Inner Demons

Chapter 200: Who is Without Feeling?

The Lord of Dongting carefully studied Yazi in the hazy moonlight. After a moment of thought, he said, "Ah, this is a big deal."

"So that True Dragon taught Lord Tongtian how to break this seal?"

"That's right," Yazi replied with a smile, looking at Li Yunxin again. "And for that, my ninth brother needs to lend a hand."

He walked over to Li Yunxin and leaned in to get a closer look at him.

Yazi was smiling. Li Yunxin saw his smile clearly.

During the day, Yazi's smile was sincere and open. This wasn't just a "feeling"—even an expert in reading people like Li Yunxin couldn't detect any pretense.

You have to remember, he was an "expert" who could even read Kun Wuzi's subtle expressions.

But looking at his smile now…

It had become extremely unsettling.

It was a smile that didn't reach his eyes. A malicious smile, an eager smile, a cruel and brutal smile.This smile was now on Yazi's face. He stared at Li Yunxin without looking at the Lord of Dongting. He slowly said, "This seal requires the power of two Dragon's Sons to open. My ninth brother was originally granted the Wei River—who would have thought he was actually meant to be a key?"

Li Yunxin looked back at him. Then he reached out and touched the air.

Yazi had previously drawn a circle around him with a dagger to prevent him from being affected by the fight between the Profound Realm cultivators. Now, that circle worked—a golden light accompanied by a hum appeared, like a cylinder made of a glowing aura, stopping his hand from passing through.

Li Yunxin sighed, "Then, may I ask, my second brother, how is this key of mine to be used? Why don't I know?"

The Lord of Dongting watched the two brothers "converse," then looked up at the sky. There was a faint glimmer in the northwest. In the Misty Dongting Lake, Kun Wuzi's figure was still struggling against the column of water, moving slowly.

There was still time.

He stroked the two whiskers on his chin. "Doesn't Lord Tongtian know? This person named Li Yunxin is not Chiwen. He is a Yin Spirit who has found a way to impersonate your ninth brother. As for your ninth brother, he is already dead."

Yazi listened to his words and laughed coldly, his eyes still fixed on Li Yunxin. "Oh? Ninth brother, is that true? It's quite a tragedy. Although we Dragon's Sons are of the same Dragon Clan, we have never met. Two thousand years ago, my second brother was granted the vast Heaven-Connecting Sea, and my ninth brother was only granted the Wei River a thousand years ago—so my second brother really can't tell if you're real or fake."

"Or perhaps..." Yazi moved closer. If not for the light barrier, his forehead would have almost touched Li Yunxin's. He stared into Li Yunxin's eyes, his own deep blue eyes twinkling as if with stars. "Or perhaps... everything you said before was insincere?"

The two stared at each other for a moment, then Li Yunxin suddenly took a step back and smiled. "My second brother is joking. My feelings, my ninth brother's feelings, are deep and sincere."

Yazi burst into laughter. After a while, he suddenly stopped. "Then, ninth brother, will your sincerity end up killing your second brother?"

"For example, if my second brother wants to live, but that Kun Wuzi is chasing him," Li Yunxin said in a low voice. "He chases and says, 'Fellow Daoist, please stay. This humble one just wants to play with you. You can stand still and let this humble one poke forty-nine holes in you, and I promise not to kill you.' So, would my second brother... turn around and kill him, or stand there and let him poke?"

"You know... maybe Kun Wuzi really is just playing around?"

Yazi was silent for a while and took two steps back.

"Good," he said, looking at Li Yunxin. "What a deep and sincere feeling. Then, Lord of Dongting, I will rescue you now."

"The method is very simple. The final touch of this Dongting seal was drawn with Dragon Qi. Now it must be destroyed with Dragon Qi as well. This amount of Dragon Qi... is not too much, and not too little. If there is a Dragon Clan at the peak of the Manifestation Realm here, his physical body can be refined to break the seal's core. Then, another Dragon's Son can guide the two streams of Dragon Qi out, and the seal will be broken instantly."

"If there's a True Realm Dragon Clan, that would be even better," he said with a cold laugh, looking at the Lord of Dongting. "If my ninth brother were real, this would be a plan to kill two birds with one stone for the Lord of Dongting. You and my ninth brother have been together in the Wei River and Dongting for a thousand years. Although there have been no conflicts, I guess my ninth brother's heart isn't right—"

"Who likes having an old Profound Realm monster next to them? Lord of Dongting... you don't like him very much either, do you? This is great. After he's gone, Lord of Dongting can confidently go to the True Dragon with the Divine Dragon Token. And I will also have peace here."

Li Yunxin calmly looked at "Yazi."

Or rather... during the day, he should have been Yazi.

Yama King seemed to be unaware of some things, or perhaps he was intentionally concealing them.

—Young Master Nine was not completely dead.

Li Yunxin was willing to trust his intuition—even though he hadn't found any concrete evidence to support it yet—Yazi, the nighttime Yazi, the Yazi after sunset...

Was the former Dragon's Son, Chiwen, Young Master Nine!

After Yazi said these things, Li Yunxin silently revealed his God-Devil Dharma Body.

A flash of green light swept through.

Mist and clouds rose around him. Water vapor seeped into his blue-gray scales. A pair of crimson deer antlers stood on his forehead, with specks of golden light adorning the branches!

He appeared but still didn't speak. With his lips tightly pressed, he stared at the Lord of Dongting with a pair of golden eyes.

—He was betting on something.

Betting on something he was not good at and could not even fully understand!

Upon seeing his Dharma Body, which belonged to Chiwen, the Lord of Dongting's eyes slowly widened, his mouth slightly parted, and he even tried to raise his hand. But in just one motion, he quickly lowered it again.

The Lord of Dongting glanced at Yazi.

Li Yunxin saw a certain glint in his eyes.

He then spoke, "I have many things to tell you, many things you cannot imagine or understand."

As he spoke, his face was obscured by a thin layer of water vapor, making it impossible to tell if he was looking at the Lord of Dongting or Yazi.

"But no matter... no matter what it looks like. No matter what form or name I have... one thing will never change."

"Humans have feelings, and so do monsters—that will not change."

"Even if it's never spoken."

After saying this, he fell silent.

Yazi was silent for a while too. He stared intently at Li Yunxin, seemingly trying to figure out the meaning or truth of these words—he believed these words... were meant for him.

The Lord of Dongting next to him thought the same.

He recalled the words this "Li Yunxin" had spoken when they first met—

"And so, perhaps... he would only tell me. He is a proud person—some emotions are hidden in his heart, maybe he's afraid of being ridiculed if he says them. But there was one time..."

"He drank too much and said that in this Wei River... there was only one person he wanted to be close to but couldn't..."

The Lord of Dongting was a Profound Realm monster who had lived for three thousand years. Not to mention his wisdom, the hardships and dangers he had experienced were probably more than all three people present combined.

Back when he first met Li Yunxin, the things he did and the things he said, even looking at them today... would not make him completely and utterly believe that this "Chiwen" was the same "Chiwen" from before.

However... he couldn't "completely and utterly" believe it.

There was ninety-nine percent doubt in his heart.

But there was also that small bit of hope and expectation.

Li Yunxin just wanted to bet on that little bit—something he was not good at and didn't quite understand.

And the reason he dared to bet on this was because... Young Master Nine was indeed a monster who was not well-versed in human emotions.

—There was a subtle and common relationship between Young Master Nine and the Lord of Dongting. It was this relationship, along with the Lord of Dongting's powerful strength, that allowed the two to coexist peacefully for over a thousand years.

But now, it had become a fatal flaw.

The Lord of Dongting knew some things that Young Master Nine did not.

And today, this asymmetry of information became the only lifeline in a desperate situation—especially when "Yazi," who might now be Young Master Nine, was cleverly and repeatedly emphasizing that Li Yunxin was his "ninth brother."

After a few breaths of silence, Yazi spoke first, "Who knows, ninth brother? Humans have a belly, and so do monsters. If you don't dig out your heart, my second brother can't see clearly. Lord of Dongting—have you made up your mind? This lord is about to rescue you!"