Stranger Danger

Chapter 369: Right and Wrong

Ye Qing was poor, so he was out of the fight as soon as he bought his first and only Dark Overlord Token. But the rest of the bidders? Oh boy.

Everyone on the floor was a reputable person in some way. Normally, they went to great lengths to maintain an air of untouchability. But for the sake of getting an extra Dark Overlord Token or two, they talked favors, brought up their background, feigned weakness to garner sympathy, intimidated others and more. Like a common housewife in the market, they rip and tore through their competitors without a care for their reputation whatsoever.

Every Dark Overlord Token besides the first was sold at a ridiculous price. The highest-priced token was sold at a whopping three hundred thousand yin gold. It was easily one of the most entertaining shows Ye Qing had ever watched in his life.

Since Greenlake was a wealthy woman, she too bought an extra Dark Overlord Token for one hundred and fifty thousand yin gold.

“Let’s go.”

After the auction was finally over, Ye Qing and Greenlake got ready to take their leave. However, a young man stopped them before they could do so. It was none other than the scholar who had killed his own student a while ago.

“Leaving already?” The young man said indifferently.

“What? Do you have business with us, brother?” Ye Qing asked.

“Business, no. But I do have something to inform you two.” The young man looked at the duo and said, “You’ve caused the death of my student. You should make up for it.”

“Excuse me?” Ye Qing thought he heard wrongly. “You must be joking. The Ghost Tower is the one who insisted punishment upon your student, and you are the one who killed him with your own hands. What does his death have anything to do with us?”

“The Ghost Tower isn’t wrong for defending their own rules, and I’m not wrong since I haven’t broken any rules myself. But you definitely have a hand in his death. He wouldn’t have died if you hadn\'t fought him over the Duckweed Flower,” the scholar declared.

The scholar seemed perfectly calm, but in Ye Qing’s opinion, it was the cruel and heartless kind of calm.

“Hah! So, you’re saying that you’re the only one who can bid for the Duckweed Flower?” Ye Qing sneered.

“You can bid for it, but you don\'t need to be so aggressive that my student lost control and broke the Ghost Tower’s rule,” The young man continued calmly. “You’re not completely at fault, but you must bear a certain amount of responsibility.”

“So, you’re saying it’s all our fault?” Ye Qing was so angry he could laugh. What the guy said made a certain amount of sense, but if you really thought about it, he was just making excuses for himself while making their “crime” seem way more serious than it actually was. His dog had tried to bite them, but he failed and got himself killed by his own owner. Instead of blaming himself or his dog, he was blaming the victims who were just defending themselves.

What kind of logic was that?

“Of course, I have to bear some responsibility as well. One, I didn’t bring enough money with me. Two, my student is hot-tempered and impatient because I didn’t teach him well enough. Three, I didn’t stop him in time when he was enraged,” The scholar said indifferently. “I have made mistakes, and I admit all of them.”

“But just the same, you have made some mistakes as well, and mistakes must be punished in order to avoid the same thing from repeating in the future.”

“Oh? And how do you plan on punishing us, pray tell? Will you kill us?” Ye Qing raised an eyebrow. He’s not insane after all. This is all setup so he can pressure us into giving up the Duckweed Flower or more.

“You are at fault, but not the biggest wrongdoers of this incident, so I won’t kill you,” The scholar said seriously. “However, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to pay for your crimes.”

The scholar looked at Greenlake. “You will be my student.”

He then turned to Ye Qing and said, “And you will be my servant.”

“You will serve me for three years to atone for your sins.”

“Is that so? What about you then? Your responsibility is much bigger than ours. How will you punish yourself?” Ye Qing asked curiously.

“I will personally visit his family and beg them for their forgiveness. If they believe that killing me is the only way for me to atone for my sins, then so be it. If not, I will do my best to take care of them like they are my own parents until they die.”

The scholar concluded his statement with a question, “Do you understand now?”

“By the heavens, just how sick are you in the head?” Ye Qing couldn’t help but blurt out. How could such a person exist in the world? When people said zero tolerance, they didn’t truly mean zero tolerance. It was because there were always exceptional circumstances. But this guy didn’t care about that. All he cared about was punishing the wrong no matter the circumstances, and not even he himself was excluded from the punishment. It was so insane Ye Qing didn’t even know how to make a counterpoint.

“You shouldn’t be out and about, dude. Go see a doctor and treat your mental illness, alright?”

For the first time, the scholar frowned. “I take it that you’re refusing punishment.” He seemed incredibly displeased that his wishes were being denied.

“What about you? Will you refuse your punishment as well?” The scholar turned to look at Greenlake.

“I will obey my husband,” Greenlake said gently.

“To be aware of your mistakes and make no attempt to correct them is to commit a bigger mistake. If you won’t obey, then I will force you to.”

The scholar narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at the duo.

As soon as he did this, Ye Qing felthis energies stuttering as if his channels had suddenly become constricted. His mind was flickering like he could black out at any moment as well. Space shattered, and the finger descended from above, overwhelming and forceful. It looked like the finger of an omnipotent god threatening to annihilate humanity in one stroke.

“Not even a warning? Go fuck yourself!” Ye Qing yelled. When the scholar’s finger descended an inch, Ye Qing broke free from the supernatural influence and threw a punch at him. His counterattack was fast but not weak in the slightest.

“Break Through”

Fist met finger, and there was a dull crack that sounded like a thunderclap. Ye Qing swayed back and forth like a blade of grass that was being blown by the wind as he bled from all orifices.

“I think you’re not planning to take revenge for your student at all! You just want to take our Dark Overlord Tokens, don\'t you?!”

Two sways later, Ye Qing successfully neutralized the force inside his body and straightened his hand. Then, he swung it diagonally at the scholar.

“Hellfire Red Lotus Saber Art”

Red lotuses descended from the sky, and demonic flames burst out of the scholar’s body. However, he simply frowned and swiped away the hellfire almost like it was nothing more but dust.

Ye Qing’s pupils contracted into pins. For the first time, the hellfire had completely failed to harm its foe.

Ye Qing’s action must have angered the scholar, because he declared, “You stubbornly cling to your mistakes and seek to abscond all responsibilities. What difference is there between you and a heretic?”

Like the rising sun, pure white light shone out of his body. The entire floor was filled with light in an instant.

Ye Qing couldn’t see anything but the light. Even his demonic thought was suppressed by it. Still, he could tell that it contained an enormous amount of power.

“My husband is right. You really are quite sick, Mister Nine. I hope your doctor will be able to treat you.”

Ye Qing was still thinking a way out of this when suddenly, the Ghost Tower shook slightly. The next moment, he felt Greenlake grabbing his elbow, and he abruptly lost track of his surroundings.

When the white light was gone, Ye Qing and Greenlake were nowhere to be seen. There was only the scholar standing where he was with his brows creased in murder. “The Supreme Origin Hidden Star Demonic Implement Sutra? I knew they were heretics.”

It was at this moment Fire Skull spoke up, “What do you think you’re doing, customer?”

The scholar’s expression returned to normal as he turned to look at Fire Skull. “Fighting is forbidden during the auction, but the auction is already over, isn’t it? I haven’t broken your rules.”

The flames on Fire Skull’s body swayed ominously. “That’s not what I’m not talking about.”

“Oh, you thought I was trying to steal their Dark Overlord Token?” The scholar understood Fire Skull’s meaning immediately. “That is not the case. I was just trying to take revenge for my student, that’s all.”

“If I really was plotting to steal their tokens, the Oath of Burden would’ve held me accountable already, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s...” Fire Skull couldn’t say anything against that.

“My conscience is always clear.” The scholar saluted Fire Skull before saying, “Goodbye.”

With that, he took one step forward and disappeared from the Ghost Tower.

“Hehe, I can see why they say it’s better to see something with your eyes! Mister Nine is truly one of a kind!”

“The way he does things is seriously outrageous! He calls us heretics, but I think he’s far more heretical than us!”

“Agreed!”

“People like him are terrifying. Perfectly impartial and selfless, one might say that he is born with a Saint’s Heart. But what is a saint who isn’t a saint yet? A demon!”

......

“Seventh Young Master! They just left.”

Inside a room, Ghost Six was reporting Ye Qing and Greenlake’s whereabouts to Seventh Young Master.

“Good. Where are they?” Seventh Young Master asked.

“Northeast about one kilometer away from here,” Ghost Six answered.

A teleportation array was installed on the third floor of the Ghost Tower. Anyone who wished to leave after the auction was over could just step inside it and teleport away. The destination of every teleport was random so as to ensure the customers’ privacy and safety, but since the Ghost Tower was the one who installed the teleportation array, of course they had a way to check them.

“One kilometer? That’s not far away,” Seventh Young Master smiled like a flower. “You did well. You will be rewarded for your service.”

“Thank you, Seventh Young Master. It is my honor to be able to serve you,” Ghost Six said in a hurry.

“I need you to do something for me, however,” Seventh Young Master continued.

“Just give me the order, and it will be done, Seventh Young Master.” Ghost Six declared and bowed as servilely as he could.

“It gladdens me to hear that.” Seventh Young Master stopped wiping his right hand, and the mouth on his palm slowly opened. A tongue emerged from the center and licked around the palm.

“Seventh Young Master, what... are you doing?” A bad premonition suddenly struck Ghost Six.

“I promised you I would give you a reward, didn’t I? Here’s your reward.” Seventh Young Master’s smile grew increasingly beautiful and demonic as he tilted his head. “What, you don’t want it?”

“Mercy, Seventh Young Master! You also said you wouldn’t eat me!” Ghost Six exclaimed in horror and tried to run toward the exit. He never imagined that Seventh Young Master would try to kill him.

Swoosh!

He didn’t stand a chance. The tongue shot out like lightning and wrapped around his body. Then, it dragged him straight into the mouth.

As Seventh Young Master wiped his palm with a handkerchief, he sighed. “I don’t want to kill you either. But what can I do when you’ve learned too much?”

“Ugh... the flesh of a Rotten Ghost truly is disgusting. Oh hells, I’m gonna vomit. Why can’t a Rotten Ghost’s flesh be like stinky tofu, smelly but tasty? Sigh...”

“I need to eat something and wash this foul taste in my mouth as soon as possible. Otherwise, I won’t be able to eat anything for the next three days...”

His voice still reverberated inside the room, but he was already gone.