Yinyin Island was located at the northeasternmost corner of the Congyun Sea. It took Li Fan over twenty days in total to reach its vicinity.
The island was not large, nor did it have much vegetation. Only a single square building loomed upon it.
From afar, human cries of agony could faintly be heard drifting with the sea breeze.
"Is Fellow Daoist Master Yinyin present?" Li Fan called out in a clear voice.
His voice carried across the entire island, echoing repeatedly.
Yet after a long while, there was still no reply.
Patiently, Li Fan asked once more.
Only the shrill howl of the sea wind answered him.
Li Fan called out a third time.
Still, no one responded.
After pondering for a moment, Li Fan sensed that his karmic opportunity was indeed right here.
Remaining on high alert, he flew down and landed before the square building on the island.
The structure seemed to have been built from dark-green stone. Aside from a large central entrance, there were no other doors or windows on any side.
Inside the entrance was pitch black—one that swallowed not only light, but even spiritual sense, preventing anyone from discerning what lay within.
Only intermittent weeping and wailing continuously drifted out from the interior.
The place reeked of eerie anomaly. Li Fan had no choice but to summon all his focus as he slowly walked inside.
Just as he was about to step through, a flurry of hurried sounds suddenly rang out.
A creature resembling a small dog darted out at high speed, rushing headlong straight toward Li Fan.
Thinking it was an attack from some strange beast, Li Fan was about to strike and kill it.
Yet as his spiritual sense swept over it, he realized it was merely an ordinary little beast.
As a visiting guest, it would not do to kill the master's household pet carelessly.
Li Fan reached out, caught it by the scruff of its neck, and hoisted it up.
Caught off guard, the little creature let out a terrified whimper, trembling all over.
With a soft clatter, the object held in its mouth dropped to the ground.
Holding the little beast before his eyes and inspecting it closely, Li Fan could not help but feel a shiver of disgust.
In shape, the creature was not much different from a dog, except that its four limbs were identical to human hands.
Across its belly, five or six eye-like objects drifted back and forth, blinking from time to time as they stared intently at Li Fan.
*What kind of thing is this...* Suppressing the urge to fling it away, Li Fan held it behind his back and slowly stepped into the darkness.
A moment later, once his eyes adjusted to the gloom, Li Fan could finally make out the scene before him.
Unlike the grim and horrifying chamber he had envisioned, the interior was rather orderly and clean.
The floor was spotless, devoid of bloodstains.
Within were scattered transparent cages containing numerous bizarre-looking creatures.
These anomalous beasts all lay listlessly inside their cages, showing little ferocity. When someone approached, they remained utterly indifferent.
It seemed the cages were one-way transparent; from inside, nothing outside could be seen.
Among these grotesque creatures was a giant python with two heads that constantly fought and coiled against each other.
Another resembled a large platter covered with tiny, writhing maggots, drifting and swimming through water.
Yet another was blatantly stitched together from two different species—a sheep's head upon a turtle's body.
What caused Li Fan the greatest discomfort was a monstrosity assembled from six human heads.
From the top of each head sprouted two arms, embedded into the underside of the head above it.
In this manner, one head hoisted another.
At the very bottom head, two small hands grew from its lower edge.
The entire body of this "Six-Headed Hand" monstrosity was erect, like a gigantic insect crawling about the cage using those bottommost little hands as feelers.
As it crawled, the six heads turned in different directions, their pale faces devoid of any expression.
Not even in his most terrifying nightmares had Li Fan ever seen such a sickening creature.
Suppressing the revulsion rising within him, he took only a single glance before quickly walking past.
...
"I must find you... I must find you..."
Straining his ears, Li Fan heard low whispers repeating ceaselessly from deep within the building.
Following the sound inward, he arrived before a colossal rectangular transparent cage.
Four small holding cells were attached to each of its left and right sides, connected to this rectangular cage.
Within each small cell, a mortal was imprisoned.
Strange devices were attached to their bodies.
It seemed as though something was slithering inside them; noticeable bulges could be seen moving rapidly beneath their skin.
Wherever a bulge passed, the flesh quickly festered and rotted.
Yet as the bulge moved on, some of the festering slowly healed, while others worsened dramatically. In the blink of an eye, a deep black pit would form, exposing white bone beneath.
The mortals' ordeal was no less horrific than the most brutal torture. They twitched and wailed upon the ground.
Some had already lost all breath, reduced to a heap of flesh that continued to spasm without pause.
Directly in front of the large rectangular cage stood a figure.
Li Fan looked over to see a person with disheveled, salt-and-pepper hair.
His clothes were sloppy and tattered, looking as though they hadn't been changed in many years.
"I must find you... I must find you..."
As if possessed, the figure stared fixedly at the transparent cage, muttering under his breath over and over.
"Fellow Daoist Master Yinyin?"
The man's cultivation was indeed at the Foundation Establishment stage, and there was no one else here.
Keeping some distance between them, Li Fan called out.
Yet the man paid no heed, offering no reaction whatsoever.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
At that moment, the human-handed dog in Li Fan's grasp struggled and barked furiously, seemingly crying out to its master for help.
Startled awake by the barking, Master Yinyin whipped his head around.
Looking at Li Fan, it finally dawned on him: "Oh! A guest has arrived!"
"Oh! A guest has arrived!"
...
Two voices rang out one after the other, as though echoing inside his body before reverberating outward.
Li Fan's eyelid twitched slightly.
Releasing the human-handed dog, he bowed with clasped hands. "Greetings, Fellow Daoist!"
The moment the little dog hit the ground, it whimpered and scurried to Master Yinyin's feet, nuzzling its head against him affectionately to curry favor.
Master Yinyin smoothed down his unruly hair and said with a touch of embarrassment, "I was so lost in thought that I failed to hear your calls. Please forgive me!"
Once again, two voices strangely spoke in succession. Master Yinyin kicked the human-handed dog aside.
With considerable warmth, he said to Li Fan, "This is no place for conversation. Fellow Daoist, this way, please!"
With that, a side door swung open, and Master Yinyin stepped through.
The human-handed dog barked happily and trotted eagerly after him.
As Master Yinyin led the way, he seemed to recall something and turned back to Li Fan.
"By the way, my name is not Master Yinyin."
"My name is Master Yin."
"Master Yin."
...
The two voices sounded one after the other, making it sound just like "Master Yinyin."
*So that's how it is,* Li Fan realized at once.
The cultivators of the Congyun Sea addressing him by that title had likely contained a bit of mockery.
"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Master Yin!" Li Fan greeted him anew.
Hearing his name pronounced correctly, Master Yin beamed with delight.
Chapter 107