Stranger Danger

“It’s that god-damned bull Stranger and his tail!” Ye Qing blanched when he recognized the voice. He did not hesitate to withdraw his presence as much as possible. The last thing he wanted was to play another cat-and-mouse game with them. The mere recollection of the memory filled him with dread and discomfort.

A gigantic bull began manifesting out of nowhere after the voice was finished. In fact, it kept growing bigger until it nearly took up half the sky.

“MOOOOO!!!”

The next moment, a terrible moo erupted from the bull Stranger and slammed into the void’s power like a tangible thing. The invisible energies clashed against one another so fiercely that the sky itself resembled something straight out of the apocalypse. Everything looked distorted and empty.

Ye Qing could clearly sense that the bull Stranger was losing, however. It steadily lost ground as the void kept corroding and assimilating its power. It wasn’t long before the mighty silhouette of the bull abruptly shattered into pieces, and two gigantic tentacles fell down on Little August Hill like they would wipe it from the face of the earth.

“Just how strong is this bastard? I guess this is it then!” Ye Qing chuckled bitterly. The incomprehensible entity was so strong that it had overwhelmed even the mountain god and the bull Stranger combined. Just what was it?

Just when Ye Qing had given up all hope, a crimson fog abruptly rose from the underbelly of Little August Hill. The fog of blood looked pitifully weak compared to the all-encompassing power threatening to erase Little August Hill from existence itself, but the second the invisible tentacles made contact with it, they reeled back like a child who accidentally touched a piece of red hot coal.

The formless entity had withdrawn the tentacles as quickly as they could, but that brief contact seemed to be all it took to infect it with the blood’s corruptive, destructive power. Red spots began spreading throughout the tentacles and, as if they had been forcefully dragged into reality, they started bleeding crimson, putrefied blood.

“ARGH!”

The painful scream of an evil, indescribable voice resounded throughout Little August Hill for a long time. The two infected tentacles abruptly shattered into a million pieces and rained all over the mountains. The formless entity had also vanished into thin air.

Unfortunately, the entity and the tentacles weren’t the only things that had vanished. Little August Hill and everything around it were gone, leaving behind only a pale white canvas of nothingness and void. There was no greenery, no cooking smoke, no living things, no color, nothing. There was only a strange, empty space that looked like someone had erased half of the canvas that was reality. It was as bizarre as it was unreal.

Pitter-patter, pitter-patter, pitter-patter…

Fortunately or unfortunately, red blood rained over the unnatural space just a second later and dyed everything red.? It wasn’t long before it became the only color in the world. The blood rain would not stop until the puddles had turned into streams, and the massive hole where a village and an entire chunk of land used to be slowly filled up into a lake of blood. It was a lake that was very much like the Jade Dragon Lake, but not completely.

“That void entity looked like it could wipe out everything and anything, but even they could not resist the blood qi of Jade Dragon Lake… just who is the Stranger in the sarcophagus really?”

Ye Qing could not help but wonder out loud as he stared at the blood fog slowly receding into nothing. He was stunned and thankful that he had, against all odds, somehow survived this disaster, but his feelings were quickly replaced by inexplicable sorrow when he looked down and stared at the blood lake where a humble village used to be.

It was true he didn’t care much for August Hill Village, but it was still his first “home” since he arrived in this world. Who would’ve thought that the curtains would fall over the village in such an inexplicable, tragic fashion? Worst of all, its people had done absolutely nothing to deserve this fate.

“Zheng Tianqi… the Zheng Clan of Anyang.”

A flame of anger began to burn in Ye Qing’s chest. August Hill Village would still be safe and sound if not for them. Lin Hu and countless other innocent souls would not have perished if not for them!

“Very well. I swear to take revenge for you all. Let this be the atonement for my own sins!”

The fault wasn’t his, but he was part of the reason things had turned out this way. This was why he must bear this cross and atone for his sins. This was why he must take revenge not just for Lin Hu and all the innocent villagers who had died for this, but also for himself. He would not stop until everyone who was responsible for this tragedy was brought to justice!

Suddenly, a feminine voice snapped Ye Qing right out of his melancholy. “Oh my, is that my cutie I spy over there? I’m so happy! Come to me, quick! Your big sis would like to embrace you right now!”

Ye Qing visibly shuddered when the horrible memories began replaying in his head, and whatever sorrow he was feeling a moment ago was replaced by panic and fear. “Shit! I can’t believe I forgot she was here!” He did not hesitate to execute “Blood Sea Fragrance” and sprint down Little August Hill.

“Running again, cutie? But why? Don’t you want to be with a gorgeous lady like me forever?” The voice teased. At the same time, he heard the horribly familiar noise of countless trees and rocks being crushed to smithereens once more. Clearly, the bull Stranger was coming after him yet again.

Gorgeous! You’re a goddamn tail! How shameless do you have to be to say such a patent lie? Ye Qing rolled his eyes and ran even faster.

“Enough!”

A cold hmph suddenly came from the peak of Little August Hill before the mountains began undulating like tidal waves. Ye Qing abruptly noticed that the earth beneath his feet was pushing him forward like a super high speed walkway. He was gone in just the blink of an eye.

“How dare you interfere with my business, mountain boy! Just watch me ruin your precious trees!”

Right before he was out of earshot, Ye Qing heard the tail-woman screaming in rage and thunderous rumbles that sounded like an earthquake. It was probably the bull Stranger wrecking the forest, again.

……

“Phew… heavens forbid I ever run into that Stranger again…”

Some time later, the earth stopped undulating, and Ye Qing came to a stop some kilometers away from his original position. He could tell he was no longer in Little August Hill. While looking around and scratching his head in confusion, he wondered out loud, “Where is this? Where have you sent me, mountain god?”

After observing his surroundings for a bit, Ye Qing realized that he was standing on a marked road [1]. Both sides of the road led to mountain wilderness, and he could not find a village or a person anywhere. Thankfully, his confusion was resolved when he followed the road until he encountered a milestone with the words, “Monkey Ridge” etched on it.

“Monkey Ridge… it’s probably referring to that ridge over there, huh?” guessed Ye Qing while staring at a mountain ridge that looked very much like a monkey.

“Wait, I have a map. I can check roughly where I am right now!” Ye Qing tapped his hand with his fist. After pulling a map out of his Nature’s Shell and locating the name “Monkey Ridge”, he exclaimed in surprise, “Damn! I’m almost ten kilometers away from August Hill Village!”

Although Monkey Ridge was right next to Little August Hill, it was a fair distance away from August Hill Village. It would take him hours to return if he walked back from here.

“I’m pretty close to Anyang though. I just need to circle around the Monkey Ridge and pass through the Redstone Forest and Soundless Gorge to reach the border.”

Even if August Hill Village wasn’t gone, he had always planned to leave the place. The mountain god had done him a huge favor by sending him here.

Speaking of which, the map he was using had been retrieved from Zheng Tianqi’s Nature’s Shell. It was a local map encompassing Anyang and the surrounding villages. He must have prepared this when he was getting ready for his treasure hunt in Little August Hill.

As there was no hurry, Ye Qing decided to catch a short rest. Once his true qi had recovered, and his injuries had healed completely, he climbed to his feet and started in the direction of Anyang.

“Croak croak!”

He had only taken a few steps when suddenly, he heard a panicked series of croaks from the sky. He looked up just in time to see a frog falling from the sky. Judging from its wild flailing, it looked like it had been tossed over from somewhere!

“K-Kung Fu Frog?” The frog wore a bright red bandana, a green cloak, and a wooden saber around its waist. Who else could it be if not his buddy, Kung Fu Frog?

Pleasantly surprised, Ye Qing was going to catch it when the frog performed a flip to steady itself. In the end, it was able to land on its feet without his aid.

“Brother Frog!” Ye Qing greeted Kung Fu Frog with great delight. The frog Stranger croaked just as happily when it noticed Ye Qing as well.

“What happened to you, brother? Why did you fall from the sky?” Ye Qing asked.

Kung Fu Frog immediately croaked twice before spitting out two spirit fruits. It pointed back and forth between the fruits and Little August Hill while wearing a very human look of indignance on its face!

Somehow, Ye Qing was able to understand its gestures immediately. “You’re saying that you got tossed out by the mountain god because you sto—I mean, took these spirit fruits, is that it?” Don’t ask me how I crossed the racial barrier so easily, just know that I know exactly what it’s trying to convey!

“Croak croak…” Kung Fu Frog nodded while shaking its head disapprovingly. A pause later, it handed the spirit fruits to Ye Qing and puffed up its chest as if to say it wasn’t nearly as stingy as a certain deity!

“You’re giving this to me?” Ye Qing exclaimed in pleasant surprise. Kung Fu Frog nodded affirmatively before spitting another two spirit fruits to indicate that he had more inside its stomach.

The corners of Ye Qing’s lips turned up as he accepted the spirit fruits. The first fruit was emerald like an emerald jade and overflowing with vitality. It also gave off a rich and enticing aroma. The second fruit glowed red like it was on fire and felt a little hot to touch. It was about the size of an infant’s fist and could fit perfectly in his mouth.

“Say… how many such spirit fruits did you take, exactly?”

Ye Qing hadn’t been an ignorant fledgling for quite some time. He might not recognize the spirit fruits’ names or their effects, but he could tell from the immense energy they were emanating alone that they were far more valuable than the Crystal Grapes, Jadeite Fruits and whatchamacallit they had eaten during the wedding!

The two spirit fruits Kung Fu Frog was holding were nothing like his, but no less extraordinary in terms of power, and it had gobbled them down messily like they were some wild berries. The air became dyed with the spirit fruits’ sweet scent as juice flew everywhere.

Upon hearing Ye Qing’s question, Kung Fu Frog spat out another three spirit fruits and tossed them into his hands. It then patted its seemingly bottomless stomach to indicate that it still had a lot more spirit fruits in store!

“...”

Having completely understood the situation, Ye Qing could only roll his eyes at Kung Fu Frog. He reckoned the frog Stranger must have stolen a lot of spirit fruits from the mountain god, so much so that the deity finally lost it and tossed it out of Little Azure Hill, literally. It was incredibly benevolent of the mountain god because in his place, he absolutely would’ve annihilated Kung Fu Frog for robbing the shit out of his backyard!

But he was not the mountain god’s servant, and whatever Kung Fu Frog did with its rightful spoils was its business. After putting all five spirit fruits into his Nature’s Shell without a shred of shame, he asked, “Well, I don’t think the mountain god will welcome you if you go back, so… where do you plan to go from here, Brother Frog?”

Kung Fu Frog froze for a second before looking back at Little August Hill. Ye Qing could see a hint of hesitation and uncertainty in its eyes.

A light bulb suddenly appeared on Ye Qing’s head, and he blurted out his thoughts without thinking, “If you have nowhere to go… would you like to come and wander the jianghu with me?”

On one hand, he really did want to help Kung Fu Frog. On the other hand, he could use a powerful partner like it.

Unlike a human settlement, the untamed wilderness was rife with Strangers and untold dangers. Although he was now a Vessel Augmentor, and he wasn’t completely helpless in this world anymore, he still didn’t dare to say that he would make it to Anyang with all of his limbs intact. This world was just that strange and dangerous.

But if he could recruit Kung Fu Frog’s aid, then it was a different story. In the past, he was unable to identify how powerful the Stranger was due to his weak cultivation. Now, he could vaguely tell that Kung Fu Frog was probably a Malice-class Stranger. That was incredible all things considered!

In conclusion, he would be much safer if he could travel together with Kung Fu Frog. The Malice-class Stranger alone could handle most threats. Together? They wouldn’t be unstoppable, but their chances of survival would be much higher than if they were separated!

“Why hesitate, Brother Frog? It’s not like you have anywhere else to go. If you come with me, I promise you we’ll have good food to eat and fine wine to drink. We’ll cross a thousand mountains and rivers, admire a thousand views, and claim whatever stars and moons we fancy for ourselves! That’s the dream, don’t you agree?”

Ye Qing’s tone was gentle, and his gaze full of lust. Right now, he looked just like a suspicious uncle who was trying to tempt a kid into his van!

“Croak…”

As it turned out, Kung Fu Frog’s desire was even simpler than he imagined. Its eyes lit up, and it licked its lips as soon as it heard the words “delicious wine”. 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝗻𝐨𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝗺

Got you! Ye Qing smirked as he pulled out a jar of wine from his Nature’s Shell. It belonged to Zheng Tianyuan, of course. Besides the wine, there were many delicacies in the Nature’s Shell as well.

Kung Fu Frog literally jumped when it saw the jar. It looked back and forth between the jar and Ye Qing while licking its lips non-stop.

“So? What do you say? If you agree, then this wine is yours!” offered Ye Qing while giving the jar a little wave.

There was no contest. As soon as Kung Fu Frog nodded its head, and Ye Qing had nodded his assent, it immediately grabbed the jar of wine and started taking small sips. At that moment, it looked so happy it could die.

“Man, maybe I shouldn’t have named you Kung Fu Frog. You look every bit like an Alcoholic Frog right now!”? Ye Qing shook his head at the frog Stranger’s unbridled fondness for wine. Heavens only know how it came to enjoy alcohol in the first place.

“Until we meet again, o’ bittersweet home of mine! Farewell! Farewell!”

Having successfully “swindled” a powerful ally to join him, Ye Qing said his final farewell before turning his back on Little August Hill and doing a little wave. The duo then slowly walked into the distance beneath the falling sunset.

1. 官道. A road that officially appears on a map 👈