Inner Demons

Chapter 77: Which One

Seeing Li Yunxin's expression, Old Daoist Liu realized that Brother Xin... was planning or plotting something again.

He didn't have great ambitions; he was just following Li Yunxin and getting caught up in many troubles. But even now, he didn't feel regret; instead, he slowly began to feel...

Hmm, it seemed quite good. Compared to his previous life, he felt much more comfortable.

So he relaxed, "Then what should I, this old Daoist, do?"

"You just eat and drink well," Li Yunxin said casually, "Today is just to show your face—by the way, are those people over there all Temple Keepers from around Weicheng? How's their incense burning?"

The old Daoist didn't know why Brother Xin was interested in such matters. But knowing he couldn't keep up with his wild thoughts, he said, "Actually, their incense is better than our temple's—better than ours even now."

"The people in Weicheng, after all, are more worldly and have more flexible minds; their hearts are not as devout. But further out into the countryside, the local customs are much simpler, and people are much more pious. Furthermore, there's only one temple for dozens of li there, so even though there are fewer people than in Weicheng, there are fewer temples. So, calculated this way... it's truly better than ours."

"That's not bad." Li Yunxin thought for a moment, "I've seen a few temples in the city; they're all mud sculptures. Many mud sculptures are just that, mud sculptures, with no divine status. Are those temples also mud sculptures? Why don't they use paintings?"

At this moment, Shi Kuizi walked over. Hearing his question, she was slightly startled.

She had thought the old Daoist was disciplining Li Yunxin. She had a good impression of the young Daoist disciple, thinking "although he caused trouble, he genuinely cares for his master," so she wanted to speak up for him.It turned out the two were discussing this matter.

But it didn't... sound like master and disciple talking at all.

But she couldn't help but advise them, "Later, when you go upstairs... endure what you can. You, child, are filial, but it will be difficult for your master. In the future, when you encounter trouble, you must not act like this."

Li Yunxin didn't care about Shi Kuizi's tone—it was a parental tone of earnest advice, full of goodwill. He just smiled and nodded, "Understood."

Shi Kuizi was surprised again.

This young Daoist priest... was a bit strange.

At this point, he became calm and composed again, almost like two different people from before.

What exactly was going on with him?

The manager of Qionghua Tower also walked over and sighed, "Daoist master, please come upstairs with me."

Originally, when the manager came down to confirm that the old Daoist's invitation was correct, those Daoist priests still felt honored—after all, they had similar backgrounds. But after what happened earlier, they all felt that Old Daoist Liu was likely to suffer. Therefore, when they looked at him now, they only sighed in their hearts.

But Old Daoist Liu's face didn't show much anxiety; instead, he walked ahead with the manager, talking to Li Yunxin.

He was talking about what had just happened.

"...Although most Temple Keepers are Artificer by trade, few can produce decent paintings. Most paint things to calm the mind and ward off evil, selling them to pilgrims, but their efficacy is limited. To paint portraits for the true gods of the temple like Brother Xin, that's unimaginable—if they had the ability to paint the spiritual energy of the divine status, they wouldn't need to be Temple Keepers..."

"Oh. How about I paint for them?"

"This... Brother Xin's ability, I trust." The old Daoist paused when he heard this, "But it's hard to say about others. That temple is their livelihood. Some statues indeed have divine status. If Brother Xin were to say now that he wanted them to destroy that divine status and replace it... perhaps a few people would trust me, this old Daoist. But others..."

"Understood." Li Yunxin nodded, "Then later, when we go upstairs, just answer whatever they ask. I'll handle everything."

The two had now passed through the main hall on the first floor with the manager and were heading to the second floor.

If Old Daoist Liu had come to Qionghua Tower as usual and seen the splendor inside, he would surely have observed it carefully to use as material for future conversation. But now, after hearing Li Yunxin's few words, he suddenly felt an inexplicable anxiety.

He couldn't say why he was anxious, but he just felt that something was wrong.

Brother Xin was still Brother Xin, but today... or rather, recently, Brother Xin was not quite right.

The old Daoist always felt that he might be about to do something big.

So big that... he might never see him again.

Stepping onto the last stair, the manager moved aside, "Masters, please enter. I will only guide you this far."

Old Daoist Liu then put away his thoughts and looked ahead.

The second floor of Qionghua Tower was extremely spacious—a complete large hall, supported only by two rows of columns in the middle. From Li Yunxin's impression, it greatly resembled the layout of the main hall in the imperial palace that he had seen in TV dramas—facing the staircase entrance, on the other side of the hall, was a giant gilded screen. In front of the screen was the main table.

This "table" naturally referred to a low table for kneeling.

The banquets at Qionghua Tower were actually quite ancient in style—individual servings. In fact, this was also the more formal banquet system of the Great Qing Dynasty. Each person had a low table in front of them, kneeling, and even the etiquette for several rounds of drinking was prescribed.

Old Daoist Liu's face instantly fell when he saw the scene. He had never seen such a grand arrangement, nor did he understand any "etiquette."

There were a total of thirteen tables in the hall—a main table at the center, and six tables on each side. Considering that the manager had said there were only twelve such invitations, it probably corresponded to those twelve people.

However, no one had taken their seats yet. Thirty to forty people in the hall were casually chatting in small groups, seemingly waiting for the main guests. This scene felt familiar to Li Yunxin—if each person held a glass of wine, he would feel it was even more like an "upper class" gathering from his world.

The people in the hall merely glanced at the two of them, sizing them up briefly, then turned away and ignored them. Li Yunxin smiled, "We won't pay attention to them either."

He knew that Xuan Chengzi's Daoist disciple must have gone in and said a few words. Among these people, just a few words would be enough to exclude the old Daoist and himself—they were not from the same circle to begin with.

Since they were ignored, he wasn't in a hurry. He and Old Daoist Liu walked to the window.

The Qionghua Tower had a window area with a railing similar to a pavilion, with seating and small tables. On the small tables were some cold food and fruits, yellow, green, red, and purple, arranged beautifully. The two sat down here to rest and watch the people in the hall talking animatedly.

Xuan Chengzi's young Daoist disciple kept looking for an opportunity to meet Li Yunxin's gaze, wanting to convey to him something like "just you wait, you'll see later." Unfortunately, Li Yunxin had long passed the age of bickering with teenagers psychologically. He merely briefly scanned the layout of the hall and then returned to his own thoughts.

He had initially thought Yin Pingzhi was playing a cunning trick on him. But after learning the significance of this invitation outside the building, he realized this wasn't something Yin Pingzhi could have pulled off.

So, the target of others wouldn't be Old Daoist Liu; it would only be himself.

Someone had brought him here—by misleading him through Yin Pingzhi, causing him to lower his guard.

This person... is very skilled.

Li Yunxin thought to himself, slowly looking into the crowd. Which one could it be?

To make him suffer a minor setback like this.