Stranger Danger

Chapter 463: Waiting

A faint mist was brushing against the shores of Yong River, but it wasn’t nearly thick enough to obscure the endless expanse of blue stretching from end to end. Embedded in between two mountainous terrain, it looked like the world’s biggest and prettiest blue ribbon.

The Fog Demon was floating beside Ye Qing and sighing, “We finally arrived. Well done, boy.”

Honestly, there was a moment—quite the long moment, in fact—where the Fog Demon honestly thought that they were going to die in the city. However, Ye Qing had ultimately defied all odds and escaped alive. It was such an impressive feat that even it had to pay him a sincere compliment; a rare thing coming from its kind.

Ye Qing didn’t say anything. When the Fog Demon looked, it suddenly noticed wounds appearing on Ye Qing’s skin like cracks on a porcelain vase. Blood was seeping out of them.

“Are you okay, boy?” The Fog Demon asked urgently when it saw this.

“Relax. This won’t kill me,” Ye Qing replied with a smirk. Unfortunately, he used a little too much force and caused a wound on his cheek to split wide open like the Joker. A stream of bright red blood jetted out of the wound so hard that it left a hole on the ground.

“I just consumed a little too much blood, that’s all.”

Earlier, he had consumed several hundred bodies’ worth of blood using the “Blood Demon Sutra” including the blood of the late-stage Spirit Master, Duan Zipao, to cow the Hengshan Army into submission. As a result, the power of those blood was spilling out of his body like a flood bursting out of a broken dam.

It would’ve been very difficult for him to keep this amount of power contained even if he was in tiptop condition, and right now his body was afflicted by Duan Zipao’s Black Sky Divine Palm. It was a miracle he hadn’t exploded into a shower of blood and gore. Like a performer with a sword inserted all the way into his stomach, a single misstep might see him torn to shreds.

He didn’t let go of the power, however. He still needed it for now. A dangerous weapon could definitely harm its wielder, but it would harm his enemies so much more.

The Fog Demon relaxed when it saw that Ye Qing was calm enough to crack a joke. “Heh! You and your undying passion for theatrics!”

“If it wasn’t for my theatrics, how am I supposed to cow those people into submission?” Ye Qing chuckled. “If it wasn’t for my theatrics, I doubt I would be able to make it here alive.”

“What is your plan now?” The Fog Demon asked.

“We wait,” Ye Qing said calmly, “we wait for our ride and for some people to show up.”

By ride, he was referring to the Corpse Ship, of course. The Boat of Longing, a.k.a the Corpse Ship, was his final trump card.

Leaving the city wasn’t enough to keep him alive. Not even close. Even leaving the prefecture altogether was just a start.

He had killed the Harmony King’s son and a prince of Chu. There was no doubt that this matter would reach the emperor’s ears. There was a reason people said that the Son of Heaven’s wrath could kill millions, and he wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up having to leave Chu altogether.

Of course, this might be an exaggeration. The imperial court was lofty, but the jianghu was far and wide. No matter how powerful the emperor was, there was no way he could oversee the entire realm all the time.

He would definitely die if he stayed in the regions where the emperor wielded the most power though, and Tian Yong was definitely one of those regions. That was why he needed to get the hell out as soon as possible.

Without help, it would’ve been nigh impossible for him to leave Tian Yong behind. But with the Boat of Longing, it was practically trivial.

The Boat of Longing was an Anomaly that specialized in concealment. Few people could perceive its existence, and not even Grandmasters could navigate its fog without being misdirected. It also possessed the ability to traverse any body of water such as rivers and lakes.

He was a partial owner of the Boat of Longing, so he could summon it to his side at any body of water. Besides that, Longing, Hua Mei and Jue Yan owed him a favor. Therefore, leaving Tian Yong wasn’t an issue.

He could’ve left the city at Yonghe Lake, but the Boat of Longing’s appearance at Yonghe Lake had greatly embarrassed the Pacification Bureau. Furious, they set up a Dust of Falling Blue Great Array that could isolate any and all Strangers. As a result, he was unable to perceive the Boat of Longing from Yonghe Lake. That was why he had to leave the city.

The good news was that the northside of Tian Yong was close to the famous scenic spot, the Yong River. This was the real reason he tried everything in the book to leave the city through the northern gate.

The process had been convoluted and fraught with difficulties, but thankfully, he made it in the end. He had summoned the Boat of Longing as soon as he neared the Yong River. Now, he only needed to wait for it to show up.

“We’re just going to... wait?”

The Fog Demon repeated Ye Qing’s words like a confused child. Shouldn’t we hide ourselves at least? Are you sure it’s a good idea to stand out here in the open? What would your pursuers think if they saw you like this? Shouldn’t you care for their fragile hearts?

“Who are you waiting for?”

“Someone I owe,” Ye Qing stared at the calm waters with equally calm eyes—or was it? Was that a lightning storm brewing behind those deceptively calm windows to the soul? “And another who owes me.”

Dozens of breaths later, Ye Qing slowly turned around and said, “They’re here.”

Before he even finished, Chu Qingge, Granny Ghost and Grandpa Wasp entered his view.

“We finally caught you, you murderous rebel!” Grandpa Wasp’s eyes widened with delight the second he caught sight of Ye Qing. A swarm of venomous wasps immediately flew out of his body and toward Ye Qing like a storm. “Now die!”

The wasps he raised were named the Poison Wasps. Although it was just a Red-class Stranger, what it lacked in quality, it made up for it with quantity. The barb of a Poison Wasp was highly venomous and could inflict massive pain upon its victims. If enough toxin was injected into the victim’s body, then it could even melt their flesh and blood into a pool of screaming goo.

Right now, Ye Qing looked like a broken vase that was stitched together with glue. It proved that he had sustained grievous injuries during his battle against Duan Zipao. Grandpa Wasp was confident that he wouldn’t be able to stop his Poison Wasps.

His expectations were defied immediately. The black cloud that was the Poison Wasps didn’t even manage to get close to Ye Qing before he clenched his fist. The air around the swarm abruptly let out a deafening pop, and every single Poison Wasp died just like that.

“Ahhh! My babies!” Grandpa Wasp let out a bloodcurdling scream. His shock was greater than even the pain of losing his wasps, however.

Anyone could see that Ye Qing wasn’t in a good condition. Not even close. So how did he still possess so much power? The power he used to destroy the Poison Wasps intimidated even him, a Spirit Master. Sure, he was less of a warrior and more of a waspkeeper, but he was still a Spirit Master!

“Cough! Cough!”

Suddenly, Ye Qing covered his mouth and let out a couple of violent coughs. Pitch black blood spurted through his fingers, and the cracks on his body abruptly widened and spilled even more blood.

Grandpa Wasp saw this as a good sign. He immediately released more wasps while shouting, “He’s on his last legs, old hag! Let’s attack him together and take revenge for the prince!”

Granny Ghost wordlessly stepped forward and discharged a ring of ghastly energy. It quickly took the form of a small ghost. Then, she bit off half of her tongue and spat both the tongue and her blood essence onto the ghost.

The blood essence spun in the air for a bit before transforming into an evil-looking talisman. When the talisman pressed itself on the little ghost’s forehead, power swiftly spread throughout its body and made it many, many times stronger than it was before. Even its aura had become anomalous and imperceptible.

The next moment, the ghost abruptly appeared atop Ye Qing as if it had teleported and clung to his skull with a death grip. Then, it sucked in a deep breath.

Rich vitality immediately poured into the little ghost’s mouth. At the same time, tendrils of black qi seeped into Ye Qing’s flesh.

It was at this moment blood qi suddenly erupted from Ye Qing’s body like the sun. it was so forceful that even the sky above his head was dyed red. Like a snowball that was thrown into the frying pan, the little ghost screamed and disintegrated into nothing just like that. The same thing happened to the Poison Wasps as well.

“Pwack!”

The death of the little ghost caused Granny Ghost to spit out a mouthful of fresh blood. At the same time, a bizarre-looking, bright red rune enveloped her whole body and seemingly subjected her to an unimaginable amount of pain. Considering that she hadn’t batted an eyelid when the little ghost was feasting on her flesh earlier, one could only imagine what pain she was suffering right now. Her complexion was pallid, and her ancient back grew even more crooked than before.

Her pain was nothing compared to her shock, however. She had executed a secret art called the Ghost Curse, and anyone who was cursed by it would be haunted by vicious ghosts. It was a powerful curse not even a Spirit Master could remove easily. However, Ye Qing had dispelled it and inflicted a rebound on her like nothing.

How is a grievously injured man this strong? How is it even possible for a Spirit Purifier to display such power?

What a monster!

Grandpa Wasp didn’t know what to do either. His Poisonous Wasps were the one and only weapon he possessed in his arsenal, and Ye Qing just slew them all.

For a time, it was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

Then, Chu Qingge broke her silence and slowly walked toward Ye Qing.

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