Inner Demons

Most people imagine the bottom of a lake and a beach as a beautiful, lush landscape covered in sand and covered with colorful aquatic plants. But the reality at the bottom of Dongting Lake is quite different.

In many places, only a thick layer of silt covers the surface, with a few thin, weak blades of grass peeking out. These areas are usually devoid of fish; even the predators lurking in the silt are often emaciated. In other places, protruding rocks resemble hills on land, where the water flow slows or warm and cold waters clash. This creates abundant food, attracting more fish. With more fish and more fertilizer, the aquatic plants flourish.

Such places are like "oases" at the bottom of a lake. With a large area, abundant bait, many fish, and lush aquatic plants, it's clear that the land is owned.

Li Yunxin cruised along the uneven lakebed for quite some time before finally discovering a patch of lush vegetation ahead. However, the vegetation was not due to the terrain, but rather to several boats.

It was unclear whether they were official or merchant ships, or when they sank. Looking around, they were densely packed together, creating undulating terrain on a flat surface. At that time, large ships were all made of wood. With the wooden ships sunk, the wood rotted, and the hulls teemed with filth, a favorite food of small fish and shrimp. It seemed as if they had been deliberately cultivated—so when Li Yunxin saw this place, what she saw was a "forest."

I don't know what kind of aquatic plants they are, but they grow tall and straight in the current, like towering trees. Their roots are firmly planted on the wooden boat, and their white tendrils hang down in tangled knots. Fish and shrimp move in and out of the vegetation, and beyond that, there are large patches of aquatic plants and rocks of various colors and shapes.

Li Yunxin looked at the rocks, which seemed to have been transported from Taihu Lake by wealthy families on land to create a scenic landscape. However, there was no particular design involved; they were simply piled up in twos and threes. Firstly, the Taihu stones themselves were naturally unique in shape, so their haphazard placement didn't make them look ugly. Secondly, the colors of the aquatic plants in the lake were much richer than those on land. The two factors complemented each other, creating a unique and charming effect.

When Li Yunxin arrived at this point, she saw the demon race in the lake.

Although the red-tailed demon Bo'erba he transformed into looked strange and didn't resemble a human, it was already considered "possessing the Dao"—animals capable of developing intelligence were rare, and those capable of transforming into human form were even rarer. Otherwise, how could the number of great demons be less than the number of high-level cultivators of Daoist sects and sword sects, when the number of animals in this world is more than ten thousand times, a billion times, a billion times, a billion times?

Storytellers in the marketplace often boast of demons and monsters, claiming they command hundreds or even thousands of demon soldiers, displaying their imposing power. But these are merely the wild tales of worldly people ignorant of cultivation. Consider the Lord of Dongting, who has ruled Dongting for three thousand years, a vast and expansive lake—how many humanoid demon soldiers does he truly command?

When Li Yunxin first met Hongniang, she was surrounded by only a few dozen people—that was the grand scale of a demon princess's wedding.

Therefore, the demons he encountered here were not just random wanderers or random bumps into.

This demon looked somewhat like the red-tailed demon Bo'erba, also being half-human and half-fish. However, Bo'erba had a bulky upper body and a slender lower body, while this one had a bulky lower body and a slender upper body.

Upon seeing Li Yunxin, he became anxious: "Why did it take you so long to return? The King has been waiting for you for a long time—the King has something for you to do!"

Li Yunxin remained silent, only staring coldly at him from head to toe for a while before asking, "Do you remember your name?"

The demon was slightly taken aback and asked in surprise, "Huh? You don't remember me? I'm Bo'erben, and you're Bo'erba?"

Li Yunxin's expression didn't soften. She circled him a few times before saying, "Tell me, what did the Great King summon all the demon kings for today? What does our Great King look like, what kind of behavior does he like, and how does he usually handle him?"

He preemptively accused the villain, leaving the foolish demon Bo'erben stunned.

But after pausing for a moment, she chuckled and pointed at Li Yunxin, saying, "Hey, did something happen to you while you were patrolling the lake? Do I look like I'm in disguise?"

Li Yunxin didn't joke with him. She frowned, took out the "Coral Red Bone Token" that she had searched Bo'erba from her sleeve, told Bo'erben to take a closer look, and then said, "Look carefully, this is the Coral Red Bone Token that the King gave me."

"When I went out to patrol the lake, I ran into a hairy-faced, thunder-mouthed wanderer who was carrying a stick that could grow long or short. He claimed to be looking for his master. When he saw me, he started shouting and attacking, and even transformed into a demon, almost stealing my token! Right now, all the demon kings are gathered, and we can't afford any mistakes—you must quickly tell me everything I asked you in detail, so I can see if you are really that wanderer, and then I can report back to the king!"

When Bo'erben heard this, he was startled and frowned to himself: "Huh? There is a great demon in this lake that can transform like this? A few days ago, someone was flying around on the lake. Could it be that person?"

Li Yunxin ignored him and only urged him sternly. Bo'erben found his anxious appearance amusing, but in the end he still told him everything in detail.

After listening to him for a while, Li Yunxin understood why it was "that wave of the lake patrol" instead of "this wave of the lake patrol".

Although Bo'erba wasn't exceptionally clever or obedient, he could always speak properly like a human and had his own thoughts and calculations. Bo'erben, on the other hand, was foolish and stupid. He had initially told Li Yunxin about his king's affairs simply to prove he wasn't some hairy-faced, thunder-mouthed wanderer. But as he spoke, he became excited, talking animatedly and obliviously, completely forgetting the time and why he had come out in the first place.

He not only answered Li Yunxin's questions but also those he hadn't asked. He talked for a full quarter of an hour before slapping his forehead and exclaiming, "Oh dear, I was having so much fun that I've delayed His Majesty's business!"

By this time, Li Yunxin had roughly figured out what the Tenth Young Master wanted to do.

The excuse that their friends on land had suffered a calamity and they wanted to help give them a proper burial was just a pretext—to gather all sorts of demon kings here.

Their true intentions were something else entirely—someone, through some unknown means, had found these demons in Dongting Lake. They told them that a powerful demon from the True Realm was currently in Dongting Lake, hoping they would flee.

Although demons are willful and tyrannical, they are not easily manipulated. The reason why the "Tenth Prince" was willing to do this was because...

It is said that the one that entered Dongting Lake was a dragon's son.

Li Yunxin didn't know if the Taoist sect was behind this. But just a few days ago, Kunwuzi had so solemnly and sincerely declared war on him—Li Yunxin had developed a certain fondness for that Taoist.

But this goodwill wasn't due to Stockholm Syndrome (Note 1), but simply because the Taoists he had encountered before were not exactly "upright gentlemen." Although Li Yunxin himself wasn't a good person, he always felt that the Taoist tradition and the Sword Sect should be the "righteous path" in the traditional sense. Since it was the righteous path, it should have the appearance of the righteous path—being surrounded by things that were worse than demons was really unpleasant.

Although his relationship with Kunwuzi was not good, and they had even become irreconcilable enemies, he still managed to adopt some of the characteristics of a true Taoist master—he could declare war openly and then try to persuade the enemy to surrender. If persuasion failed, he would remain silent, displaying a demeanor reminiscent of ancient Confucian generals.

Therefore, Li Yunxin felt that the current situation in Dongting Lake...

Although from the perspective of the orthodox tradition, they certainly had reason to do so.

But there was always a sinister aura about it. Li Yunxin was an expert in this field, and therefore particularly sensitive to this smell—it was the smell of a conspiracy.

Things might not even be as simple as he currently knows. If he were to take on this task, it would only be the beginning, or the first step in a larger scheme.

However, since he could smell this scent and liked it the most, he naturally knew how to break the deadlock.

This was a lesson he learned from Yue Yunzi—when you can completely crush a conspiracy with your strength, never make yourself miserable because of a "let's play around" mentality.

He then thought of another organization that had been appearing and disappearing over the past few months, yet seemed to be constantly stirring up trouble.

...that "Freemasonry".

Their actions were tinged with a touch of madness, cunning, and dark wickedness, which matched Li Yunxin's style. However, Li Yunxin didn't particularly like himself, so naturally he had no reason to like them.

Having figured all this out, he confirmed the details he had just mentioned with the demon Bo'erben, and then let out a long sigh of relief.

According to what the other party said, the Tenth Prince was indeed a great demon—he seemed to be at the peak of the Transcendent Realm and could wield lightning.

But the problem is... in the white forest of Dongting Jun, even the weakest evil dragon has the strength of the True Realm. How come he, the "Tenth Prince" who was transformed from an "evil dragon who attained enlightenment", has fallen back to the Transformation Realm?

The demons didn't know these things, but Li Yunxin did.

Furthermore, those "demon kings" who have gathered today are all at the Void Realm and Transformation Realm. If he had simply thrown his five demons under his command to this Dongting Lake, they might very well have become "demon kings" or "demon generals" in their own right.

Only now did I truly understand the old saying: "No pain, no gain"—before, I always encountered those old monsters in the True Realm and Profound Realm; those below the Transformation Realm were nothing but trash in their eyes. But now…

Li Yunxin laughed. His laughter revealed a flaw in his expression.

He transformed into the appearance of Bo'erba, but it wasn't a true "transformation." Demons only have one chance to transform from animal form into human form. Whatever form they take, that's what they become. Any further transformations, like Li Yunxin's current transformation, are merely a "sleight of hand."

But anyway, he was just playing around with a bunch of ragtag soldiers, and this sleight of hand was something he could do casually by making a hand gesture or drawing a few lines; it wasn't any special skill he had.

Therefore, with that happy smile, his true face was vaguely revealed.

Upon seeing this, Bo'erben was slightly taken aback at first, then his eyes widened, and he pointed at Li Yunxin, saying, "Oh dear, you—"

Li Yunxin remained silent, casually striking down another wave of fleeing infantrymen, scattering their souls. Clearing his throat, he gripped the "Coral Red Bone Token" and frantically ran towards the Tenth Prince's lair, shouting—

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Disaster! Disaster! A hairy-faced, thunder-mouthed wanderer has come to kill us!!"

The Tenth Prince's lair was hidden deep within the waterweed forest—not on flat ground, but in a crevice deep within.

Li Yunxin held the token high, and the water plants, refined by spiritual energy, automatically parted to make way. After walking for a while, they realized it truly was a den of demons—strange heads of all kinds peeked out from the water plants, dozens of them, all half-transformed aquatic demons. They seemed unaware of what Li Yunxin was shouting, only knowing that something terrible had happened; after glancing at them a few times, they all quickly withdrew their heads.

After traveling a while longer, Li Yunxin indeed saw a crack under a very large sunken ship.

It's called a crevice, but it's actually an underwater canyon. Looking down from here, it's all dark, and no one knows what's hidden at the bottom.

Li Yunxin hesitated for a moment, then sighed. He said he was afraid of water—and that was true.

But neither Dongting Jun nor anyone else would believe that he was afraid of water—he was both a great demon and a dragon prince, and in their eyes he was a ruthless and treacherous person. If he were really afraid of water, wouldn't that be a big joke?

He unusually spoke the truth, but no one believed him. Since no one believed him, naturally no one would use that point as a basis for their argument. Now, staring into the canyon, he knew it was no good sight.

That "Tenth Prince" was a demon at the Transcendent Realm, and the "Demon Kings" and "Demon Generals" around him were all worthless rabble. Let alone a "Dragon Palace," they probably didn't even have a "palace."

The canyon was hidden among aquatic plants, and the water was barely flowing. At first glance, it appeared as a murky and cold expanse, with mud and sand swirling around you. There was also a putrid smell in the water; you wondered if it was from piles of corpses.

He was delayed for a short while when he heard the water churning and lightning flashing in the canyon. Then a group of strangely dressed and grotesque demons surrounded a young man in white robes as he rose from the water.

But look at this young man; he has a round face and a wide mouth. The corners of his mouth seem to be naturally downturned, making him look like he's always angry—or you could say he exudes an imposing aura without being angry. He also has a nose. But that nose is flat and collapsed, as if someone punched him in the face, pressing the entire nose down. But this nose isn't the strangest feature on his face—it's his eyes.

Li Yunxin stared for a while before finally finding his eyes. They were just two tiny dots, no bigger than mung beans, hidden under his eyebrows, with his eyes barely open. He looked like a character from a comic book in his world, utterly comical.

The tenth young master's eyesight seemed to be poor as well. Surrounded by a group of demons, he frowned, looked around, and finally locked onto Li Yunxin's direction. He then demanded sharply, "What happened? Why are you so panicked?!"

Li Yunxin walked towards him, saying, "Your Majesty, this is terrible! A handsome and dashing assassin has arrived—he's already here!"

The tenth young master frowned upon hearing this and tilted his head: "What killer star? Where is he?"

Li Yunxin had already reached the demon. Only then did she realize that the Tenth Prince was probably indeed blind—tiny sparks of electricity, like tendrils, kept emerging from his side, probing his surroundings for him.

Then one of them reached out to Li Yunxin.

The tenth young master immediately frowned: "...Huh?"

But then they heard Li Yunxin burst into laughter, and with a sway of his body, he revealed his original form, shouting, "Fool, your Grandpa Li is right here!"

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【Note 1】: Stockholm syndrome, also known as the Stockholm effect, is a psychological phenomenon where victims of crime develop feelings for their perpetrators, sometimes even helping them. This emotional bond causes victims to feel affection, dependence, and even assistance towards their abusers.

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