Stranger Danger

Chapter 250: The Show Has Just Begun

“Vajra Boy”

“Snake Whisperer”

“Old Man Hemp”

“Headless Maiden”

“Bone Monk”

……

Ye Qing whispered some of the names he recognized under his breath. Every single one of them were infamous criminals and late-stage Astral Refiners. Besides that, there were many, many more middle-stage Astral Refiners, early-stage Astral Refiners, Vessel Augmentors and more. There had to be at least a hundred of them.

“Do you think we have enough numbers to kill you now?” Black Spider chuckled darkly.

“Impossible. How did you all know that I’m leaving the city tonight?” Ye Qing uttered in a grave voice.

“Hehe. It’s a bad habit that you’re the only smart person in this world, and you’re a little too young to fool us veterans,” Snake Whisperer sneered. The blue snake on his hat also hissed and added to the horror.

“Impossible! My plan was perfect! There is no way this could happen!” Ye Qing growled like a cornered animal, eyes bloodshot and limbs shaking with fury and fear.

“Perfect? The fact that you think that there’s such a thing as a perfect plan proves that you’re an idiot,” Old Man Hemp said with a grin. “You thought you were being smart, but it was a mistake to leave Luo Shui and the Pacification Bureau. Today is the day you die, Ye Qing.”

“The Pacification Bureau? That’s right! The Pacification Bureau! Someone in the Pacification Bureau must have leaked my plans! Who told you about this? Who!?” Ye Qing roared.

“Amitabha. You are an incredibly insolent and reckless man, benefactor[1]. You must have offended someone and are now suffering the consequences of your actions.”

In short, it was karmic justice.

Bone Monk performed a deep bow before taking a step forward. “Besides, your hands are stained with blood. You have killed so many people that the only way to cleanse your sins is to repent in Avīci[2], and so I shall.”

As he finished his sentence, Bone Monk’s mouth abruptly split open and revealed rows and rows of sharp teeth. He also had a forked tongue that was clearly tinged in blood even in the darkness. He looked far more demonic than he was human.

Headless Maiden spoke up with a giggle, “You can kill him, but make sure you don’t hurt his head. I love heads, and he has a smart and tough head on his shoulders. I think it’ll be a good fit for me.”

Headless Maiden suddenly grabbed a female servant’s head and ripped it right off her shoulders. Then, she placed it over her own neck. Countless scarlet flesh buds immediately reached out and connected the head to the neck.

Headless Maiden shook the head left and right, and for a moment it looked like everything was normal. But a few breaths later, the servant’s head suddenly started rotting and pitting at a visible rate. It wasn’t long before the head had become completely unusable.

“It’s no use! Give me your head, Ye Qing! Give me your head!”

Headless Maiden abruptly ripped off the head and shrieked shrilly at Ye Qing. There was now a note of urgency in her voice.

Everyone else looked eager to get the action started as well.

This time, Ye Qing wasn’t the only one who looked like he would strangle the old man. Who the fuck you’re calling a dumb shit, old man? We can totally kill you first before we kill Ye Qing, you know?

His dumb disciple didn’t even look like he felt the blows, however. “You’re right, master. What would you do if you were them?”

The old Taoist immediately did a one-eighty and raised his head arrogantly. “Now that’s a good question. If it was me, I would agree to the boy’s suggestion and wait until he relaxes his guard. Then, I’ll rush him before he can enact any one of his cunning plans.”

Ye Qing’s expression immediately turned a shade darker than it already was. Just how dirty is his heart? I can totally kill you first before I kill the others, you know?

“But something doesn’t feel right. The boy doesn’t feel like the type to give up without a fight. He must be plotting something, but what?” The old Taoist scratched his nose as he tried to figure out the source of his unease.

“It probably has something to do with your face turning black, master!” His dumb disciple answered honestly while staring at his master’s face. “Your face looks so black it’s like the bottom of a frying pan. Or did you learn a trick or two from an opera actor? I love operas!”

“My face is… black?” the old Taoist touched his face in confusion before realizing something. “Your face is completely black as well!”

“Is it poison? Are we poisoned?” “We are poisoned! Someone is trying to kill us with poison!”

“Poison?”

This caught everyone’s attention. When they looked around, they realized that the old Taoist and his disciple weren’t the only ones who had pitch black faces. The stronger ones still looked okay, but the weaker ones had already turned completely black in the face. It was just that the night was too dark, and they were putting most of their attention on Ye Qing and not themselves. If it wasn’t for the old Taoist’s discovery, they would still be in the dark even now.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

As if on cue, some Qi Invokers and Vessel Augmentors collapsed to the ground and died.

“Pwack! This poison is horrifying!”

Some people tried to channel their cultivation art to expel the poison, but the second they mustered their true qi, their blood vessels exploded as if they couldn’t withstand the pressure.

“Ye Qing! You’re the one who did this?!”

Old Man Hemp, Bone Monk and everyone else’s faces had turned a shade darker as well. They glared at Ye Qing with fury as they channeled their martial arts to suppress the poison.

They were stupid, but they weren’t that stupid that they would mistake the culprit behind the poisoning. Only one person would benefit from this, and that person was Ye Qing.

“Hehe. Yep! It was me.” Ye Qing broke into a grin. “You realized it too late.”

This was his true trump card and the reason he even bothered to waste his breath on these people.

The poison afflicting the jianghu warriors was the Hundred Poison of Blue Demon Hand. Although it was only a Red-class strange Artifact, the Hundred Poison was still an incredibly potent weapon. It was colorless, odorless, and extremely deadly. Even an Astral Refiner would take huge damage if they inhaled too much of it.

From the moment he was surrounded, Ye Qing had unleashed the Hundred Poison and bought time for the poison to accumulate.

The reason he wanted to incite the jianghu warriors into fighting themselves was to accelerate the poison’s effects. They wouldn’t even find out that he was the one behind the poison because anyone could’ve released it at that point. Ideally, he could’ve destroyed them all without too much effort. Unfortunately, his grand plan was ruined by the Taoist who was too smart for his own good.

It was fine though. The Hundred Poison was just the appetizer, and the show had just begun.

1. Once again, reminder that benefactor means different when spoken by a monk. ☜

2. Avīci or Avici is one of the hells in Buddhism and later Hinduism. ☜

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