The measure of wisdom

After Lin Yu and Meng Qingjun's "family reunion" ended, the guests who had been "saved" by Lin Yu in the Ten Thousand Flowers Cave Dwelling gradually woke up.

Just as Lin Yu had predicted, after realizing that their companions and Partner had also been killed, and after hearing Meng Qingjun's explanation of what had happened, almost all of the Yaomo immediately decided to stay and "Revenge" with Meng Qingjun.

"Very good... In this way, when 'Cold Cicada' arrives with those three Snake Yaoguai in the future, these Yaomo will surely become my allies."

Because Lin Yu knew very well...

As long as they continue down the path he has "prepared," both Meng Qingjun and the other Yaomo within the Cave Dwelling will inevitably arrive at an answer he has already prepared for Yaomo.

That means the attacker was the "Dark Prison Snake Yaoguai".

He put in a lot of effort to imitate the methods and aura of the three Yaomo he had only glimpsed briefly, and to leave those auras and traces as naturally as possible within the Cave Dwelling, especially on the corpses.

At the same time...

When summoning the "Serpentkin," he deliberately left behind a few Yaomo were slow to perceive and not very bright, so that they "lost consciousness" a few breaths later than the other Yaomo.

For example, the Bear Yaoguai and Porcupine Yaoguai you encounter at the very beginning.

That's enough time for them to vaguely see the figure of the "Serpentkin" and form an Error perception.

Furthermore, through the guidance of [Narrative Trick] and after they fell into a coma, during their near-deep sleep, Lin Yu continuously exerted suggestions on their subconscious.

So... when these Yaomo started exchanging ideas and discussing among themselves, when they began to suspect the Dark Prison Snake Yaoguai.

These Yaomo, whom they themselves had influenced and who had witnessed the "Serpentkin," would certainly add fuel to the fire, making it all a foregone conclusion.

But...

Lin Yu was quite clear that although he was certain these guys would become his help in the end... it was unrealistic to expect them to be of any real assistance.

The Yaomo within the Ten Thousand Flowers Cave Dwelling might not even be as numerous as the hundreds of elite Snake Yaoguai brought by those three Snake Yaoguai.

Regarding high-end combat capabilities, although the conversation with Meng Qingjun has somewhat improved things, taking down a Demon Lord is indeed not a problem...

However, having already spent time setting things up, Lin Yu naturally intended to maximize the value of these Yaomo.

So...

"Meng Qing... most of those who came to wish you a happy birthday are probably Yaomo from within the Nine Cold Mountain, right?"

Hearing Lin Yu's words and looking at the excited Yaomo below, Meng Qingjun nodded. "Yes, Uncle... I get along quite well with most of my neighbors. Uncle, what are your thoughts?"

Lin Yu pondered for a moment and then said, "I'm thinking, instead of keeping everyone gathered in this Ten Thousand Flowers Cave Dwelling, it would be better to have everyone disperse... After all, we currently have no information about the attackers, and none of these Yaomo seem to be able to discern the attackers' identities."

"So... given that we don't even know where those attackers came from or where they went after the attack... our first priority in seeking Revenge is to find our 'enemies'!"

"Given that we have absolutely no leads, the best solution I can think of right now is... to mobilize everyone to search within the Nine Cold Mountain!"

Hearing Lin Yu's words, Meng Qingjun seemed thoughtful. "Uncle, what you said does seem to make some sense... After all, the attack just happened not long ago. Even if they have left Nine Cold Mountain, there must be many more 'traces and clues' in this area that haven't been cleared away yet... And if we get everyone in the Cave Dwelling to help spread the word, we might actually make even more discoveries."

Meng Qingjun spoke, Lin Yu nodded again.

"Besides, although they are your friends, they each certainly have other relatives and friends."

"The Yaomo that attacked the Cave Dwelling have also killed many of their cherished companions. Their hatred may not be less than ours... Therefore, besides helping with the search, they can also bring in more reinforcements when they go out."

"You said you're unfamiliar with these Yaomo methods, and they don't seem like the work of Yaomo from Nine Cold Mountain, or at least not the work of Yaomo you know in your vicinity."

"Their brazen actions are a provocation—a provocation against all the Yaomo within the Nine Cold Mountain."

"They can attack your Cave Dwelling today without any reason or warning, and tomorrow you can naturally plunder other Yaomo as well... If the other Yaomo in Nine Cold Mountain aren't brainless idiots, they'll definitely try to help you after hearing about this."

Lin Yu analyzed, and Meng Qingjun nodded again. "Uncle is right... Even if they can't think of this right away, I can point it out directly and use that to persuade them!"

Meng Qingjun looked at Lin Yu with eyes full of admiration.

"As expected of my uncle... his thinking is truly thorough!"

"No wonder your mother left you with the fundamental power of 'Desire'."

Meng Qingjun spoke, Lin Yu, quite modestly, simply waved his hand.

"No, it has nothing to do with that... Your mother is far superior to me."

"She was the one who was truly chosen by the Heavenly Demon, served the Heavenly Demon, and properly achieved the Divine Rank of Demon Lord... In fact, the fact that she was personally targeted by the Dao Ancestor is the best proof of her formidable strength and exceptional talent."

Lin Yu said, then shook his head.

"Let's not talk about this anymore... He's gone now... Let's get down to business."

"Meng Qing—you know everyone in the Ten Thousand Flowers Cave Dwelling. You'll be in charge of making the arrangements from now on."

"I can't be of much help here for the time being... so I thought I'd go out and investigate a bit," Lin Yu paused, then continued, "Once we find the attackers, make them return what they stole from your Cave Dwelling, and once this matter is over, we definitely need to catch up properly."

"You've been cultivating alone all these years... you must have suffered a lot, and you must have a lot to say to your uncle, right?"

Meng Qingjun looked at Lin Yu and slowly nodded.

He wanted to say something, but in the end he only gently touched Lin Yu's forearm with his arm.

"Then you must be careful, Uncle... you must be careful."

"Although I really want to know who the Yaomo that attacked my Cave Dwelling were, and I really want to get back my savings of all these years... but more important than those things is your safety, Uncle."

Hearing Meng Qingjun say that, Lin Yu smiled.

"Don't worry... didn't I just tell you? Your uncle also has some skills."

"Even an ordinary Demon Lord... might not be my match!"

"This Yaomo's age does seem different from a human's. Although it has 'cultivated for five hundred years,' its nature is more like that of a five-hundred-year-old monster... rather than a simple, kind-hearted one."

"It's not too difficult to Deception her... Of course, it might also be related to Meng Qingjun's personality."

"At least he doesn't seem like someone with 'five hundred years of experience' to me... So, is the scale of time different for long-lived and short-lived species after all?"

After leaving the Ten Thousand Flowers Cave Dwelling, Lin Yu wandered freely through the Nine Cold Mountain, pondering the matter.

After all...

His "performance" and "lie-weaving" just now were almost entirely his own effort.

With every word he spoke, he left himself room to retreat, and prepared contingency plans for how to react and reduce suspicion should the other party refute or question him.

Faced with a five-hundred-year-old monster, Lin Yu subconsciously maintained a high level of vigilance and gave it ample attention.

The last time Lin Yu was this serious about the Living Beings within the Ten Realms was when he was dealing with Nightless Sky Yong Lian.

In Lin Yu's view...

A Great Demon has cultivated for five hundred years, and a "Fox Demon" who appears in various myths and legends as "cunning and treacherous" and "scheming and treacherous," is indeed someone that Lin Yu should take seriously.

Even if the other party is just as difficult to deal with and just as challenging to Deception as Nightless Sky Yong Lian, Lin Yu doesn't find it strange at all.

But...

As time went by, Lin Yu realized that he seemed to have overestimated, or even far overestimated, this Fox Demon.

He's not actually particularly cautious or hard to fool.

Even... while she does possess some intelligence, she is far from being someone Lin Yu needs to be extra wary of.

"However, if you think about it this way... we've actually seen quite a few Great Demon in the Prison Mountain Realm. Each of them must have cultivated for at least several hundred years, especially those Demon Lords."

"If we're talking about someone who can truly compare to Nightless Sky Yong Lian... or even surpass Paris, there aren't many like them."

"It just so happens that this is Meng Qingjun's 500th birthday, so I'm more sensitive and have a deeper impression of this age... which also increases the possibility that I'm over-judging her."

Indeed... "Age" does not equate to experience and Wisdom.

Throughout this Fraud process, Lin Yu even consciously lowered his concentration level... while Meng Qingjun still showed no signs of anything amiss.

But upon closer reflection, this seems inevitable...

Although the timeframe of five hundred years has been extended, the Yaomo spent most of those five hundred years cultivating, and the surrounding Yaomo were also cultivating...

In this case, the "timescale" of everything seems to be stretched out by roughly the same proportion.

A Living Beings's experience and Wisdom do not naturally increase with the passage of time. Rather, it grows through the process of experiencing events and gaining knowledge and experience, learning and summarizing from these events, thus increasing its so-called "experience."

But...

For Yaomo, even excluding those who haven't developed much intelligence or whose intelligence is low in the early stages of cultivation, and even after they have developed their own consciousness, they basically just stay in this Cave Dwelling and start cultivating. Apart from catching Blood Food and being attacked by the Daoist Sect, they don't experience too many things.

While their timescale of survival is indeed long enough, the density of events they experience is far lower than that of "humans".

So in a sense...

"This Meng Qingjun, her mind is like that of a child going through puberty."