The News of the Drought Demon

The yawn was stretched out very comfortably, with arms raised high above the head, fingers spread, and the spine stretched open segment by segment, making a few soft clicking sounds, as if all the joints in the body had not been used for a long time and had finally been oiled again.

Then he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, his vision still a little blurry. When he looked up and saw the sect leader standing outside the door, he subconsciously stood up and bowed, mumbling, "Master, why are you here?" His tone was like that of an ordinary disciple who had just woken up and found his master standing at the head of his bed, completely unaware of how many years he had been asleep.

......

"The way this Taoist priest stretched was exactly the same as when my mom dragged me out of bed. First, he slowly blinked, then stretched, then rubbed his eyes, and finally mumbled, 'Master, why are you here?' Dude, you've been sleeping for who knows how many years, can you at least stop sounding like you just took a half-hour nap?"

"The sect leader had to call me three times before I woke up, which was very relatable. My dad wakes me up using the same method, the difference being that the sect leader uses the fetal breathing and circulation method, while my dad just pulls off the covers."

"The funniest thing is that the first thing he does when he wakes up is to bow. What's the difference between this and someone who just woke up, reaches for their phone to check messages, and then gets out of bed?"

"On the surface: Foolish child, wake up! On the inside: This child has been sleeping for so many years and has finally learned to get up on his own. I am so gratified."

Taoist priest: Have I been asleep for a long time? Sect leader: Look outside the window, those pine trees are several heads taller than you.

......

The sect leader raised his hand to stop him from continuing his bow, then turned to show him to Liu Jin beside him, solemnly introducing him as the Fire-Swallowing Taoist of the Sanyi Temple. It was he who used the Moon Illusion Light to shatter the illusion and awaken you from your despair. The Taoist turned and bowed deeply to Liu Jin, his movements still somewhat awkward, but his manners were impeccable.

Liu Jin nodded in return, saying nothing more. The sect leader led the two to sit down at the only low table in the stone house. The table was covered with a thick layer of dust, but the sect leader didn't mind. He simply used his sleeve to clear a clean area and placed the pot of tea, which was still half-finished, back on the table. The tea had long since gone cold, but for the first time, the stone house had a real warmth.

The sect leader then slowly recounted the whole story. As the Taoist listened, the bewilderment on his face gradually faded, replaced by an increasingly deep bitterness. When he heard the sect leader say, "That senior brother has been expelled from the mountain," he abruptly raised his head, his lips trembling several times before he managed to utter, "He...is gone?"

It turns out that the three visitors from another world entered Laoshan at the same time, and naturally knew each other's identities. The three were not only fellow disciples but also from the same hometown, and their relationship was closer than that of ordinary fellow disciples. However, after the one with extraordinary memory and the one who was close to the Dao deviated from the right path, this person with a naturally formed appearance became the only one of the three who remained on the right track.

His automatic cultivation device was running continuously, and his illusion magic skills improved by leaps and bounds, far surpassing his peers. But when he discovered that his senior brother, who was almost at the Dao level, had begun to study the art of attacking the soul and that his methods were becoming increasingly ruthless, he made a decision: he could not wait until his senior brother had completely gone astray before stopping him; he had to strike first while he could still control him.

He was eager to deduce a stronger illusion technique, not to show off, not to break through, but to trap that senior brother, to weave an invisible cage with illusion, to confine him inside, so that he could no longer harm anyone.

The automatic cultivation device could be stopped; he didn't need to cultivate to this level, but he felt it was his responsibility. As a fellow visitor from another world, he felt obligated to bring his senior brother back from the wrong path.

But what he didn't expect was that he was too hasty. Haste itself is a form of obsession, and the stronger the obsession, the more severe the backlash from the illusion. His senior brother, however, was more perceptive and noticed his intentions almost immediately. Not only did he avoid being tricked, but he also took advantage of his excessive focus on the illusion to turn the tables on him from the side.

The senior brother's methods were not complicated: he did not confront him head-on, but at the moment when his junior brother was breaking through the most critical illusion barrier, he used an extremely subtle spiritual suggestion to bring out all his guilt, self-blame, and fear: the guilt for not being able to protect his fellow disciples, the self-blame for not being able to stop his senior brother from falling into depravity, and the fear that he would also go astray like the other two.

These emotions weren't created out of thin air by my senior brother; they were already in his heart. He simply helped them find an outlet.

After being consumed by his own inner demons, the illusion spiraled out of control. He failed to trap his senior brother, instead becoming trapped in the illusion he had created. Before descending the mountain, his senior brother visited him once, standing outside the stone house and saying one sentence to him:

"You just stay here and rest. I'm going to train a corpse. One day, I will train a real drought demon." He heard these words while trapped in the illusion, but he couldn't move a single finger. He could only watch helplessly as his senior brother's figure disappeared into the depths of the pine forest.

After the Taoist finished speaking, the stone house remained quiet for a long time. The sect leader stroked his beard, his face showing a touch of desolation. Drought Demon—he suddenly recalled the joking remark he had made when he first met Liu Jin: "I thought it was the birth of a drought demon."

It was just a joke at the time, but now, thinking about it, it sends chills down my spine. When that disciple went down the mountain, he boasted that he would create a drought demon. If he were still persisting in that evil art, he would sooner or later become a great scourge to the world.

......

"Automatic cultivation devices are harmful. They can stop, but in order to trap his senior brother, he forced him to continue cultivating, and ended up turning himself into a vegetable. A cheat device, if not used properly, becomes a cheat handcuff."

"But looking at it from another angle, when his senior went astray, his first reaction wasn't to report him, to distance himself, or to follow him astray, but to find a way to keep his senior in check. That sense of responsibility is the highest among the three fellow villagers. Although he ended up getting himself involved, at least his starting point was right."

"But Liu Jin is here, and Chao Jue is about to accidentally hit his face with a giant fireball."

"Haha, Liu Jin seems really busy. But he's really lucky; the people he met first didn't have as much trouble as him."

"Indeed, so cultivating immortality still depends a lot on fate. If you have good fate, you can achieve twice the result with half the effort, and everything will go smoothly. If you have bad fate, you will suffer unexpected disasters everywhere."

......

Liu Jin didn't offer much comment after listening. He felt neither sympathy nor anger towards the fellow cultivator who practiced corpse cultivation; going astray was going astray, no matter how many reasons there were. He was more concerned about the Taoist priest in front of him.

One was someone who sacrificed himself to stop his senior brother from going astray in cultivation; another was someone who was trapped in the illusion for countless years, and whose first words upon waking were, "He's gone." He suddenly realized that the sect leader's choice of disciples wasn't entirely unreasonable. Although two had gone astray, at least one was someone who genuinely wanted to bring him back.