Inner Demons

The Sect Master had told him that this matter was "of utmost urgency," but in the current situation... he couldn't even complete the task?

Thus, he frowned slightly: "This humble Taoist is also a practitioner, not one of those ignorant secular folk. Lord Tongtian is indeed famous, but if I were to stammer out of fear upon seeing Lord Tongtian, it would be rude. However... is Lord Tongtian testing me? That is entirely unnecessary. This message is absolutely true; Lord Tongtian can find out for himself by going to Trapped Sky Mountain!"

Yazi no longer looked at him, but lazily yawned again and lay back down on the large Bluestone: "Get lost."

Cong Yunzi still wanted to say a few more words, but Yazi casually waved his hand as if shooing a fly.

Without any visible phenomenon, Cong Yunzi suddenly felt a fierce blow to his chest, as if a small mountain had instantly pressed down on him—his heart was greatly alarmed, and he immediately circulated all the Spiritual Power in his body to protect himself. However, the "full power" of an Illusory Realm cultivator was like dust before the "casual effort" of a Profound Realm great demon. In just one breath, Cong Yunzi finally could not resist, spat out a mouthful of blood, and lost consciousness.

The sun finally set.

He woke up again because of an intense pain.

It was as if his body was being torn by a force, and his flesh and blood were being ripped off piece by piece. The pain traveled from his arm to every corner of his body, making him, even in his stupor, let out a high-pitched, agonizing scream, and suddenly open his eyes and sit up!

Then he realized...

One of his arms was being held in Yazi's palm.

Night had fallen, but the forest was utterly silent; even mosquitoes dared not buzz. A bonfire was lit beneath the large Bluestone, but the firelight could only illuminate a small area; the surroundings were filled with gloomy shadows of trees, like ghosts.

And now... the arm he was holding was covered in blood.

The forearm was nearly stripped to the bone—it was not a cut or a scrape, but rather... the Dragon's Son Yazi had used his sharp claws to slice it open, then pinched it with two fingers, tearing off his muscle in strips!!

Cong Yuezi was initially stunned by this scene—although the pain was still intense, he had regained consciousness. And precisely because he had regained consciousness, he realized...

He was being eaten.

Eaten alive!

Yazi's face was right in front of him. His eyes glittered in the flickering firelight. Blood still stained the corner of his mouth, and he was slowly chewing—as if he were peacefully watching him while eating some dried fruit.

The eaten cultivator and the eating demon-monster stared at each other for a while. Then Cong Yuezi suddenly clenched his teeth, his eyes wide open!

Because as Yazi stared at him calmly, he tore off another strip of muscle!

Cong Yuezi clearly heard the sound of his own flesh being ripped from his arm by the demon-monster. It was the first time he realized... it sounded somewhat like tearing cloth.

The demon-monster tilted his head slightly, putting the bloody flesh he was pinching into his mouth, but his gaze remained fixed on him the entire time. After watching for a while, and once he swallowed that bite, he smiled: "Cultivators are indeed tastier. They have chewiness, unlike the rotten meat of mortals. But if you don't scream now, holding a mouthful of turbid air in your lungs, you'll sour my delicious meal."

Sweat seeped from Cong Yunzi's forehead like rain, quickly soaking his hair and clothes. But the demon-monster's hand was like cast steel, holding him firmly.

The Illusory Realm Taoist priest dared not make any rash moves. All he could do was grit his teeth and endure the pain, his eyes wide: "Lord Tongtian, why are you eating me?"

Then Cong Yuezi noticed that Yazi was stunned. Although it was only for a brief moment, he knew his eyes wouldn't deceive him—it was as if his single sentence had stirred some old memory in the great demon-monster's heart; his hand and expression froze simultaneously.

Following that, the demon-monster suddenly narrowed his eyes, scrutinized him carefully for a while, and said, "You... are interesting."

He stopped; he wasn't eating him for the moment.

Cong Yuezi didn't know why his sentence had such an effect—he simply wanted to appear tougher, more composed, and buy himself some time.

But since it worked... he clenched his teeth again, trying not to look at the horrifying wound on his arm: "I came to send a message to Lord Tongtian. When two countries are at war, they do not kill the messenger. If Lord Tongtian kills me today..."

To his surprise, he found that Yazi suddenly frowned, a look of doubt on his face: "Send what message?"

Cong Yuezi was confused, wondering if the moody demon-monster was playing tricks on him. But he still mustered his courage, pretending he hadn't told Yazi before, and repeated his message verbatim.

Then he found that Lord Tongtian... was lost in thought again.

He was staring intensely at him, but his mind was clearly elsewhere. It was as if he was looking through Cong Yuezi's body, seeing a place much farther away and things that happened much, much longer ago. After being spaced out for a good while, his focus returned to Cong Yuezi.

The demon-monster grinned, showing his sharp teeth, and smiled: "Li Yunxin, huh..."

"Yes," Cong Yuezi gritted his teeth, trying hard to keep his expression calm.

Because he realized that Yazi quite liked this "unflustered in the face of danger" demeanor: "Since Lord Tongtian has received the news, how about releasing me? I have entertained you with my flesh and blood, and now I should return to report."

But Yazi did not let go. Instead, he smiled again: "Interesting. Interesting... I saw one such interesting little person before, and now I've seen a second one tonight. Hmm..."

Hearing this, Cong Yuezi was secretly delighted, knowing that the situation might be salvageable. Therefore, his expression became even more composed. He even tried to force himself to treat Yazi as a friend of equal status: "Since it's interesting, why not be friends? Lord Tongtian usually... Ugh!"

His words were abruptly cut short.

At the moment he heard the word "friend," a terrifying, sharp light suddenly burst from Yazi's eyes. He put force into his wrist and pulled Cong Yuezi to his front—and bit down on his neck!

The Taoist priest's cervical spine was instantly severed, and his breath was instantly cut off. The blood spurting from his neck splattered all over Yazi's face, but he didn't care. Instead, like a true wild beast, he violently shook his head and bit a few more times, until the neck was completely severed and the Taoist priest's head rolled onto the ground before he released his grip.

Then he casually threw the headless corpse next to the bonfire, gritting his teeth: "Friend?! Bah! You're not worthy!"

With that, he soared into the sky, flying straight towards Trapped Sky Mountain!

...

...

And after Li Shan and "Kun Wuzi" met, but before Cong Yuezi found Yazi, some other disturbances arose around Dongting Lake.

This does not refer to the "lakeshore," but to the "Dongting vicinity."

The cause of the matter begins with the Su Family of Su Town—the very Su Town where "Old Man Su" used to live.

The Family Head, Su Zhizhang, and the core members of the clan were sailing on a pleasure boat, celebrating his unmotivated old father, Old Man Su, on Dongting when they encountered a storm and the boat capsized. After that, Dongting was sealed by some invisible power, and no one could enter or leave.

Everyone knew this trip was likely disastrous, but the Family Head's residual prestige remained, so things were calm for a couple of weeks.

But after about half a month, they could no longer restrain themselves.

The Su Family started as merchants and amassed immense wealth. However, in such times, if one has no power, the more wealth one has, the more dangerous it becomes. The Su Family was different from the Yu Family. The Yu Family always had few descendants and rose to prominence late. Even though they relied on a powerful patron, they truly lacked their own foundation.

The Su Family, however, had been building power early on—through hidden means.

Su Family descendants studied but did not take the Imperial Examination.

From a young age, they were well-versed in history and classics, while also learning the ways of business and governance. When the opportunity arose, they went out—to become personal advisors to officials.

Qing Kingdom officials always served away from their hometowns. An official arriving in a strange land with no foundation found it difficult to accomplish anything without the support of local powerful, aristocratic families. The Su Family was naturally a top-tier powerful family in the few prefectures near Dongting. Coupled with their smooth network of contacts and rich family assets, there was no Su Family descendant who failed when they ventured into the officialdom.

Moreover, they genuinely possessed enough talent to manage many affairs behind the scenes.

Therefore, "Su Family Advisor" was a distinguished sign of reputation in the few prefectures near Dongting.

The ignorant commoners of the Qing Kingdom liked to say, "This Great Qing Dynasty belongs to the Zhao Family." But near Dongting, some people said that these four prefectures and sixteen counties belonged to the Su Family.

Now that such a large family had lost its Dragon Head, countless people naturally vied for power.

After Su Zhizhang disappeared for half a month, scenes of power struggles played out in the luxurious manor, plunging this top-tier powerful family into utter chaos, with not a single day of peace.

The nearby neighbors and officials with some ambition were happy to watch the unrest—a strong and powerful Su Family certainly made their work easier, but no one truly liked to be controlled by an invisible power, losing their freedom.

They watched the show with such complex and contradictory feelings for over a month... until one day they were surprised to find that all the conflict had vanished.

The Su Family seemed to have elected a new Family Head overnight.

And the strange thing was, this new Family Head was, just the day before, an unfavored illegitimate son from one of the family branches, named Su Zhiyuan.

No one knew how such a young man became the new helmsman. Curious people went to inquire, but couldn't find anything out.

Other officials whose personal advisors were Su Family members tried to indirectly ask their advisors' opinions. But the answers they received, though varied in form, were essentially the same—they had no objection to the change.

...These Su Family people were truly like monsters.

No wonder they could remain a powerful family for two hundred years.

But the oddities did not end there. Soon, people learned of another matter—

This young man named Su Zhiyuan claimed to be the former Su Family Head, Su Zhizhang, who had disappeared in Dongting Lake over a month ago.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!