Stranger Danger

Gu Suitang ran up to Uncle Feng while carrying a slumped Bai Xinhu. He looked back and forth between the demonic giant in the sky and the spreading void with obvious nervousness.

Uncle Feng replied, “The Demon’s Tomb is appearing. These are the signs before it officially opens.”

“Shit!” Gu Suitang obviously knew what the Demon’s Tomb was. “Why did it appear in Luo Shui of all places? Wait, Old Man Turtle mentioned that Luo Shui would be facing a terrible tribulation in recent times. Was he not just referring to the Way of Taiping? This is bad!”

When the Demon’s Tomb appeared, everything within several kilometers of the giant would be shrouded in eternal darkness, and the earth would transform into the void. Anyone and anything within its range would be dragged into the Demon’s Tomb as well.

Even worse, the lack of light would draw countless Strangers toward the Demon’s Tomb. This meant that Luo Shui would be facing a massive influx of Strangers very soon.

The silver lining was that the Demon’s Tomb hadn’t manifested inside the city. Otherwise, the entire city would be dragged into it. It would’ve been a terrible tragedy.

The Demon’s Tomb was an opportunity-of-a-lifetime for some warriors, but it was only a disaster for the ordinary people.

“Oh right, where’s Joyless?” Gu Suitang asked.

Uncle Feng replied, “He was dragged into the Demon’s Tomb.”

The deputy chief frowned. “Unlucky bastard. The passage to the Demon’s Tomb is extremely unstable when it initially appears. It’s possible he will die before he ever reaches the bottom.”

That was what he said, but he wasn’t really that worried mainly because there was nothing he could do even if he did worry himself to death. Besides that, Ye Qing was a journeyman body-tempering warrior with a Soulstealer-class Strange Artifact. He should be able to survive until the end. If not… such was life!

“Speaking of which, thank you for your timely assistance, senior.” Gu Suitang looked away from the bottomless pit and said, “If you’re free, would you like to come with me to the Pacification Bureau and enjoy a meal with me? I would like to thank you properly.”

Uncle Feng narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “You’re welcome, but I still have other things to do. I shan’t take up your time.”

“Very well.”

It was a shame he couldn’t recruit Feng Liunian’s aid—the city would be so much safer otherwise—but it wasn’t like he could force a possible Grandmaster to do anything, so he saluted the old man and said, “I need to go now. I’ll visit you some other day, senior.”

He needed to head back and notify the Tian Yong Pacification Bureau, Jiang Muyang and more about the appearance of the Demon’s Tomb as soon as possible. The sooner the preparations were complete, the more they could minimize its damage to Luo Shui and the surrounding settlements.

Uncle Feng smiled. “Do as you please. You have my deepest respect for choosing to protect the people when you could’ve entered the Demon’s Tomb to seek out your opportunity.”

“You flatter me, senior.” Gu Suitang said smilingly but seriously, “I am the deputy chief of the Luo Shui Pacification Bureau. It is my responsibility to protect the people. Also, I’m a human before I’m a warrior.”

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t tempted to venture into the Demon’s Tomb and seek out his opportunity. He was a warrior after all. But as the deputy chief of the Pacification Bureau, he carried the entire Luo Shui on his shoulders. It was his duty and responsibility to protect Luo Shui before anything else. That was why he needed to return to the city and oversee things as quickly as possible.

“I will take my leave now. See you someday, senior.” Gu Suitang left after one last salute.

After Gu Suitang left, Feng Qingyou appeared behind Uncle Feng like a ghost and remarked, “Gu Suitang is a man alright. He’s as daring as he is responsible. He has a bright future ahead of him.”

Uncle Feng nodded. “I agree. Are we entering the Demon’s Tomb now, Miss?”

Feng Qingyou replied, “Things will get complicated when more people show up, so yes. Let’s go.”

“As you command, Miss,” said Uncle Feng before whistling. A whinny sound could be heard as three handsome horses pulling a bronze carriage emerged from the space. When they came to a stop in front of Uncle Feng, one of the horses rubbed its head affectionately against Uncle Feng’s palm.

“Let us ride, Miss!”

“Let’s.”

Feng Qingyou entered the carriage first, and Uncle Feng second. Right before he would slip through the entrance, he glanced in a certain direction and broke into a small, enigmatic grin. A loud crack later, the three bronze horses roared and galloped straight into the void that was the entrance leading to the Demon’s Tomb. In fact, large patches of the void were scattered, and the horse carriage slipped through the hole between the void.

The world returned to relative silence after Feng Qingyou and Uncle Feng were gone. For a time, there was only the howling demonic qi and the not-so-intact void that was still growing every second. The sky was completely blotted, and the darkness was eternal.

Suddenly, a naive-sounding voice broke the silence,

“You truly are a master diviner, master. How did you know that the Demon’s Tomb would appear at this location?”

Beneath a pile of corpses, a silhouette suddenly pushed away one of the bodies and sat up.

“Master? Are you okay, master?”

After calling out to his master and hearing no answer, the naive-sounding man grew worried and pulled away the bodies as quickly as he could. Then, he dragged out an old man whose hair and beard were drenched in blood.

He was none other than the old Taoist who unintentionally ruined much of Ye Qing’s plans earlier, and the naive-sounding man his disciple.

“Huff… huff… cough! Cough…”

The old Taoist took a couple of deep breaths before he was seized by a series of hacking coughs. When his breathing finally returned to normal, he slapped his disciple on the back of his head and swore, “You fucking brat! Were you trying to suffocate me? Did you want my inheritance so badly? Traitorous disciple! Traitorous disciple!”

“You should stop, master. Your hand is all red and sore,” his disciple advised while scratching his head. “Also, you’re the one who said we should pile a couple more bodies on top of ourselves to minimize our chances of being discovered.”

“Oh? And since when you’re so obedient? You never listened to me when I told you to eat less, did you?”

The old Taoist rubbed his sore palm and muttered a bunch of expletives under his breath before saying, “Your brain isn’t just for show. Use it.”

“Kay.” His disciple scratched his head again before saying, “Oh right. I think that old senior who went into the Demon’s Tomb noticed us. He glanced at us right before he went inside.”

“He noticed you, not me!” The old Taoist scoffed. “‘World Sleeve’ Feng Liunian was no less famous than me back then. Of course he noticed that you were playing dead!”

“Really? Senior Feng must be incredibly strong then!” His disciple mused with envy and admiration. “Who’s stronger between you two, master?”

Caught off guard, The old Taoist let out an embarrassed cough. “I-I said he’s no less famous than me! What do you think?”

His disciple thought for a moment before exclaiming in realization, “That senior must be stronger than you! You wouldn’t need to play dead if you were just as strong as him, am I right?”

“Yes, you’re absolutely right that you’re an absolute retard!” The old Taoist couldn’t stop himself from slapping his disciple again despite his sore hand. “Fighting is for brutes and one of the worst ways to survive in the jianghu. We, the Temple of Divination, use divination to invite luck and avoid misfortune. In other words, we use our brains to survive in this world, not brawn!”

“Take this for example. Could you have found the Demon’s Tomb without me?”

“But master, you also said that we warriors depend on our fists to survive in this jianghu,” His disciple questioned.

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” The old Taoist fumed. I wanna hit him, but my hands are seriously sore. What should I do?

As if he could read his master’s mind, his disciple said, “You can kick me if you want, master. You won’t hurt your hands that way.”

Old Taoist: “...” What a filial disciple you are! But kicking you is still going to hurt my legs!

“The Demon’s Tomb only opens for three days. If we miss the deadline, then we’ll never leave. The early bird catches the worm, so let’s go.”

“Huh? Isn’t it, ‘The early worm gets eaten by the bird’?”

Old Taoist: “...” Why did I take him in as my disciple again? Sigh!

The old Taoist ignored his dumb disciple

The old Taoist decided to ignore his dumb disciple and focus on the present. He made a hand gesture and muttered, “The path of divination opens to those who believe. I bestow these coins with the power to guide us away from misfortune and toward fortune!”

The old man threw three coins into the air. Instead of falling, they flew in a certain pattern and drew what looked like a profound-looking picture. He wore a serious expression as his fingers danced across the air rhythmically and created all manners of illusions.

A moment later, the old Taoist made a swiping motion and caught the three bronze coins. He said smilingly, “Three is on the left, and five is on the right[1]. The trigram has shifted, but not so much that it is folly to venture into the Demon’s Tomb. There is fortune in danger; life in death.”

“To put it simply, our journey in the Demon’s Tomb will be daunting but without mishaps. You may take the lead, disciple.”

“Okay.” His dumb disciple never questioned why his master told him to take the lead. He simply walked over to the spot the old Taoist was pointing and jumped down.

A few breaths later, when the old Taoist confirmed that he couldn’t sense anything amiss, he nodded. “Mm. Looks like there is no danger.”

Then, he jumped down into the pit from the same spot as well.

Time passed, and dawn broke. The world should’ve been basked in warming light, but the city and its surroundings were still as dark as the night. The celestial bodies were all invisible, and a demonic giant cast a massive shadow across the ground. It was like he was a god looking down on the world, cold and unfeeling.

By now, the land within several kilometers of the giant to the south of the commandery of Luo Shui had transformed into the void. The demonic qi shrouding the area looked like a black, impenetrable sea that was filled with mystery, unknown and danger.

“Kekeke… it really is the Demon’s Tomb. The Demon’s Tomb had finally surfaced once more.”

Space shook, and a cold light glittered in the darkness. It was a coffin flying through the sky until it was directly above the Demon’s Tomb. Whoever was lying inside the coffin was letting out a sinister cackle.

“Hmm? There’s a human city here? Oh, there are quite a lot of humans as well. Now that I think about it, it’s been a long time since I’ve feasted on human flesh and soul. Oh, I’m so hungry.”

The coffin lid shifted to one side, and an unbelievably thin arm reached out of the coffin. When the owner of the arm made a grab for the city, a giant palm bigger than the city itself suddenly manifested right on top of it. It looked like the person inside the coffin was planning to kill all living things in Luo Shui in one strike.

“How dare you, Demon of Unliving!”

Right before the demonic palm would land, the light of a sword suddenly shot through the sky. It easily sliced the demonic palm in half and caused it to crumble away like dust.

1. According to my research, this is some sort of calculation based on the Nine Halls Diagram. Here’s a link for those who are interested: Luoshu Square - Wikipedia ☜