Kapitel 18: 84-89
Chapter 84: Pallbearer
"By the way, Faceless, there's something I've been meaning to ask you for a while. How did you and your group manage to go in and out of Anyang without being discovered by the Heaven's Eye?" Ye Qing asked curiously after they were out of the county.
Generally speaking, a Stranger who got within a certain range of a human settlement would be spotted by the Heaven's Eye and forced to reveal their true form immediately, no amount of mundane or unnatural disguise would protect them from detection. However, Faceless could obviously enter and leave Anyang as he pleased.
"It's because I have this," Faceless passed a certain item to Ye Qing. It looked like a cicada, but it was glittery and translucent under the sunlight like a piece of white jade. It was also warm and smooth to touch.
"You have an Invisible Cicada? No wonder!" Ye Qing exclaimed in realization after examining it for a moment.
"Your wealth of knowledge is truly impressive, young master," said Faceless, and unlike most of his praises he meant this from the bottom of his heart.
Ye Qing continued to examine the Invisible Cicada closely. The Invisible Cicada was a highly rare Stranger with the ability to conceal one's presence and blood. Supposedly, anyone with an Invisible Cicada was nigh undetectable by conventional means. A long time ago, there was a Stranger called Chun Xia [1] who transformed into a human and used the Invisible Cicada to mask his presence. He then infiltrated the Jixia Academy of Chu and became their student for years. Exceedingly talented, he quickly rose to stardom and took first place in the imperial examination, and for a time there was no one in Shendu who didn't know his name. He was also famous for always wandering the red-light districts on a white horse.
Alas, Chun Xia's epic adventure would meet a tragic end. While drinking with a friend, Chu Xia grew so drunk that he accidentally revealed his true form. It was only then people realized that he was actually a Stranger. It was said that Chun Xia was still locked in a prison in Shendu known as the "Heavenly Prison" to this day.
Assuming that the stories were true, Chun Xia had managed to fool the people in Shendu for years thanks to the Invisible Cicada. It was no wonder that it could fool the Heaven's Eye of Anyang as well.
So why didn't more humans or Strangers procure the Invisible Cicada for their own use? It was because it was extraordinarily rare, of course. Born at the end of spring, an Invisible Cicada's lifespan was so short then it usually died at the beginning of summer. In fact, assuming that it was born at the start of the day, it would die when the sun set, meaning that it had a lifespan of half a day at most. Moreover, an Invisible Cicada was transparent and incredibly difficult to spot with the naked eye while it was still alive, and when it died it would immediately disappear into nothingness. It was why some people said that it was a ghost who was even more ephemeral than a ghost itself.
To say that it was incredibly difficult to capture an Invisible Cicada would be an understatement. A considerable amount of luck was involved in the process. Not only that, one must use a special method to wipe out its mind, but leave its form intact. Only then could it remain in the physical world indefinitely in the form Ye Qing was seeing right now. This was why the imperial court wasn't worried that malicious Strangers might infiltrate certain settlements en masse using an Invisible Cicada.
Ye Qing toyed with the Invisible Cicada while asking, "Do all five of you have an Invisible Cicada?"
"No. Evergreen Ivy only gave Rotten Crown, Dark Eye and me an Invisible Cicada as they need to leave the county to contact the other Strangers, while I need to approach the gates and communicate with Tang Yi'an from time to time."
"Incredible. I can't even begin to imagine how long your leader has been preparing for this," Ye Qing sighed before tossing the Invisible Cicada back to Faceless. The Stranger was priceless, but it was also useless to him. Hence, he saw no need to take it from Faceless.
The duo would continue to chat a while longer before they reached an area that was filled with dead plants and yin energy. Dry bones and rotting corpses could also be seen peeking out from the ground here and there. When they got close to a clump of dead trees, an insane amount of crows cawed and took off into the sky. Their cries sounded shrill and bleak.
"Why did we come to a burial mound, young master?" Faceless asked curiously. The so-called burial mound was really just a place where those who couldn't afford to bury their dead in an actual graveyard buried their dead
"I told you. I'm going to make an incense stick!" Ye Qing replied simply. Specifically, he was going to make an Incense of Misfortune in preparation for the upcoming crisis.
According to the "Twelve Incense Sticks of Ghosts and Gods", one must gather a bowl of Rootless Water, a clump of hair from a Poverty Ghost, three Misery Flowers, a pair of eyeballs from an Unlucky Cat, one soulfire from a Bleakwind Bandit, and one leaf from a Distress Tree. One must then seek out a location where the five elements are weak and wait for the moment where night passes into morning. Only then can one create the Incense of Misfortune.
He already had the soulfire of a Bleakwind Bandit, and he asked Qiao Six and Tao Xian to gather the rest of the items a few days ago. It took little effort for the two factions to procure what he needed, and he had received them from Tao Xian when he visited the Iron Shirt Gang earlier.
The reason Ye Qing came to this burial mound was because this was one of the few places he could create the Incense of Misfortune; a place where the "five elements were weak".
After wandering around the area for a bit, Ye Qing went to a clearing and cleared out the surrounding bushes with a swing of his sleeve. Then, he took out all the ingredients he needed to make the incense stick, lit a bonfire and said to Faceless, "Guard me while I work."
"Yes, young master," replied the Stranger dutifully.
First, he placed a cauldron on top of the fire. Once it was sufficiently warm, Ye Qing poured over half a bottle of Rootless Water into it. It didn't take long for the water to become boiling hot. Then, Ye Qing put the rest of the ingredients—a clump of hair from a Poverty Ghost, three Misery Flowers, a pair of eyeballs from an Unlucky Cat and one leaf from a Distress Tree—into the cauldron in order.
The order in which the ingredients were dropped into the cauldron must be followed strictly. Otherwise, there was a high chance the cauldron would just explode, and all his effort would be for naught.
After the ingredients had melted in the Rootless Water one by one, the cauldron began emitting a cold, dark and inauspicious smoke into the surroundings and covering the surrounding grass in a sheen of gray. All the pests hiding in the underground immediately crawled out into the open and escaped as far away as they could.
Ye Qing did not panic though. Checking the cauldron one more time to make sure that the ingredients had fully melted, he grabbed the last and most important ingredient of them all—the soulfire of a Bleakwind Bandit—and dropped it into the cauldron.
The soulfire of a Bleakwind Bandit was yin in nature. It also possessed the ability to unify all the conflicting ingredients in the cauldron, which was why the boiling liquid cooled down the instant contact was made. The transparent silhouette of a Bleakwind Bandit abruptly appeared in the cauldron and let out a soundless howl, and the gray smoke covering the area immediately rolled back into the cauldron. Not only that, the yin energy across the entire burial mound were drawn into the cauldron as well. Then, a stormy cloud began gathering rapidly in the sky.
"This wasn't mentioned in the book!" Ye Qing stared at the cauldron in alarm. It wasn't supposed to suck the surrounding yin energy dry or summon a storm cloud!
As he was an astute man, he quickly deduced that it was probably because he used the soulfire of a Bleakwind Bandit Leader as the final ingredient. He thought that the soulfire of an ordinary Bleakwind Bandit didn't count because it wasn't a true soulfire, but clearly he was mistaken.
Ye Qing immediately plugged more wood under the cauldron and turned the fire into a blazing inferno, but by this point the cauldron had accumulated too much yin and filthy energies. Not even an inferno was strong enough to heat up the cauldron.
The final step to create the Incense of Misfortune was to evaporate the water inside the cauldron with a huge fire. The powder that was left behind could then be blended into the incense stick. However, since the fire wasn't strong enough to heat up the cauldron, it couldn't evaporate the water within as a matter of course. At this rate, he was going to fail for sure.
"Wait! I can use the Netherflame!" Ye Qing was wracking his brain for a solution when he suddenly recalled the Blue Demon Hand. The Netherflame should be more than enough to evaporate the water inside the cauldron.
Without hesitation, Ye Qing pressed his left hand to the cauldron's side and unleashed the Netherflame. He made sure to control it so that it wouldn't burn through the cauldron itself. It worked. The liquid inside the cauldron immediately started bubbling and releasing gray smoke like crazy once more. A long time later, all that was left inside the cauldron was a mound of black powder.
"It's done," Ye Qing said with clear relief. Thank goodness he had the Blue Demon Hand, or the creation would've failed at the last step.
Ye Qing wet the powder with his remaining Rootless Water slightly and stirred them for a moment. Then, he slowly kneaded them together into multiple Incense of Misfortunes.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much powder in the cauldron at all. It was only enough to make three Incense of Misfortunes in total. Still, Ye Qing was extremely satisfied with this outcome. According to the "Twelve Incense Sticks of Ghosts and Gods", he would be lucky to make enough powder to create two or even just one Incense of Misfortune. The fact that he had enough to make three meant that he was insanely lucky.
Ye Qing was ready to leave after he put away the incense sticks when suddenly, he spotted a humanoid silhouette walking toward him in the distance. His appearance was nothing special. He was a tall, muscular man with a blank expression, and people like him were a dime a dozen in Anyang. What was odd was the fact that he was carrying a massive coffin on his back.
The coffin was over ten meters long and made from something he couldn't identify. He could only tell that it was some sort of grayish black material. Multiple crows were circling just above the coffin and cawing again and again.
Despite the size of the coffin, the man's footsteps were perfectly silent. Not only that, he was moving so fast that he reached Ye Qing and Faceless in just a few steps.
"Who are you? Get lost! You're blocking my young master's way!" Faceless chided the strange man before throwing a palm strike at him. However, he didn't use much strength at all because he sensed no danger from the man, and because his master would be displeased if he accidentally killed a human. He was just trying to scare him.
"Caw! Caw!"
Right before the invisible force would strike the man, the crows circling above the coffin abruptly cawed in unison and created some sort of sound wave that actually canceled out Faceless' attack. Then, they flew straight toward Faceless.
Surprised, Faceless turned a little more serious and threw another palm strike at the crows. However, his force passed right through them and dealt no damage almost as if they didn't exist.
"Get back!"
Ye Qing realized the danger and blocked in front of Faceless immediately. Not a moment too soon, the crows hit his face—but he couldn't feel any impact whatsoever—and appeared inside his head. When they cawed again, his mind immediately shook as if he was under attack!
Ye Qing hurriedly visualized the "Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method". When Emperor Fuxi appeared and unleashed his light, the crows immediately melted away like ice under a blazing sun.
"Phew…"
After his mind had returned to normal, Ye Qing stared at the coffin bearer with increased wariness. This was especially true after the crows he supposedly wiped out reappeared above the coffin he was carrying and cawed like nothing had happened. If he wasn't mistaken, the crows weren't real crows at all. They were some sort of spiritual manifestation that the man used to attack an enemy's mind. His mind would've been crushed if he hadn't viewed the painting before.
It was at this moment Faceless remembered something and exclaimed in astonishment, "Pallbearer. He's the Pallbearer!"
1. meaning Spring Summer
Chapter 85: It Begins
"Pallbearer?" Ye Qing frowned.
"I've heard of it, but I've never seen one until now." Faceless said seriously, "Legend says that the Pallbearer is a unique Stranger who possesses unfathomable strength, but he will not harm you unless you provoke him first. Generally speaking, the Pallbearer only shows up in places where a powerful warrior or Stranger has perished, or is expected to perish very soon. Once they're dead, he would store their corpse in the coffin he's carrying."
"He sounds almost identical to Tubo!" Ye Qing wondered out loud. The two Strangers were identical in the sense that they usually showed up when one or many people had died or were expected to die. However, Tubo only wanted the souls of the dead, whereas the Pallbearer was interested in the bodies. Also, Tubo took any soul he could find, but the Pallbearer only claimed the bodies of the strong!
It was at this moment the Pallbearer stopped in his tracks and stared fixatedly at Ye Qing. At first glance, the Pallbearer looked no different from a normal human, but now Ye Qing realized that he had no pupils at all. His eyes were a pair of perfectly black swirls that seemed to contain nothing at all. Ye Qing could not help but break out in cold sweat as he wondered what the hell the Pallbearer wanted with him.
A few seconds later, the Pallbearer abruptly waved his hand and sent a crow flying toward him. Ye Qing tried to dodge out of the way, but he suddenly found himself unable to move when the Stranger's eyes flashed something dark. Forget taking a step, he was unable to move even a muscle.
The crow landed on Ye Qing's left arm and cawed once. Then, it transformed into a puff of black smoke and circled the back of his left hand before vanishing. It wasn't gone, however. It had simply transformed into a small motif on the back of his hand.
It was only then the Pallbearer looked away from Ye Qing and slowly walked past him. With his back against the sun, he stepped into the mountains and left behind a series of caws that seemed like it would never end.
Ye Qing did not dare to relax until he was sure that the Pallbearer was well and truly gone. Even now, his spine was tingling with lingering fear and trepidation.
"Are you okay, young master?" Faceless asked in concern. The Stranger had done his best to pretend he didn't exist until the Pallbearer was completely out of sight.
"I'm fine." Ye Qing shook his head before looking down on the crow motif at the back of his head. "Do you know what this is?"
He had already inspected himself internally just now but couldn't find anything amiss. As far as he could tell, it was just a harmless picture.
Faceless answered, "Don't worry, young master. It's just the mark of the Pallbearer. It is, for all intents and purposes, harmless."
"A mark? What is it for?"
"According to the legends, the Pallbearer grants a crow mark only to those whose strength he acknowledges. Unless the mark is removed, the Pallbearer would be able to sense the death of a marked one no matter where they are. He would then make haste to their location to pick up the body."
"So, you're saying that he acknowledges my strength?" Ye Qing rubbed his nose and let out a bitter chuckle. "But I'm just a Vessel Augmentor. What on earth made him think that I'm 'worthy' of his attention?"
"How can you denigrate yourself like this, young master!" Faceless exclaimed in a horrified tone, "You're not just any Vessel Augmentor, you're one who isn't even twenty years old yet! If even you are not worthy of the Pallbearer's attention, then who is?"
"In fact, I would've thought so much less of the Pallbearer if he thought that you weren't worthy of its mark! Anyone can tell that you have a bright, unlimited future ahead of you, young master!"
"Hardy har har." Ye Qing laughed sarcastically. He made it sound like it was a good thing that he was marked for death!
Faceless insisted, "Seriously, you don't need to worry about this. There are many people out there who actually consider it a mark of honor and a status symbol; one that most of them would never get in a lifetime!"
"Heh. Let's just say that I prefer the more traditional kind of honor and status symbol, okay?" Ye Qing shook his head disbelievingly before sighing, "Well, I suppose it's not completely a bad thing. If one day this world proved too much for me to handle, at least there's someone out there who'll collect my body instead of leaving it to rot."
Faceless chuckled. "No worries, young master. You will live a long life." And this time, he truly meant his words. After all, Ye Qing's life was his life. If Ye Qing died, then he would die as well.
"Alright. We should head back now!" Ye Qing smiled and looked in the directions of Anyang. "It won't be long before the show begins!"
...
It was a moonless, windless night. Somewhere in the outskirts of Anyang, a massive Stranger with a human's body but a bear's head asked in a low voice, "You're not trying to trick me, are you Dark Eye? Will Anyang's gates really open tonight?"
"I wouldn't lie to you, Bear King. Just watch!" Dark Eye replied with a bright smile on his face.
"Good, good. It's been a long time since I tasted human flesh. I'm going to gorge myself on humans tonight!" The Bear King laughed, but it didn't sound like the laughter of a bear. It was gloomy and piercing like that of an owl.
"You're early, big guy!" A childish voice suddenly drew their attention. They immediately saw a child with a pair of twintails skipping out of the darkness. Every time he skipped, rainbow powder would fall out of his body almost like he was a cartoon character. It gave him a dreamlike and colorful appearance.
Dark Eye and Bear King took a few steps away from the child like he was the plague, however. Bear King asked, "What are you doing here, Rainbow Child? I thought you don't eat humans?"
Rainbow Child continued to skip rhythmically while responding in a childish voice, "To collect your body when you're dead, of course!"
"Hmph! Dream on! I will never die before you!" Bear King harrumphed, but it was just a reflex. He was clearly wary of the child Stranger.
Glug glug glug!
Suddenly, the solid ground before the three Strangers rapidly softened into a pool of mud. Then, it started bubbling incessantly. Faces of men, women; the old, the young; the joyful, the weeping and more could be seen within the bubbles. A long time later, an old woman's face finally rose to the surface and said in a kind, grandmotherly voice, "I'm not late, am I?"
Rainbow Child answered cheerfully, "Not at all! You're actually early, Granny Mud!"
"As long as I'm not late!" Granny Mud said before asking, "This isn't everyone, is it?"
"No, we're still waiting for—" Dark Eye was just about to answer when a series of strange cackles interrupted him. Everyone turned and saw a big tree with human legs slowly walking toward them. It had a massive trunk and a canopy that was full of black leaves, or so it seemed. It wasn't until the tree was almost upon them when they finally realized that the leaves weren't leaves at all. They were black butterflies, and they were the source of the strange cackling.
"This here is Grandpa Tree…" A young girl wearing a red dress jumped out from behind the tree. She was none other than Rotten Crown. The Strangers briefly greeted the tree before falling silent.
Thud… thud…
They didn't have to wait long before a silhouette covered in mist slowly appeared in the distance. It was a humanoid Stranger who was half-man and half-woman, literally. Half of his face was that of an extraordinarily handsome man, whereas the other half was that of an unbelievably gorgeous woman. Had the two faces been separate, they could have charmed any soul even with just half a face, but together the overall effect could only be described as bizarre.
Even stranger was the fact that their body was overflowing with disgusting warts and tentacles. As if that wasn't enough, each wart and tentacle was covered in eyeballs. The Strangers couldn't help but feel terrified when they saw the eyeballs.
"Servant of Fear…"
Everyone exchanged glances with one another and fell silent. Even Rainbow Child and Rotten Crown, the two chattier Strangers of the group were consciously restraining himself before the Stranger.
More and more Strangers arrived at the gathering location as time passed. There was a woman who looked every bit a human except the fact that her hair was covered in peach blossom, a mouse with a human's face, a yin spirit that was covered from head to toe in hair, an exceptionally disciplined group of one-eye bandits riding white horses, a floating shirt that was covered in bloodstains, a floating wedding carriage and more. They all seemed to be waiting for something. Then…
Creak…
When the night gong struck thrice to signal that it was midnight, the shut gates of Anyang abruptly flashed with mysterious runes. Then, the thick metal slowly swung inward.
"It's opening! It's actually opening!" Bear King couldn't help a mad cackle when he saw this. The rest of the Strangers, intelligent or not, were cackling strangely as well.
"You were telling the truth after all, Dark Eye, Rotten Crown!" Rainbow Child chirped excitedly, "I'm going in! See you all in a bit!"
A pair of rainbow wings appeared behind his back. He then flew straight toward the open gates.
"Hahaha! I'm going in as well! Don't fall behind, my children!" Bear King laughed savagely before letting out a mighty roar. The Strangers behind him cried out in unison and followed him into Anyang as well.
"Let's go!" Dark Eye and Rotten Crown exchanged a joyful glance with one another before trailing behind the horde.
Right now, Anyang was like a tiger without teeth and claws. It might look impassable from the outside, but they didn't need to overcome its sheer walls and vigilant guards as the gates were wide open. The horde of Strangers quickly entered the county without encountering any resistance whatsoever.
"Hahaha! I'm in! Now, where are the humans? I'm not leaving until I've absolutely filled my tummy with human flesh today!"
"Kill… kill…"
The Strangers could hardly wait to start their bloody feast.
Suddenly, Dark Eye said in a puzzled voice, "Is it just me, or is something wrong, Rotten Crown?"
"What do you mean?" Rotten Crown asked confusedly.
He answered, "Anyang is severely undermanned right now, but we should've encountered at least one or two guards by now, right? There's no way they're that undermanned!"
Rotten Crown started looking left and right. "Now that you mention it…"
Slam!
Before the two Strangers could puzzle out the problem, the gate behind them abruptly slammed shut. Then, torches were lit on the walls and the buildings until the entire place looked as bright as the day. The soldiers who had been lying in wait all this time stepped out of their hiding spots and aimed their arrows at the horde of Strangers below, scale armor glinting brightly against the flames.
Dark Eye's pupil contracted in shock before he shouted, "The Shenwu Defense Force? Shit! It's an ambush!"
On the walls, a cold sneer crossed You Da's lips as he waved his hand. "Loose!"
Bow twangs deafened the ears, and arrows rained down from the sky like a downpour.
The bow and arrows the soldiers were wielding were no ordinary weapons. The bow was called the Starbreaker Bow, and the arrows the Starbreaker Arrows. They were weapons researched and produced by the Divine Defense Department of Chu itself.
Powerful and deadly, they were the perfect weapons to use against the resilient Strangers. The horde immediately fell row by row like bundles of wheat.
"Quick! We need to get deeper into the county before it's too late!" A wise Stranger roared and ran down the street. The rest followed right behind them.
Chapter 86: Rolling Heads
Thud thud thud thud…
The Stranger's quick thinking was commendable. The only problem was that the humans had already anticipated it. Squad and squad of soldiers marched out in orderly footsteps and blocked off the intersections immediately. Even the rooftops were crawling with Shenwu Defense Force soldiers.
Slam! "Shenwu!"
Slam! "Shenwu!"
Slam! "Shenwu!"
Each soldier was armed with a saber and a shield. They would smack their shields with their sabers before roaring, "Shenwu!" When their fighting spirit and bloodthirst had reached its peak, they finally cried,
"KILL!"
Arrows rained down from above and turned the foremost Strangers into pincushions. It would be nice if they could annihilate the horde before they could get close, but just a few rounds later, the Strangers were almost upon them. Someone cried, "Raise shields!" and the front row immediately switched to their shields and held it firmly in front of them.
The Strangers hit the defense line and battered the soldiers with everything they got, but it was as futile as trying to punch through a solid wall bare-handed. They were unable to put even a dent on the defense line. Not a moment too soon, spears emerged from the gaps between the shields and nailed the nearest Strangers to the floor.
Not all Strangers were so easy to kill, however. Not far away, Rainbow Child stared at the floor of dead Strangers beneath his feet and giggled, "Hehehe! This is fun!" A squad of soldiers shot a hail of arrows at him, but a flash of rainbow disintegrated the projectiles instantly. He started shaking his head back and forth until his twintails grew as large as a whip. When he was ready, he whipped his head around and severed all the humans and Strangers around him into two.
"Hehehe! Kill kill kill~"
As Rainbow Child continued to shake its head, its twintails spun faster and faster. Eventually, they were fast enough to slice even the toughest human or Stranger in its range into itsy bitsy pieces.
Flutter flutter!
Near the walls, Grandpa Tree gave his body a shake and stirred all the butterflies resting on his branches awake. They took to the air and flew straight toward the Shenwu Defense Force soldiers on the walls.
Despite the torches, the sky was pitch black, and the butterflies made no noise whatsoever when they flew. By the time the soldiers took notice, some of them were already touched by the butterflies.
The black butterflies looked frail enough to be blown away by a stiff breeze, but their deadliness was no joke. Every soldier who was touched by the butterflies immediately collapsed to their feet and rolled back and forth on the floor, screaming. At the same time, tiny black balls that were shaped like fish eggs started growing out of their nose, mouth, eyes and more.
The black eggs only needed a few seconds to hatch into black butterflies. Over time, their numbers grew to the point where they resembled a cyclone instead of a swarm. Wherever the black cyclone traveled, soldiers collapsed and died in abject pain.
Thankfully, a captain realized the danger and ordered immediately, "Burn them with your fire talismans! Ready, release!" A massive ball of fire hit the cyclone of black butterflies, and they were gone just like that.
Not done yet, the captain barked out another order, "Archers! Ready! Loose!"
The soldiers immediately released a hail of Starbreaker Arrows at Grandpa Tree.
"I'll help you, Grandpa Tree!"
It was at this moment the ground beside Grandpa Tree suddenly turned into a pool of bubbly mud. Every time a bubble was popped by an arrow, a Yin Spirit would emerge and fly straight toward the soldiers. As Yin Spirits do not have a physical body, the arrows and physical weapons in general were useless against them. They easily passed through the arrows and possessed the soldiers before they could react.
Every soldier in the Shenwu Defense Force was overflowing with vigor, yang energy and bloodthirst. Logically speaking, a Yin Spirit was the last thing they were afraid of. In reality, Granny Mud's Yin Spirits easily extinguished their minds and puppeteered their bodies to attack the rest of the soldiers. That section of the wall was in absolute chaos for a time.
This was nothing compared to the battlefield where the Servant of Fear was rampaging, however. The Stranger was walking deeper toward the county with leisurely footsteps as if they couldn't sense the soldiers lying in ambush all around it. The eyes on their squirming warts and tentacles kept opening and closing and releasing pulses of light at a steady pace. Every time the light washed over the soldiers, their expressions would grow increasingly dazed and horrified, and their bodies would grow warts and tentacles.Eventually, they all transformed into mindless creatures who knew nothing but death and destruction. So far, every soldier who was unfortunate enough to be stationed next to the Servant of Fear had transformed into a Stranger!
At the beginning, the battle was going completely in the favor of the Shenwu Defense Force. But after powerful Strangers such as the Servant of Fear, Grandpa Tree, Granny Mud, Rainbow Child and more had joined the battle, the tables were slowly but surely turning against the humans instead. Even the weaker Strangers who were struggling to survive earlier found various openings to batter the Shenwu Defense Force further.
"Hahaha! Puny humans!" The Bear King laughed savagely while shaking off some of the Starbreaker Arrows lodged in its fur. Although the projectiles were deadly against most Strangers, they were unable to pierce the bear Stranger's thick hide at all. With a mighty roar, the Bear King stomped the limestone floor beneath it into pieces and charged straight toward the squad of soldiers blocking the intersection.
The Bear King was as huge as a small hill and just as strong. Every time it took a step, the ground shook like a major earthquake was going on. It was terrifying to put it mildly.
"Shield wall!"
The Shenwu Defense Force squad did not dare to treat it lightly. After the order was given, they immediately slammed their shields to the ground and formed an impenetrable shield wall.
Boom!
The shield wall held, but it wasn't without a terrible cost. The impact was so terrible that the shields directly in the Bear King's path crumpled like wet tissue, and the soldiers directly behind him literally exploded in a shower of gore. The soldiers behind the unfortunate souls were also knocked over and injured to a certain degree. The squad's morale immediately deflated like a balloon.
"Hahaha! It's feeding time!" The Bear King laughed before catching the closest soldier in a death grip and ripping them in half. Then, it shoved the dead man into its mouth and chewed vigorously.
"Oh… Tasty, so tasty! Human flesh just tastes so much better than everything else in the world! I need more!"
Absolutely soaked in blood that didn't belong to itself, the Bear King looked beyond terrifying to put it mildly. No one was able to muster the courage to fight it even after the bloodthirsty Stranger had gobbled up their companion. The Bear King was just about to grab another soldier when a cold snort broke the spell,
"A puny Man Bear dares to invade Anyang? Die!"
A beam of sword energy bloomed from the darkness and struck the Bear King squarely in the chest. The Bear King's laughter abruptly cut short, and it looked down to find a bloody hole where his heart should be.
"RRAAAAGGGHHH!"
However, the Bear King was even more vigorous than imagined. Not only was it still alive, it let out a full-throated roar that caused everyone to raise their weapons in alarm. Just when they were prepared for the worst, the Stranger abruptly turned tail and ran. The Bear King was vigorous, but not so vigorous that it could keep fighting without a heart!
For a moment, it looked like the Stranger would make its escape. Then, a young man ran up to its back much faster than expected and jumped onto its head. The Bear King noticed this and attempted to clap him with both hands. The size difference between the two could only be described as massive. If the attack succeeded, the young man was absolutely going to be flattened like a pancake.
The young man didn't dodge out of the way, however. He waited until the last second before injecting a bit of strength into his right leg. The Bear King's head abruptly exploded in a shower of blood and brains, and all strength left its body in an instant. Its hill-sized body then collapsed on the ground, kicked up a ton of dust, and finally jolted the stunned Shenwu Defense Force squad back to reality.
"This Man Bear is an exceptionally tenacious Stranger who can stay alive even if you cut off all of its limbs and crush its heart. The only way to kill it in one strike is to destroy its head," said the young man as he leaped back down to the ground. It was only then the Shenwu Defense Force squad noticed that the young man was even younger than they expected, and he wore a charismatic smile that naturally made the heart fonder. He was, of course, Ye Qing.
The bear Stranger called itself the Bear King, but it was really just a Man Bear. A Man Bear was a Stranger with a human's body but a bear's face. It was cunning, capable of human speech, and loved nothing more than to hide in a mountainous forest and lure travelers to its maw by pretending to be a human. That said, it was a bonafide Malice-class Stranger despite its cowardly tactics. It sported a bear's tremendous strength and a level of vitality that few could compare.
"Everyone already knows you're a scholar, Joyless, so quit showing off and go help the others already!" A clear, bright voice came from above. It belonged to Yan Yufei.
After Ye Qing gave him a thumbs-up, Yan Yufei turned to Ling Jianqiu and said, "You too, Chief Ling!"
The Chief of Bureau, Ling Jianqiu shot Ye Qing a meaningful look but knew that it wasn't time to indulge in his curiosity. After swinging his sword around and beheading all the Strangers that stood in his way, he charged straight toward the mysterious and terrifying Servant of Fear.
"Be careful, Joyless!" Yan Yufei said one last time before charging toward the battlefield where Grandpa Tree and Granny Mud were. His seal reached them first as he yelled, "You are in the realm of humans, Strangers! This is no place for you to rampage as you please!"
Just like the last time, nature bent itself to Yan Yufei's will as he spoke. As the seal fell, the wind turned as sharp as sabers, and the sky started raining swords all of a sudden. All the Strangers close to Grandpa Tree and Granny Mud were immediately turned into pincushions or cut into many smaller pieces.
"The Seal of the Land?" Grandpa Tree exclaimed in alarm. He was clearly very wary of the seal. He waved his branches and sent his butterflies toward the seal in an attempt to stop it, but the seal responded immediately and turned golden bright like the sun, turning the black butterflies into dust before they even got close. Not only that, the pool of mud that was Granny Mud sizzled under the golden sun and caused her to screech in pain and panic. She clearly had little to no resistance against the seal's power.
The Will of the Dragon and the Will of the People were the bane of all Strangers. It was why the upper hand was firmly in Yan Yufei's grasp even Although Grandpa Tree and Granny Mud were Malice-class Strangers, and Yan Yufei's strength was only equal to that of a middle-stage Vessel Augmentor.
Obviously, Ye Qing wasn't going to sit idle while Ling Jianqiu and Yan Yufei were battling some of the strongest Strangers of the horde. He plowed head first into the area with the most Strangers and began swinging, sweeping, chopping, swiping, poking, cutting and slashing every enemy in his way. Although his technique was about as basic as it could get, it did not matter since he moved so fast it was like he was operating on a different time scale compared to the others. Moreover, he almost always took out a Stranger in one hit because he never failed to hit their weak spots from the most unpredictable angles.
His crescent saber went up and down again and again. It took him less than a minute to clear out an entire area and leaving dozens of Strangers dead beside his feet. Not even bothering to catch a breather since it was unnecessary, he rushed to the next area and repeated the massacre all over again. It was like he was the King of Hell himself appearing on this earth to lay judgment upon the Strangers. Absolutely no one was a match for him.
It wasn't long before every soldier on the battlefield noticed the young and incredibly strong youngster. He was like the wind, the shadow, and the lightning bolt all at the same time. Wherever he went, heads rolled, and blood flowed like a river. He had saved countless soldiers who were on the brink of defeat and thwarted many dangerous assaults that could've dealt a severe blow to their efforts. It was such incredible heroism that it was impossible not to feel impressed or grateful toward him. Their biggest regret was that they weren't able to shoot him a word of thanks because he was usually gone by the time they got the chance to do so.
Ye Qing had no idea what the others were thinking. It was because killing the Strangers and earning those sweet, sweet dragon-serpent runes was the only thought in his mind right now.
In the past, he had to look all over the place just to find one or two Strangers to kill. Now, they were trapped here with him with nowhere to run. This was the moment he had schemed and prepared so long for, so how could he not reap these walking bags of experience to his heart's content? Sometimes, he was even tempted to say, "Don't kill the Strangers! Let me do it!"
"Wow, you're incredible! I'll play with you!"
Ye Qing was in the zone when he heard a giggling voice. When his sides abruptly prickled with danger, he did not hesitate to execute Blood Sea Fragrance and dash out of the way like a phantom. The second he was gone, colorful rays of light struck the spot he was standing on and afflicted a couple of Strangers. They immediately grew colorful, aromatic mushrooms that drained them into a dry husk in just a matter of seconds.
Chapter 87: Ready Or Not
"Who the fuck stole my jungle camp [1]!?" Ye Qing turned around and glared at Rainbow Child with deep displeasure.
"You look really strong, big brother. Come play with me!" Rainbow Child giggled before swinging his twintails at Ye Qing.
Ye Qing gently leaped into the air and darted all over the place like gravity had no hold over him. No matter how fast Rainbow Child swung his twintails, he was always able to dodge them by a hair's breadth.
"No fun! It's not fun if you dodge, big brother!" Rainbow Child complained with a pout. As if on cue, his twintails abruptly came loose and spread into a sea of black hair—or was it? When Ye Qing looked closer, he discovered that the "hair" wasn't hair at all. It was some sort of tendril that one could usually find beneath the cap of a mushroom or other seed plants. In any case, it was spine-chilling to see them flailing all over the place and towering over the place like a tidal wave.
Swoosh!
In response, Ye Qing flicked his wrist and swung his sleeve. His energy spiked to peak levels in an instant, and the clouds in the sky vibrated as if responding to the move.
"Flowing Cloud, Flying Sleeve"
Boom!
A long gap appeared in the sea of black tendrils and temporarily revealed the sky and the moon. The next moment, Ye Qing appeared in front of Rainbow Child and bashed his skull with a downward palm strike as swift as lightning. As the Stranger was slammed into the ground, the ground split asunder, and the resulting shockwave threw countless nearby Strangers into the air or killed them outright.
Exhaling, Ye Qing rose to his feet and got ready to leave. It was at this moment he heard Rainbow Child saying, "Oh, that hurts…"
"He's still alive?" Ye Qing blinked in surprise. He had reached the adept level in the "Blood Shadow Divine Art" and unlocked all twelve Standard Meridians, eight Extraordinary Meridians, and three hundred and sixty bodily points, so his true qi was far greater than your average Vessel Augmentor. His physical body was also strong enough to shatter rocks or kill a fellow Vessel Augmentor in one strike. He hadn't conserved his strength when he dealt what he thought was the killing blow earlier, so he was quite surprised to find that the frail-looking Malice-class Stranger was still alive and well.
"Hehehe, it's been a while since I felt so much pain. You're truly incredible, big brother!"
The dust cloud had finally settled enough to reveal Rainbow Child, but the Malice-class Stranger looked very different from before. For starters, his head had transformed into a mushroom covered in rainbow-colored dots that emitted rainbow-colored flashes. Countless hair-thin tendrils were floating above the dots as well. He had also grown a thick stalk beneath its feet. The Malice-class Stranger actually looked pretty cute in its current state, if one ignored the fact that it was a murderous, bloodthirsty monster.
"The Rainbow Mushroom…" Ye Qing frowned deeply when he finally recognized Rainbow Child's true form. The Rainbow Mushroom was a Malice-class Stranger whose body was covered in rainbow dots. Born in dark, damp, and miasma-ridden places, it emitted colorful lights at night to lure unsuspecting Strangers into its range before releasing infectious spores to consume them. In other words, the Rainbow Mushroom wasn't just a vicious Stranger, it was one that ate other vicious Strangers to sustain itself.
"Hehehe… I'm going to get serious now, big brother! Get ready!" Rainbow Child warned before shaking its massive cap and releasing a thick cloud of flashy dots at Ye Qing. They were his spores, of course.
Ye Qing had already seen what the spores did to its victims just now, so he didn't dare to treat it lightly and leaped out of the way. The spores did not discriminate against the living or the dead, all flesh and blood beings grew colorful mushrooms as soon as they were infected by it.
"Hehehe…"
That wasn't all. The tiny mushrooms grew eyes and limbs before uprooting themselves from the bodies. While giggling, they hopped toward Ye Qing like miniature versions of Rainbow Child.
"Our name is Shroomie, and we fear nothing. Ready or not, here we come!"
"Our name is Shroomie, and we fear nothing. Ready or not, here we come!"
The little mushrooms waved their little hands, kicked their little legs, and chanted their little battle cry as they rushed toward Ye Qing. If a human or a Stranger happened to get in their way, some of them would explode and take out the obstacle while the rest continued to march their way toward Ye Qing.
"Interesting!" Ye Qing let out a chuckle and stopped in his tracks. When he slapped his hand on the ground, the long street in front of him shook once before spitting out a bunch of limestone bricks. Before they dropped back to the ground, Ye Qing swung his sleeves and caused them to spin wildly like he was conjuring a cyclone. Finally, he sent the cyclone crashing toward the army of small mushrooms.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
There was no way the little mushrooms could've dodged out of their way courtesy of their short feet. As a result, they turned into mini fireballs and blew up that entire section of the street.
"This is so much fun! Yipee!" Rainbow Child cheered and clapped his hands boisterously while staring at the fireworks. He looked like he was enjoying the time of his life.
It was at this moment Rainbow Child sensed something and let out a strange yelp. He tried jumping to the side, but his feet had just left the ground when a bolt of lightning pierced through the dust clouds and hit him squarely in the chest. He instantly exploded into a million pieces.
Ye Qing slowly stepped out of the dust and curled his finger, and a sword as thin as a leaf flew back into his head. It was Lightning Bolt, of course.
"Our name is Shroomie, and you are scary. We had enough fun, so see you never!"
Ye Qing thought that Rainbow Child was dead this time for sure, but the shattered pieces on the sundered ground abruptly bounced into the air, grew arms and legs, and took off in every direction.
"He's still not dead?" Ye Qinb blinked and unleashed his Blood Shadows. The shapeless, formless entities immediately spread out and sliced through every Rainbow Child they came across practically without resistance. It was a mistake though. The sliced chunks simply transformed into more mini Rainbow Children before running toward the nearest crowds.
"What a pain in the ass!" Ye Qing rubbed his nose in annoyance. At this rate, Rainbow Child was going to grow into a horde of his own. That said, his senses were telling him the Stranger was steadily weakening with every attack. This meant that his attacks were working to a certain extent, and that he would hit a limit eventually.
"In that case…" A wicked grin sprung onto Ye Qing's face as he struck out with his left hand. A terrifyingly potent force mixed with a jet of bluish black flame immediately engulfed the swarm of Rainbow Children.
"Boundless Lightning Palm"
"Blue Demon Hand"
This time, his attack was far more effective. The flame consumed the duplicates in just the blink of an eye and turned most of them into ash. His change of tactics came a tad too slow, however. One Rainbow Child ultimately managed to escape the all-consuming flame and disappeared into a crowd of Strangers.
"Damn, I should've used the Blue Demon Hand sooner. But did it really think it could escape me?" commented Ye Qing with a positively diabolical smile on his face. He hadn't wasted all that time and energy just so that his precious dragon-serpent runes would elude him at the last moment.
He immediately gave chase, but he made sure to kill every Stranger he encountered along the way. They too were dragon-serpent runes, and he wasn't going to leave any behind.
"Granny Mud! Grandpa Tree! Rainbow Child has come to help you!"
Rainbow Child had not been running aimlessly like a headless chicken. He had been making a beeline toward his fellow Strangers since the moment he lost the battle.
When Granny Mud turned and saw the mushroom Stranger, she exclaimed in astonishment, "What happened to you, Rainbow Child?"
Speaking of Granny Mud and Grandpa Tree, the two Strangers were still fighting against Yan Yufei. Although the Seal of the Land was the bane of all Strangers, the two Strangers were quite strong, and it was a one-versus-two battle. It was why the battle was temporarily locked in a stalemate.
At first, Granny Mud and Grandpa Tree were glad to see Rainbow Child. Yan Yufei might be able to force two of them into a stalemate, but there was no way he could fight three powerful Malice-class Strangers at once. That was when they saw the state Rainbow Child was reduced to and realized what he was really planning. He wasn't trying to help them, he was using them to get away from his pursuer! The human who defeated Rainbow Child must be exceptionally strong, and they could only imagine what would happen if they decided to join forces with Yan Yufei!
Granny Mud immediately let out a cry of outrage, "You would do us harm, Rainbow Child?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I came to help you, Granny!" Rainbow Child giggled with feigned innocence.
"Nani? Buy one get two? Now this is a deal I can get behind!" It was at this moment Ye Qing arrived at the scene and saw the weakened Granny Mud, Grandpa Tree and Rainbow Child all in one place. His eyes immediately lit up with greed and glee.
Yan Yufei also exclaimed in pleasant surprise when he saw Ye Qing, "Perfect timing, Joyless! I need to help the others, so I'm leaving these animals to you! Goodbye!" He then withdrew his seal and left just like that.
Ye Qing: "..." You could at least pretend to give me a hand before you up and leave, you sonuvabitch. Where is your sense of camaraderie?
Meanwhile, Granny Mud and Grandpa Tree could hardly believe their luck. They were so sure that Yan Yufei would team up with the newcomer and wipe them out once and for all, but for whatever reason, he had chosen to withdraw from the battlefield instead. The newcomer was only one person, and he was so young he couldn't possibly put up a good fight. How could they not be overjoyed with this sudden turn of events?
"Kill him!" Grandpa Tree shouted and shook his branches. A swarm of black butterflies immediately surged toward Ye Qing, though their numbers were far sparser than before. Clearly, the battle against Yan Yufei had consumed much of his energy.
"Egg Butterflies?" Ye Qing furrowed his brow. He had read about this Stranger from a book. The Egg Butterfly was a kind of Red-class Stranger that procreated by injecting its eggs into flesh and blood creatures, and the eggs hatched immediately when it made contact with blood. It was quite similar to the Bellyfish in some ways but far more dangerous. It was because the Bellyfish could only wait for a suitable host to stumble upon them, while the Egg Butterfly could fly up to its victims to lay its eggs.
Naturally, Ye Qing wasn't going to allow the Egg Butterflies to get close. When they swarm was around ten meters away from him, he immediately swung his sleeves and killed them all with a deadly gust of force. However, Grandpa Tree hadn't been idle while he was dealing with the Egg Butterflies. The tree Stranger had crossed the distance between them with surprising speed before attacking his flank with half a canopy of sharp, black branches. It looked very much like a spear wall.
Ye Qing immediately channeled his qi to jump away from Grandpa Tree. He didn't want to clash directly against Grandpa Tree, not because he couldn't, but because it was unnecessary. With Blood Sea Fragrance he could both dodge the attack and launch a decisive counterattack at once, so why would he opt for a suboptimal solution instead?
However, the earth underneath him abruptly softened into a pool of mud before he could jump away. The next thing he knew, he had sunk to knee level and was still sinking by the second.
"Grandma Mud…"
Ye Qing frowned and tried to lift his feet, but it felt like a pair of hands grabbing his ankles with a death grip and pulling him toward the bottom with all their might. This mud Stranger was most likely the "Granny Mud" Rainbow Child had mentioned earlier.
"Keke. Die, human!" The face on the tree trunk scrunched into an eerie cackle when Grandpa Tree noted that Ye Qing was unable to break free from Granny Mud's grasp. This was the plan they had come up with after Yan Yufei had left the scene. Grandpa Tree would launch a direct attack to attract Ye Qing's attention, and Grandma Mud would immobilize him while he wasn't looking. While the young man was struggling, Grandpa Tree would deal the decisive, fatal blow.
1. League of Legend reference
Chapter 88: The Iron Shirt Gang, At Your Service
"Die? So sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not done with life yet," answered Ye Qing with a shrug. A moment before Grandpa's tree branches would skewer him, he channeled his true qi and swung his sleeves around like he was drawing a circle.
"Flowing Cloud, Flying Sleeve"
According to the Tao Te Ching, water was the softest and weakest thing in the world, but it could never be defeated by strong, firm things such as a punch for no amount of punches was going to change its form. Through this, it was understood that the soft could overcome the hard, and the weak the strong.
As far as his previous world was concerned, no one was able to carry it out in practice both physically or philosophically—but Ye Qing wasn't in his old world anymore. "Flowing Cloud, Flying Sleeve" was a martial art that could be hard or soft depending on the circumstances, and when it became as soft as water, there was no attack in the world it could not defend against.
As Ye Qing swung his sleeves round and round, the surrounding air grew thicker and thicker until Grandpa Tree felt as if he was wading through water. The closer the falling branches got to Ye Qing, the slower they became until finally, their momentum was completely spent. The second it happened, Ye Qing sucked in a deep breath and let out a powerful croak from his abdomen. Then, he hardened his sleeves into steel and threw his arms down like he was throwing a giant stele.
Grandpa Tree blanched when the surrounding air abruptly transformed into a raging, unstoppable torrent. Before he could react, it crashed against his canopy and snapped countless twigs and branches.
"Argh!"
Grandpa Tree let out a bloodcurdling scream and hurriedly pulled away from Ye Qing, but his canopy had been reduced to just the thickest, strongest branches. Even his trunk was barren like that of a man who shaved himself bald from head to toe.
The branches were part of Grandpa Tree's body. Naturally, losing them had greatly diminished his power. Despite this, he was too stunned to feel much pain. That was just how powerful the young man was. The young man should've been trivial to kill since Grandma Mud had immobilized his lower half, and yet he still managed to defeat him and deal him a severe blow in one hit. Grandpa Tree realized too late that the young man was actually stronger than even Yan Yufei.
I must escape! The tree Stranger turned around to run as soon as the thought had crossed his mind. There was literally no reason for him to stay unless he had a firewood wish. This meant that he was abandoning Granny Mud to the young man's mercy, sure, but she was an ally-of-convenience, not his wife. Like hell he was going to sacrifice his life for her!
Zap!
Alas, blinding light shot through his body practically the second he made a move. It was like he was struck by a lightning bolt from the Nine Heavens above. His trunk turned ashen, and fire and smoke rose from multiple parts of his body. When the blinding light finally faded, it was revealed that there was a scorched hole at the center of Grandpa Tree's forehead. Then, a beam of light shot through his head once and landed snugly in Ye Qing's palm. It was a sword. Clearly, it was the one that had given the tree Stranger the time of his life.
Thump!
With that, the great tree collapsed to the ground and ceased living forever.
The moment Grandpa Tree fell, Granny Mud was struck by a terrible sense of danger. She immediately released a ton of bubbles filled with yin spirits, and unlike with the Shenwu Defense Force these yin spirits did not wait for Ye Qing to break them out of their ephemeral prison. They circled around Ye Qing and cried, laughed, roared or screamed at him to confuse and damage his mind.
A weak-willed person might have collapsed to the unholy noise and lost their mind, but Ye Qing was completely unhurt not just because his mind and spirit were strong, but also because he had the "Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method". It prevented any and all evil energy from invading his head.
When Ye Qing felt the grip on his ankles disappearing without warning, he chuckled. "You think you can escape?"
First, he extended his left arm and clenched his fist. A ball of Netherflame immediately consumed the surrounding yin spirits and killed them before they could even scream. Then, he punched his left fist into the mud below so hard that the kilometer-long street shuddered a little. The pool of mud started burning intensely, and no matter how hard it struggled it was unable to extinguish the flames.
The Netherflame was said to be capable of burning anything and everything. Forget a pool of mud, it could've burned through solid stone with little difficulty.
The pool of mud grew shallower and shallower as the Netherflame burned. When it was almost completely dry, Ye Qing abruptly plunged his left hand into the ground and pulled out a strange creature that looked like a pitch black lizard. It had an old woman's face, and its body looked like it was made from mud. It stank to the high heavens as a matter of course.
The lizard wasn't dead yet, so it kept struggling and roaring on top of its lungs. It was, of course, Granny Mud.
"So ugly!"
Ye Qing shook his head in disgust before crushing the lizard between his hands. Obviously, he dashed away before the smelly mud could stain his clothes.
After Grandpa Tree and Granny Mud were dead, Ye Qing immediately unleashed his spirit and scanned his surroundings. Unfortunately, Rainbow Child was nowhere to be seen. He clicked his tongue in disappointment, "Tsk. That damn mushroom managed to escape in the end!"
Of course, that wasn't to say that he had wasted his energy. Buy one get two Strangers would always be a great deal especially since Grandpa Tree and Granny Mud were way easier to kill than they should have been. It was because they had exhausted most of their energy against Yan Yufei, and they had underestimated him because of his age.
Ye Qing let out a little sigh before channeling the "Blood Shadow Divine Art" to restore his spent true qi immediately. Once he had returned to peak condition, he walked over to Grandpa Tree and stuffed his corpse into his Nature's Shell.
Grandpa Tree was a tree, and trees were incredibly useful for a number of things, much less one who was a powerful Stranger. He could probably use his main body to create Strange Artifacts, or his branches to refine pills or something. Worst case scenario, he could use the body to make sturdy furniture or houses.
As for Granny Mud… he wouldn't use her even if she did turn out to be a useful ingredient. To put it in a nutshell, ugliness is a sin!
"Kill!"
"This way, men!"
"Charge! Do not allow any one of these bitches to live!"
"Kill! Kill them all!"
The sounds of fighting, fire and blood weren't just contained to the entrance. In fact, it had spread to the entire Anyang a long time ago. Ye Qing glanced at his surrounding once before letting out a long, long sigh in his head.
Their preparation was substantial, and their ambush had gone as well as it could be. Despite this, a lot of Strangers still managed to break through the defense line and enter the county. A good number of them were powerful and strange entities such as Grandpa Tree or Rainbow Child as well. As a result, the Shenwu Defense Force, the Sentinels, the bailiffs and more still incurred a horrific amount of casualties.
"It is time!" Ye Qing muttered to himself and pulled out a contact talisman from his sleeve. It exploded like fireworks when he tossed it into the air.
Not long after the contact talisman was activated, a cacophony of footsteps suddenly appeared from multiple directions. At the same time, loud, high-spirited cries boomed from the streets:
"Lord Yan, Tao Xian of the Iron Shirt Gang, at your service! Let's defend Anyang together!"
"Ruan Hongluo of the Iron Shirt Gang, at your service!"
"Jie Chen of the Iron Shirt Gang, at your service!"
"Yi Jun of the Iron Shirt Gang, at your service!"
The cries were extremely loud and out of place all things considered, which was why they immediately drew countless attention. Yan Yufei had been fighting against the Servant of Fear until he heard someone calling out to him. When he looked, he saw the Hallmasters of the Iron Shirt Gang—Tao Xian, Ruan Hongluo, Yi Jun and more—and a large group of Iron Shirt Gang disciples joining the battle and killing all the Strangers around them.
Why are they here? And why are they shouting their arrival? Yan Yufei looked confused, but regardless of the Iron Shirt Gang's intentions, it was a good thing that they had come to assist them.
It was at this moment another vigorous voice boomed, "Qiao Six, at your service, my lord!" The information broker showed up at the end of the street right after that with Zuo Yiyan and Hong Yu in tow.
Qiao Six came too? What's going on? Who gathered these people together? Yan Yufei's confusion was growing by the second. Qiao Six sensed his gaze and rubbed his nose in embarrassment. Honestly, he hadn't wanted to shout a battle cry like the Iron Shirt Gang because it was embarrassing, but for some reason it also felt wrong to show up without announcing himself. Plus, how would Yan Yufei know that he had come to help if he didn't say anything? Sometimes, being thick-skinned was a good thing! A great thing even!
Qiao Six saluted Yan Yufei from afar. Then, he ordered, "Let's go, Yiyan!" and charged toward the Strangers.
Yan Yufei was still confused, but the pressure on their forces had greatly lessened thanks to their presence. Naturally, he was thankful.
"On behalf of the people of Anyang and Chu, thank you all for coming to our assistance!"
The reinforcements responded, "No worries, Lord Yan! Slaying Strangers is our natural responsibility!"
The addition of the Iron Shirt Gang and Qiao Six's forces instantly bolstered the Shenwu Defense Force and the Sentinels' morale. For the first time in a long while, they launched an offensive that broke the stalemate and slowly shifted the tides of battle in the humans' favor.
"Perfect!" Ye Qing snapped his fingers in self-satisfaction as he observed the battlefield. Naturally, he was the one who had arranged for the Iron Shirt Gang to appear at this time, and also the one who told them to shout the battle cry. How else would the people know that the Iron Shirt Gang was the one who helped them during their time of need without it?
The reason he did this was simple. It was to make the government owe the Iron Shirt Gang a favor, and to give the Iron Shirt Gang the opportunity to ally themselves with the government.
He had been forced to reveal Lightning Bolt and the Blue Demon Hand in this battle, so there was no hiding the fact that he was the one who killed Yan Tieyi and annihilated the Zheng Clan. This meant that opportunistic hyenas and those whose interests had been hurt by those incidents would be tempted to attack him and disturb his peaceful everyday life. In that case, he might as well reveal himself on his own terms.
No matter how this battle turned out, the Iron Shirt Gang would be remembered as the faction who went above their obligation and helped Anyang during their time of need. Add to the fact that he was the one who revealed this whole conspiracy and came up with the plan to annihilate the Strangers in the first place, and neither Yan Yufei nor Ling Jianqiu could punish him even though they knew that he was the one who murdered Yan Tieyi and Zheng Feng.
This merit also guaranteed that the government would help out the Iron Shirt Gang if—no, when the hyenas finally launched their assault. The government wouldn't favor them forever as a matter of course, but in the short term, they must step in unless they wanted to give off the impression they were ingrates. Also, it would leave a stain on their reputation if they chose not to repay the brave people of Anyang who came to their aid during their time of need.
The government's interference would definitely intimidate the other factions, and the Iron Shirt Gang would be safe in the short term. That should buy him enough time to grow so strong that any faction would realize the folly of attacking him or the Iron Shirt Gang. And if they were too stupid to realize that, well, he didn't mind destroying them and enriching himself through their dead bodies!
In short, he was killing multiple birds with one stone with this one act!
Boom!
It was at this moment a loud explosion sent both Yan Yufei and Ling Jianqiu flying. Their faces were covered in reddish warts and tentacles, but they were far enough from the root cause that the anomalous growth eventually subsided into nothing. They were obviously having trouble with one of the most powerful Strangers in the area, the Servant of Fear.
"Our lords are in danger! We need to protect them! Men, charge!"
A squad of a dozen Shenwu Defense Force soldiers cried in outrage when they saw that Yan Yufei and Ling Jianfei weren't just beaten back, but injured. They did not hesitate to charge the Servant of Fear.
"No! It's dangerous!"
"Stop right there!"
Yan Yufei and Ling Jianqiu blanched and cried out in warning, but it was too late. The soldiers had just gotten within ten meters of the Stranger when their faces, their arms and other body parts started growing reddish flesh buds that twisted around like worms. It should not need to be said just how disgusting they looked.
The closer they got to the Servant of Fear, the longer and thicker the reddish buds became. Eventually, they transformed into oily and disgusting tentacles.
Why didn't the soldiers get away from the Servant of Fear as soon as their bodies started changing? It was because their minds had long since extinguished under the Stranger's unnatural influence. Their husks quickly transformed into disgusting monsters that hovered protectively around the Servant of Fear.
"What a bizarre and terrifying Stranger!" Ye Qing watched the Servant of Fear warily. The abomination was easily the strongest Stranger he had encountered tonight, so without hesitation, he… turned around and walked away in the opposite direction.
It was the only logical conclusion. He should just leave the Servant of Fear to the professionals since he didn't know if he could defeat it without endangering his own life. There were still a lot of Strangers to kill anyway. He was sure that no one would begrudge him for focusing on the small fries!
Chapter 89: Servant of Fear
Unfortunately, Ye Qing had just taken a few steps when Yan Yufei called out to him from behind. "What are you doing, Joyless? Get over here and help us already!"
"..."
Ye Qing paused and felt a wave of exasperation. Your talent is wasted being a magistrate, Lord Yan! With eyes like yours, you should've been a thief instead!
Ye Qing wasn't going to give up without a fight though. While muttering, "Oh wow, the battlefield is so loud, I can't hear anything…" he resumed his footsteps and strode toward the nearest exit as quickly as he could. This time though, he had barely taken a step when Yan Yufei came again like a mother urging her son to do his housework, or else:
"I know you can hear me, Joyless! Get over here already!"
"Dammit! Who said that only the wicked get no rest?" Ye Qing had no choice but to turn around and shoot Yan Yufei a sulky look. Just because we're bros doesn't mean I work for free!
There was no escaping his fate though. Even if Yan Yufei wasn't staring at him like a hawk, Ling Jianqiu had turned around to look at him as well. He was literally being peer pressured to assist, and he was in no position to say no. No wonder people said that the reward for good work was more work!
"At your service, my lords!" Ye Qing replied reluctantly while turning around and walking back to the duo.
After Ye Qing had gotten close to them, Ling Jianqiu stared at him for a bit before saying in his usual cool voice, "We meet again, Ye Qing. You're a good man. You are the main reason we are able to wipe out these animals and save Anyang from destruction. We will never forget your contribution!"
"You flatter me, Chief Ling. It's my natural responsibility!" Ye Qing responded with a respectful salute.
Clearly, Yan Yufei had told Ling Jianqiu everything. It wasn't surprising though. There was no way the magistrate could have set up this ambush without going through Ling Jianqiu first.
"Leave the conversation for later, you two. We still have a difficult fight ahead of us!" Yan Yufei interrupted before waving his hand and causing the world to shudder. As the Seal of the Land fell toward the Servant of Fear with great speed, he chanted,
"The earth howls, and the mountains shake with fury!"
An ink wash painting of a meandering mountain range appeared in the sky and crashed down on the Servant of Fear. Everything within ten meters of the Servant of Fear—the floor and the transformed Strangers protecting them—immediately flattened like pancakes as if they had been crushed by a true mountain range.
The Servant of Fear themselves were perfectly fine, however. Their face kept alternating between male, female and both, and the eyes on their tentacles and warts opened and closed seemingly at random. In response to Yan Yufei's attack, they unleashed some sort of inexplicable influence that instantly filled the magistrate's mind with all kinds of terrifying and unspeakable images. Not only that, the mental pollution also caused his face to grow reddish flesh buds once more. It was horrifying to put it mildly.
Shing!
Ling Jianqiu's sword rang melodiously and severed the evil influence in one strike. Then, the Chief of Bureau pointed his sword at the Servant of Fear and channeled his true qi. The sky abruptly cleared up, and frigid autumn wind blew unrelentingly across the area. It was no winter, and yet it certainly felt like the beginning of one.
The sky looked empty, but that was only if you were looking for physical objects. In reality, the autumn wind was a sword, and the frigid air was a sword as well. This meant that there were really swords everywhere. This was the power of Ling Jianqiu's sword, Cold Autumn. "When Cold Autumn sings, the sky weeps, and the land speaks of coldness and desolation."
As if sensing true danger from Ling Jianqiu, Servant of Fear abruptly grew a lot more tentacles and flailed them everywhere like crazy. They were trying to prevent Ling Jianqiu from turning the air around it into swords and damaging them.
Shing shing shing!
Despite its best efforts, invisible swords continued to manifest into existence and cut into the slimy tentacles from every direction. Instead of blood, the Servant of Fear bled a kind filthy, smelly yellow liquid that resembled pus water.
The rain of swords was unending, and the tentacles took more and more damage as time passed. However, there were so many tentacles that most of the sword energies failed to hit the Servant of Fear's body. Not only that, the spilling pus left strange ripples in the air that washed over Ling Jianqiu and caused his face to grow fleshy buds as well. As a result, his attack grew weaker and weaker.
When the Servant of Fear noticed that Ling Jianqiu's attacks had weakened, they started withdrawing their tentacles as if to catch a breath. It was at this moment several Blood Shadows appeared seemingly out of nowhere and easily cut through their body like hot knives through butter.
"Is it dead?" Ye Qing wondered out loud. The Blood Shadows were his doing, of course. There was a lull between the Servant of Fear's movements after repelling Ling Jianqiu's powerful attack, and he did not hesitate to exploit the opening to deal them a fatal blow. But despite his comment, he did not think he succeeded. Most Strangers were incredibly hard to kill, and he did not think that a powerful one like the Servant of Fear would go down so easily. He was right.
"It's still alive! Watch out!" Ling Jianqiu warned. As expected, the severed pieces of flesh on the ground abruptly grew scarlet buds and reconnected with one another before they could react. A second later, it was like the Servant of Fear had never taken a mortal blow.
As soon as the Servant of Fear had revived, they immediately wheeled around and stared at Ye Qing with every eye on their body. In that instant, the surrounding air turned as cold as ice, and Ye Qing felt a chill up his spine. At the same time, countless terrifying and bizarre images started playing in his head.
He saw mountains and mountains of corpses floating above a sea of blood…
He saw countless ghosts and other spectral entities screaming endlessly into the void…
He saw people fighting and killing each other in a war that never ends…
As the terrifying illusions polluted his mind and spirit, Ye Qing started growing fleshy buds from his body parts just like Yan Yufei and Ling Jianqiu.
"mental pollution? No wonder it's so difficult to defend against!" he exclaimed in realization. Clearly, the Servant of Fear's main method of attack was to corrupt its victims' mind and spirit with unspeakable illusions.
Ye Qing immediately put his hand on his forehead and visualized the "Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method". The great emperor immediately manifested inside his head and unleashed his light, causing the illusions to melt away like snow. The fleshy buds on his face also disappeared in response.
"Lord Yan, Chief Ling, I think I can kill this Stranger, but I need you to draw its attention and buy me as much time as possible!"
"Got it!" Yan Yufei and Ling Jianqiu responded immediately. On the surface, it looked like the Servant of Fear's methods were incredibly basic. They relied solely on mental pollution to kill its enemies, and their physical body—as the Blood Shadows had proven—was very frail. Theoretically, they only needed to get close to the Servant of Fear to kill them.
The problem was that they couldn't get close. At a certain range, the mental pollution became so strong that it was simply impossible to bear. They would transform into monsters long before they killed the Stranger.
Neither Yan Yufei nor Ling Jianqiu knew how Ye Qing was going to defeat the Servant of Fear, but they saw no reason to disbelieve his words. Few people would gamble their life away on a whim after all. Without hesitation, both men renewed their attack on the Servant of Fear once more. Yan Yufei channeled the power of nature through the Seal of the Land, while Ling Jianqiu fired sword qi after sword qi at the Servant of Fear.
Ling Jianqiu's attacks weren't nearly as flashy as Yan Yufei's. In fact, his techniques looked incredibly simplistic. A basic thrust here, a basic slash there. However, when someone had reached a certain level in their martial arts, one did not need complex moves to unleash tremendous power. In Ling Jianqiu's case, he only needed a basic slash to fire thousands and thousands of sword qi at the Servant of Fear.
The two men worked well together even though they hadn't fought alongside each other for long. They were able to force the Servant of Fear to waste energy and occupy most of their attention.
Meanwhile, Ye Qing was running circles around the Servant of Fear at an insane speed. At first glance it looked like the young man was fooling around, but in reality every revolution brought just a little closer to the Servant of Fear. There were two reasons why he was approaching the Stranger in such a roundabout manner: One, the power of the mental pollution wasn't always consistent. Ye Qing had noticed that there were "gaps" in the all-encompassing influence that he could slip through. A couple of tests later, he determined that it was easier for him to approach the Servant of Fear by slipping through these gaps than it was to charge in a straight line and bear the full brunt of their mental pollution. And two, he didn't want to draw the Servant of Fear's attention unnecessarily.
Even so, the strength of the mental pollution was increasing steadily. At the beginning, the illusions entered his head at just the speed of a trickle. Now, it had grown to a raging river that even the "Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method" could not stem completely. It continuously ate away at his consciousness and caused his body to grow fleshy buds once more. The closer he got, the longer the buds became until it looked like he was covered in red sea weeds.
"Why am I doing this to myself?" Ye Qing complained even as he pressed his hand to his forehead and visualized the "Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method" with all he got. As the silhouette of Emperor Fuxi solidified until he looked almost tangible, most of the illusions in his head washed away like they never happened. The fleshy buds growing throughout his body had largely subsided as well. But as soon as he took a step closer, the fleshy buds grew again and forced him to focus on the "Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method" once more.
This seesaw would repeat itself for an agonizingly long time as Ye Qing got closer and closer to the Servant of Fear. It was trying to kill grass without uprooting it from the soil. No matter how many times he repelled the illusions with the "Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method", it would reappear and eat away at his mind and spirit once more.
It was working though. Thanks to the "Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method", he could never fall unconscious or become overwhelmed by the mind-bending illusions. His footsteps might be agonizingly slow, but he was definitely getting closer and closer to the Stranger of Fear.
Fifteen meters…
Ten meters…
Six meters…
Greatly motivated by Ye Qing's progress, Yan Yufei and Ling Jianqiu exerted themselves even more to keep the Servant of Fear busy and create opportunities for him. Alas, their enemy wasn't stupid. When Ye Qing had got within three meters of the Stranger, they abruptly spun their neck around and trained their gaze on Ye Qing. The eyes on the tentacles and the warts were fully affixed on him as well. In that instant, all the alarm bells in Ye Qing's head went off at the same time.
Rumble!
The tide of terrifying and evil illusions abruptly swelled into a tsunami. Caught off guard, Ye Qing nearly blacked out there and then even as his mind wobbled like a rowboat attempting to wade through a thunderstorm, or a candle flame trying to survive a hurricane. He knew he had seconds at most before he completely succumbed to the Servant of Fear's influence.
"Scatter!"
Ye Qing bit down his tongue to regain just an instant of clarity before visualizing the "Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method" with all his might. The silhouette of Emperor Fuxi abruptly solidified, and the light of the Nine Heavens illuminated every corner of his head.
Boom!
While the light was shining at full force, the strange vehicle Emperor Fuxi stood on abruptly vanished and cut a streak across the sky. His sea of consciousness—it was almost fully black at this point due to the mental pollution—shuddered violently before threads of light abruptly appeared on its surface and stretched all the way to the bottom. Like the moon pushing away the clouds that dared to block its light, the threads boiled away at the black sea just long enough for Ye Qing to pull off his ultimate move.
"Lightning Bolt"
A bolt of lightning shot right out of his mouth.
Rumble!
Infused with the power of the Nine Heavens, the terrific sword easily tore through the Servant of Fear's tentacles, warts and most of its body in one blow. The Stranger staggered away from him and looked up as if to let out a soundless scream.
Lightning was the bane of all spectral and evil entities, and the Servant of Fear most definitely fell under the category of evil. It was why Lightning Bolt dealt more damage to the Servant of Fear than any one of their attacks so far.
Ye Qing was a faithful believer of kicking an enemy when they were down. When the mental pollution pouring into his head abruptly slowed down due to the damage they took, he immediately stepped in front of the Servant of Fear and caught their skull with his left hand. He then said,
"Adios, friend!"
Netherflame surged out of the Blue Demon Hand and engulfed the Stranger in just the blink of an eye. The next second, the Servant of Fear was reduced to just a pile of ashes.
Bang!
Just in case, Ye Qing swung his sleeve and scattered the ash. As the saying went, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
"Lightning Bolt…"
"The Blue Demon Hand…"
Yan Yufei and Ling Jianqiu were distracted by the death of the Servant of Fear at first. The Stranger had given them a lot of trouble after all. However, they soon noticed Ye Qing's weapons and exchanged a quick look with each other. The dots were finally starting to connect in their head.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein