Stranger Danger

Chapter 112: Lake Bogey

Ye Qing and Xiao Yang did not encounter any more danger after leaving the abandoned temple. They were able to make it to Jade Spring Village before noon.

Although Ye Qing already had an inkling of what he might discover after listening to Ling Jianqiu’s account, the reality was still much worse than he had anticipated. The farms were completely abandoned and overgrown with grass, the guards responsible for protecting the village from Strangers were nowhere to be seen, and garbage and feces were everywhere.

These were nothing compared to the horror he felt when he saw the villagers, however. Everyone, be it young or old, looked so thin and haggard he could’ve believed that they were going through a famine. However, all of them were wearing happy smiles on their faces and going about their business as if their minds were living in a completely separate entity.

What was a population of twelve hundred had dwindled to just three hundred, and they all said the same thing even after Ye Qing and Xiao Yang had interviewed each and everyone of them: they were perfectly healthy, no one was missing, and the village was just fine. It was exactly as Yu Hai had reported.

Speaking of which, no one knew where Yu Hai had gone to, or rather, they claimed that they had never even met the guy before, so of course they couldn’t provide his whereabouts. Later, they searched the whole village and even the outskirts for clues to no avail.

That said, it wasn’t like their efforts were completely useless. One, the reason the villagers of Jade Spring Village looked like they had one foot in the grave wasn’t because they were starved, but because they were missing most of their vigor. Two, they couldn’t find any Stranger near Jade Spring Village, not even the common Wind Children or Mud Dolls. As mentioned earlier, Jade Spring Village was completely defenseless right now. The one Patrolman who could have saved them was missing in action as well. A random Red-class or even Mundane-class Stranger could probably slaughter them to the last, and yet they were still safe and sound—relatively speaking, of course.

Ye Qing and Xiao Yang eventually arrived at two theories. One, an extremely powerful Stranger had appeared in Jade Spring Village and scared away all the other Strangers. Moreover, it was keeping the villagers alive to accomplish some sort of unknown objective. They had a couple of guesses—it could be raising the villagers like livestock, it could be a choosy eater etc—but no evidence to support any guess.

Two, an Anomaly had struck Jade Spring Village, influencing the Strangers and scaring away the other Strangers. But after a brief argument, both men agreed that the first theory was likelier. It was because they noticed various cut marks on the villagers’ chest. It was most likely the reason behind the villagers’ missing vigor. If this was an Anomaly, it could probably absorb their vigor without leaving a scratch on their body!

Of course, this was just a theory. In the end, they needed to investigate more to find out the truth behind the incident.

In his head, Ye Qing was praying that this wasn’t an Anomaly. If it was, he was going to run so fast that Xiao Yang could only breathe his dust, guilty conscience be damned.

……

The sun set, and the moon rose. When darkness came, silence became the only theme in Jade Spring Village.

In fact, there was too much silence. Not a candle was lit, and not a sound could be heard throughout the whole village. If they didn’t know better, they would’ve thought that Jade Spring Village was an abandoned village.

“Heavens above. It’s like the whole place is dead!” Xiao Yang muttered under his breath. The two men had not slept inside Jade Spring Village as a matter of course. Instead, they were observing from a safe spot some distance away from the village.

Logically speaking, the best way to learn the truth about the village was to remain inside the village, but they still didn’t know if it was a Stranger or an Anomaly that had turned it to this state. A Stranger would be the best. With their strength, they should be able to escape even if they were no match for it. But if it was an Anomaly, then their recklessness could easily be the death of them.

Had they died, they would not be able to find out the truth or report back to the Pacification Bureau. That was why they had chosen to observe Jade Spring Village from a distance. It definitely wasn’t because they were scared for their life. Nuh uh!

“Yeah. If the village is barely alive during daytime, then it is as dead as a graveyard at night.”

Ye Qing jumped down from the branch he was hanging on and lay down on the ground. While staring at the black clouds in the sky, he said, “Something should happen tonight!”

Xiao Yang also lay down beside him and chuckled. “I’m not sure if I want something to happen, to be honest. If it turns out to be beyond our ability to handle…”

“Quit jinxing us!” Ye Qing rolled his eyes at Xiao Yang. “I believe in good karma. Even if the worst were to come by, I’m sure that you would be able to turn it around!”

“Now that, is what I call a compliment!” Xiao Yang laughed.

The two passed the time by making idle chit-chat and keeping an eye on Jade Spring Village. Eventually…

“Here it comes!”

It was past midnight when Ye Qing abruptly opened his eyes. Xiao Yang also jolted awake and climbed to his feet as well. They turned around and stared at the lake next to Jade Spring Village. An unnatural mist was spreading across its surface.

The lake was called Jade Spring Lake because it tasted as smooth as jade and as sweet as spring. It was also how Jade Spring Village got its name.

The two men couldn’t help but exchange embarrassed looks with each other. They were one Vessel Augmentor and one Astral Refiner, and they had circled Jade Spring Lake at least three times during the day. However, neither of them had found a thing at the time.

Meanwhile, the mist above Jade Spring Lake was growing thicker and thicker. Then, snow white fishes with three red whiskers hanging beside their gills jumped out of the water and floated in the air. It wasn’t long before hundreds of fat, white fishes were hanging in the sky like snow.

Tang! Tang! Tang!

Suddenly, a humanoid Stranger with two arms and legs slowly rose to the surface. It carried a turtle’s shell on his back and a pair of horns on its head. Its face was as black as coal, and it was carrying a gong and hitting it with a mallet. The fishes responded to the gong beats and surged forward until they formed a white bridge. After a water pillar lifted the humanoid Stranger onto the bridge of fishes, it strode straight toward Jade Spring Village.

“Do you recognize that Stranger?” Ye Qing asked via sound transmission.

Xiao Yang stared at the Stranger for a bit before shaking his head. “I don’t know, but it’s probably some sort of lake bogey.”

“Lake bogey?” Just as the mountains were alive with spirits, it was the same with the waters as well. The humanoid was probably some sort of aquatic bogey that was similar to the Mountain God of Little August Hill. This one was clearly evil though!

Ye Qing watched on as the lake bogey walked until it was right above Jade Spring Village. Then, it smacked its gong so hard that he could see some sort of invisible energy rippling across the air. The villagers of Jade Spring Village started stepping out of their houses and walking toward the lake, each and every one of them carrying a blade in their hands. Their expressions were numb, and their eyes glassy. Ye Qing could’ve been convinced that they were dead.

When the villagers were gathered in front of the lake, the lake bogey walked back to Jade Spring Lake and hit its gong twice. But unlike the previous beats, this one was shrill and rapid. Even from this distance, Ye Qing and Xiao Yang felt as if something was trying to muddle their minds.

The villager standing closest to the lake immediately pulled open his shirt and revealed his bare chest. He then stabbed himself in the heart and sliced open a deep wound.

Blood poured profusely out of the wound and into the lake. The clear waters were immediately dyed in red. For a good few seconds, the villager simply stood there and let his heart’s blood flow out of his body as if he couldn’t feel the pain. When he had bled almost a full bowl of blood, one of the fishes lowered its red whiskers and pressed against the wound. The bleeding stopped immediately.

The villager walked away, and the next villager came forward. He did the exact same thing as the first villager and bled his heart’s blood into the lake. This would continue on and on until the lake had turned completely red and sticky like blood. The blood stench was so thick that even Ye Qing and Xiao Yang could smell it from where they were.

“What the hell is this lake bogey planning?” Ye Qing whispered.

Xiao Yang shook his head. “I’m not sure, but it can’t be anything good. Let’s wait and see.”

Tang! Tang!

About half a teatime later, the lake bogey hit its gong again. The center of the lake abruptly started spinning until it formed a whirlpool, and from the bottom rose a lotus that looked as white as jade.

The moment the lotus had risen to the water surface, the viscous blood in the lake abruptly surged into it as if pulled by a mysterious force and dyeing it blood red. It wasn’t long before the lake became crystal clear once more.

The blood red lotus looked like something out of a nightmare as it floated innocently on the lake. In the sky, the lake bogey was staring at the blood red lotus like it was the love of its life.

Tang!

A few seconds later, the lake bogey jolted out of its reverie and hurriedly hit its gong. The dozen villagers standing quietly next to the lake abruptly cut open their chest, ripped out their hearts, and tossed it over to the lotus!

The mindless villagers had acted so quickly and abruptly that there was no chance Ye Qing or Xiao Yang could have stopped them. Naturally, the villagers fell to the ground and died after losing their hearts. The white fishes in the sky immediately wrapped their whiskers around the corpses and pulled them into their mouths. Every time they chewed, blood would spurt out of their mouths and spill into the clear waters below. It was unbelievably cruel.

Meanwhile, the blood red lotus was unfolding its thirteen petals like it was blooming. It pulled the hearts toward its stamen and ate the hearts one by one like a maw from hell. After it was done feeding, it grew even bigger and glowed brightly. It also emitted an unbelievably fragrant scent that spread all the way to Ye Qing and Xiao Yang’s location.

“Holy shit! It smells incredible!” The two men felt incredibly invigorated after inhaling the scent.

“What is that thing?” Ye Qing whispered.

“I don’t know, but it clearly deserves eradication!” Xiao Yang shook his head, but there was a greedy glint in his eyes that he took care not to reveal.

He mulled over the situation for a bit before saying, “We now know that this lake bogey is the true culprit behind the mass disappearance of Jade Spring Village. It’s a Hatred-class Stranger, but it doesn’t look so strong that it’s beyond our abilities, so why don’t you go save the villagers and leave it to me, brother?”

Ye Qing thought for a few seconds before nodding. “Okay!”

“I'll go first!” Xiao Yang declared and soared into the sky. He then burst into flames not unlike a golden sun.

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