Stranger Danger

There existed a place that was neither yin nor yang, life or death. People called it the Yin Yang Gap.

To put it in simple terms, the Yin Yang Gap was the place where yin and yang blended together into a chaotic space where nothing was what it seemed, and logic didn’t exist as a concept. There were rivers that flowed upward, mountains that floated in the sky, rainbow clouds that sat on the ground, forests that hung upside down on the sky, celestial bodies that were actually close enough to touch should you fly high enough and more. It was a bizarre and anomalous place to say the least.

Generally speaking, a yin creature could only live in the yin world, and a yang being could only live in the yang world. Since neither energy was dominant in the Yin Yang Gap, neither the living nor the dead could survive in the Yin Yang Gap without a secret art.

But of course, the same rule couldn’t be applied to Strangers. Many anomalous and powerful Strangers lived in the Yin Yang Gap, and Ye Qing saw a lot just minutes into his journey. He saw a Stranger with a bull or goat-like body, but the head of a tiger, a leopard and a wolf. The three heads could spit a gale strong enough to uproot trees, a snowfall that was practically an avalanche, and water that could corrode stone.

There was a giant lake flying in the sky with a pair of wings. It was so big that it blotted out the sky, and gigantic aquatic creatures could be seen jumping out of its surface and forming a colorful “bridge” that connected heaven and earth.

He also saw clouds that spanned from one end of the sky to another. When they exhaled, the wind would howl, and thunder would deafen the ears. When they inhaled, the world would roar like a sandstorm, and mountains and rivers would be pulled into the clouds.

......

The sights dazzled and terrified Ye Qing, but not the Night Walker. On the contrary, he easily navigated through the unusual terrain and bizarre Strangers with composure and control.

“Aren’t you afraid of these Strangers?” Ye Qing asked curiously.

The Night Walker answered smilingly, “These Strangers look scary, but they’re all unintelligent and can only act based on their instincts. So long as you keep your presence well under wraps, they wouldn’t even notice your existence.”

“We Night Walkers know a secret art that allows us to conceal our and our customers’ presence, so these Strangers are annoying obstacles at best. There is nothing to be worried about.”

Ye Qing nodded approvingly. The Night Walkers definitely possessed some skills.

The Night Walker asked a question, “In fact, the Strangers aren’t the biggest dangers in the Yin Yang Gap. Care to venture a guess, my lord?”

Ye Qing said coldly, “I don’t like suspenses. Speak!”

The Night Walker let out a chuckle. “The biggest dangers in the Yin Yang Gap are an avalanche, a flood, an earthquake and so on. It is the neverending natural disasters that happen without warning anywhere, anytime.”

“Natural disasters?” Ye Qing furrowed his brows. He was just about to say something when he saw a pair of floating mountains crashing into each other with such force that it reminded Ye Qing of the world-ending meteor that had wiped out the dinosaurs. As an ominous groan resounded throughout the world, and the mountains began crumbling into pieces, large chunks of rocks crashed into a floating river below.

The river had been flowing smoothly and peacefully when suddenly, the rocks cut it in half. Its waters and the rocks immediately spilled down the sides, crushing or drowning countless unsuspecting Strangers.

Not only that, the flood was heading straight toward them like a tidal wave.

The Night Walker looked completely unperturbed, however. He continued to run toward the incoming waters.

“Aren’t you afraid, my lord?” The Night Walker asked smilingly.

“Why would I be afraid when you are not?” Ye Qing replied in an indifferent tone. He was really about to piss his pants on the inside, but if he wasn’t about to appear weak before the Night Walker.

“Not everyone can face down such a scene and remain calm, my lord. You’re a true warrior,” the Night Walker flattered.

Bro, now is not the time to be licking my boots. You may be suicidal, but I’m certainly not!

Ye Qing remained outwardly calm despite the growing panic inside his heart. They were seconds away from running into the all-consuming flood when the Night Walker sang loudly, “I do not fear the dangers of humanity, for I have the power to rise up to the blue sky! Up, up we go!”

The Night Walker’s feet began shining with a black light, and both him and the litter began rising to the sky. Right before the rocks and flood would crash into them, they abruptly disappeared into thin air.

We’re back? I see!

When the scenery around them suddenly turned into a lush green forest, Ye Qing realized that they had returned to the yang world. He should’ve realized this sooner since their ability to traverse between the worlds formed the very basis of their transportation business.

“The Yin Yang Gap exists between the two worlds, and it is overflowing with yin and yang energy. Naturally, it is a highly unstable space where even the slightest fluctuations could create all kinds of terrifying natural disasters. For example, when it is daytime in the yang world, and yang energy is at its strongest, wildfires, windstorms, rainstorms and the like would manifest in the Yin Yang Gap. When it is nighttime in the yang world, and yin energy was at its strongest, snowstorms, hailstorms and so on would appear instead.”

“Yin energy and yang energy are opposing elements that cannot coexist in the same space. If they do, it would be like adding water into a pot of oil. All sorts of destructive natural phenomena such as avalanches, earthquakes, floods and more would happen. That is why I consider them far more dangerous than the Strangers.”

The Night Walker smiled. “But of course, the natural phenomena created in Yin Yang Gap cannot affect the yang world, and the Strangers definitely cannot pass into reality. No matter what kind of danger we encounter, we simply need to return to the yang world to avoid it.”

“That is why I personally think that the Yin Yang Gap is a better place than the yang world.”

Ye Qing neither agreed or disagreed with his statement. From the Night Walker’s perspective, of course the Yin Yang Gap was an awesome place. After all, he could leave it behind whenever he wanted to. But for someone like him? If he ever found himself stranded in the Yin Yang Gap, he should probably do himself a favor and kill himself.

The Night Walker didn’t take Ye Qing’s refusal to heart and continued to run past the trees like the wind. A teatime later, he took them back into the Yin Yang Gap. The horrifying disaster from before was nowhere to be seen.

As the Night Walker said, natural disasters were constantly happening in the Yin Yang Gap, and they were as dangerous as they were unpredictable. In just six hours or so, he had witnessed more mountains crashing into each other, rivers falling from the sky like a burst dam, an inferno that swept through both heaven and earth, windstorms and hailstorms that felt like it could flatten the ground like a pancake, earthquakes that felt like the apocalypse was upon them and so on.

If their troubles were just confined to the Yin Yang Gap, then so be it. The problem was that the sun had set in the yang world, and all sorts of Strangers and Anomalies began showing their faces. He saw a mountain god marrying a bride, yin soldiers marching to heavens-know-where, a Resentful Fog that was notorious for its cruelty, a bizarre Bird of Ill Omen, a vicious Monkey Demon, a terrifying Old Man of the Mountain and so on.

They were never in any real danger thanks to the Night Walker’s ability to traverse between the two worlds, however. When they ran into danger in the Yin Yang Gap, they would escape into the yang world. When they ran into danger in the yang world, then they would return to the Yin Yang Gap. If both worlds happened to be plagued by danger at the same time, fear not, for there was still the yin world to escape to.

The ability was so OP that even Ye Qing felt tempted to kill the Night Walker and steal his secret art, magic, Strange Artifacts, everything. It was just a passing thought though. The Night Walker’s magic and secret arts required a special bloodline and body to master. There were also fail-safes in their souls that prevented them from revealing the details. If they tried, the fail-safes would immediately trigger and kill them. Soul searching and soul stealing wouldn’t work either. It would simply result in soul destruction.

Besides that, the Night Walkers were a mysterious and powerful group who shared ties with certain sects and major clans; especially those that were branded heretics. If you killed a Night Walker over personal grievances, the most they would do was to blacklist you and never provide you their services again. But if you killed them because you coveted the very thing that made them what they were today, then every Night Walker in the world would hunt you to the ends of the earth.

Obviously, some people had tried to steal the Night Walker’s secret arts before. A good number of them were prominent sects and clans as well. Once upon a time, the Hill of Hanging Moon, one of the thirty six unorthodox sects, actively hunted down Night Walkers in hopes of obtaining their secret arts. Angered, they wiped out the sect to their last animal in a single night. Since then, no one dared to target the Night Walkers ever again.

Ye Qing didn’t think he could succeed where countless had failed.

This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶