On the surface, I didn't react, but inside, I was trembling uncontrollably, and cold sweat was trickling down my forehead!

As I was at a loss, someone suddenly patted me on the shoulder. When I turned around, my whole body went cold, and I felt like I was nailed to the spot, unable to even move my eyes.

The person standing behind me was myself.

Only, this other me had a face as black as ink, with only his eyes glowing with a blood-soaked crimson light.

A Heart Demon!

My Heart Demon had emerged!

The Heart Demon Li Po patted my shoulder and said, "We should have met long ago. I have to admire your abilities. 'A heart like a磐石(pan shi, boulder), impervious to swords and spears,' these words aren't suitable for you, and you can't achieve it. You've been able to suppress me all this time only because there are some things you choose not to think about!"

"When you can't figure something out, you choose to set it aside."

"But the more you set aside, the easier it is for a Heart Demon to arise!"

"Taiqu Mountain, the Tiewa Temple, opened a gap in your heart, so I came!"

The Heart Demon Li Po sneered, "I know you don't believe in retribution. So, I won't use retribution to scare you. The reason I can appear here is the same reason you broke through Xu An'an's psychological defenses."

"The things you choose to set aside, choose to forget, appear at a specific place, at a specific time. Then you can no longer suppress them."

The Heart Demon Li Po began to circle around me. With each step he took, my heart trembled.

The Heart Demon Li Po's footsteps were like repeatedly trampling on the last line of defense in my mind. Once that line collapsed, all the distracting thoughts would be like a river bursting its banks, becoming unstoppable.

The Heart Demon Li Po laughed, "You think that if you have no greed, no obsession, you won't give rise to a Heart Demon, right? You're wrong. I come from your fear."

"As the saying goes, 'Appearance arises from the heart, and demons arise from the heart.' I come from your fear."

"When you see me, you're afraid. You're afraid of me appearing, even afraid of my face."

The Heart Demon Li Po suddenly turned around and pressed his face close to my nose, "You never dare to face your fear!"

"You're afraid of losing your comrades in the Liangjie Tang (Two Realms Hall), but that's just fear, not terror."

"You yourself are a jianghu (martial world) person, and you know that in the battles of the martial world, no one can always be victorious. Suddenly losing someone is within the realm of normalcy. You've long been mentally prepared for it. So, you won't be so afraid that you tremble all over, your hands and feet turn cold, and you don't even have the courage to face it."

"The true source of your fear is your father and your shifu (master)!"

The Heart Demon Li Po chuckled, "You don't know your origins, let alone your destiny. So, you've had doubts about your background, especially when you learned that Li Chunfeng was the commander of the Embroidery Guard. Then you became even more afraid."

"You're afraid that you're just a puppet, a puppet created like Hua Wuxin."

"You're afraid that the father-son relationship of more than ten years will be destroyed the day your origins are revealed. You can't accept this fact."

After a pause, the Heart Demon Li Po said, "What you can't accept even more is actually in the Tiewa Temple!"

"You're curious about what exactly you swallowed back then? You're even more curious about what happened in the battle at the Tiewa Temple back then?"

"But is that really just curiosity?"

"No! That's your fear!"

The Heart Demon laughed and said, "Don't rush to deny it, and don't rush to argue. Let me tell you what you're afraid of."

"You've depended on Li Chunfeng for more than ten years. The father-son relationship between you is real, without any falsehood. But you don't understand Li Chunfeng, and you've never thought about trying to understand Li Chunfeng."

"Back then, it wasn't your fault."

"You were just a teenager! Enjoying your parents' care, but never thinking about understanding your parents. Because, at that time, you lived too peacefully, without experience or the struggle for survival. Li Chunfeng gave you happiness and care, so you didn't actively try to understand him."

"But Qu Mo is different!"

"You followed Qu Mo for five years. These five years were also the most critical five years of your life. Qu Mo shaped the current Li Po, personally turning you into a fierce, cunning wild wolf."

"Your relationship with Qu Mo is also very complicated."

"To you, Qu Mo is a teacher, a father, an enemy, and a friend. Especially during the time he forced you into being hunted, you studied Qu Mo carefully, like studying an opponent. Because you were afraid of dying at his hands."

"Qu Mo taught you a saying: 'The greatest confidant in life is not necessarily your brother in life and death, but definitely your evenly matched opponent.'"

"Like Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi, that song played from afar in the Empty Fort Strategy was actually a spiritual exchange between two opponents."

"It's not that Sima Yi couldn't see through Zhuge Liang's Empty Fort Strategy, but that he knew that without Zhuge Liang, he would end up in a situation where the birds are all shot down, and the bow is put away."

"Zhuge Liang also knew that Sima Yi understood the principle of self-preservation, and even if he left behind a joke of being scared away by an empty fort, he would choose to act with Zhuge Liang."

"The Empty Fort Strategy is Zhuge Liang's zither, Sima Yi's play!"

The Heart Demon Li Po suddenly said, "You still remember that sentence vividly, and it was because of that sentence that you went to study all your opponents! Including Qu Mo!"