Stranger Danger

Chapter 337: Tortoise House

He thought that the giant eyes were playing peekaboo with him, but in reality, it was just blinking slowly.

An indefinite amount of time later, Ye Qing opened his eyes againbut this time in reality. Seemingly caught off guard by Ye Qings sudden awakening, two pairs of eyes of disproportionate sizes stared at each other for a good few seconds.

They have eyebrows? One human and one Stranger coincidentally thought the exact same thing at the exact same time.

The moment didnt last. The giant eyes began blinking rapidly as it finally recovered from its surprise, and Ye Qing felt an overpowering wave of fatigue pressing down his eyelids. This time though, he was prepared. He protected his mind with his demonic thought, and the demonic lotus dispelled the exhaustion.

Hmph! Ye Qing grunted and used the Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul, his demonic thought sweeping across the area like a scythe.

The giant eyes vanished, and the entire inn suddenly shook once. The hell?

Now fully awake, Ye Qing scanned his surroundings carefully with his demonic thought. However, his brows quickly knitted into a frown. He couldnt find the giant eyes, nor could he sense any anomalous presence inside his room. It was the same for Chu Nianjiu, Lin Yuhuai and Qi Xuanyin, though he noticed that their breathing was a little rapid and erratic.

And here I was hoping for a peaceful night, Ye Qing thought as he mentally called out to everyone, Its time for a spot check, people! Get up!

What spot check? I didnt do anything![1]

Did something happen?

Whats wrong?

All three men startled awake at the same time.

Come out. Something has entered the inn! Ye Qing said seriously.

The three warriors frowned and appeared outside their rooms in the blink of an eye. When they saw Ye Qing standing at the dining hall on the first floor, they went over to him and asked, Whats wrong, Joyless?

Ye Qing rubbed his nose and explained, Like I said, something is in the inn with us. I dreamed of a pair of giant eyes watching me from the ceiling. When I woke up, I noticed that there really was a pair of giant eyes watching me.

Huh? Did you feel like someones watching you, but when you opened your eyes, you couldnt see anything out of the ordinary?

When Ye Qing nodded his head, Chu Nianjiu replied with a deep frown, I had the same dream as well.

Me too.

Same here.

Lin Yuhuai and Qi Xuanyun also echoed in agreement.

Do you know whats spying on us, Joyless? Chu Nianjiu asked.

No. The eyes disappeared when I tried to attack them, Ye Qing shook his head, and I havent found anything so far.

Lin Yuhuai produced a yellow talisman with an eye drawn on it. It floated into the air of its own accord and scanned the surroundings, blinking.

Suddenly, the yellow talisman shuddered. Then, a tear slid down the eye.

The Divine Eye is crying, so something is definitely wrong with this place. But I dont think theres any danger for now, Lin Yuhuai declared after putting away the talisman.

The yellow talisman he just used was called the Malefice Detection Talisman. If the Divine Eye didnt move, then the area was considered safe. If the Divine Eye shed tears, then it meant that the area was unusual, but there was no danger. Finally, if the Divine Eye shed tears of blood, then it meant that the area was unusual, and there was grave danger lurking within it.

Ye Qing rubbed his nose thoughtfully. He was still thinking when Qi Xuanyun spoke up, Huh? Why are the windows closed? Im pretty sure some of them were open when we went to bed earlier.

The windows? Wait a second Ye Qings finger paused when he realized something. He hadnt looked beyond the inn because his attention was all focused on what was inside. He immediately stretched his demonic thought outward to perceive his surroundings, but all he could sense was a blank, empty void.

As it turned out, the anomaly wasnt in the inn with them. The inn itself was anomalous.

Ye Qing stepped toward the main entrance and attempted to pull the double doors open. However, they didnt budge in the slightest.

He wasnt using his full strength as a matter of course, but there was no way a simple wooden door could resist him. Heck, not even a steel door that weighed hundreds of kilograms could resist his strength.

I thought this might happen. Ye Qing narrowed his eyes and channeled his full strength. His arm muscles bulged, and his vigor raced at top speed. Then, he pulled the doors again.

Creaaaaaaaak

The double doors strained under the strength of five dragon elephants, but instead of opening, they simply bent at an odd angle. Even the walls were stretching together with the doors. It wasnt working.

Try the windows!

Ye Qing sucked in a deep breath until his stomach rumbled like thunder, blue veins surfaced on his arms, and his muscles bulged like the roots of a tree. Then, he continued pulling the doors with all his might.

At the same time, Chu Nianjiu, Lin Yuhuai and Qi Xuanyun went up to a window each and tried to open them. Unsurprisingly, they were sealed shut.

Shit, I cant open this

BANG!

A short while later, Ye Qing came to the conclusion that the doors wouldnt yield to his strength and gave up reluctantly. The doors and the walls immediately bounced back in position and even shook a little almost like they were flesh, not wood or mud.

The hard way it is!

Ye Qing gathered his qi, essence and spirit at one point and launched a devastating punch.

Break Through

His fist sank several inches into the door like it was rubber, but that was it.

Bang!

When Ye Qing injected more strength into his legs, his feet sank into the floor like it was rubber as well. His spine snapped straight like a dragon, and his fist moved forward another inch.

One inch was enough to conjure rain and thunder.

Rumbling noises came from the point between his fist and the door, and even more force poured out of Ye Qings body. The door gave way a couple more inches, but still it refused to open.

Hmph!

The next moment, the force rebounded and pushed him away from the door. He stifled a groan as his feet dug a pair of deep gorges across the floor. He didnt stop until he finally slammed into the wall on the opposite end of the room.

It was like the floor was made of memory foam. It returned to normal almost as soon as Ye Qings feet had left the affected area.

On the other side, Chu Nianjiu, Lin Yuhuai and Qi Xuanyun were attacking the windows using their martial arts as well, but just like Ye Qing, neither ice, fire, wind or lightning could deal any damage to it at all.

Glug

Glug

It was at this moment the entire inn suddenly shook like it was alive. The walls were squirming, the furniture was warping, and the floor was twisting like it was being molded by an invisible hand.

At the same time, a strange noise was resounding throughout the inn. It sounded suspiciously similar to the sound of someone clearing their throat.

Oh shit!

Ye Qings eyes flashed with realization as attempted to cry out a warning. But before he could do so, the double doors abruptly flung open, and all four of them were sucked out of the entrance by an irresistible force. Like dandelion seeds that had left their roots, they could only tumble helplessly through the air until gravity finally pulled them back toward the ground, hard. Even after they landed, they rolled uncontrollably for dozens of revolutions and broke at least a couple of trees before they finally came to a stop.

Cough! Cough! Spit

All four men were Spirit Purifiers, so the crash that couldve killed an ordinary person a million times over didnt hurt any of them. The dizziness was no joke, however. It was all they could do not to throw up all the contents in their stomachs, and the soil they accidentally swallowed certainly didnt help things.

Achoo!

Achoo!

ACHOO!

It took the group a while to realize that the sneezes werent coming from one of them. When they turned and looked, they were immediately greeted by the unbelievable sight of a massive building with giant eyes on the walls sneezing repeatedly. Every time it sneezed, the air it discharged was strong enough to uproot trees and shake the ground like an earthquake.

Is that All Cattle Inn?! Qi Xuanyun blurted with wide-eyed disbelief.

It definitely is. Look! The signboard is still up there! Lin Yuhuai pointed.

Can anyone tell me why All Cattle Inn turned into whatever the hell that is? Chu Nianjiu instinctively reached for his wine gourd only to remember that he had left it inside the inn.

Tortoise legs, two eyes, a living building Ye Qing murmured as he stared at the sneezing inn intently.

Joyless? Chu Nianjiu looked at Ye Qing. Do you know what that is?

Its a Tortoise House! Ye Qing exclaimed suddenly.

A Tortoise House? Qi Xuanyun repeated.

Ye Qing began slowly, I read a book called Jade Dragon Record. It mentioned a mild-tempered Stranger who was shaped like a house and born with two eyes and four legs. It loves living with humans and running, and it usually travels at night and stops during the day. It could usually run hundreds of kilometers in a single night. Since it looked like a tortoise, it was named the Tortoise House.

The chapter also came attached with the Tortoise Houses characteristics and various stories, but long story short, its almost a perfect match with what we just saw. It has two eyes and four tortoise legs. It enjoys observing the humans living inside its houseor rather, its bodybut doesnt harm them. It also runs like the wind.

The Tortoise House, you say? Its hard to believe that such a Stranger exists in this world! Chu Nianjiu exclaimed in wonder. They were lucky that the Tortoise House was a rare gentle Stranger. Any other Stranger would have digested them for turning their insides inside out.

Assuming Joyless is correct, then this explains how the Jiao husband and wife were able to escape punishment until now, Lin Yuhuai mused thoughtfully.

All Cattle Inn had existed for many years and harmed countless people in the process, but they were always able to escape thanks to their strange ability to appear at a completely different place seemingly overnight. They must have a way to manipulate the Tortoise House and use it as their mount.

Agreed. Ye Qing nodded. In fact, an even more incredible Stranger was mentioned in the Jade Dragon Record. Its called the Tortoise City, and as you might infer from its name, it is a tortoise so large that it could carry an entire city on its back. The Tortoise House is a baby compared to it.

It is said that tens of thousands of people lived in the Tortoise City, and it resembles a small, isolated country. As the Tortoise City only lives in places where sources of water and plants are abundant, its people are well fed and clothed. It is also shielded from all dangers or disasters. It is why the Tortoise City is also nicknamed the Human Paradise.

Ive heard of the Tortoise City, but this is the first time Ive heardand seenthe Tortoise House, Lin Yuhuai replied.

Youre incredibly well-informed, Brother Ye! Qi Xuanyun looked impressed.

Its nothing. You just need to read more, Ye Qing replied humbly.

The book also mentioned that the Tortoise House was an incredibly useful transportation tool as it could travel hundreds of kilometers in a single night. In fact, it was so steady that he didnt realize that it was moving at all while he was inside it. Still, the Tortoise House was also an immeasurably powerful Stranger. Even his full power could not harm the Tortoise House in the slightest. It was one thing to manipulate it like the Jiao husband and wife did, but he imagined that only a truly powerful warrior could truly tame it.

Achoo!

Achoo!

A long distance away, the Tortoise House sneezed another two times before shaking back and forth like a human would shake its head. It shot them a glance before disappearing into the night.

Phew its finally gone.

All four men sighed out in relief when they saw this. Although the book claimed that the Tortoise House was gentle, whoever said that what was recorded in the books must reflect reality? A simple sneeze from the Stranger could literally uproot trees and cause a mini earthquake. They would be lying if they said they werent wary of it.

1. 100% Chu Nianjiu lol, probably hiding valuable wine up, down, left, right and center.