"Why, aren't you going to come out and meet me?"
He Xiuyuan stood on the water, his gaze fixed on the river below as he spoke softly.
The other party was a Black Fish Demon, and it seemed to have quite a bit of Dao cultivation.
He didn't know if his earlier disturbance had injured the other party, but He Xiuyuan knew that the other party must have sensed it.
A demon in the water, having Cultivated to such a degree, its range of perception certainly wouldn't be low.
One must know, even ordinary fish swimming in the water will be startled when people arrive on the shore, let alone this Black Fish Demon that had become a spirit.
He Xiuyuan knew that even if the other party was at the bottom of the river, it should still be able to hear him speak.
And at this moment, the Black Fish Demon at the bottom of the river indeed heard what He Xiuyuan said, and upon hearing He Xiuyuan's words, it immediately became conflicted.
Its heart was filled with worry at this moment, worried that if it truly went up, it would be directly slain by He Xiuyuan.
But if it didn't go up, thinking of He Xiuyuan's methods from before, it always felt that He Xiuyuan could easily slay it.
After hesitating for a long while, as He Xiuyuan's expression gradually grew impatient, it still gritted its teeth and cautiously floated to the surface.
Seeing the Black Fish Demon float to the surface, the impatience on He Xiuyuan's face finally eased a little.
However, when looking at this Black Fish Demon, He Xiuyuan's face showed no kindness.
Having chatted with the boatmen today, He Xiuyuan also knew that over the years, these boatmen had not offered less sacrifices to the other party each year.
But even so, over the years, many people still drowned in this river every year.
And today, when He Xiuyuan poured out this peach blossom wine, the other party was not only insatiably greedy but also prepared to capsize the boat, intending to swallow the entire gourd of peach blossom wine.
With such greed, He Xiuyuan naturally had no good impression of this fellow.
And the Black Fish Demon could somewhat sense that He Xiuyuan didn't seem to like it. After surfacing, it saw He Xiuyuan standing on the water, suspended in mid-air.
Thinking of the peach blossom wine He Xiuyuan had poured today, which was full of Spiritual Qi, it couldn't help but shrink back into the water.
"Superior... you summoned this little demon, for what matter, may I ask?"
The Black Fish Demon looked at He Xiuyuan and asked cautiously.
He Xiuyuan looked down at the Black Fish Demon, which had finally appeared, and said lightly, "You should know for what matter."
If possible, He Xiuyuan didn't want to fall out with this fellow.
Currently, he had too few methods and no means to subdue demons for the time being. He wasn't confident he could slay this Black Fish Demon.
Coming tonight, it would be best to negotiate with the other party to prevent it from casually overturning boats earning a living on the river in the future.
Stirring the bottom of the water just now was, on one hand, because the other party had actually tried to overturn so many boats today, and on the other hand, He Xiuyuan wanted to intimidate the other party.
In negotiations, if one cannot be in a strong position, one will be at a disadvantage later.
And at this moment, the Black Fish Demon was clearly intimidated by He Xiuyuan. Upon hearing this, it immediately said cautiously, "Superior, please spare my life. This little demon merely drank your immortal brew today and was momentarily intoxicated, which is why I acted as I did."
"If not for that, how would this little demon dare to offend Superior?"
The Black Fish Demon thought that since He Xiuyuan had not continued to attack, there was still room for discussion. Immediately, it kowtowed repeatedly, only begging He Xiuyuan to spare it this one time.
He Xiuyuan snorted coldly upon hearing this, "Is that so? But how come I, He, have heard that boats on this river have frequently capsized recently, with both people and boats sinking into the river?"
"Could it be that you, this Black Fish Demon, rely on eating people to increase your Cultivation?"
He Xiuyuan's words immediately startled the Black Fish Demon.
More than half of what He Xiuyuan said was true, but how could it dare to admit to this matter?
It had heard that those Cultivators would definitely execute any demon Cultivator who dared to eat people, so no matter what, it could not admit to this.
Anyway, He Xiuyuan had never seen it eat people; only people had drowned in the river, but no one had seen it eat people.
Thinking of this, the Black Fish Demon quickly shook its head.
"Superior, this little demon has diligently Cultivated in this river and has never done such things. Superior, you cannot speak such nonsense!"
"Those boatmen like to offer wine to this little demon when it has grievances in its heart, that is also because this little demon has Cultivated so long and its Cultivation has not progressed for a long time, which is why it has fallen in love with the fine wines of the Mortal Realm, merely to drown its sorrows."
"Other than that, this little demon has never done anything that harms heaven and reason!"
The Black Fish Demon shook its head repeatedly at this moment, not daring to admit to these words.
He Xiuyuan vaguely felt that the other party was lying, but He Xiuyuan indeed had no evidence to prove that the other party was lying.
Thinking of this, He Xiuyuan waved his hand and said, "Since there is none, that's good. Since those boatmen offer sacrifices every year, then you should take good care of them."
"I can spare you for now today, but if I hear of this matter again in the future...."
The Black Fish Demon immediately felt a weight lift from its heart upon hearing this and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Superior, rest assured, in the past, it was only drinking that caused trouble. In the future, this little demon will definitely not be like this."
"That's good."
He Xiuyuan nodded upon hearing this, then turned and prepared to leave.
The Black Fish Demon watched He Xiuyuan's departing figure. While it felt relieved, it also felt vaguely uneasy in its heart.
It didn't know why, but seeing He Xiuyuan leave like this, it felt as if something extremely important to it was disappearing.
Feeling uneasy, the Black Fish Demon finally couldn't help but call out, "Superior, please wait," after He Xiuyuan had walked more than ten meters away.
"What, do you still have something to say?"
He Xiuyuan stopped upon hearing this and turned to look at the other party.
The Black Fish Demon's fish eyes turned slightly, then it asked, "This little demon wishes to ask Superior, why, after so many years of Cultivation, has this little demon's Cultivation always failed to advance?"
"This little demon has clearly Cultivated very diligently, and in the past, this little demon also protected the local people here, saving them from the harassment of floods."
"But why, during Cultivation, does it occasionally feel a sense of mental bewilderment?"
The Black Fish Demon looked at He Xiuyuan with eager eyes as it spoke.
Its words were not deceiving He Xiuyuan. A long time ago, it was not like this, casually overturning boats on the river.
Now, it was like this only because it felt its Cultivation was fruitless, so it acted purely according to its own whims.
He Xiuyuan listened to the Black Fish Demon's words, looked back at the Black Fish Demon, and after thinking about what the other party had done today, a sudden realization also dawned on him.
A sense of mental bewilderment during Cultivation?
Presumably, it was the consequence of the other party's actions over the years.