Stranger Danger

Chapter 330: The Nanke Dream

“Hmm? What’s this? A door?”

Inside the forest, Ye Qing was looking through Huo Hao’s Nature’s Shell after cleaning the crime scene as much as possible. It was at this moment he noticed a strange item.

The door was pocket-sized and seemingly made from bronze. Strange, twisted patterns were engraved to its double doors[1], and coiled around its frame was a black snake and a white snake. They stretched from the hinges all the way to the top, and their necks were intertwined and facing toward each other. They looked extremely lifelike.

“Hiss!”

Suddenly, the two snakes turned toward Ye Qing and stretched forward a little, hissing a little with curiosity.

“Oho! He’s a cute, sweet and delicious lad, isn’t he?” The white snake commented brightly, vertical pupils flashing with human-like intelligence and emotion.

“Yes, he is,” the black snake replied.

“Where is Huo Hao? Is he dead? Did you kill him? I knew he was a short-lived one. He looked like one of those throwaway villains who dies as soon as he runs into someone who’s even a little stronger than him.”

The white snake spoke very rapidly, though its pronunciation was extremely clear. “But you’re just a Spirit Purifier. How on earth did you kill Huo Hao? Tell us the story, boy! Did you poison him? Stab him in the back? Or seduce him with your good looks? Oh yes oh yes, you definitely seduced him with your good looks. My, I feel like swooning just thinking about it...”

The black snake simply let out a long, meaningful whistle.

Meanwhile, Ye Qing finally recovered from his shock and subconsciously tossed the double doors away from him. His expression looked wary.

The doors didn’t fall on the ground, however. It floated in the air while the white snake continued to prattle, “You’re too timid and easily startled, boy! Haven’t you heard that those great people who did great things could face even an avalanche of shit with a straight face? You’re cute, handsome, attractive and strong—”

“Just like us,” the black snake interjected.

“—But you won’t be able to achieve your full potential if you remain as you are?”

“What are you?” Ye Qing asked with a deep frown and even greater caution. He was certain that the snakes weren’t Strangers—they didn’t exude the vital signs a living being would normally exude—so they could only be Strange Artifacts.”

“As you already noticed, we’re a Strange Artifact! A sentient Strange Artifact!” The white snake admitted right away before exclaiming its surprise, “Don’t you know who we are? Aren’t you one of those robbers who came to steal us?”

“Oh my heavens! He really isn’t here for us! I’m so sad!”

“Uwu!”

The second the white snake said it was sad, the black snake immediately started weeping sorrowfully. However, its tears appeared and disappeared almost as soon as they left its eyes.

So they’re the reason Huo Hao came to Feng Yang! Ye Qing thought as realization struck him. He was still on guard against the two snakes though.

“Wow, no sympathy at all? Not even a little? What a heartless man you are. I bet you don’t have a girlfriend!” The white snake complained when it saw that their act failed to elicit any response from Ye Qing whatsoever.

“Bachelor! Virgin! I bet you go stag wherever you go!” The black snake added mercilessly.

This time, Ye Qing’s mouth did twitch a little. So what if I’m a bachelor and a virgin, you fucks? One more word, and I’ll spin you like a hula hoop!

“Fine, fine, I’ll stop. Don’t glare at me like that, you’re scaring me! Men...” The white snake flinched, but its last word made it clear that it was anything but intimidated. “Anyway, allow me to introduce myself. My name is White Lord. You may call me Li’l White or whatever. My companion is called Black Lord. Again, you may call it whatever you want. We are the artifact spirits of these doors.”

“This Strange Artifact is called Nanke as per the Buddhist story, the Nanke Dream. Behind the doors of Nanke is a dream that lasts a hundred years, but with actual logic and structure. To put it simply, Nanke can create a dream based on its user’s wish so they may enter and experience that dream. It can be used to practice one’s martial arts and hone their strength.”

“For example, a warrior who wishes to practice a fire-type martial art would probably find a blazing hot environment when they enter the dream. A warrior who wishes to practice an ice-type martial art would find the opposite. If they wished to research and expand on an existing martial art, then Nanke would create a dream where hundreds of martial arts could be used as a reference. If they wished to practice their technique and proficiency instead, then it would create countless Strangers and or warriors for the warrior to fight. It could even be used to temper one’s mental fortitude such as creating a world full of beauty and lust to test how well you can resist it...”

“Most importantly, anything you gain inside the dream, you will gain in the real world as well.”

“Moreover, one year in Nanke is only one day in the outside world. In other words, you’re gaining extra time. Such is the Nanke Dream.”

Ye Qing was so stunned that he was speechless for a time. It was because Nanke’s ability was absolutely overpowered. Most people dreamed in their sleep, but they had no hold over their dreams. They could only go with the flow so to speak. A strong-willed jianghu warrior could force themselves not to dream to give themselves the best possible sleep. But to purposely use a dream to train? That was very, very difficult.

Assuming that the artifact spirits weren’t lying to him, Nanke could create dreams that specifically targeted the area he wanted to focus on. It was extraordinary to say the least. In a sense, it was on par or better than the Martial Tower itself.

The difference between the two was that the Martial Tower improved one’s cultivation in the real world. Training one day in the Martial Tower was equal to training several years outside. On the other hand, Nanke created a dreamscape out of one’s desires and subconscious where one could train for a hundred years. For example, a ten-minute cat nap in real life could be months or even years could’ve passed inside the dream.

One Strange Artifact was centered in reality, and the other inside a dream.

However, the white snake—White Lord—shook its head in disappointment. “That’s bitch talk, brother.”

Black Lord helpfully deciphered its companion’s meaning, “It’s saying that you’re shallow and shortsighted.”

Ye Qing could barely control his facial expression. I don’t need your explanation!

White Lord cackled. “You can use Nanke to train, but you can also use it to live all kinds of dreams. You can use it to experience what it’s like to be a rich man, a hero, an emperor, or the ruler of everything. Or you can use it to satisfy your more... baser instincts. Oh yeah...”

The black snake added suggestively, “You’re a man. You understand what we’re saying.”

Ye Qing: “...” No, I don’t. I’m just a kid.

Assuming that White Lord was telling the truth though, then Nanke’s usefulness was immeasurable. One might even say that its usefulness rivaled that of the Annon Sutra, not to mention that they complemented each other very well.

The Annon Sutra’s dragon-serpent runes was a great boon in his training, but it could only be used to improve his cultivation or replenish his strength. It couldn’t act as his teacher. Until he met Gu Suitang, he had to learn everything by himself.

He was lucky that he was pretty gifted and talented in martial arts. Otherwise, he could’ve turned into a warrior with all the power but none of the skill.

Nanke could fix this though. He no longer had to worry about not having a teacher to show him the right away and fix his mistakes, or not having enough time to grow his strength to the point where he could effectively protect himself from this world. Nanke would create a dream that would give him exactly what he needed and more.

Of course, Ye Qing kept his emotions well under wraps despite feeling like he was standing on top of the world right now. He said slowly, “That all sounds great, but what are the price and limitations?”

There was no such thing as free lunch especially when it came to Strange Artifacts. The stronger the Strange Artifact, the bigger the price one must pay.

“A good question! As you know, free breakfast, lunch or dinner don’t exist in this world.” White Lord flicked its tongue as if to say it was glad that Ye Qing wasn’t too stupid. “If you wish to use Nanke, then you must fulfill Black Lord and my conditions...”

“You must satisfy our demands so to speak,” Black Lord added.

White Lord explained, “Also, the following are Nanke’s limitations. One, you can only use Nanke for a day. Two, once the dream is created, it cannot be controlled in any way. Three, you will leave Nanke as soon as you die in the dream. And four, you cannot enter Nanke immediately if you are ejected from Nanke midway because you died or something. You will have to wait another day before you can use it again.”

Ye Qing fell quiet for a moment before asking, “And what are your demands?”

“Hehe. Don’t worry. They’re all simple demands that you can fulfill.”

Black Lord agreed. “They’re quite simple.”

“Such as?” Ye Qing pressed.

White Lord swayed left and right while answering, “For example, I might ask for an authentic apricot blossom brew or sweet and sour carp if I’m feeling hungry. I might ask you to sing a song or dance a tune if I’m bored. Or I might ask you to divulge some of your secrets.”

“One thing for certain, anything we ask of you is within your capabilities. For example, we wouldn’t ask you to assassinate the Emperor of Chu or something.”

“Not like you can do it even if you try,” Black Lord added.

Ye Qing nodded before asking another question, “Do I have the right to refuse your requests?”

White Lord hissed happily. “Naturally! This is a fair trade after all. We would never force you to do something you don’t want. Of course, you won’t be able to use Nanke as well, and the next time you come to us, our requests would become twice as hard to fulfill. The difficulty of our requests would keep doubling if you keep turning down our offer. Get it?”

“Finally, if you refuse our demands five times in a row, then you would have to give up one of your organs to us. Otherwise, we would... kekeke...”

“Of course, if you agree to our requests before that point, or if you gave us an organ during the fifth request, then the difficulty would reset. It’s a very humane system, isn’t it?”

“Heh...” Ye Qing chuckled but didn’t give it a reply. Nanke’s terms, conditions and limitations seemed pretty humane on the surface, but his experience was telling him that there were a lot of pitfalls. White Lord also avoided telling him what would happen if he refused their fifth request, and he was pretty sure that the answer was death!

“Boy, it’s not a good habit to ‘heh’ someone in the face,” White Lord said slowly.

“You won’t have friends if you act this way,” Black Lord finished the sentence.

Such kind words! Ye Qing sneered internally. He fell silent for a moment before asking his biggest question, “Why are you telling me these?”

“What? Aren’t you the one who’s asking us the questions?” White Lord exclaimed with mock exaggeration, “Oh my heavens, are you actually experiencing memory problems at your age? How pitiful!”

“Just pitiful,” Black Lord added.

“I’m sure you know what I really mean.” Ye Qing ignored their provocations. “You’re the artifact spirits of Nanke, and you’re both quite intelligent. Generally speaking, artifact spirits have their own character and preferences. For example, some would only attach themselves to a strong or fated owner. If whoever found them doesn’t meet their fancy, they would rather hide themselves and fake mundaneness.”

“With your abilities, I’m sure you could’ve pretended to be a mundane object if you wanted to. I’m just a Spirit Purifier with average strength. Why would you show yourselves to me and tell me all this?”

White Lord and Black Lord intertwined their necks and reached forward in unison. “Because we want you to be our master, duh!”

Ye Qing narrowed his eyes dangerously.

1. I would appreciate help with this. I’m aware that double doors are called double doors, so should they always be referred to as a plural noun, or is there a singular term for double doors? ?