Stranger Danger

Chapter 272: The Rain of Misery

“Sigh. Why even live when I’m so miserable and useless?”

Without hesitation, Ye Qing headbutted a rock behind his back. There was a loud bang, and the rock shattered. His head remained perfectly intact, however. There wasn’t even a scratch on his forehead.

Unwilling to give up, Ye Qing went up to a tree and headbutted it. Once again, it was the tree that snapped in half, not him.

“Sigh, I’m so miserable I can’t even commit suicide. What a terrible life this is!”

Tears streamed down his cheeks as Ye Qing stared blankly at the broken tree in front of him. He was just about to grab his saber and cut off his neck when suddenly, the Annon Sutra glowed and basked his entire body in a chilly sensation. Finally, he jolted back to reality.

“Huh? What was I doing?”

Ye Qing rubbed his forehead as he recalled what he just did. “What the fuck? Did I just try to commit suicide?”

“There is no fucking way that was me. I must have been influenced by a Stranger of something!”

“Senior uncle! Thank heavens you’re awake! Please help me! I can’t keep master from killing himself much longer!”

Ye Qing was still rubbing his forehead when he heard Li Longxiang crying for help. He turned and saw the young man clutching Yi Pin’s waist with a death grip while the old Taoist struggled with all his might. He looked like he was planning to headbutt the stele at the foot of the hill.

“Let go of me! I’m so miserable and useless! I deserve to die!”

Ye Qing pushed off the ground and appeared in front of Yi Pin in the blink of an eye. While pinning the old Taoist down with his right hand, he raised his left hand and gave him a powerful slap across the face.

Slap!

The slap was hard enough to leave a palm print on Yi Pin’s face and stupefy him for a couple of seconds. However, he soon broke into a louder sob while saying, “Oh, how miserable I am! I can’t even kill myself without someone slapping me in the face! I want to die! Don’t stop me, please!”

“It’s no use, senior uncle. Maybe try hitting him harder?” Li Longxiang suggested. He was still holding onto Yi Pin just in case.

Ye Qing coughed awkwardly. “Ahem... I don’t think that’s the issue here.”

He had slapped Yi Pin hard enough to wake even a coma patient, so pain wasn’t the answer here. Now that he thought about it, he had headbutted a rock and a tree earlier and still couldn’t break free from the spell. Those were easily more painful than a slap to the face.

If it’s not a disease of the body, then it’s most likely something that affects the mind and spirit,

Ye Qing thought. The only reason he regained his consciousness was because the Annon Sutra had jolted his mind with its chilly energy.

Ye Qing pressed his fingers to his forehead and visualized the “Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method”. Then, he roared with power and spirit, “WAKE UP!”

His voice was so loud that the rain cloud in the sky literally scattered into nothing. The weaker warriors were disoriented and bleeding from all orifices.

“What the...”

“What happened?”

“Why are those people dead?”

The warriors started waking up one after another. At first, they were too disoriented to remember what had happened. When they did, shock and terror immediately overtook them.

“What the fuck was influencing us?”

“I... I don’t like this place. We should leave as soon as possible.”

“Brother... Brother Xie, you\'re a well-read, well-traveled man, right? Do you know what just happened to us?”

“Yeah, Brother Xie. What should we do in this situation?”

Everyone subconsciously looked to Xie Chengyun—the warrior with the highest cultivation level in their group—for directions.

“My apologies, but I don’t know what just influenced us either.” Xie Chengyun shook his head. “Honestly, I myself was seconds away from killing myself.”

“What... What should we do then? We broke out of its spell once, but... but...”

Panic and fear started spreading among the group. Thankfully, a voice spoke up before the warriors could crumble into full-blown panic, “The Rain of Misery. If I’m not mistaken, we were affected by the Rain of Misery.”

Xie Chengyun and the others looked. An old Taoist wearing disheveled robes and carrying a bright red, swollen cheek was the one who spoke up. He was also activating a talisman and covering himself in a sheen of golden light that prevented a single raindrop from hitting him. He was, of course, Yi Pin.

Yi Pin puffed up his chest and clasped his hand behind his back when he noticed that everyone was staring at him. He would’ve looked pretty cool if it wasn’t for his swollen cheek and the bright red palm print on his face.

“If I may ask, Reverend, what is the Rain of Misery?” Xie Chengyun saluted him.

Yi Pin didn’t keep them in suspense. “The Rain of Misery is a rare Stranger that is left unclassified because no one can agree on whether it’s a Phenomenon-class Stranger or a Disaster-class Stranger. The Rain of Misery looks no different from a normal rain, but unlike a normal rain, it does not sink into the ground or merge with other waters. Instead, it converges at low-lying areas and forms a Lake of Misery.”

Yi Pin motioned at their feet as he said this. As he said, the rainwater floated just above the ground as if it was insulated by some sort of invisible barrier. Moreover, the rainwater was flowing toward low-lying areas.

“The Rain of Misery could afflict anyone who makes contact with it with melancholy and sorrow. If you don’t shield yourself against it, you would recall all kinds of sorrowful and miserable memories until you grow despondent enough to commit suicide. Moreover, the Rain of Misery is particularly effective against people with an active, complex mind.”

“No wonder!” Ye Qing exclaimed in realization. He was wondering why Li Longxiang, the weakest of all of them, wasn’t affected by the Rain of Misery. It was because he was pure and simple-minded.

Yi Pin continued, “Few people noticed the Rain of Misery’s effects until it was too late because of its similarity to ordinary rain. Throughout history, there have been plenty of incidents where a settlement and even an entire territory was caught by the Rain of Misery and perished as a result. If the Rain of Misery rained long enough to form a massive flood, well... I don’t need to tell you what a disaster that would be.”

“This is also why some people argued that it should be classified as a Disaster-class Stranger.”

“Oh, heavens... a Disaster-class Stranger? Doesn’t that mean we’re dead?”

“I don’t want to die, I...”

Please save me, Reverend! Please!”

“Hehe. Worry not, everyone.” Yi Pin beamed as everyone begged him for a solution. He seemed to be enjoying the attention a lot. “It’s actually quite simple to shield yourself from its effects.”

“What do we do, Reverend? Please, tell us!”

“Please, Reverend! I can feel it changing me again!”

“We will forever remember your kindness if you save our lives, Reverend!”

“Heh, there is no need to beg me, everyone. We are all part of the jianghu. It’s only natural to watch each other’s backs, no?”

Yi Pin stroked his beard as he revealed the answer, “As I said earlier, the Rain of Misery only affects those who make contact with it. In other words, you simply need to dry your clothes with astral qi and shield yourself from the rain, and you will be fine. Alternatively, you can also find a shelter. You will be fine as long as you don’t make contact with the rain.”

“Got it, got it...”

“Thank you so much for the advice, Reverend!”

“Thank you so much for saving our lives, Reverend!”

The warriors immediately launched into action as they thanked Yi Pin. Some people protected themselves with astral qi as Yi Pin advised, and some brought out their Strange Artifacts to shield themselves from the rain. There was even one guy who grew a massive tree to block the whole area from the rain.

After Yi Pin was done speaking, Ye Qing walked up to the old Taoist and praised, “You’re pretty good at social manipulation, brother!”

It wasn’t quite the carrot and the stick, but the logic was the same. Yi Pin had given them a scare by describing how horrifying the Rain of Misery was before revealing the solution. It was a much more effective method at earning the warriors’ goodwill then just telling the answer from the get go.

“It’s nothing, and it’s not like I’m doing this out of altruistic reasons. I’m hoping that these people will remember what I did for them when they decide to stir up trouble inside the temple later,” Yi Pin explained.

Yi Pin noticed that Ye Qing had already protected himself from the Rain of Misery’s influence. He couldn’t sense any fluctuation in his astral qi, but the Rain of Misery automatically evaporated into air as soon as it got close to the young man. The air surrounding him felt incredibly hot and dry as well.

“Were you the one who woke us up, brother?” Yi Pin asked.

Ye Qing didn’t deny it.

“You love doing good deeds anonymously, don’t you? If you told them what happened, they would probably be kissing your feet in worship right now!” Yi Pin chuckled.

“And why on earth would I want anyone to kiss my feet? Anyway, I prefer to keep a low profile.” Ye Qing shrugged.

“It’s your choice!” Yi Pin shrugged back before recalling something. “Oh right, did you know what happened to my face, brother? Why do I feel like someone slapped me real hard in the cheek?”

“Don’t ask me, I don’t know, it wasn’t me!” Ye Qing instinctively executed his triple-denial protocol. When he noticed the dubious look on Yi Pin’s eyes, he let out an awkward cough and added, “I mean, it has to be yourself, wasn’t it? You were trying to commit suicide via face-slapping.”

“Really? But I don’t remember being strong enough to—ooh, that really stings.” Yi Pin turned to his disciple next and asked, “Was it you, Longxiang?”

Li Longxiang hurriedly shook his head. Feeling Ye Qing’s hot, passionate gaze burning a hole in his face, the young man forced himself to lie, “Senior uncle is telling the truth. You were going so hard at it I literally couldn’t stop you.”

Sorry, master. I think senior uncle would kill me if I told you the truth.

“Is that so?” Yi Pin frowned and glanced back and forth between the duo. He was out of his mind, so he supposed he could have hit himself harder than he intended. But why did he still feel like something was off?

“Let’s not dwell on the past, shall we brother?”

Afraid that Yi Pin would find out the truth if they dwelled on this any longer, Ye Qing hurriedly changed the subject. “The sky’s dark already. We should be able to enter the temple now, right? This darkness is giving the creeps.”

“Me too.” Yi Pin nodded and checked out the sky. “I think we should be able to enter now, but... do you want to give it a try?”

“Absolutely not. Do I look like I love getting struck by lightning?” Ye Qing shook his head without hesitation.

So, Yi Pin looked at Li Longxiang and ordered, “Longxiang, you try.”

Li Longxiang: “...” Can I not? I don’t like getting struck by lightning either.

“There’s no need to be afraid. We know it’s non-lethal, and didn’t that guy from Purity Sword say that it was actually quite comfortable?” Yi Pin urged when he noted Li Longxiang’s hesitation. “Relax. Best case scenario, nothing happens. Worst case scenario, you enjoy a shock massage. It’s a win-win either way, isn’t it?”

Li Longxiang: “......” Oh yeah? Then why don’t you try it?

Unfortunately, his master wouldn’t be denied, and he was feeling a bit of guilt after lying to his master. So, Li Longxiang ultimately forced himself to walk up to the stairs.

Upon reaching his destination, Li Longxiang sucked in a couple deep breaths before extending his right foot. He braced himself when he planted his foot on the step, but... nothing happened.

Li Longxiang wanted to gather himself some more before moving his left foot, but Yi Pin had already lost his patience. “Quit dilly-dallying and get it over with already!” the old Taoist said before kicking Li Longxiang right in the butt. Caught off guard, the young man staggered forward until he caught himself. Before he knew it, he was standing on the fourth and fifth step of the stairs already.

Ye Qing: “...”

Everyone else: “...”

There’s no doubt about it. They’re one hundred percent master and disciple.

Seeing that Li Longxiang was neither stopped nor sent flying by a bolt of lightning, Yi Pin beckoned Ye Qing over with a straight face. “Looks like we’re clear to enter the temple. Let’s go, brother.”

“Yeah.”

And so the duo walked up the stairs, and everyone else was right behind them.