Doctor

Li Yunxin slept for two hours. When he woke, he felt a little more spirited, and the wound on his left arm seemed to have healed somewhat as well. It probably wasn't an illusion. After all, aside from those things, he had learned quite a few methods to strengthen his body when he was young. According to his father, only with a strong body and abundant vital energy could one better command the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Then it was time to head out.

This counted as turning the enemy's scheme against him. But even if he did not leave, someone would drive him out. Two hours should have been enough to wear away those people's patience. He thought it best not to refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit.

Still, once he got outside, he would have to play it by ear.

Though he did not know what the situation outside was like, Li Yunxin felt it could hardly be more dangerous than being hunted by two Daoists and Ninth Young Master. Those two Daoists truly had some skill; with a casual flick of a few talismans, they could force him into a miserable state. If it had not rained for several days in a row and he had found a way to destroy the talismans in their hands, he probably would not have made it to Qinghe County today.

He got up, flexed his fingers, and made several strange movements to loosen his muscles and bones.

Then he pushed open the cell door and walked out.

He did not sneak about like an escaping prisoner, cowering and shrinking back. Instead, he strode out with complete composure, looking around Qinghe Prison as he walked—this was his first time seeing what a prison looked like. When he passed one spot, he even deliberately slowed down and peered with interest through a door beside him.

After he passed that door, the two constables in black robes hiding behind it looked at each other.

"What... is with this guy?"

He walked so calmly and unhurriedly. Did he not know he was escaping from prison?

"He looked inside. Could he have discovered us?"

"...Evil. Let's proceed according to the plan... We only need to deliver him to Constable Xing later."

The two fell silent for a while. Then one suddenly said, "He... couldn't really be the one who killed people and ate them, could he?"

A faint chill crept up their spines.

Outside the prison lay a patch of wilderness. Lights glimmered not far away, so the prison had probably been built on the edge of town. A forest stood ahead, and the night wind scattered the damp, rotten stench of the prison. Li Yunxin stopped at the gate and looked around. He found people closing in from both behind and ahead, blade-light flickering in the darkness.

He could clearly see Xing Li walking at the front. Including the two behind him, there were five people in all. He judged that, with his current abilities, he probably could not escape. The constables' martial arts should not be particularly good, but his physical condition was not much better.

So he said, "You haven't handled this very well. You found me to take the blame, but how do you know that monster won't show up again? When it kills a few more people, you'll be running around with your head on fire. If I were you, I'd be thinking about how to solve this once and for all."

"But whether it's a monster or a bandit, you probably know you can't beat it. You don't want to take the risk, so you're gambling on whether your luck is good enough. Maybe that thing will kill a few people and leave, and whatever it does elsewhere will no longer be your concern."

Xing Li stopped several steps in front of him, gripping his blade. He frowned as he sized Li Yunxin up, unable to understand why this youth was so calm. The tone in which he spoke was more like that of a worldly, deeply calculating adult man.

Because of the other party's actions, which coincided with what he himself had been thinking, Xing Li adjusted his original plan slightly and could not help saying, "Solve it once and for all? Could you possibly have some method?"

He had not expected an answer. It was only because the youth was so different from others that he could not help speaking those words.

Yet he heard the youth say, "Yes. I might have a way."

Xing Li gave a derisive snort.

Then the youth said, "You saw that thing, didn't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have so irresponsibly chosen me—you should at least have tried. But now you look as if you've been frightened out of your wits."

Xing Li fell silent in the darkness for a while. He tightened his grip on the blade, and a trace of complicated anger and grief entered his voice. "Who exactly are you?"

He had said before that this youth was no simple person.

Now, he felt... he had still underestimated him before.

The youth waved a hand. "Let's go. Don't talk here. If someone happens to see us, perhaps you'll have no choice but to kill me to silence me. Oh, and you—go bring my paper and brush."

He turned and gave this instruction to one of the constables behind him as naturally as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world, then took the lead toward the woods to the west.

The constable stared blankly at Xing Li. Xing Li frowned and thought for a moment before saying in a low voice, "Go get them first."

The five men's momentum had been stolen by him, but mainly because Xing Li truly had things weighing on his mind. He followed several steps behind Li Yunxin, then felt that this looked entirely improper. Holding his blade, he strode forward to walk alongside him.

Once they reached the forest, Li Yunxin stopped.

Xing Li could not help asking again, "Who exactly are you?"

Li Yunxin smiled. "Didn't you say I'm a painter now?"

"Now? What were you before?"

"Ah... before." Li Yunxin thought for a moment. "A psychologist? Though you wouldn't understand."

"Now let's talk about this matter. I've seen that thing. At the time, I was being pursued by two Daoists..."

As he spoke, Xing Li still held his blade and watched him warily, while the three constables stood around him with clubs. He spoke vividly and emotionally. When he reached the part about Ninth Young Master killing and eating people, the expressions of all four men twitched, and they appeared deeply unsettled. Whether they believed him or not, hearing these things from a youth who seemed unfathomably profound in such surroundings felt rather eerie.

After he finished, he said to Xing Li again, "Now tell me about your matter."

This time, Xing Li pondered for quite a while before saying in a low voice, "...Do you really have some method? But you're only a painter..."

At that moment, a constable brought Li Yunxin's paper and brush. Li Yunxin held out his hand. The constable hesitated and looked at Xing Li. But Xing Li seemed to be caught up in some emotion and had no attention to spare, saying nothing.

So, as if possessed by ghosts and led by spirits, the constable handed the items to Li Yunxin.

He had arrived late and had not heard what Li Yunxin said earlier. But he felt there was no harm in giving these things to him—a painter, that was all. He had dealt with many people of this sort. The vast majority were swindlers, while the rare few with some ability could do no more than spend several days painting some so-called house-calming, heart-soothing picture. They looked nice enough, but whether they truly worked was another matter.

So he absolutely did not believe that this strange youth could turn the heavens upside down just by obtaining these things.

"I have a way," Li Yunxin said blandly. He took his belongings and checked them over. Everything that should have been there was still there.

That subtle tone inexplicably put Xing Li at ease. He let out a long breath and waved his hand. "You all move farther away first."

After the four constables had retreated some distance, Xing Li said, "I really have seen that demon."

"If you hadn't seen it too, no one would believe me even if I told them. Five years ago. There was a thunderstorm one day, with fierce wind and rain. At that time, I... had just had a son. My son... I was at home holding him... Then there was suddenly a tremendous crash, and the wind tore the roof away. Then there were those claws... They came for me first, I think. I stepped back. Just that one step... and I accidentally dropped my son. My wife... went to catch him."

"It caught both of them. Then that demon... revealed its true form in my home, right before my eyes..."

"That demon..." Xing Li forced those words through clenched teeth. "...Afterward, I only said that the storm had blown down the roof, and both of them were crushed to death..."

"So this time, you knew you couldn't handle it. That's only human nature. It was that kind of thing—how could you possibly deal with it?" Li Yunxin sighed in understanding. He took out his brush, moistened it with saliva, and spread a sheet of paper over a nearby bluestone. "For a family, the most important thing is being whole and together. When something like this happens, no one wants it."

As he spoke, he used the faint starlight to sketch out a figure on the paper. "Take a look. Is this the thing?"

His brush moved quickly, and the image he sketched was lifelike.

But Xing Li still maintained some vigilance. He narrowed his eyes at the paper and found that it truly was the demon that had eaten his wife and son alive five years ago.

"That's him..." Xing Li said through gritted teeth, his voice trembling slightly.

"So, are you afraid or not?"

"Hm?" Xing Li frowned.

The next instant, Li Yunxin blew a breath at the painting. Early spring nights still carried a chill, and his breath became a cloud of white mist.

Then blue light surged brilliantly. The human figure in the painting suddenly broke free of the paper's restraints, swelling, stretching, and abruptly appearing before Xing Li!

"There. I've handed the person over to you. I told you I had a way." After tossing out those words, Li Yunxin bolted like a rabbit.

The sudden change left Xing Li dumbstruck. Painful memories and the immense terror that followed seized his heart. He stared blankly for a moment at that dreadful face he had never forgotten in five years, then roared madly, "Kill him!!"

He knew he could not escape from this demon. Since he could not escape, he absolutely would not let go again as he had on that rainy night!

The four men behind him froze. None of them had expected that a mere painter, a youth barely in his teens, could create such a situation.

But Xing Li's blade had already slashed toward that "Ninth Young Master."

A strike filled with despair and grief actually produced a shrieking sound as it tore through the air!

The blade cut into the demon's body.

Then...

The figure flickered a few times and vanished.

A sheet of paper drifted down, fluttering through the air.