Stranger Danger

Chapter 546: Ye Qing’s Ambitions

Chen Wuxin was seriously puzzled. His true form was the Heartless Brain, and he possessed the ability to mask his karma and sever all karma that was tied to him. Any and all kinds of divination wouldn’t work on him.

The first thing he did after leaving Tian Yong was to activate his ability and sever all karma that was tied to him. It was both to avoid the Intelligence Department and to hide from Ye Qing.

He was almost at Qi when Ye Qing’s message found him, and he couldn’t for the life of him figure out how the young man did it. They were tens of thousands of kilometers away from each other, and he had never lingered at a certain spot for more than two or three days. Despite this, Ye Qing still managed to home in on his location with uncanny precision.

He remembered the day he received Ye Qing’s message as if it was yesterday. It was a bright sunny day. He was enjoying a delicious cup of wine and listening to the wonderful tune of a songstress named Little Red when suddenly, a greenbird normally suddenly landed on his shoulder and said, “Do you still remember the promise of Chaos Heaven, Brother Wuxin? I’ll be waiting for you at the Temple of Divination of Bei You.”

It was such a shock that he nearly lost his hard-on[1].

The fact that the greenbird was speaking didn’t surprise him in the slightest. The greenbird was a mechanical construct named the Messenger Bird, and it was a messenger tool created by an organization called the Exploitation of the Works of Nature[2]. It was because of the voice and the content of the message. A Strange Artifact of sorts, it came equipped with a Sound Storing Crystal that could be used to record sounds. All the user needed to do was to record their voice using the Sound Storing Crystal, deposit it within the Messenger Bird, and give the receiver’s address to the Exploitation of the Works of Nature, and the Messenger Bird would fly to that exact location.

As soon as Chen Wuxin heard the voice, he knew it was Ye Qing who sent the message. The fact that he mentioned “the promise of Chaos Heaven” confirmed it.

Ye Qing was the one who gave him the name Chen Wuxin, and the promise of Chaos Heaven referred to the promise they made at Chaos Heaven Mountain.

Naturally, Chen Wuxin was shocked beyond words. He almost thought that Ye Qing had been trailing behind him this whole time, but that was obviously impossible. Ye Qing had mentioned the Temple of Divination, and he later found out that that was all the way at Bei You. It was clear that Ye Qing had escaped to the north.

To say that Chen Wuxin was disgruntled would be an understatement. They had escaped in different cardinal directions, and they were at least tens of thousands of kilometers away from each other, so how the hell did Ye Qing manage to locate him despite this? How was this fair?

He had considered overlooking the message and sticking to his original escape plan, but it was clear that Ye Qing had done something to him. Even if he managed to escape for now, whatever Ye Qing did to him would never disappear. It was only a matter of time before the young man caught up.

More importantly, there was a huge chance his life would be in danger if he overlooked this message.

Left with no choice, Chen Wuxin changed course and traveled to Bei You.

Three days ago, just as he set foot at the border of Northern Xinjiang, he received another Messenger Bird from Ye Qing. The young man wanted them to meet up at Number One.

This time, Chen Wuxin was more scared than he was astonished. He almost felt like Ye Qing was watching his every move even though it should be impossible. Knowing he could not escape the young man’s grasp, his final defiance fizzled out like a dying candle.

“It’s a secret.” Ye Qing sipped his wine with a mysterious smile on his face.

He knew what Chen Wuxin was thinking of course. He just didn’t care to expose him. So how was Ye Qing able to locate Chen Wuxin like a radar? It was thanks to whatever the Annon Sutra did to it when he moved his brain to Chen Ah Sheng’s body, of course. From that point onward, the Heartless Brain was his and his forever.

He wasn’t going to give Chen Wuxin even a hint regarding his methods though. There were few better checks than the fear of the unknown itself.

“Fine, you heartless bastard. I journeyed to Bei You without stopping as soon as I received your message, and you couldn’t even share a teeny-weeny bit of information with me. Does trust no longer exist between people anymore?”

Ye Qing deadpanned. “You’re not a person though. You’re just a brain, remember?”

Chen Wuxin: “...” I think I’m just gonna... leave.

“I’m just joking. Here, have some wine.”

Ye Qing poured Chen Wuxin a cup of wine and handed it to Chen Wuxin. Chen Wuxin reached out to grab it. As soon as their hands met, the veins on the back of their hands abruptly bulged, and the wine cup soundlessly crumbled into dust. The wine itself had evaporated before it could hit the floor.

“That’s a superior quality Snowfire, brother. You shouldn’t waste it if you don’t want it.” Ye Qing withdrew his hand and sighed with regret.

Chen Wuxin’s hand was still extended though. His eyes wide with shock as he sputtered, “You... you...”

For a time, he wasn’t able to complete a full sentence.

A while later, Chen Wuxin finally recovered and blurted in disbelief, “When did your body become so strong, brother?”

Back at Tian Yong, Ye Qing was only seven dragon elephants strong or the equivalent of a body-tempering early-stage Spirit Master. It had been a little over a month since then, and he somehow increased his strength to nine dragon elephants! Sure, he was still weaker than him, but he wasn’t far behind at all. Just how was that possible?

Did I black out somewhere in between my great escape? Maybe it’s really been a year instead of a month?

Except Ye Qing’s progress didn’t sound realistic even if it really had been a year. For starters, Ye Qing took grave injuries when he escaped Tian Yong. Even if he wasn’t injured, it would have taken a normal body-tempering warrior between eight to ten years to become a late-stage Spirit Master. After all, the path of cultivation of a body-tempering warrior only got steeper as they advanced. It was the same as the amount of resources they consumed to strengthen their body.

And yet, Ye Qing was able to do what most people couldn’t do in a decade in just a month’s time. It wasn’t like he spent the whole month cultivating either. He had to have spent some of his time running away from his pursuers.

Did your injuries somehow unlock your Ren and Du meridians, or did you run into a grandpa while on the run?

“I had a fortuitous encounter on my way to Bei You,” Ye Qing replied indifferently.

I can see that, Chen Wuxin thought and rolled his eyes so hard his eyeballs temporarily flipped to the back of his skull.

Ye Qing proceeded to tell Chen Wuxin a summary of his encounter with the Earthly Sovereign’s Coffin and how the Profound Yellow Qi was highly beneficial to his wounds. Of course, he did not mention his cooperation with Huo Linglong since it was a secret.

After Ye Qing reached the end of his story, Chen Wuxin kept quiet for a moment before saying slowly, “You’re... seriously one blessed sonuvabitch, brother.”

Not only did Ye Qing escape Tian Yong, he even benefited from it and shaved an entire decade off his cultivation schedule. If he wasn’t beloved by the heavens, then who was?

“I was just lucky.” Ye Qing waved him off casually.

Chen Wuxin did not say anything. He didn’t know what to say, frankly. Shock and speechlessness were the only emotions left inside him right now.

Ye Qing was very satisfied with Chen Wuxin’s reaction. Just now, he had purposely shown off his strength not because he wanted to satisfy his ego, but because he wanted to show Chen Wuxin that he was no one to be trifled with. He wanted to ensure that the Stranger would never try to pull something like his attempted escape to Qi again.

Now that the foreplay was over, it was time to get into business. “So, the reason I called you over is because I need your help with something, brother.”

“Just tell me what I need to do, and it shall be done,” Chen Wuxin replied listlessly.

Ye Qing began, “I want you to round up the scattered forces of the Chaos Heaven Brigand, take control of it, and put them under my control.”

“What do you mean?” Chen Wuxin looked up in surprise.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like.” Ye Qing said slowly, “You occupied Chen Ah Sheng’s body, so you should know that the roots of Chaos Heaven Brigand are really located at Mount Qi of Northern Xinjiang. The reason Chen Ah Sheng traveled south to the Chaos Heaven Mountain was to avoid his nemesis.”

“Although the Ghost Tower cost the Chaos Heaven Brigand dearly, their roots are still present. You should have no problem consolidating the forces at Mount Qi and retaking control.”

“I know that. What I want to know is, why?” Chen Wuxin asked. Half of Chen Ah Sheng’s brain was his, and he knew everything there was to know about the body-tempering warrior. One might even say that he was Chen Ah Sheng with a different ego. Chen Ah Sheng was the leader of the Chaos Heaven Brigand, so of course it was no trouble for him to retake control of the forces based at Northern Xinjiang. However, he did not understand Ye Qing’s motivation for doing this.

“Because power is everything in this world,” Ye Qing replied softly while brushing a finger against his wine cup.

In the past, he thought he was safe with the Pacification Bureau and the imperial court as his patron. However, the incident in Tian Yong made him realize that some of his so-called patrons were really just profiteers who thought him as a tool, and they wouldn’t hesitate to discard him if they stood to gain from it.

In the end, the only one he could rely on was himself. Now that he had walked to the opposite side of the imperial court of Chu, his enemies weren’t just the Intelligence Department or Zhou Hengshan anymore. He had to fight against the Fang Clan, one of the Three Dukes of Chu; and Chu Wangsun, the famous Mister Nine of the Jixia Academy as well.

If he went up against them himself, well. A kind person would say that he was ambitious. A blunt one would say that he was suicidal and idiotic.

There were only so many things a single person could do.

That was why his individual strength wasn’t the only thing he needed to improve. It was time he started building a force of his own. If he did not have a patron, then he would build one.

The Chaos Heaven Brigand was his first step toward that goal.

1. You read this right. He’s at a brothel, so. ☜

2. It’s a book in real life btw. ☜

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