Stranger Danger

Chapter 357: Ghost Opera

“What the heck are they playing? It’s giving me the goosebumps!” Song Qingyu rubbed his arms firmly.

“A Ghost Opera! It has to be a Ghost Opera!” Suddenly, Lu Hui exclaimed in realization and fear.

“Ghost Opera?” Ye Qing’s brows raised visibly. He too recognized the term.

“Wha... What’s a Ghost Opera, senior?” Ruyan stuttered.

Lu Hui said seriously, “It is what it sounds like. A Ghost Opera is an opera that is sung by ghosts for ghosts. It is not meant to be enjoyed by the living. That is why their performance makes us feel cold and uncomfortable.”

“Will... Will there be any danger?” Ruyan asked.

“If ghosts start singing, away away the living must be, lest it blind the heart and confound the soul.”

Ye Qing chimed in, “What this means is that it’s okay to listen to a ghost opera in the short term, but any longer than that, and you would begin to lose focus, and the stability of your soul would weaken considerably. The likelihood that you might encounter some sort of evil would become much higher, and the slightest scare could cause your soul to leave your body.”

“Of course, this isn’t a big problem for us warriors. The big problem is that a Ghost Opera is highly attractive to ghosts. Look.”

Ye Qing pointed at the river, and Ruyan followed his finger. She immediately saw that rings and rings of ghosts had surrounded the boat. Even now, more ghosts were swimming over from every direction.

“Ahhh!” Ruyan was so frightened that she accidentally slipped on her feet. She was about to fall into the river when Song Qingyu stepped forward and caught her in his embrace. He said in a soothing and gentle voice, “Don’t worry, beauty. I am here.”

He then looked at Ye Qing and Lu Hui and asked, “What should we do now, my friends?”

“You said you are here, aren’t you? You do something about it.” Ye Qing side-eyed the flirt. If you’re going to save your princess right in front of our faces, then you can fight the bloody dragon as well!

“Let me think. I have no idea what is possessing these two, and physical contact seems to spread the condition. In other words, they are already lost to this world.”

The corners of Song Qingyu’s lips curled into a devilish smirk. “In that case, the best thing to do is to toss them into a river. Our conundrum should solve itself as well.”

“No! You can’t do that! I beg you, please save Brother Fu!” Ruyan struggled free from Song Qingyu’s embrace and begged with teary eyes, “I’ll give you anything if you can save Brother Fu!”

“Anything?” Song Qingyu’s smile widened. “Does that include you?”

“You...” Ruyan bit her bottom lip, hesitating. “If you can save Brother Fu, then... yes.”

“Good, good! They all say that prostitutes are heartless, and actors are faithless[1]. But you are clearly neither! You have my respect!”

Song Qingyu praised before shaking her head. “It’s too bad...”

“Too bad, what?” Ruyan asked in a hurry.

“It’s too bad I don’t know how to save your man.” Song Qingyu shrugged.

Everyone: “...” Then why the fuck did you act like you do? What a waste of time this is!

“Senior, warrior, do you have a solution? Please?” Ruyan looked at Lu Hui and Ye Qing and begged.

Lu Hui was frowning deeply and not saying anything.

Ye Qing’s bangs were covering his eyes. He seemed to be contemplating something.

“Give it up, beauty. There is no saving them.” Song Qingyu smiled. “But don’t worry. Your Brother Fu may be gone, but you still have a Brother Song. I promise I’ll take good care of you.”

Ruyan’s eyes dimmed as if she had lost her soul. She was even swaying on her feet like she might collapse at any moment.

“So? Who’s going to do it? Me or you?” Song Qingyu asked Ye Qing and Lu Hui. When both men remained silent, Song Qingyu chuckled. “I guess you wouldn’t want to dirty your hands. I’ll do it then.”

Right before he would send a gust of force at the duo, Ye Qing suddenly called out, “Wait.”

“What? Are you going to stop me?” Song Qingyu’s tone turned a little cold.

“Calm. I have a plan I’d like to try.” Ye Qing paid his tone no heed.

“You think you can save them?” Both Song Qingyu and Lu Hui looked at Ye Qing in unison. If Lu Hui’s eyes were suspicious, then Song Qingyu’s eyes were outright scornful. Neither men believed Ye Qing could do it.

“Like I said, I’m just giving it a try,” Ye Qing replied smilingly. Then, to their surprise, Ye Qing walked straight toward the ferryman.

What is he doing? The thought crossed everyone’s mind.

Ye Qing bowed to the ferryman first. Then he muttered a little something and handed him five yin gold.

The trio’s eyes widened when they saw the ferryman accepting the yin gold and even nodding to Ye Qing. They honestly thought he was just a puppet since he did nothing besides inspecting the Yin Token, sailing the boat, and protecting it from danger.

The next moment, the ferryman raised his bony setting pole and tapped the river surface lightly, causing the surrounding ghosts to scatter in every direction. At the same time, a massive shadow appeared right underneath their boat.

It was a man—or more accurately, a ghost—wearing an opera outfit and opera makeup. He was floating face-up on the river and clinging to the bottom of the boat. His lips were moving as if he was reciting lines, and he was wearing an odd smile on his face.

“The Ghost Actor?!” Lu Hui exclaimed in shock and gulped audibly.

Before Lu Hui could say anything else, the ferryman raised his setting pole again and tapped the end on Ghost Actor’s forehead. The Ghost Actor immediately started fading like he was a mirage. After that, a mournful, eerie singing spread across the river, and the two men who had been singing and dancing this whole time abruptly collapsed to the floor like puppets whose strings were cut.

The good news was that they were just exhausted. Their lives weren’t in danger.

Ye Qing thanked the ferryman for his service and turned back toward the trio. He beamed at them. “It’s done.”

“What did you do? Why would the ferryman help us?” Lu Hui asked.

“I just paid him some yin gold and asked him for help, that’s all,” Ye Qing explained.

“You can do that?” Song Qingyu exclaimed in surprise.

“Why not? Haven’t you heard that money makes the world go round, much less a ghost?” Ye Qing shrugged.

“Yes, but seriously?” Lu Hui and Song Qingyu exchanged glances with each other.

“But of course!” Ye Qing replied affirmatively.

Did he know for certain that the ferryman could save the duo? Of course not. It was just a moment of inspiration. Thankfully, it worked.

“Are you suggesting that we can just... pay the ferryman to resolve whatever danger we might encounter on the river?”

“I believe so.” Ye Qing rubbed his nose. Lu Hui was asking too many questions, but his sentiment was understandable.

“Heavens above! All this time we did our damndest to resist the anomalies and influences of the River of Forgettance, and you’re telling me that we could’ve saved all that pain and effort by bribing the ferryman? Come on!”

Song Qingyu complained loudly before looking at Ye Qing. “But wait, how did you know it’s possible to bribe the ferryman with yin gold?”

“I didn’t know. I was just giving it a try,” Ye Qing lied. Of course he wasn’t going to tell Song Qingyu that he had bribed the ferryman from the beginning.

“Is that so?” Song Qingyu didn’t look like he believed him, but he didn’t press further.

“Brother Fu, you’re awake!” It was at this moment Ruyan exclaimed joyously. “Are you alright?”

Both Fu Hengcong and Jing Xin had awakened at more or less the same time.

“I’m... fine? What’s wrong?” Fu Hengcong shook his head lightly. His mind felt blank and a little painful for some reason. He then noticed that his voice was raspy. “Why do I sound like this?”

“Because you used it for too long,” Song Qingyu replied lazily. It would be stranger if the guy’s voice was fine after he sang multiple difficult tunes for so long.

“Huh? Did I heal you after all? Wait, no, I’m sure I failed. In fact, I felt like I fell for the same evil as well. But why can’t I remember it? And why does my head feel a little confused?” Jing Xin said while slapping his own head repeatedly.

“Stop it.” Ye Qing grabbed Jing Xin’s hand before he could hit himself any further. The monk didn’t look very smart in the first place. If he kept this up, he was going to be even stupider and crazier than he already was.

“It’s like this...” Ye Qing proceeded to tell them what just happened.

“Oh, I see. You saved my life again, benefactor,” Jing Xin said gratefully after listening to the full story. “This is the second time I owe you a life debt. From now on, if you ever need me to burn a house or take a life, please don’t hesitate to seek me out!”

“Haha... sure.” Ye Qing replied a little stiffly. Burn a house? Take a life? And you call yourself a monk, bro?

Fu Hengcong also thanked Ye Qing for his help after hearing the whole story, but his attitude was as annoying as ever. He made it sound like it was Ye Qing’s honor to be able to save his life.

“Hehe, no need to thank me. Just pay me my due, and we’re square,” Ye Qing said smilingly. If his impression of Jing Xin was good because he was a good person despite his somewhat insane behavior, then his impression of Fu Hengcong could only be described as loathsome.

And what do you do when you have no choice but to interact with people you loathe? You add cash to dilute the taste, of course.

“How much do you want?” Fu Hengcong asked arrogantly.

“Five hundred yin gold,” Ye Qing replied indifferently.

“Cough! Cough! Cough...” Lu Hui immediately started coughing uncontrollably.

Song Qingyu spat out the water he just drank.

We all heard that you paid the ferryman five yin gold, and now you’re demanding one hundred times the price?! Where is your shame, brother?

“That many?” Even Fu Hengcong was taken aback a little.

“Do you think your life isn’t worth five hundred yin gold?” Ye Qing countered.

“Hmph! It’s just five hundred yin gold. Here.” Fu Hengcong harrumphed and tossed a bag of yin gold into Ye Qing’s hands.

Of course, Fu Hengcong was really bleeding on the inside even though he pretended that it was nothing. Five hundred yin gold wasn’t a small number even for him. However, he had already promised that he would pay Ye Qing for saving his life. He would look bad if he went back against his own word, and to Fu Hengcong, nothing was more important than looking good. So, he swallowed the loss like the real man he was.

Lu Hui and Song Qingyu shook their heads but said nothing. They had no interest in getting involved in the first place, and Fu Hengcong’s act made them even less interested to help him. Only a total fool would tell a rich person to save his money.

Ruyan opened her mouth to say something, but she quickly closed it when she saw Ye Qing shooting her a smile that didn’t reach the eye.

Phew, I got back everything I lost and more! Ye Qing put away the five hundred yin gold, grinning.

1. And Ruyan is both because she’s both an actor and a prostitute. In the old brothels, theater usually comes with prostitution service as well. ?

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