"I told you not to, Qingxuan." Wei Yunhe said as if frustrated. "Now look how you are,"
Although he received a punishment of fifty lightning strikes, it was divided among five people, so no one was seriously injured. Only Mei Qingxuan looked uncomfortable. "It's my fault too, Da Shixiong." He said in pain, closing his eyes tightly. Mei Qingxuan was not a very strong person. He was prone to illness and as his senior, Wei Yunhe was well aware of it.
"You really didn't have to. I could have been fine."
Zi Ying smiled as she gently patted Yunhe on the shoulder. "We are brothers."
Xiao Hai didn't say anything as usual and just watched silently. "But who was the last person to share the punishment?" Wei Yunhe asked curiously.
"Oh, man...I won't be able to use my spiritual power for a while." Zi Ying said, dodging the question, acting like he was uncomfortable. "Elder Shi is cruel huh."
The night was falling and the sky was bright and full of stars thanks to the previous day's rain.
"Who was the last person?" Wei Yunhe asked again not so willingly.
"It wasn't him, right?"
Xiao Hai lowered his eyes. "It was him." He took a long breath and let it out slowly. "Yi Qiu was the last person."
With those words, Wei Yunhe looked frustrated and even more worried. "Why!" He muttered with slight irritation. "I don't want to owe him."
"Da Shixiong," Duan Xia said, appearing from nowhere. "We have a problem."
***
The air in Lilan crackled with an unnatural heat. Lanterns lit the cobblestone streets orange, painting grotesque shadows. Yu Lingyu, dressed in a black and white silk dress, walked through the crowd with a smile. "Isn't this good, Ming Ming?" He asked looking at the man walking up behind him.
"It's Shen Ming." Shen Ming replied in a nonchalant tone. Yu Lingyu tilted his head to the side like a kitten and stared at Shen Ming. "Whatever, is there something bothering you?" Lingyu asked, following Shen Ming's gaze as he tried to avoid his eyes. Shen Ming did not answer.
"Heyoo~ look those are baozi buns...Ming Ming buy me some. Heh, will you?" Yu Lingyu said, turning to Shen Ming and smiling, looking at a nearby shop with wide eyes. "You ate a load of honey biscuits a while ago!" Shen Ming blamed. "Ayyaa~ I still have room in my stomach. So buy me some, right?" Scratching his head, Yu Lingyu replied with a little awkward smile.
Shen Ming, his face blackened with anger, bought him some buns.
"That's delicious." Yu Lingyu said like a child, enjoying the puffy, steaming buns with shining eyes. "Want some, Ming Ming?"
"Don't call me Ming Ming! And why in the world did you bring me here?"
Lingyu took another bite of the bun. "No reason. I don't want to go alone, that's it."
Shen Ming, on the other hand, tried hard to suppress his anger. "Then enjoy your date, Yu Shixiong." He turned around and tried to leave. But Yu Lingyu hung onto his elbow, drawing the attention of the people walking on the street to them. "Wait!"
"What is it now again, let go!" Shen Ming growled. Yu Lingyu smiled. "Buy me something to drink."
Shen Ming "...?"
No matter how angry he was, he ended up buying Yu Lingyu a bowl of soup. He let out a sigh as he looked at Yu Lingyu who was enjoying his bowl of soup with sparkling eyes. He didn't know what he was doing either.
Suddenly a scream pierced the air, startling everyone.
"There it is again," said the man at the store, looking at the City Guard Court building a short distance away. "Oooh~ what is it?" Lingyu asked, stretching his neck like a crane bird.
"Don't interface with it mister." said the man in the store. "That old woman has lost her granddaughter. She has been screaming in front of the court since this morning."
"Aren't they looking for her?" Shen Ming asked, frowning. "They will, but not today. The judiciary is also very busy these days with the turmoil."
"Oh!" Lingyu let out a satisfied voice. The glint in his eyes was so great that it terrified Shen Ming. Quickly getting up, he ran towards the court building, leaving Shen Ming alone.
"Hey! Wait," Shen Ming, placing a silver cube in the shop owner's hand, ran behind Yu Lingyu. "That troublemaker!"
The old woman's pleading did not stop. People walking in front of the court kept looking at her and no one came forward to help her. "Please, Honor Guard, find my little one." She screamed incessantly.
The armed guards with expressions as bored as unpolished stones barely looked down. "We're swamped, old crone. Begone with you!"
"There there now," Yu Lingyu asked, clasping his hands together, and looking at Shen Ming. "Is it okay for her to beg like that?"
Shen Ming nodded. "It is none of our business. Cultivators cannot be involved in judicial affairs." He said in a harsh, but direct tone. "Oooh…" Yu Lingyu said, widening his eyes. "Then I should interface!" Having said that, he ran to the old woman.
"Hey! I said we shouldn't! God dammit!" Shen Ming screamed.
"Heyoo~ old lady!" Waving his hand, said Yu Lingyu. The old woman kneeling on the ground looked up. Her clothes were dirty, and she was very emaciated as if she had not eaten in days. Lingyu bent one knee beside her. "Mister," she asked with tears in her eyes. "Are you a guard?"
"Me?" Lingyu said pointing a finger at himself. "I am someone higher than them."
The guards in front of the gate looked face to face. The old woman held onto Lingyu's arms tightly as if there was a glimmer of hope before her. "Please, gentlemen, find my child. Please, gentlemen."
Yu Lingyu looked at Shen Ming for an answer.
"No, we are not going to do it Yu Shixiong. Let the city guards handle their cases." He said crossing his arms over his chest.
"We are going to find your child." Yu Lingyu said to the old woman, smirking at Shen Ming.
"Hey! I said we're not going to!" Shen Ming growled.
"Thank you! Thank you, thank you a thousand times." The old woman said sobbing.
"It's nothing, old lady, just promise to buy me some baozi, after I find your child," Lingyu said with a wink as he stood up.
Shen Ming "......???"
"Who are you to interface with city guards?!" asked one of the guards in a deep but low voice. "I am the main disciple of Juyao Peak, Wu Xuan." Yu Lingyu said with a bright smile.
Shen Ming "........???"
"Wu-Wu Xuan??? Demon Slayer of wen sect!"
"Yeah, demon slayer or whatever, let's go, Ming Ming, we have a job now."
Shen Ming ".......???"
"Oh right old lady, I need your blood to find your granddaughter."
This was the first time Shen Ming had heard such a thing. Searching for the missing with blood? He had never thought that Yu Lingyu had such a technique. Biting one of her fingers, the old woman offered her blood to Yu Lingyu. Taking her hand, Lingyu tracks the scent of the drop of blood like a trained dog. "Got it, wait for me, old lady!" With a wink, he pulled Shen Ming and left.
"Where are we going?!" Shen Ming asked, pulling his hand towards him. "To find the girl." Yu Lingyu answered without hesitation.
Although Shen Ming wanted to turn and leave, he did not want to leave Yu Lingyu alone. In particular, Shen Ming did not know what other conflicts this maniac Lingyu would encounter. He also ran behind Lingyu, who was running like a dog, smelling the air. As they pushed the crowd and ran, sometimes some people turned and scolded them. But it wasn't Yu Lingyu who stopped.
"Yu Shixiong, I am serious when I said we must not interface with City court." He shouted as he ran. "Those old men are refusing that lady, so what's wrong with cultivators to interface?" Lingyu replied with a smile as he ran without stopping. After running for a considerable time, he finally stopped in front of a large, abandoned bungalow. Surprisingly, it was located in the busiest part of the city center.
"Isn't it Shangguan Manor?" Stumbling, Shen Ming said, looking at the dilapidated grand entrance of the huge house. "Shangguan manor? Ooh~ it's huge." Lingyu said looking at them with shining eyes.
"You probably didn't remember, but this is a haunted place," said Shen Ming.
The house had turned black as if caught in a huge fire. It was horribly crumbling and looked like it might crumble to dust at any moment. "No one who has entered it has returned, including hundreds of cultivators. Therefore, no one dares to enter this gate. I said that no one who has gone through this has returned!" Speaking in a calm tone, he blurted out the last sentence when he saw the expression on Yu Lingyu's face. "Don't tell me you're going in."
"If it's so dangerous, why not destroy it," Lingyu asked curiously, placing his clenched fist under his chin. "I mean you can destroy it from outside. Like BOOM! And then DOOM!"
Shen Ming shrugged, "I don't know that."
"Then let's go for it and be the first team to come out alive!" Yu Lingyu said as the gates opened with a creaking sound. "Yu shixiong!!! Did you even listen to what I said???" Snorting, Shen Ming entered behind him.
"This is not the time, but Yu Shixiong... in the previous council-"
"I only heard from different places. I have no idea what really happened. Duan Xia talked to me about it for a long time."
Lingyu said, interrupting Shen Ming's speech. Shen Ming knew very well that if Duan Xia said that she would not miss a single detail, so he did not raise a question again.
"Wait!" A voice called. With his hands on his hips, Yu Lingyu turned back, not with much good feelings. "What?" he asked angrily.
"We'll take over the search from here." Said the man in City Guard uniform. He probably followed Lingyu there.
Lingyu's hands instinctively drew back. "I don't want to be interrupted by you," he muttered, a murderous glint in his eyes. Just then, several other people entered through the gate. "Team Leader," they were dressed in silver armor and wielding swords of the same design. The person at the forefront of it was startled to see Yu Lingyu.
"Do whatever you want. Just don't bother me." Lingyu smiled as he put his hands forward again and entered the house with Shen Ming.
"T-Team Leader," the soldier said, trembling in fear. The young man in uniform turned around. "Just now, did you see that? That boy was pulling out his dagger. If we hadn't come-"
"I saw," he said. "He was going to kill me if you didn't come." He said without hesitation. "Are we still going in, sir?" The soldier lowered his voice and trembled.
"Yes,"
The interior of the house was on fire, dust and cobwebs were everywhere. Their footsteps were the only sound except for the swarms of running rats and the wind.
"Yu-Yu Shixiong!" Shen Ming's voice was full of fear. He was facing the door - more precisely where the door used to be. "The door is missing." The group of guards who entered the house behind them were also looking at it with trembling legs. "We are done," one of them whispered.
"Heyoo~ don't worry about it, Ming Ming, it's alright, you will be safe because I am here." Yu Lingyu said with a smile, putting his arms around Shen Ming's shoulders. "After all, this is like a horror stage play, isn't it? This is so funny!"
Shen Ming "....???"
"In the past, the whole Shangguan family was killed here, in truth all of them committed suicide. And this so-called ghost fire started and burned their bodies to ashes." The officer said. He acted brave, but he was definitely scared too.
"Oooh~ I see why anyone didn't return when they entered here." Yu Lingyu said in such a maniac tone. "All of them committed suicide!"
"Huh?"
"Hey, Ming Ming. What way do you like to do that? I prefer hanging myself. But... if I do that here, I may end up breaking my body without being able to commit suicide. Heyoo~ look at those fragile rafters."
"What are you? A suicidal maniac? Get hold of yourself, please???" Shen Ming said angrily and turned his attention to the things around him. Broken tables, charred wood, and some animal skeletons that were turning to dust.
"Heyoo~ Ming Ming?" Yu Lingyu called.
"Why?"
"Should I burn myself to death? It would be hurtful right, what about drinking poison, oh do we have some here?"
Shen Ming smiled. "Yu Shixiong," he asked in a sensitive voice. "Do you want me to crack your neck, so you can die peacefully?"
"Wooah, it should be great! But it isn't a suicide, is it?" Yu Lingyu asked, getting into a thoughtful posture, ignoring Shen Ming's sneer.
"Hey, you," Shen Ming called out, walking up to the officer. "Why did the Shangguan family commit mass suicide?"
The official sighed. "I don't know in detail."
"Ma-Maybe it was the demon who commanded them to kill themselves." A soldier muttered as he shivered and looked around.
"Ming Ming, will you get me outta here, will you right???"
"Didn't you say you were going to protect me?"
"Did I say something like that?? Oh, I don't remember."
"Why you-"
"Oh, come on now, I helped you last night, even tho I had to break my own leg."
Shen Ming let out a sigh. "Not that I want to get you out, but I just don't know."
"Oh now, I see!" Suddenly, Yu Lingyu shouted. "We already committed suicide!"
"Did you hit your head, boy?" asked the officer in a panicked tone. "What the hell is wrong with him?" He muttered to himself.
"We commit suicide the moment we enter here. I'm as smart as a scholar. Isn't that right?" Yu Lingyu asked winking.
Shen Ming's once proud expression was now filled with worry. They enter this dilapidated house in search of the missing, only to find themselves trapped.
But at the same time, a wooden sound echoed, a crawling sound under the skin. The house, with no exit, seemed to pulsate with an invisible heartbeat. The guards squirmed; their arms clenched around the scabbard.
"Ming Ming! Ayaa save me!" Lingyu bellowed as he hung onto Shen Ming's arm. Before Shen Ming could react, the floorboards beneath their feet made a deafening crack. At that moment they lost their legs. They fell into pits where they couldn't see each other, their screams drowning the house.
Yu Lingyu reacted instantly as they fell into the hole, grabbing onto Shen Ming's collar and launching himself backward, and despite falling through the hole, they landed without any problem. A silly smile on his face.
But the City Guard's situation was not so good. They had fallen directly onto the traps. As the hole closed above them, they stood in a long, wide corridor lit by torchlight, with stone walls.
"Woah, thank you for saving me Ming Ming," Yu Lingyu called out, his voice echoing in the cavernous space.
Shen Ming "....???"
It is no secret that if not for Yu Lingyu, Shen Ming would have met the same fate as the guards.
The guards who were caught in various traps looked at Lingyu. Some were already dead, some had fallen on sharp spikes, and some on other holes and were hanging precariously. Their faces were mixed with anger and despair. Only the officer was able to avoid the traps and he was helping the guards.
"Help us, damn you!" One of them roared at Yu Lingyu. His voice was hoarse with fear.
Yu Lingyu leaned against a nearby pillar, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Why should I? You lot were happy to let an old lady plead for her child while you polished your boots. Besides," he continued, his voice dropping to a sarcastic whisper, "this place seems to have a taste of arrogance. Especially… you would be delightful."
From the invisible depths came a rumbling sound, a sound that shook the foundations of the shelter. The guards' faces faded from color.
"Good!" shouted the officer. "We are also here to find her. Isn't it better to have more people? Help me get them out. You said you were Wu Xuan. Aren't you supposed to help us?!"
Yu Lingyu's smile widened. "That's a bit of a hard offer to refuse, but gentlemen," he said, raising his voice, "Demon slayer is supposed to kill demons not to save humans."
With a final, dramatic bow, Yu Lingyu turned his back on the guards seeking help. "And also," he said, stopping a short distance away. "I am not Wu Xuan."
"Wait, Yu Shixiong!" Shen Ming shouted as he ran after him. "Are you really going to give them up?" he asked in disbelief. This was never like Yu Lingyu. "It's just a trouble taking them with us. Let them die." Lingyu said with a gentle smile.
Shen Ming stopped. His hands were clenched, and he looked at Yu Lingyu who was walking away with angry eyes.
"Are you sure?" he asked in a deep voice.
Yu Lingyu turned his head. "About what?"
"Are you sure that you are Yu Lingyu? The Lingyu I knew never do something like this!"
The smile on Lingyu's face faded. For the first time, he looked serious and dangerous. "Ming Ming, do you know what I hate most?" He asked with emotionless eyes. Shen Ming sensed it; a murderous aura was rising around Lingyu.
"I hate people who abandon others when they are begging for help, seeking for a hope. I hate people who promised to help but forgot about it. You know, I hate that so much."
"Isn't that what you're doing now? Ignoring those who need help?" Shen Ming shouted back.
"It isn't the same. They ignore an old lady who begging hard. And followed us here after we found this place and tried to act innocent. I hate it! I hate it the most! Those damn human worms who abandoned others, I hate them to death! Go to hell!! Just die!" Yu Lingyu screamed while his eyes widened. "Die, Just Die!!!!"
Covering him, a dark mist appeared, sinking Yu Lingyu inside. "Die! Die! Die!" He kept muttering.
"Just die you, motherfucker!" Yu Lingyu leaped forward as a glowing red spiritual power orb appeared on his hand. His attack targeted Shen Ming, directly at his heart.
"Die!!!" A primal scream flowed from Yu Lingyu's throat. The last vestige of his self-control was broken. Hate, a poisonous snake, coiled around his heart, squeezing harder with each passing second.
Shen Ming was too shocked to move. He had never thought that Yu Shixiong, whom he thought was the kindest person, would harbor so much hatred inside him. But who is that hatred for? Yu Lingyu's features trembled with a mask of anger, his eyes glowing an evil crimson.
With a fierce roar, Yu Lingyu launched at Shen Ming. The shocked Shen Ming didn't have time to jump aside. Just as Yu Lingyu's fist was about to collide with Shen Ming's chest, a blinding flash erupted, bathing the corridor in a kaleidoscope of colors. A semi-permeable barrier surrounded Shen Ming, glowing with every color imaginable, absorbing the brunt of Yu Lingyu's attack. Confused energy erupted, and Yu Lingyu was thrown backward, convulsing in the air.
"Tch," Shen Ming called out awkwardly as Yu Lingyu launched one attack after another. "Don't force me Yu shixiong!!"
Channeling spiritual power with his hands, Yu Lingyu launched a massive final attack, covering the entire corridor in crimson. It was too much for Shen Ming's normal Rainbow Barrier to withstand. As Yu Lingyu launched the attack, the air shimmered and Shen Ming's form began to glow. His silk-black flowing hair shone with a pearly sheen similar to the barricade, and the deep black color melted into a variety of rainbow hues. His eyes were filled with rainbow colors and the Rainbow Barrier flashed even brighter, thwarting Yu Lingyu's attack.
A collective gasp escaped the guards. Their faces, which had previously trembled with fear, turned to bare hatred. "A demon!" One of them roared. "Kill, it must be destroyed!"
Yu Lingyu, who had been thrown aside, seemed to have regained his senses. He was taken aback for a moment and returned to his usual smile. "So this is your true form, Ming Ming. It is so beautiful."
Shen Ming breathed awkwardly. It was the nature he didn't want to show anyone. After the Murong Meng incident, the Sect's security was tightened and he had to live in hiding even more in fear than before. Once anyone knows who he is, he will lose his right to live in that moment. Now he has revealed it in front of the city guards. "Am I...going to die...? Just because...I am a demon?" He whispered to himself in a shaky voice with wide, frustrated eyes.
"I didn't know you were a demon even though I helped you yesterday." Yu Lingyu said smiling. "Is my attack that powerful, to force you to reveal your true form Ming Ming?"
The guards were shouting for Shen Ming to be killed. "I am harmless…" he whispered in a broken voice. "Y-Yu shixiong...will y-you-"
"Will I kill you?" Yu Lingyu completed the sentence.
"Remember what I said back then?" He asked, moving closer to Shen Ming. "I said I will protect you," he whispered as he leaned down to Shen Ming's ear. A wild smile slowly spread across his face. He turned to the guards, his voice less hoarse. "Demon, huh? Perhaps you haven't seen a real monster yet."
In a heartbeat, the air exploded with a changing form of energy. It wasn't chaotic or desperate, but focused, a predator finally on a hunt. Yu Lingyu moved at lightning speed. All Shen Ming could feel was the rush of wind near his ear. A scream of terror escaped the guard's mouths, but they never stood a chance against the hunter. Their armor offered no protection against the hunter's frenzy.
Shen Ming trembled in fear and fell to the ground, his eyes fluttering. The blood of the guards shot up into the air and Yu Lingyu was bathed in it. "Stop...it." He muttered as the blood drained from his lips. "Don't do it...Yu Shixiong."
"I don't wa-want...you to...become a... murderer!"