Inner Demons

Chapter 45: Mental Defense

Prefect Li made his decision, but the young servant A'Ze, who had been reprimanded by him, felt bad.

And when he felt bad... he thought of that young master.

These past few days, he had become good friends with that young master. Young Master Li must be a wealthy idler, and an extremely gentle and kind one at that. After meeting that night, they happened to bump into each other again the next day.

He had expected the other party to act reserved during the day, not deigning to speak with a servant like himself, but to his surprise, the other party warmly greeted him first, which deeply moved him for a long time. And talking with Young Master Li was truly comforting. Even though it was just casual conversation, polite words, when spoken by him, they seemed to carry a rhythmic charm—making him feel as if his heart was immersed in warm water.

In all these years, he had never had such an experience.

So he opened his heart and told him all his worries. After telling his worries, he also spoke of daily trivial matters—what his master ate, drank, and used today, he told him everything. Afterwards, he felt ashamed, thinking whether these stories bored the young master. But the young master only smiled gently and shook his head, saying that between friends, these trivial matters are precisely what they talk about.

Between friends... Young Master Li considered him a friend.

Filled with this emotion, A'Ze left the back courtyard through a small gate, turned into a small alley, and saw Young Master Li again, standing under a willow tree. He held a folding fan and gently tapped it against his palm. The sound of the fan ribs hitting his palm seemed to beat against A'Ze's heart, one by one.

As he listened, his steps unconsciously synchronized with the tapping sound—he himself didn't notice.

Recently, they met almost every day, right here, under this willow tree, just the two of them. Sometimes, a fleeting thought would cross his mind—it's like I'm bewitched. But such thoughts were quickly disregarded.He would still come to see Young Master Li.

"How is your master doing today?" Young Master Li asked him.

"Still... irritable," A'Ze said. "My master these days... gets irritable when he sees me."

His words carried a hint of grievance. After feeling wronged for a while alone, he looked up again: "Young master, do you have any advice for me?"

Young Master Li—Li Yunxin, smiled. He slightly lowered his voice: "When you go back today, tell your master—say it to him while he's eating—'Are you satisfied with this taste?'"

Sometimes, A'Ze would feel that some of Young Master Li's words had a strange tone, a strange inflection. But he just couldn't pinpoint what was strange about it. Even stranger was that once he heard it, he would learn it. And having learned it, he would involuntarily speak that way when talking to his master.

But he always thought... Young Master Li was such a paragon of beauty—his own tone sounding like his, it must be a good thing.

At that moment, he heard Young Master Li tap his palm with the folding fan again and whispered, "Go."

A'Ze then turned around as if in a trance, satisfied and taking strange steps, heading back.

Only when he disappeared around the street corner did Li Yunxin take a few steps back, lean against the willow tree, and let out a heavy breath.

Very tired. But...

Very stimulating.

It was his first time trying something like this—suggesting and guiding a person, and then through him, doing something he should have done himself—like remotely controlling a puppet's arm, and then through the puppet's arm, controlling another person to complete a meticulously carved painting. He had wanted to try this in his previous life, but never had such a good opportunity.

This time... this young servant delivered himself to his doorstep.

And the mental defenses of people in this era were truly like blank paper.

Having never experienced such rich and complex information bombardment, even a wicked person, from the perspective of their own specialized field... their mind was as simple as a blank sheet of paper.

And after spending these days thinking, Li Yunxin finally knew what Prefect Li was guarding against.

Rumor had it that the Prefectural Office had been struck by lightning one rainy night, causing most of the main hall to collapse and killing two of Prefect Li's beautiful concubines. But the strange thing about this was... even if someone was in the main hall, it should have been Master Li. What were two concubines doing in the main hall at night?

Only after asking A'Ze did he realize the peculiarity.

It was said that night, in the main hall, he heard human voices. It seemed to be the laughter of young men.

He also said that when the rain stopped, he went to the main hall to see...

There was blood. There were still embers in the half that hadn't collapsed. It was as if someone had made a fire.

After that night, Master Li went to the Shangqing Elixir Cauldron Sect and Lingxu Sword Sect outposts in Weicheng. The masters there usually didn't concern themselves with worldly affairs. But Master Li actually managed to persuade them—not only persuade them, but they even sent people to take a look and perform a ritual.

Haha... Master Li, he actually survived.

Everything made sense now.

That one.

So that Prefect Li... was almost nakedly exposed before him.

In these recent, five days.

Li Yunxin let out a soft breath, turned to look at the distant scenery. The weather was good today, but willow catkins had begun to float. His nose was a little itchy. So he waved his folding fan in front of him, one hand behind his back, the other gently fanning, and walked along the road.

There was a tailor shop on this road. Old Daoist Liu was naturally not very familiar with these things, and Li Yunxin didn't know about fabrics either. It was Miss Yin who helped him pick it out.

That girl had a stubborn streak—when everyone looked at the two people living in that temple with strange eyes, she was the one who ran into the door, her small face stern, asking Li Yunxin if he had an unclear relationship with that Miss Qiao.

Li Yunxin had no intention of indulging her girlish sentiments; he just said a few words cursorily and then walked away impatiently.

Who knew that Miss Yin, on the contrary, thought that her question had hurt Brother Xin's heart.

So she became their firm supporter.

This was also a good thing. So he entrusted this matter to her.

Li Yunxin walked to the shop entrance, where Miss Yin was already waiting. Perhaps all the girls in Weicheng were so bold—after these few days, Miss Yin was no longer hesitant to express her liking for Li Yunxin. Now, seeing Li Yunxin walking towards her, fanning himself in the spring breeze, she felt as if her heart was about to melt.

These past few days, her heart had throbbed particularly intensely. Miss Yin's family was well-off, so she was literate. Being literate, she also loved to read like men. Not classics, histories, philosophers, or anthologies, but only legends. The love stories of heroes and young ladies in those legends had long taken root in her heart.

Now, convinced that Brother Xin was wronged, inexplicably caught up in a lawsuit, and that her uncle at home wouldn't help him no matter how much she begged, she truly felt like the heroine in a legend.

Looking at her Brother Xin again, she only felt that the day of parting was slowly approaching—perhaps, as the legends said, they would only be able to hold hands and look at each other with tears in their eyes many years later, when both their temples were streaked with white—which made her feel even more sad.

She thought Brother Xin probably felt the same way—that's why he asked her to find a shop to make him a grey inner shirt. Not only grey, but also with a fish-scale pattern. She ran to so many shops, and only found it in this one.

Now, holding this garment, watching Li Yunxin walk towards her, she somehow felt a slight sting in her nose—her eyes reddened.