Inner Demons

Chapter 93: Locust Tree

After one cup of wine, they all put them down again, saying nothing.

Li Yunxin looked at them and sighed sadly: "Alright. You're not happy with me here. Then I'll go—Old Liu, take care of them, I'm going home first."

After he finished speaking, he turned and leisurely went downstairs.

It was a full quarter of an hour after he left that the wild Taoist priests exchanged glances, hardly believing that it had ended like this.

Old Daoist Liu then smiled somewhat awkwardly: "Actually... well... Brother Xin is a very kind person..."

Then, because of that sentence, everyone continued to exchange glances.

...

...

It was already night.

Although the rain had stopped, it was around eight or nine in the evening. In his previous world, this would have been a good time for unrestrained enjoyment, but in Weicheng, it was naturally time to sleep soundly.Thus, the bluestone streets, washed by the heavy rain, gleamed under the moonlight but were empty. The shaded green trees and flower bushes on both sides of the street, due to the moisture, exuded a rich yet fresh scent of vegetation.

He stood on the street and took a deep breath, feeling completely permeated by the sweet aroma.

This made him feel comfortable.

Comfort coexisted with pain.

In fact, from the first day he hung the painting in the temple, he had never again experienced the feeling of "no pain." The constant pain tormented him, making his mood steadily worse. Li Yunxin knew that this slow and irresistible change would ultimately lead to more problems.

For example, the previous arrangement was not very subtle—pain affected his thinking.

However, fortunately, Liu Ling and Young Master Nine both had obvious weaknesses, and he could play with their emotions and thoughts.

But he couldn't expect everyone he met in the future to be like this. Liu Ling was already an anomaly—a cultivator at the peak of the Manifestation Realm should not have such obvious character flaws, yet she did. One could only understand it as genius having its imperfections, and perfect people being impossible.

So he needed to solve the problem.

Playing with minds couldn't solve everything, at least for people at the level of the Two Saints, who could enter the Supreme Indifference realm and ascend to heaven at any time, he wouldn't be given a chance to break through their Mental Defense.

Moreover, he also realized that some entity had performed powerful psychological intervention on Liu Ling.

Perhaps it was some other situation, perhaps it was a person.

If it was a person, it was a quite terrifying person—just like himself, extremely dangerous.

He must... truly become powerful.

At least become a true peak Manifestation Realm, and cross this Delusion Heart Tribulation. This tribulation had already clearly affected him—his Spiritual Power had become quite unstable, and his thoughts were more prone to impulsiveness.

He paced on the damp street, pondering problems, feeling the pain as the incense vows poured into his Snow Mountain Qi Sea. Slowly, he passed through a small alley and saw that most of the houses had extinguished their lights. In the few houses where the lights were still on, if one listened carefully, one could hear the sound of reading.

He even saw a shop that had just closed, with an assistant putting up the door panels. The assistant looked at him, was slightly stunned, then smiled at him.

He smiled back at the assistant and asked, "Got any food?"

His appearance and demeanor were infectious. The assistant inexplicably felt a couple of points of goodwill, thought for a moment, and said, "There is some, but it's cold."

Li Yunxin tossed a small piece of silver. "It's fine."

The assistant happily took it, thanked him repeatedly, and turned to enter the door. Not long after, he came out with two oil-paper packages. One package contained two millet cakes, and the other contained some cold mixed julienned vegetables and some shredded chicken.

Li Yunxin took them, put the julienned vegetables and chicken in the cakes, took a bite, and found the taste quite good.

He had eaten lunch, and it was now eight or nine in the evening, so he was already hungry.

The assistant looked on, curious: "What kind of way is this to eat?"

"A hamburger," Li Yunxin said, "You shouldn't be without Roujiamo here. Haven't seen it?"

"Never seen it."

"Alright." He smiled and walked forward.

He then heard the assistant say from behind him, "The Liu Family's steward just came to buy things—he should still be on his way. You... well, you'll probably run into him."

Li Yunxin was startled and turned to ask, "Hmm?"

The assistant looked him over, blinked, and then pointed ahead: "...Aren't you a Taoist priest from the Liu Family?"

Li Yunxin looked back in the direction the assistant pointed, thought for a moment, and understood. He smiled and said thanks, then turned and continued walking.

The direction the assistant pointed should be the Liu Family. There were lights in that direction. From the brightness, it should be a large mansion with candles still lit. Listening closely, there was also music.

Of course, it was funeral music.

Someone had died in that family.

He was wearing a Daoist robe, and walking alone on the nearby street at that time, the assistant probably thought he was a Taoist priest performing funeral rites for the Liu Family. It was customary in Qing Kingdom to fast at night during funerals. The assistant probably thought he couldn't bear it anymore, so he kindly reminded him that the Liu Family steward might be ahead, so he shouldn't be caught secretly eating.

Li Yunxin thought for a moment, and ultimately decided that the dead were unlucky, so he planned to take a different route.

At the next intersection stood a large locust tree. At this time, the locust flowers were in bloom, their fragrance intoxicating. It had just rained, and many locust flowers had fallen, and with the steam from the water, the scent was even more intense.

To the left of the locust tree was another fork in the road. Li Yunxin walked to the locust tree, but stopped.

Then he let out a soft "eh" and stared at the locust tree.

Someone... or something that looked like a person...

Was emerging from the tree trunk.

First, a head emerged, with a scarlet tongue hanging from its mouth. Then two hands also stretched out and gripped the tree trunk, and with a pull, the body also came out.

Finally, the feet stepped out, and it stood still...

Li Yunxin watched for a while and then burst into silent laughter: "They all say that locust trees are ominous and unlucky, so this is why—you come out from here. Mr. White, it's our second meeting."

The one who emerged... was White Yama King.

White Yama King, whose face and clothes were deathly pale, heard these words and immediately stared at Li Yunxin with wide, unblinking eyes.

"If I'm not mistaken, you two must have a division of labor—you're responsible for collecting good people, and Black Yama King is responsible for collecting bad people," Li Yunxin said with a smile, "The person who died in the Liu Family must have been good, right? Is that why you came?"

White Yama King still stared at him, saying nothing.

It was only after Li Yunxin finished speaking that he said in a shrill, sharp voice, "You can see me?!"

"Huh?" Li Yunxin frowned, "Is that strange? Or can you only be seen through dreams? I'm not dreaming right now, am I?"

White Yama King stopped talking and slowly walked over, extending a hand towards Li Yunxin.

His hand was also deathly pale, but his fingernails looked neat—Li Yunxin didn't dodge.

At first, he found it amusing to see this soul-reaping Yama King emerge from the "unlucky" old locust tree of folklore. He then remembered what the two had said last time and decided to take this opportunity to ask more questions.

Was he surprised or afraid?

Who wouldn't be afraid when seeing something like this... something that had only existed in legends.

But Li Yunxin knew how to be "an interesting person."

It seemed that being able to see White Yama King like he could see a ghost was a remarkable thing. And this White Yama King also seemed to want to see what was going on.

It didn't seem to have any ill intentions.