Stranger Danger

Chapter 132: Yin Locust Tree

Suddenly, Wawa crawled out of his hair and stared at the groom on the white horse for a bit. Then, she said in puzzlement, “Hmm? Hey friend, the groom looks exactly the same as you.”

“Is that so?” Ye Qing turned serious. He knew that Wawa was no ordinary Stranger. She was a pure soul who could see what most people couldn’t see. When he looked up to check out the groom’s face once more, the groom turned around to stare at him as well!

Ye Qing shivered. As Wawa said, the groom looked a lot like him. Scratch that, he looked exactly the same as him. Even his gaze was a mirror reflection of his.

It was at this moment a familiar grin spread across the groom’s face. Ye Qing blanked out for second, and the next thing he knew, he was sitting on the white horse. He had become the groom himself.

“Please welcome the bride, groom!” The matchmaker, an old woman, said loudly.

Ye Qing slowly got off the horse and walked up to the coffin. He didn’t feel in control of himself.

“Please kick the coffin, groom!” The matchmaker yelled again.

Once again, Ye Qing couldn’t stop himself from kicking the coffin. Seriously? I know it’s tradition to kick the carriage to symbolise having wed one’s beautiful bride, but a coffin? My dear dead bride is totally going to come back to life and haunt me, isn’t she?

“Please carry the bride, groom!” The matchmaker yelled a third time, and the coffin lid opened on its own. Then, the woman wearing a bridal dress and a red veil over her face sat up without warning.

If he ignored the bride’s deathly pale hands, her bony stature, and the suspicious scent permeating the air, he could see that she was quite the beautiful woman in life. But right here and now, the only thing Ye Qing felt was goosebumps!

“Please carry the bride, groom!” The matchmaker yelled again when she saw that Ye Qing wasn’t moving.

Ye Qing swallowed. He wanted to carry the bride and get it over with as well, but his legs just refused to listen to him!

When it became apparent that Ye Qing wasn’t going to move, the bride slowly floated out of her coffin and landed behind his back. Then, a pair of unblemished arms slithered down his shoulders and wrapped around his neck.

Wow, you’re a bold woman, ain’tcha? Ye Qing thought to himself. To say that the bride felt cold would be an understatement. He felt like he was carrying a block of ice.

“Please carry the bride home, groom!” The matchmaker barked a new order.

This is my second life, but I haven’t tried carrying a bride before. This should be interesting! Thought Ye Qing as he began walking. However, the longer he walked, the colder and heavier the bride became. Eventually, he felt like he wasn’t carrying a block of ice, but a mountain.

It wasn’t just a feeling. If Ye Qing could look behind him, he would notice that he wasn’t carrying not one, but a mountain of ghosts. She was accompanied by a mountain of ghosts. The ghosts were stacked on top of each other until they reached all the way to the top. When they could not go any higher, they spread out to the surroundings like branches and leaves. From a distance, it almost looked like Ye Qing was carrying a gigantic tree.

Ye Qing was hunchbacked at this point. Every time he took a step, his feet would sink deeper into the ground. His surroundings were covered in a thick layer of frost as well.

“Do you not love me anymore, husband? Or are you having second thoughts about marrying me? If not, why are you walking slower and slower?”

Ye Qing had just pulled his feet out of the earth when Guo Yuniang whispered beside his ear. At the same time, he felt her icy cold arms slowly tightening around his neck as if she would strangle him if she did not like his answer.

What Ye Qing really wanted to say was, “It’s because you’re way too heavy, woman!” But he was pretty sure his health would be in grave danger if he answered honestly. Instead, he said, “Of course I love you, dear! I love you to death!” Literally, since you know, you’re already dead?

“If you really love me, will you stay with me until the end of time?”

As it turned out, his answer didn’t really matter. Guo Yuniang continued to tighten her arm around his neck until there was no doubt that she was strangling him. Ye Qing could not seem to feel it, however. He answered, “Sure!” and continued forward.

Guo Yuniang sounded extremely pleased with his answer. “Good, good! Yuniang will stay with you forever, husband. We will never be separated from each other!” She then draped her head over his shoulder and tightened her arms with everything she got.

If Ye Qing died, then they would truly be together forever.

One breath passed…

Three breaths passed…

Five breaths…

Ten breaths…

Guo Yuniang’s smile slowly stiffened because the man she was trying to strangle was completely fine. Not only that, cracks were slowly appearing across her arms because she was using too much strength.

“What’s wrong? Don’t stop! I’ve never had a neck massage before, but this is more comfortable than I thought!” Ye Qing joked while cracking his neck. “If you’re done, then it’s my turn now!”

Ye Qing very, very slowly raised his right leg so he wouldn’t accidentally topple over from the sheer amount of weight on his back. At the same time, the ground began shaking unnaturally almost as if it was afraid!

After he had raised his foot about three inches into the air, he brought it down and caused the ground to undulate outward like a piece of fabric. Every house in the village collapsed when the “wave” passed under them. At the same time, his hunched back abruptly straightened not unlike a drawn bow that was released, or a spring that had bounced back to its original shape. The mountain of ghosts behind his back were tossed straight in the sky, and his spine was as straight as an arrow once more.

“So that’s what I’ve been carrying this whole time? No wonder it was so heavy!” Ye Qing commented when he turned around and saw the ghosts. He then assumed a stance and threw a punch at them.

“Cloud Vaporization Style”

The Burning Wind washed over the mountain of ghosts. Like a sand castle that was struck by a tidal wave, the ghosts disappeared like they never were.

“It’s too bad I didn’t actually get to marry my bride. I haven’t even seen her face yet,” Ye Qing sighed wistfully.

After the ghosts were destroyed, the red suit he was wearing abruptly vanished into nothing, and Faceless, Kung Fu Frog, and his donkey reappeared on the road looking dazed and confused. The trio had suddenly disappeared when he replaced the groom, and it looked like they had no idea what just happened.

Rustle rustle…

A cool breeze blew through the area, and the giant locust tree at the center of the ruined village swayed a little to the wind. Then, without any warning whatsoever, the tree suddenly reached out toward Ye Qing with its branches and roots. It moved so silently that not even Faceless and the others noticed anything amiss!

The branches and roots were less than a meter away from Ye Qing when he suddenly turned around and grinned at the locust tree. “Hehe! I knew it was your doing from the start, Yin Locust Tree!”

As if embarrassed that their true colors were revealed, the branches and roots moved toward Ye Qing even faster than before. In response, the Astral Refiner simply executed another Cloud Vaporization Style punch and turned it all into ash.

Ye Qing dashed forward and approached the Yin Locust Tree’s main body at high speed. He then slammed his fist straight against its tree trunk.

The Yin Locust Tree was incredibly huge. Ye Qing looked like an ant compared to it, and his punch seemed just as futile. However, countless faces suddenly pressed out of the branches and leaves and howled on top of their lungs as if they were in abject pain. Some of the faces looked very familiar as well. Ye Qing saw the three men who were arguing whose ghost story was better, the gambler, the groom on the white horse, the bride in the coffin and more.

The next moment, dark red flames and Burning Wind poured out of their orifices and consumed them all. Just a dozen or so breaths later, the entire tree had burned into ash.

“You’re free now!” Ye Qing said with a smile. The unnatural fog and darkness trapping the whole village slowly vanished into nothing, and the moon and the stars suddenly appeared in the sky as if an invisible veil had been removed. The light painted a dreamlike scene that was both picturesque and freeing.

The clear moonlight illuminated their surroundings as clear as day. They had never been inside a village. It was a gravesite filled with haphazardly erected gravestones and even unburied bones all along.

Ye Qing and his companions were standing at the center of the gravesite. There was also a pile of ashes in front of him. If he had to guess, it was most likely the ash of the Yin Locust Tree.

“What on earth was that thing, young master?” Faceless asked.

Everything had returned to normal after that locust tree had burned into ashes. Clearly, it was the mastermind behind it all.

/p>

Ye Qing scooped up a pinch of ashes as he answered, “That tree is a Hatred-class Stranger called the Yin Locust Tree. The Yin Locust Tree is only born in a land of great yin, which is why it is commonly spotted in gravesites and battlefields.”

“In and of itself, the Yin Locust Tree is pretty weak. However, it can absorb the yin energy of the dead and create all kinds of minions such as Yin Souls, Zombies and the like. A Yin Locust Tree that has reached the height of its power is far, far stronger than your average Hatred-class Stranger. In fact, it is a match for some Soulstealer-class Strangers.”

Faceless nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Every single ghost we encountered earlier is at least a Malice-class Stranger. The ghost bride might even be a Hatred-class Stranger.”

Ye Qing continued, “That said, the Yin Locust Tree’s birth condition is too strict, and it takes a long time to reach its full power. Even if that isn’t the case, its true body is incredibly fragile. That is why it is only classified as a Hatred-class Stranger.”

“I get it now. Thanks for the lesson, young master!” Faceless hurriedly served up a compliment.

Ye Qing nodded and said, “If you’re ready, then I want you to collect the Yin Locust Tree’s ashes and store them properly!”

“Huh? But why?” Faceless looked confused.

“Just do it.”

The ash of the Yin Locust Tree was a key ingredient in making the Incense of Sickness. It was why Ye Qing had deliberately left the ashes behind.

“Yes, young master!” Faceless replied affirmatively and scooped all the ashes into a clay bottle. He handed the bottle over to Ye Qing after he was done.

After Ye Qing had put the bottle in his Nature’s Shell, Faceless asked another question, “So, should we continue our journey, or should we stay here for the night?”

Ye Qing smiled. “We’re staying, of course. This was the Yin Locust Tree’s territory until we came through. Now that it’s gone, this place is practically a safe zone for the moment. Besides that, I’m expecting some guests.”

Guests who should’ve known better and left when they still had the chance!