Stranger Danger

Chapter 302: Wind Or Rain, All Shall Bow To My Will

He knew what the Fog Demon was plotting, but he didn’t expressly forbid it from tempting him because it was more beneficial than not.

Of course, the Fog Demon had no idea that he was cultivating a powerful cultivation art of the Dark Ways. It knew that he had received a powerful inheritance, it wasn’t sure about the details or even the name of the cultivation art, and he was hardly going to talk.

The Fog Demon shut up feeling miffed and disappointed. All Nine Nethers Demons were experts at manipulation and temptation, but why wasn’t it working on Ye Qing?

“What are you going to do then?”

Ye Qing answered after a moment of thought, “My plan is to use Xue Beikun to bait Wang Luori out into the open. Then, I’ll murder that sonuvabitch.”

Everyone knows that Wang Luori was the one who was targeting the Luo Shui Pacification Bureau now. If the man wished to remain in Luo Shui, then his only option was to join Xue Beikun. Even before they entered the Demon’s Tomb, Ye Qing could already tell that Wang Luori was plotting something like that.

Therefore, baiting Wang Luori into showing himself with Xue Beikun was absolutely a workable plan. He would be able to kill the bastard and end his troubles once and for all.

“For someone with great power, your dreams sure are puny!” The Fog Demon scoffed.

“Can you control Xue Beikun, Fog Demon?” Ye Qing ignored its provocation and asked.

The Fog Demon answered, “If Xue Beikun was at his peak, then it would be somewhat difficult for me to control him. But now? Just say when.”

“Is there any chance someone might notice you?” Ye Qing asked another question.

It was one thing if Xue Beikun was just an ordinary person, but he was the commander of the Black Feathers Guard, a regional general and an imperial official. He would be in deep shit if someone noticed the Fog Demon’s manipulations.

“Kekeke... relax, boy.” The Fog Demon declared arrogantly, “We Nine Nethers Demons are masters of manipulation and temptation. We can control anyone and extract their memories without them noticing. As long as you don’t demand me to do something crazy, not even a Grandmaster would be able to detect something amiss.”

Ye Qing frowned. He was still concerned despite the Fog Demon’s assurances.

“I never knew you were such a coward!” The Fog Demon taunted Ye Qing before offering a suggestion, “If you’re really that worried, then I can keep his soul alive and infect his mind instead. I will gradually influence his behavior until he subconsciously thinks of you as his master and becomes loyal to you. Besides that, he will act and behave exactly the same as before. It will be much harder for anyone to discover that he has been subverted.”

“I like that. Let’s go with the second plan,” Ye Qing said.

The Fog Demon cackled delightedly before warning, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but both plans would require me to detach a fragment of my soul and control him directly.”

“This is especially true for the second plan because I would have to continuously influence him over a long period. Otherwise, there’s a high chance he might break free from my control and return to normal. I wouldn’t be able to take my eyes—or rather, my soul—off of him until the deed is done.”

Ye Qing smirked. “It’s fine.” Even if the Fog Demon detached his soul, that soul fragment would still be under his control. He wasn’t afraid that the Fog Demon might plot something behind his back or break free from his control.

“Very well!” The Fog Demon let out a delighted laugh before sending a wisp of mist into Xue Beikun’s mind. A few breaths later, a hint of struggle and anger appeared on Xue Beikun’s face. Clearly, he was fighting against the Fog Demon’s corruptive influence.

Although Xue Beikun was seriously injured, mentally weakened, and completely unconscious, he was still alive. Of course he would try to fight off a foreign force, even if just subconsciously.

It was futile though. Just a moment later, his struggle and anger were slowly replaced by calm. At the same time, the Fog Demon’s voice resounded in Ye Qing’s head, “Phew! It’s done.”

“Oh right, Xue Beikun’s mind and body were weakened beyond imagination. His last bit of consciousness would’ve disappeared if not for my skill.”

“Thank you for your hard work,” Ye Qing replied in a deadpan and completely insincere voice.

“Oh right, what do you plan to do with the boy now?” The Fog Demon asked suddenly.

It was referring to Xue Shiwu, of course.

Ye Qing rubbed his nose in thought. The reason he kept Xue Shiwu alive was because he didn’t want to alert Xue Beikun until he was ready, and to use him as a bargaining chip should his plan end in failure. However, the plan had gone better than he could possibly have hoped, and he subverted Xue Beikun with nary an effort.

What this meant was that Xue Shiwu was useless to him.

There was no way he would let the guy go. The only thing that would achieve was to make his life harder.

Taking control of him like Xue Beikun was out of the question as well. There was literally no value to controlling him.

In that case, there was only one option.

“Kill him.”

Ye Qing rose to his feet and said, “Also, I want you to create a memory for Xue Beikun. Make him believe that his son was killed by the Strangers of Demon’s Tomb.”

“Kekeke... Mind control the dad, kill the son, and make the dad believe that his son is killed by Strangers? Kekeke...” The Fog Demon couldn’t stop cackling.

“What? You have a problem?” Ye Qing’s lips curled into a dangerous smirk.

“Hehe, not at all! In fact, this is right up my alley!” The Fog Demon wasn’t stupid enough to provoke Ye Qing in this situation.

The young man scoffed and returned to the spot where he had hidden Xue Shiwu. The Little Commander was still unconscious. Shaking his head, Ye Qing said, “Don’t be my enemy in your next life.”

He tapped the space in front of him and extinguished Xue Shiwu’s mind and soul with the “Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul”. Then, he waved a gust of Burning Wind into existence and burned the body into ash.

Ye Qing had technically killed a defenseless, unconscious man, but he felt precisely zero guilt from it. The loathsome fellow had tried to kill him even before they met in person, and he just kept coming like some sort of rabid dog. He was only all too happy to rid him from his life.

Xue Beikun was still unconscious when he went back to the commander. The Fog Demon asked tauntingly, “It’ll take Xue Beikun a full day to wake up, boy. Are you going to wait for him to recover, or will you carry him on his back like a filial son?”

“And why would I do that? I’m not a dumbass like you!” Ye Qing retorted. He then produced a bottle containing the Water of Life and fed the commander a single drop.

“Tsk! How generous of you,” The Fog Demon commented with clear jealousy. Countless humans and Strangers dreamed of getting the Water of Life, but Ye Qing was feeding it to his enemy like it was nothing. What would people think if they saw this?

The Water of Life contained a tremendous amount of life force and could, in a sense, reborn a person anew. Therefore, it was exceptionally effective at healing injuries and nurturing one’s spirit. As soon as the droplet entered his throat, Xue Beikun’s injuries began healing at a visible rate. His weak aura began strengthening at a rapid pace as well.

A moment later, Xue Beikun abruptly opened his eyes. His now powerful aura swept through the area like a typhoon as the silhouette of a Greedy Wolf appeared and howled at the sky. The powerful, constant gale eventually transformed into a bloody moon that painted the world red.

“He... broke through?!”

Ye Qing was stunned by this sight. He wasn’t expecting a single drop of Water of Life to heal Xue Beikun and even increase his cultivation level to the late-stage of the Spirit Master Realm.

“It will be fine... right?” Ye Qing was feeling a bit nervous, to be honest. He didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if Xue Beikun somehow escaped the Fog Demon’s influence because of his breakthrough.

“Relax! It will be fine! Do you think my technique is made of sticks and stones or something?” The Fog Demon harrumphed. It seemed extremely displeased that Ye Qing would question its abilities.

A dozen breaths later, the unusual phenomenon disappeared, and the Greedy Wolf slipped into Xue Beikun’s head. The terrifying aura surrounding him slowly disappeared as well.

“Master!”

Xue Beikun then faced Ye Qing and gave him a deferential bow. His expression was reserved and devout.

“Phew!”

Ye Qing let out a sigh of relief. Although the Fog Demon swore up and down that everything would be fine, he couldn’t help but be worried anyway. Thankfully, it looked like everything had gone without a hitch.

Ye Qing ordered, “Don’t call me master. Address me by my name when someone is around, and young master when no one is around.”

“As you command, young master!” Xue Beikun responded with a salute.

Ye Qing nodded. He then mentally ordered the Fog Demon to influence Xue Beikun into keeping their relationship a secret as much as possible.

The sky is tall, the sea is wide. Wind or rain, all shall bow to my will!

Ye Qing looked up at the sky of the Demon’s Tomb for a moment. A red sun was hanging high and casting blood red rays across the world. It painted an ominous yet undeniably gorgeous image of the world.

Finally, he declared, “Let’s go!”

......

“What’s wrong, Miss?”

Standing in front of row of gravestones, Feng Liunian noticed a flicker of emotion from Feng Qingyou and asked concernedly.

Feng Qingyou stared at the gravestone in front of her as she replied, “Xue Shiwu’s dead. The Dream Seed I planted on him has dissipated.”

“He’s dead?” Feng Liunian frowned. “Would this impact your plans?”

She replied indifferently, “It will be fine. He is a pawn I set up to impede or control Xue Beikun, but not all parts of a plan will or have to play out as planned. If it works, then it works. If not, then I’ll improvise. His death matters not in the small or grand scheme of things.”

Feng Liunian grinned toothily. “You are as farsighted as ever, Miss. This one is most impressed.”

“Please don’t make fun of me, Uncle Feng.” Feng Qingyou smiled back. Her eyebrows were like distant mountains, and her eyes resembled pools of autumn. “Anyway, this is the Great Dream Origin Hiding Demon Controlling Major Array, so this grave most likely belongs to the Great Dreamer.”

“Nine yao and six gua, four xiang and eight ji... yes, the eye of the array is right here.”

“Let’s go, Uncle Feng!”

Feng Qingyou began walking toward the gravestone in front of her. As soon as she took a step, the calm space abruptly shattered into a million pieces, and the fragments floated across the air. Each spatial fragment seemed to reflect one corner of the world. There were flowers, grass, mountains, rivers, sun, moon, the mortal coil and everything there was in the world.

Feng Qingyou was an irregular element that existed outside the reflections of the world, however. Untouched by space or time, she walked through the fragments and slowly made her way toward the grave.

The gravestone was right in front of her, but she couldn’t reach it no matter how many steps she took. What should be a few meters of distance at most felt like the distance between heaven and earth!

Feng Qingyou remained unperturbed, however. Sometimes she would walk, and sometimes she would stop for a moment. Sometimes she would go toward the left, and sometimes she would go toward the right. Slowly but surely, she was getting closer and closer toward the grave

When she was one meter away from the grave, the spatial fragments abruptly disappeared like it was never there. In fact, Feng Qingyou had only taken a single step forward in real life.

It was like what she experienced earlier was just a dream!

Feng Qingyou clasped her hands behind her back and smiled at the gravestone in front of her. She quietly recited its inscription, “To live is to dream while awake, to sleep is to dream while aslumber—The Great Dreamer.”