Inner Demons

Chapter 142: Schemes and Revelations

Two days later, one evening, the beggar finally found the person who called himself Li Yunxin.

This person was sitting in a branch of the Wood South Residence in the north of the city, drinking wine.

The streets were lit with lanterns, and young men and women were about. Li Yunxin held a small wine cup, brushing it against his lips, lazily watching the pedestrians on the street. Occasionally, he would catch the scent of snacks from the street vendors, toss a few silver pieces to the waiter, and ask him to buy some.

Before long, the table in front of him was filled with all sorts of food, looking extremely sumptuous.

But he didn't eat, only sipping the light wine, as if waiting for someone.

The beggar walked over as if no one else was around, sat down brazenly in front of Li Yunxin, and began to eat the food on the table. When the waiter saw this, he hurried over to shoo him away, but Li Yunxin smiled and waved his hand. "This is a friend. It's fine."

The beggar glanced at him and continued to feast. When he was full, he let out a burp and stared intently at Li Yunxin. "You're an interesting demon."

Li Yunxin was slightly taken aback and frowned. "Hmm?"

Seeing his reaction, the beggar became a little smug and said again, "You knew I've been looking for you these past few days, so you deliberately revealed your location to let me find you. And now you're waiting for me here—I'm here, so speak your mind."

Li Yunxin was stunned again and slowly put down the wine cup from his lips. "I don't know what you're talking about. Let's meet again some other time."With that, he stood up to leave. The beggar didn't stop him, only sneering, "If you leave like this, how will you explain it to your Miss Bai when you get back?"

Li Yunxin's figure froze.

He heard the beggar laugh again. "You put on a show for us on the street before, thinking we couldn't see through it? You said you were a disciple of the Divine Dragon Cult, but if you ask me... you're actually an enemy of the Divine Dragon Cult. Am I right?"

By now, Li Yunxin seemed to have adopted a fearless attitude. He turned to look at the beggar, simply sat back down at the table, and pouted. "Oh? And what makes you say that?"

The beggar smugly explained the "second layer" that Yue Yunzi had told him earlier.

After he finished, Li Yunxin indeed raised an eyebrow. "Ah, so you saw through it!"

Everything was just as Yue Yunzi had predicted—even the words spoken at this moment were strikingly similar.

The beggar smiled nonchalantly and didn't reply. Li Yunxin also smiled. "Since that's the case, I won't hide it anymore—I believe you've already guessed my origin and identity. The reason I put on such a show to test you... was just to see if you are a smart person worth befriending."

"My master has a treasure she must have, which is in that person's hands. And this treasure... is actually not unrelated to you all. However, my master doesn't want to cause more trouble. She just wants to retrieve the treasure and return as soon as possible... hmm, you should be clear on this point as well."

"Therefore, on this matter, we can be friends."

Hearing this, the beggar also smiled. "Be friends? Your master killed Fairy Lingkong of the Daoist Orthodoxy. How can we be friends?"

Li Yunxin was silent for a moment. He poured himself a cup of wine, drank it all, and looked at the beggar with a slanted smile. "Why play dumb? We both know that Fairy Lingkong is not dead. As for why she isn't dead and where she is now, I don't need to spell it out, do I?"

"Right now, my master wants that item, and you want Fairy Lingkong—oh, and you also want the Lucid Jade Slip that was originally in the Dragon's Son's hands. So, we each take what we need and kill that Lord of Dongting. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

The beggar narrowed his eyes. "Oh. You even know about the Lucid Jade Slip."

Li Yunxin just tilted his head and said nothing.

Seeing his demeanor, the beggar was already eighty to ninety percent convinced.

Because it was impossible for anyone else to know so many secrets—the Feather Robe, the Lucid Jade Slip, the fact that Liu Ling was not dead.

And so, on such a night, two people, each with their own ulterior motives, reached a seemingly unbreakable relationship of mutual trust.

The beggar took the bait about the Lucid Jade Slip, and Li Yunxin smiled. "I don't just know about it. I also know that to find that jade slip, your side killed quite a few people. It's just that—"

He pointed to himself. "I was 'escaped' by 'me'."

Although the beggar had a perverse temperament, he was not stupid. After a brief stun, he looked at Li Yunxin with a sinister smile. "Tell me. Why are you disguised like this? Tsk, that Li Yunxin was so beautiful—it's a pity I never got to see him back then."

Li Yunxin was stunned for a moment.

But this time...

It was a genuine stun.

Alarm bells went off in his head—it was this person!

The person who had made his parents suddenly disappear on that stormy night!

Ah... he let out a long, soft breath in his heart.

I've finally found you, my friend.

A mysterious person who had killed his parents had remained hidden, making him feel that the enemy was always lurking in the shadows. And now... he had delivered himself right to him!

After this brief stun, Li Yunxin put down the wine cup from his lips.

"My master, ah, she likes that Li Yunxin—oh, she likes his scent." Li Yunxin smiled gently. He sat properly with his arms close to his ribs and his hands clasped together. "He's quite pitiful too. His parents, it's said... hmm, he said they were secretly plotted against. He said his parents were originally very powerful, but they were killed by a villain's sneak attack. Hearing this made him even more interesting—it's a pity he died later, so she had me transform into his likeness—"

As he spoke, he watched the beggar's reaction.

He saw him, initially smug, frown upon hearing "killed by a villain's sneak attack," wanting to speak but holding back. When he realized Li Yunxin only said that one sentence and then moved on to talk about his master, he became even more displeased—

Li Yunxin knew this fellow was eagerly waiting for him to mention that night again, to say at least a few more words so he could defend himself—because refuting the "killed by a villain's sneak attack" line immediately would seem impatient, not the demeanor of a master.

But he wouldn't say it.

Instead, he rambled on about some meaningless things, only making the beggar more and more unhappy.

For example, he praised that Li Yunxin for being loyal, honest, handsome, brilliant, suave, and elegant.

Then he persuaded the beggar to drink a few more cups of wine.

It was evening now, and there was an oil lamp on the table. As Li Yunxin spoke, he propped his chin with his left hand and fiddled with the oil lamp with his right, making the flame flicker... as if following some hidden rhythm.

The light and shadow, the sound of the oil lamp sliding on the table, the rhythm of his speech, his gaze and actions—

Ultimately, it made the already irritable and unwilling beggar even more agitated.

Then Li Yunxin smiled and shook his head slightly. "...My lady said that, in fact, the person who killed his parents that night must have had great abilities—"

When this sentence reached the beggar's ears, the irritation in his heart seemed to be completely suppressed in that instant—What does this little maidservant know!

—It's the great demon Bai Yunxin who has some insight!

A brief sense of pleasure suddenly arose in his heart, and his mood became exceptionally cheerful due to the sudden, fleeting relief. The many things hidden in his heart, which he didn't know whether to say or not, were finally drawn out by the words "great abilities."

Therefore, he chuckled. "Nonsense! Let me tell you, I was the one who killed Li Yunxin's parents! Honorably winning from a thousand li away!"

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