Stranger Danger

The Deer of Balance turned to face the giant silhouette after destroying the three giant faces. Then, it conjured a penta-colored sword of light between horns and launched it at Umbra. As the sword flew, it split into two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty two and more. The sky was filled with swords in the blink of an eye.

“Storm of swords

Evil die”

“Hmph! How futile!” Umbra scoffed and brought down his palm. Darkness surged, and the curtain of darkness itself transformed into a palm as big as the sky itself. It easily encompassed the rain of swords.

Boom!

The gigantic palm clenched its fingers, and the colorful swords abruptly froze in mid-air. Then, they shattered into a million pieces.

The fragments did not disappear even though the swords were crushed though. In fact, they exploded like tiny bombs and put a million holes in the giant palm.

“Is that all? I guess you’re not much better than your minion, Umbra!” The Deer of Balance snorted in disdain.

As soon as it said this, Umbra suddenly appeared behind the deer and struck it with his sleeve. Caught completely off guard, the deer Stranger was sent flying into the darkness.

A few breaths passed, and rays of divine light pierced through the pitch black darkness. The Deer of Balance’s voice boomed, “More trickery, Umbra!?”

It was like the moon piercing through the dark clouds and illuminating the world with its gentle light. The next moment, a beam of light shot out of the darkness and slammed into Umbra faster than he could react.

Umbra staggered back in pain as the divine light melted his black qi. Enraged, it sent the Deer of Balance flying with another slap. This time though, it didn’t just stand around and do nothing like an idiot. It flew after the deer Stranger to kick the do—deer while it was down.

The Deer of Balance was not going to take it lying down, of course. And so the two Strangers fought an outrageous battle in the sky.

In reality, the Deer of Balance was no match for Umbra. But thanks to the Scale of Balance and the Pentacolor Divine Light, it managed to fight Umbra to a standstill.

Rumble!

Darkness churned, and space shook. Ye Qing felt like he was trapped in the middle of an apocalypse. It was so terrifying that he hid inside Pawn Shop No. 8 and stayed as still as a salted fish.

……

“Xiaoman, Xiaoman, I just sensed the presence of Pawn Shop No. 8.”

On a hilltop, a man in his forties was crouching on the ground and holding a steaming bowl of oil spill noodles. His clothes looked worn out, and he had a down-to-earth face that gave him the appearance of an old farmer. A delicious aroma permeated the air as he slurped the noodles greedily.

The middle-aged man wasn’t the speaker, however. It was a longbow leaning against a tree. The bow was golden in color and covered in mysterious patterns. A gold dragon with shiny scales and sharp claws were encircling the grip. From time to time, small jets of golden flames would shoot out of its nostrils and circulate around the bow, giving it a mysterious yet dignified appearance.

The dragon was the one who spoke up earlier.

“Mm. I felt it as well,” the middle-aged man responded affirmatively but didn’t move away from his noodles.

“Strange. I also sense two Strangers battling each other above Pawn Shop No. 8. One of them is Umbra, and the other one… I’m not sure who it is.”

Sparks flew off the gold dragon’s teeth as it closed its jaws gently. Whiskers floating beside its nostrils, it asked, “Didn’t you say you send only two kids into the Strange Market? Did you arrange some additional help after all?”

The middle-aged man shook his head. “No. Whatever it is, it’s not me.”

“If it’s not you, then who was it?” The dragon—or rather, the longbow voiced its doubts, “Perhaps Umbra discovered that your kids were looking for Pawn Shop No. 8 and decided to make his move first?”

The longbow waited for a few seconds but didn’t get a response from its owner. When it turned around and saw that the middle-aged man was fully focused on its noodles, it flew into a rage, “Didn’t you hear my question, Fang Xiaoman? Eat eat eat! Were you a hungry ghost in your previous life? You’re easily one of the biggest gluttons I’ve ever seen in my life!”

“You don’t get it. Food is the most precious thing in this world, and there is nothing more satisfying than eating your fill!”

Fang Xiaoman said with a humble smile on his face, “Aunt Hua made the noodles herself, and this pork is cut from the finest tenderloin. Not only are they plentiful and chunky, they are mixed with Aunt Hua’s beef tallow as well. With that in mind, how can I waste such a fine delicacy on trivial questions?”

He immediately went back to his noodles after answering his bow.

“You—!”

The longbow quivered in rage and flashed golden. At that moment, the entire hilltop suddenly shone as bright as a second sun. When the light faded, the plants had burned into dust, and the rocks and soil were scorched black. However, the area around Fang Xiaoman was perfectly untouched.

“You’re the Chief of Bureau of Luo Shui, Fang Xiaoman! Don’t you care about your underlings’ safety at all? You’re a cruel, heartless and cold-blooded monster!”

“Have you no shame or dignity, Fang Xiaoman? If I was you, I would’ve jumped off the walls of Luo Shui and killed myself a long time ago! Despicable!”

No matter how the longbow goaded Fang Xiaoman, the Chief of Bureau didn’t respond to its insults. In the end, the longbow lost its drive and said disgruntledly, “Hey… say something, you bastard!”

Fang Xiaoman sucked the last noodle in the bowl down his throat and slurped up some of the onion oil at the bottom of the bowl as well. It was only then he finally answered the bow, “Don’t worry, it’s most likely not them. If it was them, it would’ve been over in an instant. Umbra would have squished them like a bug.”

The longbow’s anger was doused like a fire. It thought for a second before agreeing, “You’re right! I’m still annoyed that you didn’t answer me immediately, but I, Lord Xuanhuang, am a generous dragon. I shan’t take offense at your slowness!”

“Haha…” Fang Xiaoman chuckled while wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

Unfortunately, just because he kept quiet didn’t mean that the bow named Xuanhuang would. It immediately launched into a new conversation, “By the way, didn’t you say you were going to attack Umbra? Now is the time to do so! With Lord Xuanhuang by your side, there is no way you can’t blow his ugly face into smithereens! Use me now!”

Fang Xiaoman slowly got to his feet and massaged his tingling legs a little. “There’s no hurry. A better opportunity will present itself.”

Xuanhuang grunted, “At what cost? You’re going to lose the golden opportunity you have right now! Don’t say I didn’t warn you if Umbra escapes! Dammit, what did I do in my previous life to deserve a slow master like you? I would have died of frustration if I was a human!”

Fang Xiaoman still didn’t take offense. He replied lazily, “What can I do? My name is Fang Xiaoman (Slow). Besides, some things can only be done slowly. For example, you can’t eat hot tofu quickly, can you?”

“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”

As he said this, Fang Xiaoman slowly picked up the Xuanhuang Bow and weighed it in his hand. Then, he spread out his legs, lowered his center of gravity, and slowly pulled the string backward.

As the bow curved more and more, the golden dragon encircling the grip shone golden and made this rattling noise that was really its scales clashing against one another. At the same time, whispers of a draconic roar spread out from the bow and cowed all Strangers within tens of kilometers of Fang Xiaoman into submission. Soft as it was, not a single one of them even dared to make a peep while the dragon was still roaring.

A golden arrow of light manifested on the longbow. The silhouette of a tiny dragon could be encircling the shaft. When the bow had reached its full draw, the dragon almost looked like the real thing.

“Drawn like a full moon

Xuanhuang looked to the northwest

To kill a god.”

ROAR!

Fang Xiaoman let go of the bowstring as soon as he achieved a full draw. The arrow flew, but instead of an arrow, it was a three hundred meter long dragon whose passionate roar pierced both heaven and earth. The next second, it slipped into the void and disappeared.

After the golden dragon was gone, Fang Xiaoman allowed his tattered arm to fall to his side. His aura was faint, and blood was dripping from the bottom of the bow’s limb. Strangely, the blood was gold in color, not red.

Then again, why would a gold dragon bleed anything but gold?

“It’s time to go. I can use a good rest after this.”

Fang Xiaoman gently caressed the dragon before making his way down the hill.

Xuanhuang complained, “Come on! We’re not even going to watch the outcome?”

Fang Xiaoman answered, “Nah. I trust you and myself. Even if Umbra survives this attack, it will leave a lasting memory. He will learn that the world isn’t his to toy with as he pleases so long as the Pacification Bureau still exists to protect humanity!”

“Impressive speech, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re leaving because you’re too weak to use me more than once. Otherwise, you would’ve shot the bastard as many times as it takes to kill him dead. And then we’ll never have to worry about fucking Umbra and his fucking Pawn Shop No. 8!”

“Yes, yes, I’m just too weak.”

“You are weak. By the way, we should’ve heard the explosion by now. What’s going on?”

“What did I tell you about being slow? The arrow will hit when it’s time to hit its target.”

Fang Xiaoman looked like he was walking slowly, but he had disappeared from the forest in the blink of an eye. A second after that, the hill abruptly crumbled into rubble.

……

Meanwhile, Umbra and the Deer of Balance were still having a mano-o-mano above Pawn Shop No. 8. They were evenly-matched, and it looked like they could go for another three hundred rounds without end.

Suddenly, the Deer of Balance declared in an arrogant voice, “This game is getting boring. Goodbye, my grandson!”

A streak of divine light cut through the darkness, and the Deer of Balance was gone just like that.

After the Deer of Balance was gone, Umbra floated motionlessly above his pawn shop as if he was catching his breath. His fiery eyes were swaying unsteadily, and his aura was flickering erratically as well. The Deer of Balance hadn’t won, but it was clear he wasn’t the winner either.

Suddenly, Umbra peered down and glared at Ye Qing. The young man was hoping to escape the pawn shop undetected, but of course his movement hadn’t escaped the powerful Stranger’s notice. He uttered with infinite malice and anger, “You deserve death, ant!”

Ye Qing: “...” The fuck does this have to do with me? It’s not my fault you lost the fight! Also, I was just gonna explore the Strange Market, get my stuff, and teach the occasional lesson via superior firepower until you kidnapped li’l ol’ me to your pawn shop!

Just the same, it was you who had tried to cheat me out of a fair deal until Deer-I’m-a-fucking-boss-Balance saw through your ploy and kicked your sorry ass. Literally everything was your fault from start until the end, and now you’re going to take it out on me because, what, I’m the only one left? Where is your shame, man? Your dignity?

Sensing that Umbra could kill him at any moment, Ye Qing hurriedly yelled, “I’m a Patrolman of the Pacification Bureau. Kill me, and the Pacification Bureau will chase you to the ends of the earth!”

It was the truth. He was a Patrolman, and the Pacification Bureau would never take the loss of a Patrolman lying down. However, there was no telling if this was enough to scare Umbra away. If it worked, then all was well. If not, he could only pray that daddy heaven still had more plans for him!

“You’re a Patrolman of the Pacification Bureau?”

The flame orbs in his eyes suddenly burned brighter as he cackled in delight, “Good, good! Your bureau, impotent they may be, has been a thorn in my side as of late. Killing you would be the perfect balm to my soul! Kekeke…”