Stranger Danger

“You didn’t have to do this, brother,” said Yi Pin with a sigh while Ye Qing used a drop of Nature’s Water to restore his crushed fingers back to normal. Was this really necessary?

“I have to if I want to live,” Ye Qing replied enigmatically while smiling casually. It was a smile that was equal parts helpless and defiant.

“What on earth happened to you, brother?”

Yi Pin didn’t know what happened to Ye Qing, but it had to be something big for the young man to say something like this.

“You really want to know?” Ye Qing’s smile turned playful.

“Eh? Did I say something just now? I can’t remember a thing for some reason. How strange!” Yi Pin immediately feigned ignorance and scratched his head. He knew that Zhou Hengshan, a Grandmaster, was involved, and there could be bigger fishes in the pond. Considering that he was just a puny little Vessel Augmentor, the knowledge could only be harmful to him. That was why he immediately changed his mind.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you everything once we get out of this place alive,” Ye Qing declared with a devious smirk on his face.

“No, it’s fine. I don’t want to hear it,” Yi Pin replied seriously while shaking his head.

“Yes you do.” Ye Qing insisted with the same smirk. You will learn even if you don’t want to.

Knowing then that he couldn’t change Ye Qing’s mind, Yi Pin felt like giving himself a couple slaps to the face. Why are you so curious, mouth? Now, we’re both in trouble!

“But that’s a topic for another day. You’re a worldly man, right brother? How many people do you recognize in this place?” Ye Qing pretended he didn’t notice Yi Pin’s look of deep regret and changed the subject.

A jolt immediately came over Yi Pin. He’s not scheming something again, is he?! He watched Ye Qing warily as he asked, “Why do you want to know?”

“It’s nothing. I just want to know about their background, that’s all.” Ye Qing smiled mysteriously.

“I don’t recognize any of them.” Yi Pin shook his head and showered Ye Qing with a look of deeper suspicion. Like hell I’ll believe that! You’re one of the baddest kids I’ve ever met!

“No, you do,” refuted Ye Qing with a smile.

“Can’t we just lay low and survive our predicament peacefully, brother?” Yi Pin sighed. He couldn’t understand why Ye Qing insisted on courting death when life was an option.

“I am lying low. I just want to know who they are, that’s all.” Ye Qing blinked innocently.

“You... ah, screw it.” Yi Pin suddenly let out a deep sigh. “Do whatever you want. Just make sure you don’t involve me in your schemes. I’m not planning on dying anytime soon, understand?”

“Don’t worry. You will live so long as I live, brother,” Ye Qing declared confidently.

“That doesn’t instill any confidence in me whatsoever, brother,” Yi Pin complained before turning serious. “Besides Yue Juejiang, Sun Xuanzhen and Huo Linglong, I think I recognize another eight warriors in total.”

“Just eight?” Ye Qing frowned in dissatisfaction.

“Do you think I’m an omniscient god or something? If anything, you should be impressed that I was able to identify this many people just from their clothes and their martial arts!” Yi Pin turned angry. “If you think this isn’t good enough, then you can identify them yourself!”

“Sorry, sorry, it’s all my fault. Please continue, brother.” Ye Qing hurriedly placated the guy while adopting a respectful posture. Yi Pin was a little scary when he got angry.

Huffing, Yi Pin began slowly, “Anyway, let’s begin. Do you remember the short, muscular guy with a scar on his face? He’s from Mount Dikui, one of the thirty six unorthodox sects. Legend says that Mount Dikui was a sub-branch of the Heavenly Kuixing Sect, and they specialize in the arts of Dikui, a form of body-tempering martial art...”

“If I’m not mistaken, that honest-looking, farmer-like middle-aged man is really the one they call the Heart Eater, one of the Eight Ghouls of the Mountain Mover Brigand. You’re aware that the Mountain Mover Brigand is one of the Thirteen Brigands, right? Good. He might look timid and ordinary on the outside, but he’s easily the most vicious bastard of the Eight Ghouls. As his name implies, he enjoys eating human hearts and especially a baby’s heart...”

......

It wasn’t long before Yi Pin had told him all he knew about the eight warriors. As if on cue, two wisps of Profound Yellow Qi appeared inside the room.

Ye Qing glanced at the Profound Yellow Qi but didn’t use them as he did before. Instead, he went over to the door and pushed it open slightly. The gap was so small that it was impossible to notice unless someone was standing close to it. It definitely wasn’t big enough for Ye Qing to look outside and scan the area either. That was fine though, as he was perceiving his surroundings with his demonic thought, not his eyes.

“What are you doing, brother?” Yi Pin asked curiously.

“I’m peeping,” Ye Qing said with a devious smirk. Yi Pin rolled his eyes at the answer and sarcastically thought that Ye Qing had a bright future ahead of him.

A dozen or so breaths later, Yue Juejiang, Sun Xuanzhen and Huo Linglong left their rooms one after another. He could see Huo Linglong greeting the two men with a bright smile on her face. The two men nodded back at her.

It was at this moment Sun Xuanzhen remembered something and looked at Yue Juejiang, “This is the first time you’re collecting the Profound Yellow Qi yourself, isn’t it? What a rare sight.”

“Your point?” Yue Juejiang’s expression turned ugly when he heard this.

“I don’t mean anything. I’m just making an observation, that’s all,” Sun Xuanzhen replied with a raised eyebrow before laughing all of a sudden. “Hahahahaha!”

“What are you laughing about?” Yue Juejiang asked coldly.

“I’m just in a good mood today. What, am I not allowed to laugh in this place?” Sun Xuanzhen asked with a wide grin.

Yesterday, Yue Juejiang had forced him to show him the contents of his Nature’s Shell. It had been a frustrating and humiliating day to say the least. However, Yue Juejiang ultimately failed to find his treasure and was now forced to collect his Profound Yellow Qi personally just like him and Huo Linglong. The mere thought made Sun Xuanzhen feel as delighted as downing a glass of iced water during a particularly sunny day.

In the past, Yue Juejiang left it to his subordinate to collect the Profound Yellow Qi for him. Besides the first time, he never even showed his face during their regular meetings. The Profound Yellow Qi Calabash allowed him to collect dozens of wisps of Profound Yellow Qi with ease, and while he had never tried to cheat them, the inequality still grated at Sun Xuanzhen like nails on a chalkboard. They were all humans, so why did Yue Juejiang alone get to act like he was better than the rest of them?

But now, Yue Juejiang had lost the Profound Yellow Qi Calabash. Without the ability to store the Profound Yellow Qi, he had no choice but to visit each warrior personally and store their Profound Yellow Qi in his abdomen before refining them slowly in his room.

In other words, the show-off had finally gotten his karma.

“Well, I’m gonna go collect my Profound Yellow Qi now, so see y’all later. Hahahahahahaha!” Sun Xuanzhen laughed even harder when he saw that Yue Juejiang’s complexion had turned as black as coal. He turned his back on the Earthly Sovereign Hall’s descendant and slowly walked away.

Crack!

Yue Juejiang glared daggers at Sun Xuanzhen’ back and clenched his fists so hard that veins were popping on the back of his hand. He wanted nothing more than to kill Sun Xuanzhen right here and now.

“Haha... don’t be mad, dearie. You haven’t forgotten why we’re here, have you?”

It was at this moment Huo Linglong stepped forward and squeezed Yue Juejiang’s arms between her breasts. She propped her chin on top of his shoulder and breathed, “If you really can’t let it go, then I’ll help you get revenge once we’re out of this place. What do you say?”

The warm breath that tickled his ear, the seductive voice that bewitched the mind, the faint scent that seemed sweeter than even the freshest air, and the hourglass body that invoked endless imagination slithered into Yue Juejiang’s heart like tiny flames. When they combined, they abruptly transformed into a blazing inferno.

The young man’s eyes slowly turned bloodshot, and his breathing grew heavier and heavier. He slowly turned to stare at Huo Linglong like he might devour her alive. However, Huo Linglong didn’t seem afraid in the slightest, her smile only growing more seductive as time passed. She looked like a fire in the darkest night, and anyone who set their eyes on her wanted to throw themselves into her flames even at the cost of their lives.

Suddenly, a humanoid, doll-like creature made of some sort of skin flew out of Yue Juejiang’s clothes. Floating in the air, it assumed a horse stance, spun its right arm in a circle twice, and bent sideways about a hundred and eighty degrees before finally landing a powerful slap on Yue Juejiang’s face.

Slap!

It was such a loud and crisp slap that noise resounded throughout the entire Earthly Sovereign’s Coffin. Not only that, Yue Juejiang was sent flying through the air before he hit the wall behind him, hard.

“Holy mother of...”

Ye Qing had been peeping on the trio this whole time, and his eyes widened in astonishment and approval when he saw this. This skin doll’s slap is almost as good as mine!

On a more serious note, the skin doll was probably some sort of special Strange Artifact, and it just saved Yue Juejiang’s life.

As expected of a practitioner of the Dark Ways, Huo Linglong’s martial art was as devilish as it was unpredictable. She could stir her target’s lust and bend them to her will with even the most harmless of gestures.

Yue Juejiang had let down his guard for one second, and he nearly lost himself to lust and succumbed to whatever wicked designs Huo Linglong had prepared for him. Luckily for him, the skin doll appeared at a critical moment and awoke him with a slap to the face.

After Yue Juejiang climbed back to his feet, he glared at Huo Linglong hatefully and asked, “What did you do to me?”

“I’m just a frail woman. What can I possibly do to you?” Huo Linglong giggled innocently. The sight of her trembling curves sparked a new flame in his heart, but when the skin doll rubbed its hands together as if anticipating another slap, Yue Juejiang snapped out of it and hurriedly put it away. He shot Huo Linglong one final look before walking away.

“Hahaha... this is fun.” Huo Linglong giggled one last time before walking toward a room herself.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l