Stranger Danger

Chapter 261: This Isn’t Good

“Thank you for saving my life, Reverend.”

A short rest later, after confirming that they were truly out of danger, Ye Qing saluted and thanked the old man.

“You’re welcome. I just happen to be at the right place at the right time.”

On a wooden log, the old Taoist regained his graceful poise after his disciple helped him into an upright posture. “Also, please don’t address me as a Reverend. It’s such an estranged term, don’t you think? Just call me Yi Pin[1].”

“Well met, Reverend Yi Pin,” Ye Qing replied smilingly.

Yi Pin paid it no heed and asked curiously, “Brother, I have a question. How did you anger the spirit of that forest? Generally speaking, the spirit of a land is very gentle. Unless you do something that threatens the entire forest or something else on that scale, they wouldn’t even bother showing themselves, much less fly into a murderous rage.”

“So, what on earth did you do to it, brother?”

“Ahem…” Ye Qing scratched his nose embarrassedly. “Would you believe me if I told you that I was tricked by an apple?”

Hmm? I was tricked, but I didn’t lose anything. In fact, I got one of the best rewards I could ever ask for. Does that still count as being tricked? Hmm…

“A likely joke, brother.” Yi Pin shook his head wryly. “Since you’re unwilling to tell me, I shan’t press further.”

Ye Qing shrugged. I was telling the truth though. Not my fault you didn’t believe me.

“Oh right, do you feel tired or sleepy, brother? We’ve run for a while, haven’t we?” Yi Pin asked suddenly.

His question came out of nowhere, but Ye Qing suddenly felt a wave of fatigue washing over him. He immediately fell into a deep sleep.

“It’s done.” Yi Pin let out a proud chuckle when he saw this. “You’re still a little too young to trick me, boy.”

“What happened to him, master? Why is he asleep?”

Beside him, Li Longxiang looked at Ye Qing in confusion. “Should I wake him, master? This place is dangerous.”

Yi Pin rolled his eyes and gave his disciple a kick[2]. “Of course not! I’m the one who put him to sleep using my Hypnosis.”

“Ah…” Li Longxiang scratched his head dumbly. “You’re the one who put him to sleep? When? How did I not know about this? And why have you never taught me this spell, master?”

“Teach you? With that half-baked brain that’s half water and half flour of yours?” Yi Pin shot him a disdainful look before explaining, “Hypnosis is a technique that I invented. To be specific, it’s a combination of the Dreamy Flower’s pollen and the Dream spell. Once the victim has inhaled the Dreamy Flower’s pollen, I could put him to sleep no matter what cultivation level they are any time I want to. It’s impressive, isn’t it?”

“Ir eally is!” Li Longxiang praised with shining eyes.

Yi Pin was clearly very pleased with his disciple’s honest compliment. “Do you know when he inhaled the Dreamy Flower’s pollen? Actually, forget it. With brains like yours, it's a miracle that you know anything.”

Li Longxiang: “...” You’re the one who asked me that question despite knowing that I’m stupid.

Unaware of his disciple’s monologue, Yi Pin continued, “I did it when we were escaping the forest. It was pure chaos, and we were all busy escaping for our lives. That was when I released the pollen. Considering the situation, there is no way he could have anticipated it, haha!”

“You truly are a devious bastard, master!” Li Longxiang said what he thought was a compliment.

Yi Pin’s smile dropped instantly. Who are you calling a devious bastard, brat? Whoever told you that that’s a compliment?

Li Longxiang didn’t notice his master’s right leg was twitching again. Instead, he scratched his head and asked, “But why did you put him to sleep, master?”

Yi Pin was used to his disciple’s stupidness, but this was so stupid that even he was speechless for a moment. How did I, a man of unparalleled genius and looks, have a disciple like him? I really was too young back then. I saw all this potential inside him but failed to realize that it also came with an ocean of stupidness!

Instead of answering immediately, Yi Pin asked, “Do you know why the spirit of the forest was chasing him?”

Li Longxiang scratched his head. “Didn’t he say that he was t—”

“Enough. Just listen to me.” I can feel myself getting stupider just listening to you.

Yi Pin began, “The reason the spirit of the forest chased him was very simple. It was because he stole its most priceless treasure, Nature’s Water.”

And judging from how bright the sonuvabitch is shining, most of it is inside its stomach. I’m surprised his belly hasn’t exploded yet.

“Nature’s Water? What is it used for?” Li Longxiang asked.

“Nature’s Water is a product of nature and time. It possesses many miraculous abilities.” Yi Pin’s eyes turned distant for a moment. “I spent half my life searching for the Demon’s Tomb because I knew it contains the Nature’s Water. It’s also why I rushed over as soon as I divined its location. The bad news is that we’re a little too late. The good news is that we’re not too late.”

“I see.” Li Longxiang finally understood what Yi Pin was saying but frowned deeply. “This isn’t right.”

“This isn’t right?” Yi Pin’s eyebrows furrowed. “Are you saying that I shouldn’t be resorting to such despicable methods to get what I want?”

Li Longxiang nodded. “You taught me to be an honest and upright person since I was young. This is definitely not honest or upright.”

Yi Pin narrowed his eyes. “And if I tell you that I was searching for Nature’s Water for you? Do you still think that what I’m doing is wrong?”

Li Longxiang took a moment to chew on his words. In the end, he said, “No. If I was the reason you went against your principles, then… I would rather not have it.”

“You…” Yi Pin got angry and raised a hand to slap his disciple. But when his hand fell down, he caressed Li Longxiang’s head instead and sighed. “You’re right. We should lead an honest and upright life. We should live without any regrets.”

“But once you’ve fallen into this pool of mud we call the jianghu, there’s no escaping its corruption, boy. And if you’re not corrupt, then you would just be dead.”

“You’re still young. You’ll get it someday.”

Li Longxiang clutched his sleeves tightly and bowed his head. “Will you kill him, master?”

Yi Pin shot Li Longxiang a smile. “Do you want me to kill him?”

Li Longxiang mulled over the question seriously before shaking his head. “No…”

“And if I tell you that he will come back for revenge if you don’t kill him today, will you still choose to let him live?”

Li Longxiang shook his head again. “Yes…”

“Hahaha! Okay. Then we won’t kill him.”

Yi Pin laughed. “Plus, have you ever seen me taking a single life? I have divined the world my whole life, and I have never killed a single person. I’m hardly going to start now. I just want a bit of Nature’s Water, that’s all.”

After that, Yi Pin walked over to Ye Qing and said, “Please don’t blame me for this, brother. All meetings in life are destined, and it’s perfectly fair to share something with your person of destiny, right?”

Yi Pin reached out to grab Ye Qing’s Nature’s Shell. He could clearly sense the aura of Nature’s Water from it, meaning that the young man hadn’t just drunk the water until he was full. He had stored a lot of Nature’s Water as well.

How greedy! How ruthless! It would certainly explain why the spirit of the forest was so pissed!

This was good though. He didn’t want to bleed the guy and get his hands dirty.

“Hey Reverend. It’s stealing to take without asking for permission from the owner, you know that?”

Yi Pin’s hand was about halfway to Ye Qing when suddenly, he saw a hand catching his wrist in a vice grip. He instinctively looked at Ye Qing and saw that the young man was grinning at him.

“You’re awake?” Yi Pin asked subconsciously.

Ye Qing chuckled. “What do you think?”

Ye Qing was on his guard the moment he recognized the duo. Even if they were strangers, he wouldn’t have let down his guard. The Strangers and Anomalies of the Demon’s Tomb were scary, but the human heart shouldn’t be underestimated either. It was why people said that one should never let their guard down around anyone.

From the moment he saw Yi Pin, Ye Qing had been using the “Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method” to protect his mind. That was why he noticed what happened as soon as Yi Pin used his Hypnosis[3].

The reason he didn’t blow his top immediately was because he wanted to know what Yi Pin was plotting. The Hill Mover Bell was an interesting Strange Artifact, and if Yi Pin hadn’t saved his life, then he might have been tempted to make the first move. But Yi Pin did save his life even though his motive was impure, so he was going to give the old man a second chance. If Yi Pin tried to kill him, he would have the perfect justification to kill him in return. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Ye Qing changed his mind after listening to the duo’s conversation though. He was going to say something when suddenly, the old Taoist disappeared with a pop, leaving only his clothes behind.

“You killed my master!” Li Longxiang roared in shock and outrage. He thought Ye Qing had killed his master, so he immediately jumped to his feet and charged toward Ye Qing.

As soon as Li Longxiang came within range, Ye Qing grabbed him by his shoulder and pushed. The disciple was driven into the ground like a stake.

If Li Longxiang was an ordinary warrior, this move alone would have incapacitated him. However, Li Longxiang didn’t seem to feel anything. He continued to struggle with such strength that even Ye Qing at his current level was surprised by it.

“What an incredible innate physique!”

He could see that Li Longxiang had never cultivated any body tempering martial arts in his life. His super strength was completely natural.

After struggling for a long time to no avail, Li Longxiang’s eyes slowly turned bloodshot. Mysterious, demonic-looking patterns started appearing on his face, and the skin on both sides of his head split apart to grow a pair of crescent horns. The horns burst into bright, bloody flames, and scales started sprouting all over his body. His whole appearance promised unbridled murder and bloodthirst.

“RAAAAAAAAAARGH!”

Li Longxiang let out a titanic roar that wasn’t quite like anything Ye Qing had ever heard. It was so loud that Ye Qing’s eardrums hurt, and the surrounding plants were annihilated by the shockwave.

The next moment, Ye Qing felt a power greater than a dragon elephant pushing back against him. Such was his strength that the ground beneath Li Longxiang’s feet were breaking under pressure.

“This is… the appearance of an ancient Crimson Dragon Demon Ox? You have the bloodline of a Crimson Dragon Demon Ox in you?” Ye Qing exclaimed in surprise.

The Crimson Dragon Demon Ox was an extremely powerful Stranger in ancient times. It had an ox’s head and a dragon’s body. Its roar sounded almost like a dragon’s, and it fed on evil spirits and drank from the Yellow Spring. Impossibly strong, it could wrestle gods and demons with pure strength.

The bloodline of the Crimson Dragon Demon Ox was incredibly potent. So potent, that Li Longxiang actually gained the strength of a dragon elephant, and the power to go up against an Astral Refiner despite being a Vessel Augmentor only.

However, Li Longxiang’s cultivation level was too low. As soon as he activated his bloodline, he immediately lost his mind and reason.

If his bloodline wasn’t suppressed quickly, Li Longxiang’s personality might disappear just like that. He would transform into a mindless puppet who knew only murder.

“Stop, you stupid boy! Are you trying to kill yourself?”

Yi Pin was gone, but he suddenly reappeared with the Hill Mover Bell in hand. He did a little wave and summoned the silhouettes of several hills above Li Longxiang’s head. It looked like he was planning to suppress his disciple, but Li Longxiang merely roared and burst into flames. As he pushed out with both arms, the hills wobbled once and crumbled into nothing.

The next moment, Li Longxiang threw a devastating punch at Ye Qing. Such was the punch that the wind howled, and space itself shattered like glass.

“Dodge! You won’t be able to block it!” A pale-faced Yi Pin hurriedly shouted while shoving a pill that recovers true qi into his mouth. He was going to use the Hill Mover Bell again to suppress Li Longxiang.

1. Treat this guy like Chinese Gandalf. ☜

2. He learned his lesson. ☜

3. Cool. Apparently the pollen didn’t count as poison, which makes sense. Otherwise, one can argue that oxygen is poison. ☜

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