Inner Demons

Chapter 97: September

His oath-like words left Old Daoist Liu speechless.

The old man watched him standing in the moonlight, and a strange, uncontrollable emotion suddenly swelled in his heart—Brother Xin's current state was completely wrong.

He didn't doubt whether this mysterious and unfathomable "senior" named Li Yunxin could do what he said—the surprises he had brought him were truly enough. He just felt that in his words... there was a bit too much "tragic determination." So much that it made the old Daoist feel a little worried.

He always felt that a person like Brother Xin wouldn't stay by his side forever.

One day, when the wind and clouds met... he would transform into a dragon and leave, right...

He sighed in his heart.

...

...

Thus, a night passed. When the eastern sky turned the color of a fish belly the next morning, Old Daoist Liu looked into Li Yunxin's room.

Brother Xin seemed to have been drawing all night.He knew Li Yunxin's intention to give those temple paintings wasn't entirely out of kindness—he must have his own plans. But he had thought all night and felt that what Li Yunxin said made sense. Even if he had some plans, it was still a good thing for those temples.

The painting of The Prince and the Dragon Maiden was still in the front courtyard, and people had come to worship it these past few days. They all said it truly had the effect of clearing the mind and calming the spirit, and some even offered a hundred taels of silver to buy it.

Brother Xin is in the Manifestation Realm...

Old Daoist Liu always couldn't help but exclaim—he had heard of Daoist priests in the Manifestation Realm, and Sword Cultivators in the Manifestation Realm, but who had ever heard of an Artificer in the Manifestation Realm?

A moment later, Li Yunxin pushed the door open, a scroll of paper tucked under his arm. The old Daoist also quickly came out: "Brother Xin, what are we doing today?"

He always felt that he was participating in a major event. This made him very nervous and worried, but also brought a long-lost excitement.

Li Yunxin handed him the scroll of paper: "It's all here, thirty-seven copies. You go and distribute them to them, tell them to go back and mount them and put them up for worship—you also know how to trick people. Just say I'll check on them in a few days... forget it. No need for me to bother, they'll know what to do when they see these paintings. So, after you're done distributing them, tell them to hurry back—I'm going for a stroll."

Old Daoist Liu heard his words and instantly felt his hands grow heavy—

These were the thirty-seven divine statues?!

Nearly four thousand taels of silver!

He suddenly felt a little unsteady.

But he still stopped him: "Brother Xin... do you have any plans, do you want to tell me? I, this old Daoist, fear I might ruin your important affairs!"

Li Yunxin smiled, seeming to want to say something, but in the end, he only recited two lines of poetry: "I do not know the true face of Lushan Mountain, only because I am in this mountain—have you heard this poem?"

The old Daoist listened and only felt it was good. The meaning, however, he couldn't grasp for a moment. He could only shake his head: "Brother Xin, your poem..."

"It's not my poem, it's a poem I copied." He patted Old Daoist Liu's arm hard, pointing to the scrolls, "Get this done. I'm counting on you."

Although casually spoken, Old Daoist Liu could hear the earnestness contained in those words. He nodded seriously: "You can rest assured."

The two of them left the house together.

The old Daoist headed towards the inn where the Taoist priests were temporarily staying, while Li Yunxin walked in the direction out of the city. He put a simple talisman on himself, so he walked like the wind, fast, but not fast enough to attract attention.

He spent half an hour leaving Weicheng, estimating it was around nine in the morning. Once outside the city, the scenery was vastly different. Looking east, there was a mountain range stretching like a dragon; looking west, it was a flat, open plain. A well-maintained official road went straight north; if one followed this official road endlessly, they would eventually reach Jinghua, the capital of Qing Kingdom.

But after walking for a while with some ox carts, horse-drawn carriages, and hawkers carrying vegetable baskets, Li Yunxin turned onto another path.

Although this road was not as well-maintained as the official road, lush trees grew on both sides. Beyond the trees were irrigation ditches, and then large, fertile fields. There were few pedestrians on this road; only a peasant woman, tightly clutching a basket of goose eggs in the crook of her arm, warily kept her distance from him for a while before turning onto another small path.

So he was left alone and walked for another half an hour.

The trees on both sides gradually thinned, and the view gradually widened. There was a slight fishy smell in the air, and the surroundings were no longer dominated by bird and insect calls, but had more background sounds.

After walking a bit further, the roaring sound of water finally became clear.

At the end of the road was a ferry crossing. Two or three small sampans were moored there, and from a distance, seeing Li Yunxin approach, a boatman loudly asked if he wanted to cross the river. Li Yunxin looked around and shook his head. So the few people went back to their idle chat, ignoring him.

He left the road and walked along the riverbank. Thick reeds grew by the river, and there was no river beach visible. It was unclear how deep the Wei River was, but it was extremely wide here. There should have been a pier on the opposite bank of the river from the ferry crossing, but even with Li Yunxin's eyesight, he couldn't see it clearly—it was hidden in the mist.

One could say this was a great river, but even if one said it was a great lake, people would believe it.

Li Yunxin was somewhat lost in thought, awestruck by the vast expanse of water, and saw many huge whirlpools and waves brought by the turbulent currents—who knew how many monsters were hidden beneath such a surface!

He simply took a few more steps, walked up a small grassy knoll by the river, and stood there, observing carefully for a while longer.

To his knowledge, Qing Kingdom was a landlocked country. There were many dynasties in this world, and Qing Kingdom was not the largest, but neither was it the smallest. Since Qing Kingdom was landlocked, this section would not be the Wei River's estuary, but its middle reaches. If the middle reaches of a great river had such a grandeur... then the lower reaches of the Wei River must be truly magnificent!

The sound of water surged in his ears, and misty vapor surrounded him. He gazed at the vast expanse of water and sky, where the opposite bank was nowhere to be seen, and after a long while, he let out a long breath.

No wonder... some people sought to conquer the world.

When sitting in a study, the word "world" was merely a broad concept. You could imagine mountains and rivers, but in your imagination, you were like a giant, looking down upon them—they were miniaturized in your consciousness.

But now, seeing this scene with his own eyes, merely seeing such a river already felt grand. How magnificent and extraordinary must this entire world be!

If... you add such a thought—

This Wei River... will soon be mine.

I will soon become the Lord of this vast and magnificent Wei River—the Wei River Dragon King!

Li Yunxin held his breath, staring intently at the extremely wide expanse of water for a full quarter of an hour before finally exhaling: "...It seems thinking this way makes me feel much better."

"Alright... my friend, it's time we met."

So he took a piece of paper from his sleeve, flicked and shook it with his finger, and the paper turned to ash.

Young Master Nine's ethereal figure appeared out of thin air, standing still and staring intently at him. Li Yunxin patiently met his gaze for a while, and the ethereal figure gradually blurred and disappeared.

He then sat down on the felt-like grass, and amidst the sounds of wind and waves, he softly hummed a song—

"Wildflowers cover the grassland where gods died... The wind far away is even further than the distance..."