Inner Demons

Seeing Li Yunxin come over and stop, he didn't even look up. He simply said, "Please sit down."

Li Yunxin had no idea what he was up to, but she took a closer look at the fish that Dongting Jun had skewered on a wooden branch. It was truly a waste—a perfectly good red carp, only scaled, seemingly without its internal organs removed. It was simply skewered from mouth to tail and roasted over a fire. Half-cooked, and the smell wasn't particularly appealing. It seemed more like something a wealthy young lady, who rarely dabbled in domestic arts, would concoct on a rare occasion when she was in a good mood.

However, the story of the carp spirit roasting a carp is also strange.

Li Yunxin felt that Dongting Jun wouldn't do this without a reason, so she knelt down opposite the woman in yellow without saying a word.

The woman showed no obvious reaction and remained silent.

After sitting there for a while, Lord Dongting turned the fish over on the fire. Staring at the fish, he said, "The Dongting in my palace is the same as the Dongting outside three thousand years ago."

“More than three thousand years ago, I was a red carp, just like this.” He looked at Li Yunxin, “swimming in this shallow water. A woman wearing a pale yellow dress, holding a red flower, was building a fire under this tree. She was starving and wanted to catch fish to roast and eat. When she saw me, she—”

"Who is this woman...who is that woman?" Li Yunxin glanced at the woman in yellow opposite him. Nothing unusual about her. The most reasonable deduction...perhaps she was someone captured by the Lord of Dongting and "displayed" here as a plaything.

"Who is it?" Lord Dongting laughed. "Of course you know her. One of the reasons I didn't kill you is because of her. Alas, how unpredictable things are in this world, and how unpredictable fate is. As for you, is it fortunate or unfortunate?"

"That woman was just a novice Taoist priest more than three thousand years ago, only at the level of enlightenment. She knew a little about Taoist magic, but had no supernatural powers. She looked rather pathetic back then. In this world, there are millions of people who cultivate. So many of them ultimately failed to attain the Great Dao and died—people who cultivate at the Profound Realm are said to have all-powerful Taoist magic, but how long do they live? A thousand years is considered a long time. To ascend to immortality in six or seven hundred years is not considered a short life."

"But she... she actually lived for three thousand years."

Li Yunxin remained silent for a while, then exhaled slowly and softly.

"The Sage of Calligraphy, or the Sage of Swords?"

"Don't worry," Lord Dongting waved his hand. The smell of the fish finally seemed better.

"Now, this woman later married a man who was quite handsome. They had a son. According to the way humans cultivate, this child was a Daoist. But he didn't like cultivating the Dao. He didn't like cultivating the Dao, but instead admired the world's prosperity. At that time, the area around Dongting Lake was all water and marshland, and there was no emperor. It was called Nanze."

"Back then, this place was called..."

“The Hundred Kingdoms of Nanze,” Li Yun thought to himself.

His first meeting with Lord Dongting involved tricking Manager Ding, Official Zhao, and Master Sun from Bailu Town into taking him. On the boat, the three mentioned the name "Lord Dongting," and also discussed the history of the Qing Kingdom. He had initially thought it was just unofficial history and couldn't be taken seriously, but today Lord Dongting confirmed it. (See Chapter 123, "Meeting an Old Friend")

"When I went to Junshan to see you that day, I heard people on the boat say that two or three thousand years ago, the Lord of Dongting assisted the King of Wei in unifying the hundred kingdoms of Nanze, which was the prototype of today's Qing. Is it really true?"

"Hey. Someone actually remembers this." Lord Dongting sounded a little happier. He leaned closer to smell the fish, then continued to roast it over the fire. "Yes. It happened. More than 2,900 years ago? At that time, I was still in the Transcendent Realm. But that was enough for me to help people."

"The ancestor of the Wei Kingdom's royal family was Daozi, born to that woman in yellow. He came to the mortal world, married, and multiplied for ten generations. In the tenth generation, the royal family of Wei Kingdom emerged." Lord Dongting laughed. "They originally lived and multiplied in Guanqiu for generations, and later they also became emperors in Guanqiu. At that time, the surnames of the royal family were different from those of commoners; they were compound surnames to show their nobility. Since they became emperors in Guanqiu, they adopted the compound surname Shangguan. Those compound surnames among the common people today are actually all descendants of the royal family of ancient times."

Li Yunxin frowned slightly.

"You... admired her. And because of that love, you helped her descendants establish the State of Wei?"

Lord Dongting narrowed his eyes and sighed deeply: "Alas... I was aware of it back then. But these things are only good for passing the time now. There's something else..."

"The Wei Kingdom lasted for 746 years... Later, I grew tired of it and severed the ties. But the Wei Kingdom was destroyed, yet one branch of the Shangguan family remained. They multiplied for 97 generations and produced a little girl." Dongting Jun looked at Li Yunxin, "That little girl was a potential cultivator. She was spotted by the Sword Sect and taken to cultivate. She reached the Transcendent Realm in her early twenties, and was comparable to Ling Kongzi. It is said that she was also very beautiful, and when the Sword Sect investigated, alas... she was actually a descendant of the Sword Saint."

Li Yunxin took a deep breath.

"So the woman you met by this stream back then is now the Sword Saint."

Lord Dongting chuckled strangely: "That's a small matter. What I'm saying is that the talented woman from the Sword Sect later met a man. That man... hey, he's a remnant of the Painting Sage. Who knew that this remnant would fall in love with the woman, causing her to betray the Sword Sect and elope with him. And that man's surname is Li, and his given name is Chunfeng. As for the woman... her surname is Shangguan, and her given name is Yue."

Li Yunxin remained silent, his expression solemn. After a long while, he chuckled, "Oh. So, I've become a relative of the Two Saints? The Sword Saint's former husband... is now the Calligraphy Saint? I've never heard anyone mention this before."

"Relatives? Heh heh." Lord Dongting chuckled. "Not relatives, but rather... you are currently the only descendant of those two saints. As for the matter of the two saints, of course no one talks about it. They turned against each other more than two thousand years ago and have had very little contact since—those who knew about it back then are all dead, so who would we tell?"

Li Yunxin's face turned as wooden as the woman in yellow opposite him: "Let's assume what you said is true. I won't ask why, given my parents' great background, this happened—but tell me why?"

He did indeed recall a detail.

Yesterday, high in the sky, he told Kunwuzi that his mother was Shangguan Yue—a look of horror appeared in Kunwuzi's eyes.

Now I think...

Could the fact that Kunwuzi actually had such a long and fruitful talk with me have anything to do with this?

"Don't rush, little one," Lord Dongting waved his hand. By this time, one side of the grilled fish was charred black, and the taste had become unpleasant. However, Lord Dongting didn't seem to have any intention of turning it over. He slowly continued, "You only know this one thing; you need to know another. This other thing is the reason why I haven't killed you."

"Do you know how I can see the dragon's aura on you?"

"Please speak."

Lord Dongting's expression turned serious. He remained silent for a moment, as if solemnly clearing his thoughts, before speaking—

"Sealed at the bottom of Dongting Lake is half of the dragon's soul—the soul of the true dragon."

After saying this, he observed Li Yunxin's expression. He found him still calm and composed, without the slightest fear or panic. Whether this composure was feigned or not—Dongting Jun liked listeners like this.

He was rarely a listener.

Then he continued talking.

"Two thousand years ago, the true dragon encountered a calamity. As a result, a part of its divine soul was separated and sealed at the bottom of Dongting Lake. As for why it was sealed here... it's because I—you call yourself a prince consort, but you're using those people's thoughts to speculate about demons."

"Demons can separate their essence and spirit and merge them into one; this is something that cannot be compared to what humans do. I separated my essence and spiritual energy, and the true dragon separated its spirit and became the nine sons of the dragon, Chiwen."

"When this Chiwen descended into the world, it was a great demon of the Xuan Realm, not inferior to my cultivation at that time. But the True Dragon then captured half of its soul and half of its memories. This half... is what you see today, the one-zhang restriction of Dongting Lake."

"A portion of the true dragon's soul is sealed at the bottom of the lake, which is the source of this restriction. Half of the Chiwen's soul guides this source to form an array. Dragon energy is most compatible with dragon energy, and the appearance of Chiwen in the world... is actually just a key to this Dongting restriction."

"I have been guarding the dragon soul in Dongting Lake for two thousand years. A thousand years ago, the Chiwen was sealed away in the Wei River. Although I do not know the true dragon's intention, judging from the current situation... it is probably the true dragon's way of taking precautions." He turned his palm, revealing the "Divine Dragon Token" that Yazi had thrown to him. "This Divine Dragon Token is a part of the true dragon's scale. When the true dragon appeared in the world to subdue all the demons, it had a fierce battle with the Golden-Winged Roc—the true dragon was wounded on one scale, and the Golden Roc lost three feathers. This Divine Dragon Token is the broken edge of that scale."

"That Yazi said he was ordered by the True Dragon to lift the seal and summon me. But how could the True Dragon not know how to lift this seal?"

“The True Dragon said that there was a dragon son in this lake, and the Chiwen in the Wei River has the other half of the dragon's energy. If I have no choice but to leave Dongting Lake, I only need to call the Chiwen and use magic to make the two energies clash, and the restriction will be lifted immediately. He also said that another method was passed down, which is to combine the power of the two dragon sons, which can also break the balance of the dragon's energy and temporarily suppress the restriction, but the effect will not last long.”

"At that time, I did not understand the meaning of this matter. Now... I understand." Lord Dongting straightened his body. "That Yazi said he was acting on the orders of the True Dragon, humph—why would I need him to come to my rescue when I left Dongting?! There must be something fishy about this!"

He became somewhat agitated. The clouds and mist rose around him again.

"I have sealed off Dongting Lake as a precaution. But it is still not enough. Yazi has forged the Dragon's Decree, yet the token is genuine... I have not seen a true dragon for two thousand years. It seems... something terrible has happened! Therefore—" He looked at Li Yunxin, "I don't care how you became Chiwen, but now that you are a dragon, I can entrust Dongting Lake to you. Afterwards, I will personally go and see who is doing this!"

Li Yunxin carefully considered what he had just said. In fact, every word he uttered was earth-shattering. But he remained calm and did not relax his guard just because he seemed to have nothing to worry about.

He frowned and said in a deep voice, "Because I am now Chiwen, you trust me and entrust me with Dongting Lake, which you have guarded for two thousand years without interfering in worldly affairs—this is so wonderful that it makes me feel dangerous."

"Of course, it's not just because of that. But there are other things I can't tell you right now. I'll just say—" Dongting Jun finally stopped grilling the fish. He took the charred fish off the flame and blew on it. The mist from his mouth enveloped the fish, like thousands of silk threads.

"You've only considered me your enemy and put a lot of thought into it. Alas, you didn't know that some things were already destined. You also didn't know that I had seen everything you did. It is because I saw it that I know you are the person I am looking for. The key to this—if you can live well and succeed in the future, you will naturally know."

"The restriction on Dongting Lake is like a needle—though sharp, it's not fragile. I spent many years establishing this 'needle,' allowing you to enter and leave Dongting Lake without sensing the restriction. Just now, I had Yazi strike with all his might, using his dragon energy to knock down this 'needle.' Once the balance of the restriction was disrupted, it returned to its initial state—unable to enter or leave. For Dongting Lake to return to its former state, even with my personal intervention, it would take several years. So, you, hehe… just stay put."

Lord Dongting stood up. Looking at Li Yunxin, he said, "Oh, there's one more thing."

"The true dragon's soul is sealed at the bottom of the lake, and dragon energy will always leak out. Occasionally, aquatic creatures pass by and obtain this dragon energy, thus becoming great demons. That is the origin of the white forest. The dragon demons born from the dragon energy are of high realm, but they have no rationality. They only know how to chase after blood and food. If you take over this Dongting Lake... you must be careful."

“You’re good at mind games, kid. But it won’t work on them—or rather, they’re not demons, just wild beasts with demonic powers.”

"You've just entered the true realm, hehe. I hope you won't lose your life here. You should know that Dongting Lake is now sealed off, so you have nowhere to escape. Think about it—" Dongting Lord waved his hand happily, "Just now outside, why did I tell you, 'This place is not suitable for lingering'?"

Li Yunxin realized something and suddenly stood up.

But Lord Dongting didn't give him a chance to speak. He tossed the charred carp in his hand to Li Yunxin and shouted, "She loves you and misses you... Heh heh, let's see if you can save her!"

Li Yunxin was stunned.

But he immediately reached out and firmly grabbed the "grilled fish".

The next moment, the charred "grilled fish" suddenly swelled up—transforming into a beautiful woman dressed in black!

But the "black clothes" she wore weren't actually black clothes; they were charred fabric. Upon exposure to the wind, they instantly turned to powder, revealing her naked, fair, and smooth body beneath!

—It was that matchmaker!

Li Yunxin embraced the smooth and supple body with both hands, before she could make any further movement...

Lord Dongting laughed loudly three times and then waved his sleeves!

The bright sunshine and blue sky before them vanished without a trace, and Li Yunxin, holding Hong Niangzi in her arms, fell back into the dark, gloomy lake water a thousand meters below.

He immediately glanced to his side—to the spot where he had just seen the "red flower".

But the red flowers are gone.

The woman in yellow was thrown out along with the two of them, instantly crushed into a cloud of blood mist by the deep water. Not only her, but a whole cloud of blood mist, resembling a giant firework, also appeared not far away!

Li Yunxin had seen Ling Kongzi "Mu Yun" above Dongting Lake and immediately realized that the large patch of blood mist was actually those plump, white people.

Lord Dongting... is truly gone!

—He took away his palace and threw out everyone he didn't want to keep inside!

If that's the case... then Liu Ling must also be in this water!

Li Yunxin glanced at the unconscious Hong Niangzi in her arms, and finally managed to utter the words that were on her mind—

"That damn old pervert!"

The Lord of Dongting has now imprisoned him in Dongting Lake... using him as a laborer to exterminate those dragons!

—This demon looks so kind and gentle, but how could it possibly let anyone benefit from it?!

The thought had barely formed in Li Yun's mind when, before he could decide whether to wake up the Red Maiden or go find Liu Ling, he heard a muffled roar, like thunder, suddenly come from the deep lake in the distance...

A huge, ferocious, hornless "dragon head" dragged its incredibly long and thick body behind it—rushing towards him!

The newly born dragon swooped down from above the white forest, its size comparable to, and perhaps even larger than, Li Yunxin's true form. However, it seemed to fear the towering skeletons, only traversing the forest and daring not to rampage. Otherwise, its roar would have already swallowed Li Yunxin and Hong Niangzi whole!

Li Yun sighed. He glanced at the evil dragon once, then turned and fled into the distance.

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