Stranger Danger

After Cheng Nuo and the White Horse Academy disciples were gone, Ye Qing slowly looked out of the entrance while wearing an eerie smirk on his face. He was holding the Annon Sutra in his hands, and there were a few lines of blood text on its surface. Although the words were fading, the last line was still incredibly clear:

“Wang Yang accidentally stepped on a slippery rock and slipped. As a result, Cheng Nuo accidentally skewered him through the brain and killed him.”

The word “killed” especially was glowing a bloody, vicious light.

“The Annon Sutra’s Orbit of Fate is so scummy. I love it,” Ye Qing looked down on the piece of vellum with obvious delight on his face.

That’s right. The series of unfortunate coincidences that led to Wang Yang’s death was all caused by the Orbit of Fate.

Assuming he hadn’t altered the trajectory of Wang Yang’s fate, the young hill lord would’ve been able to dodge the ink sword without much trouble. But since he had, he slipped at the last moment and accidentally put his head directly in the path of Cheng Nuo’s sword, which resulted in his death.

As for why he wanted Wang Yang to die in Cheng Nuo’s hands, it was very simple. It was to pit Sunset Hill and White Horse Academy against one another. Best case scenario, Wang Luori would be so busy with his new enemy that he completely forgot that he existed.

Wang Luori was arrogant, petulant, and extremely protective of his own, so much so that he would even challenge the Pacification Bureau for a disciple. His only son? Ye Qing only wished he could be there when the showdown happened.

As Wang Luori’s only son, Wang Yang was pampered to the extreme from a young age. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he was Wang Luori’s reverse scale. Besides that, Wang Luori wasn’t the kind of person to plot before he acted. It was why Ye Qing was almost certain that he would pay White Horse Academy a visit as soon as he learned that Wang Yang had perished in Cheng Nuo’s hands. So what if Cheng Nuo was the vice principal? Wang Luori was still going to murder him, take revenge for his son, and contemplate the consequences after the dust had settled.

As for Cheng Nuo, he was the vice principal of White Horse Academy and enjoyed both a good status and reputation. No matter how much White Horse Academy abhorred butting heads with Wang Luori, they would never give up Cheng Nuo without a fight. Even if Cheng Nuo wasn’t a VIP, Cheng Nuo was in the right here. What would people think of White Horse Academy if they surrendered an innocent person to Wang Luori just because his fist was bigger?

A scholar practiced the Way of the Gentleman; believed that there are certain things that a gentleman would do and not do. If White Horse Academy broke their own code, their reputation in the jianghu wouldn’t be the only thing that was sullied. Their standing with the temples, other scholars and more would be in tatters as well.

Wang Luori would never swallow the death of his son without retaliation. White Horse Academy would never give up Cheng Nuo without a fight. Therefore, their conflict was inevitable, and compromise was impossible. There would only be one victor when all was said and done.

Usually, the side with the bigger fist wins the day, but White Horse Academy and Sunset Hill were evenly matched as they were two of the three biggest sects in Luo Shui. It wouldn’t be a bloodbath, but it definitely wasn’t going to be all bark and no bite either. In other words, the conflict would not end easily.

When the time came, Wang Luori would be too busy to come after him. He might even forget him altogether. After all, what was more important, the death of his only son, or a shitty disciple that could be, relatively speaking, easily replaced?

The best case scenario for Ye Qing was the principal killing Wang Luori. It would never happen, but it was a good daydream.

This was Ye Qing’s ultimate objective. Everything he did earlier—killing Cheng Yi, weakening Wang Yang, buying time until White Horse Academy showed up and more—was all in preparation for this one moment.

But in order for his plan to succeed, there was one critical component that he must get right no matter what: he must get Cheng Nuo to kill Wang Yang publicly, and to do it in a way that no one would suspect foul play?

While this would be rather difficult for most people to pull off, it was fairly easy for him thanks to the Annon Sutra. It was no Death Note though. The Orbit of Fate was potent and practically undetectable, but only if the circumstances would allow a certain fate to take form. Moreover, the stronger the target, the harder it was for the Orbit of Fate to affect them.

That was why he had clipped Wang Yang’s wings bit by bit and dealt a severe blow to him at the end. It was to reduce his strength to the point where the Orbit of Fate would actually work on him. Even so, it had taken three silver dragon-serpent runes to accomplish his objective.

Ye Qing was hurt by the loss of course, but it was worth it if it meant freeing himself from a Spirit Master’s attention.

“My plan is flawless, perfect, and sublime, hehehe. I should give my intelligence a like and subscribe!”

Ye Qing snapped his fingers smilingly while removing all traces of his presence from the surroundings. Only then did he return to the Thousand Buddhas Grotto.

He hadn’t forgotten his main objective for coming to the Thousand Buddhas Grotto, of course. It was to refine the Burning Wind and grow stronger, not to screw over his enemies. As fun as it was, that was just a side quest.

The Thousand Buddhas Temple had gotten a new makeup by the time he returned. The flesh, blood, corpses and filth had all been cleansed by the three divine winds, and the temple was returned to its original appearance. There were no golden buildings, holy light or divine lotuses. All that was left of the temple was a pile of ruins and the many, many marks of time.

Despite this, Ye Qing actually felt safer than ever before. This was real. The mundane reality before him proved that there was nothing to worry about.

After entering the Thousand Buddhas Temple and observing his surroundings for a bit, Ye Qing resolutely made his way toward the withered corpse.

He wasn’t planning to desecrate the corpse or anything, of course. Although he was surprised that the three divine winds had failed to annihilate the body, Buddhist monks had always been famous for their tough, resilient bodies. It was entirely possible that the withered corpse was a body-tempering master in his previous life and possessed a body that could withstand even the all-consuming power of the three divine winds.

Most importantly, he couldn’t sense any evil influence or aura from the withered corpse. The chance that the Stranger would suddenly come back to life to haunt him was almost zero.

As for why he was heading toward the corpse, it was because he noticed that the three divine winds of the Thousand Buddhas Temple—the Corrosive Wind, the Icy Wind and the Burning Wind—were centered around it. The winds were blowing in from left, right, and behind the withered corpse, and their purpose was obviously to suppress him. On a related note, the Burning Wind was blowing in from behind the corpse.

He only needed the Burning Wind to refine his astral qi. Not only would the Corrosive Wind and the Icy Wind not help him one bit, it would actually negatively impact his cultivation. That was why he needed to move behind the withered corpse.

After walking up to the withered corpse, Ye Qing saluted him and said, “I don’t mean to disturb your rest, senior. I’m just borrowing your Burning Wind for a bit. Thank you.”

Three bows later, Ye Qing was going to step around the corpse when suddenly, he heard a voice saying, “You’re back, benefactor. You truly are fated with my Buddha!”

“What?” Ye Qing felt a chill shooting up his spine as he jumped away from his spot. He appeared at the entrance of the Thousand Buddhas Temple a moment later with his arms lowered and his energies concentrated, ready to react to anything.

“This monk is Jing Hui. I am glad to see you, benefactor!” The withered corpse slowly opened his eyes. “Do not be afraid. I harbor no ill will toward you!”

The withered corpse tugged the corners of his lips into a smile, but it only made him look scarier because of the state of his body.

“Jing Hui? You’re still alive?” Ye Qing shrank. He looked like he might run at the slightest hint of trouble.

It might seem cowardly, but Ye Qing had experienced enough of the monk’s madness to be traumatized for a long, long time to come.

“Amitabha,” the withered corpse chanted gently, “Please don’t misunderstand, benefactor. This monk is Jing Hui, but this Jing Hui is not that Jing Hui!”

Ye Qing watched him suspiciously. Can we speak human please, brother? I don’t get what you’re saying!

Thankfully, the withered corpse did not keep him in suspense. “The Jing Hui you encountered earlier is a strand of my demonic thought. He is not me.”

“A… demonic thought?” Ye Qing frowned but didn’t say anything. He simply watched the withered corpse in silence.

Keep talking. I’ll listen. I’ll decide if you’re telling the truth or not.

As if he could hear Ye Qing’s thoughts, the withered corpse continued, “Amitabha. When I was still alive, I was the head of the Moko Hall. Moko represents the spirit of lack of colors and sex, which is why the Moko Hall is also the place to study the teachings of the Buddha and cultivate one’s heart.”

“However, I don’t study the teachings of the Buddha nor cultivate my heart despite being the head of the Moko Hall. In fact, I was so intoxicated with martial arts that my temperament gradually became twisted. I became a competitive, irritable, cruel and bloodthirsty man.”

“When my martial arts reached a peak, I ignored my abbot’s advice and went to the secular world. I challenged all kinds of martial arts practitioners, and everyone who fought me were either dead or seriously injured. However, I took this as a badge of honor and continued to commit countless sins.”

“Eventually, my evil actions culminated in multiple factions banding together to attack Thousand Buddhas Temple. Although my temple ultimately survived, many lives were injured and lost as a result.”

The withered corpse’s tone became full of remorse. “That was what opened me to the fact that I am full of sin and possessed by my personal demon. So, I decided to lock myself up inside this place and be destroyed by the three divine winds. The Wind of Five Poison cleanses the soul, the Wind of Six Desires exposes the body, and the Wind of Seven Emotions reveals one’s nature. I was planning to spend the rest of my life atoning for my sins.”

“Later, the Thousand Buddhas Temple suffered a great calamity and was destroyed. As a result, my remains and this small temple fell to this place.”

“Since I cultivated the Great Sun Glazed Sacrifice Sutra, my body survived even though my soul had deteriorated to the point where only a sliver of a fragment was left.”

“About five years ago, a man who called himself ‘Mara Buddha’ entered this place and found me. Recognizing the fact that my body had become the perfect embryo of a Strange Artifact because of the constant baptism of the three divine winds, he plotted to transform my body into a Strange Artifact and my soul fragment into an artifact spirit.”

“Mara Buddha?” Ye Qing raised his eyebrows. It was obvious that this mysterious person was powerful from their name alone.

The withered corpse continued, “That is why he used a demonic flame and burned my body for forty-nine days straight, and a demonic sutra to pollute my soul fragment and create a demonic thought.”

“To strengthen the demonic thought, Mara Buddha scattered the baits and lured countless greedy people to come to the Thousand Buddhas Temple and commit suicide. Over time, he gathered enough corpses to build an unholy temple that would block out even the three divine winds. I did my best to resist, but as the number of dead people grew, so did the demonic thought. Eventually, the demonic thought managed to overcome me and become the dominant mind. Although my mind still exists, I was unable to resist it.”

This reminded Ye Qing of the withered corpse’s odd expression earlier. It would explain why one half of his face was peaceful, and the other half was savage earlier.

“Thankfully, you are able to destroy this temple of corpses and suppress the demonic thought. As a result, I was able to escape. Had Mara Buddha succeeded in his plans, a million deaths would not be enough to cleanse me from the sins I would have committed. That is why I am most grateful for what you’ve done, benefactor.”