green stone and sat down, sighing and cursing under his breath—

"Damn demon."

The Lord of Dongting—judging only from their brief contact—was the most human-like demon he had ever seen.

Although his true form was still strange, he could feel sad, nervous, and excited. He even invited people to a banquet—

Even if what they ate was human flesh.

For a moment, he had thought that a great demon of several thousand years like the Lord of Dongting could slowly be called "human."

Until just now.

That demon, while sincerely grieving for Young Master Nine's death, had also injected some demonic power into this Cong Yunzi. Then he sent both of them down the mountain.

He just wanted these two to fight and kill each other.

This great demon might have believed that what Li Yunxin said was true, but he still had a little doubt. But he didn't care at all about the matter of "he is Little Jiu's sworn friend"—if he dies, he dies. A demon's grief is focused and singular; he was only grieving for Little Jiu, what did other things have to do with it?

Perhaps Li Yunxin would kill Cong Yunzi. He wouldn't care about that either—after all, it was just "a little doubt."

Essentially... he looked so much like a human, but he still wouldn't see humans as people.

Cong Yunzi didn't know what he was thinking—he was still immersed in his own small world of shock and despair.

It wasn't until Li Yunxin asked him again that the cultivator finally said, "But you're already dead!"

He shouted in disbelief, "You're just a wild ghost of a few days!!"

Li Yunxin sighed again, stood up, walked over, and shattered his head with a palm strike. "You're the damn wild ghost. I am the Wei River Dragon King."

The Taoist priest's headless body swayed for a moment before falling to the ground, blood gushing out.

Li Yunxin reached out again and grabbed Cong Yunzi's ghost, holding it in his hand to prevent it from escaping.

This ghost retained the obsession it had before death, only crying out shrilly, "Only a few days! Only a few days!"

Li Yunxin ignored him, simply returned to the large green stone, sat down, and waited patiently.

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Note: Netherworld God (Yīn shén). Ghost cultivators, animals that have achieved sentience, demons and divine beasts born from the yin and yang energy of the heavens and earth, can all be called "netherworld gods". (To be continued.)

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