Chapter 214: Tenth Prince |
The Red-tailed Demon seemed surprised that Li Yunxin had discovered him, but he wasn't afraid. This was unexpected for Li Yunxin. The demons in this lake must have heard of Young Master Nine's reputation in the Wei River. Now that he had released his dragon aura, they should know that the Dragon's Son had arrived, right?
After Li Yunxin asked that question, the Red-tailed Demon waddled along with the current and came to his side. He circled him three times, examining him carefully, and then spoke in a human tongue, marveling, "Brother, your outfit is truly magnificent! But today, the Cave Masters and Demon Generals of the lake have all gone to discuss important matters with the Tenth Prince. Who are you dressed up for?"
Li Yunxin was slightly stunned by his nonsensical words. But after a few thoughts flashed through his mind, he frowned. He immediately used his divine power to disperse the undercurrents that were flowing in all directions.
Although he knew nothing about this red-tailed demon's identity, status, or affiliation, the words "Tenth Prince" were enough to make him cautious.
Young Master Nine was called "Young Master Nine," and now there was a Tenth Prince. Could this be a coincidence?
His expression immediately changed, and he intended to get more information from this red-tailed demon. But then he was stunned again, realizing that he seemed to be... accustomed to hardship. There was probably no other True Realm demon as wronged as he was.
Originally, he was a Manifestation Realm cultivator, and his cultivation wasn't low. But among his peers in the Manifestation Realm, Lingkongzi was treated like a king while he had to hide and prevaricate. Later, he became a True Realm demon, an existence that could go anywhere in the world, yet he repeatedly encountered powerful beings. After all this trouble, his first reaction to anything was... "I'll scheme against him first."
Li Yunxin sighed and leaned towards the Red-tailed Demon. This demon was also intelligent and came over with a grin, wanting to hear what Li Yunxin had to say.
Unexpectedly, he was immediately grabbed by the neck and pulled next to Li Yunxin.
This red-tailed demon looked foolish, but at this critical moment, he had a temper. He swayed his body again, revealing his half-human, half-fish form, and shouted, "Do you know who your grandpa is?!"
A red light immediately appeared on his body. The upper half of his body swelled up like an inflated balloon, and a row of fangs appeared on his face, making him look like a monstrous Demon God.
Li Yunxin casually slapped him, instantly knocking this new Demon God back to his original form, with all his fangs floating to who knows where.
The demon's ears buzzed from the slap, and his face felt like two hot irons were pressed against it. All his muscles and bones were loose, and he felt like he would fall apart with another rush of water. He immediately retracted his aura and temper, begging for mercy, "Grandpa, have mercy, have mercy! It's me who was blind and didn't recognize your greatness..."
Li Yunxin didn't bother to argue and just asked, "Who is the Tenth Prince?"
The demon's eyes darted around. He was about to make something up when he heard Li Yunxin say, "Choose your words carefully. After hearing what you say, I will go and ask someone else. If it matches, then we're good. If not, hmph, I just happen to need a rope made of fish tendons!"
He immediately gave up his plan and, covering his face, whimpered, "The Tenth Prince is an ancient great demon, the tenth son of a Divine Dragon. But he only lives in Dongting and doesn't leave the lake, so it's not surprising that you don't know him."
Li Yunxin's expression was as calm as ever, and he said, "Do you know about the nine sons of the dragon?"
The demon quickly replied, "I do, I do."
Li Yunxin then said sternly, "Then how dare you lie to me?!"
The demon panicked, waving his chubby hands, "Your Highness, please don't be angry, please don't be angry. It is said that although the Tenth Prince is a Dragon Clan member, he was not born of that Divine Dragon!"
"This Tenth Prince is from Dongting... a Great Jiao that has attained enlightenment. Your Highness, do you know what a Great Jiao is? A Great Jiao is a kind of water monster in this lake—it sensed dragon aura from somewhere and seized the fortune of heaven and earth to be born. The Tenth Prince, a Great Jiao who has attained enlightenment, is considered to have the Divine Dragon bloodline, but unlike the other nine sons who were born of the Divine Dragon and other demons... this Tenth Prince claims that he is the one and only true Dragon's Son. He just can't stand the other nine sons who are flaunting their names and so he lives in seclusion in the lake..."
As he said this, his voice gradually faded because he saw the pair of crimson antlers on Li Yunxin's true form. He had previously thought it was a "costume," but now, the more he looked, the more it seemed like genuine antlers.
So that was it. What the red-tailed demon said seemed to be the truth—the "truth" as he perceived it. Li Yunxin thought about it. It wasn't impossible for the Vicious Flood Dragon in the lake to have truly attained enlightenment, but the possibility was low. The Lord of Dongting killed Vicious Flood Dragons every year, so there shouldn't be any that got away. But this red-tailed demon also knew the word "Jiao," so it was likely that the "Tenth Prince" knew it as well.
The Lord of Dongting was surprised that he knew the word "Jiao," which meant that this matter should be a secret in Dongting.
Then, whether this Tenth Prince was a Vicious Flood Dragon that had attained enlightenment or not, he probably wasn't simple.
Li Yunxin asked without changing his expression, "What did you mean earlier by me being 'dressed up' like this?"
The red-tailed demon spoke more cautiously. He looked at Li Yunxin nervously and said, "This... this is because... the Tenth Prince says he is the Dragon's Son, so he likes to call his residence the Dragon Palace. He also likes to make the Cave Masters of the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens and the Demon Generals of the Seventy-Two Schools pretend to be Dragon Clan members, calling them his Dragon's Son Longsun—"
"Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens? Seventy-Two Schools?"
The demon quickly explained, "This Grotto-heaven is not that Grotto-heaven, and this School is not that School. These Grotto-heavens are actually... stone caves and dens in the lake, occupied by great demons, who imitate the Daoist Orthodoxy and Sword Sect and call themselves Grotto-heavens. The Schools are also places with undercurrents at the bottom of the lake—they are rich in water grass, and there are many water creatures, so some Demon Generals also occupy them and call them Schools..."
Li Yunxin sneered, "He's quite ambitious. So you thought I was a demon from elsewhere who came to seek refuge with the Tenth Prince? But couldn't you feel... the dragon aura?"
The red-tailed demon had been nervous for a long time and finally heard this sentence. He trembled even more, and his body bent in the water, as if he was about to kneel like a human. He said repeatedly, "You really are the Dragon's Son, Grandpa! Oh, I was blind and didn't recognize your greatness, oh... You must know, in this lake, oh... I really didn't know that was dragon aura. In this lake, usually..."
Li Yunxin thought for a moment and roughly understood. Part of the Divine Dragon's Spiritual Soul was sealed in this lake, and two or three Vicious Flood Dragons often caused trouble there every year. While dragon aura was rare elsewhere, it was probably not uncommon in this lake. When Vicious Flood Dragons went rampant, the aura would inevitably spread everywhere. These demons were used to the aura of the Vicious Flood Dragons...
They probably couldn't even tell if the aura was "dragon aura."
In their eyes, "dragon aura" was probably just the scent of those "Vicious Flood Dragons." It wouldn't be strange if other demons in the world had the same scent.
"Good. Ignorance is no sin." Li Yunxin narrowed his eyes and thought. His current form was that of a demon. When he narrowed his eyes, his golden pupils became a slit, looking cruel and dangerous. The red-tailed demon became even more nervous. He wanted to find a way to escape, but there was no way out.
He heard Li Yunxin ask again, "Does the Lord of Dongting know about this?"
The demon quickly replied, "A great demon like the Lord of Dongting... how could he have the time to bother with us? Besides, Dongting is so vast that it would take more than a month for someone to sail from one end to the other... We don't challenge his authority, and we do our best if there's an issue... so he doesn't pay attention to us."
This was consistent with Li Yunxin's guess. Dongting was so big, and the Lord of Dongting needed some capable subordinates. But he probably wouldn't delegate power layer by layer like humans. Instead, he would use a "feudal system," like countless other great demons. But it couldn't be compared to a human "feudal system." At most, it was a loose confederation. When there was something to be done, he would summon people to do it. When there was nothing, no one was anyone's suzerain in the strict sense...
This "Tenth Prince" seemed to have a plan right now, creating a strange Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens and Seventy-Two Schools right under the Lord of Dongting's nose. It was unknown whether the Lord of Dongting didn't know or didn't care, or both.
"So..." Li Yunxin asked him, "Why did the Cave Masters and Demon Generals in the nearby waters all go to the Tenth Prince? Also, why didn't you go? It sounds like you are also an important figure."
The red-tailed demon made a sour face, "You're too kind, Dragon's Son, Grandpa. I'm just... a small demon under the Tenth Prince. Today, because the various demon kings had important matters to discuss, I was sent out to patrol the lake. Dragon's Son, Grandpa, look at this Dongting—this area of water, which occupies two-thirds of the Dongting, is all under the jurisdiction of the Tenth Prince. In other parts of the lake, there are still some rebellious demons who are not under his control and who don't respect the Tenth Prince, so I always have to be vigilant and watch out for them..."
This meant that the situation in the lake was also complex. Dongting Lake was vast, as large as a province. And with the Lord of Dongting in charge, cultivators rarely came to cause trouble. The Lord of Dongting was not a ruler with a strong desire for power, so the demons in the lake prospered.
It was the same as the general situation in the world—they all nominally respected the Lord of Dongting as their co-ruler, but they all had their own territories and small kingdoms.
Li Yunxin had previously traveled around the lake for a week, passing through the territories of countless demons. Normally, there might have been some bold ones who would have stopped him, but perhaps because Dongting had just been turned upside down and was completely sealed by a barrier, the demons didn't know what had happened, and that's why they didn't bother to get entangled with him!
He interrupted the red-tailed demon's complaining, "Get to the point. What were they going to discuss?"
He was listening to the red-tailed demon while thinking and analyzing the situation. Therefore, his expression slowly softened, and he looked like he was distracted. The red-tailed demon, observing his expression, thought he might have a chance to escape.
So he continued in a low voice, "It wasn't for anything big. This Tenth Prince has a friend on land named Su Zhizhang, who lives in Su Town by the lake. A few days ago, Su Zhizhang and his family took a boat to the lake for a trip. The man asked the Tenth Prince to help him stir up a storm to get rid of a group of people on his family's boat. The Tenth Prince had been friends with him for decades and had received many offerings from him, so he agreed."
"Who knew that when the Tenth Prince stirred up the storm and sank the big ship, protecting Su Zhizhang's small boat to the shore, wow! A heavy rain suddenly poured down from the sky! This heavy rain..."
"...As a result, the Tenth Prince couldn't protect that Su Zhizhang either. Hehe, the whole family died. Since they were friends, the Tenth Prince ordered us to find the bodies of the Su family and bury them next to his Dragon Palace. He also summoned the various demon kings to come and mourn, and to talk about the sealing of Dongting..."
This was a case of finding what you were looking for without even trying.
Li Yunxin was happy in his heart, but his face remained calm. He thought for a while and then smiled, "Oh. Speaking of this matter, it just so happens—I found the body of your Tenth Prince's friend, Su Zhizhang's father. I originally came to Dongting for a trip, but I got trapped and couldn't leave, so I wanted to make some friends. Let me ask you, does that old man look like—"
He then described the appearance of Old Man Su in detail.
The red-tailed demon didn't know if he really knew what Old Man Su looked like or if he was just trying to escape from Li Yunxin. He nodded repeatedly after hearing what he said, with a look of joy, "That's him, that's him! My Tenth Prince says that humans value family affection and blood ties the most. He said that although they wanted to kill each other when they were alive, they probably hoped to be buried together after death. And the flesh of the Su family members that have been found tastes—"
He stopped in his tracks, laughing awkwardly, "Hehe, it's a good thing, in short. If Your Highness really uses that old man as a gift, my Tenth Prince will be happy!"
Li Yunxin nodded, "What's your name?"
The red-tailed demon was in a hurry to take Li Yunxin to his Tenth Prince—he figured that if he took the person there, it would be a matter between the great demons and would have nothing to do with him, a small demon. So he quickly said, "Reporting to Your Highness, my name is Bo'er Ba. I am a patrol officer under the Tenth Prince, and I carry a Coral Red Bone Token with me to patrol the ten directions..."
Before he could finish, Li Yunxin had already struck him on the head with a palm, killing him instantly.
He then waved his sleeve and casually shattered his soul.
He then found a wooden token with a mottled red lacquer on his corpse, frowned, and sighed in pity a few times, and put it into his sleeve.
Then he transformed into the appearance of the red-tailed demon, Bo'er Ba, and walked swaggeringly to the south.
The reason he couldn't find the demons in the lake before was that he had no clues. Now, Bo'er Ba had babbled on about many things, naturally revealing the Tenth Prince's residence, appearance, and the number of demons under his command. Li Yunxin remembered them all.
He also knew that the Tenth Prince called himself "Dragon's Son," so he probably had a way to produce some dragon aura on his body. He walked and searched, and after an hour, he knew he was heading in the right direction.