Stranger Danger

Yi Pin relaxed considerably after confirming that Li Longxiang was safe and sound.

“This is everything. I got a bottle of pills, a sword, a martial arts manual and a cultivation art.”

Like a child eager to share his spoils, Li Longxiang revealed everything. “There were more items in the shed that looked quite extraordinary, but I remembered your teachings and only took those that were out in the open.”

“Well done.”

Yi Pin nodded in satisfaction and checked out the bottle of pills first. When he pulled out the stopper and took a sniff, he exclaimed in surprise, “It’s the Jade Skin Bone Purifying Pill! And just look how round, unblemished and translucent the pills are. They are of superior quality for sure.”

The Jade Skin Bone Purifying Pill was used to temper the body both inside and outside. It could make one’s skin as flawless as jade and purify their bones. Hence the name.

After handing the pill bottle back to Li Longxiang, Yi Pin picked up the sword next to examine it.

The sword’s making was quite old judging from its shape. It had a wooden hilt with a bit of jade mixed in it, and the word “Pine” was etched on its surface.

As soon as Yi Pin unsheathed the sword, a rich amount of vibrant, greenish energy immediately gushed out into the open. As it spread, the plants around them started growing like crazy, and even Yi Pin’s arm was sprouting greenish buds as well. Ye Qing immediately stepped forward and slammed the sword back into its scabbard, stemming the flow and causing the energy to slowly fade into nothing.

“Phew… that was close. Thanks, brother.”

The unnatural greenness and growth covering Yi Pin’s arm also returned to normal after a while.

“Unless I’m gravely mistaken, this sword is at least a Hatred-class Strange Artifact,” Yi Pin commented while stroking the sword from the tip all the way to the pommel. “It’s around 101 centimeters long, and its whole body is forged from a kind of wood called the Verdant Jade Pine. Speaking of which, the blade is imbued with the power of the Verdant Yi Wood. It definitely deserves its name.”

“What’s a Verdant Jade Pine, master?” Li Longxiang asked.

Yi Pin responded, “The Yi Wood Jade Pine is a strange tree that can only be found on the peak of the tallest and most perilous mountains. Born from the spiritual qi of Yi Wood, it is shaped like a normal pine but is greenish jade in color. It is impervious to wind, frost, fire and even lightning.”

“It takes sixty years to grow a single inch, meaning that it takes thousands and thousands of years to reach full maturity. I shouldn’t need to tell you how valuable this sword is.”

Ye Qing added, “This sword is potent, but its limitations are pretty significant as well. If the wielder is unable to withstand its Verdant Qi, they would be corrupted and assimilated like your master just now.”

“You are absolutely right.” Yi Pin wiped away the beads of cold sweat on his forehead and sighed in relief. “But if you can withstand it, then it will be a sword like none other.”

“What about this martial arts manual, master? I tried reading it earlier, but I don’t recognize the words. They’re shaped like tadpoles for some reason,” said Li Longxiang while handing over the martial arts manual.

The martial arts manual was only a dozen or so pages thick. Its paper wasn’t paper, but some sort of skin that not even Yi Pin with his wealth of knowledge could identify. It remained pristine and free from erosion despite having been here for god knows how many years.

“That’s the tadpole script, an ancient script that is compatible with the Great Way itself. It’s natural that you don’t recognize it.”

Yi Pin was brimming with excitement as he flipped through the pages quickly, “Let’s see… This is the ‘Nine Impetus of Tai Chi’... Those who practice Tai Chi are balanced in both yin and yang. Yin is born where yang is the strongest, and yang is born where yin is the strongest… Yin and Yang is the essence of all things, hence all things contain yin and yang… heaven and earth may switch places, life and death border one another, action and inaction are two sides of the same coin, water and fire may mingle in harmony given the right circumstances… a person’s qi too can be split into yin and yang. Clear qi will rise because it is light, and murky qi will fall because it is dense…”

“Oh heavens, this is incredibly difficult to read…”

Yi Pin was positively sweating after just translating two or three lines of the book. After reciting a couple more lines, he looked no different from when he attempted to look into the rivers of fate earlier; pale and exhausted. “Nope, can’t do it. These tadpole scripts are too hard to read. Not even I recognize all the words.”

“Can I take a look?” Ye Qing was quite curious himself, so he took the manual from Yi Pin and skimmed through the pages. A few seconds later, he nodded and slammed the book shut. Yep, I only recognize a handful of words, and that’s only thanks to my education.

“It’s probably a Taoist martial art. If it can be translated, then it will serve its practitioner well,” Yi Pin said, which was a massive understatement. A martial arts manual written using the ancient tadpole script could not be ordinary.

Ye Qing nodded in agreement before asking, “Longxiang, you said that the senior also gave you a cultivation art, right? What is it?” It wasn’t too much of a stretch to assume that the martial art and the cultivation art were somehow related to one another.

“Right, it’s… it’s…” Li Longxiang was about to answer when he suddenly cut himself off. He looked like he wanted to say something, but an invisible hand was clamped around his mouth. Such was his confusion and frustration that his face turned beet red. Eventually, he blurted, “I can’t say it, senior uncle.”

“What do you mean, you can’t say it?” Ye Qing asked, “Just show us the manual.”

“It’s not a manual.” Li Longxiang shook his head in frustration. “It’s a cultivation art that appeared in my head after the senior tapped me once in the forehead.”

“I can remember every word of the cultivation art, but for some reason, I just can’t say it out loud.”

“What’s happened to me, master, senior uncle? Is it dangerous?”

“You… inherited a true martial arts inheritance from the senior?” Ye Qing and Yi Pin exchanged a glance with each other. Yi Pin in particular looked like he was about to burst with joy. If Ye Qing wasn’t around, he would be guffawing at the top of his lungs already.

The fact that the person in the room had imparted his true martial arts inheritance to Li Longxiang meant that he viewed the young man as his disciple. The cultivation art must be pretty impressive as well seeing as the senior purposely set up a restriction that forbade Li Longxiang from passing it down to anyone verbally. In fact, Ye Qing reckoned that it couldn’t be passed down in any way.

“I’m going to be fine, right master?” Li Longxiang asked worriedly.

Yi Pin barely managed to suppress his silly grin and shook his head. “Of course you’re going to be fine, you silly, lucky boy.”

There was a reason why the saying, “Blind luck follows dumb people” existed.

“You don’t need to force yourself to say it. Just make sure you cultivate hard and live up to that senior’s expectations,” Ye Qing advised. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t envious, but that was how things turned out sometimes.

“I understand, senior uncle.” Li Longxiang shot him a grin.

Yi Pin accepted the loot from Li Longxiang and handed it all to Ye Qing, “As per our agreement earlier, we’ll split the spoils fifty-fifty based on our needs. The cultivation art Longxiang obtained is obviously the most valuable of the lot, so you may have the rest of the loot.”

He was reluctant to give up the items as a matter of course, but they already had the lion’s share of the loot. If he allowed his greed to overcome him, then their partnership would be forever tainted by it. That could be lethal considering where they were right now.

It was important to have ambition, but it was equally important to be satisfied with what you have.

Ye Qing smiled and waved the “Nine Impetus of Tai Chi” he was holding. “Just give me this martial arts manual, and we’re square.”

“Are you… sure about this?” Yi Pin was caught off guard because he wasn’t expecting Ye Qing to turn down the offer. He had explored the jianghu for countless years, and he had seen even father and son turning against one another over something valuable, much less everyone else. This was literally the first time he encountered someone who gave up not one, but multiple valuables that he rightfully deserved.

“It’s fine. I have a feeling that this ‘Nine Impetus of Tai Chi’ is almost as valuable as Longxiang’s cultivation art.”

Yi Pin kept to his word, so Ye Qing wasn’t willing to take advantage of him. Besides that, he could tell that Yi Pin was a true hidden master, and Li Longxiang had a bright future ahead of him thanks to the inheritance he obtained from the senior in the shed. He didn’t mind forging some good karmic bonds in this jianghu.

“Besides, Longxiang is the reason we got anything in the first place. Without him, it’s entirely possible that I would have walked away from this opportunity empty-handed. That’s why I’m grateful with just this.”

“But…” Yi Pin hesitated.

Ye Qing smiled. “Quit it. Are you the but man or what? If you need me to give you some concrete reasons, then sure. First, I don’t use a sword, so Pine is useless to me. I’m also not lacking in Strange Artifacts right now. Second, look at me. Do you seriously think I need the Jade Skin Bone Purifying Pill?”

Yi Pin: “...”

I should be happy that he’s giving up the majority of the spoils to me, but why do I feel like a beggar accepting charity from a rich man?

Then again, Ye Qing really had no use for the items. This was the guy who had screwed over countless jianghu warriors and obtained a mountain of loot as a result, and even had a Soulstealer-class Strange Artifact. It was no wonder he didn’t value a weapon that he couldn’t use. As for the Jade Skin Bone Purifying Pill, the guy had a body that was as strong as five dragon elephants right now. The Jade Skin Bone Purifying Pill was as useful to him as a glass of water—delicious, but that was it.

What a fucking monster this guy is.

In the end, Yi Pin obeyed his desires and thanked Ye Qing, “In that case, I shall kindly accept your generosity.”

Why play coy with a guy who wasn\'t lacking in anything?

“Now that we’ve gotten what we needed, let us leave. There’s no need to disturb our senior’s eternal slumber any longer than necessary,” Ye Qing put away the “Nine Impetus of Tai Chi” and said.

“Agreed.” Yi Pin nodded and peered at the sky through the tree leaves. “And this place isn’t safe anyway. The sky’s about to turn dark, and we need to find a suitable resting spot as soon as possible.”

Ye Qing checked out the dimming sky as well and asked curiously, “There’s day and night in the Demon’s Tomb?”

“Yes. And here in the Demon’s Tomb, it’s far more dangerous at night than it is during the day.”

“Danger? What danger?” Ye Qing could tell from Yi Pin’s tone that he was absolutely serious about this.

Yi Pin answered, “I’m not too sure myself; but there was a passage in a book that I read that went something like this: ‘There exists the Red Sun and the Blood Moon, and they are manifestations of Rahu’s eyes, the Progenitor Demon. Its left eye is the Red Sun, and its right eye is the Blood Moon. When the Red Sun falls, and the Blood Moon rises into the sky, the demonic qi in the Demon’s Tomb shall increase drastically. Demonic thoughts shall run free, and all kinds of Anomalies, Strangers, and dangers in general shall appear. A single mistake can damn you for eternity, and fates worse than death lies at every corner.”

“In short, it is best if we hole up in a good hiding spot when night time arrives. Alternatively, we can seek out places with a lot of people or start a large fire to generate large amounts of yang energy. That should be enough to keep most evils at bay.”

Yi Pin continued after a break, “Of course, I have no idea if what I read in the book is true, but I’d rather rely on superstition than nothing at all. It’s still early, so let’s try and find a suitable resting spot first. We can decide afterward if that plan is a no-go.”

“If it turns out that it is all superstition, and the nights of Demon’s Tomb are as safe as it is during the day, then all is well. If not, then our preparations would be well worth it. What do you say?”

“Sounds like a good plan. Let’s go, brother.” Ye Qing nodded in agreement.

To be honest, the shed would be the perfect place to tuck in for the night. Unfortunately, it was surrounded by Reincarnating Flowers of the Four Seasons, and Li Longxiang was the only one who could enter the shed safely. It was a shame, really.