Stranger Danger

The two men were scouts from White Sand Fort, and they were responsible for monitoring the outskirts of White Desert.

Due to the uniqueness of White Desert, they could detect any intruder and report back to White Sand Fort at first notice.

Practically everyone knows that a sand bandit of White Sand Fort wore a white outfit and had white skin, white hair, white eyebrows, white pupils and more.

They wore a white outfit to make themselves indistinguishable from the white sand around them, and their physical features were white because they had stayed at White Desert for too long.

The reason White Desert earned its name was because everything within the desert was white. The sand, the rocks, the plants, the Strangers and more; everything in this desert was pure white in color. If an outsider were to linger in the sand for too long, they too would begin to turn white starting from their hair, their eyebrows, their skin, their pupils, and even the blood in their veins.

No one knew why this was happening, but the change in color was perfectly harmless. As a result, the desert bandits living in this place could easily conceal themselves or move about the White Desert without being detected. It was a powerful advantage that few could counter and one of the main reasons White Sand Fort was free to do whatever they wanted in Bei You.

One of the desert bandits finally recovered from their shock and threatened impotently, “Who are you? How dare you enter the White Desert without permission!”

In response, Ye Qing merely said, “Take me to White Sand Fort.”

“Who are you? Do you know who we—” The first sand bandit was about to shoot another threat when his voice abruptly ceased to exist. The second sand bandit watched in shock and horror as Ye Qing rapped a finger against his colleagues’ head and exploded it like an overripe watermelon.

“Looks like he doesn’t want to comply with my demand. What about you?” Ye Qing withdrew hisi finger and looked at the remaining desert bandit.

“I will do as you say!” The desert bandit nodded immediately. He was terrified that he would follow in his colleague’s footsteps if he was too slow.

“Good. You’ve already proven yourself to be smarter than the idiot.” Ye Qing asked, “What is your name?”

“My name is Wei Sanshi, warrior,” the desert bandit answered.

Ye Qing nodded and motioned for Wei Sanshi to lead the way. “Let’s go.”

Wei Sanshi obeyed without any objection. His colleague had lost his head because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He was hardly going to repeat his mistake.

At first, Wei Sanshi was perfectly obedient and didn’t dare to cause any trouble whatsoever. Over time, when he noticed that Ye Qing looked relaxed it was almost like he was taking a stroll in the park, he began harboring certain ideas.

He began leading Ye Qing across tightly guarded, boody-trapped routes. He was hoping that Ye Qing would be caught in one of the traps, and his colleagues would exploit the opportunity to save him.

At first, he was quite pleased with himself, and he was sure that it wouldn’t be long before Ye Qing would pay for his arrogance. However, he soon realized that something was amiss.

For one, his colleagues didn’t appear to rescue him. The traps were, for whatever reason, not working as well. There were times he saw his colleagues with his own eyes and did everything in his power to catch their attention, but they just ignored him almost as if they had fallen asleep.

Wen Sanshi wasn’t stupid. A couple encounters later, he realized that his captor must have something to do with it. He also realized that his captor was far, far stronger than he could fathom with his mind, so he dropped his petty little schemes completely and led Ye Qing to White Sand Fort.

White Sand Fort was a small fort; a defensible town to be exact. Back in the days, White Sand Fort was just a small village until a bunch of bandits occupied it, built the barbicans and watch towers, and transformed it into a fort with offensive and defensive capabilities. They then named it White Sand Fort and used it as their main headquarters.

By the time they finally reached White Sand Fort, the gates and walls were already filled with people. They were armed and ready to turn to violence at a moment’s notice.

Standing at the center of the group was a woman in her thirties. She had white features and wore a set of white clothes just like everyone else living in this place, and despite her aging features it was clear that she was a beautiful woman.

She didn’t look completely human though. She had a pair of vertical slit pupils, and her face and her arms were covered in tiny serpent scales. A white snake the size of a human arm was coiled around her neck as well.

While supporting the snake’s chin with one hand and caressing its head with the other, she looked down on Ye Qing and asked, “Hiss... If I may dare ask, who are you, and what business do you have with White Sand Fort?”

The woman’s voice sounded unnaturally cold and stiff. It almost felt like he was speaking to an icy stone, not a human. Not only that, a scarlet, forked tongue would flick out of her mouth from time to time.

“I’m looking for Sha Tongtian,” Ye Qing replied indifferently.

A hairless, browless man with fierce, hardened features standing next to the woman laughed loudly. “You want to meet our boss? Then you better tell us your name first. Our boss does not deign to speak with small fries, you see.”

His laugh abruptly ceased when Ye Qing abruptly disappeared from the ground and reappeared next to him. To say that everyone was caught off guard would be an understatement. They didn’t hesitate to attack Ye Qing, and the woman and the hairless man were the fastest of them all.

The white snake coiled around the woman’s neck shot toward Ye Qing’s neck like a lightning bolt, and the man aimed a powerful punch at his skull. As his arm stretched forward, white, needle-like hair grew out of his skin and threatened to skewer the young man.

Ye Qing paid them no attention, however. He simply raised his foot and stomped the floor.

Thunder roared, and the world shook like an earthquake. An enormous, invisible wave washed over the crowd, and they all collapsed on the floor as if someone had cut their strings, groaning. The man’s punch failed to hit anything, and the white snake withdrew back to the woman’s neck even faster than when it pounced toward Ye Qing.

That wasn’t the end, however. A series of ominous, creaking noises drew their attention, and when they looked down to see what it was, they saw cracks spreading out in every direction like a spider’s web. It wasn’t long before the entire section of the wall was covered in thin, densely-packed cracks, and it looked like the slightest shift of weight would collapse it all.

An unconscious gulp overcame everyone. Their skin color was already pale to begin with, but now it was completely white. To a certain extent, everyone was wondering if they were dreaming because their walls were made from the strongest cobblestone of the Gobi Desert and a mix of soil and the fresh blood of Hatred-class Strangers.

Not only were their walls supernaturally tough and impervious to the harsh elements of the desert, it could also conceal their vitality and prevent them from being attacked by Strangers. On top of that, Sha Tongtian hired many capable craftsmen to carve runes and restrictions into the walls and the fort.

White Sand Fort was nigh impenetrable when their defenses were active. In fact, one of the main reasons they were a powerful, unstoppable force in Bei You was thanks to the impregnability of their main headquarters.

Now, an unknown man had cracked their love and pride with his foot. Literally. If this wasn’t a dream, then what was?

“My apologies. I accidentally used a bit too much force there,” Ye Qing said smilingly. He meant to placate these people, but his smile only made them even more nervous than before.

“Calm down. I’m not here to make trouble for you. I’m just looking for someone,” Ye Qing added before looking down at the empty street and called out, “Can I speak with you now, Boss Sha?”

A few breaths later, a man emerged from a street corner. He was none other than Sha Tongtian.

Sha Tongtian was a notorious crime boss in Bei You, but he was only in his forties. For a warrior, one might even say that he was in the prime of his life. He had strong, hardened features and silvery hair. In this desert, it actually made him look rather attractive instead of old.

“I am here. Will you come down and speak with me?” Sha Tongtian said calmly while looking up at Ye Qing.

“Why not?”

Ye Qing jumped down to the street. As soon as he landed, the white sand across the entire street abruptly stirred unnaturally like the surface of boiling oil. Then, they took the shape of several hundred men and assumed an orderly formation. It was scary to say the least.

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