Inner Demons

Inside the Weicheng residence of the Shangqing Elixir Cauldron Sect, the candlelight flickered for half an hour. Only then did the beggar stop and fall silent. "And that is how it is."

Yue Yunzi looked at the beggar before him and sighed softly. "Old friend, you are still hiding things from me. We have known each other for so long, have done these things together, and at such a time, what is there that I cannot know?"

Normally, upon hearing such words, the beggar would get angry out of displeasure. Today, however, he smiled faintly and said to Yue Yunzi, "Since you and I are old friends, you should know that some things... sigh."

He thought seriously for a moment more, then said, "Alright, let me put it this way—after I leave here, I will return to that place and kill that demon. If he's lucky, he'll have a whole corpse, and maybe I can even wear it. If he's unlucky, there might not even be a speck of dust left. But no matter what, I must kill him. Do you know why?"

Yue Yunzi frowned. "According to what you just said, his demeanor, actions, and words indeed match that of the demon Bai Yunxin's maidservant. She is a rather important figure in our plan. Why do you insist on killing her?"

"Because he asked me the questions you want to know." The beggar looked at Yue Yunzi with a rare seriousness—this surprised the True Realm cultivator, who was used to him being as childish and capricious as a teenager. "You always like to ask me those questions, and you like to ask them in a roundabout way. But old friend, if I didn't truly like you and carefully skirt around those things, I would have had to kill you long ago, just like today."

"A name—even if you know a name, it is a taboo." The beggar stood up in the candlelight and closed his eyes to feel for a moment. "Mmm. She is still there. Trapped by me—she just asked me those questions, and I told her everything. Because I had already planned to kill her, she was like a dead person in my eyes at that time. Even if she knew, she would only know for half an hour."

"Heaven knows, the earth knows, you know, and I know—" Yue Yunzi frowned. "That... sect of yours, does it truly have such great power? Even the Daoist Orthodoxy and the Sword Sect cannot protect you? You are a genius who has cultivated both Daoist Arts and swordsmanship, yet your sect forced you to abandon your physical form and become a ghost... such a great hatred, do you truly not hold it in your heart? We cultivate the Celestial Heart Orthodox Law for longevity, and now you..."

"Not so." The beggar interrupted him solemnly. "I do not hate. Old friend, I cultivate the Celestial Heart Orthodox Law, but not for longevity. We are only here to—save this world."