Stranger Danger

“What’s wrong, dearie? Why are you so angry?”

Suddenly, a gentle, seductive voice rang. Then, a sexy woman wearing a fiery red dress stepped out into the open.

Her long dress looked like fire, and her skin as white as snow. She also had the face of an angel and the body of a siren. Her mere presence naturally ignited a bonfire in everyone’s heart.

Even Yue Juejiang was staring at the woman with naked lust and desire. He didn’t bother concealing it.

“Haha... you’re going to make me embarrassed if you keep staring at me like that, dearie,” the woman in red said with a giggle. The fire grew stronger when they heard her sweet, melodious voice. The weak-willed ones were literally steaming as if they were being roasted on top of a fire. It looked like they might burn into a crisp at any moment.

Shing!

It was at this moment the metallic ringing deafened the ears. It also severed the woman’s influence over the people like a sword. When they calmed down and could think properly again, they all stared at the woman in red with fear and trepidation in their eyes.

If it wasn’t for the sword ringing, they might have burned into a pile of ash for real.

The woman in red was none other than Huo Linglong. She was the current Fire Princess of the Earthfire Palace of Demons, and she practiced a martial art that was exclusive to the Fire Princess of each generation known as the “Flames of Desire”. Every gesture, every smile she performed could draw out the lust submerged in the bottom of one’s heart and turn it into a mind-scorching fire. For the weak-willed, they wouldn’t even realize they were dying until it was too late.

“Stop fooling around, Huo Linglong.”

Another handsome youngster stepped out of his room. He wore a set of white robes and looked cold and lofty.

He wasn’t holding a sword, but his whole body was covered in sword qi. The way it pricked against one’s skin like a needle sent chills up their spine.

“Are you jealous, Brother Sun?” Huo Linglong giggled and moved closer to Sun Xuanzhen.

“They’re still useful,” The white swordsman, Sun Xuanzhen replied indifferently.

Those who felt grateful toward Sun Xuanzhen immediately felt chilled to the bone. Humanity wasn’t worth it, man!

It was their own fault for expecting good things from Sun Xuanzhen though. They all knew that he was a member of the Sword King City, and they were a gray faction that could do good as much as they did evil. While they weren’t as evil as the Earthfire Palace of Demons, they were anything but a virtuous faction.

Sun Xuanzhen paid them no heed. He looked straight at Yue Juejiang and asked, “Why have you called us out, Brother Yue?”

Yue Juejiang swept his gaze across the crowd but couldn’t find his servant or sense his Profound Yellow Qi Calabash anywhere. He asked while frowning deeply, “Did you steal my Profound Yellow Qi Calabash, Sun Xuanzhen?”

“Watch what you say, Brother Yue.” Sun Xuanzhen’s gaze immediately turned steely.

Yue Juejiang’s gaze was no less hostile. “Who else could it be besides you and that woman? The two of you are the only ones who would dare to steal my stuff.”

“You’re sick.” Sun Xuanzhen scoffed with disdain.

“What did you say? I dare you to say it again.” Yue Juejiang furrowed his brows as the air grew heavy and solid all of a sudden. It pressed down on Sun Xuanzhen like a mountain.

“I said, you’re sick.”

Sun Xuanzhen wasn’t afraid, however. Yue Juejiang was strong, but he wasn’t weak either. Besides, the fact that he was talking was already a show of restraint. If he was anyone else, he would have attacked them already.

“You are courting death!” Yue Juejiang erupted. As the descendant of the Earthly Sovereign Hall, he was used to being treated with absolute deference, and he had never encountered anyone who spoke to him like this until now. Enraged, Yue Juejiang threw a punch at Sun Xuanzhen.

The punch was basic and nothing special, but it was as thick and heavy as several mountains.

In response, Sun Xuanzhen took half a step to the right and pressed his index and middle fingers together. Then, he swung them diagonally in front of him.

So what if Yue Juejiang had multiple mountains? He was still going to cut it all with his sword.

His sword qi abruptly swelled like a dragon. The mountains were divided in half just like that.

After the image was destroyed, Sun Xuanzhen’s fingers clashed against Yue Juejiang’s fist.

Flesh met flesh, but the noise they made sounded like a dull thunderclap more than anything else. The staggering clash caused everyone except Huo Linglong to turn white and stumble backward.

Sun Xuanzhen stepped back from Yue Juejiang after the clash had run its course. His face looked unchanged, but the fingers he hid behind his back were shaking a little.

A bloody wound appeared on Yue Juejiang’s fist as well, though it quickly disappeared in the next moment.

“What are you guys doing? If you have a disagreement, then just talk it out. Do you want to draw out the dangers in this coffin and fight them to the death?” Huo Linglong chose this moment to step in between the two men and say, “Give me face and stop fighting, okay? Speaking of which, what happened to you, dearie? We can’t help you if you don’t tell us what happened.”

Yue Juejiang affixed Sun Xuanzhen with a cold glare, but he ultimately wrestled down his murderous desires a few breaths later. For one, Sun Xuanzhen was anything but a weakling. Even if he managed to kill the swordsman, there was no way he would be able to walk away unscathed.

Two, there was Huo Linglong to consider. She might be playing the mediator right now, but if the circumstances were any different, she would be all too happy to play the fisherman and claim the spoils from their cold, dead body. The only reason she didn’t was because the trials weren’t the only dangers in the Earthly Sovereign’s Coffin. If they lingered outside their rooms for too long, or if they fought each other with wanton abandon, there was a chance they might trigger some sort of danger that none of them were equipped to handle.

Finally, he hadn’t found the Profound Yellow Qi Calabash or the Profound Yellow Qi yet. It would be unwise to the extreme to fight the man before he even found his items.

Yue Juejiang humphed imperiously before lowering his fists. He then explained, “I instructed Han Meng to collect the Profound Yellow Qi using the Profound Yellow Qi Calabash just now. However, I suddenly lost contact with my Strange Artifact, and Han Meng has gone missing. Someone must have killed him and taken my item.”

“Han Meng is a middle-stage Spirit Purifier, and there are only a handful of people here who have the gall and the strength to kill him.”

Although Yue Juejiang hadn’t stated who he suspected to have stolen his Strange Artifact, his gaze mostly lingered on Sun Xuanzhen and Huo Linglong as he said this. It was clear who he suspected to be the culprit.

“How can you wrong us like that, dearie. You’re going to make me cry.”

Huo Linglong blinked sorrowfully at Yue Juejiang. “Just think about it. Why would we take your Profound Yellow Qi when we couldn’t even finish refining what we currently have? There are a lot of people in this gloomy place, you know.”

“You can search me if you don’t believe me. I promise I won’t move a muscle.”

Everyone’s eyes lit up when they heard this. I’ll do it! I’ll even pay you to do it!

Yue Juejiang snorted but said nothing. He stepped past Huo Linglong and Sun Xuanzhen and inspected their rooms carefully. He couldn’t find anything.

“Are you satisfied now?” Sun Xuanzhen harrumphed.

“Show me the contents of your Nature’s Shells,” Yue Juejiang demanded suddenly.

“You’re crossing the line, Yue Juejiang.” Sun Xuanzhen lifted his eyebrow dangerously. It was like he was lifting a sword.

“Show me!” Yue Juejiang repeated in a tone that wouldn’t accept no as an answer.

Sun Xuanzhen was seriously starting to lose his patience. His face darkened as he channeled his sword qi. “Do you really think I’m afraid of you, Yue Juejiang?”

“Show me!” Yue Juejiang repeated a third time, and this time his whole body was surrounded in a sheen of dark yellow energy, one that felt as heavy as suffocating as a mountain.

“If dearie wants to see it, then let him, Brother Sun.” Once again, Huo Linglong played the mediator. “It’s not like you or I are guilty, right? Here, I’ll do it first.”

Huo Linglong unlocked her Nature’s Shell and handed it to Yue Juejiang. After he went through its contents and found nothing, he affixed Sun Xuanzhen with a wordless stare. The swordsman hmphed, but he ultimately acquiesced and allowed Yue Juejiang to check his Nature’s Shell as well.

After Yue Juejiang was done with his inspection, Sun Xuanzhen hmphed again and left the scene immediately.

Yue Juejiang didn’t say anything. Naturally, he didn’t find his Profound Yellow Qi Calabash in either Nature’s Shell.

The Profound Yellow Qi Calabash was a valuable treasure of the Earthly Sovereign Hall, and it was imprinted with his spirit and his sect’s secret art. Logically speaking, he should be able to sense the Profound Yellow Qi Calabash at such a close range. Since he couldn’t, he automatically assumed that the only ones who knew about the Profound Yellow Qi Calabash’s ability and possessed the strength to conceal its presence were Sun Xuanzhen and Huo Linglong. Besides, they were the only ones who had the balls to take his stuff anyway.

But now, he wasn’t so sure. Did he guess wrong?

“I told you we're not the culprit, dearie,” Huo Linglong said gently.

“Who else could’ve done it if not you two?” Yue Juejiang asked grimly.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺