Stranger Danger

“This is the thirty-sixth one today!”

Ye Qing sheathed his saber while staring at the human skins on the ground. He looked like he was on the verge of exploding.

This was the thirty-sixth human skin Stranger he had killed, and the third wave of human skin Strangers he had encountered today. Not only had they attacked him three times in a row, each attack consisted of more human skin Strangers than the last. The first wave had five enemies, the second wave had ten, and the third wave had a whopping twenty-one. It was almost as if they had a grudge with him. He would’ve been in great danger if he hadn’t refined a silver dragon-serpent rune and become much stronger. At the very least, he would’ve taken some injuries.

“These goddamn monsters are growing more and more numerous by the day. What on earth is behind these things?” Ye Qing muttered darkly. His man’s intuition was telling him that bad things were about to happen in the very near future, but no one could end the threat or even locate the hidden Stranger. It was this persistent sense of gloom that made him grow ever so irritated by the day.

“Since the truth isn’t looking to spill out any time soon, the only other solution to this problem is to further my strength. It is the only way I might better protect myself when danger comes.”

He felt like he was facing the same problem again and again. He just did not have enough power to face what was to come.

To grow his power, he would need to gather as many dragon-serpent runes as possible as quickly as he could. But how could he do that? There were a ton of Strangers in this world as a matter of course, but those he could kill seemed to be few and far between. Moreover, he had a sense that the population of other Strangers in the vicinity of August Hill Village had drastically decreased since the rise of the human skin Strangers. It was so bad that he had barely killed anything except the human skin Strangers for the past couple days.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, these human skin Strangers did not yield even a single gray dragon-serpent rune. All they did was bleed him and his fellow villagers dry while giving nothing in return. With that in mind, how could he not loathe them for it?

“You better not let me find out who or what you really are, bastard! Otherwise, I will rip you to shreds!” Ye Qing swore into the air before scratching his hair in dejection. “Sigh. If only every Stranger in the world was as free as the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes; massive in numbers and easy to kill!”

Suddenly, an idea occurred to Ye Qing. “Wait a second… the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes! I can try and lure them to me!”

He didn’t dare to venture into Little August Hill because some of the Strangers there could probably squish him like a fly, but the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes were a different story. Given enough fresh blood, he should be able to lure them out just like Zhou Nian had when he died to the Echo Caterpillar!

Now, there was only one problem left: where was he going to get some fresh blood?

The human skin Strangers had scared away seemingly every flesh-and-blood Stranger that normally lurked around August Hill Village, leaving behind the humans. Of course he wasn’t going to take someone’s life just to satisfy his cultivation needs. Chen Zheng was an exception, but he still couldn’t beat Chen Zheng right now, could he?

What if I use my own blood? Ye Qing thought. Blood was the one thing he didn’t lack thanks to his powerful vigor, and assuming he was successful the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes would restore the blood he lost faster than he could blink his eyes.

Yeah, let’s do this!

Despite his eagerness, he did not execute his plan immediately. He recalled the time and location of the other watchmen squads before moving to a location where there was little chance his comrades might stumble upon him. It was only then he finally kicked off “Operation Mosquito”.

First, he chose a clean rock on the ground and cut not his finger, but an artery on his wrist. His blood poured profusely out of the wound and dyed the rock bright red in just the blink of an eye. It was at this moment something unexpected happened. Green moss suddenly grew out of the rock and covered it completely in just a matter of seconds. They looked like vines, except they were dark red instead of mossy green. It looked very strange to say the least.

Even scarier was the fact that the moss started actively pushing back against all the plants around it. If Ye Qing didn’t know better, he would have thought that the moss had transformed into a Stranger.

“...”

Clearly, his blood was even more special than he thought. Its enormous vitality and power of consumption had literally caused a random clump of moss to undergo an unprecedented mutation.

“I’ll have to redo this!” The reason he chose a rock to pour his blood onto was to prevent it from sinking into the earth and vanishing over time. He just hadn’t accounted for his blood’s unique characteristic.

This time, Ye Qing hacked off the top half of the rock and dug a hole in the middle of it. Then, he removed all the moss and plants around it. After confirming that everything was ready, he cut open his arm once more and poured his blood into the hole in the rock.

The hole was about as big as a human’s head. When it was half full, Ye Qing sealed his wound with a single thought. Literally. His flesh had knitted together so fast and seamlessly that not a scar was left behind.

“I’ve literally bled myself to prepare you this grand feast, Bloodsucking Mosquitoes. Do not disappoint me!” said Ye Qing. With that done, he sat down on the ground, plucked a random foxtail to put in his mouth, and cast a hopeful glance in the direction of Little August Hill. He was just waiting for the main character to show up now.

Fifteen minutes passed…

Half an hour passed…

One hour passed…

“Come on. They have to show up eventually, right?” Ye Qing was starting to get a little worried. “I’ll give it another hour. If they still don't show up, then I’ll try and find another way!”

Another hour passed, but the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes were still nowhere to be seen. Disappointed, Ye Qing patted away the soil on his clothes and prepared to leave.

It was at this moment a black cloud suddenly appeared above Little August Hill. Not only was it moving toward Ye Qing with insane speed, its buzzing sound was clearly audible even from this distance.

“It’s here!” Ye Qing exploded with such glee that he even took two steps toward the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes. He looked like he was looking at a bunch of naked women, not bloodsucking parasites that would literally drain him into skins and bones if they could.

It wasn’t long before the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes reached him. When they discovered Ye Qing and the pool of blood inside the rock, they immediately descended on them and covered them completely.

Ye Qing did not move a muscle. He allowed the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes to drain his blood to their heart’s content. However, every time a Bloodsucking Mosquito had had their fill of blood, their bodies would suddenly deflate and lose all life. They would then fall to the ground like specks of dust. Layer upon layer of dead Bloodsucking Mosquitoes started stacking on the ground until it looked like Ye Qing was standing in the middle of a black sea, one that was purely made of corpses. It was terrifying to put it mildly. 𝗯𝐞𝗱𝗻𝐨𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝗼𝗿𝐠

Ye Qing was perfectly fine with this though. “I feel so good I can fly! A couple more ‘sessions’ like this, and I’m set for the foreseeable future!”

If he could kill every last Bloodsucking Mosquito in this place, he would gain a dozen silver dragon-serpent runes at least. Moreover, he was making a killing without having to lift a finger. How could he not be ecstatic about this?

Alas, all good things must come to an end. A familiar coak suddenly came from the distance and made him feel like someone had poured a cold bucket over his head. It couldn’t be! I must be hearing things! Ye Qing prayed fervently.

But he wasn’t. A green frog wearing a red bandana and a massive, cape-like leaf suddenly dropped from the sky. It was still in the air when it executed a beautiful roundhouse kick that annihilated a swathe of Bloodsucking Mosquitoes before sweeping it all into his mouth. When it landed on the ground, it launched into a flurry of palm thrusts that killed a ton of Bloodsucking Mosquitoes and generated a tremendous amount of chilly wind. Of course, it ate all these Bloodsucking Mosquitoes as well. Its speed and efficiency was matched by no one!

Ye Qing: “...”

Ye Qing looked like he wanted to cry. He would be cussing up a storm already if he wasn’t worried that the frog would turn around and kick his ass if he did. When the Kung Fu Frog started killing the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes faster and faster, Ye Qing finally decided that enough was enough and took the fight to the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes. He started executing the “Five Tigers Door Breaking Saber” with all his might to mow down the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes.

His attacks were powerful, and his technique was impeccable. Unfortunately, he was still nowhere close to catching up to the Kung Fu Frog’s speed. Every time the Kung Fu Frog executed a move, an entire area would be affected almost like he was firing cannonballs of air at the Bloodsucking Mosquitoes. On the other hand, Ye Qing could only affect the immediate vicinity of his weapon. Of course he was slower than the Kung Fu Frog.

Never thought I’d be outmatched by a frog one day…

Ye Qing only felt more and more bitter over time, but the Kung Fu Frog was one of those powerful Strangers he could not afford to provoke. The only him he could do was to urge himself to go faster.

“Croak… croak…”

Ye Qing’s stomach was croaking every once in a while. Thanks to the Toad Force, his saber was slightly quicker and more powerful than normal, which of course helped to kill the dwindling Bloodsucking Mosquitoes even faster. The young man was so focused on his task that he did not notice the Kung Fu Frog shooting him a curious look when his stomach croaked for the first time.

It didn’t take long before the man and the frog had wiped out the skyful of Bloodsucking Mosquitoes. The few pockets that were lucky enough to escape quickly flew back to Little August Hill.

Ye Qing let out a wistful sigh as he stared at the escaping Bloodsucking Mosquitoes. Then, he looked at the satisfied-looking Kung Fu Frog with a decidedly unsatisfied expression on his face.

If the Kung Fu Frog hadn’t jumped out of nowhere and interfered, these Bloodsucking Mosquitoes would’ve been all his. At least one-third of his haul had vanished into the Stranger’s stomach!

There was nothing he could do about it though. If this was a game, then the Kung Fu Frog would be a boss. He would have to have a death wish to provoke it!

“Croak.”

To Ye Qing’s surprise, the Kung Fu Frog did not leave after cleaning up all the dead Bloodsucking Mosquitoes on the ground. Instead, it croaked at him as if it was trying to say something.

Ye Qing: “...”

Kung Fu Frog: “Croak croak...”

Ye Qing blinked. “......” I’m sorry bro, but I just don’t speak frog!

As if sensing his incomprehension, the Kung Fu Frog pointed at its own stomach and filled it with a bit of air. Then, a thunderous croak erupted from it.

“... You want me to show you my Toad Force?” This time, Ye Qing did understand. He immediately channeled the Toad Force and made a croak from his stomach, but it was way softer than the Kung Fu Frog’s.

“Croak! Croak! Croak!” Seeing that Ye Qing had understood his meaning, the Kung Fu Frog pointed at its stomach again and started breathing again. Every time its stomach swelled and deflated, a croak would rip through the air, and each time a croak happened, the Kung Fu Frog’s aura would grow just a little stronger. Nine croaks later, the air around the Kung Fu Frog was shaking unnaturally almost as if it was being distorted by some sort of unimaginable power.

“CROAK!”

The next moment, the Kung Fu Frog let out its loudest croak yet and unleashed what looked like a beam of white shockwave straight from its mouth. It struck the ground in front of it and caused such a massive explosion that Ye Qing had to brace himself for it. The earth shook like a massive drake was rolling in its sleep.

By the time the dust had settled, Ye Qing found himself staring at a massive pit that was thirty meters deep at minimum. It was absolutely terrifying to say the least.

“Gulp…”

Ye Qing’s eyes were as wide as saucers. He didn’t even realize he was trembling until he did. What the hell is this power? Forget me, I highly doubt Lin Hu or Chen Zheng could take a hit like this and survive!

The Kung Fu Frog clasped its hands behind its back. After pointing a finger at its stomach and the deep pit in front of them, it lifted its chin proudly almost as if to say: You see this, boy? This is the Toad Force, not that chicken shit you were practicing!

“Yes, yes, I get it. You’re a bloody amazing frog!” Ye Qing rolled his eyes at the bragging frog.

When a frog gives you lemons…