Chapter 4: Chapter 4: The Doctor

Li Yunxin slept for an hour. When he woke up, he felt better, and the wound on his left arm also seemed to have improved. It shouldn't be an illusion, after all, when he was a child, besides those things, he also learned many ways to strengthen his body. According to his father, only with a good body and strong Qi and blood could he better control the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Then it was time to go out.

This was like turning a trick against them. But even if he didn't go, someone would make him. An hour was probably enough to exhaust their patience. He felt it was better not to refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit.

However, he felt that he still had to react to circumstances after going out.

Although he wasn't sure what the situation was like outside, Li Yunxin felt that it wouldn't be worse than being chased by two Taoist priests and Young Master Nine. Speaking of which, those two Taoist priests really had some skills. They could force him into a desperate situation by just throwing out a few Talismans. If it weren't for the continuous rain for several days later, and his idea to destroy their Talismans, he probably wouldn't have reached Qinghe County today.

He stood up, flexed his fingers, and made some strange movements to stretch his muscles and bones.

Then he pushed open the cell door and walked out.

He didn't hide like an escaped prisoner, nor did he shrink back. Instead, he walked out calmly and unhurriedly, looking around the Qinghe Jail—this was his first time seeing what a jail looked like. He even deliberately slowed down when passing by a certain spot and glanced with interest into a door nearby.

After he passed that door, the two bailiffs in black hidden behind the door looked at each other.

He walked so calmly and unhurriedly, didn't he know he was escaping from prison?

"He glanced, did he discover us?"

"...Creepy. Let's act according to the plan... just send him to Chief Xing later."

The two were silent for a while, then one of them suddenly said, "Did he... did he really kill someone and eat someone?"

A chilling sensation crept up their spines.

Outside the prison was a wasteland. In fact, there were lights not far away, so the prison was probably built on the outskirts of the town. In front was a forest, and the night wind dispersed the damp, rotten smell of the prison. Li Yunxin stopped at the entrance, looked around, and found that people were closing in from behind and in front. The glint of blades flickered in the darkness.

He could clearly see Xing Li walking at the forefront. Including the two behind him, there were five people in total. He figured he probably couldn't escape with his current means. The bailiffs' martial arts shouldn't be too good, but his physical condition was not optimistic either.

So he said, "You didn't handle this very well. You found me to take the blame, but how do you know that demon won't reappear? If it kills a few more people then, you'll still be in a mess. If I were you, I'd be thinking about how to solve it completely."

"But whether it's a demon or a strong man, you probably know you can't fight them, and you don't want to take risks. So you want to see if you're lucky enough, maybe that guy will go far away after killing a few people, and whatever happens elsewhere won't be your business."

Xing Li stopped a few steps in front of him, holding his blade. He frowned, scrutinizing Li Yunxin, unable to understand why this young man was so calm, his tone more like that of an experienced and cunning adult.

Because of the other party's actions and his own thoughts, he made some adjustments to his original plan and couldn't help but say, "Solve it completely. Do you have any way?"

He didn't expect an answer, just said it "uncontrollably" because of the other party's unusualness.

But he heard the young man say, "Yes, I might have a way."

Xing Li scoffed.

Then he heard the young man say again, "You've seen that guy, haven't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have so irresponsibly looked for me—you should at least try. Now you seem scared stiff."

Xing Li was silent in the darkness for a while, gripping his blade. A hint of complex anger and sadness appeared in his voice: "Who exactly are you?"

He had said before that this young man was not simple, but now he felt... he had underestimated him before.

The young man waved his hand: "Let's go, don't talk here. If someone happens to see us, you might have to kill me to silence me. Oh, and you, go get my paper and brush."

He turned and naturally ordered one of the bailiffs behind him, then led the way into the woods to the west.

The bailiff stared blankly at Xing Li. Xing Li frowned and thought for a while, then whispered, "Go get it first."

The aura of the five men was taken by him, but mainly because Xing Li indeed had some things on his mind. He walked a few steps behind Li Yunxin, then felt that this was truly improper, so he strode forward with his blade drawn to walk alongside him.

Once in the woods, Li Yunxin stopped.

Xing Li couldn't help but ask again, "Who exactly are you?"

Li Yunxin smiled: "Didn't you say I'm an Artificer now?"

"Now? What about before?"

"Ah... before." Li Yun thought for a moment, "A psychologist? But you wouldn't understand."

"Now let's talk about this. I've seen that thing. At that time, I was being chased by two Taoist priests..."

While he was speaking, Xing Li still held his blade and watched him vigilantly, and the three bailiffs surrounded him with sticks. He spoke with great emotion, and when he talked about Young Master Nine killing and eating people, the four people's faces twitched, looking quite uneasy. Whether they believed it or not, hearing these things from a seemingly profound and mysterious young man in this environment seemed a bit eerie.

After he finished speaking, he said to Xing Li again, "Now tell me your story."

This time Xing Li thought for a long time before whispering, "...Do you really have a way? But you're just a painter..."

At this moment, the bailiff brought Li Yunxin's paper and brush. Li Yunxin reached out his hand, and the bailiff paused, looking at Xing Li. But Xing Li seemed to be lost in some emotion and was too preoccupied to say anything.

So the bailiff, as if possessed, handed the items to Li Yunxin.

He came late and hadn't heard what Li Yunxin said before. But he felt that what he was holding could be given to him anyway—just an Artificer. He had dealt with many people of this type; most were con artists, and a very few with some skills were only limited to spending a few days painting a so-called house- trấn tâm ( trấn trạch an tâm - pacify house and mind) picture. It might look good, but the actual effect was another matter.

So he absolutely didn't believe that this strange young man could turn the world upside down just by getting these things.

"I have a way," Li Yunxin said calmly. He reached out to take his things and looked at them. Everything that should be there was still there.

This subtle tone made Xing Li feel inexplicably at ease. He let out a long breath and waved his hand: "You all step back a little."

When the four bailiffs moved away, Xing Li said, "I have indeed seen that demon."

"If you hadn't seen it too, no one would believe me, right? Five years ago. There was a thunderstorm, with strong winds and heavy rain. At that time, I... had just had a son. My son... I was holding my son in my arms at home... Suddenly there was a loud bang, and the roof was blown off by the wind. Then it was that claw... it was going to grab me first, but I stepped back. Just that one step back... I accidentally dropped my son. My wife... went to catch him."

"It grabbed both of them. Then that demon... materialized in my house, right in front of me..."

"That demon..." Xing Li squeezed these words through clenched teeth, "...Later I just said that the wind and rain had collapsed the roof, and both of them were crushed to death..."

"So this time you know you can't handle it. That's understandable. After all, it's that kind of thing, how can you deal with it?" Li Yunxin sighed understandingly, took out his brush, moistened it with saliva, and spread out a piece of paper on a nearby bluestone. "For a family, the most important thing is to be together. No one wants something like this to happen."

As he spoke, he used the faint starlight to sketch a figure on the paper: "Take a look, is it this guy?"

He drew quickly, and the figure he sketched was vivid.

But in fact, Xing Li still maintained a slight vigilance. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the paper, and indeed, it was the demon who had, five years ago, eaten his wife and child alive.

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

"So, are you scared?"

"Huh?" Xing Li frowned.

The next moment, Li Yunxin breathed on the painting. The early spring night still had a chill, and Li Yunxin's breath turned into white mist.

Immediately, a burst of blue light erupted. The human figure in the painting suddenly broke free from the paper's restraint, expanded, stretched, and abruptly appeared before Xing Li's eyes!

"Here, I've delivered the person to you. I told you I had a way." Li Yunxin dropped this sentence and then ran away like a rabbit.

This sudden change left Xing Li dumbfounded. Painful memories and the accompanying immense fear seized his heart. He stared at the terrifying face he had never forgotten for five years, and then wildly roared: "Kill him!!"

He knew he couldn't escape in front of this demon. Since he couldn't escape, he definitely wouldn't let go again like he did on that rainy night!

The four people behind him were stunned. No one expected such a situation from a mere Artificer, a teenager.

But Xing Li's blade had already slashed towards that "Young Master Nine."

A blow filled with despair and indignation, it actually produced a whistling sound of cutting through the air!

The blade struck the demon's body.

Then...

The figure swayed a few times and disappeared.

A piece of paper drifted down.