Stranger Danger

However, Earth Walker suddenly burst into green flames before Slaughterer’s fist could get anywhere close to its target. It engulfed the big man in the blink of an eye.

Earth Walker himself no longer looked human. During the short period, he had grown over three meters tall and became covered in sharp needles. His hands looked as big as palm-leaf fans, and his fingers turned as sharp as swords. One of his eyes had shifted to his scalp, and the other just above his chin. The shape of his eyes had changed as well. One of them was triangular, and the other a crescent.

One of his nostrils was facing upward, and the other downward. Like the antennae of a snail, it occasionally extended or retracted at will. As for his ears, one of them was at the front, and the other at the back. His appearance looked scary to say the least, though it was nothing compared to the green flames covering his body. It was overflowing with inauspiciousness and calamitous energy.

Slaughterer was massive, but compared to Earth Walker in his current form? It was the difference between an infant and a big man. Right now, Earth Walker was holding Slaughterer with an iron grip and cackling evilly.

“What are you doing, Earth Walker! Unhand me!” Slaughterer roared.

“You’re not Slaughterer,” Earth Walker said simply. His voice sounded raspy and disturbing, and sparks flew out of his mouth as he spoke.

“Have you gone crazy, Earth Walker? Who else can I be if not Slaughterer? Unhand me already!” Slaughterer yelled again.

However, Earth Walker was completely unmoved. “You’re not him. Your appearance and your aura are exactly the same as Slaughterer, but I know for a fact that you’re not him.”

“Now speak. Who are you? Where is Slaughterer?”

Slaughterer abruptly stopped struggling as a curious look replaced his angry snarl. “I was pretty confident in my disguise, you know. What did I do wrong?”

“Your disguise is pretty incredible. Your appearance, body shape, energies and more were exactly identical to Slaughterer. Unfortunately for you, you’re not a member of the Eight Legions, so you’re unaware of the signature characteristics of the Asuras’ secret art,” Earth Walker replied.

“Is that so? Care to explain further?” Slaughterer—or more accurately, Ye Qing asked.

The fake Slaughterer was Ye Qing, of course. Earlier, he had used Nanke to lure Dream Master, Earth Walker and Dancer away from the battlefield he chose to fight Slaughterer at. It was to make sure that the trio wouldn’t sense the ensuing battle, and if they did, they wouldn’t be able to help him in time. Once they were sufficiently far apart from each other, he immediately wrapped Nanke with the Annon Sutra, snuck back to Slaughterer and killed him.

Of course, he wasn’t sure if the Annon Sutra could stop Dream Master from sensing Nanke at first. As mysterious as it was, he had come to learn that the Annon Sutra wasn’t omnipotent.

Luckily for him, the Annon Sutra was still OP even though it wasn’t omnipotent. After a period of observation, he confirmed that the vellum could isolate Nanke’s presence. That was why he pulled the exact same trick and forced the group to split up a second time.

Someone might argue that it was a bad idea to use the same trick a second time, but Ye Qing was fairly confident that it would work. After all, the group’s primary objective was to retrieve Nanke, and this was confirmed by their worried expressions when Dream Master suddenly lost track of the Strange Artifact. If Nanke’s presence were to reappear, he was sure they would give chase immediately.

However, Slaughterer was their companion, and they couldn’t just abandon him to his fate. Therefore, the best solution from their perspective was to split up and accomplish both objectives at the same time. That would be his cue to act.

After he confirmed that Earth Walker had split away from the group, Ye Qing traveled back to the battlefield first and disguised himself as Slaughterer. He was hoping to pull the same trick that had fooled Slaughterer and slay Earth Walker with minimal effort. However, the dumb-looking Earth Walker had somehow seen through his disguise and caught him by surprise. This should not have happened.

Earth Walker sneered as he answered, “When you fought Slaughterer earlier, you forced him to use his trump card, ‘Xingtian Finale’. ‘Xingtian Finale’ is an Asura secret art that turns an Asura into a fearless warrior who can continue fighting even without a head. However, executing such a secret art would cause them to fall into a period of extreme weakness, and more importantly, they could never regenerate their head again. They could only live as the war god Xingtian had; a headless body who uses their nipples as the eyes and their belly button as the mouth.”

“Your disguise is perfect. You managed to mimic Slaughterer’s appearance, body shape, energies, and even his exhaustion after using his trump card. However, you missed the one thing you should never have missed, which is why I realized you’re a fake from the moment I lay my eyes on you.”

“I see!” Ye Qing exclaimed in realization. He supposed he was careless. He never thought that Slaughterer’s secret art would have such a severe flaw. He should’ve asked the Annon Sutra first before carrying out his plan.

On second thought, it wouldn’t have mattered even if he discovered this trait sooner. He could morph his body to mimic almost any human being in the world, but a headless one? It wasn’t like he could remove his own head.

It was fine though. The surprise attack might have failed, but a frontal attack would achieve the same outcome.

Ye Qing tilted his head and asked another question, “If you already know that I’m a fake, then why did you still approach me? Are you stupid or suicidal?”

“Hmph! You have one helluva mouth for someone with one foot in the grave already,” Earth Walker scoffed.

His enemy had tried to trick him, so he had repaid the favor in return. That was why he didn’t expose Ye Qing immediately after seeing through his disguise. He wanted to get close enough so he could unleash his full strength and restrain the impudent fool.

His opponent was strong enough to force “Xingtian Finale” out of Slaughterer. He might even have killed the big idiot already. Had he exposed Ye Qing immediately, he would’ve had to clash against him in a head-on fight. He was sure he would win, but as a veteran of the jianghu, he knew that to let carelessness into his head. Why take a risk when there was a safer, more superior option?

As soon as he got close to Ye Qing, he immediately activated his Yaksa bloodline and unleashed his full power. Thanks to this, he was able to outwit his enemy and restrain him.

Earth Walker was a descendant of the ancient Yaksas and a member of the Yaksas of the Eight Legions. He was swift, strong, and cunning.

A Yaksa could be split into two types, namely Sky Yaksa and Earth Yaksa. A Sky Yaksa had a pair of wings that allowed them to fly and pull off all kinds of tricky movements. An Earth Yaksa was a natural in Earth Escape and could slip into the underground anytime, anywhere. Their head was constantly covered in green flames, and they enjoyed spreading plagues and calamities. They were also born with a face that only a mother could love.

Earth Walker was descended from an Earth Yaksa. He was a Half-Step Grandmaster in his own right, but when he activated his bloodline, he could give even a proper Grandmaster a run for their money.

The fake Slaughterer was currently restrained, and his insides were sealed and corrupted by his green flames. He could not see how the man could possibly get out of this—not unless he was a Grandmaster.

Was the fake Slaughterer a Grandmaster? Of course not. If he really was a Grandmaster, then he wouldn’t bother with such petty tricks. He would’ve just attacked him head on.

As for why Earth Walker hadn’t killed Ye Qing outright, it was because he wanted to know if Slaughterer was still alive or not.

Yes, there was a huge chance that Slaughterer was already dead—but what if he wasn’t? What if his idiot companion was still alive?

Besides, his enemy was completely under his control right now. He wasn’t afraid of anything Ye Qing might pull in his current state.

“Now speak. Where is Slaughterer? Give me the truth, and I may grant you an easy death.” Earth Walker tightened his grip while threatening, “Otherwise, you will wish that you were dead.”

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