Stranger Danger

Chapter 291: Life Size Game of Xiangqi

Ye Qing’s scalp turned numb, and every hair on his body stood on end. He immediately turned around and threw a might, cloud vaporizing punch.

At the same time, he commanded the Fog Demon to attack the mysterious speaker. A seemingly infinite amount of demonic qi burst out of the Boundless Mara Buddha and formed a massive Buddha palm.

Whoosh!

However, both his punch and the Buddha palm suddenly lost their shape and flew toward a certain direction; a person’s mouth to be exact. His fist force, the Boundless Mara Buddha’s demonic qi, and even the demonic qi in the surroundings were sucked into the mouth, causing a temporary vacuum.

It was only now Ye Qing saw the mysterious speaker clearly. He was a disheveled old man with white beard and hair and deep craters and crevices on his face. He looked old enough to have one foot in his coffin, though the immense amount of demonic qi leaking out of his body said otherwise.

Not only that, his eye sockets were completely empty as if someone—or perhaps himself—had dug out his eyeballs. His cheeks were stained in blood as well. He looked the picture of a crazy old man, and his presence was equally warped and eerie.

Finally, he was holding a blood-drenched rope that bound around twenty to thirty humans and Strangers. They were all alive, though considering the circumstances, they might have been better off dead.

The weakest human among them was an Astral Refiner, and the strongest was a Half-Step Spirit Master.

The Strangers were pretty strong as well. They ranged from Hatred to Phenomenon.

In fact, Ye Qing recognized some of the Strangers. The Pallbearer was one of them.

Both the humans and the Strangers were dozens of times smaller than what they were. In fact, they almost looked like dolls with how they were hanging off the blood-drenched rope and swaying left and right, unmoving and seemingly unconscious.

Huge beads of sweat popped out of Ye Qing’s forehead, and his back was drenched in cold sweat. He didn’t hesitate to run away immediately.

Who wouldn’t after witnessing this scene?

Unfortunately, it was futile. A blood-drenched rope abruptly appeared around his neck, and neither he nor the Fog Demon knew how or when it got there. All he knew was that his astral qi might as well be paper considering how easily the rope had crushed it.

The rope tightened around his neck, and Ye Qing lost consciousness just like that.

......

“Huh... Where am I?”

An indefinite amount of time later, Ye Qing opened his eyes and found himself in an unfamiliar environment. He quickly jumped to his feet.

He seemed to be standing in some sort of battlefield. There were rubbles, bodies, blood and smoke everywhere.

There were several things that stood out. One, there was a gigantic river directly ahead of him. Two, he was wearing a set of black armor and holding a long spear. It was like he was a soldier or something. And three, a mysterious power was pinning him in place and preventing him from moving even a muscle.

Ooo ooo...

It was at this moment a war horn sounded, long and ominous. A cold wind blew away the fog and blood stench but brought forth the cold, steel, and the promise of violence.

Multiple soldiers wearing the exact same soldier outfit as him appeared to his left and right side. Some faces were familiar—they were the humans who were hanging from the old man’s rope—and some weren’t. He had no doubt they had all been caught by the mysterious old man’ however.

Most of his fellow soldiers were late-stage Astral Refiners just like him. They were standing in a straight line, though they stood ten or so meters away from each other. If this was a military formation, it was a terribly shitty one. However, they were clearly aligned in some sort of order.

The space behind their backs was shrouded by a thick fog, though Ye Qing could barely make out several massive silhouettes.

What the hell is going on here? Where am I?

Ye Qing was still confused when suddenly, a loud noise ripped a hole in the foggy sky. The next thing he knew, a giant bird descended with a cry and launched itself toward the soldier standing next to him.

“The Cannon Bird!”

The bird was crimson red and so big that its wings blotted out most of the sky. Disregarding its size, it looked mostly like an ordinary bird except that its beak was cylindrical in shape and hollow at the center. Ye Qing knew from the books he studied that it could inhale a ton of air into its beak and spit out massive air bombs at high speed.

It was named the Cannon Bird because its attack method was similar to the Demon Slaying Cannons built by the Craftsman Department, and its beak was shaped like a cannon’s barrel.

The Cannon Bird’s aura was unbelievably strong. Long before it landed on the ground, it was already inhaling a ton of air. The next moment, it spat out a massive air bomb straight at the soldier.

The soldier suddenly moved as if it was released from his restriction. Without hesitation, he swung the long spear at the incoming air bomb in hopes of slicing it in half.

The long spear snapped into several pieces, and the soldier himself was blown into a shower of blood and gore. After that, the Cannon Bird landed at his spot and let out a victorious cry.

At the same time, the Cannon Bird’s aura began weakening bit by bit. In the end, its aura stabilized at the power level of a Soulstealer-class Stranger. It was still incredibly strong, but nowhere as ridiculous as it was a moment ago.

Right now, Ye Qing was gripped by great terror and anxiety. He was afraid that the Cannon Bird would give him a fatal spit to the face as well. However, he soon realized that the Cannon Bird was unable to move freely after occupying the soldier’s space. Just like him, it too was restricted by some sort of mysterious power.

Before he could release a sigh of relief, a massive stone pillar burst through the sky and flattened the Cannon Bird like a pancake. The ground itself was cracked from how powerful the blow was.

“Neeeeeeigh!”

After the pillar came to a standstill, Ye Qing realized that it wasn’t a pillar at all. It was the hoof of an incredibly handsome black horse.

The black horse had a pair of horns and fur that was as black as the night itself. It was also surrounded by black, demonic flames that were so hot that the space around it was distorted.

“Is that the Hell Horse?” Ye Qing exclaimed in surprise. The reason he was surprised was because a Hell Horse was an extremely rare Stranger. It could only be found in gloomy, dusky places.

The Hell Horse snorted and gradually weakened just like the Cannon Bird from before. In the end, it too declined into a Soulstealer-class Stranger.

It was hardly impossible for a Soulstealer-class Stranger to kill another Soulstealer-class Stranger, but to do it in one strike? The circumstances would have to be exceptional for that to happen.

This meant that some sort of mysterious power had drastically increased the Hell Horse’s strength.

“Die!”

Ye Qing was still figuring things out when suddenly, a soldier clad in red armor and wielding a huge saber suddenly descended from above. At the same time, Ye Qing felt the mysterious power that was immobilizing him vanishing. Without hesitation, he executed a spear sweep and clashed blades with the red soldier. The impact pushed him a step backward and caused a huge crack on the floor, but the red soldier was sent flying through the air.

“He’s a Spirit Purifier... wait, something’s not right.”

His senses were telling him that his opponent was one hundred percent a Spirit Purifier, but the guy had no mastery over his power at all. It was almost as if the power didn’t belong to him, and he was just throwing it around aimlessly like a baby who was granted super strength.

If he was an ordinary late-stage Astral Refiner, then the power boost would’ve been more than enough to kill him. But he wasn’t. In fact, he could go toe-to-toe against a true Spirit Purifier.

“Die!”

Ye Qing wanted more time to process what was going on here, but his opponent disagreed. He rushed him again with a savage, murderous expression.

Ye Qing could tell that his opponent was in full possession of his mental faculties just like him. But why was he so determined to kill him?

There was no time to think. He planted his spear on the ground and dashed forward to meet his opponent. When his opponent\'s saber was descending about halfway toward his head, he executed an arm sweep and struck the hilt of the saber like a war axe.

His five dragon elephant strength erupted, and the hilt of the crucible steel saber snapped in half just like that. He pushed forward and struck the red soldier right across the chest.

“Pwack!”

The soldier’s armor shattered into pieces, and his chest caved in. He flew through the air uncontrollably while blood spilled out of his mouth.

Realizing that he couldn’t beat Ye Qing, the soldier turned around and tried to escape. However, he had only taken his first step when his body started distorting and crumbling bit by bit, causing him to fall to the ground and scream. His painful, bloodcurdling scream would last at least dozens of breaths before he finally ceased to exist, his body now a puddle of rotten flesh.

To say that Ye Qing was shocked and horrified would be an understatement. Before he could recover, he felt a mysterious power enveloping his whole body and pushed him straight toward the river.

Strangely, the river wasn’t what it seemed to be. He felt like he was treading solid ground as he ran right past it. Moreover, his power kept growing as he charged forward. Eventually, he reached the late stage of the Spirit Purification stage.

Another soldier in red armor appeared in front of him. Clearly, he was meant to kill him. He had no beef with the soldier and didn’t wish to kill him, but as soon as the thought crossed his mind, a paralyzing fear suddenly gripped his heart. He felt as if he would die if he didn’t kill his opponent. Not only that, he felt like he would die if he tried to run away or back off without good reason, and his death would be just as horrid as the poor man he killed before.

Is that why the soldier tried so hard to kill me just now? Ye Qing thought with realization. I would be just as desperate if I was in his position... which I am.

Left with no choice, Ye Qing raced forward to attack his opponent. His opponent was already waiting for him.

His opponent was just a late-stage Astral Refiner, but he was no ordinary opponent. Had Ye Qing’s strength remained the same as before, he would’ve had to spend quite a bit of time and effort to defeat him. But he was a late-stage Spirit Purifier now, and he was a top-tier Astral Refiner to begin with. As a result, he was able to destroy his opponent in just a few moves.

Ye Qing tried to show mercy by immobilizing his opponent after defeating him, but as soon as the restrictions took place, the guy started warping and crumbling just like the soldier from before. In the end, he exploded in a shower of blood and gore.

......

“Why do you look so listless, Xiao Feng? Are you bored?”

Inside an old pavilion, two men were sitting opposite each other. The speaker was none other than the eyeball-less[2] old man who had captured Ye Qing earlier.

A xiangqi board lay between the two men. Unlike an ordinary board, this one had three-dimensional mountains and rivers like it was an actual, miniaturized world of sorts. Inside this world, red and black pieces were engaging one another in a fierce battle.

The pieces weren’t ordinary either. Instead of the usual round, wooden pieces, they were humans and Strangers.

The Soldiers were humans,

The Chariots and Horses were Strangers,

The Advisors and Elephants were like demons,

And the Generals were like gods.

These two were using an actual world as their game board, and humans and Strangers as their pieces.

How dare they?

How could they?

“How can I not be bored?”

On the opposite side, a devilishly handsome man was propping his hand on the table and sitting in a slanted position. He said lazily, “How many years have we played each other, Xiangqi Demon? One century? Two? And every time, you never fail to lose. How can I be anything but bored?”

“Perhaps the worst part is that your moniker is Xiangqi Demon. With your skill level? Man, I would have offed myself if I were you!”

1. Xiangqi is Chinese chess. ?

2. I can’t say blind because he’s probably not blind lol. ?