Stranger Danger

Feng Qingyou complimented him smilingly, “You’re planning to kill dozens or even hundreds of people with just the two of you. Your courage certainly deserves commendation.”

“Hahaha! I know it’s risky. That’s why I came to borrow Uncle Feng!”

Although Gu Suitang promised that nothing could go wrong, Ye Qing still didn’t feel very secure. That was why he decided to seek out Feng Qingyou.

He might be a bold man, but he was infinitely cautious when his life was on the line. It was always better safe than sorry.

The reason he sought out Feng Qingyou was because the only champions he knew in Luo Shui were Gu Suitang, Fang Xiaoman, and Uncle Feng.

Of the three, Uncle Feng was the only one whose strength he couldn’t fathom at his current level. If he wasn’t mistaken, Uncle Feng was probably stronger than Gu Suitang, which was why he decided to seek out Uncle Feng.

“Can you tell me what cultivation level Uncle Feng is, Qingyou?”

Feng Qingyou side-eyed him and sipped her own tea. “He’s quite strong.”

“Oh? And how strong is he, exactly? Is he stronger than even Chief Gu?” Ye Qing’s eyes lit up.

Feng Qingyou smiled. “He is. He is more than enough to be your bodyguard.”

“That’s wonderful!” Ye Qing slapped his thigh and rubbed his hands. “So, can I borrow Uncle Feng for the night?”

She caressed her jade cup elegantly as she answered, “I’m afraid I can’t make the decision for Uncle Feng. You’ll have to ask him yourself.”

“Uncle Feng? Can you come in please?”

As soon as she said this, Uncle Feng abruptly appeared inside the hall. He gave her a bow and greeted, “Miss.”

It was like he was a ghost. Ye Qing hadn’t sensed his presence from the start until the end. The guy could be shadowing right behind him, and he would never notice until he turned around.

“You have something to ask Uncle Feng, right Joyless?” Feng Qingyou jolted Ye Qing out of his reverie.

“Right!” Ye Qing looked at the old man who seemed no different from your friendly elderly neighbor and started, “It’s like this…”

After Ye Qing had finished narrating his plan, he said, “And that is why I’d like to ask for your help, Uncle Feng.”

“You don’t need to show yourself from the start. Just stay hidden until the pressure is too much for me, or if something unexpected happens.”

“Of course, I won’t ask you to work for free. When this matter is settled, I’ll treat you to five jars of thirty years old Pear Blossom wine. What do you say?”

Ye Qing knew that Uncle Feng loved drinking wine. It was why he always brought at least one or two jars of wine and enjoyed a drink with Uncle Feng whenever he visited the Heavenly Heart Clinic.

To Ye Qing’s surprise and disappointment, Uncle Feng shook his head. Just when he thought Uncle Feng was going to turn him down, the old man said, “Five isn’t enough. I want ten.”

Ye Qing exclaimed in delight, “That’s fine! It’ll be a riot!”

Uncle Feng shook his head again. “Are you going to drink with me? If so, then that is unacceptable. After all, it’s still going to be five jars if we split it half-half.”

Ye Qing smiled. “Let’s make it twenty then.”

Uncle Feng grinned and revealed his yellowed teeth. “Good.”

“Thank you for your cooperation, Uncle Feng.” Ye Qing smiled widely. “Now, all that’s left to do is to wait for the fishes to take the bait.”

……

“Father, our spy in the Pacification Bureau just sent word saying that Ye Qing is planning to leave Luo Shui tonight!” Wen Zailai reported as soon as he rushed into Wang Luo’s room.

“Ye Qing is leaving Luo Shui? But why? Isn’t he grievously injured and in a coma right now?” Wang Luori opened his eyes and voiced his puzzlement.

Wen Zailai explained, “That’s because it’s a ploy Ye Qing and Gu Suitang concocted. By putting on an act and convincing everyone that he’s incapacitated, no one would think that he is really planning to sneak out of Luo Shui tonight.”

“That cunning brat! He almost fooled us all!” Wang Luori slapped his table angrily. “That old fucker is no better than his underling.”

“I want all eyes on the Pacification Bureau and Ye Qing, Zailai. As soon as Ye Qing leaves Luo Shui, I’m going to rip him into a million pieces.”

……

“My lord, that brat is planning to leave Luo Shui tonight.”

“Is he now? Send someone to keep an eye on him. When the time is right, kill him. Yuechun was my schoolmate and a close friend, but this brat ruined his life and his reputation. There is no way I will stand for this!”

“Yuechun will have his vengeance, and his death is the only thing that will solve Luo Shui’s plight once and for all and appease the people.”

……

“He’s leaving Luo Shui? What wonderful news! As soon as he leaves Luo Shui, I’m going to make him wish he was dead. Pang Kun, gather the men. We’re going to leave the city immediately and lay in ambush. I must have this bastard’s skin to appease this rage in my chest!”

“At once. And do not worry, Little Commander. He won’t escape.”

“Speaking of which, we need to disguise ourselves as jianghu warriors. It’s still not yet time to go to war with the Pacification Bureau. This way, we would be able to kill Ye Qing, humiliate the Pacification Bureau, and give ourselves an alibi.”

“Hehe. A wise decision, Little Commander.”

……

“A plot? You’re saying that everything that happened today is a plot? Ye Qing is planning to book it?”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. I spent a lot of money to buy this information. There can be no mistake.”

“That cunning sonuvabitch! He’s playing us like a monkey! We need to tell our brothers and sisters, no, everyone about this. We’re going to kill Ye Qing as soon as he leaves the city!”

“Yeah! Who does he think he is? I’m gonna dice his corpse until there’s nothing left of him!”

“Everyone’s talking about him right now. If we managed to kill him, then we would gain both fame and fortune. What’s not to like?” “Hahaha…”

……

Similar scenes were taking place all over Luo Shui. Be it for fame, profit, vengeance, hatred, or pure curiosity, everyone began to mobilize. It was the calm before the storm.

When nighttime arrived, a middle-aged man with waxy yellow complexion and perfectly ordinary appearance rode a carriage out of the city. He was completely inconspicuous just like all the other ordinary people who were leaving the city.

Once out, the middle-aged man casually steered the horses onto a marked route and went to heavens-no-where at a trotting pace. From time to time, he would sing an off-tune folk song and startle countless birds.

The man, the carriage and the birds cast a long, long shadow under the dying rays of sunset. It looked positively dreamlike.

However, the middle-aged man didn’t seem to notice that a ton of jianghu warriors in disguise left the city not long after he did. He also didn’t notice the suspicious silhouettes hiding amidst the shadows where the sunset rays couldn’t reach. Their weapons gleamed like the teeth of Strangers in the darkness.

The sunset was very beautiful, but beautiful things tended to disappear quickly. Just five kilometers later, the last ray of light bade goodbye to the world and left behind only pitch black darkness.

Man, these guys are way too cautious. I’m more than far away enough from the city, and still they’re not attacking me, thought the middle-aged man while swinging his horse whip in boredom. He was none other than Ye Qing in disguise.

It wasn’t like he didn’t understand their worries. They were afraid that the commotion would draw the Pacification Bureau’s attention. However, they were over five kilometers away from Luo Shui already. At this rate, he was going to get lost before they attacked him.

Swoosh!

As if on cue, a whistling sound suddenly entered his ears. Ye Qing immediately waved his horse whip and caught a throwing knife that was flying straight toward him. A swing later, the throwing knife flew back where it came even faster than before.

“Hmph!” A muffled groan came from the darkness.

Beneath the carriage, there was a man clinging to the bottom like a spider. More accurately, he was clinging to a thick and massive spider web.

There was no telling when the man or the spider web had appeared, only that they harbored malicious intentions for Ye Qing. The man’s cheeks inflated and deflated as he spat out what looked like a black egg onto the spider web. He would repeat this until the entire web was covered in black eggs.

Crack crack crack…

When he spat a mouthful of black qi onto the eggs, they immediately hatched into small, black spiders. They climbed up the carriage and swarmed toward Ye Qing like a stream.

“What is this? Spiders?”

Two or three breaths later, Ye Qing exclaimed in surprise and released a surge of Burning Wind. It instantly turned the swarm of spiders into ash.

Beneath the carriage, the man climbed out into the open and crossed his arms. Countless spider silk flew out from his back and surrounded Ye Qing from every direction.

“Black Spider?” Ye Qing threw a punch and burned the spider silk into ash, but Black Spider was able to make an impossible twist and dodge the fist force by a hair’s breadth. Like a phantom, he landed on a nearby tree and chuckled. “Kekeke… you won’t escape, Ye Qing.”

Ye Qing pretended to flinch and shake his head. “Who’s Ye Qing? You got the wrong person.”

“Kekeke. It’s pointless to deny it. You are Ye Qing.” Black Spider cackled. “You must think you’re so smart playing us like a fiddle. This time though, you overreached yourself.”

“Today is the day you die.”

“Hah! You think you can kill me alone?” Ye Qing harrumphed in disdain.

“Of course not. But I’m not alone, am I?” Black Spider grinned from ear to ear.

“No you’re not.”

A dwarf-sized man who was a little over one meter tall but incredibly buff stepped out into the open.

“I am here.”

A middle-aged man with a blue snake encircled around his tall hat followed.

“I’m here too.”

A strange old man with unkempt hair and tattered robes walked out from the shadows as well.

“Don’t forget about me.”

A woman with an hourglass figure sashayed out to greet Ye Qing. Strangely, she didn’t have a head.

“Amitabha…”

A monk carrying Buddha beads emerged. He looked even stranger than the woman because his lower half was completely devoid of flesh.

……

More and more people stepped out of the shadows. Some looked strange, some looked fierce, and some looked demonic. They all shared one commonality, however. They all hated Ye Qing and wanted him dead.