Yin Yin Island is located in the northeastern corner of the Cong Yun Sea. It took Li Fan over twenty days to arrive in the vicinity.
The island is not large and lacks any significant vegetation. There’s a square building standing on the island.
From a distance, you can faintly hear the cries of human suffering carried by the sea breeze.
“Master Yin Yin, are you here?” Li Fan shouted loudly.
His voice spread across the entire island but received no response.
Li Fan patiently asked again, but all that echoed back was the mournful sea wind.
He asked one more time, still without a reply.
After pondering for a while, Li Fan felt that he was indeed in the right place for his opportunity.
With caution, he descended to the square building on the island.
The building appeared to be constructed from a dark blue stone-like material, and apart from a large entrance, it had no other doors or windows. The interior of the building was shrouded in darkness, so dark that it seemed to devour both light and divine perception. It was impossible to discern what was inside.
Only the intermittent cries emanated from within.
The place seemed eerie, and Li Fan had to be on high alert as he advanced.
Just as he was about to enter, he heard hurried footsteps approaching.
A small creature, like a little dog, sprinted out from inside the building, heading straight for Li Fan.
Thinking it was some kind of magical beast attack, Li Fan was about to strike it down. However, when his divine perception scanned it, he realized it was just an ordinary creature.
Not wanting to harm a pet from the owner of the house he was visiting, Li Fan extended his hand, picked it up by the neck, and set it aside.
The creature was taken by surprise, whimpering in fear and trembling.
With a thud, the item it had been carrying in its mouth dropped to the ground.
Examining the small creature closely, Li Fan couldn’t help but shiver. It resembled a dog but had hands like those of a human. On the belly of the dog’s body, five or six eye-like objects were moving about, blinking and gazing fixedly at Li Fan.
“What in the world is this?” Suppressing the urge to throw it away, Li Fan placed the creature behind him and proceeded cautiously into the darkness.
After a moment, when his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Li Fan observed an unexpected scene. Contrary to his imagination of a horrifying and eerie place, the interior was quite clean. The ground was spotless, with no signs of blood.
Scattered throughout the area were numerous transparent cages containing various bizarre creatures. They all appeared strange and were lying passively in their cages, displaying no signs of aggression.
It seemed that these cages were only transparent one way, as those inside couldn’t see out.
Among these odd creatures, there were giant pythons with two heads that were entangled with each other, a creature resembling a large disk covered in squirming, wriggling maggots, and a being that appeared to be a fusion of two different species: a goat-headed turtle.
What most unsettled Li Fan was a monstrosity with six human heads joined together.
Two arms grew out of the top of each head, which held another head, and so on, while the lowest head had two tiny hands on the bottom as well. This “Six-Headed Monstrosity” had a vertical body posture, similar to a giant insect, and it crawled within the cage. During its movements, all six heads faced different directions, with blank, pale faces showing no emotions.
Li Fan hadn’t encountered such a disgusting creature even in his most horrifying nightmares. Suppressing the discomfort he felt, he took just a brief look and hurriedly walked past it.
“I must find you, I must find you…”
Listening carefully, deep within the building, there seemed to be a low, murmured repetition.
Li Fan followed the voice and arrived at a massive rectangular transparent cage.
On either side were four small adjoining cages connected to this large rectangular one.
Each small cage contained a mortal with peculiar devices attached to their bodies. It appeared as though something was moving inside them, causing visible protrusions to move rapidly across their bodies.
With each movement of these protrusions, their flesh and blood rapidly decayed. However, as the protrusions shifted, some slowly regenerated, while others worsened. In an instant, a black abyss formed, revealing the white bones inside.
The experiences of these mortals were no less cruel than the most gruesome of executions. They writhed and cried out in agony. Some were left lifeless, reduced to mere piles of flesh and blood, still twitching uncontrollably.
At the front of the large rectangular transparent cage stood a figure. Li Fan gazed at the individual, whose hair was somewhat disheveled, streaked with black and white. His clothes were ragged and unkempt as if they hadn’t been changed for many years.
“I must find you, I must find you…”
The figure, as if possessed, stared intently at the transparent cage in front, continuously muttering under his breath.
“Master Yin Yin?”
The individual had the cultivation of Foundation Establishment, and there was no one else around.
Li Fan, maintaining some distance, called out.
However, the figure showed no response, as if completely oblivious.
“Woof, woof, woof!”
Suddenly, the small dog-like creature that Li Fan was holding began to struggle and roar, seemingly seeking help from its master.
Awoken by the dog’s barking, the figure, Master Yin Yin, turned abruptly.
Gazing at Li Fan, he suddenly realized, “Oh, there’s a guest!”
“Oh, there’s a guest!”
…
Two voices, one after the other, echoed within the figure as if reverberating within, and then they were projected outward.
Li Fan’s eyelid twitched.
He released the dog and greeted with a bow, “Greetings, fellow Daoist!”
Once the small dog touched the ground, it rushed to Yin Yin’s feet, eagerly seeking affection.
Yin Yin tidied his messy hair and seemed somewhat embarrassed, “I was deeply engrossed in my thoughts and didn’t hear the calls of fellow Daoist. Please forgive me!”
The two voices, oddly one after another, sounded as Yin Yin addressed Li Fan warmly, “This isn’t a suitable place for conversation. Please, this way, fellow cultivator.”
Saying so, Yin Yin opened a door beside them, revealing an entrance to another room.
The small dog barked happily and followed suit.
Leading the way ahead, Yin Yin suddenly recalled something and turned back to say to Li Fan, “By the way, my name isn’t Yin Yin.”
“My name is Yin.”
“My name is Yin.”
…
But two voices, one after another, resounded again, sounding just like Yin Yin.
“So that’s how it is,” Li Fan suddenly realized.
Perhaps when the Cong Yun Sea cultivators referred to him as Yin Yin, it wasn’t without a hint of mockery.
“Greetings, fellow Daoist Yin!” Li Fan greeted again.
Recognizing that his name had been called correctly, Master Yin was extremely pleased.