I Possess a Scroll of Demon-Subduing Records

Lin Yi's words weren't exactly a lie, but Xiao Se had a hard time figuring out what level of monster Lin Yi was fighting.

Xiao Se didn't ask any further questions, only saying, "What do we do next? Should we continue catching ghosts?"

Lin Yi heard another burst of rapid footsteps, likely drawn by the sounds of battle.

"There's no need to catch ghosts today, let's go."

As he spoke, Lin Yi put his arm around Xiao Se's waist, jumped up, and landed on a distant rooftop. With a few more leaps, they were already far away from the crime scene.

Listening to the whistling wind, Xiao Se realized that Lin Yi was actually very fast.

However, when he felt the large hand around his waist, his whole body went numb...

Chapter 99: Mulberry and Willow Branches

After speeding along for a while, Lin Yi finally put Xiao Se down.

Xiao Se was a little dizzy at this moment, and swayed in place, almost losing his balance.

Lin Yi quickly grabbed Xiao Se's shoulder to prevent him from actually falling.

This startled him so much that he took half a step back and said, "I'm fine, don't worry."

The black cloud in his arms bristled and said, "You rude brute! My young master's body is precious; how dare you touch it like that? I'll scratch you to death! Meow!"

With a furious meow, the dark cloud rushed towards Lin Yi.

A subject dies for his lord; how could it stand idly by while its own heir was being bullied?

The cat was very fast, but Lin Yi's reaction speed was seven times that of the cat. He calmly dodged the cat's claw attack, smoothly grabbed Wuyun by the back of the neck, and then hugged her and gave her a hard rub.

With its soft fur and supple body, it truly is an exceptionally beautiful cat.

Wu Yun's face was filled with humiliation.

This man not only humiliated its prince, but he didn't even spare it...

"Meow!"

"Dark Cloud, come back! Stop fooling around!"

Xiao Se angrily rebuked, and only then did Wu Yun stop struggling, like a cat that had lost its soul.

Seeing the prince being humiliated, it desperately wanted to avenge him. The prince, seeing it being petted, told it to stop making trouble.

Life is not worth living.

Lin Yi took the opportunity to pet it a few more times. He had never petted a cat that felt so good before, and he was quite fond of it. However, when Xiao Se reached out to take it back, Lin Yi had no choice but to return it.

"The situation was urgent earlier, and I apologize for any rudeness I may have shown."

Xiao Se waved his hand, pretending not to care, and said, "A real man shouldn't be bothered by such trivial matters. It's just that Wuyun knows I'm not fond of getting close to people, so it got angry. Don't take it to heart."

"How could that be? It's so cute."

The two tacitly avoided mentioning the cloud's words; they were keeping something from each other, yet they understood each other implicitly.

You know I'm unassuming, and I know you're hiding your great potential.

As for the previous physical contact, that's even more unspeakable. Only a silly cat like Wuyun would speak out about it; a smart person would pretend nothing happened.

Xiao Se didn't think Lin Yi had any bad intentions. He admired Lin Yi's character and strength. Even though he was already exhausted, he still worked tirelessly all night to protect Xing Sha City.

His relationship with Lin Yi was that of gentlemen, so there was no need to be too concerned about this level of physical contact.

"This is my home, a newly bought house. It's still quite simple. I'll invite you to come and visit after it's been decorated."

Xiao Se then realized that Lin Yi had actually brought him directly to his doorstep, which was a clear indication of his trust in him, and he immediately agreed. At the same time, he secretly wondered if Lin Yi no longer resided in the inner office because there were too many people and eyes in the Jingye Division.

The main reason why it was inconvenient to go in today was not because the house was simple, but because the time was not suitable. After watching Xiao Se leave from the door, Lin Yi secretly became suspicious.

Is this guy a man or a woman?

If it were a man, he certainly wouldn't have such a supple waist, but if it were a woman, how could she let him touch her waist?

Lin Yi had always been suspicious of Xiao Se's gender, so when he put his arm around Xiao Se's waist, he didn't move quickly. If Xiao Se were a man, it wouldn't be a big deal for men to put their arms around each other's shoulders. Close friends could do that, so there was no need to see people as gay.

But if it's a woman, then you can't do that. Even if she's dressed as a man, it would be a bit too frivolous for you to do that.

Even in modern times, a girl's waist is not something you can touch casually.

So Lin Yi's movements weren't actually fast; Xiao Se could definitely have reacted in time. But Xiao Se didn't dodge, so Lin Yi felt safe to hug him, only to realize that the feel was off.

But since they had already hugged, they could only pretend nothing had happened the whole way.

"Fine, whether he's male or female, we'll just treat him as a male friend from now on."

Lin Yi didn't dwell on it for too long; he hadn't yet examined the spoils of today's battle.

Back home, he didn't disturb He Dong and Xiao Cao. He went to his study and started looking at Mr. Sang's memories.

Mr. Sang is a tree spirit who has cultivated for five hundred years.

Cultivating as a tree spirit is extremely difficult, which is reflected in three aspects. First, it is not easy to even begin.

Unlike birds, beasts, and animals, which are born with spirits, plants and trees are inherently weak in spirit. It is not easy for them to awaken their spirits. Most plants and trees need a special opportunity to enter the Tao, such as listening to a wise person preach the Tao or being touched by the aura of a spiritual being, in order to have the possibility of enlightenment.

Secondly, survival is difficult.

Animals, possessing sentience, know how to seek advantage and avoid harm; they can walk and hide. But plants and trees cannot move. Even if they possess sentience and cultivate themselves, they are still just trees. If someone notices something amiss, they can easily be chopped down with an axe.

Third, they have difficulty integrating into the demon race.

Plant demons are rare, but many plant demons can become excellent materials after they die. Whether they are used for refining weapons or eaten as spiritual medicine, they are of great benefit to both humans and demons. Therefore, plant demons also face great difficulties among the demon race.

Therefore, plant spirits often become closer. In times of hardship, only by sticking together can they have more chances of survival.

Mr. Sang and Mr. Liu were like that. When Mr. Sang was still a novice, Mr. Liu helped him. The two then became sworn brothers, each taking the names Mr. Liu and Mr. Sang, but addressing each other as elder brother and younger brother.

Therefore, even on his deathbed, Mr. Sang still called Mr. Liu "Big Brother Liu" and no longer called him "elder brother" or "Mr. Liu".

Compared to Xin San Niang's rich life, Mr. Sang's life was much more boring.

He spends his days practicing meditation, and sometimes when Mr. Liu needs him, he helps Mr. Liu kill a few people.

Mr. Sang played a crucial role in Mr. Liu's rise to become the most powerful local figure in Xingsha City.

This is because Mr. Sang's awakened innate supernatural power is similar to a curse, which is very strange and evil, and difficult to resist.

Firstly, it's called "Sangluo," meaning "the falling of the mulberry tree," signifying its yellowing and withering. This is a true divine power, impossible to resist. It costs the Sang family's own life essence, cursing the opponent to lose an equal amount of their own essence. Lin Yi had already fallen victim to this attack.

Secondly, it is called mulberry. Alas, dove, do not eat mulberries. If you eat Mr. Mulberry's mulberries, your life essence will be absorbed by him in just eight hours.

Both of these curses used lines from the Book of Songs, which were beautiful but insidious and vicious.

From Mr. Sang's memory, Lin Yi also saw the scene of the two becoming sworn brothers.

Unlike the traditional wedding ceremony, the two of them each grew a section of their life-bound root, which intertwined together and became known as the "conjoined branches," the two that were ultimately not burned by the fire.

Lin Yi suddenly couldn't look at the name directly. Although plant spirits have no gender, they all transformed into males.

With its roots intertwined, isn't this an evolved version of fencing?

Lin Yi shook his head violently to shake off these filthy thoughts.

From Mr. Sang's memory, we can see that the conjoined branches were trained by two demons. If one of them was destroyed, the other would be destroyed; if one of them survived, the other would survive. It was of little use, but it had great symbolic significance.

Lin Yi suddenly had a brilliant idea. He took out the conjoined branches and separated the two branches. He used a knife to carve words on one of the branches, and the same words appeared on the other branch. After a few breaths, the words disappeared.

"Such a wonderful treasure, Mr. Sang, you say it's useless?"

Lin Yi has made up his mind; he'll give it away later...

Chapter 100 Superficial Brothers

The conjoined branches are indeed not very useful; they can neither fight enemies nor defend themselves.

However, its characteristic of sharing both gains and losses can be used to make it an excellent instant messaging tool if used properly.

It will automatically recover within ten breaths if damaged, and can be used multiple times. You can chat normally, and if you encounter danger, you can call for help.

In this era where communication basically relies on shouting, isn't this thing more effective than any magical artifact?

This can be considered an unexpected bonus.

He didn't learn any Taoist magic from Mr. Sang; that kind of innate supernatural power couldn't be learned. And the plant demon's understanding of heaven and earth was different from that of humans, so there was nothing he could learn from it. However, he gained a deeper understanding of the Way of Wood.

But Mr. Sang's memories were not entirely useless. In his memories, Lin Yi also saw the conspiracy plotted by Wu De and others.

Lin Yi was lucky, really. Those people had already eaten Mr. Sang's mulberries, and if they went over tonight, they would surely die. But Lin Yi managed to kill Mr. Sang before he could take his life.

Those unlucky guys should escape unscathed, and Lin Yi will have less trouble.

Otherwise, if they actually complete their plan, Lin Yi will also have a big headache.

At that point, he would have no choice but to forcibly take He Dong and run away. He would lose the foundation he had built in Xingsha County, but there would inevitably be some casualties in the process of fighting, which was something he did not want to see.

Even though the other party's plan has failed, Lin Yi cannot be too careless.

Now that Wu De has guessed He Dong's identity, he will inevitably make another move. To truly solve the problem, we still need to deal with the person who created it.

Before that, he also needs to diligently cultivate his internal skills to ensure sufficient firepower.

Lin Yi focused his mind and began another night of expansion.

Meanwhile, Mr. Liu and Wu De, who had been defeated and fled, reunited at one place.

Mr. Liu's eyes were often filled with tears. He pounded the floor in anguish and said in grief and indignation, "You bastard, you actually killed my brothers! I will make him pay for this in blood!"

Seeing Mr. Liu's condition, Wu De knew that Mr. Sang was most likely dead.

He was the fastest runner and didn't know how the battle would unfold. Anyway, when Lin Yi used the Cold Light Shadow, he silently disappeared into the darkness and ran away in a flash.

He was guessing at the time that Mr. Liu would most likely be able to escape, and You Tong was capable of escaping as well, but Mr. Sang would probably be used as a shield by Mr. Liu.

Sure enough.

Even though Mr. Liu cried bitterly, Wu De could still see through his insincerity.

But Wu De, though seeing through the situation, said with grief and indignation, "My elder brother's younger brother is also my elder brother. This is an irreconcilable feud. I will never let Lin Yi get away with this!"

"Brother..."

"Big brother..."