Stranger Danger

“Heh… that’s it? Your strength is commendable, but your mental fortitude is utter trash!” Ye Qing remarked as he stared at the pile of ash that was once Slaughterer. There was a saying that went something like this: “If you want to kill someone, aim for the heart.” It worked in the figurative sense as well. In a sense, he had literally talked Slaughterer into a pile of ash, and that was a rare achievement indeed.

Once he was certain that Slaughterer was definitely dead, and that he wouldn’t come back to life a second time, Ye Qing finally let out a sigh of relief. He honestly wasn’t expecting Slaughterer to resurrect even after his head was removed, and his Yin God was destroyed. As if that wasn’t enough, he was several times stronger than before, so much so that he was forced to transform into a Chaos Demon Ape to finish the job. He had to admit that the Eight Legions had dispatched quite the formidable group to reclaim Nanke, and he could not afford to be careless even a little.

In fact, he resolved himself to annihilate every enemy he ever came across from head to toe from now on. It was the only way to be sure.

“The battle was rowdier than expected. Even with the fog, I’m sure Dream Master and his companions have picked up the commotion. They’re probably on their way here right now.”

Ye Qing muttered to himself while rubbing his chin. A few seconds later, he snapped his fingers. “It’s fine though. In fact, this is a great opportunity.”

……

“I can’t sense Slaughterer anymore. Is he dead?”

On the other side, Dream Master, Earth Walker and Dancer were making their way toward the Ye Qing and Slaughterer’s battlefield. They could’ve moved faster, but they were forced to slow down because they didn’t want to lose their way or split away from the group like Slaughterer had.

However, not long after they began their journey, Slaughterer’s aura had suddenly disappeared completely. It was no wonder Dancer was worrying over their companion’s fate.

“It should be fine. Slaughterer is no weakling, and he has the ‘Xingtian Finale’ too. He should be able to make his getaway and survive even if he ran into an ordinary Grandmaster,” Dream Master replied.

“We haven’t encountered a single Stranger or Anomaly the entire way, but Slaughterer was forced to go all out! Who on earth is he fighting?”

Earth Walker spoke up, “Could it be the thief?”

“You’re overthinking this. The thief is only an early-stage Spirit Master. There was no way he could force Slaughterer to go all out. Besides, they aren’t even in the same direction.” Dream Master denied his suspicion. “It’s far likelier that Slaughterer ran into a Stranger of some sort.”

“Makes sense,” Earth Walker agreed.

“Wait.” Suddenly, Dream Master skidded to a stop.

“What’s wrong?” Dancer asked with a frown.

“Nanke’s presence just reappeared.” Dream Master pointed in the opposite direction of Slaughterer.

Earlier, he was tracking Nanke’s presence when suddenly, it disappeared from his senses. For whatever reason, he had somehow lost track of the Strange Artifact.

Nanke was a Strange Artifact that had been passed down within the Eight Legions of Devas and Nagas for many generations. Owned by the Devas, it was marked by an ancient imprint left by the Devas.

Dream Master was a member of the Devas, the most venerated people among the Eight Legions, and his objective was to retrieve Nanke in the name of Di Shitian.

Sixty years ago, the Heavenly King Protector responsible for guarding Nanke had suddenly gone missing while out on a mission. As a result, Nanke had gone missing as well. Not even the Heavenly Emperor of the Devas was able to detect its existence.

Decades later, Di Shitian suddenly felt Nanke’s presence again and dispatched the Kinnaras to retrieve Nanke. To avoid drawing attention, he dispatched the small fries instead of his true elites. At first, everything went smoothly. The Kinnaras were able to retrieve Nanke, and they were on their way back to the Eight Legions of Devas and Nagas.

Then, a disaster happened. The Kinnaras he dispatched were annihilated, and Nanke had gone missing yet again. Di Shitian wanted to dispatch his elites to search for Nanke and eliminate the audacious fool who dared to challenge the Eight Legions of Devas and Nagas immediately, but unfortunately, he was in the middle of debating Dao with a champion at the time. It consumed his focus such that he could not spare even a sliver of his attention on other matters. As a result, the matter of retrieving Nanke and slaying the blasphemer was delayed for several months straight.

As soon as the debate was over, Di Shitian gave Dream Master the order to hunt down the blasphemer and bestowed him with an Edict of Divine Thought. It allowed him to perceive Nanke’s presence and direction even from hundreds of kilometers away. This was why Dream Master was able to track down Nanke despite the vastness of the jianghu.

Not long ago, the Edict of Divine Thought had suddenly lost track of Nanke. Naturally, this came as a huge surprise to Dream Master. This had never happened before as Di Shitian was the greatest champion of the Devas; perhaps even the greatest champion of the Eight Legions. There were only two possibilities as to why his Edict of Divine Thought had suddenly lost its effectiveness. Either someone on the same level as Di Shitian had isolated the connection, or something was very anomalous about this ancient city.

The chances that it was the first possibility was quite low. After all, they already knew that the thief was an early-Stage Spirit Master, and there was no way an early-stage Spirit Master could isolate the connection. Therefore, it most likely had something to do with the city itself.

Dream Master could not help but be worried. If he failed to retrieve Nanke, then how was he going to face Di Shitian?

Thankfully, the heavens had answered his prayer. For whatever reason, Nanke’s presence had reappeared.

Earth Walker and Dancer were well aware how serious the situation was. They both frowned and looked to Dream Master for instructions. “What should we do?”

Dream Master hesitated for a moment. They could neither abandon Slaughterer nor ignore Nanke. If they did not retrieve Nanke while the Edict of Divine Thought could still perceive it, they might never have a second chance. If they failed to complete the mission Di Shitian had entrusted them with, not even a million deaths could make up for their sin.

It was at this moment Earth Walker spoke up, “I’ll go look for Slaughterer. You should go retrieve Nanke with Dancer.”

Dream Master mulled over the suggestion for a moment before nodding in agreement. “Very well. It’s not like we have a better option at the moment. Be careful, and try to make as much noise as possible when you find Slaughterer. We’ll come find you afterward.”

“Got it,” Earth Walker replied before sinking into the earth. He was gone in just the blink of an eye.

“Let’s go.”

After Earth Walker was gone, Dream Master motioned for Dancer to follow him. The two of them began moving in the opposite direction.

……

“This should be the place!”

Earth Walker’s brow crinkled a little as he stared at the tattered battlefield in front of him and perceived the terrifying energies in the air.

“What a fighting spirit. Who or what on earth did Slaughterer run into that he was forced to use ‘Xingtian Finale’?”

Earth Walker observed his surroundings carefully until a familiar scent suddenly caught his attention. “I smell blood. It’s coming from here…”

Earth Walker crouched down and found a piece of rock with some blood on it. A second later, he noticed a few drops of blood and some messy footprints not far away.

“It belongs to Slaughterer.”

Earth Walker recognized the footprints immediately. He did not hesitate to follow the trail.

Just a short while later, Earth Walker saw a humanoid silhouette amidst the fog. Before he could even say anything, the unknown person called out warily, “Who is it?!”

“It’s me. Earth Walker,” Earth Walker replied. He could tell that it was Slaughterer’s voice.

“Why are you alone? Where is Dream Master and Dancer?” The man’s voice was tinged with recognition and obvious relief.

“They went to look for Nanke. I came to check what the hell happened here,” Earth Walker answered while walking closer toward Slaughterer.

Slaughterer looked absolutely terrible. His body was covered in blood, his face was as white as a ghost, and his energies were scratching the bottom.

Earth Walker’s eyes glinted as he asked, “What happened? How did you become like this?”

“Cough! Cough… It’s nothing. I ran into a powerful Stranger is all.” Slaughterer coughed twice and tried to stand, but his knees buckled at the wrong time and caused him to fall forward.

Earth Walker hurriedly stepped forward and caught him firmly. “You shouldn’t move quickly in your state.”

Earth Walker did not see that Slaughterer’s limp right hand had clenched into a fist. While Earth Walker was distracted, it swung straight toward the back of his head. Despite being completely soundless and auraless, the fist was brimming with intent and power.

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