Stranger Danger

Ye Qing could sense through his spirit the infant-shaped fruits on the tree shaking slightly and letting out dark, resentful laughter. They were also turning every time he took a step and staring fixatedly at him. It was like they wanted to swallow him whole.

There was a stone table underneath the tree, and a Taoist with white hair and beard was sitting next to it. It looked exactly the same as the paper Taoists he encountered earlier, but this one exuded a much stronger aura. He was obviously the head.

“Greetings, Lord Ye. My name is Paper Taoist, and I am honored to make your acquaintance.”

Despite what he said, Paper Taoist didn’t rise to his feet. He was the owner of this place after all. “Please, take a seat!”

“No thanks. Just tell me what you want already!” Ye Qing replied directly.

Paper Taoist didn’t dilly dally. “You just need to do two things for us, and we will release your pets.”

“Spill it.”

Paper Taoist smiled. “Our request is very simple. I’m sure you won’t reject us.”

Ye Qing didn’t give him a response.

Paper Taoist began, “First, we want you to give us the silver page you obtained from Bronze Toad.”

“Silver page?” Ye Qing raised his eyebrows in surprise. He didn’t think that the Stranger would ask for it.

In hindsight, Bronze Toad was unwilling to abandon the silver page even on the verge of death. He didn’t know why, but it must be exceptionally valuable to these Strangers. Silver Toad must have been gunning for the silver page as well.

“What on earth is that silver page?” Ye Qing asked curiously.

Paper Taoist smiled. “You don’t need to know about that. Just give it to me, and your first request is settled!”

Ye Qing shrugged. “I can give you the silver page, but it’s not with me right now. Can I head back first and give it to you afterward?”

Paper Taoist’s smile grew a little cruel. “It seems you need a little motivation. Do you know who’s holding your pets hostage right now? Her name is Gold Toad, and as you might be able to guess, she is Bronze Toad and Silver Toad’s older sister. She is only all too happy to kill your cute little pets and take revenge for her younger brothers, so please, save your tricks!”

Gold Toad? Bronze Toad and Silver Toad’s older sister? Ye Qing squinted a little. Assuming he understood Paper Toad correctly, Gold Toad was the one who planned everything, and her ultimate objective besides taking revenge for her younger brothers was the silver page.

This would also explain why the Strangers were able to see through Faceless’ disguise. Bronze Toad had cursed him with the Dying Grudge prior to his death. Although Faceless could mimic his appearance perfectly, he was unable to mimic the Dying Grudge. It was no wonder Gold Toad was able to see through his disguise.

“Gold Toad, is it?” Ye Qing’s lips curled into a diabolical smile. One of the reasons he was indulging in Paper Taoist’s whims was to find out who was the mastermind behind this, but the Stranger had divulged it on his own. He sure saved him a lot of trouble.

Paper Taoist had no idea about Ye Qing’s thoughts as he continued, “You’re a smart man, Lord Ye. You should know better than to overreach yourself!”

“Fine. You win!” Ye Qing pulled out the silver page and tossed it to Paper Taoist.

Paper Taoist wasn’t expecting Ye Qing to be so decisive and clumsily caught the silver page. A flash of manic delight flickered behind his eyes.

“You’re definitely a smart man, Lord Ye!” Paper Taoist grinned widely.

“Har har… now cut the bootlicking and tell me your second request already,” said Ye Qing with a sneer.

“Sure thing!” Paper Taoist agreed before launching into his second request, “Our second request is that you obtain a certain item from the Demon’s Graveyard after it opens.”

“Demon’s Graveyard? What is that?” Ye Qing asked.

“Legend says that the Demon’s Tomb is the resting place of Rahu, the Progenitor Demon. Normally, it floats in the infinite void and is impossible to locate. It is one of the most mysterious places in the world.”

“But every once in a while, the Demon’s Tomb would take form in our world. Everyone and everything can enter during this time.”

“Due to how special the Demon’s Tomb is, some demonic sects or Strangers believe it to be their ancestral land of some sort. Some even take pride in being buried in the Demon’s Tomb after they die. As a result, some powerful Strangers or titans of the Dark Ways would enter the Demon’s Tomb and await their deaths when nearing the end of their lifespan. Over time, the Demon’s Tomb became a true tomb of demons where countless demons were buried.”

“Most of these titans and Strangers were exceptionally powerful when they still lived, so their possessions and even their corpses were priceless to put it mildly. Even if that wasn’t the case, the Demon’s Tomb itself was a strange land overgrown with all sorts of treasures. Any one of these items can accelerate a person’s growth beyond their wildest imaginations.”

“It is also why the Demon’s Tomb also became a land of opportunity over time.”

“In short, it’s a Strange Realm,” Ye Qing summarized succinctly.

Paper Taoist lost his voice for a second. “... You can say that.”

Ye Qing asked curiously, “What is this item you want me to obtain? Is it related to the silver page?”

Paper Taoist’s expression abruptly turned icy and distant. It was as if Ye Qing had crossed a certain line he shouldn’t cross. “Again, you didn’t need to know about that. When the time comes, all you need to do is to obey our instructions.”

“Fine.” Ye Qing shrugged carelessly. “When and where will the Demon’s Tomb open? I gotta know at least that much, right?”

Paper Taoist answered, “We don’t know the exact time and location ourselves, but it should appear fairly close to Luo Shui within a month or two. Unnatural phenomena will occur throughout the area when it opens, so you’ll know when the time comes.”

“So, you’ll release Brother Frog and Wawa if I get you the item from the Demon’s Tomb, correct?” Ye Qing asked.

Paper Taoist replied smilingly, “That is correct.”

Ye Qing furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes a little. “And how can I trust your word?” Paper Taoist stroked his beard smilingly, “We can’t give you any guarantees, but can you afford not to trust our word while your two little cuties are still in our hands?”

“Makes sense.” Ye Qing tilted his head and abruptly shot Paper Taoist an evil smirk. “But you know what? I think I can.”

He didn’t trust Paper Taoist and his cohort as a matter of course. He had killed both of Gold Toad’s family, Bronze Toad and Silver Toad. Even a human would swear bloody vengeance against the enemy who killed their family, much less a Stranger like Gold Toad. And speaking of which, this was a bunch of Strangers he was negotiating with. He trusted them to keep their word as much as a child could throw them. He had no doubt that they would turn on him as soon as he obtained said item for them.

Only a fool would negotiate with an evil person and expect to receive good faith in return.

As soon as Ye Qing said this, he suddenly shivered a little and grew transparent. It was an afterimage!

Paper Taoist wasn’t expecting Ye Qing to attack him at all. Cursing under his breath, his Taoist robe suddenly flapped incessantly like a bunch of tree leaves.

As it turned out, his Taoist robe was made of countless black and white paper dolls. They floated into the air. They danced around Paper Taoist seemingly at random, but in reality there was a clear pattern to it. Black and white mingled to form yin and yang, life and death. It was obviously the Taoist’s tai chi symbol, and it was protecting Paper Taoist from all sides.

At the same time, Ye Qing appeared behind Paper Taoist and threw a punch. His force flowed toward the Stranger like a raging, thunderous river. However, the normally unstoppable punch only shook the tai chi symbol slightly. One would almost think that he was fooling around.

“Huh… I guess you’re not all talk after all!” Ye Qing could clearly sense the yin and yang of the tai chi symbol neutralizing his attack by spreading it evenly across all of the paper dolls. As a result, his thunderous punch only managed to shatter a handful of paper dolls.

“Tsk tsk, to think that a mere Stranger would figure out the secrets of tai chi. It’s truly a shame that you weren’t born a human. It’s fine though! I’ll send you to the afterlife now. Be sure to come back as a human in your next life!”

Ye Qing smiled and pulled back his fist an inch. Then, he punched down on Paper Taoist once more.

Rumble!

As an ordinary human being, Bruce Lee was able to break a wooden board with ease with the one-inch punch. In Ye Qing’s case, he was unleashing the full extent of his dragon elephant strength in one inch. Space shattered into smithereens like glass, and this time, the tai chi symbol had no time to neutralize the overwhelming force. The black and white paper dolls shuddered in unison before scattering into countless paper scraps. They looked like snow from a distance.

“You—” Paper Taoist’s eyes bugged out in disbelief. He wanted to say something, but Ye Qing annihilated him in one punch.

“What are you doing, Ye Qing? Don’t you want your pets to live anymore?!”

It wasn’t the end though. Of course it wasn’t. Paper Taoist’s voice came from everywhere inside the temple, though he sounded a lot weaker than before.

“Of course I want them to live!” Ye Qing laughed madly, “I want them to live, and you to die!”

“Something’s not right with your head! Fine, I’ll kill you first and those two little shits later!” Paper Taoist roared.

Countless paper dolls abruptly flew out from underneath Ye Qing and enveloped him in the blink of an eye. Then, a hundred and eight paper dolls flew out from various corners of the temple. Each and every one of them possessed immense aura and strength. They assumed their positions based on the thirty six Heavenly Stars and seventy two Earthly Fiends and attacked Ye Qing immediately.

Some paper dolls opened their mouth and spat lightning, Some paper dolls waved their sleeves and summoned wind and rain, Some paper dolls wielded talismans and commanded a storm, Some paper dolls mouthed incantations and summoned steel from the earth, and more.

It was like the one hundred and eight paper dolls were all Taoist masters, and they specialized in the orthodox magics of the thirty six Heavenly Stars and seventy two Earthly Fiends. The spells engulfed Ye Qing in the blink of an eye, but—

“Hah… your bark is worse than your bite.”

Ye Qing couldn’t seem to feel the spell at all. In fact, he didn’t. They all disappeared as soon as they came within three meters of him.

The spells looked incredibly intimidating and deadly, but in reality it was a quantity over quality thing. They would be effective against an ordinary Astral Refiner, but him? One might say that Paper Taoist still had a long way to go.

The temperature inside the Taoist temple suddenly rose rapidly. It was as if the interior was being cooked by an invisible flame. The one hundred and eight paper dolls gradually yellowed, blackened, and turned into ash in just a matter of seconds.

“What else are you waiting for? If I die, then the rest of you are going to die as well!” Paper Taoist howled in a flustered voice. It was clear that losing the one hundred and eight paper dolls hurt him deeply.

Keke…”

As soon as Paper Taoist said this, the massive tree at the courtyard started swaying on its own. Its leaves made rustling noises, and its infant-shaped fruits wobbled and cackled eerily.

Their strange laughter grew louder and louder over time, evil and terrifying. A yin wind started blowing earnestly. The Taoist temple now looked more like a ghost realm than a temple.