Inner Demons

Chapter 5: Night of Slaughter

Xing Li was stunned for a long while. The blade he swung through the air almost strained his arm, and even now, his fingers were trembling slightly, unable to regain strength for a long time.

He had slashed at the person with desperate force, but what he hit was a piece of paper.

The four bailiffs had never seen such a thing—in fact, Taoist priests could also create such illusions. But Taoist priests throughout the world claimed to be disciples of the Book Saint, so why would they idly perform such tricks? Moreover, in a small place like Qinghe County, high-level Taoist priests were not common.

The sudden surge of the figure and the blue light when the figure disappeared left them dumbfounded. At least it looked very much like divine means. Therefore, only at this moment did the bailiffs realize that the Artificer had pretended to trick them and then ran away.

A surge of anger rose in Xing Li's heart. This anger stemmed from being deceived and being understood.

"Chase!" He grabbed his steel blade and strode out.

But the bailiffs hesitated: "Chief... that man really knows demonic arts!"

Xing Li spat on the ground covered with dry leaves without looking back: "If he really knew any demonic arts, he would have killed us already! This is called Illusion Technique! If he escapes tonight, how will you explain to the County Magistrate?!"

Actually, what he was thinking about now was not entirely the County Magistrate issue. He wanted to catch that kid even more and break his limbs—how dared he, how dared he use his most painful and grievous matter as bait, giving him a little hope and then immediately shattering it?!

The chase lasted for half an hour. The four bailiffs might not have been very experienced, but Xing Li was an old constable. He used to be a hunter and was later appreciated by County Magistrate Shen Zhimu, thus becoming an official.Therefore, the tracks left by Li Yunxin were crystal clear to him, and he also knew that he was injured, so he should have been able to catch him quickly. But things turned out unexpectedly; in half an hour, the young man actually led them in circles.

He stayed in this forest area, never escaping further, seemingly lost.

Logically, a young man who had only eaten one full meal in three or four days and had an injured arm shouldn't have such stamina—how could he persist for so long under the pursuit of five strong adult men? At this point, Xing Li began to doubt the truthfulness of his stated background—from a mountain village in Ding Province—wondering if there was something fishy about it.

His desire to catch that fellow grew more urgent, so he decided to split into three groups. Four constables would form two groups, and he would go alone. Since the young man was lost and couldn't get out, one group would surely catch him.

This decision was carried out. Because the bailiffs also realized that since the young man had done nothing for half an hour, he was probably just as Captain Xing said—only capable of some Illusion Techniques.

So, in the dark night, they split up.

About a quarter of an hour later, Xing Li realized his decision was correct.

A cry of pain came from the west. It was very short, ending abruptly. The four constables were all his trusted men, familiar with each other's habits. He knew that the miserable cry did not belong to any of them.

They caught him.

He snorted coldly and rushed towards the source of the cry. When he traversed the dense forest, bushes, and wild grass and arrived there, he finally sneered.

Li Yunxin seemed to have been knocked to the ground, now leaning against a tree that a man could embrace, clutching his left arm.

The four constables surrounded him, holding short staffs at eyebrow height.

Xing Li took a deep breath, gripped his blade, and walked over.

The young man was not as relaxed as he had thought before. Now he was panting heavily, his chest heaving like bellows, clearly on the verge of exhaustion.

Xing Li's face was grim, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "Run. Where can you run to?"

Li Yunxin, clutching his arm, leaned his head against the tree trunk and said weakly, "You seem pretty angry."

"You dare to deceive me, you little bastard."

Li Yunxin scoffed shamelessly: "Are you crazy? I didn't provoke you, didn't offend you. I just passed by your precious territory and was arrested by you, and then you wanted to kill me to take the blame. It has nothing to do with me from beginning to end—now because I won't meekly let you kill me, you're getting your feelings hurt? Do you think the whole world is your mother?"

Xing Li didn't understand one of his words, but he knew it wasn't a good thing. But he didn't want to talk to him anymore, afraid that the night would be long and full of dreams. This young man might not have other abilities, his real talent was probably in his mouth. So Xing Li silently took a step forward with his blade drawn and raised his hand to chop down.

At that moment, the young man suddenly shouted, "You finally came!"

Xing Li noticed his gaze was looking behind him. His heart tightened, and he immediately realized the young man's clumsy trick—just bluffing to make him turn around. Therefore, the blade only hesitated for a moment before still slashing down.

But that moment of hesitation ultimately gave Li Yunxin time to react. He tilted his head, and the blade struck the tree trunk.

Xing Li snorted coldly, drew his blade, and slashed again.

Then he heard the sound of something tearing flesh, and the sound of a heavy sack hitting the ground.

A warning flashed through his mind, and he immediately turned and jumped diagonally, seeing the scene behind him.

A strong smell of blood permeated the air. The four people behind him were all on the ground. Their bodies were disfigured, either with their heads detached or their torsos torn in half. Blood gushed out like a spring, quickly soaking a large area of the ground.

It was only... an instant.

This was not something a human could do.

Immense fear seized his heart. He had to force himself not to close his eyes, to look up, to concentrate, to have the courage to look at the figure standing not far away.

In the night, he could see a handsome face, like polished jade. He wore a large cloud-patterned robe, standing with his hands behind his back. His clothes swayed slightly in the night wind, untainted by a trace of blood.

Xing Li recognized this face. He would never forget it in this lifetime.

The owner of this face had, five years ago, eaten his wife and child in front of him, then flicked his sleeve and vanished into the clouds.

It was that demon...

The nightmare had come true, and sweat poured down like rain. His underclothes were soaked in an instant. The scenes of the past kept flashing in his mind, his mind a chaotic mess. Xing Li's eyes widened, and his throat rattled, but the instinct for survival eventually took over. He immediately crouched down and darted beside Li Yunxin, pressing his blade against his neck.

"Don't... come closer," he said hoarsely. "Don't come closer, if you do, I'll kill him, I'll kill him!"

Young Master Nine stood there, truly unmoving, looking at Xing Li with interest, then at Li Yunxin. Then he raised a hand and pointed at the young man: "Did you cause this?"

"I had no choice," Li Yun said with a wry smile, spreading his hands. "Otherwise, I would have died. I don't even have the strength to move right now."

"Besides, aren't we friends?"

"Friends?" Young Master Nine laughed strangely, "What's that?"

"It's like... meeting on a rainy night, you saved my life, and we had a pleasant conversation. Then tonight, I remembered you again, and although we're still not very familiar, I thought perhaps you could help me, so I called you. "Li Yunxin ignored Xing Li's trembling hand beside him, his eyes filled with a faint smile as he said, "Even though I was afraid you might eat me, I was still willing to trust you. That's what friends are."

Young Master Nine thought for a moment, then laughed in the night wind: "It seems it was right not to eat you. You really are an interesting little thing."

Li Yunxin grinned. He let out a long sigh of relief in his heart.

He finally arrived.

The Great Dao is formless, and all things have spirits. An Artificer paints all things in heaven and earth, integrating that bit of spiritual energy into the painting. This spiritual energy, to some existences, should be extremely sensitive. He had tried to paint Young Master Nine before, thereby borrowing a bit of his spiritual energy.

Whether he was human or demon, since he seemed to possess great supernatural powers, he must be extremely sensitive. His father had told him these things, but doing it tonight for the first time, he had actually done it correctly.

As the two of them spoke, Xing Li was left standing on the side. He naturally felt the situation was not good and somewhat strange. So he hardened his heart and pressed his steel blade, drawing a bloody line on Li Yunxin's neck: "You're in cahoots... I really wasn't wrong..."

Li Yunxin frowned slightly and looked at him: "What a disgusting thing to say. You, are you ruthless or a coward? The enemy who killed your wife and child is right in front of you, and you're arguing with me. You can endure, you're really hard on yourself. So you're taking your anger out on me, and your little heart can't take it after I played a trick on you, so you're furious."

He slapped the ground and shouted, "Think of your wife and children! Dead! Right in front of you! Even if you keep cowering like a dog tonight, you won't survive! If you kill me—if you kill me, you'll still die! When your wife and son died, you just watched, and even today you haven't improved and still want to drag someone down with you?! You're going to die today anyway! Do you want to die like a dog, or do you want to be a man and try to swing your blade? Your wife and son are watching!"

Xing Li's breathing grew heavier, and the blade in his hand trembled.

Young Master Nine tilted his head, seemingly growing more interested.

"Are you scared now? Are you scared? Are you very scared? Are you even more scared when you think you might die? Are you still thinking of escaping, running, saving your life? I'm telling you, no chance today! You're dead! If you have the guts, right now, take a deep breath, yes, just like that, take a deep breath, and then don't think about anything else, stand up and charge and kill kill kill kill—go now, one, two, three! Go!"

"I'll kill you—!!"

Xing Li sprang up from beside Li Yunxin like a red-eyed wolf.

As Li Yunxin counted to three, Xing Li's blade swung towards Young Master Nine.

There was a squelching sound. Xing Li's head shot into the sky.