Stranger Danger

The saber qis were the culmination of fifteen thousand kilometers worth of war and bloodshed. No one shall survive the general’s wrath!

The saber qis swept toward thirty six soldiers like a giant web, and it easily hacked and slashed them into itsy bitsy pieces.

Blanching, Zhou San hurriedly raised his bowl and tossed some water—once again, its content had changed without warning—into the air. Somehow, it transformed into an entire lake and destroyed the web of saber qis flying toward Zhou San.

“KILL!” The general roared again and swung his Green Dragon Crescent Blade eight times in a row; his movements grandiose and flashy.

“Eight Swings of Spring and Autumn”

The eight consecutive attacks didn’t just dismantle the tidal wave of water flooding Ye Qing’s way, it also left eight growing cracks on Zhou San’s bowl. Before the Astral Refiner could react, his Strange Artifact abruptly shattered into smithereens.

“Impossible!” Blood spilled through Zhou San’s lips, and his energies fell into disarray. He looked completely stunned by this outcome.

The bowl was called the Sky Lake Bowl, and as its name might suggest, it was a bowl that could hold an entire lake in it. A Hatred-class Strange Artifact, not only could it hold an entire lake, it could also be used to execute all sorts of talismanic arts. At a critical moment, one could even toss out the lake it contained to flood the enemy.

The branch had rewarded him with the Sky Lake Bowl after he successfully infiltrated Lord Li’s residence and stole a few pieces of valuable intel. He had treasured it like his life since. It was his greatest trump card, and now that it was gone, so did his confidence and arrogance.

I need to escape!

Zhou San immediately tried to escape. Gold Toad’s so-called secret could wait until he was safe and sound. After all, there was nothing he could do with the secret if he was dead!

Besides that, he needed to inform the branch leader about this as soon as possible. The branch leader would surely be able to kill Ye Qing!

“The Way of Taiping would not forget this, Ye Qing!”

Zhou San left behind a classic villain phrase and filled the entire residence with his purple smoke in no time. The purple smoke didn’t just turn everything blurry and indistinguishable, it could also influence the mind.

“Disorienting Purple Smoke”

Zhou San tried to escape while under the cover of his Disorienting Purple Smoke. It was at this moment the sound of a gong rang throughout the residence.

Tang!

As the gong sound kept going, the purple smoke suddenly began receding at a rapid pace. Zhou San too abruptly stopped in his tracks and forgot what he was doing. When he finally regained his senses, it was because his entire body suddenly hurt like he was being chewed by a million ants from the inside out. His bones and internal organs had shifted out of place, and his vigor was flowing in reverse. It was a pain unlike anything he had ever experienced.

“Split Muscles Lock Bones[1]?”

“Hehe. You’re quite knowledgeable yourself. Yes, it is none other than Split Muscles Lock Bones.”

Ye Qing walked up to Zhou San smilingly. “Split Muscles Lock Bones is one of the Pacification Bureau’s most famous interrogation techniques. It could split the muscles, lock the bones, reverse the vigor, and make it feel like you’re being bitten by a million ants. Not even the vilest criminals could withstand this technique for long.”

“So? How does it feel?”

“What… are you plotting?” Zhou San asked. It had only been less than a minute since he was subjected to the technique, but his face was contorted, his muscles were spasming, and his whole body was drenched in cold sweat.

Ye Qing’s smile widened. “You’re a smart man. I’m sure you know what I want.”

“Tell me, how many Taiping cultists are hiding in Luo Shui, and for what? If you tell me everything truthfully, I can grant you a swift, painless death.”

Normally, the Pacification Bureau didn’t interfere with jianghu business, but heretical sects like the Way of Taiping, Court of Chaos, World Destroy Sect and more were exceptions to the rule. It was because these sects carried a banner of righteousness but often encouraged the people to rebel against their betters. Chu wasn’t the only country who loathed them either. Even Yan, Wei and more viewed them as traitors of humanity that must be exterminated upon sight. Anyone who got involved with these sects would be eliminated to the nine generations, and those who harbored them or ignored their crimes were punished as well.

The punishment sounded ruthless and overbearing, but the simple fact was that the disciples of the Way of Taiping absolutely deserved it. They were cruel, ruthless, willing to do anything to achieve their goals, bigoted and just insane. Wherever they went, a river of blood would flow, and the people would suffer.

To put it simply, the cultists were a bunch of maniacs who just wanted to see the world burn.

Rationally or emotionally, there was absolutely no reason for Ye Qing to overlook this.

“Dream… Dream on!” Zhou San uttered through gritted teeth, “How dare a small Patrolman like you dare to get in our way! Aren’t you afraid that the Yellow God would punish you?”

“Dude, I just praised your intelligence,” tsked Ye Qing while slowly brushing his fingers across Zhou San’s arm and grinding every bone along the way into powder.

“Aaaaaaaaaaah!”

It was so painful that Zhou San let out another bloodcurdling scream.

“If I was afraid of your Yellow God, I wouldn’t have caught you in the first place, would I?”

Ye Qing didn’t stop what he was doing even though he was talking, “Also, if your so-called Yellow God really is that powerful, then why didn’t he show up to save you?”

“How dare you blaspheme our god!? He will punish you! Our Sage will never forgive you—ah! Ah!”

Zhou San was trying to threaten Ye Qing, but he quickly lost himself to pai because Ye Qing had crushed his other arm as well.

“Seriously? You’re breaking already? I’m not trying to scare you, but this is practically the gentlest interrogation technique the Pacification Bureau know of. The more severe ones include piercing your bones with the Bone Piercing Needles, stripping your skin off your flesh bit by bit, feeding you a Hearteater Worm so it could gobble up all your internal organs, or attaching a Brain Feeder that will feed on your brain little by little…”

“I swear, any one of these interrogation techniques is ten thousand times more painful than whatever you’re experiencing right now.”

“Oh right, we also know all kinds of soul scouring arts. Would you like to give them a go?”

Zhou San shivered every time Ye Qing said a word. Looking as pale as a sheet, he uttered, “You’re beyond cruel!”

“Excuse me? Who are you to call me cruel?”

Ye Qing’s smile didn’t change, but his voice was colder and more scornful than before. “Five years ago, when northern Chu was experiencing a terrible drought, it was your Way of Taiping who spurred the people to rebel and ruined at least dozens of counties and villages. At least a hundred thousand citizens lost their homes and starved to death as a result.”

“Three years ago, a disciple of the Way of Taiping colluded with Strangers and destroyed an entire commandery because he needed their souls to cultivate his Brocade Soul Stealing Art.”

“And one year ago, you teamed up with the World Destroy Sect and sacrificed countless lives to summon the Hundred Ghosts Parade and transformed countless lands into living hell…”

“There are many people in the world who have the right to call me cruel, but the Way of Taiping isn’t one of them.”

“After all, you’re not even humans. You are disgusting filth who are even lower than even Strangers.”

Ye Qing’s voice was filled with condemnation and killing intent at this point. Strangers and humans were naturally opposed to one another, but these people were humans who chose to commit atrocities that even a Stranger might find abhorrent. Of course they were disgusting, loathsome, and deserving of every ounce of his hate.

“My patience is limited, so I’d advise you to tell me what I want as soon as possible. Otherwise, I promise you’d suffer a fate worse than death!”

However, Zhou San let out a mad cackle and retorted, “Those people deserved their fate! The Azure Sky is already dead; the Yellow Sky will soon rise. All who refuse the Yellow Sky shall not partake in our immortality!”

“You’re the same. You’re all the same! The Yellow God will punish you all, but we? Hahaha! Ahahahahaha! We are immortal! We are immortal!”

“The Azure Sky is already dead; the Yellow Sky will soon rise…”

It was like he had gone completely mad. He just kept laughing and laughing as a yellow talisman abruptly floated out of his forehead. It was covered in mysterious, complicated-looking runes. Only one of the runes was identifiable, and it said, “Taiping”.

The Way of Taiping’s All Is Well Talisman? Shit! He’s going to self-destruct!

The All Is Well Talisman was a secret art that the disciples of the Way of Taiping normally used to protect their minds from external influence. If they were caught, or if they encountered a danger they couldn’t resist, then they had the option to activate the All Is Well Talisman and annihilate their minds. The destruction was so thorough that no information could be gleaned from their minds even if someone were to scour their soul or even reverse time. It was probably why the bastards named it the “All Is Well Talisman”.

Ye Qing tried to stop Zhou San, but it was already too late. The middle-aged man’s head abruptly exploded into red and white bits. Not only that, his body started rotting at a rapid pace, and an insidious, inexplicable air quickly spread to the surroundings.

“A plague!?”

Ye Qing frowned when the air made contact with his body. Somehow, the guy’s body was spreading some sort of plague as it rotted. He could tell from his bodily reactions that it was extremely infectious. If he didn’t deal with it in time, everyone in White Horse Alley and even Luo Shui might be affected by it.

“Bunch of fucking crazies!” Ye Qing cursed out loud and waved his sleeve. The air immediately turned red hot as the Burning Wind swept everything including Zhou San’s body. Thankfully, he was able to wipe out the plague before it could spread beyond the residence.

They all said that the cultists of Way of Taiping are crazies, and Ye Qing now knew for a fact that it was true. It was one thing to be fearless, and another to turn themselves into a living carrier that would kill them and everyone else in an entire fucking region. Just what the hell was wrong with these people?

In fact, the Way of Taiping often created plagues to show off their ability to cure people with their talismans. It was one of the main ways they spread their unholy religion.

Ye Qing had failed to interrogate any useful information from Zhou San, but frankly, he wasn’t too surprised by this. The cultists were a bunch of crazy zealots at best, or zealous crazies at worst. He would be wary if Zhou San had actually told him something. It was a “good if it worked, no harm done if it didn’t” attempt.

After all, there was nothing the Annon Sutra couldn’t find.

“It’s your turn now!” Ye Qing turned to face Gold Toad after killing Zhou San. The Stranger was grievously injured to begin with, and the shockwaves of Ye Qing and Zhou San’s battle were hardly harmless. Naturally, it wasn’t able to muster even the energy to escape.

Despair filled Gold Toad’s eyes when she saw Ye Qing walking toward her, but she recalled something and blurted, “I, I know where Zhou San’s cohort is hiding!”

“Oh?” Ye Qing paused. That was a pleasant surprise. It would save him a lot of trouble if she was actually telling the truth.

1. Surprisingly, an actual martial art in the real world. ☜