Stranger Danger

“Say, do you think that that Sage could be the Dark Overlord, Li Hentian?”

A few breaths later, Shangguan Hongjin licked her lips and voiced her thoughts.

“Impossible!”

However, Ye Qing shook his head decisively and declared without hesitation, “Don’t you know who the Dark Overlord is? There is no way he could’ve died in such a manner!”

Pedant Earth echoed in agreement. “I don’t believe that the dead Sage is the Dark Overlord either.”

“If that isn’t the Dark Overlord, then who?” Shangguan Hongjin asked doubtfully. “And who beheaded them? Could it be the Dark Overlord’s handiwork?”

“That is a question none of us is capable of answering right now,” Ye Qing replied. “There is a simple solution though. We can just go there and find out the truth ourselves. So? Are you guys up for it?”

Shangguan Hongjin answered excitedly, “Of course I am! It’s a Sage, man! A dead Sage no less! This would be the first time I ever see one, and there’s no way I’m going to let this opportunity slip past me!”

Pedant Earth also nodded after a careful deliberation. “A land where a Sage has fallen is rife with unimaginable fortune and opportunities. Since we are lucky enough to stumble upon it, I see no reason to pass it by.”

“It seems we are all in agreement. However, I must still warn you both about something. Yes, the place of death of a Sage is rife with fortune and opportunities, but equally, it must be rife with dangers and tribulations as well. If we head there, we may not live to see another day.”

Ye Qing looked at the duo seriously and asked, “Are you sure about this decision?”

“Of course I’m sure. There is nothing to think about,” Shangguan Hongjin answered without hesitation.

“Thank you for the warning, warrior. This old man promises to act with caution,” Pedant Earth too replied with a salute.

“Alright then. Let’s go!” Ye Qing nodded and did not say anything else.

After they left the village, the trio departed toward the place of death of the Sage as per Pedant Earth’s advice.

“It’s getting dark. Are we approaching night already?”

It hadn’t been long after they left the village when the sky began to darken. It had only been five or six hours since they entered this place. If this was outside, it would still be pretty bright at this hour. This seemed to suggest that the time of this place was different from the outside world.

Darkness quickly overtook them. A moment ago, the sky was still bright and sunny. Just a teatime later, both heaven and earth had become as red as fire and losing light by the minute.

As the world submerged into darkness, the anomalies began surfacing one after another.

In the sky, the clouds were changing far more rapidly than a normal cloud would. There were also female celestials dancing in the sky.

On the ground, shadows shivered and squirmed unnaturally as if they were concealing deadly predators.

In the forest, the trees swayed back and forth like demons and monsters were having fun with one another.

Behind the fog, ghastly whistles that sounded like weeping Strangers pierced both the ears and the heart.

……

The atmosphere grew anomalous, incomprehensible, oppressive and chaotic.

If daytime was the time where the demons fell aslumber, then night time was the time where they all awoke and came out to play.

“Be on your guard,” Ye Qing warned his companions as he stared intently at the changing sky. Somehow, he could sense a sliver of malice and hatred from the world around them.

Shangguan Hongjin and Pedant Earth muttered affirmative responses. They wouldn’t have dared to lower their guard even if Ye Qing hadn’t said anything.

“Look. The moon’s out.”

Despite the increasingly anomalous environment, the trio were able to continue their journey without any accidents. Although there were still crimson streaks in the sky, the ground was already fully submerged in darkness. At the same time, a red crescent burst out of the clouds.

“A red moon? Its color looks like blood, and its shape a scythe. It’s an evil omen of the Nine Fiends and Evils,” Pedant Earth said darkly while staring at the red crescent in the sky.

The crescent was so red it looked as if it was covered in blood. Even its light felt thick and sticky as it dyed both heaven and earth blood red. Ye Qing did not need Pedant Earth’s expert opinion to know that it was an inauspicious sign.

The red clouds surrounding the crescent were especially terrifying. Usually, orange red clouds were quite beautiful and welcoming to look at. It was also treated as a sign of auspiciousness and jubilance. The fact that there were female celestials dancing in the sky only added to their beauty.

After the red crescent rose to the sky though, it was as if the clouds were drenched in blood. They became dark and oppressive to look at. The female celestials no longer looked as gentle and attractive as before either. Now wearing savage smiles on their faces and weeping blood, they now danced a different kind of dance under the blood moon. It was bewitching, seductive, and demonic.

Despite knowing full well how dangerous Anomalies could be, for whatever reason, Ye Qing could not stop himself from staring at the dancing celestials.

Before he knew it, he was so immersed in the dance that he began dancing under the moon as well.

It wasn’t just him. Shangguan Hongjin and Pedant Earth were dancing as well. In fact, everyone who saw the blood moon or the dancing celestials was dancing to their heart’s content.

Sometimes, Ye Qing would bend his body like a drawn warbow. Sometimes, he would twist his body round and round like a dough twist. And sometimes, he would stretch himself as straight as a spear.

His movements were flamboyant, exaggerated, horrifying, twisted, and evil. And yet, there was no denying that there was an indescribable beauty to it.

Ye Qing had never learned how to dance before, but as a warrior—a body-tempering warrior no less—his physical flexibility and tenacity were hundreds, no, thousands of times greater than your average dancer. As he continued to dance though, his skin began to look unnaturally flush. It was because his muscles were damaged, his blood was flowing in reverse, and his bones were breaking here and there.

If even Ye Qing was suffering, Shangguan Hongjin and Pedant Earth could only do worse. Pedant Earth’s limbs were broken, bent, or twisted in ways it should never have. Blood was seeping out of his pores and dyeing his shirt red. He looked like he had just been scooped out of a pool of blood.

In comparison, Shangguan Hongjin was doing better than him. She was stronger and, as a woman, naturally more flexible than him.

Even so, there was a limit as a matter of course. Just like her two companions, she was suffering from varying degrees of injuries, and a good number of her bones had been twisted or crushed by her movements.

Despite this, none of them seemed to notice the situation they were. They couldn’t even feel the horrible pain that had to be afflicting their whole body right now. They continued to dance to the moon like their life depended on it.

Pedant Earth and Shangguan Hongjin were Half-Step Grandmasters, and Ye Qing was stronger than your average Grandmaster. Therefore, their injuries weren’t fatal just yet. The same could not be said for many others who were under the same spell.

Some people had twisted their own necks.

Some people had broken their heads.

So people had broken every bone in their body.

Some people were still alive.

And some people were already dead.

And yet, they were still dancing, both the living and the dead. Everyone was dancing under the bloody moonlight.

It was the embodiment of soundless horror.

An indefinite amount of time later, Ye Qing’s eyes abruptly turned as black as ink. His movement came to a sudden stop as well.

The next moment, light burst out of his eyes, and a powerful, earth-shaking shockwave swept out of his body. Finally, Ye Qing snapped back to reality.

He immediately realized that he was in terrible pain. Like a piece of cloth that had been twisted to the limit again and again, there was no part of his body that wasn’t hurting like hell. He could not even begin to count the number of bones, veins, muscles and blood vessels he had broken.

Here’s the scary part: he couldn’t remember how he got these injuries. Not even a little. Thankfully, just because he was missing memories didn’t mean he didn’t know what had happened to him. After all, there were two live examples right in front of him.

Ye Qing quickly figured out the truth when he saw Shangguan Hongjin and Pedant Earth performing a strange dance and squirting blood with every movement. From time to time, he could even hear one or multiple bones breaking. He was certain that the same thing had happened to him.

Every time I thought this world had ceased to surprise me, it rolls up its sleeves and kicks me in the balls.

Now was not the time to bemoan how this fucking world had stolen another first from him though. If he did not act quickly, Shangguan Hongjin and Pedant Earth were going to dance themselves to death.

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