Stranger Danger

Chapter 322: Lei Martial School

In reality, the lightning failed to do any damage to the dragon whatsoever. In fact, it only managed to pin down the dragon for a few breaths.

A few breaths was exactly what the boat needed though. It left Dragon Sacrifice Bay right before the dragon would shake off the lighting shackles, and the next second, the dragon, the insane villagers, the river of blood and more all disappeared into thin air. Moonlight shone down from the sky and washed away all the horror like a ray of cleansing light. It was as if everything that happened before was a dream. Just, a dream.

“Phew... we’re saved,” Wu Zhao let out a huge sigh of relief when he sensed the obvious change in the air. His mouth was dry, and his entire body was drenched in cold sweat. He then recalled something and called out in a hurry, “Thank you for saving my life, senior.”

He didn’t know who was the one who saved him, he had no doubt that he would’ve died a most horrifying death if not for the lotus flowers and the palm thunder.

He had crossed the Dragon Sacrifice Bay many times during the night, but this was easily the closest he had ever come to death. It was terrifying to say the least.

Wu Zhao felt a little disappointed when he waited for a moment but didn’t hear a response. However, he didn’t dare to urge his benefactor to show up. “This junior regrets the fact that he cannot thank you in person, but he will forever remember this favor. Thank you again, senior.”

“Uuu... daddy, mommy. I want daddy! I want mommy! Uwaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

It was at this moment the girl suddenly burst into a full-throated cry and jolted Wu Zhao out of his reverie. He hurriedly consoled the little girl, “It’s fine, everything’s fine now. Uncle will take you to daddy and mommy immediately, alright?” Then, he strode straight toward her parent’s room.

Inside the room, Ye Qing shifted his attention away from the duo as soon as he was sure that everything was back to normal. Then, he traced the vestiges of energies in the air toward the person who helped him earlier.

What surprised him was that the person who created that pool of lightning that resembled the judgment of the heavens... was just a young, small Taoist.

The Taoist looked to be fifteen or sixteen years old at most. He was wearing a Taoist robe, and his hair was tied in a Taoist hair bun. His lips were a healthy red, and his teeth were white. He was literally just a kid.

The young Taoist’s cultivation wasn’t poor at all despite his age, however. He was a middle-stage Spirit Purifier and technically stronger than Ye Qing.

Right now, the young Taoist was sitting cross-legged on his bed with a blush on his face. He looked like he wanted to say something but was bogged down by deep hesitation. It was cute and amusing.

This might be the first time I’ve encountered such a timid jianghu warrior,

Ye Qing thought in amusement. He could tell that the young Taoist wanted to greet him, but because he was introverted, timid and hesitant, his greeting ultimately died in his throat.

So, Ye Qing took the initiative and greeted him first, “Thank you for helping me earlier, brother!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, I didn’t really do much.” The young Taoist’s expression visibly brightened when he heard Ye Qing’s mental voice. “I er... My name is Qi Xuanyun. May I know your name, brother?”

Ye Qing smiled. “My name is Joyless Ye. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Brother Qi.”

The young Taoist replied meekly, “Hello, Brother Ye.”

“It’s a little late, so let’s speak tomorrow, shall we?” Ye Qing suggested.

“Oh. Sure!” Qi Xuanyun nodded happily. He couldn’t possibly know that Ye Qing could see him through his demonic thought, so who was he nodding to?

Ye Qing’s amusement grew as he withdrew his demonic thought and left Wu Zhao’s room. But instead of returning to his room, he went to Chu Nianjiu’s room. Lin Yuhuai was present as well.

“Did you challenge the Anomaly, Joyless?!” Chu Nianjiu asked concernedly, “Are you fine?”

“I’m fine,” Ye Qing replied easily as he poured a cup of wine for himself, “but it was dicier than I thought it would be. That Anomaly is very strong and highly dangerous.”

Lin Yuhuai agreed, “I can see that. In the Pacification Bureau, the Anomaly of Dragon Sacrifice Bay is only classified as a Hatred-class Anomaly because it cannot harm you if you don’t look at it. But if you do look at it, then its danger level would increase drastically.”

“It is truly incredible that you are able to rescue the steward and the girl from the Anomaly.”

“Haha. It’s nothing,” Ye Qing replied humbly.

“Oh right, who was the person who helped you just now?” Chu Nianjiu asked.

Ye Qing answered, “A young Taoist named Qi Xuanyun.”

Lin Yuhuai and Chu Nianjiu exchanged a glance with each other before shaking their heads. “Qi Xuanyun? We’ve never heard of it.”

Chu Nian waved his hand and said, “Well, it doesn’t matter. Head back to your rooms and catch some rest. We will reach Feng Yang first thing in the morning, and we need to pay Headmaster Lei a visit and congratulate him on his birthday.”

“That’s true. We’ll see you tomorrow then.” Ye Qing and Lin Yuhuai nodded before taking their leave.

After the duo was gone, Chu Nianjiu let out a sigh of relief. Had he not chased away Joyless, that damned boozer, he most likely would’ve found an excuse to engorge himself on his jar of high quality Plum Blossom Brew. Thank goodness I’m so smart, he thought to himself.

He was wrong. As soon as he glanced at the table, he realized that his Plum Blossom Brew was nowhere to be seen.

“Joyless!” Chu Nianjiu nearly threw up blood right there and then. In the end, he wasn’t save his precious wine from a certain bastard’s gullet!

......

The next day early morning, the boat arrived safely at the ferry point outside Feng Yang. As the trio were getting off the boat, Ye Qing saw a young Taoist carrying a wooden sword behind his back stepping off the boat before them. He drew his companions’ attention and pointed, “That’s the guy who helped me last night, Qi Xuanyun.”

“It’s him? He’s so young!” Chu Nianjiu and Lin Yuhuai examined the young Taoist. “His cultivation is higher than ours though. It’s obvious that he hails from a prestigious clan or sect.”

The young Taoist sensed their gazes and turned around to look at them. Since the trio meant him no harm, they nodded at the young Taoist and shot him a polite smile.

However, the young Taoist seemed to be even more inexperienced in social situations than Ye Qing thought. He blushed like an apple, turned away, and slipped into the crowd like a fish in water. He was using some sort of movement art that allowed him to navigate the traffic smoothly without bothering anyone.

“Are we that scary?” Chu Nianjiu was confused by the young Taoist’s reaction.

“It’s not us, it’s you.” Ye Qing said seriously, “You have the ugliest mug of the three of us.”

“Excuse me?”

Chu Nianjiu looked to Lin Yuhuai for support, but the talisman master simply gave him a pat on the shoulder and said, “I’m sorry, but you are the ugliest of the three of us.”

Chu Nianjiu: “...” I would totally dunk their heads in the river and wash their eyes if it wasn’t for the fact that I can’t subdue either of them...

The trio walked very quickly. It wasn’t long before they reached the Lei Martial School.

The headmaster of the Lei Martial School was called Lei Laohu[ref]Laohu is Tiger.[ref], and he was a good friend of Gu Suitang. Today was Lei Laohu’s fiftieth birthday, so Gu Suitang asked them to visit his friend and give him his congratulations while they were passing through Feng Yang.

The trio were treated to a shocking sight when they arrived at the Lei Martial School, however. It was because the building had burned down to rubble. They saw broken walls, charred wood, and patches of dark red that could only be blood on the ground. They could even smell some soot from the rubble, which meant that it hadn’t been too long since the place burned down.

“Is this the Lei Martial School?” Chu Nianjiu asked hesitantly.

“I think so. This is definitely the address,” replied Ye Qing, though he himself looked mired with uncertainty.

According to Gu Suitang, Lei Laohu was a late-stage Spirit Purifier and a fairly famous person in Feng Yang thanks to his martial school. What the fuck happened here?

It was at this moment a middle-aged woman passing through the area called out to them in a hushed voice, “Boys, boys! What are you doing over there? Come here quickly!”

The trio obliged while asking, “What’s wrong, auntie?”

The middle-aged woman grabbed Ye Qing’s hand and pulled him to the side. It was only then she said in a low voice, “This place is unsafe. It’s haunted, you see!”

“Haunted?” Ye Qing said in confusion before shooting a question, “Is this the Lei Martial School, auntie?”

“But of course!” The middle-aged woman replied before jumping backward all of a sudden. It seemed that she finally realized that she was addressing three strangers; three strangers who could very well be behind whatever befell the Lei Martial School. “Wait, who are you people?”

“We’re not bad people, auntie.” Ye Qing explained, “Our senior is a friend of Headmaster Lei, Lei Laohu, and we came from Luo Shui to congratulate him on his birthday. But what on earth happened here?”

“Oh, I see.” The middle-aged woman patted her chest and sighed in relief. “Last night, a big fire suddenly broke out in Lei Martial School and burned down the entire place.”

“A big fire?” Ye Qing pressed, “Where are the survivors?”

“Shh! Don’t speak so loudly!” The middle-aged woman glanced left and right as if afraid that someone might eavesdrop on the conversation. “There are no survivors. Everyone was burned to death.”

“What? That can’t be right.” Chu Nianjiu frowned deeply. “Headmaster Lei had to have survived, right?”

“Unfortunately, no. Headmaster Lei’s whole family including his thirty or so disciples all burned to death. It was terrible. I heard that the bodies were burned so badly that it took the government a lot of effort to identify them.” The middle-aged woman looked both afraid and excited at the same time.

Ye Qing mulled over the information as he asked, “What is the government’s verdict regarding this fire?”

The middle-aged woman rolled her eyes at him. “What kind of question is that? Why would a lowly civilian like me know what the government is thinking?”

“That’s true.” Ye Qing rubbed his nose.

The middle-aged woman suddenly moved closer to Ye Qing and said in a hushed voice, “But if you ask me, I think that the people of the Lei Martial School were murdered.”

“Oh? Why do you think that?” Chu Nianjiu asked innocently.

The middle-aged woman answered matter-of-factly, “isn’t it obvious? Headmaster Lei is a powerful warrior. How could he possibly die from a simple fire? Even if the fire was bigger than expected, he could’ve easily escaped on his own, couldn’t he? Someone must have killed Headmaster Lei and the others before burning the place to eliminate all the evidence.”

Chu Nianjiu chuckled. “You’re so smart, auntie.”

The middle-aged woman smirked. “I’m aware. That’s how it’s written in the books, isn’t it? Boy, I can tell that you’re not a scholar.”

Chu I-am-not-a-scholar Nianjiu replied, “You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right!” The middle-aged woman declared proudly.

Ye Qing asked another question, “You mentioned that the place was haunted, auntie. What do you mean by that?”

The middle-aged woman explained in an enigmatic tone, “You don’t know? Ever since the Lei Martial School burned down, everyone who shared some relations with the Lei Martial School such as Headmaster Lei’s friends, the disciples who weren’t present during the fire and so on all passed away for one reason or another. It’s obvious that Headmaster Lei’s vengeful soul is searching for his murderer.”

Ye Qing narrowed his eyes slightly. “Are you suggesting that one of Headmaster Lei’s friends of disciples burned down the Lei Martial School, auntie?”