It turns out I'm a second-generation demon.

Chapter 83 Demonic Way

Huang Yicong was speechless with terror; the nightmare of his childhood had returned after many years. Li Xianyu understood his roommate's fear, just like when he was caught red-handed by ice shards while secretly rummaging through his sister's underwear in the closet. Back then, Li Xianyu, still in elementary school, felt no less fear than Huang Yicong.

The boy died on the third night, and his body was discovered on the morning of the fourth day. His internal organs had been almost completely eaten. Back then, rural houses had almost no soundproofing, but his parents in the next room did not hear any noise.

The incident was bizarre in every way.

Knowing part of the truth, Huang Yicong didn't reveal it to anyone, burying the truth and his fear deep in his heart. He studied hard, trying to suppress the strangeness through the grand values ​​built upon the core socialist principles. Who would have thought that more than a decade later, that thing would find him?

Li Xianyu returned the ring to Huang Yicong, but the latter recoiled as if electrocuted, shaking his head with a pale face, refusing to take it back no matter what.

He had no choice but to keep the thumb ring for the time being, and to play with and examine it again. If everything was caused by this object, then it must be a good treasure, at least not as ordinary as it appeared on the surface.

Li Xianyu opened the Ancient Demon Chat software and relayed the details about the appearance of the water monkey and Huang Yicong's story in the group.

Vulcan: "Hmm, this description sounds familiar. I should recognize this kind of thing."

The first person to reply to him was surprisingly the very senior Vulcan.

Li Bai: "I'm completely baffled. What kind of monster is this? Is there only a textual description? Salty Fish, why don't you draw a simple illustration on a computer?"

The walking pile driver: "...I know nothing about that kind of thing, I can't even imagine it."

Li Bai: "Useless things are better off hanging themselves from a tree in the southeast."

The walking pile driver: "@Li Bai, you want to have a poetry contest with me?"

Li Bai: "Farewell."

Just then, Vulcan sent a shocked emoji: "Kappa, it's a kappa, I remember now."

The walking pile driver: "What is a kappa? Is it fierce?"

Vulcan: "The Kappa is a relatively docile offspring, mainly distributed in the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins of China, as well as the coastal areas of Japan. When I was young, Kappas were quite common. The Kappa is the prototype of the water monkey in folklore. Twenty years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, for some reason, the bloodline community began to spread the idea that eating Kappas could beautify the skin and enhance male virility. In just over ten years, the Kappas in our country became extinct. The last time I saw a Kappa was thirty years ago."

His fingering technique is strikingly similar to Kato Taka's: "The younger generation says they've never seen a kappa before."

Li Bai: "+1"

Thunder War Maiden: "Really? Is it true? Can kappa really have beauty and skin-nourishing effects? [Lewdly]"

The Walking Pile Driver: "Can it really tonify the kidneys and enhance male virility?"

System notification: The mobile pile driver has retracted a message.

Walking Piledriver: "Warrior, don't steer the conversation off-topic, @Vulcan, isn't the Kappa fierce?"

Vulcan: "Kappa are gentle creatures and omnivores. They often pull children swimming alone into the water and drown them, but that's because of their playful nature, not because they intentionally kill. They usually don't eat people, but in your friend's story, it even climbed ashore and broke into a house to eat people... If I'm not mistaken, that kappa was probably domesticated, not wild."

Food God: "Does the Fire God mean that after the wild kappa became extinct, they shamefully switched to farming? I can't wait! [Drooling emoji]"

Kagami: "No, actually, this is not good news. Wild kappa are docile, but domesticated ones are different. No one would raise these things for their own appetite, but if someone does raise them, there must be a purpose behind it. I've heard that some families in Japan are raising kappa and training them to become shikigami."

Kongo: "Aren't shikigami a means of manipulating vengeful spirits?"

[Archives Administrator] Murphy: "King Kong, you really need to read more books. Is your understanding of Japan limited to adult films?"

King Kong: "In fact, I don't recognize island nation women when they put on clothes."

Mobile pile driver: "+1"

Kagami: "Some shikigami use talismans to control vengeful spirits, while others use living beings as their vessel. Kappa is a common type of shikigami in island nations."

[Archives Administrator] Murphy: "I just checked the records, and there really was such an incident of an unidentified creature eating a person. The victim was a child, only 10 years old at the time. All of his internal organs were eaten, but there was no pain on his face; instead, he looked very peaceful. The police determined that it was done by an unknown creature and listed the case in the file of bizarre events."

"When he was in charge of investigating the case, he immediately identified the unknown creature as a kappa. He stayed there for two days, then searched along the river to the sea for a week, but found no trace of the kappa. It must have just happened to pass by and committed the crime in a fit of passion. In the end, the case was left unsolved."

The fingering technique is strikingly similar to Kato Taka's: "Now it seems that this is clearly not a so-called crime of passion. After many years, the kappa has reappeared. Why is it staring at the salted fish's friend? Moreover, the kappa in our country has been eaten to extinction. The kappa in the story is more like a shikigami. Does this mean that this matter is related to the islanders?"

Thunder Warrior: "@Walking Piledriver, in the story, the kappa gave that child something. Do you still have that thing? Could you take a picture and post it in the group?"

Li Xianyu's gaze fell on the jade thumb ring, and suddenly a thought struck him: this thing is probably some kind of magical artifact. It might even be a valuable item from Japan.

Any magical artifact will change when spiritual energy is inputted into it. Thinking of this, Li Xianyu secretly inputted a trace of spiritual energy into the ring, but the ring did not change at all.

Isn't it a ritual implement?

A thumb ring is clearly an item worn by someone. If it is not a religious artifact, it may be a token or something similar.

Li Xianyu imagined that someone had once worn it as a token to command the world... no, to command the island nation and govern tens of thousands of people. As if possessed, he slipped the ring onto his thumb.

"Boom!"

The moment I put on the ring, a thunderous sound seemed to ring in my head, followed by a sudden wave of dizziness. It was a bit like the dizziness that comes when you suddenly stand up after squatting for too long.

Li Xianyu felt as if her five senses and six perceptions were drifting away from her, and her soul was being pulled out of her body and sinking into boundless darkness.

But in the next moment, a bright light suddenly tore open in front of them.

"Senior brother, senior brother, you're slacking off again."

A clear, melodious voice, like that of a nightingale, rang in my ears.

Li Xianyu opened his eyes in the warm afternoon sun, looked around, and found himself in an unfamiliar environment. Above him was a tall, ancient pine tree with a canopy, and on a huge rock lay a handsome young Taoist priest. Below the rock stood a pretty girl in a blue Taoist robe, with an ebony hairpin in her hair.

He stood on the rock, beside the young Taoist priest. Looking around, the mountains and rivers were beautiful and majestic, with Taoist temples with blue bricks and gray tiles nestled among the shadows of trees, bathed in bright sunlight and filled with the cheerful chirping of birds.

"Junior sister, life is short and dreams are fleeting. Don't disturb your handsome senior brother's sleep," the young man said lazily, turning over in bed.

"Senior brother, it's one thing for you to slack off during your practice, but today is the gathering day for all of us Quanzhen disciples to go down the mountain for our travels. In half an hour, Master will be worried about us brothers. If he finds out you've sneaked out to sleep again, be careful he doesn't break your legs!" The girl put her hands on her hips and complained angrily, "In the past, when warlords were fighting each other down the mountain, Master told us to stay away from the world and cultivate ourselves, not to get involved. Now that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party have joined forces to fight against Japan, and 400 million people are united in their determination, it's time for us Taoist disciples to enter the world and help the people."

"A monk should detach himself from worldly affairs, live in seclusion in the mountains and forests, and contemplate nature in order to achieve a state of transcendence and oneness with the universe." The young man remained unmoved. "Even if my master were here, I would still say the same thing."

"Then, then..." The girl stamped her foot and said angrily, "Then I'll tell Master about the erotic pictures you hid under your bed."

"I lent it to Senior Brother Yuanqing last month. Go and report it."

"Heh, what about last year when you spied on Senior Sister Tai Su taking a bath? Tsk tsk, Senior Sister Tai Su must have no idea that Senior Brother Wang Chen is so exceptionally handsome."

"Junior sister, life is short, how can we waste it in dreams?"

"Hmph, too late."

"Hey, junior sister, come back. Give me another chance."

The two chased each other, their figures and voices disappearing into the distance.

Li Xianyu stood blankly under the pine tree, feeling that the words "Wangchen" sounded very familiar, but he couldn't remember them for a moment.

He had experienced this strange memory before, because of a deeper spiritual and physical connection with his great-grandmother, which allowed him to see fragments of the past. Was the scene before him also from his great-grandmother's memories?

Warlord conflicts and the Kuomintang's resistance against Japan—this should be the era of the Republic of China.

If it's the great-grandmother's memory, could this little Taoist priest be his ancestor?

But Li Xianyu quickly realized something was wrong. First, he didn't see his great-grandmother, so it obviously couldn't be her memories. Second, based on the timeline, this generation's Li family descendant should be the one at their peak.

Complete truth, forgetting worldly dust.

Complete truth, forgetting worldly dust...

The Republican era...

A flash of lightning struck Li Xianyu's mind: Demonic Daoist Wangchen!

(End of this chapter)