Stranger Danger

“Hahaha… she’s still alive, and you will meet her very soon.”

Suddenly, the burning man looked at the crowd and let out a crazed laugh. As he laughed, his expression slowly turned gentle, attractive and seductive as if he wasn’t a man, but a gorgeous woman whose beauty could topple nations.

The next moment, a feminine voice that didn’t belong to him at all actually came out of his mouth, “Haha… we will meet again.”

“I await you all at the Death Sea…”

The feminine voice was still echoing throughout the Popularity Tower as the man finally burned into a pile of ash. It was gentle, attractive, seductive and melodious, and yet everyone was wearing an ugly look on their faces.

It didn’t take much imagination to figure out why. The man’s final act and the unknown woman’s words were spine-chilling to say the least. It left a bad premonition in everyone’s heart.

A moment later, someone finally mustered the courage to stutter out a question, “Mr. Xi… what on earth was that?”

“Ahem… it’s nothing. It’s probably a dying, crazed man’s last words. You don’t need to pay it any heed,” Xi Duoduo assured him while watching the pile of ash that was the man and the hand. He waved his hand, and a cool wind swept the ashes clean.

“Really?” Ancestor Greenwood and more exchanged a suspicious glance with each other. However, they couldn’t really think of a concrete reason to say otherwise.

Ye Qing was the only one who was lifting an eyebrow and wearing a severe expression on his face.

He did not think that the man had faked the woman’s voice in the end, not to mention that she had mentioned the Death Sea. If he combined this clue with everything the man had said earlier, it looked like the hand’s owner was still alive and trapped at the Death Sea!

The hand had been strong enough to overwhelm everyone in the Hill of Services. The only one that wasn’t affected was the artifact spirit. If the hand alone was so powerful, he could hardly imagine how powerful its owner really was. At the very least, they had to be a Grandmaster.

The Death Sea was dangerous, but it was unlikely it could trap a Grandmaster. In that case, could the hand’s owner be trapped at the mysterious land where the Dark Overlord’s inheritance lay?

Ye Qing was fairly certain that he was right.

This would also explain why the man hadn’t shown up until the Death Sea was close to resurfacing. The man was infected by the hand’s power, but because the Death Sea was still submerged, and the hand was cut off from its source, it was much, much weaker than it should’ve been. As a result, the man was able to resist the hand’s influence for a time.

But now that the Death Sea was close to resurfacing, the connection between the hand and its owner must have grown stronger once more. That was why the owner was able to interfere with the world and retake control of the man.

Unless he was mistaken, the hand’s owner was trying to infect and control as many people as possible. She would then use them to break out of her prison somehow.

Of course, this was just a guess. If he was right though, then the owner had won the war despite losing the battle. She might have failed to infect them with her power, but judging from her words, she could have left some sort of imprint inside their body that would activate and compel them to enter the place when the Death Sea resurfaced.

Realizing that he might have entered the attention of a powerful existence, Ye Qing immediately felt like someone had pressed a blade to his neck. Although he had inspected himself multiple times and found nothing amiss, that didn’t mean that he was free from danger. He would have to inquire the Annon Sutra about it as soon as he left the Hill of Services.

Meanwhile, the guests slowly calmed down after inspecting themselves and finding nothing amiss. Xi Duoduo engaged them in small talk for a short while before declaring the end of the Treasure Appreciation Auction.

After the auction was over, a female attendant led Ye Qing to a private room to complete the transaction.

Instead of leaving immediately, Ye Qing remained at the Hill of Services. He planned to wait until his fellow jianghu warriors had cleared out the minefield that was surely waiting outside the Hill of Services before taking his leave.

A lot of people shared the same idea and stayed behind as well, but the powerful ones such as Ancestor Greenwood, Amorous Mother, Weak Old Man, Defeated and more left the place immediately. They believed in their strength and did not think that there was anyone who could threaten them.

……

“They’re all leaving, Dream Master. When are we going to make our move?”

Inside a room, Slaughterer stared intently at Ancestor Greenwood and more while asking in an urgent tone.

“There’s no hurry. Let’s give it a bit more time!” Dream Master replied gently.

Slaughterer’s red eyes smoldered with impatience. “Seriously? At this rate, even a long yellow daylily would turn cold[1]! You don’t want the cooked ducks to fly away to safety, do you?”

“Patience. A cold meal doesn’t burn your mouth.” Dream Master smiled. “Also, I have planted my Dream Butterflies on them. They cannot escape no matter where they go.”

“The reason I don’t want to make a move now is because they are still too close to the Hill of Services. It would be bad if one of them managed to slip away and return here.”

“There’s nothing to be—” Slaughterer grunted, but cut himself mid-sentence when he recalled the little girl and the hand’s tragic end. The defiance in his voice wilted as he said with a huff, “Fine. I guess they can live a little longer.”

“Good. Now sit down and enjoy some tea.” Dream Master elegantly poured a cup of tea for everyone. “There’s no sense in wasting good tea, don’t you agree?”

When they had all drunk around three cups of tea, Dream Master finally set down his cup and said, “It’s time. Earth Walker, you will handle Greenwood. Slaughterer, you will handle Amorous Mother. Dancer, you will handle Weak Old Man. As for the rest, you can leave them all to me.”

“Finally! My fists have been itching for blood!” Slaughter let out a vicious laugh and clenched his fists so hard that they cracked.

“It’s too bad we couldn’t get our hands on ‘A Celestial Rides A Bull Across A Green Hill’. If Red Calabash Celestial was greedy enough to leave the Hill of Services with the painting, then it would fall into our hands for sure.”

Dancer sighed regretfully. “I’m sure our king would have appreciated it.”

“Greed begets tragedy, and tragedy usually results in death. Who is to say that missing out on ‘A Celestial Rides A Bull Across A Green Hill’ isn’t a blessing in disguise?” Dream Master said with a smile.

“True. The painting’s existence is no longer a secret. It is only a matter of time the True Martial Sect finds out about it. I doubt we’ll be able to safeguard it even if everything had gone as we hoped.”

Earth Walker said in a low tone, “Those bullnoses[2] aren’t exactly small fries, you know?”

“Hmph! Like we’re scared of those hypocrites.” Slaughterer snorted in disdain.

“We’re not, but there is no need to court unnecessary trouble,” Dream Master said.

“Oh right, I almost forgot. If we all left, then what about Nanke?” Dancer suddenly recalled something important. “He’s not leaving the Hill of Services yet. Shouldn’t we leave someone behind to watch him?”

Dream Master shook his head. “There’s no need. I’ve afflicted him with my Ghost Marriage. He cannot escape.”

“Wonderful. Let’s move then!”

Dream Master waved his hand, and a swarm of colorful, fantastical butterflies burst into existence. He said, “Simply follow my Dream Butterflies, and they will lead you to our targets.”

The swarm of butterflies flew out of the window, and the group exchanged one last glance with each other. Then, they left the Hill of Services one after another.

A sunny day too was a good day to kill[3].

1. Meaning that things would be too late. ☜

2. Derogatory nickname for Taoists, but could be used to refer anyone else. ☜

3. Because there’s a Chinese saying that goes, “A moonless, windy night is a good day to kill. ☜

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