Stranger Danger

Chapter 457: Where Is Ye Qing

Chu Hao nodded and turned to Granny Ghost next. “Can you please divine Ye Qing’s current location, Granny Ghost?”

Granny Ghost nodded and sat on the ground. She then closed her eyes and produced a pair of eyeballs from a sack. The eyeballs were rolling about like they were alive, and when they were caught by the old woman, glimmers of anxiety, terror, begging and more emotions actually shone through their pupils.

Granny Ghost paid them no heed, however. She shoved the two eyeballs into her mouth and began chewing them earnestly, spilling blood everywhere. A few seconds later, she spat both the flesh and the blood on the ground.

The flesh began wriggling slowly. A tiny, badly mangled ghost crawled out of one of the flesh chunks before it began consuming the vessel that held its existence. It wasn’t long before every chunk of flesh was gone, and its bellies looked as round and big as a pregnant woman’s belly.

After the ghost was done feeding, it let out a burp and looked at Granny Ghost. It then began waving its hands about and making these indecipherable noises that only she could understand.

Suddenly, it froze as if some sort of power had come over him. Then, it started writhing and screaming in pain. It immediately threw itself onto Granny Ghost and began feeding on her flesh.

“Granny Ghost!”

“You okay, old hag?!”

Grandpa Wasp, Chu Qingge and Chu Hao flinched a little when they saw this. They were just about to intervene when Granny Ghost shook her head and said, “I’m fine. Just leave it.”

By the time the little ghost was finally satisfied, there was almost no spot on her person that looked intact. The little ghost then transformed back into a pool of flesh and blood.

“Are you alright, Granny Ghost?” Chu Qingge asked worriedly.

“I’m fine. It was just a small rebound,” Granny Ghost replied in a raspy voice.

“You must have failed to divine Ye Qing’s location, didn’t you?” Grandpa Wasp taunted.

Granny Ghost ignored him and said to Chu Qingge and Chu Hao, “My deepest apologies, but I failed to divine Ye Qing’s location. I reckon that he has some sort of fate concealing Strange Artifact that allows him to disrupt my Ghost Divination and allow him to avoid detection.”

“Heh, I knew that your Ghost Divination is fake, old hag! It’s totally useless!” Grandpa Wasp taunted again.

“Can you shut the hell up? I’m not done talking yet!” Granny Ghost finally lost her patience and rebuked Grandpa Wasp.

“What, I can’t criticize you even though you suck?” Grandpa Wasp muttered under his breath.

Unwilling to engage Grandpa Wasp any longer, Granny Ghost looked at Chu Qingge and Chu Hao again and said, “However, my ghost servant told me that Ye Qing is somewhere within five hundred meters from our current location.”

“Five hundred meters? It looks like Ye Qing hasn’t gone far. That’s good.”

Chu Qingge said quietly, “Grandpa Wasp, you can cover a five-hundred-meter radius with your Poison Wasps, right? Plus, this part of the city doesn’t have many tall buildings or people because it’s where the Hengshan Army is based. It should be very difficult for Ye Qing to find a proper hiding spot. Please keep an eye out for anyone who’s operating alone. There is a huge chance that they might be Ye Qing.”

“Understood. I’ll get it done, Your Highness!” Grandpa Wasp stroked his beard and swayed on his feet. Then, wasps the size of a human thumb began crawling out of his sleeves.

The sky was filled with buzzing noises in just the blink of an eye. Grandpa Wasp was completely covered in wasps as well.

“Go, my babies!”

Grandpa Wasp waved, and the wasps scattered in every direction.

Grandpa Wasp looked much, much thinner without his wasps. In fact, one could vaguely see that his body was riddled with hexagonal holes underneath his wide, black robe. There were plenty of larvae crawling in and out of the holes as well.

Some time passed, and dozens of men wearing embroidered robes joined the group from multiple directions. They then saluted Chu Qingge and Chu Hao and greeted, “Your Highness. Commander.”

“At ease. Pair up and search the northern area within one kilometer from this location. If you find anyone who piques your suspicion, don’t hesitate to message me immediately,” Chu Hao instructed.

“As you command!” The shadow guards received their orders before disappearing without a sound like smoke.

“Are you sure searching the northern area alone is okay, commander? What if Ye Qing tries to pull the same trick as before?” Grandpa Wasp asked.

“Don’t worry, Grandpa Wasp. Fei Chuan isn’t an idiot. He won’t make the same mistake a second time,” Chu Qingge replied. “Also, the east, south, and westside of the city are under the Hengshan Army’s full control right now. It would be suicide if Ye Qing tries to pull the same trick, and I’m sure he knows about this.”

“The only thing he can do now is to walk his chosen path until the end.”

“I see. Intelligently deduced, Your Highness,” Granny Wasp exclaimed in realization and paid Chu Qingge a compliment at the same time.

“Of course Her Highness is intelligent. Unlike you, her head isn’t one-half water and one-half flour,” Granny Ghost sneered.

Surprisingly, Grandpa Wasp didn’t argue this point. “Sure. Of course I’m not as intelligent as Her Highness.”

“You flatter me, Granny Ghost, Grandpa Wasp. I just want to find Ye Qing and give my father and my brother an answer as soon as possible.”

Chu Qingge gazed into the distance with indifferent eyes, but hiding behind the veil of indifference was a simmering pot of emotions as unstable as the ever shifting clouds in the sky.

......

Half a teatime later, Grandpa Wasp asked while communicating with his Poison Wasps, “Are you sure you performed your Ghost Divination correctly, old hag? My babies have already searched every nook and cranny within a five-hundred-meter radius from here, but Ye Qing is still nowhere to be found.”

“Of course. My Ghost Divination may fail, but it’s never incorrect,” Granny Ghost declared with certainty.

“I’m not sure what’s going on then. He’s not just missing, I can’t find anything that’s even remotely out of place. It’s like he’s disappeared into thin air.” Grandpa Wasp scratched his head with a deep frown on his face. “What the hell is going on here?”

“It’s not just us. The Hengshan Army hasn’t been able to find anything either.” Chu Hao’s brows were locked tightly as well.

“I know right? It’s one thing if we couldn’t find him. There’s only a handful of us after all. But the Hengshan Army?”

Grandpa Wasp complained, “My babies told me that the Hengshan Army is everywhere right now. Literally. There’s a post every five steps, and a sentry every ten steps. Forget a human, they could’ve flushed out every ant and rat in the city. Even if Ye Qing has three heads and six arms, it shouldn’t be possible for him to elude his pursuers so thoroughly?”

“Seriously, just where did Ye Qing go? Is he hiding in the underground like a mole, or did he die and ascend to the heavens?”

“What did you just say, Grandpa Wasp?” Chu Qingge suddenly glanced in the old dwarf’s direction.

“Excuse me?” Grandpa Wasp was startled out of his rant. “I’m just talking nonsense, Your Highness. Please don’t mind me.”

“No, it’s not nonsense. Ye Qing is dead, though he didn’t ascend to the heavens.” Chu Qingge’s eyes lit up. “I’ve figured out his plan.”

She looked at Chu Hao and said, “Uncle Chu, please notify Fei Chuan and Duan Zipao and tell them to stop the carts transporting the dead Black Water Cavalry out of the city right now. Ye Qing is hiding among the bodies.”

“Your Highness, are you saying that...” Chu Hao’s pupils contracted slowly as realization struck him. Assuming Chu Qingge was correct, Ye Qing had disguised himself as one of the dead bodies so that the Hengshan Army would carry him out of the city themselves.

The plan looked extremely risky, but in reality it was both intelligent and safe. A normal person would’ve run as far away from the scene of the crime as possible after killing the guard of Dark Water Cavalry. However, Ye Qing chose to hide right under their noses. No one noticed this because it was a blindspot, not to mention that none of them were in their best state of mind right now.

This would explain why Granny Ghost’s Ghost Divination told her that Ye Qing was within five hundred meters of them. In fact, he was right there with them until the soldiers carried him away.

This would also explain why Ye Qing was able to remain hidden even though the northside of the city was crawling with his pursuers right now. After all, who would try to spot a living person among the dead? They hadn’t thought about it, and definitely not the Hengshan Army.

Ye Qing’s plan wasn’t just audacious, he knew exactly how they would act under these circumstances and exploited their weakness to the fullest. What a scary man.

“There’s no time, Uncle Chu. Please notify Fei Chuan and Duan Zipao now,” Chu Qingge urged Chu Hao again when she noticed that the guy was still processing what she told him. Then, she vanished into the distance in a puff of purple qi.

After Chu Hao snapped out of his thoughts, he ordered, “Granny Ghost, Grandpa Wasp, follow her. Make sure you protect her with your life.”

Then, he channeled a terrible amount of power and shot into the sky like an arrow.

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