Inner Demons

Then he saw the man on the other side of the boat pause slightly, staring straight at him, as if trying to guess what he was thinking.

Hong Niangzi remained silent, only slightly tightening her arms—as if this would allow her to better protect herself and remain unfathomable.

But he still stared intently at Li Yunxin.

After a long pause, she heard her lover say in a low voice, "You have rejected me. I... I am only thinking about my brother's revenge now."

He glanced at Hong Niangzi, then quickly looked away: "Romantic feelings...who doesn't have romantic feelings? But...it would be unjust to think about those things now."

"So you still care about it?" Hong Niangzi sighed softly, but her voice quickly faded away. "What I want, who knows? Actually, what I want is so simple."

She looked away and patted the gunwale with one hand. The boat stopped.

The two had been traveling swiftly towards Dongting Lake for three quarters of an hour, and all they could see was the night sky.

The small boat and Dongting Lake seemed to be contained within a barrel with the sky as its walls, the surrounding sky etched with clouds gleaming silver under the moonlight. A brilliant sea of stars was inverted above them, reflected on Dongting Lake—

The sky and sea are boundless, yet a lone boat stands forlorn.

Once the boat stopped, the sounds of the wind and the waves also ceased.

Hong Niangzi stood up at the bow of the boat. She glanced at the vast Dongting Lake and said softly, "Look at this thousand-mile-long Dongting Lake. To ordinary people, it is boundless and magnificent. But to me, and to my sovereign, it is just a cage."

“This Dongting Lake is thousands of miles in circumference, almost like an ocean. But my sovereign’s true form is three hundred feet tall—even when he revealed his true form, he could not swim freely in this Dongting Lake.”

"My father was born in this Dongting Lake. He attained enlightenment three thousand years ago and was imprisoned in this lake two thousand years ago. Although I have not lived long, I can already understand my father's suffering. He pities the aquatic creatures in this lake and has not revealed his true form for a thousand years. The sentence he said to me most often was—"

"If I could swim freely in the vast ocean, I would have no regrets in this life..."

Li Yunxin remained silent. He simply held onto the gunwale with both hands, watching the Red Maiden with her back to him, appearing like a fairy in the lake in the night.

He knew something in his heart.

When a person dies, or a spirit dies, a soul remains. But this soul is incomplete, its mind lost, and even if it later becomes a ghost cultivator... it will still have obsessions.

The former Jinwu Guard General, Fifth Boyu, claimed that he had no worries or obsessions when he died—but that was just wishful thinking on his part.

He must have a strong obsession, but neither he nor Li Yunxin are aware of it yet.

This matchmaker was no exception. She too must have had her own obsessions.

Obsession is the biggest weakness of ghost cultivators. Obsession will cause them to lose their basic judgment when facing many things - once a factor related to that obsession appears, their attention will be immediately attracted and entangled, and they will become confused and muddled.

If it were truly possible to "die without any attachments or obsessions"—then what's the point of cultivating immortality? Everyone might as well just die and cultivate the divine path.

Previously, Li Yunxin couldn't see the obsession in Hong Niangzi. She... seemed too much like an ordinary woman.

Apart from the "cruelty" common to some demons.

But in Li Yunxin's eyes, this cruelty—a woman lovingly watching her children play in the yard, chatting softly with her mother-in-law, while simultaneously severing the head of a rooster with a single stroke—

Isn't this as cruel as a demon?

So this matchmaker is still quite normal.

However, Li Yunxin now believes she is slowly understanding where her "obsession" lies.

So he listened quietly to the woman in red continue speaking amidst the sound of the water and the night sky over Dongting Lake.

"Do you know how I offended your friend?" Hong Niangzi turned around and smiled slightly. "Before, I was just a red carp who attained enlightenment. My mother was a human, but I was born with the inheritance of my sovereign father. I was born with the body of a demon in the Void Realm, and in this Dongting, no one dares to disobey me."

"Though I am useless, I know how powerful that dragon prince is—a great demon approaching the True Realm, and possessing a dragon's body. How could I... possibly provoke him at the Wei River? Besides, even if I wanted to go to the Wei River, I couldn't get out."

“My father and lord were imprisoned in Dongting Lake, and I, being of his blood, was also imprisoned. That is why I say that this vast Dongting Lake is nothing but a cage.”

Li Yun thought for a moment, then asked softly, "Who is this person with such great abilities?"

“I can’t tell you now.” Hong Niangzi smiled slightly, her gaze towards Li Yunxin becoming even gentler—completely different from the woman she had been two days ago.

"Therefore, it was actually my father who made me deliberately provoke the dragon prince. And I have been in Dongting for two hundred years, but I have not been able to leave the lakeside even a few feet away... I really want to go and see the White Egret Town, to see if those people who are called humans really live as in the stories my father told me."

"So the dragon prince stripped me of my cultivation and turned me into a red carp. I suffered some pain, but in the end I still became a ghost cultivator. Before, I didn't know if doing this could really bypass the restriction... but now it seems to have worked. Now that I've become a ghost cultivator, I can leave Dongting Lake, go to Bailuzhou, and do some things for my father."

Hong Niangzi smiled as she looked at Li Yunxin: "But Li Lang should know that we ghost cultivators all have obsessions. Li Lang's obsession is the hatred for your brother. Or rather... it's the attachment to love."

"And my obsession..." Hong Niangzi said, then slowly sat down.

With a flick of her feet towards the side of the boat, she kicked her embroidered shoes into the water. A pair of snow-white, lustrous feet dipped into the lake water and gently stirred it.

The water rippled outwards. Hong Niangzi stared at the ripples for a while, then leaned back slightly, bracing herself on the gunwale, and turned to look at Li Yunxin: "When I was a demon, I often listened to someone reading by the lake. I listened to his reading voice. It was a very pleasant sound."

"Li Lang, were you educated when you were alive?"

Li Yunxin's gaze was gentle, and his voice was gentle as well. He smiled slightly: "My parents died and my family was poor. I only had a primary school education and learned the basics of characters; I never studied the classics or history."

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. But it’s very pleasant to hear.” Hong Niangzi smiled slightly. “Du Sheng used to say things that I didn’t understand but that were pleasant to hear, but now he doesn’t remember them… He was just a mortal after all. Now that he’s a ghost, he’s even more confused.”

"Then... Li Lang, can you compose poetry?"

Li Yunxin shook her head and smiled: "I can copy poems."

Hong Niangzi blinked happily—at least at this moment, she seemed like a truly beautiful young girl: "Li Lang, copy a poem for me to hear."

"good."

Li Yunxin closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the misty water vapor above Dongting Lake.

Then a low murmur—

The west wind ages the waves of Dongting Lake.

Overnight, Xiangjun's hair turned white.

Drunk, I was unaware that the sky was reflected in the water.

A boat full of sweet dreams presses down on the Milky Way.

He recited the poem in ancient rhyme, making it long and poignant.

After reciting the poem, the Red Maiden fell silent.

She stared blankly at the water, then closed her eyes. After a long, long silence, she turned to Li Yunxin and smiled, "It's so beautiful. Li Lang, who is Xiang Jun?"

Li Yunxin smiled gently and tapped her palm with the folding fan in her hand: "Look at this fan of mine, I bought it from a shop on the street in Weicheng. Aren't there spots on the fan ribs, like tears?"

Lady Hong stared wide-eyed at the woman and looked closely before giving a soft "hmm."

"So the ribs of this fan are made of tear bamboo."

"Legend has it that long, long ago there was an emperor in the human world named Emperor Shun. There was also a river called the Xiang River. A monster came out of the Xiang River and often harmed people. So Emperor Shun went to the Xiang River to get rid of the monster."

"His two wives waited for him for a long time but he did not return, so they went to the Xiang River to look for him. They learned that Emperor Shun had died after defeating the monster. Emperor Shun's two wives wept bitterly, and their tears splashed on the bamboo, which became the Tear Bamboo. The Heavenly Emperor, grateful for Emperor Shun's merits, appointed him as the water god of the Xiang River—that is, Xiang Jun."

"Ah... my father is the Lord of Dongting Lake," Hong Niangzi sighed softly. "Then, Li Lang, would you like to be the Lord of Wei River?"

Li Yunxin's eyelashes trembled slightly.

The instant he heard the last sentence, dozens of thoughts flashed through his mind. He quickly grasped a few, but then let them all go. Finally, he let out a very slight breath and smiled calmly: "Never thought that far ahead."

After a moment of silence, Hong Niangzi smiled.

"That's why I really enjoy listening to people recite poetry. After listening for a while, you can start to appreciate the nuances. For example, I know that when Li Lang recited this poem, he wasn't happy at all; he had a lot of feelings about it."

“My father felt he owed me something and wanted to make it up to me. I love the world, I love the way men and women are together, so my father asked Du Sheng to come and keep me company.” Hong Niangzi looked at the ripples in the lake. “I used to listen to people reading by the lake, and that was him.”

"But he had completely changed; he was in a daze, and all he ever muttered was one sentence."

"Li Lang is more handsome than him, and he speaks more eloquently. The first time I saw Li Lang... actually... I liked him very much."

Hong Niangzi looked at Li Yunxin again, her eyes calm and clear.

Li Yunxin looked at her and said, "But... Hong Niangzi, a few days ago—"

“Because back then, though I loved you, I couldn’t bear to see you suffer, and I feared my father wouldn’t allow it.” Hong Niangzi looked at him. “But now my father tells me that since I like her, it’s fine to take her. My obsession… is…”

Li Yunxin sighed inwardly. He understood the Red Maiden's obsession—

"I want someone to love me properly." Hong Niangzi lowered her long eyelashes and said softly, "I told you before that it was still not too late to go far away and become a carefree ghost cultivator. But now... I'm telling you again, my father is imprisoned in Dongting Lake and can't get out. It's impossible for you to ask my father to go to Weicheng to avenge your friend—the only way is to wait, wait a very, very long time, and maybe then there will be a chance."

"Now that you know all this, I ask you again: Aren't you leaving?"

Li Yunxin was silent for a moment: "I'm not leaving."

He didn't want to leave because he wanted to confirm something, or someone. He also felt this was a good opportunity to learn more about Lord Dongting.

If this Lady Red really did take him to the lair of the Lord of Dongting...

He will then be able to know more and make his plans more meticulous!

That Lord Dongting might be a formidable demon, but he was not some lowly "ghost cultivator Li Yunxin."

These days, the Divine Dragon Cult has grown quite powerful, and coupled with the thunderous fire he unleashed in the city the night before—the people of Weicheng also remembered the great storm that the Ninth Prince had created in Weicheng a few days ago, and they all said, "The Dragon King of the Wei River has manifested his power again."

So now he has broken through the Void Realm and returned to the Transformation Realm.

As long as the Lord of Dongting cannot see through him for a while, but is wary of him and does not use his full strength against him, he can protect himself and escape at any time.

So... don't go.

Hong Niangzi seemed to have anticipated his answer. She stared at him for a while, and suddenly her eyes welled up with tears.

"You're so determined." A smile bloomed on her lips. "You... love me after all."

"...You are so different."

Li Yunxin sighed softly. He knew that the obsession with the Red Maiden had taken over her mind.

But before he could ponder the deeper meaning of the phrase "You are so different," he saw the Red Maiden suddenly raise her hand gently in the moonlight, revealing a section of her snow-white and smooth forearm.

Then her slender fingers danced lightly like ripples on water, her voice clear and melodious, as she hummed a strangely tuned ballad—

"My lord is away on official business, and I know not when he will return—"

"The sun is setting, and the clouds are gathering in the distance—"

She sang those four lines three times, then turned to Li Yunxin with a smile and whispered, "Li Lang, she's here."

And so, Dongting Lake...

It's boiling over.

Clouds.

Large clusters of clouds.

Large, thick, white clouds rose gently from the water not far from them.

It resembles a thick fog, or wisps of blue smoke. Every time a bubble rises from the bottom of the water and bursts on the surface, a puff of white vapor is released.

Then the cloud slowly rose and hovered several tens of meters in the air, bathed in the silvery light of the moon.

Suddenly... it transformed into a dreamlike, fairytale-like world.

It felt as if the sky above was filled with countless giant cotton candies, and then...

Then some white four-legged creatures rose up from the water.

The white, round animals came to the surface of the water, and the water surface seemed to turn into solid ground. Hundreds of these animals... walked slowly back and forth in a body of water ahead, and the clouds floating in the sky seemed to rise slowly from their heads.

Li Yunxin gently inhaled and then gently exhaled.

At a distance of 100 meters, an ordinary person cannot see clearly.

But he saw it clearly.

Those animals... are people.

Hundreds of plump, fair-skinned people, naked and crawling on all fours, slowly walked on the water. Wisps of white mist rose from their eyes, ears, mouths, and noses, eventually gathering into the clouds in the sky.

Those clouds...

It is yang energy and essence.

Hong Niangzi squinted slightly, looking at the scene in the moonlight, and sighed softly: "When I was little, I would come to see Mu Yun when I had troubles in my heart. It is said that immortals eat wind and drink dew, and demons also like it. But the taste of wind and dew is bland and plain, while human yang is sweet and rich."

"When the moon is full, they will come out of the white forest to graze on the clouds. After a full month, they can harvest."

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