Stranger Danger

Chapter 320: Dragon Sacrifice Bay

“Can I do anything?” Ye Qing asked.

Old Zhang answered, “No. The Strange Artifact must survive the tribulation via its own power. If it succeeds, it will become stronger than ever before. If not, then it will crumble into dust, just like how a butterfly who fails to break out of its cocoon will die.”

“Everything will go well, right?” Ye Qing said worriedly.

Old Zhang shot him an unfriendly look. “What’s that? Are you questioning my artificing skills?”

Ye Qing flinched and replied hurriedly, “Of course not! I was just worried!” I should’ve known better than to antagonize my artificer!

As the dark cloud continued to shoot lightning at the Blue Demon Hand, the amount of black flames was growing rapidly as well. In response, the tribulation grew stronger until it looked like silver serpents were dancing in the sky.

Rumble rumble rumble!

Black flames scattered everywhere as the silver lightning struck it again and again. Eventually, the entire sky was shrouded by clashing silver and black. The dark cloud and silver lightning were still growing thicker and thicker.

“ROAR!”

An indefinite amount of time later, a furious roar suddenly cut through the roars of lightning, and the pitch black flames joined together and formed the shape of a serpent. It shot straight toward the cloud despite the barrage of silver lightning pouring down on it.

If a carp that overcame the Dragon Gate would become a true dragon, then a serpent that overcame the gate of heavens would become a sky dragon.

When the serpent finalled punched through the clouds and scattered it like dust, a draconic roar resounded throughout heaven and earth. This should be a glorious, uplifting sight, but the world only grew darker and darker. The wind howled, and the rain poured like a waterfall. It was like the world itself was weeping at its failure. Many people couldn’t help but feel sad as well even though they didn’t understand the reason.

The dragon circled the sky a few times before finally descending toward Ye Qing. When it arrived, the black flames faded away to reveal a glove that looked as thin as a cicada’s wings. It was bluish black in color and covered in tiny dragon scales. Black qi swirled around it, and it looked like a mini dragon swimming freely in the air.

“On top of what the Blue Demon hand already has, I added the Xuanhuang Drake’s scale, the skin of the River Devouring Toad, the Sky Nether Stone, the Azure Purple Gold and other precious materials. Besides that, I forged it using the Netherflame and the Cold Spring of Myriad Poison and greatly enhanced its Netherflame and Hundred Poison. To make a comparison, both abilities are at least dozens of times more potent than they were before. It has other abilities, but let’s just keep it short and say that it’s now a Soulstealer-class Strange Artifact.”

Old Zhang looked immensely proud as he stared at the Blue Demon Hand. Ye Qing’s hands shook as he stared at Old Zhang with widened eyes of shock and delight. “A Soulstealer-class Strange Artifact?”

“Yep. Since the Blue Demon Hand is reborn, would you like to give it a new name?” Old Zhang asked.

“It’s fine. I still prefer to call it the Blue Demon Hand,” said Ye Qing as he put it on his left hand. He could clearly sense the tremendous amount of power contained within its fabric. If he channeled its power right now, he was confident he could burn everything within a sixty-meter radius into dust.

“I thought you said that you could only upgrade it to a Hatred-class Strange Artifact, Old Zhang?” Ye Qing asked while caressing the glove lovingly.

Old Zhang snorted. “I was just being humble. It’s all too easy for me to forge a Soulstealer-class Strange Artifact, understand?”

“I do. Thank you, Old Zhang,” Ye Qing said sincerely.

“You’re welcome.” Old Zhang waved off the thank you. “Just remember to pay me one thousand contribution points.”

“ONE THOUSAND?!” Ye Qing was so appalled that he nearly tossed the Blue Demon Hand back to Old Zhang. Since he joined the Luo Shui Pacification Bureau, he had slain countless Strangers and made many major contributions including saving Luo Shui from the Way of Taiping and the Pacification Bureau from being controlled by Mara Buddha. Despite this, he had only accrued a little over a thousand contribution points. That was how difficult it was to earn contribution points in the Pacification Bureau.

But now, Old Zhang was asking for a thousand contribution points. That was like asking him to give up half of his entire fortune. No, more than that.

“Too little? Should I make it two thousand then?” Old Zhang shot Ye Qing a disdainful look. “Some of the main materials used to reforge your Blue Demon Hand such as the River Devouring Toad, the Sky Nether Stone, the Cold Spring of Myriad Poison and so on all came from my pockets. Did you seriously think your shitty little glove could become a Soulstealer-class Strange Artifact without those materials? Dream on.”

“Without exaggeration, those materials alone are worth over one thousand contribution points, and I didn’t even ask you to pay me the labor cost. The fuck you’re screaming about, huh?”

Ye Qing: “...” Yes sir. It’s all my fault, sir.

After Ye Qing paid Old Zhang the contribution points, he got ready to take his leave. It was at this moment the artificer recalled something and called out, “Oh right, I expect you to pay for the destroyed buildings as well.”

“Why me?!” Ye Qing burst out, aghast.

Old Zhang replied matter-of-factly, “It’s your Strange Artifact that destroyed the buildings. Who should pay for them if not you?”

Ye Qing: “...” You’re the boss.

“One last thing. Make sure you nurture the Blue Demon Hand properly. There is a high chance it might become sentient!” The old man finally left after saying that.

“It might become sentient?!” Ye Qing burst out again, but this time it was a cry of pure joy. He was so elated he couldn’t even feel the pain of losing a thousand contribution points anymore. It was because the Blue Demon Hand would have unlimited potential if it became sentient.

Ye Qing went over to the Pacification Sentinels keeping the order and negotiated with them for a bit. Then, he hurried back to the Inspection Department to test out the Blue Demon Hand’s newfound power.

......

Dang...

The next day morning, three youngsters left the city as soon as the morning gong rang.

At the city entrance, Wei Yueshan, Xu Banren, Ugly Monk, Amorous Nun and more stood side by side and called out to the trio, “May you have a safe journey, my lords! May you soar to the heavens!”

“May you have a safe journey, my lords! May you soar to the heavens!”

“May you have a safe journey, my lords! May you soar to the heavens!”

“May you have a safe journey, my lords! May you soar to the heavens!”

The cries sounded like thunder, but instead of intimidation, it was full of hope and expectations.

Outside the gates, Ye Qing, Chu Nianjiu and Lin Yuhuai saluted their colleagues before promising solemnly, “We will.”

After they said their goodbyes, the trio made haste for Luo Shui Point. The plan was to catch a boat to the south before continuing toward Tian Yong on foot.

“Is it just me, or are you unhappy about something, Joyless?”

On the way, Chu Nianjiu noticed Ye Qing was looking downcast for some reason and voiced his concern.

“Am I?” Ye Qing shrugged before shooting him a reassuring smile. “I’m fine.”

Chu Nianjiu was right on the mark though. Yesterday, he went to Heavenly Heart Clinic to bid Feng Qingyou goodbye only to learn from a medical student that she and Uncle Feng had left the place three days ago. The student had no idea where the duo had gone to, nor had they left him a parting message. His disappointment was such that even his joy at acquiring the reborn Blue Demon Hand was washed away completely.

He didn’t know what he was feeling—or rather, it was too complicated to sum up in one word. It was a mix of sorrow, disappointment, worry, longing and more.

Chu Nianjiu thought Ye Qing was missing Luo Shui and consoled him, “Come now. We’ll be back as soon as the Hidden Dragon Meet is over. There’s nothing to be sad about.”

“Thanks, but I’m fine. Come on.” Ye Qing shook off his complicated feelings and put on a bright smile on his face. The jianghu was big, and the path was long. If fate willed it so, then they would definitely meet each other again.

It wasn’t long before the trio reached Luo Shui Point. They quickly got on a boat that was headed toward Feng Yang[1]. Once there, they would take the road that passes through He Jian and Guang Ping. After that, it was a one way street into Tian Yong prefecture and the city of Tian Yong.

The trio chatted on the deck and admired the scenery for a bit after boarding the boat. Then, they returned to their rooms to train.

A last-minute effort might not amount to much, but not putting in the effort at all was definitely not going to improve their chances.

Nighttime soon arrived, and a bright moon shone above Luo Shui. From time to time, a cool breeze would blow over the river and scatter the reflections of the stars and moon.

Inside his room, Ye Qing was sitting crosslegged on his bed and practicing the “Paranirmitava?avartin Heavenly Demon Sutra” with his eyes closed. His demonic thought rippled out like waves and manifested all sorts of strange, eerie and disturbing illusions, but they were confined within his room only. Not one bit of the unusual phenomenon leaked out of his room.

Suddenly, Ye Qing opened his eyes, and the bizarre illusions vanished like they never were. A hint of steel flickered behind his eyes.

Something’s wrong.

Ye Qing stepped out of his room and appeared on the deck soon after. When he scanned around, he discovered that the guards, sailors, servants and more had completely disappeared for some reason.

He stretched his demonic thought until it enveloped the entire boat. He let out a sigh of relief when he found that the crew and passengers were all safe and sound, but he frowned when he noticed that they were all holed up inside their rooms with nervous, practically terrified expressions on their faces.

Normally, some guards would be manning the deck in case a Stranger or some sort of danger showed up. However, these people were neither catching a break or sleeping. They were just hugging themselves and shivering like it was the end of the world. He couldn’t understand what was going on.

It was at this moment an old man stepped out of his room and saw Ye Qing standing on the deck. He immediately rushed over to his side while crying urgently, “Why are you outside, customer? Get back to your room now!”

“What’s wrong, Steward Wu?” Ye Qing asked. The old man was a steward on the boat, Wu Zhao.

“No time for questions. We need to get inside, now!”

Wu Zhao grabbed Ye Qing’s arm and forcefully dragged him into his own room. Wu Zhao was only a late-stage Vessel Augmentor, so Ye Qing could’ve easily dodged his grab or pushed him away. He didn’t though. He wanted to know what Wu Zhao was thinking, or more accurately, what was going on with this boat.

Wu Zhao let out a sigh of relief as soon as he shut the door behind them. He then looked at Ye Qing and rebuked him, “Customer, did we not tell you not to leave your rooms during the night no matter what? Why didn’t you listen to us?”

“I’m sorry. I forgot,” Ye Qing apologized. He didn’t take offense with Wu Zhao’s harsh words because he could tell that Wu Zhao was just concerned for him. “But what’s going on, Steward Wu? Why can’t we leave during the night?”

Wu Zhao sighed. “Take a seat while I grab you some tea.”

After Wu Zhao poured Ye Qing a cup of tea and took a deep gulp from his own cup, he finally said, “It’s not a complicated story. To put it simply, this part of the river is quite dangerous during the night.”

“Dangerous?” Ye Qing raised an eyebrow.

Wu Zhao sipped his tea again as if to calm his own nerves. “This part of the river is called the Dragon Sacrifice Bay. It was said to be the lair of an evil dragon who caused much trouble for the residents who lived here a hundred years ago.”

“Later, the dragon sent the residents a dream and claimed that it would give them its blessing if they perform a ritual sacrifice every month; a boy and a girl to be exact. If they did this, then it would protect their families from harm, promise good weather, ensure that the crops grow well and so on.”

“There was nothing the people could do against the dragon, so they had no choice but to obey its demands. At the beginning, they didn’t truly believe the dragon. They thought it was just a ploy to torment them even more than they already were. However, after they performed the sacrifice, they quickly discovered that the disasters that plagued them for the longest time plagued them no longer. Not only that, the weather was fine, and their crops were growing finer than ever before. Over time, everyone living at these shores became quite wealthy.”

Wu Zhao let out a deep sigh when he reached this point in the story. “However, wealth gave way to sloth, and sloth gave way to greed. Realizing that they could just sacrifice a pair of children to enjoy a good life, they stopped working altogether and just performed ritual sacrifices in exchange for food and survival.”

“This wasn’t a sustainable way of living, of course. After they ran out of children to sacrifice in their own village, they began buying children from slavers. When the demand eventually outweighed the supply, they took up the slave trade and began kidnapping children themselves. Still, their greed was endless. They went from stealing children in secret to openly kidnapping them in plain sight. Their scope of activity kept growing and growing as well.”

“Finally, their heinous actions caught the attention of the local government, and in a fit of righteous rage the government executed every villager that was involved and tossed them into the river. Then, they lured out the evil dragon and slew it once and for all.”

“But it was already too late. So many children were sacrificed at these waters that their accumulated resentment had transformed into an Anomaly. When the sun set, and nighttime had arrived, those horrible rituals from the past would replay itself like it had never been gone. Anyone who encountered the Anomaly and saw the ritual during the night would be pulled into the Anomaly and turned into a sacrifice themselves. This is why this place was eventually known as Dragon Sacrifice Bay.”

1. A commandery. ?