Inner Demons

San Hua silently retreated into the shadows behind Ying Jueran and said nothing more.

Ying Jueran forced a smile onto his face, held his breath, and said with difficulty, "I did not hear anything I shouldn't have. Sir Liu thinks too much... The wind and rain are so heavy now, I am worried about my brothers. I want to go to the backyard to check on them..."

"That is only natural," Old Daoist Liu said. "Then go."

Ying Jueran was slightly surprised. He had not expected the man to let him leave so easily—was he not worried that he would run away?

But on second thought, he was relieved. Lady Sanhua was extraordinarily divine compared to him. Yet, in front of this old man, she was utterly submissive and did not dare to leave. How could he possibly escape?

So, he took a deep breath, drew his saber, and stood up. He wanted to go to the back to see if his people were safe, and also to survey the surrounding terrain.

Although Lady Sanhua said there was no escaping this place, he could not be at ease without trying for himself.

However, just as he had taken two or three steps, Old Daoist Liu suddenly seemed to remember something and said casually, "One more thing, I'll just ask a quick question. Great Hero Ying previously mentioned seeing an old man in the illusion of Yuan-Zhu Kingdom. That old man said some things to Great Hero Ying—what exactly did he say?"

If it were an ordinary person or event, it would surely be forgotten. But the things related to that old man seemed to be deeply etched into his mind; he could not forget even if he tried. So, after a slight hesitation, he said in a low voice, "Why does Sir Liu ask about this?"

Old Daoist Liu just smiled. "Just curious. Great Hero Ying doesn't have to say if he doesn't want to."

Ying Jueran indeed did not want to say. But if he did not speak of this matter, he himself could not make heads or tails of it. Although it had only been a short day, the words the old man left him felt as if they had been lingering in his head for more than a decade, making him so troubled he wanted to bang his head against the wall!

Because of this thought, he finally could not resist repeating those words exactly, word for word—he also wanted to see how this Old Daoist Liu would react upon hearing them.

"The people of Yuan-Zhu Kingdom suffer from the aggression of the Tufeng Kingdom people, yet they do not think about how to drive those people out. Instead, they accept their fate. Now that they have been attacked at their gates, they finally think of rising up and resisting—but it is a complete mess. It's difficult to distinguish between friend and foe, so they can only set up a target for themselves. It is truly laughable and pitiful."

Ying Jueran finished repeating the words, paused slightly, and let out a sigh. "That's exactly what the person said."

He was somewhat expectant of Old Daoist Liu's reaction.

But the result disappointed him.

Old Daoist Liu seemed to have genuinely just asked "casually." When Ying Jueran said the first few words, he listened attentively. As he continued, he became less concerned. Instead, he picked up the long-handled spoon from the earthenware pot and scooped the bottom. He scooped up minced and chunked meat, brought it to his mouth, and savored it, looking extremely pleased.

When Ying Jueran finished speaking and exhaled, he finally looked up. "Do you know what kind of meat this is?"

Ying Jueran shook his head, puzzled.

"Great Eel. It's the meat of a Great Eel that achieved human form. It is fresh, tender, and delicious without needing any seasoning. It is truly the best delicacy in the world." Old Daoist Liu said with a beaming smile, "You didn't eat it, so that greedy San Hua got a bargain."

These words exploded in Ying Jueran's ears like thunder.

He could no longer keep up the pretense—to continue deceiving himself in this situation would just be playing into the hands of a stronger opponent!

He simply brandished his saber and retreated to the doorway. The wind and rain outside instantly soaked his back, making the back of his neck feel cold, as if his head was about to be chopped off at any moment.

Ying Jueran channeled all his Internal Force and roared, "Who exactly are you?!"

Old Daoist Liu looked at Ying Jueran, then at San Hua, and chuckled.

"You little fellow are rather surprising, but upon closer thought, it is within reason. Since you remember and haven't forgotten, you should have said so earlier—a Demon, playing at schemes." His laughter, set against the wind and rain, sounded terrifying. But after such a bout of laughter, he sighed, "Alas. To be honest, I have no ill intentions. You children are fiercely loyal to that Li Yunxin, and this old Daoist is also fiercely loyal. Such a good heart has not been experienced for a long time, so I am reluctant to let go. And there is also the matter of that child—"

"Old Daoist Liu" pointed to "Lingkongzi's" body on the east side of the room. "This Old Daoist Liu harbors both the affection of a loving father and the heart of a loyal subject for Li Yunxin."

"For his lover, Shi Kuizi, there is the love between a man and a woman in the mortal world."

"The rest of you, trapped in this place... your feelings are all a little stronger than usual. These emotions, whether sorrowful or joyful, are just right to sculpt her Six Desires Tribulation Body."

Ying Jueran was completely baffled. He looked at San Hua. The result was as he expected: San Hua was blinking and shrinking in the corner, looking extremely afraid.

Helpless, he could only listen to Old Daoist Liu continue in utter confusion.

"Do you know what your body is?" Old Daoist Liu pointed at Ying Jueran. But he did not care if he answered and continued, "Your body, the physical body and the Spiritual Soul. What is the Spiritual Soul? To put it plainly, it is nothing more than the Seven Emotions and Six Desires. Mortals fear death because when the body is destroyed, the Spiritual Soul is destroyed, turning into a lone ghost."

"But Cultivators—although methods for sculpting the body in Daoist Arts are not numerous, they are not few either. The Art of Possession, the Art of Seizing a Body, the Art of Puppetry—Human Cultivators practice to temper the body and the Spiritual Soul to achieve longevity with the sun and moon. How could they not diligently study how to sculpt a body? But here with Cultivators, the method for sculpting the physical body is easy to handle, yet how does the Spiritual Soul return to that physical body?"

"It must be known that the Spiritual Soul and the physical body are inherently partially intertwined. If the body is created too well, the Spiritual Soul will not firmly attach. If the body is not created well, the Spiritual Soul will not attach. Tell me, what should be done?"

"Old Daoist Liu's" words were so easy to understand that even Ying Jueran slowly began to grasp the meaning.

When the man asked him again now, he answered as if guided by an unknown force, "The method is quite simple—like a female weaver weaving cloth, wouldn't weaving black and white threads together work?"

Old Daoist Liu burst into laughter. His laughter echoed in the hall, and the air expelled from his mouth even made the large bonfire flicker bright and dim. "That's right. Wouldn't weaving the Spiritual Soul into the body while creating the physical body work? But there is one more point—from the very beginning of their cultivation, Cultivators must undergo various tribulations and sever various feelings. The Spiritual Soul itself is a collection of the Seven Emotions and Six Desires—a Cultivator's Spiritual Soul is actually incomplete."

"The Spiritual Souls of you mortals are colorful and vibrant. But Cultivators, while alive, have gradually removed and suppressed their emotions—if you look at their Spiritual Souls, the color has faded, leaving many empty spaces. What fills those empty spaces? Those who have found their Dao Heart fill it with the Dao Heart. Those who haven't, fill it with Spiritual Power first."

"So, to re-weave their Spiritual Souls into a body, yet you cannot find the thread ends, how do you weave? You must find the Seven Emotions and Six Desires to re-weave it. But in this vast, turbid world, both humans and flying beasts or running animals have their own positions." The old Daoist pointed at Ying Jueran. "For example, you, this child, born into this world. When you die and decay and turn into a pile of mud and ash—are you still in this world? Of course, you are. It is just that while you were alive, you occupied a space in this world. After death, that space dissipates and turns into many smaller spaces. Then your tiny spaces and the tiny spaces of others gather together to form a new space—and a new person comes into this world."

Old Daoist Liu seemed extremely pleased with his own idea as he spoke. He stood up, stroked his beard, and paced a few steps. The air he stirred up whirred in the hall, as if he were a giant bellows, constantly expelling air in all directions.

"So this world is essentially empty. An emptiness composed of countless emptinesses. You, me, the grass and wood, the bricks and stones, even this flame, are fundamentally the same thing. The empty spaces in the world are neither too many nor too few. If one appears more here, there must be one less there. Now I want to use the Seven Emotions and Six Desires to weave a Spiritual Soul into a body, which is to weave a large emptiness from those small emptinesses for a person to 'dwell' in. It's just that there are large and small empty spaces everywhere in this world. When I weave her, those empty spaces are like flying ash, wanting to float in. How can this work? Tell me again, what should I do?"

Ying Jueran could not understand the latter part of these words. But he did hear something about "dust and grime."

He was frustrated in his heart. He did not know what this old man would do after saying all this, and he had no mind to think it through carefully. He just randomly answered, "...Find a place with no flying ash!"

Old Daoist Liu waved his large sleeve, his face radiant with excitement. "That's it! Find a place with no emptiness, and then re-weave the Spiritual Soul using the Seven Emotions and Six Desires of this world!"

"But where can I find an emptiness that can accommodate a person?" Old Daoist Liu chuckled. "Humans won't do. A person's emptiness is too small. To find a large emptiness, one must seek out the large ones—large beasts. Enter the 'emptiness' of a large beast. It is clean inside. Except for the ones on you, there is absolutely no impurity."

As he spoke, he looked around and finally walked to the side of Lingkongzi's bloody body. "I used your Seven Emotions and Six Desires to weave this Six Desires Tribulation Body for her. It is currently growing."

"Speaking of which, I felt it strange a few days ago—it was growing fine originally, so why did the heart orifices grow so quickly? Look at these blood vessels—" He reached out and flicked the blood vessels on the surface of the body. "The blood vessels and heart orifices are already formed. Now I know. It's because of you, little fellow."

He turned to look at Lady Sanhua. "You knew many things in your heart but did not speak. You schemed and guessed wildly in your mind, and as a result, her heart orifices grew quickly. If I hadn't found out today, this body might have been a complete failure. What would you compensate me with?"

San Hua did not speak, only shrank further away.

Seeing her like this, "Old Daoist Liu" sighed. "Oh well. It was originally a good thing, but I frightened you all. Now that you all know the whole story, you each have your own thoughts. So, these Seven Emotions and Six Desires are no longer pure. Then this matter naturally cannot proceed. It can also be said that your good fortune has run out—you, this child."

He said, pointing at Ying Jueran, "Do you know what I was cooking in the earthenware pot?"

Without waiting for an answer, he said, "That Great Eel was naturally a spirit creature, and it attained Dao cultivation and human form. Eating a piece of its meat allows a Cultivator to warm and consolidate their realm, and a mortal can extend their life by a hundred years. Yet you didn't eat it and gave it to this Demon. Since that's the case, so be it, so be it. I will leave and keep this Lingkongzi here."

"Tell that Li Yunxin that this child was not guilty of anything. Her offense against him was also due to being framed by others. Since she has suffered enough torment these days, consider it retribution for past sins. Now that she has a chance to be reborn, if a fortuitous chance arises for her to be born, tell him not to harm her, and let her be a hermit in the mortal world, living out her life."

The development of events exceeded Ying Jueran's expectations—he had thought there would be a life-and-death struggle, and he would lose his life here. He did not expect such a sudden twist—he did not know if it was true or false.

A flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and he was about to ask "Your esteemed name," but he saw a golden light suddenly emanate from Old Daoist Liu's body. The golden light was like thousands of strands of golden mist, wafting and gathering into a human form. The human form was indistinct, vaguely an old man. The old man paused above Old Daoist Liu's head, then suddenly shot straight through the roof, speeding toward the eastern sky, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Only Ying Jueran and Lady Sanhua, one human and one Demon, were left standing in the hall.

And then... Ying Jueran saw a shadow.

He stood in the doorway, and the shadow's feet were connected to his own feet—it was his own shadow.

But the problem was that when they were talking earlier, it was just nightfall, and the wind and rain were heavy... how could he see a shadow now?

He quickly turned around and looked out the door—he saw a clear sky and white clouds above. The sky had brightened at some point, and the bonfire in the hall had long been extinguished. The half-eaten body of the Demon on the west side of the room was gone, but the bloody body of "Lingkongzi" on the east side was still there.

But Lady Sanhua was gone.

Just then, a voice came from outside the room: "How is Great Hero Ying's enlightenment going?"

Ying Jueran looked closely and saw Yu Meng standing in the courtyard outside the room, looking at him. Ying Jueran had previously experienced the illusion of Yuan-Zhu Kingdom, so he did not take this as real. He only frowned and gave an "Mm."

Yu Meng then said, "After we were sent in here over ten days ago, the Taoist priest Liu here said you were poisoned by a spider. When you raised your Internal Energy to protect your heart meridian, you coincidentally comprehended a cultivation technique realm, and so you have been in seclusion here for over ten days. Now I see you have come out of seclusion—how did your enlightenment go?"

Ying Jueran blinked, then looked out the room again in a daze. He saw Old Daoist Liu, who should have been inside the room. He smiled and bowed with a Daoist salute to Ying Jueran. "It seems you have had a breakthrough. This old Daoist congratulates you."

Black Saber Ying Jueran took a deep breath in disbelief, recalling a certain legend. A woodcutter entered the mountains and encountered Immortals playing chess. He watched a game, and when he looked at his axe again, the handle had rotted away—hundreds of years had passed!

And at that moment, another sentence leaped into his mind—

The person who possessed Old Daoist Liu had said, "...Enter the 'emptiness' of a large beast. It is clean inside."

..."This" inside!!

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