Internal Devils - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: My Head

The two priests that Li YunXin killed were not priests without sect like they said. Actually they were also from Above the Clouds Sword School. They were the third and fourth direct disciples of the school leader.

Li YunXin was in no mood to consider whether if it was “the school leader’s direct disciples were too weak” or “the magic array that his parents left behind was too strong”.

The junior brother[1] of the 2 priests he killed was still alive, and he sounded really powerful. What if he notices that his 2 senior brothers disappeared? Is he going to find me in his investigation?

Li YunXin didn’t know how much an immortal could do, and he didn’t dare to guess. However, he was already suspecting that the reason that that guy had no time to come here to kill them and pass his trial, was because he went to investigate the deaths of his 2 senior brothers.

What a pity. Li YunXin originally planned to escape as soon as he understood the details. Unfortunately, now that he knew this - Maybe the master of the 6 swordsmen, HuaiNanZi would notice that something was wrong.

It’s a matter regarding his life and death...He could never be careful enough about it.

Therefore...

He couldn’t leave these 6 people alive.

The effect of Traveling in the Night in Gorgeous Garments had reached its maximum. Liu the old priest, who was controlling the spirits, felt increasingly surprised. He was also considered an “expert” who could create Sensation Realm paintings, but compared to this one before him, his works were like...

Like trash.

The 6 people in the magic array had already completely lost their mind, and were controlled by some kind of strong emotion.

However, Li YunXin still thought it was not enough. It was prepared in a hurry after all. According to his father’s words, when an array of Traveling in the Night in Gorgeous Garments was activated, the one who was affected by it would lose himself. Even if someone was to stab him with a sword, he would still be immersed in the illusory glory, unable to get out - not like this one he prepared.

Therefore, Li YunXin must come up with some other ways, if he wanted to kill them.
Qiao DuanHong pulled the people surrounding him aside, and walked up to Li YunXin and Liu the old priest.

He bowed very deeply to Liu the old priest, and then seriously nodded to Li YunXin. Then he said: “I have eyes, but failed to see Mount Tai. I slighted you on the way, immortal master. Please don’t be offended.”

He didn’t look at the six people who kept talking with excitement. The expression on his face was calm, as if he was counting on the 2 masters for his own survival.

The other members of the escort team looked at each other, but soon, even the dullest one understood why their leader was doing that - The old one and the young one, who were looked down upon and mocked by them, were actually hiding their powers from them, and everything they had done was with reason.

“May I ask you, immortal master, what shall we do now? Are those 6 people under your control?”Qiao DuanHong asked Liu the old priest.

Of course, Liu the old priest couldn’t answer his question, but luckily, his acting skill was reliable. He slightly raised his eyes, pinched his beard, and said: “This poor priest is currently casting the spell, and it is inconvenient for me to talk. Ask my disciple. I’ve told him all the important points of this magic array.”

“No, they aren’t.”Li YunXin said.

He talked fast, and was frowning. It looked like he was thinking about something, but in fact, he just didn’t want Qiao DuanHong to ask for all the details - For example, why a random young man they ran into on the way could assist an “immortal master” in his spell.

“Don’t do anything reckless. You can talk or walk around, but don’t try to run. The six people over there would be awakened as soon as you make any big movements. Now they feel that everything is under their control, so they are flaunting.” Li YunXin turned to look at Qiao DuanHong, and the several people behind him, “So, Mr.Qiao, if you and your men attack them right at the moment they wake up, what’s the probability to kill them all?”

Qiao DuanHong was stunned - the young man’s voice sounded quite familiar.
It was not like the voice of any person he knew, but...the tone of being used to command and guide others sounded familiar.

He realized that his guess about the identity of the young man was completely wrong. He was probably...not a child of a merchant family. Maybe he was from some noble family, but what was the relationship between him and Liu the old priest? They seemed to have a unvoiced pact[2] between each other long before.

He saluted with his hand folded: “ I’m not a civil man. I don’t deserve the honor of being called a mister. If we’re talking about a sudden attack...”

Qiao DuanHong slightly blushed: “I’m afraid...we wouldn’t be able to get any of them. Maybe we can hurt 2 or 3 of them. You might not know this, my young lord - these 6 people are all second-class experts in jianghu, and that means they are one in a thousand. Although we...”

“Okay, got it.”Li YunXin interrupted him, “So we need to find another way.”
He didn’t show many emotions on his face, which made Qiao DuanHong feel hurt. He didn’t expect a young lord to understand what a “second-class expert” stood for.

In legends and stories, the heroes always walked on walls and jumped between the roofs, even a “first-class expert” could only be a foil to them. In the eyes of ordinary people, “second-class expert” is totally a derogatory term.

However, in reality, even if an untalented man started his martial training when he was young, and the herbs and food he needed were all prepared by people who were specially assigned, and the teacher he chose was famous and the style he learned was good...up to his forties, he may barely reach the border of a “third-class  expert”.

To become a 2nd-class expert, aside from good environment and luck, one also needed innate talent.

As for a 1st-class expert...that is truly like dragons and fengs of which there was not even one in ten thousand.

Feng凤, the king of all birds. Dragons and fengs is used to describe outstanding people
Qiao DuanHong thought his talent was not bad, he worked hard when he was young, and his family was not poor - He was pretty proud of himself for reaching the border of the second class at his age.

At least among the escort teams in Wei City, his skill was remarkable.

However, he thought the young man didn’t know these things. Maybe he was from a noble family, had learned something like magic, and was not interested in martial arts.

Most of the upper class in cities were like this - they respect the immortals and was longing for Dao. They loved to imitate the immortals’  meditation, but they didn’t know the proper method. However, they were never keen on the skills which could increase their strength through hard work.

He folded his hands again, and payed attention to Liu’s reaction from the corner of his eye. He tried to sound him out: “So...is there anything else we can help with?”
Liu the old priest didn’t answer, looking mysterious. Li YunXin thought for a while, and said: “I’ve got an idea--”

When he was halfway through this sentence, the wind in the forest suddenly grew stronger.

There was always wind. Wind was strong in spring. Even in such a dense forest, there were still breezes.

However, this wind was bizarre - it was strangely cold.

The wind blew almost touching the ground, and went a circle around each person. Both campfires darkened, and the leaves on the trees rustled.

The beard of Liu the old priest was blown to his face, but he had no spare attention to mind that, because when the wind appeared, he noticed the stream of the spirits in the magic array was disturbed.

Then the six swordsmen who were talking all the time slowed down their tongues, looked at each other, and shut their mouths up, looking embarrassed.

At the next moment, the six killers who shook off the control of the array noticed that something was wrong. The swordsman with narrowed eyes frowned: “There is a strong one. Kill them first!”

Almost at the same time, with the wind, a sharp, painful and faint voice appeared by the ears of everyone-

“My death was so tragic――”

Because of the voice, the attack of the swordsmen that was about to begin stopped again.

Liu the old priest opened his eyes completely round, while his lips were twitching.
Qiao DuanHong and the others of the escort team looked around with confusion, trying to figure out whether they heard it wrong.

Li YunXin sighed.

What a classic thriller movie opening.

The next line should be...

“Give my head back to me...”

When the second sound broke out in the night forest, even the sword in the hand of the coldest swordsman started to shake.

In such a world, even the most experienced person - not including the real cultivators of course - wouldn’t have been bombarded by as much information as Li YunXin had in his time. Li YunXin knew all the possible ways for a female ghost to appear; He knew that in the legends there were monsters in the rivers, dragon lords in the oceans, Yamas[3] in the underworld and immortals in the heavens; He knew how was the life was of an emperor, of ministers, and of wealthy families.

He even got bored when he heard the first 2 sentences of the ghost.

Oh, it’s this plot again.

Thus when he was surprised by “I’m finally going to see a real ghost in the this world for the first time”, his fear was much less than that of others.

Then...

The female showed herself in a classic way-

A woman in white clothing staggered out of a bush, holding both her arms out in front of her body. A large amount of blood was seen on her, and they kept dripping onto the ground. Her head was not on her shoulders - There was a wound as big as a bowl on her neck, in which the bone stubble, the windpipe and blood vessels could be seen.

Her head was rolling on the ground, 4 or 5 steps away from her body. Her eyes were open, and were staring at the body behind them.

Following the rolling head, the body staggered forward, and kept screaming in an anguished voice:

“My head...Give it back to me...”

Translator’s notes:
[1]Junior brother师弟: Someone who entered the school later than the others.
[2]Having a unvoiced pact between each other默契: Being tacit.
[3]Yama阎罗:God of death.