Stranger Danger

After he leaped into the well, Ye Qing felt his consciousness dissolving into a blur. He was unable to distinguish illusion from reality, nor could he tell where he was right now. At the same time, everything he had experienced in Longevity Village including the way to enter and leave the place began disappearing like bubbles.

It was a bizarre and fearful feeling to feel his memories disappearing bit by bit from his mind. On the other hand, it was like nothing he had ever experienced before, and he couldn’t deny that it was a novel, profound experience. On the other hand, of course he was scared of the fact that his memories were disappearing.

An unknown amount of time later—it could be a breath, or it could be countless breaths—his surroundings slowly began to solidify and stay solidified. A gentle breeze blew past his ears, and humid air brushed gently against his face. He saw a clump of hills, a starry sky and a bright, round moon.

By the time Ye Qing returned to consciousness, he discovered that he was back in Longevity Mountain. He wasn’t at the valley where he entered the Longevity Village, however. He was at a different location.

It was nighttime in Longevity Mountain right now. The hills were but vague silhouettes in the darkness, and a bright, round moon and a sea of stars adorned the sky. The cool air brushing against his skin felt calm and soothing.

Ye Qing was frowning though. It was because he noticed a blank spot in his memories. It was almost as if some invisible force had reached into his mind and stole away some of his memories.

He knew that it was his memories regarding what happened in Longevity Village, and he had anticipated this long before he came to rescue Yi Pin. Even so, he could not help but feel uncomfortable about it.

“Brother? ... Are you the one who saved me?” It was at this moment Yi Pin’s voice rang beside him. Judging from the old Taoist’s expression, he had clearly forgotten about his experience in Longevity Village.

“Maybe?” Ye Qing shrugged. “I couldn’t remember what happened inside the village either.”

Yi Pin was about to reply when an unfriendly voice interrupted their conversation. “Reverend Yi Pin, you’ve finally shown up. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Xue Hanshan, Tiger, Hawk, Zuo Ming and two more people stepped out of the trees and walked toward them. Yi Pin’s face immediately turned ugly.

Xue Hanshan noticed Yi Pin’s expression and asked with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “What’s wrong, Reverend Yi Pin? You don’t seem pleased to see me.”

“You must be mistaken,” Yi Pin straightened his expression and replied in a meek voice. Although Ye Qing’s presence gave him strength, Li Longxiang was still in Xue Hanshan’s hands. He had no choice but to act the role of a humble slave.

“Lord Xue, I’ve taken you to Longevity Village as you requested. Can you tell me where my disciple is now?”

Xue Hanshan smiled. The way the crevices on his face squeezed together made him look even older than he already was. “What, are you afraid that we would torture your beloved disciple?”

“Of course not. I trust in your character,” Yi Pin said with a fake smile. “However, my disciple is stupid and cowardly. He needs someone like me to care for him, so I hope you will return him to me as soon as possible.”

“Your fondness for your disciple is touching. In that case, you should join me. You will meet your disciple eventually,” Xue Hanshan said.

It sounded like Xue Hanshan was offering to take Yi Pin to Li Longxiang, but the old Taoist noticed something off with the way he worded the invitation. “Eventually? What exactly do you mean, Lord Xue?”

Xue Hanshan said slowly, “Nothing? I just want to invite you to my place for a short stay. You’ve done me a big favor, Reverend, and it’s only right that I repay the favor. Am I wrong?”

“It’s fine. It is my honor to be able to help you. All I request is that you release my disciple.”

Yi Pin knew exactly what Xue Hanshan was planning, of course. The old bastard wasn’t sure if his lifespan was extended, so he was hoping to imprison him for a time and wait for the results to show itself. If his lifespan was extended, then he would kill Yi Pin and end the potential threat he posed. If not, then he would force Yi Pin to take them into Longevity Village a second time. No matter what, Yi Pin wasn’t getting out of his predicament.

“You won’t give me face, Reverend?” Xue Hanshan’s smile remained unchanged, but his tone grew a tad darker than normal.

A frustrated and furious Yi Pin tried to say something, but Ye Qing finally broke his silence and raised a hand to stop Yi Pin. Then, he looked at Xue Hanshan and said in an indifferent tone, “And how much is your face worth?”

“And who are you, young one?” Xue Hanshan asked. He had noticed Ye Qing from the start, of course. The young man had exited Longevity Village with Yi Pin, so he reckoned that he was the old Taoist’s helper.

His senses told him that the young man wasn’t particularly powerful. His energies were barely perceptible as well. And yet, his instincts were telling him that he was dangerous.

This was why he was wasting his breath on Yi Pin when he could’ve just taken him by force. He was using that time to observe and figure out Ye Qing.

It was useless though. He didn’t know this, but he could observe Ye Qing for days and still find nothing at all.

“Who I am doesn’t matter. What matters is that your face isn’t worth anything.”

“You don’t get to decide how much my face is worth. Reverend Yi Pin does.” Xue Hanshan’s smile widened. “So? Do you think my face is worth something, Reverend?”

If he was a couple decades younger, he would have attacked Ye Qing for daring to speak to him like this. But now? The period of peace and idleness had stolen his courage, and time itself had rotten his strength, not to mention that he was injured for some reason. He didn’t remember that Ye Qing was the very person who injured him and nearly killed him.

The older the jianghu, the more cowardly the fishes that lived within it.

“I...”

Yi Pin wasn’t afraid of Xue Hanshan. He had a hundred and one ways to escape him if push came to shove. The problem was that Li Longxiang was currently in Xue Hanshan’s hands.

“Calm, brother.” Ye Qing consoled Yi Pin. “You’re worried about Longxiang, right? Don’t worry. I’ve already rescued him.”

“Really?” Yi Pin exclaimed with pleasant surprise.

“But of course,” Ye Qing answered.

Next to Xue Hanshan, Tiger scoffed in disdain when he heard this. “Quit lying, boy. Do you even know where that kid is right now?”

“White Sand Fort, right?” Ye Qing watched Tiger curiously. He could feel a familiar aura from the guy’s broken arm. If he wasn’t mistaken, he was the one who broke the guy’s arm in the village.

It wasn’t just Tiger. He could feel the same aura from Xue Hanshan and another guy as well. Heck, he might be the one who had injured all of them.

But why didn’t he kill them all? It was clear he possessed the strength to crush them despite their numbers, and as far as he could tell he was completely unhurt. Why didn’t he end the threat at its roots?

This fucking amnesia.

“You...” Tiger blurted as his expression morphed into speechlessness and shock. Xue Hanshan and the rest of the group were the same.

“Longxiang was at White Sand Fort? You really rescued him from that place?” Yi Pin was stunned as well. He could tell from Xue Hanshan and the others' expressions that Ye Qing was telling the truth.

“Naturally,” Ye Qing replied indifferently.

After Tiger recovered from his shock, he thought that Ye Qing had to be lying to them and yelled, “Hmph! You have to be lying! There is no way someone like you can rescue his disciple from White Sand Fort!”

The muscle brain just could not believe that Ye Qing possessed the strength to do such a thing.

In response, the corners of Ye Qing’s lips turned up. He lifted one foot and crossed ten meters of distance just like that.

Xue Hanshan had been paying close attention to Ye Qing’s every move, so the second his foot twitched, he immediately focused his energies, melded his mind together with the world, and pushed his palms forward.

Clumps of conjoined mountains immediately manifested in the sky. They looked like they would suppress heaven and earth.

“Mountain Pusher”

Ye Qing paid him no attention, however. He floated amidst the mountains for a bit before landing heavily on the ground.

It was like a god had slammed a giant mallet against the ground. First, there was a deafening bang that pierced the eardrums. Then, the ground beneath Ye Qing’s feet began crumbling inch by inch. At the same time, Ye Qing threw out a devastating punch that was do or die.

“Break Through”

The mountains Xue Hanshan summoned might as well be rotten wood before his nine-dragon-elephant strength. His fist easily pierced through the mountains and slammed into the old man’s palms.

The ground was undulating like a wave after Ye Qing’s landing. When the two powers clashed, that part of the ground was blasted into smithereens in an instant.

It was only now Tiger, Hawk, Zuo Ming and the rest of Xue Hanshan’s goons reacted, and it was far, far too late. The shockwave flung them into the air and dealt varying degrees of damage to them all.

Xue Hanshan flinched. The next moment, his arms exploded in a shower of blood, bone and gore. The old man let out a muffled grunt of pain and allowed the impact to push him away from Ye Qing.

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