Stranger Danger

Chapter 379: Strange Village

“Where are they?” Corpse Child looked at the Heartless Brain and asked.

“Can I have a moment to breathe, please?” The Heartless Brain complained in between vomits. “That ‘ride’ was so bumpy I could throw up my intestines!”

“Intestines? Where? I love intestines!” The one-horned giant asked eagerly.

Corpse Child ignored the one-horned giant and said coldly, “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“Youngsters these days have no civility whatsoever,” the Heartless Brain grumbled before pointing in the direction where the paper doll had disappeared to. “They were here, and they went that way. Assuming their speed hasn’t changed, we should catch up to them very soon.”

“Let’s go.” Corpse Child ordered without hesitation.

As the one-horned giant picked the Heartless Brain up by the head again, the Heartless Brain looked in the real direction Ye Qing had escaped to with an odd smile on his face.

Hopefully, this will buy them some time.

……

Ye Qing was currently running across a barren mountain as swift as lightning. At the speed he was going, it wouldn’t be surprising if he sounded as loud as a jet, but in reality his run was perfectly silent.

He was using the “Illusionist\'s Grace” instead of the Horse Talisman. Although the “Illusionist’s Grace” was more suited for evading attacks within a small area, its top speed was way higher than the Horse Talisman at full mastery.

The paper doll Ye Qing used just now was called the Shaping Talisman. It was a very special talisman that could take the appearance of anyone who blew a puff of pure yang qi on it. For a short time, the paper doll would possess the exact same presence and energy as the person.

The main reason he used the Shaping Talisman was to lure the Ghost Tower away from him. However, the talisman would only last an incense stick, so he needed to put as much distance from him and his pursuers as possible before it expired.

“Phew… I should have shaken them off for now, right?”

Ye Qing finally took a break two hours later. He had run almost two hundred kilometers, and during this time he had used nearly every trick in the book to confuse his enemies and lead them astray. If even this wasn’t enough to shake off his pursuers, then he might as well give up right now.

He was lucky he had a strong body and the dragon-serpent runes to replenish his stamina and astral qi. Another person would be completely exhausted by now.

“My lead won’t last more than a couple more hours though. I still need to kill them somehow.”

Ye Qing was quite troubled to say the least. He had considered requesting help from the Pacification Bureau, but three Phenomenon-class Strangers weren’t a threat any county-level Pacification Bureau could combat. Gu Suitang and Fang Xiaoman could help him, but there was no way they could make it here in time. Man, what a pain.

It was at this moment Ye Qing noticed something downhill. “Hmm? There’s a village up ahead. I might as well buy some food here and prepare for the long haul.”

With his body, he could go three to five days without eating or drinking. But why stress himself when he didn’t need to?

A few breaths later, he arrived at the village entrance. His senses immediately prickled with unease, however. Something about the place felt very off, lifeless and lethargic. He couldn’t spot any guard in the vicinity either.

After he entered the village, he discovered that it was almost empty. There was barely anyone on the streets even though it was broad daylight, and everyone he saw was shockingly thin as if they hadn’t eaten for days. Even stranger was the fact that they were all carrying a round stomach like they were ten months pregnant be it men, women, old or young[1].

“Strange?” Ye Qing furrowed his brows. He went up to a skinny, emaciated man and asked, “Brother, can I—”

The man was gone before he even finished his question. It was as if he hadn’t heard him at all.

“Elder…”

“Lady…”

He tried getting a couple more people’s attention, but not a single one of them responded to his inquiries. The most he got out of them was a lethargic, lifeless glance.

“What are you doing here, youngster?”

He was in the middle of the street when suddenly, someone called out to him from behind. When he turned around, he saw an old man with white hair and a long beard looking at him with kind-looking eyes. He was accompanied by six armed men with hostile expressions.

In fact, Ye Qing had noticed them a long time ago. They seemed to be the only people in the village who were normal. Their stomachs weren’t bulging, for starters.

“Oh, good day to you, elder. I’m visiting a relative at Qing He, and I was going to rest my feet in your village.” Ye Qing saluted the old man and asked, “I hope my presence here isn’t too much of a problem?”

“I see! Not at all!” The old man responded in a kind voice, “I’m the village chief. Please, come with me.”

“Thank you, elder.” Ye Qing walked up to the old man and looked at the villagers around him with a bit of fear and puzzlement. “Elder, what’s wrong with those villagers? Why do they look like… that? Are they ill?”

The village chief’s expression turned severe. “They are. To tell you the truth, people who live in this village will catch a strange disease we call the Big Belly, and as they grow older the illness would get worse. I wonder what sins our village committed to suffer such a curse, sigh…”

“What do the doctors say?” Ye Qing asked.

The village chief sighed deeply. “It’s no use. We’ve invited countless famous doctors, miracle doctors, and even the Pacification Bureau to treat them, but no one could help us. Since then, everyone stayed away from our village like it was struck by a plague. I could hardly blame them. Those poor children!”

“Anyway, let’s not dwell on such depressing matters any longer. We’ve arrived.”

The village chief led Ye Qing to a house that was bigger and more luxurious than any other house in the village. He then said, “Please, come in.”

“Thank you, elder.”

Ye Qing quickly discovered that the interior of the building was just as exquisite as the exterior. The decor was quite tasteful and elegant as well.

“You haven’t eaten, have you brother? Would you like to have a meal before you resume your journey?”

“It’s fine. It’s too much trouble!” Ye Qing hurriedly turned him down.

“It’s fine, it’s been a while since there are visitors in Red Sand Village. I would love it if you would enjoy a drink with me.”

“I… Er…” Ye Qing hesitated.

The village chief chuckled. “Just accept my offer. I can tell you were on the road for a long time. You must be pretty thirsty and hungry, aren’t you? How can you continue your journey if you don’t have strength?”

In the end, Ye Qing agreed. “In that case, I shall impose on you, elder.”

“Hahaha, good!” The village chief guffawed loudly.

A while later, a bunch of servants filled the dining table with delicious food and fine wine.

“Please take a seat, young one.” The village chief offered with a hand.

“Oh my heavens, this is incredible!” Ye Qing chirped with excitement.

“Hahaha! As long as you’re happy. Come, let us drink!” The village chief declared and filled Ye Qing’s glass with wine.

“Yes. Thank you again for the food, elder.” Ye Qing didn’t hesitate to down the wine in one gulp.

Something flickered within the village chief’s eyes as he watched Ye Qing. “Good! Good! I can see you’re quite the drinker, young one. Now, let us enjoy the food, shall we?”

Ye Qing did, but just two bites later, his eyes abruptly rolled to the back of his head, and he collapsed on his back.

“Young one? Young one?” The village chief cried out twice. When Ye Qing didn’t wake, a cold expression replaced his warm smile from before.

“Hmph.”

“Is it done, boss?” A voice called out from outside.

“It is done. Come in,” the village chief declared.

The men who accompanied him before filed into the room. One man kicked Ye Qing hard in the ribs while saying, “Boss, it’s obvious he’s just an ordinary person. We could’ve just captured him on the spot. You really didn’t need to waste all this food.”

“It’s always better to be safe than sorry.” The village chief shook his head.

“And I think you are too cautious, boss.” Another man chuckled. “So, are we going to turn him into a Human Pill?”

“What else are we going to do if not that?” A third man scoffed.

The man answered, “Well, he’s quite young and handsome, isn’t he? It’ll be a shame to turn him into a Human Pill when we keep him around for… you know.”

“Fuck, I completely forgot that you’re gay! No wonder you kept poking me with your thing when we were in bed last night! You ruined me!” Another guy yelled.

The village chief chuckled. “Enough. I’m aware that you’ve been holding it in this whole time. You may have him. It’s not like we can’t turn him into a Human Pill after you’re done with him.”

“Our current batch will turn into pills very soon. I expect you to carry out your duties to perfection, understand?”

“As you command!” Everyone said.

The one guy who was gay thanked the village chief profusely, “Thank you very much, boss! I won’t forget this!” He then strode toward Ye Qing with obvious lust in his eyes.

Snap!

Suddenly, the sound of a finger snap resounded throughout the room. Everyone’s eyes lost their focus in an instant.

On the floor, Ye Qing abruptly opened his eyes and rose to his feet. He stared at the man who tried to lay his hands on him with dripping disdain as he scoffed, “I would rather fuck an old woman than be touched by the likes of you!”

Then, he looked at the village chief with frigid eyes. “Making Human Pills out of people? What an audacious, heinous plan!”

“You… You’re fine?” The village chief abruptly startled awake and stared at Ye Qing incredulously. He had broken free from Ye Qing’s “Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul” using some sort of secret art.

“You seriously thought that tiny bit of knockout drug is going to knock me out? Come now.” Ye Qing chuckled.

“Knockout” was an extremely powerful knockout drug. A single gulp was all it took to knock out anyone below the Astral Refinement stage. It was so potent that even a Spirit Purifier would have a hard time trying to stay conscious, much less fight.

Too bad for his attackers, he was immune to poison.

“I knew you weren’t normal.” The village chief’s face looked ugly. “You saw through us from the start, didn’t you?”

“You can say that.” Ye Qing smirked. “Everyone in the village is carrying a big belly except you seven. Everyone looked emaciated and lifeless, but you guys are practically the picture of health. Besides that, your subordinates are clearly skilled and reeked of blood. It was obvious that you lot had a lot of blood on your hands.”

“Finally, you claimed that it had been a long time since Red Sand Village saw an outsider, but I saw a few people who obviously looked like outsiders, not to mention that there were escort carts and merchant carts at the entrance. So yeah, you can say I saw through you somewhat.”

The village chief: “...” Somewhat? You noticed that something is amiss practically the moment you entered the village?

“No wonder they say that all heroes are young!” The village chief fell silent for a moment. “You may leave now that you’ve enjoyed my hospitality.”

“Leave? And why would I do that?” Ye Qing shook his head. “I thought you guys are making Human Pills? I’ve never seen one before. Why don’t you show it to me?”

“Some things are better left unsaid, boy.”

The village chief’s face slowly turned cold and stiff. “I gave you an out. You could’ve walked away and pretended that none of this had ever happened. But now, it’s too late for you.”

1. Holy shit. If this was a Japanese novel… ☜