Stranger Danger

The noise awoke countless Grudge Spirits and drew them all toward him. When they saw him shining like a light bulb in the darkness, they immediately rushed him and became exorcised by the light of the Boundless Mara Buddha.

Death was a great deterrent for most living things, but these Grudge Spirits kept coming like moths to flames. It was because they didn’t possess any intelligence and knew only slaughter.

Tang! Tang! Tang!

Ye Qing was having the time of his life when suddenly, a series of gong sounds appeared from the fog. It rang every two breaths, and it sounded sharp, loud, and sonorous. As the fog slowly parted, the Grudge Spirits abruptly stopped charging Ye Qing and moved to the sides. They were even kneeling on the floor and shaking as if they were welcoming an important official or something.

Slowly, Ye Qing saw a bunch of common bailiffs stepping out of the fog while carrying signs that said, “Away” and “Silence”. Behind the common bailiffs were workmen carrying all sorts of items such as chains, sticks, black whips, pumpkins, spears, black fans, yellow umbrellas and more. Finally, they were accompanied by a bunch of soldiers riding large horses. At the center of the entourage was a jade-encrusted carriage. It looked mighty impressive if nothing else.

“This official must be pretty important,” Ye Qing commented with a raised eyebrow. In fact, only a commandery governor or higher were allowed to enjoy such fanfare.

Obviously, the bailiffs, workmen, soldiers and more were either Grudge Spirits or manifestations of yin qi. The jade-encrusted carriage stood out even among these ghosts though. It looked luxurious, mysterious, and eerie. Its whole body was burning a ghastly green ghost fire. Its curtains were made not from yin qi or silk, but human skins. In fact, they were the skins of young, beautiful women. Their faces were either smiling, snarling, weeping, sneering and more.

The silhouette of an imposing figure wearing a tall hat and wide robes could be seen behind the “curtain”. When the group came to a stop about ten meters away from Ye Qing, a booming voice then entered his ears, “Why aren’t you paying respects to me?”

The official’s voice was shrill and dark like the screams of innumerable ghosts, intimidating and eerie. An entire group of Grudge Spirits actually exploded into yin qi after hearing his command.

Ye Qing didn’t answer. It was because the official wasn’t speaking to him.

As expected, a strange giggle appeared from the fog to Ye Qing’s left, “We’re not your underlings, Yin Governor. You can’t command us to do anything.”

Four other voices echoed in agreement, “We’re not afraid of you!”

A person slowly stepped into the open. Strangely, their figure kept changing amidst the fog. Sometimes they were tall, and sometimes they were short. Sometimes they were fat, and sometimes they were thin. Ye Qing could also hear a constant cackle from them.

It wasn’t until they were close that Ye Qing finally saw them for who they were. They weren’t one person, they were five children wearing a round hat and a black, gold, white and red-colored round collar robe.

The children’s faces were covered in drawings. One kid had a rising sun drawn on his forehead, and another had wrinkles. A third had eye circles drawn around his eyes, and a tongue drawn beneath his bottom lip, and the fourth kid had crescents drawn around their eyes and nose. The last kid had bones drawn on his cheeks. It looked both strange, amusing, and cute.

Before they stepped out of the fog, it looked like they had an amorphous figure that was constantly changing. In reality, it was because they were moving all the time. Sometimes, they would stack on top of one another. Sometimes, they would hug each other. And sometimes, they would line up in a row. This was why they looked the way they did.

Before Yin Governor could respond, a Grudge Spirit riding a handsome horse and wearing a set of silver armor rebuked them harshly, “How dare you! You are my lord’s citizens be it in life or death, ghost boys! Kneel now before it’s too late!”

The Grudge Spirit seemed to be a senior military officer. He also didn’t have a head. Pale ghostfire kept seeping out of his throat. It looked like he had been beheaded.

“Absolutely not!”

“No way!”

“Don’t wanna!”

“Ain’t gonna!”

“I would rather die!”

The five children replied one after another before sticking their tongue out in unison, “We will never ever kneel before your governor! Lelele!”

“You dare—!” The headless officer was about to blow his top when suddenly, he broke into pieces and collapsed to the ground. He hadn’t been attacked or anything. He just suddenly fell apart as if the invisible glue holding his body together had disappeared all of a sudden.

The second the headless officer collapsed, the yin soldiers unsheathed their weapons and glared at the ghost boys with fiery eyes. One order was all they needed to rush forward and tear the Strangers to shreds.

“Ahhhh! So scary!”

“Hehehe! I’m soooo scared~”

“Save us, Sister Bride!”

As soon as the kid called for help, the fog to Ye Qing’s right suddenly turned bright red like blood or fire. As it spread, it quickly took the form of a woman wearing a red wedding dress and a red veil.

As soon as the ghost bride appeared, the surrounding yin qi were immediately dyed red. It looked both bleak and eerie.

“Enough!”

Finally, Yin Governor spoke up. It was impossible to say if he was wary of the ghost boys, the ghost bride, or both, but he decided to cut the internal conflict here. “We have come today to capture the rebel who dared to invade my Sky Gate and kill my people. If he ruins our plans, then all of our efforts would be all for naught. Will you be the ones to justify our failure to the Ghost King if that happens? Or do you wish to stay in this dark prison for eternity?”

Both the ghost boys and the ghost bride fell silent. Then, they all looked at Ye Qing.

“Murderous rebel, get on your knees, surrender your soul, and divulge your intentions for coming here now! I’ll let you live if you do!” Yin Governor addressed Ye Qing this time.

Ye Qing sighed. It was obvious that none of these ghosts were easy to beat, which was why he had been keeping his head down and hoping that they would fight among themselves. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

“Er… if I may be so bold, may I know your full title? And who was the one who conferred it?” Ye Qing asked.

“I am Jiang Yu, Commandery Governor of Sky Gate and a fourth rank official of the imperial court! I was conferred this title by Emperor You Huang himself!” Yin Governor screeched out of his carriage. The curtains flapped wildly before taking to the air and flying circles around the carriage. “Will you surrender now, rebel?”

I thought so, Ye Qing thought to himself. Both Emperor You Huang and the governor were people from five hundred years ago, meaning that the ghosts surrounding him were the dead of Sky Gate.

Having confirmed his suspicions, Ye Qing pretended to be afraid for his life and begged, “This subject will die if that is your wish, my lord, but can you please tell me what your grand plan is before you kill me?”

Yin Governor wasn’t stupid, however. He sneered, “Hah. Did you think you could trick me, cunning rebel? You may hear of my plans after you’re dead!”

Yin Governor pointed a finger at Ye Qing and fired a sword made of yin qi. It sucked the surrounding yin qi to form a gigantic sword and fell toward Ye Qing’s head.

Even before the sword fell, the surrounding Grudge Spirits were already trembling like leaves. The ghost boys and ghost bride—both Hatred-class Strangers—were watching the sword warily as well.

“This is the Son of Heaven Sword His Imperial Majesty himself bestowed to me. As it is a representation of him, it can be used to cut down a disloyal relative of the imperial family, corrupt officials, or traitorous rebels like you. Be honored that you get to die under this sword!”

“Says the guy who’s plotting to cut down an official of the current dynasty with a sword from the previous dynasty [1]! You really are too bold, Lord Jiang!”

Realizing that he wouldn’t be able to pry any information from the governor, Ye Qing sneered and activated the Boundless Mara Buddha. The Buddha image behind him immediately shone like a proud, golden sun and melted all the yin qi that made up the gigantic sword, revealing its true body. Then, Ye Qing took one step forward, leaped into the sky like a soaring dragon, and punched the Son of Heaven Sword across the blade.

The Son of Heaven Sword shook violently as invisible flames turned its blade bright red. It was sent back to Yin Governor even faster than when it was flying toward Ye Qing.

“It is against etiquette not to reciprocate a gesture, so here you go!”

The Burning Wind reached the group first before the sword. It was as if this section of the valley had turned into a furnace as invisible flames swept across them.

“Argh!” The governor’s entourage screamed in pain and dissolved into dust instantly. They were just too weak to withstand the astral qi.

“You are courting death, rebel!”

Enraged, Yin Governor charged out of his carriage to meet Ye Qing in battle. He was wearing a golden swallow mianfu [2] and a tall crown.

A shadow wielding an official seal in one hand and a golden brush on the other appeared in front of Yin Governor. When the seal was raised, a dragon made completely of yin qi soared out and charged straight toward the Son of Heaven Sword.

There was a huge explosion, and both the dragon and the shadow disappeared. However, the Son of Heaven Sword was also repelled. Unfortunately, a silhouette landed on top of Yin Governor’s carriage before he could take any joy in his success. Such was the force of his landing that the carriage shook violently, and its eerie green flames were scattered.

Countless Yin Souls and Grudge Spirits flew out of the carriage to attack Ye Qing, but they disappeared practically as soon as they emerged. The carriage and Yin Governor himself were dissolving as well.

“What else are you waiting for? The Ghost King will slaughter you both if your negligence causes our plan to fail!” Yin Governor uttered angrily and agitatedly. Gone was his earlier air of confidence and superiority, replaced by deep hatred and panic.

“Useless…”

“Trash…”

“Stupid…”

“Is there anything else you can do besides using the Ghost King to oppress us?”

The ghost boys complained loudly, but they didn’t hesitate to come to Yin Governor’s aid. The drawings on their faces suddenly came alive and unleashed a strange power.

The boy with wrinkles drawn on his forehead inhaled slightly. A powerful yin wind immediately started blowing, and Ye Qing felt an unnatural chill stealing away his vigor and vitality.

The boy with eye circles and a tongue drawn on his face covered his mouth and let out a small, lazy yawn. The next moment, Ye Qing felt as if he was plunged into a pool of ice, and his head suddenly hurt like a bitch. He also felt nausea, dizziness, and other debilitating sensations. It was like he was a gravely ill person on his deathbed.

1. He’s implying that there’s no bigger rebel than Yin Governor himself. ☜

2. A kind of Chinese clothing in hanfu; it was worn by emperors, kings, and princes, and in some instances by the nobles in historical China from the Shang to the Ming dynasty. ☜