Stranger Danger

Chapter 259: Nature’s Water

“Ugh… Where am I?” Ye Qing shook off his dizziness and glanced at his surroundings. A second later, he massaged his forehead and sighed. “I’m inside the Demon’s Tomb, aren’t I?”

He was currently inside a lush forest filled with all kinds of fruits. There were pears, peaches, apples and more.

This would be a perfectly ordinary sight in a perfectly ordinary orchard if not for the fact that there were also strawberries and watermelons on the trees. I know my strawberries and watermelons, bro, and I can tell you that they definitely do not grow on trees!

But of course, this was a magical world. What was abnormal in his previous life could be perfectly normal in this one.

Ye Qing let out a small sigh of relief after observing his surroundings for a bit and finding no danger. There was a non-zero chance he could have fallen right into the middle of trouble and turn into a coffin as a result. That would have sucked to say the least.

He didn’t touch the fruits on the trees, of course. The Demon’s Tomb was a strange and perilous place. He didn’t want to attract trouble or throw his life away just because of a moment’s gluttony. Caution was the default mode until he left this place.

After resting for a bit and returning to optimal condition, Ye Qing finally started plotting his next move. Honestly, he didn’t really care for the Demon’s Tomb’s so-called fortunes or opportunities because he had the Annon Sutra. He had never planned on entering this dangerous place either.

Unfortunately, the demonic giant decided that he was “special” or something and literally finger-snapped him into this place. There was just nothing he could do to resist.

In any case, his first order of business was to find the exit. He had checked the files regarding the Demon’s Tomb before, so he knew that it normally appeared for only three days before disappearing. If he couldn’t locate the exit or a spatial rift that connected to the real world in time, then the Demon’s Tomb would sink back into the void. He would never be able to leave if that happened.

Opportunities and fortunes could wait until he had secured his escape.

His mind made up, Ye Qing produced the Annon Sutra and asked, “Where is the exit?”

Ye Qing spat a couple mouthfuls of blood on the vellum. A short while later, the Annon Sutra gave its answer: “Journey to the north.”

“Journey to the north? Is that a wordplay on journey to the w—ahem. I mustn’t jinx myself.”

Thankfully, the Annon Sutra’s answer was fairly clear this time. Instead of making him solve a poem or a riddle, it outright told him to journey to the north.

Ye Qing put away the Annon Sutra and got ready to leave. It was at this moment a red apple fell from above and hit him squarely on his head.

Ye Qing subconsciously picked up the apple from the ground and gave it a look. It didn’t look any different from your ordinary apple. “Looks good. I wonder how it tastes?”

Ye Qing was just about to take a bite when suddenly, the apple started wriggling on its own. A pair of big, round eyes appeared on its surface, and a pair of arms and legs grew out of its sides.

For a time, the man and the apple could only stare incredulously at each other. Is he the man who’s going to eat me? The small apple thought. The next second, large, beady tears started falling profusely from its eyes.

“Oh come on, I haven’t even eaten you yet!” Ye Qing rolled his eyes. It wasn’t long before his palm was completely drenched in tears.

Strangely, the apple’s tears smelled fragrant instead of salty. It stirred his appetite before he realized it.

I wonder if its tears taste just as sweet?

When the apple saw Ye Qing unconsciously licking his lips, it grew even more afraid and bawled loudly. “Uwah! I’m scared! I’m scared!”

The apple’s voice was that of a small child, but it resounded inside Ye Qing’s head instead of his ears.

It can speak? No, it’s some sort of telepathy. Ye Qing immediately replied telepathically, “Stop crying.”

If the apple was alive, then it was very possible that every other fruit on the trees were alive as well, meaning that they were all Strangers. That was why he told the apple to stop crying—the last thing he wanted was the fruit Strangers attacking him because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

He had thought of crushing the apple outright, but he was afraid that the act of murder would trigger the fruits as well.

The apple continued to sob despite his order, so Ye Qing threatened, “Cry some more, and I will eat you whole including your core.”

“...” My core? What a monster!

The apple immediately stopped sobbing and clamped its tiny hands around its mouth. At the same time, Ye Qing felt a pulse of spirit. “Don’t eat me! Don’t eat me! I’m not fully mature yet, so I’m not tasty! And my core is definitely worse!”

“Sure. I won’t eat you as long as you don’t cry,” replied Ye Qing with his spirit.

“Really? You’re a good person, big guy!” The apple’s eyes turned into crescents, and Ye Qing could clearly sense a pulse of joy from it.

“Big guy?” Well, I suppose I am way bigger than it is.

“Oh right! Are you hungry, big guy? You don’t need to eat me! I know a place where you can eat a fragrant thing until your tummy is full!”

“Fragrant thing? What’s that?” Ye Qing asked for clarification.

“It’s… a fragrant thing?” The apple tilted its head in confusion. A fragrant thing is a fragrant thing. What else can it be?

The apple leaped down Ye Qing’s hand and beckoned him to follow. “Come! I’ll take you there!”

Ye Qing noticed that the apple was heading toward the north. Since that was the direction he was going anyway, he decided that there was no harm in following it.

The apple walked surprisingly fast despite its thin, short limbs. It wasn’t long before they arrived at a puddle. Strangely, the puddle was floating about a meter above the ground, and the water were golden yellow in color. Bright, translucent, and unbelievably fragrant, it looked like the coalescence of countless essences of life.

A single whiff of its scent was enough to make Ye Qing feel like his soul had sublimated. All the fatigue and sequelae he had accumulated after days of non-stop fighting was wiped clean in an instant.

“Is this… Nature's Water?”

Also known as the Water of Life, Nature’s Water was a product of the essences of life. It could only be found in places that were overflowing with nature and rich in energy, and it took tens of thousands of years to take form. A true product of nature, it was why it was called Nature's Water.

Nature’s Water contained an immense amount of life essences and the power of nature. Any plant that made contact with it would automatically grow a soul, any animal that saw it would immediately become sapient, and any human who ate it would be changed forever.

To put it simply, a human who drank Nature’s Water would become better in every way imaginable. Their blood vessels would be unlocked, their marrow would be purified, their body would be strong, their soul would be sublimated, their lifespan would increase and so on. It was

the power to transform one’s life completely all contained in a puddle.

“I can’t believe I hit the jackpot right from the get go! Hahaha!”

Ye Qing couldn’t stop laughing himself silly for a time. He didn’t even notice his saliva dripping down his mouth.

For a warrior, Nature’s Water could only be described as a holy grail. Even a single drop of Nature’s Water could transform a warrior completely, much less an entire puddle. Forget him, even a Grandmaster would be salivating out of their minds.

“It’s mine. It’s mine. It’s all mine!”

“Let me up! Let me up! I wanna drink the fragrant thing too!”

The small apple jumped up and down anxiously, but it was just too short to reach the puddle. When it tried calling out to Ye Qing, it discovered that the young man was completely drunk with wild joy. He hadn’t heard the apple at all.

Seeing this, the apple puffed up its cheeks and thought of a plan. It climbed up Ye Qing’s clothes until it reached his shoulder. Then, it leaped into the puddle like a professional swimmer.

“Glug glug glug…” It began chugging down the water like no tomorrow.

The apple’s action jolted Ye Qing back to reality. After observing for a moment and finding no danger that he could see, Ye Qing hurriedly produced some porcelain bottles from his Nature’s Shell and filled them up with Nature’s Water.

He quickly ran into a problem though. All the porcelain bottles he got were pill bottles, so they could only store so much water. Besides that, he only had so many bottles. They were all full in a moment.

“What should I do?” Ye Qing frowned in thought until he glanced at the apple. It was currently swimming around the puddle and blowing bubbles as it did so. The answer immediately came to him then: My stomach is way bigger than these bottles!

Ye Qing immediately bent down and drank from the puddle. The moment the water entered his stomach, he felt a tremendous energy spreading throughout his whole body. The power wasn’t violent, however. Instead, it nourished him like the rain and sunlight of spring, smooth yet of-so-satisfying. His internal organs, his blood vessels, his bodily points, his bones, his flesh, his blood, his mind and his spirit were all undergoing an experience.

“Uwu… my fragrant thing…”

The apple immediately panicked when it saw the puddle decreasing at a visible rate. It was like a certain man’s mouth was a vortex that was sucking everything dry. While whining cutely, it opened its mouth wider and chugged down the water as quickly as it could. It knew the puddle of Nature’s Water would be all gone in a moment.

……

“Disciple, my divination is telling me that a great opportunity awaits inside this forest.”

At the edge of a fruit forest, an old Taoist was holding a luopan[1] and pointing straight ahead.

The brawny, simple-looking man beside him stared at the delicious fruits on the trees and licked his lips hungrily. “I’m hungry, master. Can I eat some of the fruits?”

“Eat, eat, eat! Would it kill you to eat less, you glutton?” The old Taoist yelled but felt a bit thirsty himself, so he changed his tune and said, “Never mind. I’m feeling a little thirsty myself, so go.”

“Okay! Just give me a minute, master,” His disciple chirped excitedly before running up to a fruit tree. He was just about to pluck a fruit when suddenly, the tree started withering at a visible rate. Its yellowed leaves fell on top of the disciple like the rain, and the fresh, juicy fruits also rotted and fell to the floor.

“What’s happening?”

The disciple scratched his head, puzzled. When he looked around, he discovered that the fruit tree wasn’t the only tree that was withering. Every tree within his vicinity was withering at an insane rate as well. What was a lively forest quickly turned deathly and ill-looking.

“Come back, Longxiang!”

At the distance, the old Taoist called for his disciple to return after noticing the oddity. He flinched when he counted his finger. “Shit! Someone is stealing our opportunity! We need to go now before it’s too late!”

The old Taoist grabbed his disciple and rushed into the forest. They were gone just like that.

1. The luopan or geomantic compass is a Chinese magnetic compass, also known as a feng shui compass. ☜

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