Internal Devils - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Yu Meng

The only thing Liu had heard was “here for trials”, he was amazed by this. He thought he may have met an expert from a grotto-heaven or a school -- if not, how could he have scared the demon away?

Li YunXin’s cold attitude about people’s deaths made Liu more confident about his guess. After all, only those who were from the Talisman Sect and the Sword Sect would have been so...emotionless.

To abandon the 7 emotions and the 6 desires to reach the ultimate Emotionless Realm, and then survive the final trial to ascend to the heavens, and finally become a celestial, which was the most advanced existence in this world -- wasn’t that what those cultivators were seeking?

The old priest glanced at Qiao JiaXin, and felt really strange. It was dark in the forest, and his old eyes were not working so well, so he didn’t see those blood oozing from her belly. Actually the bleeding almost stopped -- Since her guts and belly were cut up, she had been walking for so long, she was just about to lose the last of her blood.

If no actions were taken, after a few days, her body would rot like a normal dead body, and finally unable to keep itself whole, and fall apart.

That would be a problem which Li YunXin needed to deal with.

Liu though for a while, and then said yes to Li YunXin with an unclear voice. Then he tried to ask more questions to Li YunXin humbly. However, Li YunXin was thinking about his own business, and didn’t answer him.

When slight light which looked like the white on fish’s belly turned up on the horizon, Liu had been yawning for so many times. Then Li YunXin saw 2 people walking towards them from the far end of the road.

One of them was in white clothes, and the other one was in black. They seemed to have a copper bell and a metal chain in their hands. When they walked, those things clanked.

When they got closer, Li YunXin finally saw them clearly. The one who dressed in white was holding a fist-sized brass bell in his hand, while the one in black had an iron chain in his hands, the chain hung down and reached the ground near his feet.

They were wearing really tall hats, and their faces were pales as sheets. However, their long and narrowed eyes were quite charming, and the genders of them were hard to tell.

Li YunXin noticed that there were words written on their hats, so he slightly closed his eyes to read them.

Then he found that, on the white hat, there was “Where did the man-devouring inner demons come from?”.

While on the black hat there was “Where shall I go in my reincarnated second life?”

Seeing these words, Li YunXin was shocked, and felt like there was a thunder crashing right next to his ears

It was like someone snatched these 2 sentences from his heart, because it was actually what he was thinking about. He looked around, and found himself alone, sitting by the road, while Liu, Qiao DuanHong and Qiao JiaXin had all gone.

Frowning, Li YunXin stood up: “Who are you?”

Those 2 people stopped by his side, and looked at him from the corners of their eyes. The one in white said: “Yee? This guy looks so strange. Is his name on the Book of Life and Death[1]?”

The one in black took out a thin book from his sleeve, and started to browse. Then he said: “No, there isn’t. I can’t believe we have left him out. Ask him about the 8 words of his birth[2], and his identity in his previous life, then I shall add his information to the book.”

The one in white turned around to Li YunXin, shook his bell, and asked: “Who were you in your previous life, and what are the 8 words of your birth? Tell me, tell me all of them.”

Li YunXin frowned and shook his head: “Who are you? How did you know about me?”

The one in white grinned: “What a fool. We Black and White Yamas[3] know everyone in this world, except the immortals, who had broken away from the cycle. Don’t blame me on making you suffer, if you insist not to tell me about yourself.”

The words on their hats were ususally "World peace" and "Good fortune".

After these words, he raised a hand and thrust into Li YunXin’s chest.

Li YunXin was frightened. He fell back at once, but when he touched his chest, he found no wound on it.

Then he saw White Yama holding a sphere of light in his hand. He opened his eyes wider, and said in surprise: “Yee? You had no heart in your previous life?”

He looked at the sphere for a while, and then the look on his face changed again: “Yee? You were also a cannibalistic Human Demon!”

After every sentences he said, the light in his hand faded a bit. When there was only a bean-sized dim light on the tip of his finger, White Yama shook his hand really hard to get rid of that light, and screamed: “Ayya! This guy!”

Black Yama darted an unhappy look at him: “What’s the panic?”

White Yama yelled: “Don’t you remember that demon lord which attacked our palace!? This guy is the same as the demon -- They are not in the six paths of reincarnation!”

Black Yama was also surprised. Then iron chain in his hand started to shake. He dragged White Yama back and stared at Li YunXin: “Then...then...are we still going to seize that woman?”

White Yama grabbed Black Yama’s sleeve and walked away: “Seize yourself! Don’t provoke him! Let’s go. If there is any other souls related to him in the future, we’ll just ignore them, in case he causes troubles for us.”

Li YunXin got annoyed by their endless talking. He tried to stop them from leaving with his hand: “Who the hell are you?”

He woke up as he shouted.

Right in front of him, a round-faced young man was staring at him, and holding his hands.

Li YunXin looked at him for a while, and took back his hands: “What are you doing!?”

It was daytime. The sun was shining brightly. One the road there were a man, a horse and a cart.

The man with a round face stood up straight, and comforted Li YunXin with a gentle voice: “Don’t worry, don’t worry. It’s okay now. I’m Yu Meng[4]. Don’t be afraid, my little brother.”

Yu Meng had a pair of big eyes, big shiny eyes.

He stepped back with smile on his face, and said: “You were probably having a nightmare, my little brother. You asked ‘who the hell are you!?’, and reached your hands. I didn’t grab them on purpose, don’t get me wrong.”

At this time, Li YunXin finally realized that he was lying on the grass. Liu and Qiao JiaXin were already on the cart. It seemed that Liu was worn out, now he was sleeping on the cart, showing his back to Li YunXin, while Qiao JiaXin was looking at Li YunXin, but not saying a word.

It was quite unusual. Li YunXin told the cat demon not to talk too much, and don’t let any one touch her body, and pretend to be Qiao JiaXin herself, but he didn’t expect her to obey him so well.

What was more, he fell asleep unconsciously? That was even more unbelievable to him.

“Who are you, mister?” Li YunXin stood up, and looked at Yu Meng. There was nothing special about this man, except his big eyes. He was wearing rough clothes, and a loose robe outside of them, which was normal for a traveler. On his head there was a conical hat made of bamboo barks.

Conical hats.

The man’s skin was unusually fair and clean, and he gave Li YunXin a gentle feeling. A pongee robe and a hand fan would have fitted him the most.

It he had shown up in a city instead of here, Li YunXin wouldn’t feel so strange, .
He looked like a son of a wealthy family, or at least a scholar, instead of someone who lives in jianghu. Li YunXin was always confident about his ability of analyzing a person, but he thought he couldn’t see through this man before him. He felt so strange.

Yu Meng held his hands in the front, and said: “Well, I’m Yu Meng.”

Li YunXin frowned: “I know. I mean...where are you from?”

He thought it was usual for him to fall asleep in such a dangerous situation, and this man in front of him looked pretty suspicious.

Yu Meng looked surprise. He blinked, and pointed at himself: “Me? I’m Yu Meng. Don’t you know about me?”

It was just nuts, and chunni. Li YunXin squinted his eyes: “Why do I need to know about you?”

Yu Meng blinked again: “Yee? You really don’t know me!?”

Li YunXin looked at his face carefully, but didn’t find any thing wrong with it -- The surprise of this man was just right. If he was acting, the fire in his furnace must be pure cyan[5].

Weird smile appeared on Yu Meng’s face, which almost made Li YunXin stab him in his chest, but before he took any action, he realized it was possible that the man was not acting. Maybe he was just... too simple.

Simpler than any normal people.

Yu Meng rubbed his own hands: “I’m Yu Meng, the current Dragon Head[6] of the Escort Teams’ Guild of the Great Qing Empire.”

Translator's notes:
[1]the Book of Life and Death生死簿: A book, in which the lifespans of everyone were written. In some stories, by editing the book, the lifespan of a person could be changed.
[2]8 words of birth生辰八字: In Chinese, the exact time of a person's birth can be written in 8 words， 2 for the year, 2 for the month, 2 for the day and 2 for the hour.
It was said that a person's 8 words influence his destiny.
[3]Black and White Yamas黑白阎君:  Two deities in charge of escorting the spirits of the dead to the Underworld.
[4]Yu Meng于濛: Name of the Dragon Head.
Meng=Rainy.
[5]The fire in his furnace must be pure cyan炉火纯青: In Taoist alchemy, when an elixir of life is created, the fire in the furnace will turn into pure cyan from red. When saying "the fire in someone's furnace is pure cyan", it means that his skill or knowledge is perfect.
[6]Dragon Head龙首: The most important part of something. Here it meant the leader of the guild.