Stranger Danger

Chapter 275: The Spirit Ape of Dao

And finally, Kou Xiong and the five jianghu warriors’ light were dim and tainted.

When the spirit ape looked at the trio with his third eye, a smile crossed his lips as if it was happy and approving of them.

When it looked at Xie Chengyun and his junior brothers and sisters, its face smoothed into a look of indifference.

And when it looked at Kou Xiong and the five jianghu warriors, its face warped into a look of anger and disgust. Wisps of spiritual light shone out of its pupil and hit the six men, and semi-transparent silhouettes floated out of their bodies. It was none other than the six men’s souls.

At first, the six souls were dazed and confused. They had no idea what just happened to them. When they saw the spirit ape, their souls began quaking with shock and terror. They tried to struggle, resist, or escape, but because they were just souls, they couldn’t produce so much as a squeak, much less break free from their confines.

The spirit ape opened its real eyes and grinned provocatively at the terrified men. Then—

Slurp!

It inhaled them all into its mouth. Pops and cracks resounded from its cheeks as it crunched down on the souls. They sounded surprisingly chewy considering that they were intangible blobs.

After the spirit ape had devoured the six men’s souls, it walked up to Ye Qing, Yi Pin and Li Longxiang and examined them for a moment. Then, it turned its palm upward and produced a pair of peaches.

The peaches were surrounded by a faint purple mist that sparkled like it contained a nebula or stars. If the trio were awake, they would’ve recognized the fruits as the famous Nebula Peach.

The Nebula Peach was created from the apotheosis of the power of the stars. An extremely rare purify one’s mind and improve one’s spirit, it was far more valuable than the Langgan Golden Flower Fruits on the incense burner table.

The spirit ape placed the fruits beside Yi Pin and Li Longxiang. When it moved over to Ye Qing, its third eye shone a clear, warm light as if it was trying to see through his very soul.

A while later, the spirit ape carried Ye Qing beneath its arm pit and leaped out of the temple hall. After returning to the courtyard, it pushed off the floor with both legs and leaped all the way to the path outside the temple.

“Huhu...”

The spirit ape shot Ye Qing a mysterious grin after landing on the ground. It was almost as if it knew that Ye Qing was pretending to be asleep.

That’s right, Ye Qing had been awake for a while, though not from the beginning. Specifically, he awoke while the spirit ape was devouring Kou Xiong and the five jianghu warriors’ souls.

He didn’t know when or how he fell asleep. In fact, he had never planned on sleeping considering that he was in an unfamiliar and dangerous environment. His original plan was to meditate and keep his spirit expanded so he would be able to detect any unusual activity at a moment’s notice, but before he knew it, he was asleep. It was a deep, dreamless slumber as well. It was almost as if the temple possessed some sort of magical power that could relax one’s nerves no matter how taut and put them to sleep.

He had been jolted awake by a series of strange crunching noises. When he cracked a slit and saw the spirit ape devouring the six jianghu warriors’ souls, he immediately closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Some people might wonder why he hadn’t put up a fight. It was because he recognized the spirit ape. Forget him, everyone in the temple hall combined would still be no match for the spirit ape.

The spirit ape was a Disaster-class Stranger called the Spirit Ape of Dao. Born with a body that was both yin and yang, it could switch between tangible and intangible forms and create life on its own. Naturally close to Dao and born to pursue the Dao, it loved nothing more than visiting Taoist temples, praying to Taoist icons, and worshiping the sun and moon. As its third eye contained the essence of Dao, it could observe the flow of energies of the world, see through the darkness of the Nine Nethers, and distinguish one’s true nature. It was also why it was known as the Three-Eyed Spirit Ape.

The Spirit Ape of Dao adored good and loathed evil. It especially loathed people who blasphemed a deity. It would capture the souls of blasphemers with its third eye and consume them.

It wasn’t that Ye Qing was a coward. The enemy was just so strong that he couldn’t muster even the slightest bit of desire to engage in some good ol’ heroism.

Ye Qing wasn’t particularly worried that the spirit ape would do him harm, however. The reason the Spirit Ape of Dao had consumed the six jianghu

warriors’ souls was obvious: they had blasphemed against the deity of this temple and were disrespectful toward deities in general. It was only natural that the Spirit Ape of Dao would be furious with them.

Ye Qing wasn’t too worried about himself though. He had paid the deity of this temple its due respect and even offered it an Incense of Worship. Therefore, he was pretty sure he would be fine.

At first, the script went more or less as he expected. Not only did the Spirit Ape of Dao not harm Yi Pin or Li Longxiang, it had even given them a Nebula Peach each. In a sense, they were being rewarded for doing nothing.

Yi Pin and Li Longxiang were just tagalongs, but they were given the Nebula Peach. Ye Qing couldn’t help but anticipate what he, the guy who presented the Incense of Worship, was going to get.

The next thing he knew, he was tucked under the spirit ape’s armpit and taken away to heavens-know-where.

He wondered what went wrong. Seriously, why the fuck was this happening? Why was he, the guy who did all the hard work, being carried away to an unknown fate while Yi Pin and Li Longxiang got freebies while they were sleeping?

Is it going to steam me in broth, simmer fry me, or turn me into preserved meat? Eeeeeeek!

He couldn’t struggle though, at least not now. The spirit ape was a Disaster-class Stranger. There was zero chance he would survive if he tried to put up a fight. If he waited, an opportunity might present itself. So, he kept his eyes closed and continued to pretend that he was asleep.

The Spirit Ape of Dao knew that Ye Qing was pretending to be asleep but paid him no heed. It turned back toward the front and jumped down the hill.

Rustling noises assaulted their ears as soon as they landed. It was caused by the Strangers Ye Qing and the others had witnessed earlier. Still lying on top of the dead men’s backs, they all stared at Ye Qing with greedy eyes.

Disgust entered the Spirit Ape of Dao’s eyes. When it snorted, two streams of air exited its nostrils and swept across the area like a pair of swords. The Strangers’ heads shattered into pieces, and not a single one of them could take even a single hit. The Strangers then transformed into a pile of bones.

The Spirit Ape of Dao paid no attention to their plight. Perhaps their existence was no different from ants to the Strangers. It broke into a run and ventured into the darkness.

As mentioned before, the Spirit Ape of Dao possessed a yin and yang body that could turn tangible or intangible. This included the objects it was carrying such as Ye Qing. What this meant was that it didn’t need to slow down for anything. It could pass through mountains, rivers, and more like it was nothing. Naturally, its speed was nothing to scoff at. The Spirit Ape of Dao had covered over a hundred kilometers of distance in just ten or so breaths.

The Spirit Ape of Dao eventually came to a stop before a strange mountain. First, it was suspended about thirty meters above the ground. Second, it was broad at the top and narrow at the bottom as if it was upside down.

After they arrived at the mountain, the spirit ape leaped tens of meters into the air before catching a hanging rock with one hand. It swung about half a circle in the air to generate momentum before throwing himself further up the mountain. It would repeat this a number of times until it finally reached the top.

The top of the mountain was as flat as it was broad. If Ye Qing didn’t know better, he would think that he was still on the ground. That wasn’t what caught his attention, however. It was the fact that the whole place was littered with tombstones.

The Spirit Ape of Dao dropped Ye Qing on the ground, and at this point, Ye Qing couldn’t be bothered to keep up his act. He just stared at the scene before him in utter shock.

Why... Why are there so many tombstones at this place? Could it be...? Realization struck him. Is this the graveyard of all those super champions who came here in search for a resting place?

The reason the Demon’s Tomb was called the Demon’s Tomb was twofold. One, it was the resting place of the Progenitor Demon, Rahu. Second, it was also the resting place of countless titans of the Dark Ways.

Unless he was mistaken, this graveyard could very well be the graveyard of those titans.

As for who made the gravestones, the answer was simple. It was the champions themselves. Even on death’s bed, they were still some of the most powerful warriors or Strangers in the world. It was all too easy for them to make themselves a grave.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, Ye Qing’s heart skipped a beat. When he looked up, he saw a white deer carrying an old man walking toward him.

The old man had a big forehead and pure white hair. He had a kind, benign-looking face and carried a bronze mirror in his hand. He looked just like a celestial who had descended from the heavens.

The white deer he was riding was perfectly clean and white. There wasn’t so much as a speck of black or any other color on its body. It had a pair of massive, rainbow-colored horns that stretched out like a pair of plum trees, and a boy and a girl were sitting on each side of the horns.

The two children were really paper dolls, and they looked no different from the legendary Golden Boy and Jade Maiden people usually burned when conducting a sacrificial ritual. Their cheeks were painted red, and they both wore an eerie smile on their faces.

The children carried a white lantern with a lit white candle each. they cast an eerie light upon their surroundings. When Ye Qing narrowed his eyes, he could vaguely see the ghosts of several children running around, playing and laughing with each other.

Before the old man could reach Ye Qing though, a person abruptly leaped out of the clouds and landed on the peak. At the same time, they burst out laughing, “Hahaha! I finally found it! I finally found the graveyard where all the demons are buried! Hahahaha!”

Suddenly, they noticed the old man and the white deer.

“Who the hell are you?” The person scoffed in disdain before waving their hand. Thunder cracked, and a cascade of lightning fell down from the sky. It was like they were the god of thunder bring down their wrath upon the old man.

The person looked arrogant, but they used their ultimate move from the get go.

The old man was unmoved, however. His only response was to raise his bronze mirror.

There was a flash of black-and-white light, and the skyful of lightning abruptly disappeared into nothing. The person was frozen in place for a moment before slowly, they started growing transparent. Eventually, they too disappeared completely from view.

Ye Qing could hardly begin to describe just how shocked and afraid he was. It was because the person hadn’t turned invisible or executed some sort of technique to escape. It was the old man literally wiping their existence from the world somehow. He knew because his senses told him that the person’s life force and energies had completely vanished from the world. This was true annihilation in every sense of the word.