Yu Meng

Liu Laodao had only cared about the phrase "came out to undergo tribulation" from beginning to end, and he was both shocked and delighted. He felt that he might have encountered some great master of Tongtian or some sect—otherwise, how could that demon have been frightened away?

Then he considered Li Yunxin's indifferent attitude toward life and death, as though human lives did not matter much to him, and became even more certain of his judgment. Only those people from the Dao Tradition and the Sword Sect would pursue something like... Supreme Detachment!

Cast away the seven emotions and six desires, attain the realm of Supreme Detachment, then transcend tribulation and ascend, becoming a supreme celestial being!

The old Daoist glanced at "Qiao Jiaxin" and felt that there was something very wrong with this girl as well. The sky was still dark, and his old eyes were too dim to see clearly. Otherwise, he would probably have noticed blood seeping from Qiao Jiaxin's abdomen, drip by drip. In truth, not much blood was left to seep out—her guts had been pierced and her belly torn open, and after being tossed about for so long, the blood in her body was likely almost entirely gone.

If nothing unexpected happened, over the next few days, this body would slowly break down and rot like an ordinary corpse, until it could no longer maintain its complete form and collapsed.

This was also the problem Li Yunxin intended to solve.

Liu Laodao thought it over by himself for a while, murmured agreement, then tried to sound him out again with lowered brows and an obedient manner. But Li Yunxin was occupied with his own thoughts and paid him little heed.

It was not until a pale strip of fish-belly white was about to appear on the horizon, and Liu Laodao had begun yawning one after another, that Li Yunxin saw two people approaching from afar on the other side of the road.

One wore white, the other black. They seemed to carry a bronze bell and an iron chain, which clattered as they walked.

When they came closer, Li Yunxin saw clearly. The man in white carried a fist-sized brass bell. The man in black held an iron chain that hung straight down to his feet.

The two wore tall hats, one black and one white, and their faces were bloodless. Yet their eyes were long and narrow, carrying a hint of allure; it was impossible to tell whether they were male or female.

He saw writing on their hats and narrowed his eyes slightly to read it.

The white hat read: Where does the heart-devouring demon come from?

The black hat read: Where shall one be reborn in the second life?

The moment Li Yunxin saw those two lines, his heart jolted, as though thunder had exploded beside his ear.

Those words seemed to have been branded into his heart, laying bare his innermost secrets. He looked around himself and found that Liu Laodao, Qiao Duanhong, and Qiao Jiaxin had all vanished. Only he remained, sitting alone by the roadside.

He stood up and furrowed his brow. "Who are you two?"

The black-and-white pair stopped beside him and glanced at him sideways. The one in white said, "Eh? What a strange person. Is he in the Book of Life and Death?"

The man in black drew a thin booklet from his sleeve and flipped through it. "He is not. This person was somehow missed. Ask him for his birth date and time, and who he was in his previous life. I'll add it in."

The man in white turned around, shook the bell, and asked, "Who were you in your previous life? What are your eight characters? Tell me every last detail."

Li Yunxin frowned and shook his head. "Who are you? How do you know about my affairs?"

The man in white grinned. "What a fool. Among all people in the world, aside from True Persons who have escaped the cycle of reincarnation, is there anyone unknown to us Black-and-White Yamas? Since you refuse to speak, do not blame me, White Yama, for making you suffer."

As he spoke, he flicked his hand, and one hand plunged straight into Li Yunxin's chest.

Li Yunxin was greatly startled and immediately leapt back several steps. He clutched his chest, only to discover there was not the slightest wound.

Yet the white-clothed man's hand was empty except for a ball of light resting in his palm. He widened his eyes slightly in surprise. "Eh? In his previous life, he was actually someone without a heart?"

He stared at the ball of light again, and his expression changed slightly. "Eh? He is also a man-eating human demon."

With every sentence he spoke, the ball of light dimmed a little. When only a bean-sized glimmer remained at his fingertips, White Yama's hand trembled. He violently flung the faint light away and shrieked, "Ah! This person!"

Black Yama shot him a dissatisfied sideways glance. "Why are you so flustered?"

White Yama cried, "Do you still remember that fiend from two thousand years ago?! The one who fought his way into the Hall of Senluo?! This person is of the same kind as him! He is not within the six paths of reincarnation!"

Black Yama was startled.

The iron chain in his hand rattled as he dragged White Yama back a step and scrutinized Li Yunxin carefully. He too said, "Then... then... then are we still taking that woman?"

White Yama grabbed his sleeve and left at once. "Taking what?! Don't let him unleash his ferocity! Go, go! From now on, do not take any souls connected to him! Otherwise he'll come make trouble again!"

Listening to their conversation made Li Yunxin increasingly irritated, and he reached out to stop them. "Who exactly are you?!"

With that shout, he woke up.

Before him, a round-faced young man was watching him with great interest, holding his hand.

Li Yunxin stared at him for a moment as well, then quickly pulled his hand back and frowned. "What are you doing?!"

It was already daylight, with the blazing sun high in the sky. On the road stood one man, one horse, and one cart.

The round-faced man holding his hand finally straightened up and comforted him gently. "Don't panic, don't panic. It's all right now. I am Yu Meng. Little brother, don't be afraid."

Yu Meng had a pair of large eyes—large, limpid eyes.

With a smile at the corner of his lips, he stepped back and said, "Little brother must have been having a nightmare just now. In the dream, you kept asking who I was and reached out your hand. I simply took hold of it. Do not misunderstand."

Only then did Li Yunxin realize that he was half-reclining on the grass. Liu Laodao and Qiao Jiaxin were already on that large cart. Liu Laodao had likely been unable to withstand his exhaustion any longer; he had turned onto his side with his back to Li Yunxin, asleep. "Qiao Jiaxin," meanwhile, faced him, but she only stared at him with wide eyes and did not say a word.

That was unusual. Li Yunxin had previously told this cat demon to speak less and not let others touch her body, to simply regard herself as Qiao Jiaxin. Yet he had never expected her to truly become as obedient as she was now.

And he had actually fallen asleep. That was even more unbelievable.

"Who are you, sir?" Li Yunxin rose to his feet and examined Yu Meng. Aside from those eyes, this man did not seem to have any other distinguishing features. He wore the common coarse clothes of a traveler, with an outer robe over them. A bamboo-woven conical hat sat on his head, and sunlight filtered through its gaps, scattering mottled spots across his forehead.

His complexion was unusually fair. Yet his whole bearing was gentle; if he appeared on a city street in silk robes and carrying a folding fan, he would have fit in perfectly.

But appearing here still made him seem rather strange.

Because his bearing was more like that of a rich young master or a scholar than someone who roamed the martial world. Li Yunxin had always been quite confident in his ability to judge people, but before this man... he felt he could not see through him. This person's temperament was too strange.

Yu Meng clasped his hands in greeting and said softly, "Oh. I am Yu Meng."

Li Yunxin frowned. "I know your name is Yu Meng. I mean, what is your... background?"

He felt that his rare lapse into sleep in this perilous wilderness had likely been caused by someone tampering with him. This person before him was highly suspicious.

Yu Meng froze, blinked, then slowly raised a hand and pointed at himself. "Me? I am Yu Meng. You actually do not know me?"

He was practically a lunatic with severe eighth-grader syndrome. Li Yunxin narrowed his eyes. "Why should I know you?"

Yu Meng blinked again. "Eh? You truly do not know me?!"

Li Yunxin carefully studied his expression. But he could not see the slightest flaw—this man's surprise was measured to perfection. If one spoke of his skill at pretense, it had truly reached the point where the fire was pure and the green turned blue.

A strange smile appeared on Yu Meng's face. That smile nearly made Li Yunxin drive a sword straight into his chest. But before he acted, Li Yunxin suddenly realized something—perhaps it was not because the other party was too complicated, too good at concealing himself, that he could not see through him. Perhaps this person... was simply extremely pure.

Pure to an inhuman degree.

Sure enough, Yu Meng rubbed his hands together. "I am Yu Meng, the current Dragon Head of the Escort-Bureau Guild of the Great Qing Dynasty."