Inner Demons

Chapter 179: What Does It Have To Do With You?

When she said that, Li Yunxin didn't ask any more questions. He just looked at her seriously and said in a gentle tone, "Tell me when you remember."

Then, without looking at San Hua's reaction, he turned around to face the end of the alley where they came from and gently shook his large sleeve.

With a rustle in the wind, the formation prohibition he had set up was lifted. This section of the alley reconnected with the world, and they saw the figure at the mouth of the alley.

Li Yunxin knew that this figure was a clone. When cultivation reached the True Realm, the word "true" referred to the "Spiritual Soul turning into a true form."

A True Realm cultivator could split their Spiritual Soul and turn it into another self. It could think and perform magic. Everything was no different from the real self. The only difference was the strength of its ability and that it could not truly exist for a long time.

Cultivators naturally also included Painting Daoists. A True Realm Painting Daoist could use the Spiritual Souls of some Yin Spirits to paint a real body for them. This was another form of a Spiritual Soul turning into a true form.

When Li Yunxin first met Lady Sanhua, he told her that meeting a Painting Daoist was a blessing, and he was talking about this.

However, he was currently at the peak of the Manifestation Realm, and it was impossible for him to do this. A Manifestation Realm turns the false into the real. Once the painting is destroyed, the "real" body would also disappear. But Li Yunxin destroyed the painting that San Hua's body was attached to in that courtyard, yet her body remained.

This was a True Realm method.

The secrets and secrets of this were probably only known to two people in this world. Even he himself was still slowly exploring and experimenting.So when Yue Yunzi's clone at the other end of the alley saw the dragon woman behind Li Yunxin, his face showed a moment of blankness. It was genuine astonishment.

But that expression was quickly retracted. The person who came did not walk forward. He just asked from the other end of the alley, "You killed them."

His voice sounded a little hollow in the alley, and the tone at the end was low. It was not a question, but a statement of fact.

"I killed them," Li Yunxin replied.

"Why did you set up a prohibition just now? I didn't personally see you kill them."

Li Yunxin took a step forward, leaned his body slightly forward, and raised his chin slightly, revealing an unruly and cold smile on his face. "Do I need to report to you for my actions?"

Yue Yunzi's clone, or rather Yue Yunzi, was silent for a while. His eyes quickly swept over the dragon woman behind Li Yunxin and said, "I don't want any mistakes."

Compared to Li Yunxin's tone just now, this sentence was an obvious sign of weakness. It was completely different from when he appeared that night. It seemed that the Dragon Clan who had suddenly appeared behind Li Yunxin made him extremely uneasy and wary.

Because for thousands of years, there had only been ten Dragon Clans in this world.

The True Dragon and its nine sons.

Now, an eleventh one had appeared. Although there were many ways in this world to create something that "looks like a Dragon Clan," the "dragon woman" appeared by "Yazi's" side. Yue Yunzi would not think it was a joke.

"Yazi" seemed very satisfied with Yue Yunzi's submissive tone and sneered a few times. "Hmph. I precisely don't want any mistakes, so I cut off their fate so that their souls won't escape. Do you think it's easy for me to do this? And I won't use some clever Talisman like you little people."

"Cutting off fate—one of Dragon's Son Yazi's innate abilities."

Yue Yunzi immediately etched this new discovery firmly in his mind.

Then he said, "Then the souls—"

"I naturally scattered them," Li Yunxin said impatiently, squinting his eyes. "Didn't you see that stupid Black Yama King come and go just now?"

Yue Yunzi then stopped talking and sized Li Yunxin up and down.

It should be the truth. Those with high cultivation were not unable to avoid the Yama King who collected souls and keep their souls. But there was nothing in this world that could hide a soul.

He didn't see the souls of the two Taoist priests... so they were indeed scattered.

He acquiesced to this matter, but he didn't leave. He looked at Li Yunxin with an uncertain expression.

Li Yunxin then became impatient again. "Why aren't you leaving? What are you doing?"

Yue Yunzi slowly raised his hand and pointed at the dragon woman behind Li Yunxin. "I've never seen her. And I've never heard of her."

"Hmph. Princess Tongtian, you naturally haven't heard of her." Li Yunxin looked at Yue Yunzi with disdain. "She is my daughter. You rotten Taoist priests are afraid of this and that. Do you have any sons or daughters? Hahahahahaha!"

"Cultivators are not forbidden from marrying. The Zhi Youzi and Ziguzi you killed just now were both children born from a cultivator marriage." Yue Yunzi explained calmly to buy himself two breaths of time to think. "She is a dragon woman? Lord Tongtian's daughter? Born with... whom? I have never heard of this before."

Li Yunxin was silent for a moment, then suddenly shook his head, a look of disappointment and contempt on his face. "Hmph. Just a person. Named something like Xi Junyu. She looked interesting at the time, but who knew she would die in just a few moves? After she died, she crawled out of her body—"

"Hehe. So I'll call her Xiwana. Don't you think I didn't disappoint that woman?" He seemed to be getting happier as he spoke. "Oh, those idiots only know how to be afraid and slander me. If they knew about this, hahahaha, wouldn't it also be a good story? Hmm?"

Ravaging an ordinary woman and making her die was not a "good story." But Yue Yunzi didn't plan to say that. Instead, his expression finally relaxed, and he revealed a smile. "It is a good story. So, I, together with Lord Tongtian, are plotting a great matter. Now that I have met my niece, it would be rude not to show respect."

"I have a Water-Parting Thorn here that is most suitable for a girl. Niece, take it!"

Yue Yunzi shouted in a low voice. There was no movement, but an iron cone wrapped in a faint green light went straight for San Hua. This iron cone, which Yue Yunzi called the Water-Parting Thorn, was extremely slow. Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, it was a "fast shot," but to Li Yunxin, as long as he wanted to, he could stop it with a raise of his hand.

However, he glanced at it and did not stop it.

Instead, San Hua raised her hand, grabbed the iron cone, and then said "oh."

Sparks sputtered from her palm and lasted for one breath before stopping. After she held the iron cone in her palm, it was still pushing forward, but it was unable to break through the hard scales on the dragon woman's palm.

But when she let go, there was nothing in her palm.

The iron cone turned into a wisp of green smoke and dissipated.

Yue Yunzi's face became a little gloomy. Where was that an iron cone or a Water-Parting Thorn? His current body was a true form made from a part of his Spiritual Soul, so he would not carry any magical artifacts with him.

He was just testing her.

But Yazi seemed not to be afraid of his test. And that dragon woman... took his Mind Thorn with her bare hands. Although it was a small trick, for him at the Master Realm, it was just a casual strike.

But other than the Dragon Clan, who were known for their physically strong bodies even among demons, there were not many demons who could take a "casual strike" from a Master Realm cultivator when they were at the Illusory Realm.

This was an incredible thing.

An eleventh Dragon Clan had appeared. The seriousness of this matter was comparable to Emperor Li becoming a Ghost Emperor, from a long-term perspective.

The Dragon Clan had existed for so long, but they had never heard of a third generation being born!

Yue Yunzi let out a light breath. "Good, good, good. Congratulations, Lord Tongtian."

After saying that, he turned and left.

As soon as he left, Li Yunxin, as if he had just seen off an unremarkable guest, turned to look at Ying Jueran and Meng'e and spread his hands. "Do you know you're in big trouble now?"

The two people who were still sitting in the shadows by the wall looked at Li Yunxin without saying anything, not knowing what to say.

It was more than just big trouble. It was so big that they no longer knew what kind of trouble it was.

It was like a person walking on the road. As soon as he turned a corner, he suddenly saw mountains collapsing, the sea roaring, and the world turning upside down. When he looked back, he found that his retreat was also gone. What else could he do besides silently wait for his fate?

Li Yunxin then walked to the two of them and squatted down. He first looked at Meng'e.

"The best way was to kill you to silence you," he said to Meng'e. "Unfortunately, you are an old friend of an old friend of mine. If I kill you, he will be in a mood. So you can't die."

He then turned to look at Ying Jueran. "The first time I saw you at the Qiao Family, I found you interesting. I didn't expect you to still be so interesting after so long. You are not a child, nor are you a nobleman who is new to the world. You can still be interesting after all you've been through, so you are a truly wonderful person. I can't bear to kill you."

The two martial artists from the world cautiously let out a sigh of relief, but their hearts were not at ease.

There were too many people in the world who would say witty things with a smile and then turn around and tear people into pieces. And whether they knew it or not, the handsome young man in front of them was indeed skilled at this.

So, they still only stared at Li Yunxin's eyes. But they couldn't look directly at them. That would be seen as a provocation. So, they could only stare at his throat.

After a while, they found that his skin was incredibly smooth. It didn't even have the pores and skin texture of a human. It was just a layer of smooth and tight skin.

He was indeed... a demon. So, they quickly looked away and only looked at his clothes.

Li Yunxin thought for a while and sighed. "Tell me. You've been with those two idiots for a few days, so you must have seen Liu Gongzan, right? Other people saw that he had become younger and didn't dare to recognize him, but you must have seen him when he was young. Old Meng, since you knew he was in the Divine Dragon Cult, why did you still come to the Divine Dragon Cult to cause trouble?"

Meng'e had always been very silent. But when Li Yunxin mentioned Old Daoist Liu to him, his face finally became lively. He looked at Ying Jueran.

The latter frowned and nodded. He then quickly glanced at Li Yunxin.

Meng'e then spoke, his voice very hoarse. "Uh, this... it's actually... sigh. I did know that my old friend was... in your Cult. But I thought, I thought, I thought..."

Li Yunxin smiled kindly and benevolently. "Don't have any mental burdens. Speak boldly. In front of me, there is no such thing as being convicted for your words."

Meng'e looked at his expression, as if he had made up his mind. "Sigh. To be honest, I originally wanted to break up the Divine Dragon Cult and then trick my old friend away and trick him into the mountains. Our fort really needs a strategist who can be in charge..."

Li Yunxin clapped his hands. "Oh, you even left a way out. Which fort? What kind of strategist do you need? Alright, you talk about this."

He then pointed at Ying Jueran.

In the eyes of the two martial artists from the world, Li Yunxin, the "people" behind him who didn't speak but stared at them with a creepy look, the two cultivators just now, and the person who appeared and then left, were all the same kind of people.

Immortals and demons.

No matter what kind of struggle there was between them, or who was stronger or weaker, they were all terrifyingly strong and far beyond their comprehension.

But those two Taoist priests only casually asked him some questions and were not genuinely interested. But the person in front of them...

Ying Jueran had been in the world for so long, and he knew that he seemed to be genuinely interested.

As soon as he knew this, he was suddenly not so afraid. It was as if his fear had reached an extreme point, and a certain string in his heart had snapped. Not only was he not afraid, but he also felt that...

Perhaps he could seize something!

The other party was a person who did not belong to this world. The world he was in was too mysterious and too divine. And as long as he was allowed to reach out and casually grab something from that world, he might be able to get something that would make everyone in this world green with envy!

So, he looked at Li Yunxin's expression and said in a deep voice, "To be honest, Immortal Master. The 'fort' he is talking about refers to the 'Heizhai Fort.' The Heizhai Fort is on Chuyun Mountain. Chuyun Mountain is three hundred li east of Weicheng, and it is separated from Yeyuan Mountain by—"

"Get to the point," Li Yunxin interrupted him. "No one has had dinner yet. Tell me what kind of organization your Heizhai Fort is? Do you have any tendencies toward criminal activity?"

"Does Immortal Master mean... um... what does our Heizhai Fort mainly do?" Ying Jueran asked tentatively.

Li Yunxin clapped his palm with his fan, turned back to the five demons, and said in a disappointed tone, "Look, look. I like people who can understand what I'm saying. How much effort does it take to talk to you? Learn well."

Having received his praise, Ying Jueran slightly sighed in relief. "Our Heizhai Fort. We are actually mainly... um... Immortal Master, you are not of this world, so you may not understand the suffering of the common people. But this Great Qing Dynasty, hmph, is about to end."

"Good. I like this tone," Li Yunxin praised. "So you're saying your Heizhai Fort is a criminal organization that plans to cause trouble. And the scale is quite large. You are already starting to consider personnel issues. So, are you planning to bring Liu Gongzan up the mountain and make a big fuss? Are you planning to kill Emperor Qing and become the emperor yourself?"

Ying Jueran was a little stunned. He thought about it for a while before saying, "Ah... this, this, Immortal Master... our Heizhai Fort only plans to act on behalf of heaven. You know that now..."

"How many people are on the mountain now?" Li Yunxin ignored him.

"...Two hundred people."

"Good. How long have you been doing this? Two hundred desperados? Or are there old and young?"

"Two hundred people who can fight. A thousand old and weak women and children... It has been... um, more than three years since I started planning this matter."

Li Yunxin stood up, took two steps back, and let out a long breath.

He stared at Ying Jueran for a while, gave him a thumbs up, and exclaimed, "You are a talent, you know that?! You've gathered more than a thousand people to rebel in a place like the heartland of the Great Qing Dynasty, three hundred li from Weicheng, where people won't starve to death if they endure it?!"

Ying Jueran quickly waved his hand. "No, no, Immortal Master, I am just acting on behalf of—"

"Act on behalf of your sister?" Li Yunxin seemed to get angry. He glared at him and pointed at him one by one. "Young, superficial, and naive! You say the Great Qing Dynasty is about to end? I'm asking you, where do you see that it's about to end? Do you think the number of landless farmers has increased, and business in the city is not good?"

"I don't need you to tell me that. If the Qiao Family wasn't dirt poor, why would the family head have to go out on a caravan and gamble all their assets on that one trip?"

"Those small escort agencies in Weicheng were also set up. But what was the reason? Was it because they themselves wanted to go on an escort mission to Li Kingdom? It was because the business of the small escort agencies in the country was no longer sustainable."

"I've been in Weicheng for so long, and I know that. But you, with your simple feudal commercial mindset, think that it's about to end. Teacher Li is telling you now that it's called mergers!"

"Land mergers, business mergers, resources concentrated in the hands of the privileged class, and civilian capital shrinking more and more. This is about to end, but you won't live to see it. The privileged group will at least extend the Great Qing Dynasty's life by fifty years after the mergers are completed, and this merger process will take another fifty years!"

"So, I'm telling you, if you keep thinking that the Great Qing Dynasty is about to end and then, when the time comes and there are refugees everywhere, you can raise your flag to rebel, you'll be waiting for a hundred years."

"But if you don't even have such a long-term, wrong judgment and you just feel that some people can't make a living and have gathered together to make their lives better, Comrade Ying Jueran, you have to remember one thing."

"As an individual, people may have a sense of propriety, integrity, and shame, and they know how to be grateful. But once people become a group, they have absolutely no sense of shame or morality. They will become nakedly profit-driven animals. The group infinitely magnifies their nature."

"A country composed of groups will fight for land. If they can't win, they will sit down and talk. If they lose, they will beg for mercy and act like a grandson. Once there is a benefit to be had, they will shake hands and make peace even if the other party broke into their house and killed millions of people decades ago. This is a group of people, where profit is supreme, and individual morality does not exist at all."

"Now they are not living well and have no food, and they are following you to live well and eat. In the future, when you really make them live well and eat their fill, they will reach out and ask for more. You can't give it to them? Goodbye, we're going down the mountain. No one will remember your kindness."

"If you want them to keep following you, you must brainwash them, give them a program, and give them a distant but possible hope. A group of people followed you up the mountain and did some banditry, and then you tell them that you don't want to rebel. What should they do in the future? What about their sense of belonging? Their collective honor?"

"So, don't tell me about acting on behalf of heaven. You are going to rebel." Li Yunxin kicked him. "Now get up and go out of the city with this Old Meng immediately. Go back and bring people here. If you don't, I will either report you to the government or personally go and demolish your place. Go, go, go, now!"

The kick made Ying Jueran wince, feeling like his bones were about to break. He quickly leaned on the wall and stood up.

He really didn't know what to say.

From the time he spoke to him until now, it had only been...

A quarter of an hour.

The two people stood up and looked at each other. Li Yunxin was still pretending to kick them and chase them away, while the two of them still wanted to say something.

Because of one sentence from the "Immortal Master," they were to abandon their fort and bring people to Weicheng?

Three hundred li!

It would take an ordinary person more than half a month to move from one end of an alley to the other!

How could such a big matter be so childish... for him to unilaterally... make the decision?

But Li Yunxin was already impatient with their dawdling. He waved his sleeve, and the two of them were sent two or three streets away by a gust of demonic wind. They heard him say sinisterly in the wind, "Think about what I said carefully."

They didn't know whether this was a blessing or a curse.

After the small alley finally became quiet, Li Yunxin was silent for a while and put away his relaxed tone from when he was talking to Ying Jueran. He looked at the five demons behind him. "Yue Yunzi is plotting how to deal with me. In his eyes, this matter today is just the first step for me to enter the game."

"But to me, the war has already begun. You have already received far more things from me than other demons. Now is the time for you to repay me."

His gaze swept over the five demons one by one, and he said, "I hope that after this war is over, at least one of you will still be alive."

"Now you need to know some things."

...

...

The next day.

On the second day of what Li Yunxin called the "war has already begun," it seemed that no one except him could feel the tension. It was even more relaxed than the past few days.

Because at least until all the Taoist priests in Weicheng died, Yue Yunzi was cooperating with the Divine Dragon Cult's actions.

The Taoxi Road was still under construction. But it seemed that in return for him killing the two Daoist Orthodoxy cultivators last night, the Yu Family sent people to say that they "can build an official canal in the village where the white beans are grown in the southeast of the city."

Building an irrigation system, opening mountains, and building bridges and roads were one of the first demands that Li Yunxin had made. But after the Yu Family's people went to see a certain person in the Shangqing Elixir Cauldron Sect's Weicheng station, this matter was put on hold.

Now, it was restarted.

Naturally, it was said that because the Divine Dragon Cult persuaded people to be kind, so-and-so, so-and-so, and so-and-so funded a certain amount and decided to build an official canal for the bean farmers.

The Divine Dragon Cult's cult leader had to show up.

On that day, a group of people stood by the bean field that Li Yunxin and Old Daoist Liu had visited together.

At least in the eyes of the nobles who were used to the magnificent scenery of Weicheng, this was a boring and dull matter.

The scorching sun was overhead, and the cicadas were buzzing for their lives. The muddy water that had been diverted from the rice fields was lying in pools in the muddy small canal. Even toads were not willing to roll around here.

Three wealthy merchants in thin silk clothes were gathered around Li Yunxin on the embankment. Behind them was a team of listless laborers who were just waiting for this to be over so they could hurry up and get to work or cool off. However, the faces of the farmers from the village who were standing by the small path were radiating a strange glow. They did not mention the three merchants who had paid for the canal at all. They just stared at Li Yunxin and muttered some unclear words, probably thanking him or praising him.

The three wealthy merchants felt even more bored. But they couldn't turn and leave. Because on the surface, they were the ones who had paid, but they were all shopkeepers under the Yu Manor and were only there to cover up and keep up appearances.

So, no matter how impatient they were, they knew that this Divine Dragon Cult's cult leader was a favorite of the Yu Family's Master. Even if they were asked to jump into the field to help water it, they had to grit their teeth, pull in their stomachs, hold their breath, and do it.

Now, this Divine Dragon Cult's cult leader was in high spirits.

He first said a few words to the farmers from the village.

He started with "I'll say a little something first" and "I'll say another little something."

In between, he inserted things like "I'll add another sentence" and "there are three more points."

The ending was a long and terrifying "I'll say a few last words" and "one last point," and so on.

Finally, even the farmers, who were originally grateful, were wiping their sweat and looking up at the sun to see where it was.

When he finally finished his long speech, he announced that he would take the first shovel.

Unfortunately, the Divine Dragon Cult's cult leader... was a great nobleman.

He could say nice things, was handsome, and had a good heart.

But even so, he didn't know how to build a canal, did he?

He first asked where to start building, and the wealthy merchants behind him, as if they had been pardoned, rushed the laborers to answer.

Then the cult leader pretended to do some calculations with his fingers, frowned, and said that the direction was not right.

An official canal was for building a canal. Since it was so long and had long-flowing water, it contained dragon energy. If the direction of the dragon energy was not right, it might anger the Vast Sea Chiwen Dragon Crown Prince, which would be a terrible thing.

The bean farmers were scared and did not dare to say a word. The three wealthy merchants didn't listen at all and just wiped their sweat. The laborers listened, but they were the ones who had built the canal for the rice fields before, and they knew that this was pure nonsense.

But secretly, some quick-witted people guessed the Divine Dragon Cult's cult leader's thoughts. He just wanted to awe the bean farmers.

Those bean farmers were dirt poor. If you gave them benefits, they would be agreeable. If you didn't, they would turn on you. They were genuine troublemakers. It seemed that this young Divine Dragon Cult's cult leader wanted to make those bean farmers feel that he was truly unfathomable, so he said some alarmist words to scare them.

After scaring the troublemakers, the Divine Dragon Cult could then develop followers here. Since they had already received the Divine Dragon Cult's benefits and remembered that unfathomable cult leader, they would surely believe him.

So, the laborers also kept quiet and let the cult leader act crazy.

They saw that the cult leader took a shovel from an old Taoist who was with him. It was an iron shovel.

Then, without caring about the scorching sun or the dirt in the field, he walked back and forth, muttering something. He dug a shovel on an embankment. Then he straightened his back and looked at the crowd happily, waving. "Come, come, Liu Yuanwai, take the second shovel. Don't forget the person who dug the canal when you eat the beans. Let the villagers remember your kindness as well."

The group of troublemakers on the side clapped their hands and cheered, foolishly happy. The Liu Yuanwai who was called out was stunned. Under the gleeful gazes of the other two, he walked over with a forced smile. But the Divine Dragon Cult's cult leader did not hand the shovel to him. Instead, he said something like, "If I, the cult leader, do not personally do the first canal, the Dragon King will blame me..." Then the two of them worked together and dug the second shovel.

They thought that the matter would end here.

Who knew that this madman... would call everyone over, one by one, to dig with him!

The three wealthy merchants, more than fifty skilled laborers, the people who came to help, and the more than two hundred bean farmers who were watching the show. This madman called all of them over and dug a shovel with each and every one of them!

At first, some people planned to watch the show to see how long he could last with such a toss.

But after watching for an hour, no one could laugh anymore.

Those giggling bean farmers also stopped laughing. At first, they found it interesting and felt satisfied watching the cult leader force the people from Weicheng to do rough work. Later, after dozens of people had gone, they felt very impressed with this cult leader. Because he had really accompanied them and dug for so long, shovel by shovel. In the end, that admiration had turned into fear...

This cult leader truly had "divine power"...

He had already dug out half a li of land. Although it was crooked... the cult leader didn't even sweat a single drop and didn't look tired.

One shovel was one foot deep. He was using all his strength.

When the last person also let go of the shovel, Li Yunxin finally straightened his back. The hem of his white robe and his pant legs were covered in mud. He didn't look graceful at all. However, he smiled slightly, stuck the shovel into the ground on the side, spread his hands, and said loudly, "This canal we dug is a testament to the Divine Dragon Cult's relationship with the villagers. I think we'll call it the Divine Dragon Canal."

"In the future, may the clean water in this canal flow forever, and our Divine Dragon Cult will protect the village. What do you say?"

The simple, or perhaps troublesome, bean farmers had long been won over by this Divine Dragon Cult's cult leader. They shouted "good, good, good" in a chorus. Only then was Li Yunxin satisfied and said, "Then I will carry the first bucket of water."

When the three wealthy merchants heard this, they felt that they could no longer stand still.

Thus, from noon until the evening when the sky was full of red clouds, the people finally dispersed. The so-called "Divine Dragon Canal" was filled with glistening water, and it was indeed beautiful... but it was completely not on the waterway of the official canal.

But the bean farmers, who were full of satisfaction and admiration, still said that they wanted to keep it. The Divine Dragon Cult's cult leader was the first "nobleman" they had ever seen who knew how to farm.

In the evening, when Yue Yunzi learned about this, he frowned and was silent for a long time.

He wanted to know what Li Yunxin was planning.

It would absolutely not be... that simple.

Reasons like awing them, making the bean farmers feel that he was special, and being grateful were what stupid little people would think. To get awe and respect, "doing it yourself" and "going deep into the common people" were always the stupidest methods.

That would only make people feel, "Oh, so that's all there is to it."

A true nobleman only needed to be always high and mighty, and awe and respect would be given to him with both hands.

Yazi would not do such a meaningless and stupid thing... What was he really trying to do?