Stranger Danger

Ye Qing rapped a finger against the space in front of him like he was knocking on the gates of heaven.

Demonic thought washed out gently and without a trace like spring wind or fine rain. It invaded Shangguan Hongjin and Pedant Earth’s headspace and transformed into an infinitely majestic shadow.

The shadow waved his head, and a powerful gale blew away the invisible, anomalous power gripping his two companions.

Strangely, the powerful gale did not leave even a scratch on the duo’s Yin God. It was as if the gale had transformed into a harmless drizzle right before it would make contact with them.

When Ye Qing withdrew his finger, Shangguan Hongjin and Pedant Earth broke out of their trance.

“Gasp! What the… it hurts…”

The second Shangguan Hongjin woke up, she immediately let out a cute cry and stumbled on her feet.

Pedant Earth did not even make a sound. He just slumped toward the ground like every bone in his body was shattered.

“What happened? Why am I injured from head to toe?” Shangguan Hongjin voiced her puzzlement while Ye Qing appeared next to Pedant Earth and caught him in a gentle but firm embrace. At the same time, he fed a healing pill into his mouth.

“Is he alright?” Shangguan Hongjin also noticed Pedant Earth’s horrific appearance and asked worriedly.

“He’s seriously injured, but he’s not going to die. He just fainted is all.” Ye Qing laid Pedant Earth against a tree and sighed.

Shangguan Hongjin let out a sigh of relief when she heard this. She too produced a healing pill from her Nature’s Shell and consumed it.

Shangguan Hongjin gradually regained a healthy complexion after consuming the pill. Her injuries began healing bit by bit as well.

“What happened, warrior Ye? How did Pedant Earth and I turn out like this?”

“Would you believe me if I told you that it was due to dancing?” Ye Qing asked.

“Dancing?”

Shangguan Hongjin’s first thought was that Ye Qing was joking. After all, she had never heard of anyone dancing themselves to the point where they were bleeding from all orifices and breaking bones.

Even if something like that had happened in the past, she was not the dancing type. Not even close. She was perfectly fine with drinking, eating, fighting and killing. But dancing? Come on!

Besides, what about Pedant Earth? The guy looked like he was in his seventies or even eighties. Dancing would only hurt him at his age, not to mention that it would be a blight upon anyone’s eyes!

She quickly noticed that Ye Qing was wearing a serious expression, however. It did not look like he was joking.

“You’re serious? How come I don’t remember it at all?”

“I’m serious.” Ye Qing said seriously, “The reason we were all hurt is because we danced ourselves to the point of injury. It was a twisted, evil, exaggerated, and terrifying dance that defied human limits. Anyone who performed the dance would suffer massive injuries and eventually die.”

“That sounds like the dance the celestial women in the sky are performing!”

Shangguan Hongjin subconsciously looked up at the female celestials still dancing under the blood moon. “Are they the reason we suddenly started dancing for no reason?”

“Don’t look!”

Ye Qing stopped her immediately. “I suspect that the reason we suddenly entered a trance without knowing and started dancing to the moon is because we looked at them for too long. However, we should be fine so long as we don’t look at them!”

He knew this because he did not look at the blood moon or the dancing celestials again after he woke up. The fact that he did not fall into a trance again proved that his preventive measure was working.

“Are you sure?” Shangguan Hongjin asked.

“Well, no. It’s just a guess. It could be the blood moon that’s causing this.” Ye Qing speculated, “Earlier, all of us were staring at the blood moon and the dancing celestials before we fell into a trance. Therefore, it makes sense to deduce that one of these two things were the cause behind it.”

“However, the dance we performed was the exact same as the dancing celestials, so I’m inclined to believe that it’s the dancing celestials that induced us into a trance.”

“You can give it a try if you don’t believe me. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to wake you up as soon as my hypothesis is confirmed.”

“You’re going to make a girl take such a serious risk, man? Where is your shame?” Shangguan Hongjin rolled her eyes at him.

“It’s simple. If something happens to you, I can still save you. But you might not be able to save me if something happens to me!” Ye Qing answered honestly.

The power that induced them into a trance and made them dance to the moon was formless, undetectable, and extremely powerful. The moment someone fell into a trance, it was highly unlikely they would ever awake again.

Luckily for him, his Heavenly Demon Yin God was no ordinary Yin God. On top of that, he had been practicing the “Dream Butterfly True Scripture” for the past couple days and drastically improved his demonic thought as a result. Otherwise, he could not have snapped out of the trance on his own.

Shangguan Hongjin instinctively wanted to refute his statement, but when she really thought about it, she had to admit that Ye Qing was right. The young man had proven that he was able to awaken on his own and snap them out of their trance. On the other hand, she had zero confidence that she would be able to do the same thing for him.

“Forget it. I’d rather not risk it at all.”

Shangguan Hongjin waved him off before an interesting idea occurred to her. “How about we make Pedant Earth try it after he awakens? I’ve never seen an old man dance before, much less a dance like this one!”

“I didn’t know you’re this type of person, Shangguan Hongjin.”

Ye Qing shot her a surprised look. Rather than verifying if his speculation was correct, he was sure she just wanted to see Pedant Earth dance.

“Why are you looking at me like that? I’m sure you’ve had the same idea as me!” Shangguan Hongjin scoffed.

“Not at all!” Ye Qing declared without hesitation before adding, “I’ve already seen it earlier.”

“Tsk!” Shangguan Hongjin clicked her tongue unhappily, but she quickly perked up and stared at Ye Qing with pleading eyes, “You know, you’re the one I want to see performing a dance. I’m sure it would be far more interesting than Pedant Earth’s.”

“Sorry, but I don’t think you’ll ever get that chance.” Ye Qing shrugged.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, Ye Qing raised an eyebrow and grabbed Pedant Earth. Right after he pulled the old man toward him, the tree he was leaning against suddenly split open at the center like a maw. Literally, there were rows and rows of sharp teeth inside the gap.

If Ye Qing hadn’t detected the unusual activity and acted quickly, the tree might have consumed Pedant Earth alive.

Shangguan Hongjin’s reaction was slower, but she followed up perfectly with a slash that cut the tree in half. As the tree collapsed, it returned back to normal.

“What was that?”

She was sure that the tree was just an ordinary tree. It was neither a Stranger nor a Stranger disguised as a tree. In reality, it had suddenly transformed into a man-eater and nearly ate Pedant Earth. She was confused to say the least.

Ye Qing was just as puzzled as her. This entire world had become a little stranger after the blood moon appeared. “I’m not sure. It could be because of the blood moon as well. Just be ready for anything.”

“What… what happened to me?”

It was at this moment Pedant Earth finally awoke. The old man was severely injured to begin with, but Ye Qing had fed him a powerful healing pill that he bought back when he was at the Hill of Services. It was especially adept at treating physical injuries, restoring vigor, growing flesh and mending bones.

Although the unusual dance could kill it was carried out for too long, the good news was that it was all physical and did nothing to the mind. Thanks to Ye Qing’s pill, most of Pedant Earth’s injuries were already gone.

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