Stranger Danger

Lin Yuhuai narrowed his eyes and wrote the word “Cleanse” with his brush. Word: Cleanse was a talisman that specifically targeted curses and evil energies and dispel their influences. The word shone a warm, dewy light full of cleansing power and vitality.

When the light reached the cute and dumb-looking rabbits the Pacification Sentinels had transformed into, they suddenly started screaming in pain. Eerie, black qi seeped out of their bodies profusely, and their stomachs suddenly swelled like they were pregnant. When the swelling reached a critical point, their stomachs burst open, and the Pacification Sentinels fell out of their stomachs.

Unfortunately, the Pacification Sentinels were long dead. They had been crushed into a horrifying ball of blood, bone and gore.

“Bastard!”

Fury flashed in Chu Nianjiu’s eyes as he spat out a mouthful of wine. It transformed into a shower of icicle swords and plunged into the fog. When auras flared from behind the fog—their hidden attackers had to channel their energies to block or dodge the attack—Chu Nianjiu immediately homed in on the auras and charged into the fog.

There were several loud booms as the fog trembled unnaturally. A moment later, Chu Nianjiu flew back out of the fog while surrounded by cold, white air. He looked like he had taken some injuries.

“The Twelve Fiends of Taiping?”

“Wahaha~~~”

Someone let out a strange laugh as four figures slowly stepped out of the fog. They were none other than Actor, Matchmaker, Dancer 1 and Dancer 2. “Well met, Wine Gentleman. That’s right. We are the Twelve Fiends of Taiping.”

“I am Actor,” Actor introduced himself in a strangely-pitched voice[1]. The color of his makeup also changed accordingly.

“I am Matchmaker.” Matchmaker giggled and waved a handkerchief at Chu Nianjiu.

“And we are—” Dancer 1 and Dancer 2 moved their bodies like they were dancing. “—Dancer 1 and Dancer 2!”

“The Twelve Fiends of Taiping, huh?” Chu Nianjiu said while taking a careless sip from his wine gourd. Just now, the four cultists had attacked him together as soon as he entered the fog and scored a few blows. Despite this, he didn’t look worried in the slightest. “I think the Twelve Dogs of Taiping fit you more though.”

“You think? No, they are the Twelve Dogs of Taiping, Nianjiu.”

Lin Yuhuai echoed in agreement as he walked over to his colleague’s side with a warm, impenetrable smile on his face. “And these four are just stray dogs who deserve to be killed for biting whoever they pleased.”

“Ayaya! I am so angry!” Actor’s makeup changed from red to black as he cried out in anger.

Matchmaker’s smile grew a little more sinister as well. “This was a good day, and I didn’t want to stain it with blood. Now though, I think I’m going to sew up your mouths.”

The Twelve Fiends of Taiping sounded a scary title, but in reality they were infamous criminals whom everyone loathed. There was nowhere they could go where they weren’t hunted like dogs, which was why they had no choice but to join the Way of Taiping. It was only then they managed to survive. Later, they formed the Twelve Fiends of Taiping and slowly made a name under that title.

This was why they absolutely loathed it when someone dredged up their past. They loathed it even more when someone called them a dog.

“Cut the bullshit and fight us already.”

Chu Nianjiu huffed disdainfully before launching five consecutive palm strikes at the four warriors. From a distance, the four palm forces looked like the petals of a winter plum blossom. The ground suddenly became encased in ice, and even the fog was frozen in ice.

—When the plum falls, heaven and earth become as cold as ice. [2]

“Winter Plum Blossom Palm”

Actor, Matchmaker, Dancer 1 and Dancer 2 immediately felt a terrible chill assaulting their senses. It was so that even their blood was showing signs of freezing. They were surprised.

Earlier, they really thought much of Chu Nianjiu’s power because it was a four-versus-one. It was only now they realized that he was a force to be reckoned with.

The good news was that they were all late-stage Astral Refiners and on the same level as Chu Nianjiu. Surprised they might be, they weren’t afraid of him. Actor flapped the cloak he was wearing, and the accessory immediately burst into flames. It spun like a top and flew toward Chu Nianjiu like a fire dragon.

Unfortunately, it had only flown about halfway before it froze into ice and shattered into smithereens. The next moment, Chu Nianjiu appeared in front of Actor and launched another palm strike.

Actor’s theater costume suddenly swelled up like it was a balloon. The hit landed, but Chu Nianjiu felt like he was hitting a ball of cotton. His force was transmitting properly at all.

Suddenly, Actor’s makeup flew away from his face like it was a tangible thing and landed on Chu Nianjiu’s face. The Peacemaker’s movements immediately stiffened, and his eyes lost their focus.

“Not good.”

Lin Yuhuai was going to go to his aid, but his senses suddenly screamed danger, and he was forced to jump backward. Not a moment too soon, a shower of silver needles coated in greenish substance just barely missed his face. It was obvious that the greenish substance was deadly poison.

“Silver Bone Piercing Needles?”

Lin Yuhuai squinted a little. The silver needles had pierced through the hard, limestone ground like it was nothing.

The Silver Bone Piercing Needle was an insidious hidden weapon that could pierce through most things with little effort, not to mention that these ones were coated in poison as well. Getting hit was not an option here.

“That’s right. I said I was going to sew up your mouths, didn’t I? You can be my first victim,” said Matchmaker while swaying her hips and slowly making her way toward Lin Yuhuai.

Matchmaker looked slow, but in reality she was traveling at high speed. She reached in front of Lin Yuhuai in just the blink of an eye and waved a palm-leaf fan. Pink petals fell from the sky as a sickly sweet scent spread across the air. At the same time, a couple more Silver Bone Piercing Needles flew toward Lin Yuhuai’s eyes from hard-to-notice angles.

“Plum Blossom Miasma?” Lin Yuhuai frowned again. He had a feeling since Matchmaker shot poisoned needles at him, but now he was certain that she was a poison user.

Plum Blossom Miasma was a kind of miasmic astral qi and one of the seventy two average-grade astral qis. It could only be found off the beaten tracks of a deep mountain. Although it looked beautiful and smelled good, it was incredibly poisonous. Anyone who inhaled it would hallucinate like they were dreaming and perish in their dreams.

As the brains of the Pacification Bureau of Luo Shui, Lin Yuhuai knew exactly how dangerous the Plum Blossom Miasma was. Naturally, he wasn’t going to treat it lightly. He let loose a string of yellow talismans from his sleeves that surrounded him and protected him from all sides. They looked like they were flying around at random, but not a wisp of Plum Blossom Miasma was able to get to the Peacemaker, much less the silver needles.

While the yellow talismans were protecting him, Lin Yuhuai wrote the word “Seal” and “Suppress”. The word “Seal” transformed into a chain and attempted to bind Matchmaker, while the word “Suppress” transformed into a hill and fell toward her head.

“Hahaha!”

Matchmaker giggled as she released the handkerchief she was holding. It flew over her head, and the peony flowers on the fabric came to life and bloomed a thousand petals.

The petals were as sharp as a blade despite its gentle appearance. They easily cut the chain into pieces and hacked the hill into bits.

As it turned out, the handkerchief was a Strange Artifact. It was quite the powerful one to stop Lin Yuhuai’s “Seal” and “Suppress” too. Having successfully defended herself, Matchmaker launched into a dance and shot an endless hail of Silver Bone Piercing Needles at the Peacemaker.

Lin Yuhuai was unable to break the stalemate for a time. The Silver Bone Piercing Needles were already a pain to defend against, but Matchmaker’s movement art was good enough that he was unable to catch up to her immediately. If he tried to use his talismans to seal her, she would simply release her handkerchief and block them again.

On the other side, Actor’s lips curled into a cruel smile after Chu Nianjiu had fallen into his trap. One of the martial arts he cultivated was called the “Four Secrets of Emotions”, and it possessed the power to influence one’s spirit and emotions. Combined with his makeup, which was a Hatred-class Strange Artifact, he could directly take over another person’s mind and use them like a puppet.

Of course, Chu Nianjiu was just a late-stage Astral Refiner just like him, and his spirit was quite strong as well. There was no way he would be able to control him like he controlled his victims. However, the surprise attack was enough to daze him for a short while. It would last a few breaths at most, but in a battle between warriors, even an instant could mean the difference between life and death.

Actor rushed forward and curled three of his fingers. The curled fingers turned as red as molten steel as he made a grab for Chu Nianjiu’s chest.

“Heart Plucking Claw”

Heart Plucking Claw was a sinister and vicious claw art that enabled a warrior to rip out their enemy’s heart from their chest in an instant without drawing blood. It was also why the people of jianghu, in their infinitely black humor, called it a “bloodless and heartless” martial art.

The Heart Plucking Claw had several weaknesses, and one of it was that it could only be executed at close range. Luckily for Actor, Chu Nianjiu was more than close enough. An evil, savage grin crossed the Fiend’s face as his fingers moved ever closer to Chu Nianjiu’s chest.

Almost. Almost…

Actor trembled with excitement. He could literally feel the chill rising from the Peacemaker’s skin.

However, Actor’s eyes bugged out in disbelief as soon his fingers made contact with Chu Nianjiu’s body. The next moment, white ice appeared on his fingertips and spread across his whole body in the blink of an eye. It happened so quickly that the ice sculpture captured his shocked and fearful expression perfectly.

“Heh. What an idiot. Did you really think I would fall for such a petty trick?” Chu Nianjiu smirked disdainfully as his eyes abruptly regained their focus. He flicked a finger against the ice sculpture, and it abruptly shattered into a million pieces like glass.

Chu Nianjiu didn’t look happy, however. It was because the pieces of the sculpture suddenly transformed into hundreds and hundreds of Actors.

“The Ice of Nine Heavens? Ahaha. As expected of the Wine Gentleman.”

Every Actor let out a strange laugh as their makeup changed colors. By now, he had figured out that Chu Nianjiu was just pretending to be affected by his “Four Secrets of Emotions”. It would have killed him if he didn’t have a trump card or two up his sleeves.

“I guess you aren’t completely ignorant,” Chu Nianjiu replied in an uncaring voice while sipping his wine.

Chu Nianjiu cultivated the Ice of Nine Heavens, one of the thirty six superior grade astral qi. It was one of the coldest and darkest astral qis out there and could only be found in an equally cold and dark place. A mere brush against the astral qi could freeze flesh and blood, and a concentrated gust could freeze even one’s soul.

His cultivation art was called the “Winter Plum Blossom Art”. Yin and cold, it complemented the Ice of Nine Heavens well and could unleash an unbelievable amount of freezing cold in an instant. It was how he had frozen Actor earlier.

“You should know how powerful the Ice of Nine Heavens is now, dog. Surrender now, and I might yet let you live.”

“Hah! Say that again after you caught me!” Actor cackled. Their aim was to buy time until the sword intent stopping the Nine Nether Demonic Qi from manifesting was destroyed, so there was no need to risk his life. If he could kill Chu Nianjiu, then that would be for the best. If not, he could just fool around and waste as much of his time as possible.

All the illusions rushed Chu Nianjiu as soon as he finished, but the Peacemaker sneered. “Another petty trick.”

Chu Nianjiu took a step forward and filled the entire area with icy qi in the blink of an eye. All the Actors except one abruptly disappeared into nothing. Of course, that was the true Actor.

1. If you guys saw Chinese theater drama before, you’ll know that both men and women singsong in high or low-pitched voices. I can’t exactly specify one pitch, so strangely-pitched it is. ☜

2. Tell me if you like this. Sometimes the author would input stuff like this, which cannot really be translated in past tense. Think of it like a quote or poem. I usually fit it in the paragraph somehow, but I really can’t think of anything this time. I welcome suggestions on how to translate this. ☜