Stranger Danger

Chapter 127: The Worst Good Wishes

“Not very good, to be honest!” Evergreen Ivy replied smilingly even though she was at a severe disadvantage right now. She looked like she had a trump card up her sleeves. “It’s why I enjoy being a hunter more!”

An unusually large finger appeared in her hand. It was as big as a baby’s arm and pitch black in color. Covered in twisted and mystifying runes, it gave off a dark and oppressive feeling.

“This is a finger bone the Nether Lord had graciously bestowed me, and it possesses a sliver of His Majesty’s strength. I hope you’ll enjoy it!”

She tossed the finger bone at Ye Qing, and it floated in the air as if suspended by a mysterious power. A black, unspeakable silhouette suddenly manifested into existence, and the finger bone slowly melded into its palm.

A terrifying power erupted from the figure as soon as the fusion was complete. Then, it pointed a finger at Ye Qing.

Rumble!

Space itself began collapsing as a cold, deathly aura spread to the surroundings. Everything—the rocks, the ground, the plants, the buildings and more—was immediately encased in ice.

Some Pacification Sentinels failed to get out of the way in time and turned into ice statues as well. They were dead in just the blink of an eye.

The ice was pitch black like the aura it permeated. It wasn’t just the humans, everything that was alive died the moment it came into contact with it. Even powerful warriors such as Zhao Yunlong and Shi Chong felt like their blood had turned into ice. The Burning Wind was the one thing that was keeping the ice at bay and neutralizing its murderous power.

As if angered by Ye Qing’s resistance, the silhouette let out an audible grunt and thrust its finger an inch forward. The stalemate was immediately broken as the black ice pushed back the Burning Wind at a rapid pace.

“Goodbye, Joyless!” Evergreen Ivy waved Ye Qing goodbye smilingly. Although the finger only contained a sliver of the Nether Lord’s strength, it was still beyond the ability of an Astral Refiner to withstand. She was absolutely certain that Ye Qing would not survive this.

The Stranger had even sighed in dejection, “It’s going to be difficult to replace such a fun toy. I’m going to miss you!”

In the sky, the silhouette leaned forward to tap Ye Qing in the forehead. In response, Ye Qing sucked in a deep breath and channeled the Burning Wind until his body became as hot as a furnace. Evergreen Ivy seemed to think it was over, but in reality the deathly cold could not affect him one bit. His Burning Wind had dispelled it as soon as it seeped into his body. Even the approaching finger only made him feel a sliver of pressure. He could do this.

He assumed his stance and tensed up his muscles. Normally, he would unleash his astral qi like he was throwing a fireball, but this time he locked his energy firmly within his flesh and blood. His legs were the base, his backbone the support, his arm the cannon that would unleash hell upon his enemies, and his body the reactor that gave him the power to do so. He gathered all of his essence, qi and spirit into his fist.

When he drew back his fist, the sky changed, and the earth trembled as if bending to Ye Qing’s will. When he threw his punch, the world turned white, and all sound ceased to exist for an instant. It looked like a punch that could annihilate all evil and cement peace for untold ages.

Buzz…

The world grew silent when Ye Qing’s fist finally clashed against the Nether Lord’s finger. The next second, every building within thirty meters of the site was smashed into smithereens before they even hit the ground. It was because an unbelievable amount of force and wind that was simultaneously hot and cold was gushing from the point of impact and destroyed everything in its path. There was no sound, but the ground zero looked like a painting that was in the middle of being ripped piece by piece by an invisible hand.

Rumble rumble rumble…

The earthquake was fairly mild at the beginning, so much so that it almost felt like a delayed reaction. The stones were jumping slightly as if an underground Stranger was about to jump out into the open. Then, it grew louder and louder until it sounded like a continuous barrage of thunder that would never end, or a drumbeat by a god who was using the earth itself as the drum. When the unholy sound had risen a certain pitch, the earth abruptly warped, churned, and tore itself apart. The ground around Ye Qing’s feet were literally rippling like the sea surface during a thunderstorm.

But Ye Qing remained as firm as a mountain. No matter how hard the finger tried to push past his fist and drill into his skull, his resistance was ceaseless and unyielding.

Eventually, the rumblings came to a stop. Most of the ground around Ye Qing besides the one he was standing on had fallen away into a bottomless chasm. Then—

Crack!

There was a sound like breaking glass when cracks suddenly appeared on the Nether Lord’s finger bone. It quickly spread throughout its body until it started wavering like an exquisite vase that was on the verge of falling apart.

“No… This is impossible!” Evergreen Ivy exclaimed in utter shock and disbelief. She just could not believe that an Astral Refiner—one who had just entered the Astral Refinement stage no less—could break the Nether Lord’s finger.

“It’s a little too early to be surprised, girl!”

Ye Qing shot Evergreen ivy a wide grin and pushed his fist an inch forward. The ground directly underneath him immediately sank a meter below as if it couldn’t withstand the pressure, and the cracked finger pulled back as if it was trying to escape. The dark silhouette it was imbuing had disappeared in a flash of distortion as well.

Unfortunately, it was too late. It only flew a short distance when it froze suddenly as if it had crossed a certain threshold. Then, it exploded into smithereens.

“And game! It’s your turn to become the hunted again, Evergreen Ivy!”

Ye Qing withdrew his fist and shook his wrist casually. His bones immediately let out a disturbingly long series of pops and cracks as if he was undergoing a metamorphosis or something. When it finally ceased, the foreign force attacking his body—the one the finger had injected into him during the clash—had been completely dispelled.

Despite the stunning failure, Evergreen Ivy did not seem worried about her own safety in the slightest. “How impressive! I’m starting to like you more and more, dear!”

“Hehe! Me too, sister!” Ye Qing raised his right foot half an inch before stomping the ground. He shot into the sky like an arrow and straight at Evergreen Ivy. “I like you so much I can’t wait to kill you with my own two hands!”

“Here’s a free lesson to you from one scholar to another. The reason a human is a human isn’t because they are capable of benevolence. It’s also because they know right from wrong, good from evil, and justice from injustice. A human who only obeys the law of the jungle is just an animal!”

While saying this, Ye Qing pulled back until his spine resembled a drawn bow. Then, he punched forward and unleashed a massive column of Burning Wind.

“Haha, I will remember your lesson, Joyless. I shall put it to the test the next time we meet!” Evergreen Ivy gave him a little wave. At the same time, she started turning transparent at a rapid pace. She looked like she might disappear at any moment.

“Shit!” Ye Qing cursed. Just like last time, Evergreen Ivy was teleporting herself away to safety through an unknown method. He quickened his fist in hopes that it would hit her before she disappeared.

Evergreen Ivy slapped her head as if she just remembered something. “Oh right, I almost forgot. When you came back, I sent word to Sunset Hill informing the Hill Lord, Wang Luori, that you are the one who killed his direct disciple, Xiao Yang. Wang Luori is a petty, vengeful man who would do anything to take revenge for those he cared about, so you better watch out!”

“...”

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, indeed.

He protested, “Screw you! I didn’t kill Xiao Yang! The idiot’s the one who chased me into Firewind Valley and got himself killed! It has nothing to do with me!”

“Hahaha. You should save those words for Wang Luori. Who knows, maybe he’ll believe you?”

Evergreen Ivy disappeared into thin air after saying that. She left behind only one final message, “Take care, Joyless. You better stay alive until our next meeting!”

If one of the best good wishes in the world was, “I hope to see you soon!” then the worst one was easily, “You better stay alive until our next meeting!”

Ye Qing’s fist scattered the clouds and returned the sky to blue, but Evergreen Ivy was long gone by then. Not only that, she had left behind the vilest curse. It’s bad enough I failed to kill her, but she made me a powerful enemy as well! What the fuck!

Ye Qing landed back on the ground looking sad and dejected. When he noticed that Ling Jianqiu, Zhao Yunlong, Shi Chong and everyone else was shooting him strange looks, he thought they were suspecting him and clarified in a hurry, “Why are you looking at me like that? I swear I didn’t kill Xiao Yang!”

When the group exchanged strange glances with each other, he thought they didn’t believe him and panicked even more, “Seriously, it’s not me! Evergreen Ivy is lying through her teeth! You gotta believe me!”

“Ahem. I believe you, Joyless. We all believe you!” Ling Jianqiu replied with a cough. He suppressed his disappointment and sorrow as best he could and added, “Thank you for everything, Joyless!”

Ling Jianqiu was wracked with grief to put it mildly, but he was still the Chief of Bureau with many duties to attend to. His grieving must wait until later.

“Ah… you’re welcome. I’m doing it for myself as well!” Ye Qing hurriedly waved his hands and glanced at the ruin that was once the Pacification Bureau headquarters. He let out a sigh as he rubbed his nose, “I can’t believe she managed to get away a second time though. This was our best chance to get her, but she still managed to escape in the end. It’ll be so much harder to capture her in the future!”

Ling Jianqiu replied, “That may be so, but the fact that she can no longer work against the Pacification Bureau from the inside is a good thing.”

“I’m sure the Pacification Bureau is happy, but what about me? Dammit!” Ye Qing felt another wave of headache when he recalled what Evergreen Ivy said about Sunset Hill and Wang Luori. “What can you tell me about Wang Luori, Chief Ling?”

Ling Jianqiu furrowed his brow. “Sunset Hill, Blood Shadow Palace and White Horse Academy are the three most influential sects in Luo Shui. Sunset Hill in particular has one thousand Qi Invokers, three hundred Vessel Augmentors, and one hundred Astral Refiners, and I’m only talking about its disciples.”

“The Hill Lord, Wang Luori, is a half-step Spirit Master. An expert in fist arts, his fighting style is as violent and fiery as his temper. He is also irritable, arrogant, and vengeful. He perceives any slight toward Sunset Hill as a slight to himself. He is not a man you want to trifle with.”

“A half-step Spirit Master?” Ye Qing frowned deeply. A warrior’s cultivation was a step-by-step process. If the Body Tempering stage and the Qi Invocation stage focused on honing the body, and the Vessel Augmentation stage and Astral Refinement stage focused on refining the qi, then the Spirit Purification stage and the Spirit Master stage focused on cultivating the spirit.

The Spirit Purification stage was the stage where a warrior unlocked the primordial points located at the center of their head and honed their spirit. The goal was to build a Mind Altar in their head to strengthen their mind. Given a powerful enough spirit, a Spirit Purifier could cultivate all kinds of mental arts, perceive enemies before they even came into view, and even attack them via mental attacks. More often than not, they could kill without leaving a trace in the physical world. Barring anomalies like Ye Qing, a Spirit Purifier could extinguish the mind of any warrior below the Spirit Purification stage like a candle.

The Spirit Master stage was also known as the Yin God stage. It was the stage where a warrior created a spiritual entity called the Yin God. Despite being the embodiment of the warrior’s spirit, the Yin God usually looked different from their physical self. It could also leave its physical body behind and roam the world without being fettered by its physical laws.

More importantly, the warrior could not be killed unless their Yin God was destroyed. The Spirit Master stage was the stage where a warrior truly broke free from the confines of their mortal shell and returned to their truest, most natural self.

In other words, Wang Luori was someone Ye Qing wanted to avoid at all costs.

Ling Jianqiu glanced at Ye Qing and said slowly, “If what Evergreen Ivy said is true, then you are in deep trouble, Joyless.”

“...”

Stating the obvious much? Ye Qing rolled his eyes at Ling Jianqiu. Sigh. It’s so hard to be a good guy these days!