Stranger Danger

Chapter 116: The Uncertain Chain

Shocked and in pain, the six men abandoned their swords and tried to retreat.

“I’ll see you off!” Ye Qing chuckled and hardened his sleeve. It slammed into the six men’s chest like an avalanche and sent them flying through the air, blood streaming out of every orifice in their body. They were dead long before they hit the ground because the attack had shattered their internal organs into bits. Not only that, they were moving so fast that they slammed into a few assassins who were too slow to get out of the way and killed them as well.

Meanwhile, Ye Qing was croaking like a toad and releasing a bright red fog from his body. Once he was completely shrouded within the fog, he gradually faded into nothing like a mirage.

“Watch out!” Shen Xian recognized the danger and shouted on top of his lungs, but he was still too late. Ye Qing abruptly reappeared in the middle of the group and whispered, “Too slow!”

A crescent saber slid out of his sleeve and drew a crooked arc across the air. Then, more arcs appeared in the air until the space around Ye Qing resembled a chaotic but tight-knit web. The arcs disappeared a second later, but over a dozen men had holes in their throat, their foreheads, their hearts, their dantians and other vital spots. It was only after the fact that they panicked as if realizing what just happened, but it was too late. Their eyes turned glassy, and they collapsed and fell dead.

Before they hit the ground, their blood flew out of their bodies and circled around Ye Qing like ribbons. He then turned toward Shen Xian and Li Yuankang and smiled. “It’s your turn now!”

His smile was kind, but it was worse than a demon’s in Shen Xian and Li Yuankang’s opinions. Realizing that they had underestimated the young man, they wrestled down their shock and fear and roared, “R-Retreat!”

They had spent decades raising these men into who they were. They weren’t just elites, they were the foundational pillars of their two clans. If they all died, it would not be worth it even if they managed to kill Ye Qing in the end!

The two patriarchs charged Ye Qing to buy time for their men to escape. Scared shitless by the bizarre and horrific abilities Ye Qing had displayed, the assassins did not hesitate to follow the order. However, they had just taken a step when their blood suddenly bubbled out of control, and their energies fell into disorder. Before they could figure out what was happening to them, Ye Qing sneered,

“Taking your leave without asking for my permission? How rude!”

Ignoring Shen Xian and Li Yuankang, he clenched his fist and caused a sea of Blood Shadows to appear all around him. At the same time, one of the assassins suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream that was cut short when he exploded into smithereens.

His death was like a signal. All the Qi Invokers started screaming at the same time as their bodies swelled like balloons, and blood poured profusely out of their bodies. A chain of explosions later, nothing was left except blood and gore. That was the end of the Shen Clan and the Li Clan’s cadre.

“Noooooooooo!!!” Shen Xian and Li Yuankang screamed with bloodshot eyes. It wasn’t just their present that Ye Qing had ruined, but their future as well!

“It hurts, doesn’t it? I told you you would regret this!” Ye Qing cracked a grin at the maddened patriarchs.

“I’ll kill you!” Li Yuankang roared and summoned a spear into his hands. He thrust it so fast that it split into a flurry of fiery afterimages that seemed powerful enough to ignite an entire meadow. It was a technique from the Li Clan’s Vessel Augmentation stage spear art, the “Ignition Spear Art”!

“Hundred Strikes Ignition”

At the same time, Shen Xian threw out a chain from his sleeves. The chain was rusted, dark, and heavy. It looked like an ordinary chain, but it was floating in the air and slithering around like a snake. It was then Shen Clan’s Red-class Strange Artifact, the Uncertain Chain!

The chain circled the air several times before splitting into multiple chains and shooting toward Ye Qing without warning. They surrounded him from all sides and closed in on him from every direction.

Ye Qing executed a Flowing Cloud, Flying Sleeve technique that shattered the chains and seemingly kept them at bay, but suddenly, he lost his smile and dashed some thirty meters away from his original position.

It was futile though. A chain had appeared around his torso before he knew it, and it quickly extended to the rest of his body and caught him in a tight bind!

Ye Qing immediately channeled his true qi and tried to break out of the chains, but it was tougher than he expected. Shen Xian felt like his frustration and hatred were wiped clean in an instant as he let out a wild laugh, “Hahaha! This is the Uncertain Chain, and you cannot avoid it once it’s locked onto you, much less break free! Now die!”

The Uncertain Chain was a Red-class Strange Artifact with the ability to entrap both yin and yang. The reason it was called the “Uncertain Chain” was because it was simultaneously real and unreal at the same time when targeting an enemy, meaning that its state of existence was fluid and everchanging. It was a unique quality that made it nigh impossible to defend against.

Regarding its ability to entrap “yin and yang”, yin referred to yin entities with no physical body such as ghosts and yin soul, whereas yang referred to flesh-and-blood entities such as humans, animals, Strangers and the like.

In short, the Uncertain Chain could entrap both physical and non-physical objects. Unless the strength disparity was too huge, practically no one could break out of its bindings and must contend with a debilitating, most likely fatal handicap.

“Kill him now, Brother Li!”

“Kill!”

Li Yuankang arrived at just the right moment and thrust his spear straight at Ye Qing. if the young man didn’t do something, it would skewer every part of his body and turn him into a pile of ash.

Rise! Ye Qing mentally commanded. His Blood Shadows immediately appeared in front of him and surged toward Li Yuankang not unlike a tsunami of blood.

Blood was, in part, water, so an unimaginable amount of steam was released when the two elements clashed. The wall of spear afterimages disappeared, but the red hot, flame-wreathed spear managed to cut through the blood and continue toward Ye Qing. In fact, Li Yuankang unleashed a dragon of pure fire straight at Ye Qing when he brought down his spear!

The spear was no ordinary spear. It was the Red-class Strange Artifact, the Ignition Fire Dragon Spear!

Ye Qing was as small as an insect compared to the fire dragon. His hair was curling up from the heat even though the fire dragon was still a fair distance away from him.

A meter before the fire dragon would consume him whole, Ye Qing suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a lightning bolt. It cut the roaring dragon in half and slammed into the Ignition Fire Dragon Spear’s spear tip, temporarily keeping it at bay. It was, of course, Lightning Bolt.

For a time, the mini sword and the flame-wreathed spear struggled for dominance. Sparks flew everywhere, and the shockwaves kicked up a ton of dust and dug deep holes into solid earth. It almost looked like the site of an earthquake.

As both Lightning Bolt and the Ignition Fire Dragon Spear were Red-class Strange Artifacts, they shared more or less the same power. It would take a while before the stalemate was broken, but Ye Qing was pretty sure that Shen Xian was going to stay on the sidelines and do nothing like a good boy. He needed to win this, now.

Let’s see, how do you win a tug of war again? That’s right…

Ye Qing emitted a pulse of spiritual power from his forehead and into Lightning Bolt. The Strange Artifact rang softly and pulled back an inch as if it was faltering under the Ignition Fire Dragon Spear’s power. Pleasantly surprised, Li Yuankang did not hesitate to spin his spear like a top and pressed forward.

It was at this moment Lightning Bolt shot forward and clashed against the fiery spear once more. Then, it discharged a terrifying amount of lightning that blinded both men.

Li Yuankang blanched. The renewed attack was so powerful and so unexpected that his grip slipped, and his spear skidded back an inch before he regained it. However, he had to exert far more strength to maintain his grip because his blood was drenching the handle, and lightning was creeping into his open wound and destabilizing his grip even more.

And you’re done.

Lightning Bolt pushed even harder, and suddenly, Li Yuankang’s finger bones snapped as if they could handle the pressure no longer. The Ignition Fire Dragon Spear flew right out of his grasp.

“NO!”

All the blood drained away from Li Yuankang’s face as he screamed in horror. Before he could dodge out of the way, the mini sword shot through his forehead, and everything dissolved into darkness.

“Phew…” Ye Qing opened his mouth and inhaled Lightning Bolt back down his throat. His head was pounding like a bitch.

Lightning Bolt was said to be able to kill anyone and anything within a hundred steps from its wielder, but it must be nurtured with his blood essence and spiritual power. The more blood essence and spirit he fed into the sword, the stronger it became.

Thanks to the Annon Sutra, he possessed a powerful physique and a nigh infinite amount of blood essence. Thanks to the “Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method”, his spirit was far stronger than even your average Astral Refiner. That was why Lightning Bolt was so much more powerful in his hands than Zheng Feng.

Just now, he had injected all of his spiritual power into Lightning Bolt and targeted the weakest point of his attack. That was why he was able to overwhelm his opponent, and why he was battling against a terrible headache and nausea right now.

Shunk!

Suddenly, Ye Qing tensed up and moved an inch to the left. As if on cue, a soft sword stabbed into his back and out of his chest. If he hadn’t sensed the danger at the last moment, the attack absolutely would’ve stabbed him in the heart and killed him!

What was scary was that the sword was undetectable right until the second it was about to sink into his flesh. It blended so well with its surroundings that it was almost as if it didn’t exist.

“The Thirteen Swords of Hidden Mist!”

Ye Qing made the connection immediately. The “Thirteen Swords of Hidden Mist” was the? signature sword art of the Shen Clan. It originated from an assassin sect known as the “Gate of Hidden Mist” over a century ago. Their martial arts could be summed up in just a few words: silent, invisible, and lethal on the first strike. Of course, their movement arts were excellent as well.

This was why Ye Qing couldn’t detect the “Thirteen Swords of Hidden Mist” even with his powerful spirit. Fast, accurate and ruthless, the sword art was an assassination art meant to kill the target with the first strike. That Ye Qing managed to avoid it at all was a testament to his skills.

“Correct. It is the ‘Thirteen Swords of Hidden Mist’!”

Shen Xian’s voice came from behind him, but Ye Qing was unable to pinpoint his exact location. Sometimes it came from the left, and sometimes the right. Li Yuankang might be the most powerful warrior of the three clans, but Shen Xian was absolutely the best assassin and the most annoying to deal with.

Croak! Croak! Croak!

Ye Qing sucked in a deep breath and croaked in rapid succession. When he croaked nine times in a row, an unimaginable aura hiked all the way to the nine heavens, crushed the earth thirty meters around him, and kicked up a wave that was over thirty meters tall from the Jade Spring Lake!

Ye Qing acted so swiftly and decisively that Shen Xian never reacted until it was too late. By the time he figured out what the young man was doing, a terrific wave of blood had swept across the entire area and struck him squarely in the chest. His chest was completely caved in as he shot through the air like a ragged doll.