IDWBE -Chapter 13 Inner Demon

In truth, Luo Han wasn’t very afraid of the Prince. No matter how harshly the Prince scolded people, the punishment that followed was always light.

But Chief Steward Hong was different. He never wasted words. One careless mistake, and you might end up coughing up a bowl of blood—and that would still be considered a mild outcome.

Hong Ying impatiently waved his hand. “Go. Make your preparations early.”

“Yes, I take my leave.”

Luo Han let out a long breath of relief, slowly backed out of the room, and closed the door behind him.

For a moment, only Hong Ying and Song Cheng remained in the room.

“I don’t know what the Prince was thinking, letting a fool like that manage an escort agency—”

Before Song Cheng could finish speaking, his whole body suddenly flew backward and hit the ground with a thud.

“I’ve told you before,” Hong Ying said, holding his teacup and sitting as if he had never moved at all, “never question the Prince’s decisions. Don’t treat my words as if they were the wind in your ears.”

“I know my fault.”

Song Cheng half-knelt on the ground, his face flushed with shame.

He had already reached the seventh rank!

In the martial world, that already counted as a top-tier expert. He had long known he was no match for Hong Ying, but he never imagined he would be defeated without the slightest chance to resist—even if he had been caught off guard.

Just how powerful had this monster become?

“This is a time when manpower is needed. We cannot delay the Prince’s departure. Otherwise, I would not have let you off so lightly today.”

Hong Ying spoke calmly. “I know your wings have hardened, but unless I permit it, you cannot leave. Do you understand?”

Song Cheng sprang to his feet, anger rising. “Chief Steward Hong, what do you mean by that? Do you think I serve the Prince because of you? Though my skills are inferior to yours, I still have backbone! How can I submit to intimidation? The Prince is kind and benevolent; I follow him with all my strength. A man dies for the one who understands him—what does that have to do with you?”

On the third day after he was born, his mother had entered the palace to serve as the Prince’s wet nurse.

Only after the Prince turned one did she leave the palace.

Originally, the Song family had been an ordinary, respectable household. But after Consort Yuan’s deliberate care, they became a prosperous family with maids and servants.

When he was young, every time the Prince left the palace, he would stay at their home. Song Cheng accompanied him constantly—they had practically grown up together.

Now, at only eighteen, he had already reached the seventh rank. He could have founded a sect and recruited disciples, or entered official service and brought honor to his family.

Yet he still helped the Prince manage businesses outside the palace—restaurants, inns, furniture shops.

There was no special reason. He was simply used to it.

Habit was powerful. Without this Prince, he felt lost.

“You could be said to have grown up under my watch as well,” Hong Ying suddenly said with a faint smile. “The Prince’s meaning today was that your mother is getting old and needs someone to care for her. It would be better for you to remain in the capital.”

“There are servants at home. If I stay, I’ll only annoy them,” Song Cheng said, rubbing his aching chest. “Chief Steward Hong, you knew I would follow the Prince to Sanhe. Why provoke me deliberately?”

“I didn’t intend to meddle in your affairs,” Hong Ying sighed. “But I must go handle something shortly. Whether it ends in fortune or misfortune is uncertain. If something happens to me, the journey to Sanhe will depend entirely on you. If I return safely, then you won’t be needed. At that time, whether you go or stay will be your own decision.”

“Chief Steward Hong, you must be joking,” Song Cheng said. “In Ankang City, is there anywhere you cannot go? Who could stop you? Who would dare detain you? Unless…”

His face suddenly changed. “Chief Steward Hong… you’re not going to enter the palace, are you?”

“Speak of this to no one.”

Hong Ying neither confirmed nor denied it. He rose, walked to the door, then suddenly turned back and said, “Protect the Prince well.”

“Chief Steward Hong, think it over carefully!”

Song Cheng rushed after him, but Hong Ying had already vanished without a trace.

That night, Song Cheng lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

He was worried about Hong Ying.

Although Hong Ying beat and scolded him, that was only right; he should accept it without complaint. After all, Hong Ying was half his teacher.

When he was young, the instructors his family hired were all mediocre. Without Hong Ying’s guidance, he might have remained an unremarkable martial artist all his life.

Now, at only eighteen, he had reached the seventh rank. If word got out, he would surely be listed among the ten great young geniuses of Liang.

Thinking of the tasks awaiting him tomorrow, he forced himself to sleep. Just as he was about to count sheep, he heard a sound beneath the wall.

After reaching the seventh rank, his hearing had become exceptionally sharp.

He leapt up without hesitation and jumped out the window.

“Who’s there?”

“Help me up…”

“Chief Steward Hong!”

Song Cheng hurried over. As soon as he touched Hong Ying’s chest, he felt something sticky soaking his clothes.

He quickly carried him inside and laid him on the bed.

Lighting a lamp, he saw clearly—Hong Ying was badly wounded.

Blood seeped from his tightly closed lips; his face was ashen, and his chest was soaked in blood.

Suddenly, he couldn’t hold it in and spat out a large mouthful of blood.

“Chief Steward Hong!”

Song Cheng supported his back with one hand and was about to circulate his energy to help him.

“No need…”

Hong Ying slowly opened his eyes, took out a blood-soaked handkerchief from his sleeve, and wiped his mouth. “I cultivate yin energy. I’ll handle it myself. Go to the Prince and take care of him. If I return like this, I might frighten him. Tell the Prince I have business to attend to. Let you all depart first—I will catch up in a few days…”

Before he finished speaking, he fainted.

“Chief Steward Hong!”

No matter how Song Cheng called, there was no response.

In desperation, he fed him a pill.

Another scorching day arrived.

Lin Yi rose early. After breakfast, he still hadn’t seen Hong Ying. He asked everyone in the residence, but no one knew where he had gone.

At last, Song Cheng arrived.

“You say he went out on business?”

“Yes. Chief Steward Hong said we should depart tomorrow without him,” Song Cheng replied with a smile.

“He lives alone. What business could he possibly have?” Lin Yi frowned.

“Well…” Song Cheng forced a laugh. “Your Highness, you know I wouldn’t dare ask.”

“That’s not right,” Lin Yi said, shaking his head. “If he had something to do, why wouldn’t he tell me, but instead go all the way to tell you?”

“Your Highness, I am half his disciple…”

Song Cheng tried to explain.

“Tell me the truth. Where is he? I suspect he hasn’t gone to handle business—he’s run into trouble, hasn’t he?”

Lin Yi stared at him. The more Song Cheng avoided the question, the stronger Lin Yi’s sense of foreboding became.

He had seen scenes like this countless times in TV dramas.

“Your Highness…” Song Cheng suddenly knelt.

“That’s bad…” Lin Yi’s heart sank.

Lin Yi rode in a carriage to the estate outside the city.

“You’re still smiling? If you died, no one would even know—and you still dared to break into the imperial palace. Your courage is really something.”

Seeing Hong Ying half-dead yet still forcing a smile, Lin Yi felt a tightness in his chest.

“Your Highness…”

Hong Ying was breathing heavily, but his eyes were fixed on the porcelain jar in Lin Yi’s hand.

“If you wanted it, you could have just taken my seal and gone to get it. Why risk your life like this?”

Lin Yi placed the jar in his hands.

In the end, he didn’t say what he was thinking: For something already useless, was it worth nearly losing your life?

He had grown up in an orphanage, surrounded by children who were missing limbs or otherwise disabled.

He understood their feelings. When a whole person said, “It’s not important, it doesn’t matter,” it only annoyed them.

Only those who had lost something understood true longing.

“I didn’t want to dirty your hands,” Hong Ying said, still smiling.

“You idiot,” Lin Yi said, eyes reddening. “I’ve treated you like a brother since childhood. When have I ever treated you as a servant? If you like being a servant so much, go serve someone else.”

Tears welled in his eyes.

“Your Highness, please don’t be angry. I just thought… when I die someday, I want to be a complete person. I couldn’t leave my treasure in the palace.”

He coughed as he spoke.

Lin Yi patted his back, still unable to hold back his anger. “You could have gone to retrieve it later. It’s not as if going to Sanhe means never returning!”

“Your Highness… I encountered a heart demon.”

Hong Ying sat up, leaning against the wall, giving a bitter smile. “Clinging to familiar circumstances, the heart demon returns and disrupts the mind. Your books spoke of this.”

“What are you talking about?”

Lin Yi was stunned.

Heart demon? Which novel had he written that in?

“My treasure… is my heart demon. If I didn’t retrieve it, I could never advance further.”

After taking a sip of water from a cup Song Cheng handed him, Hong Ying continued, “To conquer demons, one must first conquer the heart; when the heart is subdued, all evils retreat.
To control external force, one must first regulate this qi; when the qi is calm, outside forces cannot invade…”

Before he could finish, Lin Yi interrupted irritably, “If it’s a heart demon, why not just practice the Dao Heart Planting Demon technique while you’re at it?”

Lin Yi wasn’t unfamiliar with this sort of situation.

In his previous life, he had seen plenty of people obsessed with web novels and games, practically losing their minds over them—people who, sitting on airplanes, would wish they could jump out halfway just to play a battle royale game.

“The Evil Emperor Xiang Yutian of the Demonic Sect truly possessed unparalleled talent,” Hong Ying said with admiration. “But even he needed the sect’s sacred relic as an aid. The relic contains the lifelong cultivation of a demonic sage, poured into it at the moment of death. With such a relic, cultivation becomes much easier. Unfortunately, I don’t know where such a relic could be found.”

“Judging by your tone, if such a thing really existed, you’d actually go practice it?” Lin Yi felt a headache coming on.

“Certainly not!” Hong Ying said firmly. “The void has limits, but the Great Dao is boundless. I naturally devote myself to the Dao and would not abandon the root to chase the branches.”

“… ”

Lin Yi sighed.

What had he done to deserve meeting such a fool?

He listened to a novel and took it as truth!

If there had been a mental hospital, Lin Yi would have sent him there without hesitation.