Confronting the Inner Demon

Leaving Fengdu City, Jia Yi suddenly stopped his steps, solemnly bowed to Su Mu, and said, "For today's matter, thank you. I owe you a favor."

Jia Yi was very clear that if Su Mu had not been here today, his current situation would probably have been completely different.

"We are fellow disciples, it is only what I should do. Didn't Senior Brother Jia also save me before?"

Su Mu smiled upon hearing this, recalling when the two of them were still in the Scavenger Division executing an appraisal mission together, Jia Yi had directly killed another scavenger to save him.

He had not realized it at the time, but thinking about it now, Jia Yi seemed to want to advise him not to step into the muddy waters of the cultivation world. After all, with the cultivation base he displayed back then, it would have been very difficult to survive in the Nether Palace.

Clearly, he had good intentions in his heart, yet he insisted on disguising himself as someone who kept others at a distance. He did not know if it was for self-protection or for some other reason.

Hearing Su Mu say this, Jia Yi did not say anything more, while Zuo Zhu and Ming Ren, who were walking ahead, glanced at each other and remained silent.

Young people nowadays were truly bold, actually daring to single-handedly challenge a colossus like the Nether Palace. Fortunately, the two of them were safe and sound today; otherwise, they really would not know how to explain it to Song Li.

"Su Mu, your cave abode is not yet completed. Why don't you come to our place to stay temporarily? I also want to thank you properly."

Ming Ren looked toward Su Mu and said, "If not for your Heavenly Demon Wolf Soul, Lu Liang would not have been able to step into the Spirit Refining Realm so quickly."

"Martial Uncle Ming is too polite. Senior Brother Jia and I can just stay at Master's cave abode, we won't trouble the two Martial Uncles."

Hearing the news of Lu Liang's breakthrough, Su Mu was not surprised, but he still politely declined Ming Ren's invitation.

Although the Heavenly Demon Wolf Soul was precious, it was useless to him. Giving it to Lu Liang was putting it to its best use, and he did not take it to heart. Moreover, with Jia Yi's current state, it was also not suitable for him to stay at their place.

"Very well, after all, you have lived there for so many years, there is some attachment."

Hearing Su Mu's words, Ming Ren also understood his meaning, so he did not force it further, saying, "We still have some matters to attend to, so we will leave you here."

"Safe travels, two Martial Uncles."

Ming Ren and Zuo Zhu nodded slightly, did not stay long, and turned into streaks of light, flying into the distance.

Seeing the two leave, Su Mu and Jia Yi glanced at each other, said nothing, and walked straight toward Song Li's cave abode.

Perhaps because the Scavenger Division had been dissolved, rarely was anyone seen along the way, but all the buildings of the Scavenger Division were still there, seemingly not yet put to other uses.

The two arrived in front of the cave abode, and Su Mu familiarly pinched the hand seal to open the door, then stepped inside.

Having not returned for three years, everything in Song Li's cave abode remained the same, only compared to before, it lacked a bit of vitality.

As soon as Jia Yi entered the cave abode, he intended to go to his room, but he was stopped by Su Mu.

"Senior Brother Jia, can you tell me about the matter between you and Jia Ren?"

In fact, regarding the matter of Jia Ren and Jia Yi, Su Mu had already learned the rough outline through the fleeting images in the Asura Underground Palace, but he was not clear about the specific details.

Su Mu had no interest in others' private matters; the reason he asked was only hoping that Jia Yi could face his inner demon. Otherwise, if he continued like this, he would only become a puppet who only knew how to slaughter.

Thinking of this, Su Mu glanced at Yuantu and Abi behind Jia Yi, and a trace of wariness could not help but flash in his eyes.

Unlike the Immortal Artifacts he had encountered, these two swords were pure slaughter weapons. After the dual swords merged, their malevolent power became even deeper, and they even wanted to counter-control their master!

Otherwise, even if Jia Yi's Dao Heart had flaws, he would not have made such an impulsive move. He should have acted against Jia Ren as soon as he received the inheritance of Abi; why would he have waited until today?

Jia Yi obviously also knew Su Mu's intention. Although he did not directly agree, he stopped his steps, standing in place in deep thought, occasionally showing a look of struggle.

Seeing Jia Yi like this, Su Mu did not disturb him, only quietly standing aside and waiting.

The thing called an inner demon still needed to be understood by oneself to be most effective; forcing it too hard would instead easily produce the opposite effect.

After a long time, Jia Yi finally restored his calm, looked toward Su Mu, and said, "This is a private matter between me and Jia Ren, you do not need to interfere, Su Mu."

Su Mu smiled upon hearing this and said, "That may be so, but does Senior Brother feel that I can still fold my arms and watch now?"

Jia Yi fell silent upon hearing this. This time Su Mu had returned with him, and had even acted for him in front of the entire high level of the Nether Palace. If anyone said Su Mu knew nothing, probably no one would believe it.

Thinking of this, Jia Yi let out a heavy breath and said, "Jia Ren and I are biological brothers born of the same mother, you should know this, Su Mu?"

Su Mu nodded slightly; this matter was not a secret, almost everyone in the Nether Palace knew it.

"Then do you know, in Jia Ren's pair of double pupils, one of them belongs to me!"

Su Mu raised his brows upon hearing this, showing a look of surprise on his face, but in his heart, he was not surprised at all.

This was the normal progression of the story; otherwise, it would truly not be worthy of the deep resentment Jia Yi held for Jia Ren.

However, having one double pupil each was also quite novel.

Perhaps because he had taken the first step, Jia Yi began to recount the story: "Our father was originally just an ordinary farmer, who by chance met our mother, and then had us."

"The origin of our mother, we brothers still do not know to this day. Thinking about it now, mother's words and gestures were definitely not what an ordinary peasant woman could have."

Perhaps remembering his mother, a trace of gentleness flashed in Jia Yi's eyes, and he said, "Because mother did not like noise, father took us to live in seclusion in the mountains, and our life was considered harmonious and happy. If nothing unexpected happened, our family of four would probably have continued to live like this."

Just as his words fell, Jia Yi's eyes suddenly became blood-red, and the killing intent in his heart rose again. Seeing this, Su Mu hastily acted, protecting Jia Yi's spiritual platform, while simultaneously suppressing Yuantu and Abi.

Without the influence of Yuantu and Abi, Jia Yi once again recovered his clarity. After pondering for a long time, he opened his mouth and said, "Cangzhou has barren land, and every winter mountain bandits would cause trouble, and the mountain where we lived in seclusion also had bandits appear."

"Fortunately, our residence was relatively remote, so we were never discovered. It was only later, those bandits somehow heard about my mother, and still found their way to our door."

Speaking to this point, Jia Yi sighed and said, "It was also on that day, Jia Ren and I successively awakened our double pupils, completely leaving behind our originally peaceful life."

Hearing Jia Yi say this, Su Mu could not help but frown slightly and said, "If you two brothers awakened your double pupils at the same time, why did you fall into Jia Ren's hands, Senior Brother?"