Stranger Danger

Chapter 285: Shake It Together

The hellfire would never fade so long as the sinner still had sins and karmic hindrance. That was how the Hellfire Red Lotus Saber Art kills its enemies.

“Mercy, mercy! I can teach you the ‘Blood Demon Sutra’! All I ask is that you let me live! Ahhhhh...”

Shangguan Wuwo’s soul continued to weaken under the all-consuming heat of the hellfire, but Ye Qing was completely unmoved. He was never merciful toward those who tried to kill him, and even if he was, he didn’t possess the ability to extinguish the hellfire. Although Jin Hui had bestowed him his true martial arts inheritance, it hadn’t been long since he grasped the Hellfire Red Lotus Saber Art, so he hadn’t yet reached the level where he could control the hellfire he had inflicted upon his victim.

“Ahhhhhh! I was so close! I was so close!”

In the end, Shangguan Wuwo let out one last roar before disintegrating into nothing under the hellfire.

The sea of blood was completely burned as well.

After Shangguan Wuwo’s soul and the sea of blood were purified, a refined energy began flowing into Ye Qing’s mind and nurturing his weakened spirit. At the same time, he felt a mysterious energy scattering inside his headspace. It felt tattered and disorganized for some reason.

“It’s... the ‘Blood Demon Sutra’!” Ye Qing exclaimed in pleasant surprise when he perceived it and discovered that it was Shangguan Wuwo’s memories and martial truth regarding the “Blood Demon Sutra”. However, it was in a broken state as if someone had grabbed a perfectly fine piece of paper and ripped it to shreds. It must have happened when the hellfire had violently annihilated Shangguan Wuwo’s soul.

Ye Qing didn’t hesitate. He immediately started studying the memories and martial truth. If he waited, they would eventually disintegrate into nothing, and he would truly have risked his life for nothing.

A moment later, Ye Qing opened his eyes and let out a long sigh in the real world. His lips were curled into a smile.

It was then he noticed the broken gravestone in front of him. He blurted, “What happened?”

“Ahem. You’re awake, Brother Ye?” Chu Qingge coughed twice while wearing a rare look of embarrassment on her face. “It’s like this...”

After Chu Qingge finished explaining everything that had happened while he was distracted, she apologized deeply, “It wasn’t on purpose, Brother Ye. Please accept my sincerest apologies.”

“I see!” Ye Qing exclaimed in realization and shot the fully burned Incense of Fortune on the ground. Now he had the full picture.

He had wondered why Shangguan Wuwo’s soul had suddenly withered for apparently no reason. Now he knew it was because his gravestone had snapped in half.

If he wasn’t mistaken, Shangguan Wuwo must have set up a restriction or something else on his gravestone. So long as the gravestone was intact, he could fuel his soul with some sort of energy and become effectively immortal.

Since the gravestone was destroyed, his connection with this mysterious source of power was cut off. He became mortal once he could no longer sustain his weak, broken soul with an infinite well of power.

Thank goodness I had the Incense of Fortune and the Annon Sutra. I would probably be dead if it wasn’t for them.

Ye Qing was seriously glad that he had done his homework before communicating with Shangguan Wuwo’s gravestone. The Incense of Fortune had attracted the Blood Demon Sect disciples over, and the Annon Sutra had used the Orbit of Fate to influence Chu Qingge into breaking the gravestone by accident.

“Sorry, Brother Ye,” Chu Qingge apologized again when she noticed that Ye Qing wasn’t saying anything.

Ye Qing jolted out of his thoughts and waved off her apology. “Oh no, you have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I should be thanking you for saving my life.”

He proceeded to tell her everything that had happened in his headspace and said, “If it wasn’t for you, I might have been taken over by Shangguan Wuwo already, so thank you.”

“That happened?” Chu Qingge wasn’t expecting this. “Shangguan Wuwo actually tried to possess you?”

“Yep.”

“I don’t understand. Wouldn’t it be easier for him to take over a body in the real world? Why did he do it in the Demon’s Tomb of all places?”

“Oh, I’ve actually gleaned this from his memory fragments.” Ye Qing explained, “Shangguan Wuwo was being hunted by his enemies. Although he managed to escape his pursuers after entering the Demon’s Tomb, he was grievously injured with no hope of recovery. That was why he set up this trap in hopes of returning to life one day.”

“That would explain it.” Chu Qingge nodded. “It also explains how an Astral Refiner like you managed to survive his devious trap. Shangguan Wuwo was grievously injured, and his mind was fragile. If he was at his prime, there was no way you could’ve held him back long enough for me to break his gravestone by accident.”

“Yeah. It was all fated,” Ye Qing sighed.

As Chu Qingge said, Shangguan Wuwo would have overwhelmed him in a matter of seconds if his mind wasn’t frail from the injuries he had sustained when he was still alive. And if he didn’t have the Incense of Fortune or the Annon Sutra, then he would still be dead.

Truly, it was all fated!

“Oh right, did you obtain Shangguan Wuwo’s ‘Blood Demon Sutra’?” Chu Qingge asked.

“I did, but it’s incomplete.” Ye Qing shook his head reluctantly. “I only managed to glean a portion of the ‘Blood Demon Sutra’ from Shangguan Wuwo’s memory fragments. To be exact, I only learned how to control, absorb, and refine another person’s blood. I wasn’t able to learn how to refine the Children of Blood Demon.”

“That’s a shame. The Children of Blood Demon is easily the best part of the ‘Blood Demon Sutra’. In fact, it is the core of the cultivation art.” Chu Qingge consoled him, “But maybe this is for the better. The method to create the Children of Blood Demon is abhorring, heartless, and horrifying. The warriors of the Orthodox Way would have attacked you if they knew that you practiced the Children of Blood Demon, and the Blood Demon Sect would personally come after you as well.”

“The Blood Demon Sect?” Ye Qing looked at the corpses littered across the ground and asked, “What is the Blood Demon Sect? Is it a sect that Shangguan Wuwo founded?”

Chu Qingge replied, “No, but he was the main reason the sect was founded.”

“A long time ago, Shangguan Wuwo recruited a disciple called Xue Yue and taught him everything about the ‘Blood Demon Sutra’. After Xue Yue mastered the cultivation art, he used his newfound powers to wreak havoc in the jianghu and founded the Blood Demon Sect. He later claimed that Shangguan Wuwo was the founder of the sect, but Shangguan Wuwo himself had never accepted the title.”

“Later, Xue Yue murdered a lot of innocents to create the Children of Blood Demon, which earned him the fury ire of the Orthodox warriors. The sects came together under One Righteous Way, Dragon Tiger Mountain and True Martial Sect and attacked the Blood Demon Sect with the goal of annihilating them once and for all.”

“Unfortunately, not only did the movement fail to eliminate the sect completely, it was showing signs of life as of late. These people claimed that they are disciples of the Blood Demon Sect, and their martial arts prove that that is the case.”

“I see!” Ye Qing exclaimed in realization. No wonder Chu Qingge had killed them without mercy.

It was at this moment Chu Qingge patted Ye Qing on the shoulder. Caught off guard, Ye Qing asked her, “Why haven’t you removed the Little Shoulder Ghost?”

Chu Qingge’s hand froze for half a breath before she replied in an emotionless voice, “I forgot.”

Ye Qing: “...” Well, we all forget things sometimes.

“How many people did you let go, how long were they gone, and which direction have they disappeared to?” Ye Qing asked suddenly.

“Five, they weren’t gone for long, and they were headed toward the center.” Chu Qingge asked tentatively, “Are you planning to...”

“It’s exactly what you think.” Ye Qing smirked. “The disciples of the Blood Demon Sect are hopeless criminals anyway, and this is our opportunity to break free from the Little Shoulder Ghost permanently.”

Besides that, these people knew he accepted Shangguan Wuwo’s inheritance. If they lived long enough to spread the news, he would’ve gained yet another new enemy.

Sure, there was a high chance they wouldn’t recognize him since he had altered his appearance, but he would rather be safe than sorry.

“Come on.” Ye Qing dashed down the direction Chu Qingge had pointed him to.

“It’s an acceptable plan.” Chu Qingge smirked and followed behind him.

......

“Dammit! Who the fuck is that bitch? She’s unbelievably strong!”

“Yeah. Thank goodness we managed to escape, or she would’ve killed us all.”

“Fuck! Fuck! If it wasn’t for her, we would have obtained the founder’s inheritance. Fuck!”

“What do we do now? The entire reason we came here is to obtain the founder’s inheritance, but now, it was stolen by a thief. How are we going to explain this to the head?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve memorized that bastard’s appearance. The head would forgive us so long as we carry the information back to him.”

“That’s true.”

It was at this moment someone asked, “By the way, does anyone know where we are right now?”

“The inner area of the Demon’s Tomb. What’s wrong?” Someone answered. The guy blanched. “Oh shit! We need to leave immediately! I heard that the inner area of the Demon’s Tomb is beyond dangerous! The slightest misstep could cost us our lives!”

“Don’t be a chicken. Nothing has happened to us yet, has it?” Another disciple replied mockingly.

As soon as he said this, a strange song suddenly entered their ears:

“White hat, black hat, everyone’s a small hat!”

“Red hat, green hat, everyone’s a flower hat!”

“Cyan hat, blue hat, everyone’s a round hat!”

“Lalala...”

“Ah ah ah...”

“Ya ya ya...”

“Little hat, flower hat, round hat...”

“Everyone’s a beautiful, good hat!”

“Hehehe...”

“Hehehe...”

“Hehehe...”

As the strange song continued, multiple hats flew toward the group from somewhere.

There were colorful hats that were black, white, blue, green and more; and shapely hats that were big or small, square or round. But regardless of their color, shape and size, every hat was glowing slightly like lanterns and singing with a child’s voice.

As the childish singing continued, the hats started bobbing up and down, left and right. They were swaying along with the melody.

Before they knew it, the five Blood Demon Sect disciples started bobbing up and down, left and right together with the tune as well.

Come, let’s shake it together!

This continued for a time until their bodies started flickering between colors all of a sudden. Sometimes they were black, and sometimes they were white. Sometimes they were red, and sometimes they were green.

Then, their body started shrinking—no, compressed by some sort of magical, inexplicable power. Eventually, they transformed into various hats and joined the troupe of hats, singing and dancing as one.