Stranger Danger

If anything, pretending that the winds were affecting him was harder.

Yang Xuan and Wang Guan weren’t pretending though. Yang Xuan’s complexion was as pale as death, and his eyes were dim and unfocused. He kept exhaling white breath as if he was walking through a snowstorm, and he had trouble maintaining a layer of protective astral qi around him. Even his arms, face, neck and other exposed parts started mottling and decaying slowly.

Wang Yang fared better because the White Flame of Nothingness shielded him from both the Icy Wind and the Corrosive Wind, but the Burning Wind was a different story. Not only could the Burning Wind penetrate everything, it could burn a person’s mind as well. Naturally, it gave Wang Yang a migraine so bad that he had trouble maintaining his astral qi as well.

None of them looked as bad as Ye Qing, however. Right now, his clothes were in tatters, and his eyes were completely unfocused. He looked like a drunk as he swayed left, right, and center. His lips kept alternating between blue and white, and his complexion red and black as well. Sometimes, tiny icicles would form inside his pores, and sometimes, dark red flames would melt it all into vapor. It was the ice-and-fire treatment.

Schadenfreude was a unique emotion. If someone was getting it worse than you, then you would feel better even if you were allies. And if you were enemies, then even better.

“Are you okay, Brother Ye?” Yang Xuan asked seemingly out of concern, but he really just wanted to see Ye Qing embarrass himself.

Ye Qing swayed on his feet and cracked an ugly grin. “Not dead yet. I can go on a little longer.”

Hmph! He should’ve just admitted weakness when he still can! It’ll be most satisfying when he dies! Yang Xuan scoffed inside his head.

However, Wang Yang and Yang Xuan’s schadenfreude subsided over time because the further they traveled, the worse the three divine winds became, which directly contributed to their suffering. On the other hand, Ye Qing looked the same as ever. He continued to sway back and forth like a drunkard, and it looked like one last breeze was all that was needed to kill him. But he didn’t.

Some time passed, and both Wang Yang and Yang Xuan were struggling just to put their foot in front of the other. However, Ye Qing looked the same as ever.

“Are you okay, Brother Ye?” Wang Yang asked.

Ye Qing grinned. “I am fine. I think I can hold on a little while longer.”

Hold on? With the way you’re looking? It’ll be most satisfying when he dies! Wang Yang scoffed internally and focused on the path ahead of him.

Some more time passed, and Ye Qing looked the same as ever. No matter how much he wobbled, he just refused to fall to the ground.

The heck? How is he not dead yet?

Wang Yang and Yang Xuan exchanged a glance with each other. They refused to believe that they, the geniuses of Sunset Hill, would lose to a jianghu wanderer of unknown origin.

And so they asked Ye Qing the same question every time they walked a certain distance,

“How are you feeling, Brother Ye?”

“Cough cough, I’m fine, I’m fine, I can hang on a little longer!”

“Are you doing okay, Brother Ye?”

“Huff huff, I’m fine, I’m fine, I can hang on a little longer!”

“Are you fine, Brother Ye?”

“Hah, hah, I’m fine, I’m fine, I can hang on a little longer!”

……

Wang Yang and Yang Xuan felt like they were about to go insane. They just wanted to one-up the fodder, so why were they not getting their wish? Also, how long was Ye Qing’s “a little longer”, exactly? Did he mean “just a few more minutes”, or “until the end of fucking time” itself?

Screw it! I’m done with this act! I’m the motherfucking heir to Sunset Hill and a late-stage Astral Refiner! Why the hell was I trying to one-up a random nobody who’s going to die at the end anyway? Speaking of which, is it worth butting heads with a dead man? Of course not!

After Wang Yang had sufficiently placated himself, he flicked his wrist and summoned a bluish-green, palm-sized carp to his hand.

The carp’s scales looked like pieces of jade with cloud patterns on them. Its whiskers were bright red, and it held a bluish green orb in its mouth.

The moment the carp appeared, the cloud patterns shone, and a white, misty cloud appeared underneath the carp. It slowly lifted the carp into the air.

As whiskers floated, and its tail swished left and right, the bluish green orb slowly floated out of the carp’s mouth and spun in mid-air. It then gave off a gentle, bluish green light that slowly formed a protective shield around the trio.

The shield looked fragile, but in reality it was strong enough to keep the three divine winds away from the trio. More accurately, the winds themselves seemed to be swerving out of the way of the shield for some unknown reason.

“Phew! Finally!” uttered both Yang Xuan and Ye Qing, but their reasons were very different. Yang Xuan was sighing because he was finally free from the torture of the three divine winds, whereas Ye Qing was sighing because he could finally the drop the act.

Ye Qing’s eyes flickered with astonishment as he stared at the bluish green carp swam leisurely in the air. He recognized it as the Malice-class Stranger called the Wind Repelling Carp.

The Wind Repelling Carp had scales like pieces of jade and carried the Wind Repelling Orb in its mouth. It was why it was also nicknamed the Orb Carrying Carp. Although the Wind Repelling Carp was shaped like a fish, it really lived in the winds and could soar above the nine heavens. It possessed the unique ability to repel all winds so that there was nowhere in the sky it couldn’t go.

The Wind Repelling Carp wasn’t a strong Stranger by any means, but it was irreplaceable in certain circumstances such as this one. However, the Wind Repelling Carp usually lived high above the sky and flew wherever it wanted, so it was quite difficult to capture it to say the least. Ye Qing had no idea Wang Yang had one until he released it to repel the three divine winds.

In hindsight, there was no way Wang Yang would dare to venture into this place if he didn’t have something to repel the three divine winds, but this also made Ye Qing a little resentful.

If you have something this amazing, then why didn’t you bring it out earlier, you bastard? Acting isn’t easy, man!

Wang Yang noticed Ye Qing’s look and explained, “This is the Wind Repelling Carp, and it possesses the ability to repel all winds including the three divine winds of this place. However, it’s only a Malice-class Stranger, and it has to protect not just itself, but all three of us, meaning that this protective shield won’t hold for long. That is why I didn’t use it earlier. I hope you won’t take offense, Brother Ye.”

“I understand,” Ye Qing said with a nod. What Wang Yang said was the truth. While the Wind Repelling Carp was exceedingly good at repelling wind, the Corrosive Wind, Icy Wind and Burning Wind were all unusual winds in their own right. Of course a Malice-class Wind Repelling Carp was going to be hardpressed to protect itself and them.

It would take a Hatred-class Wind Repelling Carp to truly handle the three divine winds without trouble.

“There’s no time to waste. Let’s go.”

Wang Yang and Yang Xuan swallowed a pill each. Then, they raced toward the next area as quickly as they could. With the Wind Repelling Carp to keep the three divine winds away, the two of them and Ye Qing were quickly able to reach a huge, majestic-looking temple.

The temple was square-shaped and extravagantly built. The bricks were gold, the tiles were jade, and the beams were colored and covered in engravings. It was also shining gold bright. Countless lotuses were floating amidst the golden light, and each lotus seemed to be carrying a Buddha, a Vajrapani, an Arhat, a Bodhisattva and more.

Their expressions were quite varied as well. Some were glaring like they were facing an enemy, some were holding a vitarka mudra and smiling beautifully, some looked like they were pitying someone or something, and some just wore a natural expression.

Golden lotuses gave birth to Buddhas, and Buddhas gave birth to a Kingdom of Buddha.

“So this is the Thousand Buddhas Temple. Its reputation is well-deserved!”

It was a stunning sight to say the least.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh…

Unfortunately, they didn’t have long to admire the view. The three divine winds blew out from inside the Thousand Buddhas Temple, but unlike the ones they had endured before, this one looked almost solid. Like a tri-colored dragon, it blew out of the temple with seemingly enough power to annihilate the world itself.

“We need to get inside now!” Wang Yang jolted out of his reverie and urged. He then took the lead and charged toward the entrance. Ye Qing and Yang Xuan hurriedly followed behind him. Thankfully, they were able to make it into the temple before the Wind Repelling Carp used up its final sliver of strength.

As soon as they made it inside the Thousand Buddhas Temple, a road made of jade and gold suddenly appeared in front of them. Gold, transparent lotuses floated and bloomed in the air, and countless Buddhist statues aligned both sides of the path. They looked kind, serene, and at peace. It was like they were standing in paradise on earth—no, a Kingdom of Buddha on Earth.

It wasn’t all good, however. The areas beyond the path were filled with the three divine winds, and they resembled black rivers due to how concentrated they were. They also made this unearthly howl like they were in the realm of the dead.

On one side, there was the Kingdom of Buddha, and on the other, there was hell.

“Let’s go,” Wang Yang ordered after observing his surroundings for a bit and finding no danger. He also put away the exhausted Wind Repelling Carp.

“Er, can we not?” Ye Qing licked his lips nervously. For whatever reason, he looked both tense and worried. It was as if he could see something they couldn’t see.

In fact, he could. Wang Yang and Yang Xuan were seeing a golden road of divinity, but Ye Qing only saw a road of corpses. Literally, they were all pressed up and stacked together like bricks. Not only that, they were constantly twitching, struggling, screaming as if they still possessed consciousness, so the entire road kept undulating like waves.

The Buddhist statues lined on both sides of the road were real, but instead of stone, they were bodies. Words could not describe how grotesque they were. The only thing that came close was the skin giant Ye Qing had encountered back at Little August Hill, but that was one creature, and this was a literal hellscape.

He saw three or four heads bunched up together and staring at them like they would devour them alive, cackling. Their rotting lips were curved into hateful, greedy, and spine-chilling smiles. Putrid saliva streamed down the corners of their mouth and made sizzling noises when it dripped on the road of corpses.

The shiny, golden light and blooming lotuses weren’t anything but what they appeared to be. The light was malevolent, twisted yin qi, and the lotuses were innumerable tortured souls. They laughed, screamed, or wept as they roamed here and there on the bridge. Occasionally, the three divine winds would slam into the road of corpses and annihilate countless tortured souls, but the yin qi shrouding the road was so thick that the road itself was undamaged.

Another person might think that this was a representation of the Kingdom of Buddha and hell in one place, but him? All he could see… was hell.

Frankly, Ye Qing was starting to regret his decision to join Wang Yang. He had already murdered most of his disciples, and he could have ended Wang Yang and Xuan Yang’s lives while they were weakened by the three divine winds earlier. After that, all he needed to do was to do what he came for and leave. Why oh why had he chosen to indulge in his curiosity and greed?

Neither Wang Yang nor Yang Xuan possessed his level of spirit, so they had no idea that what they were seeing was just an illusion. They just thought that Ye Qing had suddenly regretted his decision and wanted out, which wasn’t wrong. Wang Yang shot him a cold look and said, “You can come with us, or you can die right here and now!”

Wang Yang let loose an outburst of astral qi then.At this point, he couldn’t be bothered to act anymore. He would kill Ye Qing if the young man dared to say no to his demands.

This was the moment you used a fodder anyway. This place might look safe, but his instincts were telling a different story. Plus, if Thousand Buddhas Temple really was a holy place, then why was it abandoned for over a century?

In short, it was time to put the fodder to work.