Stranger Danger

Ye Qing shrugged. The centipede wearing a monk’s head earlier was called a Buddhipede, a Hatred-class Stranger.

The Buddhipede was a special kind of Stranger with a human head but a centipede’s body. It could only be born at a Buddhist site. Because it was born with Buddha-nature, A Buddhipede naturally possessed the power to forbid murder, eliminate violent thoughts, and induce feelings of kindness and compassion in others. Anyone who got near a Buddhipede would slowly let down their guard and their suspicion and turn peaceful and subdued. For example, a bloodthirsty murderer that was influenced by the Buddhipede could be converted into a devotee of the Buddha instantly. It was why the Buddhipede was also nicknamed the Protector of the Buddha.

However, a Buddhipede’s nature could vary drastically depending on their place of birth. If the Buddhist site was a proper Buddhist site, then all was well. If it was the opposite, then the Buddhipede would become an evil, bloodthirsty killer instead.

It spoke volumes as to the type of place the Thousand Buddhas Grotto was considering that the Buddhipede it gave birth to had just tried to murder him. It was quite the dangerous and unpredictable Stranger too. Its ability to pacify a victim subtly and without them noticing was almost impossible to defend against, and the sheen of golden light surrounding its body was called the Light of Commandment. It was so tough that it could block even the attack of a Spirit Purifier, making the Buddhipede one of the harder Strangers to kill.

That said, the Buddhipede had a critical weakness. Its tongue was incredibly frail, and severing it or destroying it would destroy its Light of Commandment as well. Of course, a Buddhipede normally kept its weakness well tucked behind its throat. However, it must unfurl its tongue if it wished to feed, which was why Ye Qing pretended to be influenced by the Buddhipede and waited until it had revealed its tongue before killing it in one strike. It would’ve cost him quite a bit of strength had he tried to kill the Buddhipede the conventional way.

On a related note, Ye Qing didn’t mean that the Buddhipede was a formidable foe when he lamented how unfortunate the encounter was. It was said that the Buddhipede was blessed by the Buddha because it was born with Buddha-nature. That was why anyone who killed a Buddhipede would suffer terrible misfortune.

It was impossible to know if the Buddhipede was actually blessed by the Buddha, but it was a fact that its killer would be very unlucky for a time.

“Sigh. I hope that everything will go smoothly.”

Ye Qing didn’t really let it occupy his mind though. For one, he was quite confident in his abilities. Two, he still had the Incense of Fortune. If the bad luck was too much for him to handle, he could just light an Incense of Fortune to keep the bad luck away.

Ye Qing continued deeper into the grotto after killing the Buddhipede. According to the records, the Thousand Buddhas Grotto was a maze-like grotto that was filled with hundreds of tunnels and thousands of crevices, all of them traversable to a certain extent. If you got lost, then the chances of you making it back to the surface was incredibly unlikely. That said, there was one main path—which was really just a particularly big crevice—that led all the way to the deepest parts of Thousand Buddhas Grotto, so as long as you stuck to the main path, you would never get lost.

The main path wasn’t without its dangers, however. Since it was the main path, it experienced far more traffic than the other paths, and not the human variety. Besides the Buddhipede, Ye Qing had run into the Hundred Ears Mouse, the Bell Ghost, the Earth Puppet after just walking for an incense stick or so.

The Hundred Ears Mouse was a mouse that was covered in ears. It possessed exceptional hearing as a matter of course. The Bell Ghost was a bell-shaped ghost that could shake its own body to unleash a sound attack that sounded like the screams of an evil spirit. The Earth Golem was a massive golem that was entirely made out of soil.

Of course, none of these Strangers were particularly powerful. The Bell Ghost was the strongest of them all, but it was only a Malice-class Stranger. It barely took him any effort to defeat them.

As he continued deeper down the crevice, the atmosphere grew increasingly dark and unsettling. The surrounding statues, moss and soil had taken on a heavy dark gray color as well.

Suddenly, Ye Qing paused in his tracks. “Hmm? There’s sounds of fighting up ahead.”

He pulsed his spirit and grasped the situation quickly. “Three people are attacking a Stranger.”

Ye Qing pushed off the ground and swooped closer to the battlefield without a sound. The humans were two men and one woman, and they were all late-stage Vessel Augmentors. The two men were handsome scholars wearing the same type of attire; a uniform. The dainty woman was wearing the same attire as the men, but her gender was obvious at first glance.

The Stranger they were attacking was a boulder. It was as big as a millstone, but its two arms and legs were as thin as chopsticks. It was a comedic appearance to say the least.

That said, the boulder Stranger was the opposite of its appearance. It could summon countless rocks to defend or attack its enemies with the wave of a limb, and it was giving the three scholars a lot of trouble.

“A Stone Child!” Ye Qing recognized the Stranger immediately. The Stone Child was just a Malice-class Stranger, but it was among the most annoying to deal with because it could control sand and stone like its own limb and was impervious to physical weapons, water and fire. In fact, it was on par with some of the weaker Hatred-class Strangers out there.

“The Stone Child isn’t an easy opponent, but these people… how are they losing when they are three on one?”

Ye Qing shook his head slightly as he observed the battle from behind a rocky pillar. Objectively speaking, the trio weren’t weak at all. They were late-stage Vessel Augmentors, their martial arts were pretty strong, their swordplay looked exquisite, and their true qi was enormous. However, they were performing so poorly it was like he was watching a cartoon show. There were multiple times they could’ve exploited a major opening and dealt the Stone Child a huge blow, but they never failed to miss it.

This was nothing compared to their teamwork though. Forget covering their companions’ weaknesses or bolstering their strengths, they would bump into each other from time to time or block each other’s paths. To call them pigs would probably be an insult to pigs, because pigs would have at least established a hierarchy beforehand. It was clear that the trio had next to no experience when it came to fighting Strangers.

“Uwah!?”

Suddenly, the woman accidentally slipped on the ground and landed with a thud. Instead of getting back to her feet and backing away from the Stranger, she actually clutched her right leg and started rubbing the sore spot.

“Did it hurt so much that death is preferable?”

Ye Qing couldn’t resist rolling his eyes. The woman’s action was akin to lighting a lantern in the toilet—courting death. [1]

Astoundingly, the two men’s reaction was just as idiotic as the woman’s. One of them abandoned the Stone Child instantly and raced toward the woman. The other guy continued to fight the Stone Child as if his companions hadn’t just hung him out to dry. He could’ve adopted a hit-and-run tactic or try to delay the Stone Child until his companions recovers, but no, he fought in the exact same way as before.

What could he possibly do by himself when three of them had failed to defeat the Stone Child? Just a few exchanges later, the Stone Child sent his sword flying and threw a punch at his head.

“Brother Mu Yuan!”

“Mu Yuan…”

The other man and the woman exclaimed in horror as they got back to their feet.

The guy named Mu Yuan seemed completely lost after he lost his sword. Instead of dodging out of the way, he just stood there with a slack-jawed expression as the fist rapidly approached his face.

“It’s a miracle you guys managed to live until now,” Ye Qing sighed and appeared in front of Mu Yuan. He swung his sleeve and struck the Stone Child with enough force to send it flying across the air. It shattered into a million pieces before it hit the ground.

“Shouldn’t you thank me for saving your lives?” Ye Qing looked back at Mu Yuan—the young man was still in shock—and said. The Stone Child was just a Malice-class Stranger, so he lost nothing by helping them.

“T… Thank you,” Mu Yuan subconsciously replied before he finally snapped back to reality and bowed, “Thank you so much for saving our lives, senior!”

Ye Qing was wearing a conical hat, and the Thousand Buddhas Grotto was extremely dark. As a result, Mu Yuan was unable to discern Ye Qing’s face. Despite his youthful voice, Mu Yuan still addressed Ye Qing as senior because he clearly possessed immense strength. There was no harm in being polite after all.

“It’s no trouble at all,” Ye Qing smiled and asked them a question, “Who are you people, and why have you come to the Thousand Buddhas Grotto?”

Mu Yuan replied respectfully, “I am Mu Yuan, a student of White Horse Academy. They are my senior and my junior sister, Cheng Yi and Chéng Youlan [2].”

Cheng Yi and Chéng Youlan harried forward and emulated their companion’s example, “We greet you, senior. Thank you so much for saving our lives.”

“White Horse Academy?” Ye Qing exclaimed in surprise. He wasn’t expecting to hear this, but then again, they were dressed like scholars.

White Horse Academy was one of the three major factions of Luo Shui together with Sunset Hill and Blood Shadow Palace, but they weren’t a pure jianghu faction. Preferring civility over violence, everyone in the academy was a scholar. Members of White Horse Academy were expected to be well-versed in the Four Books, the Five Classics, the Six Arts and the Seven Stratagems. That said, they lived in a tumultuous world, so they were trained in martial arts as well. Everyone in White Horse Academy was expected to be a master of both the pen and the sword.

In fact, there were many White Horse Academy students who were martial arts experts, artists, musicians, Go game masters and of course, accomplished scholars all at the same time. Many of them had participated in a county-level examination or commandery-level examination with a significant amount of success as well.

As most White Horse Academy students chose to follow a civic path in their career, they quite often tangoed with the imperial court and various administrative divisions. This was why it wasn’t viewed as a pure jianghu faction.

This was the second time he encountered another member of white Horse Academy. The first person he encountered was Wen Zailai at Cuiwei Boat. Frankly, his impression of Wen Zailai was bad. Not only was he a schemer, he was helping Wang Luori to scheme against him.

Ye Qing asked, “So, you’re students of White Horse Academy. Why are you here risking your lives in Thousand Buddhas Grotto when you can be studying at your academy?”

What he really wanted to say was, “Ladies and gentlemen, do you wanna die that badly?”

Mu Yuan answered, “We were accompanied by Master Fu. However, we got separated from him halfway.”

“I see!” Ye Qing exclaimed in realization. No wonder they were so bad. They were, to put in gamer terms, being carried.

“Thousand Buddhas Grotto is an incredibly dangerous place. The three of you aren’t weak, but your experience is severely lacking. You should leave as soon as you can!” advised Ye Qing.

However, Mu Yuan hesitated and said, “We er… we can’t leave yet.”

“Excuse me? Do you really wanna die that badly?” Ye Qing exclaimed incredulously.

Mu Yuan explained with an awkward expression, “Our trial requires us to reach the inner area of the Thousand Buddhas Grotto at least. If we go back now, we’ll be punished by the academy.”

Ye Qing frowned, “The trial can’t be more important than your life!”

It was at this moment Cheng Yi spoke up with a resolute voice, “In life, there are things a man of honor must do or mustn’t do. If we cannot even complete a simple trial like this, how can we bridge the gap between the heavens and the earth, establish a life for the people, succeed the learnings of the ancient sages, and forge peace for all ages?”

“Heh,” Ye Qing sneered, “And how are you going to accomplish any of that if you’re dead?”

“You may have saved our lives, but you will not slander our grand ambition, senior!” Cheng Yi protested with displeasure, “Plus, it’s just the Thousand Buddhas Grotto. Is there anything in this place that can stop us?”

“Senior brother, don’t—” Chéng Youlan tugged at his sleeve, but Cheng Yi argued, “What? Im’ not wrong!”

“...” Ye Qing was speechless for a moment.

Are you alright in the head, bud?

Who was the one who got wrecked by a Malice-class Stranger despite it being a three-on-one fight?

Who was the pathetic guy who could only scream helplessly when his junior brother was about to die?

Are you seriously that oblivious to your inexperience?

1. The original quote uses a pun to imply courting death, but it works here too. Imagine this ancient old toilet where all the shit is piled at the bottom until someone comes over to clean it. Imagine that the methane is building up in this small, confined space. Now imagine lighting a fire in this space. ☜

2. I was told that the surnames are pretty hard to track, so I decided to add some pinyin to differentiate them. Tell me if this makes it better. ☜