At that moment, at Wangshu Inn in Liyue, Li Mo was telling the story on stage. When he reached the part about the blue oni's second method, having the red oni play the kind oni and the blue oni play the evil oni, the audience was very surprised.
It seemed the oni weren't stupid after all. They had actually come up with such a good plan.
"This blue oni may be an oni, but he's really smart. He actually thought of this method and completely fooled all the villagers."
"Of course. After all, not all oni are street thugs!"
"That's right!"
"This method can deceive the villagers and let the red oni integrate into human society and become their friend. But what about the blue oni who played the evil oni?"
"If the villagers see the blue oni again, they'll definitely throw beans at him without hesitation!"
"Poor blue oni. He was pelted with so many beans by the villagers. It must have been terrible."
"Sigh, the oni have it so hard!"
"By the way, that street thug Arataki Itto over there, is he also afraid of beans?"
"Should we test it?"
"Better not. He seems to be some gang boss. Best not to provoke him."
The audience was also very surprised by the blue oni's method.
They hadn't expected oni to be so clever.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the inn, when Arataki Itto heard this story, the smile on his face gradually disappeared.
Seeing the villagers throw beans at the blue oni.
Seeing the blue oni sacrifice himself to help the red oni become friends with humans.
He felt very upset.
But even Itto had to admit that this blue oni was as smart as Shinobu.
He had actually thought of such a good method.
The only painful thing was that the blue oni had suffered so much playing the evil oni. He must have felt terrible inside.
Just as Itto, for once, sighed, Hu Tao suddenly asked curiously, "Hey, Mr. Street Thug, why are your eyes suddenly red? Don't tell me you're about to cry?"
Itto blinked. "Ah? Mr. Street Thug?"
Hu Tao quickly corrected herself. "Ahem... fine, Mr. Arataki. Your eyes are so red. Don't tell me you're about to cry?"
Itto immediately became indignant. "This great one is an oni! Oni eyes are naturally red! Didn't you know that?"
Hu Tao grinned. "Hehe, I thought you were about to cry!"
Itto laughed loudly. "Hahahaha! This great one is the strongest oni! I've been pelted with beans by humans before! How could a little story make me cry?"
Keqing spoke up. "Enough. Let's keep listening. Knowing the storyteller's style, there might be a twist later."
Having heard so many stories, even Keqing had figured out the pattern.
Every time a story reached its end, the despicable storyteller would suddenly raise a massive blade and ruthlessly cut into the audience's hearts.
Hu Tao also laughed. "Hehe, that's right. Let's keep listening!"
Traveler Lumine: "Yes, let's keep listening."
Paimon: "Cow Herder, the storyteller is about to swing his blade. Let's see if you can hold out to the end!"
Itto: "Hahahaha! This great one will definitely hold out to the end! Even if Small Lavender Melon cries, this great one won't!"
Paimon: "Cow Herder!"
Itto: "Small Lavender Melon!"
The oni and the emergency food started arguing again.
Meanwhile, on stage at the inn, Li Mo saw that the audience had quieted down. Apart from the food and the oni in the corner, no one else was making noise.
So he resumed his storytelling.
As he spoke, the Electro energy above the inn gathered once more, and the frozen images began to shift.
In the images, when the villagers saw the red oni fighting the blue oni and protecting the village on his own, they finally believed in his kindness.
They gradually changed their opinion of him from the bottom of their hearts.
They even cheered him on.
They kept cheering for the red oni, urging him to teach the blue oni a lesson.
At that moment, the villagers' cheers reached the ears of both the red oni and the blue oni.
They knew the plan had succeeded. The red oni had finally earned the villagers' trust and could become friends with them.
The red oni chased the blue oni and whispered, "Blue, it's already a success. No need to drag this out."
"Hurry and run. Run up the mountain, and I'll stop chasing."
The blue oni understood. "Alright, Red."
And so, in the villagers' eyes, the red oni beat the blue oni until he was "unrecognizable" and finally drove him out of the village.
The moment the blue oni fled to the mountain, the villagers realized they were safe. They all crowded around, looking the victorious red oni up and down.
"Well done!"
"So this red oni really is a good oni!"
"We won't throw beans at him anymore!"
"Brother Red Oni, if that blue oni comes back to cause trouble, we'll count on you to drive him away!"
"We believe in you!"
This time, the villagers didn't throw beans at the red oni.
They even said many kind words.
The red oni said happily, "That's right! I'm a kind oni! If that blue oni comes back to cause trouble, I'll beat him until he's begging for mercy!"
"One more thing!"
"If you come up the mountain to chop wood, please come to my house to rest!"
"I've prepared delicious snacks, rice balls, and tea!"
As he spoke, even the red oni felt a little hungry.
The people were full of praise.
"I didn't expect the red oni to be such a hardworking oni!"
"Alright, when we go up the mountain to chop wood later, we'll definitely visit your house!"
"Make sure you have snacks and rice balls ready!"
"And tea!"
After what had just happened, the villagers were no longer afraid of the red oni.
Instead, they were full of interest in him.
Hearing this, the red oni said happily, "Don't worry! I'll go home right now and prepare snacks and tea!"
With that, the red oni hurried home, planning to get back as quickly as possible to prepare snacks and tea for the coming guests.
A few hours later, just as the villagers had said, several villagers who had gone up the mountain to chop wood passed by the red oni's house, chatting and laughing. They were no longer afraid.
Instead, they pointed at the red oni's house and commented.
"Hey, I have to say, the red oni's house doesn't look bad!"
"So oni are good at building houses too!"
"Let's go in and take a look!"
"Hey, Brother Red Oni, are you home? We're here to visit!"
"Brother Red Oni, are you home?"
The villagers called out a few times from outside.
The sound reached the house.
Hearing the villagers' voices, the red oni excitedly opened the door and jumped out.
He smiled as he welcomed the guests.
"Welcome to the red oni's home!"
"I've prepared snacks and tea. Please come in and sit down!"