Stranger Danger

“Is that you, Ye Qing? Why are you here? I thought I told you to rest until you’ve fully healed?” asked Lin Hu.

It was a peaceful morning. Lin Hu was instructing the trainees on the training ground as usual when Ye Qing walked up to him with a bright smile on his face.

Ye Qing replied casually, “But I am healed, captain. That’s why I came to see you.”

“What?” Lin Hu looked Ye Qing up and down for a moment before exclaiming in surprise, “It’s true! How did you recover so quickly?”

Just a week ago, Ye Qing had looked sick, pale, and so weak that a gust of wind might topple him. But now, he was practically the picture of good health. His cheeks were rosy, his vigor was overflowing, and not a shred of weakness could be spotted anywhere.

Ye Qing was ready for this. He answered, “I wasn’t that hurt in the first place, and my family kept an old ginseng that’s perfect for restoring strength and vigor. It’s why I recovered so quickly.”

“I see!” Lin Hu had no reason to suspect that Ye Qing was lying, so he simply nodded and said, “By the way, your level of vigor should not be possible for an untrained man. In fact, it rivals some of the kids behind me. You have already begun practicing the ‘Seven Forms of Demon Subjugation’, haven’t you?”

“Your senses are sharp, captain. Yes, it was boring for my body to heal, so I thought to myself: why not?” answered Ye Qing while rubbing his nose as if embarrassed. It was why Lin Hu did not notice the triumphant glint in his eyes.

The captain didn’t realize I’m an adept Reforged already. He didn’t notice that my blood is unusual either. That’s good, he thought with a bit of relief.

A week ago, Ye Qing wondered how he was going to explain his unnatural progress to anyone. After all, it wasn’t everyday a nobody skipped a whole year of work and became an adept Reforged in under a day. But after he grew accustomed to his newfound power, he was pleasantly surprised to find that his blood could disguise his cultivation level and his presence. By manipulating its power of consumption, he could “store” his strength, presence and more inside the blood and make himself look like a common man, just one with a stronger vigor than normal. When necessary, he could simply cancel the effect and return to full power in an instant. To put it simply, he could make himself look weaker than he really was.

It wasn’t perfect though. If someone were to take a look at his blood, they would notice that each drop contained an unimaginable amount of power.

Besides absorbing the remnant energy in his body and continuing his cultivation, learning how to control his blood was Ye Qing’s main focus for the past week. It was all to conceal his strength. It wasn’t that he didn’t have any vanity in him, he just wasn’t strong enough to afford it right now.

For one, his cultivation speed was so insane that someone would want to know exactly how he had done it. Two, it was highly likely that Chen Zheng would be spurred into drastic action if he discovered that the insignificant pebble he thought he could crush at any moment wasn’t so insignificant after all. Until he found out exactly what his nemesis was capable of, it was simply unwise to clash against him so soon. For now, the low-profile was the best profile.

Lin Hu ordered, “Show me your ‘Seven Forms of Demon Subjugation’. I want to know how far you’ve progressed.”

“Got it.” Ye Qing nodded and took a stance. Then, he began to practice the cultivation art he had practiced at least hundreds of times before. However, his movements were far slower than normal, and his transitions were shaky and rough. By the time he finally completed a full cycle, he was sweating like he had just climbed out of a river and panting like a dog.

He was faking it, of course. The plan was to keep a low profile, so of course he should act accordingly.

“Incredible! Incredible!”

Ye Qing had done his best to practice the “Seven Forms of Demon Subjugation” as horribly as possible. In fact, he was fully expecting Lin Hu to tell him what a failure he was and spray spittle all over his face. It was why he was utterly surprised when he received the exact opposite.

“I cannot believe you learned the entire cultivation art in just seven days! Although your transitions are rough, and many parts of your forms are wildly inaccurate, to reach this level in just seven days is nothing short of incredible. Keep this up! At this rate, it shouldn’t be long before you reach the journeyman level.”

After Lin Hu was done praising Ye Qing, he turned back to the trainees and lost his smile immediately. “Look at Ye Qing, and then look at yourselves! Our man has only practiced for seven days with no one to guide him, and still he was able to perform the ‘Seven Forms of Demon Subjugation’ from beginning until the end! But you lot have been studying under me for over two weeks, and some of you still couldn’t perform a full cycle! Did I accidentally pick up a pack of dogs? Is that why you couldn’t even learn something so simple? An embarrassment, that’s what you are!”

Everyone: “...” Ye Qing: “...” 𝙗𝒆𝒅𝒏𝙤𝒗𝒆𝙡．𝙤𝒓𝙜

As a dozen pairs of resentful gazes fastened on his face, Ye Qing rubbed his nose innocently and thought, I just want to keep a low profile. Is that too much to ask?

“Zhou Nian, Li Er. Step forward,” Lin Hu ordered.

“Captain.” Two men—one stout and one slender—immediately stepped into the open.

Ye Qing knew these two. The tall, slender youth with an air of aloofness was Zhou Nian, and the short and portly one beside him was Li Er. They had played together when they were children, and they had shared a good relationship until Chen Zheng had barged into his life and caused them to grow estranged.

“Ye Qing, Zhou Nian, Li Er. The three of you have learned the ‘Seven Forms of Demon Subjugation’ and begun tempering your bodies. In better times, I would wait until your vigor has fully stabilized before throwing you to the frontlines, but sadly our numbers are too thin to maintain that rule anymore. I have no choice but to put you to work immediately.”

Zhou Nian and Li Er turned as pale as a sheet when they heard this, but not Ye Qing. He knew this was coming, not to mention that the reason he showed up today was to participate in expeditions, kill Strangers, and apply them in his cultivation.

“Follow me.”

Lin Hu led them to the village entrance where a middle-aged man stood. He carried a bow on his back and a long saber around his waist. “I’ve got three rookies for you, Nianshui. I want you to show them the ropes.”

Fang Nianshui (Thinking of Water) was a refined and graceful name, but the man himself was anything but that. Not only was he as stout as an ox, he had a bandit’s face and a thick black beard.

Fang Nianshui let out a hearty laugh. “Perfect timing! I just lost my last few underlings two days ago!”

Zhou Nian and Li Er turned even paler and shivered when they heard this.

“Cut it out. Are you trying to make things harder for yourself?” Lin Hu slapped the big man behind the shoulder before shooting them a reassuring smile. “Nianshui is the most experienced hunter of Strangers in our village. You would do well to learn from him.”

“Yes captain,” All three youngsters responded affirmatively.

“Take them to the armory to choose their weapons. Then, show them what a day in a watchman’s life is like,” Lin Hu ordered before adding, “Take good care of them, okay?”

Fang Nianshui nodded with a guffaw. “I get it, captain. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Good. I’ll see you all later then,” said Lin Hu before turning around and leaving.

After the watchmen captain was gone, Fang Nianshui declared lackadaisically, “Alright, the three of you are my underlings now. Although we’re fellow villagers, and I’ve watched over you since you were running around with your birds out, there are watchmen rules that we watchmen must abide by no matter what. For starters, you must address me as ‘Boss’ or ‘Boss Fang’.”

"Boss Fang," the trio answered obediently.

“Good lads!” Fang Nianshui grinned in satisfaction. “Come on then. Let’s go grab your weapons.”

There were sabers, spears, sticks, clubs, axes, hatchets, swords and even pitchforks in the armory. Unfortunately, they were all forged using common crucible steel, and there was nothing special about them besides having a fine edge.

Zhou Nian chose a longsword, and Li Er a long stick. It was a good fit with his portly frame. Ye Qing took a bit longer to consider his options before grabbing a long saber with a long, narrow blade. It resembled the Yanling saber.

A sword looked dashing, but it required a style that revolved mainly around thrusts and jabs. A stick was impactful, but it lacked the sheer deadliness of a honed edge. A saber was heavy and excellent at slashing, but it could not be wielded properly without a good amount of strength. Thankfully, his strength was exceptional even for an adept Reforged, so a saber was the most suitable weapon for him.

“Are you done? If you are, then it’s time to head out and broaden your horizons!” Fang Nianshui declared after all three youngsters had grabbed their weapons.

Li Er asked curiously while running after the hunter, “What should we be expecting, Boss Fang? Is there anything you can tell us?”

Fang Nianshui chuckled but refused to give him an answer. “It’ll be no fun if I tell you everything now, won’t it? Just wait and see. I promise you it’ll be an interesting experience.”

When the group exited the entrance and stared into the distance, they were immediately greeted by a beautiful expanse of lush fields and pastures, tall trees and swaying flowers, calm waters and lofty mountains, soft clouds and a clear, blue sky. Even Ye Qing had to admit that it was a scene straight out of a paradise.

“It’s beautiful!” Zhou Nian could not help but exclaim in wonderment. Li Er and Ye Qing were looking left and right with bright eyes as well.

The people of August Hill Village were generally not allowed to leave the village compound unless it was for farming. It was why they rarely got to enjoy even the scenery just beyond their walls.

“It is beautiful, innit? This is just the beginning. More pleasant surprises are waiting for you ahead,” Fang Nianshui winked at them before walking down a path set between the fields.

“Hmm? What’s this?”

They were walking when Li Er came to a sudden stop. It was because he noticed bubbles rising from a quagmire next to them.

“Don’t touch it!” Fang Nianshui hurriedly stopped Li Er when he looked back and noticed that the curious youngster was about to poke the quagmire with his long stick. Not a moment too soon, the surrounding mud suddenly wriggled on its own before joining together to form a pair of mud dolls.

“Yah yah…” The mud dolls had a nose, eyes and legs. Individually, it was just big enough to fit on a palm. The moment they appeared, they started running around making strange noises and playing like children.

More and more mud wriggled unnaturally before taking the form of a mud doll. It took only a few seconds for the otherworldly creatures to fill up the whole path. Mud and water flew everywhere, and some even landed on the group when a couple of mud dolls collided against their feet. It wasn’t an attack though. The creatures were just fooling around and playing among themselves.

About seven to eight minutes later, the mud dolls abruptly ran back to the quagmire as if they had had their fill. Then, they wriggled one last time before dissolving into the pool of mud and disappearing completely.

“What… what are those things?” Li Er asked with a stiff voice. His face was pale, and he didn’t dare to move even after the mud dolls had disappeared.

Fang Nianshui dropped his lackadaisical demeanor and said seriously, “We call them Mud Dolls, an Mundane-class Stranger. From weak to strong, a Stranger may be classified as Mundane, Red, Malice, and Hatred. They correspond to our Body Tempering, Qi Invocation, Vessel Augmentation, Astral Refinement and more.”

.

“Are there Strangers above the Hatred-class?” Ye Qing asked with a frown.

Fang Nianshui answered, “Of course, but you don’t need to learn about them right now. Just know that they are far beyond you or my ability to handle. To give you an example, a Stranger at that level can easily destroy a village or even a county singlehandedly. They can only be handled by another warrior at the same level or higher.”

“Setting that aside, my first lesson to you lot is to rein in your curiosity. Think twice, look twice, and don’t touch anything unless you’re sure it won’t kill you. Why? Because some Strangers are perfectly harmless unless you provoke them first. Take the Mud Dolls for example. Normally, the worst they can do to you is to dirty your clothes. But if you piss them off, they will fight you to the death.

“You might think that you stand a chance, but the Mud Dolls are completely made of mud. They are nigh unkillable unless you can eliminate all the mud in the area somehow. Even I won’t survive a confrontation with the Mud Dolls without some serious luck, much less you rookies!”