Stranger Danger

Chapter 398: Lei Xiaodan

“Enjoy the show? I don’t know what you’re looking about! I just came back, you see!” Chen Wuxin feigned ignorance.

“Who are you? Unhand me this instant!”

Meanwhile, Tong Zhen was struggling furiously to break out of Chen Wuxin’s grip. Despite flinging his astral qi and mental art at the huge man with all his might, he failed to inflict even the slightest wound on the man.

Chen Wuxin’s true identity was the Heartless Brain, and he was piloting the body of the Half-Step Grandmaster, Chen Ah Sheng. Not only that, the Heartless Brain could sever even the threads of karma itself, so of course he wouldn’t be affected by a puny mental art.

The woman Chen Wuxin had smashed out of the way rushed over as if she sensed that Tong Zhen was in danger. As she ran, her energies kept climbing until they reached the absolute peak. Once in front of Chen Wuxin, she threw a punch that could shatter a whole mountain.

Chen Wuxin paid her no heed, however. He simply lifted his left hand, caught the woman’s wrist, and severed her fist force in mid-release. Then, grabbed her head before she could react, pushed over half of her body into the ground, and stepped on her back to keep her pinned. She was unable to break free no matter how hard she struggled.

Throughout the process, Chen Wuxin never even looked at the woman. He kept chit-chatting with Ye Qing without a care in the world.

Stunned by Chen Wuxin’s strength, Tong Zhen threatened impotently, “I am Tong Zhen, a keeper serving the Intelligence Department! Let me go, and I will let bygones be bygones! Otherwise, you will regret this!”

“Like I give a damn who you are. Anyone who hurts my brother must die!” Chen Wuxin turned to look at Tong Zhen and smiled savagely. He then tried to crush Tong Zhen with his bare hand.

“Stop!”

It was at this moment a fierce cry came from afar. It sounded incredibly weak and distant at the beginning, but when it reached them it was as loud as a thunderclap. Following the sound were five lightning bolts—white, cyan, blue, red and yellow—striking straight toward the duo.

Even before the lightning came, every hair on Ye Qing’s body was already standing on end. Even scarier was the fact that the surrounding space were filled with mini lightning that paralyzed both him and Chen Wuxin and prevented them from gathering their force. They were unable to leave even if they wanted to.

Ye Qing and Chen Wuxin exchanged a bitter smile with each other. It was clear that this newcomer was someone far beyond their ability to resist.

“You dare attack a member of the Pacification Bureau, Lei Xiaodan? Are you courting death?”

At the last moment, a man leaped out of the crowd and made a grab for the five lightning bolts. As if his hand was made of metal, the five lightning bolts abruptly changed course and flew into his palm. Over time, they slowly condensed into a ball of lightning.

“We meet again, Joyless,” The man looked at Ye Qing and greeted him animably.

“Well met, Lord Hong! Thank you so much for saving our lives!” Ye Qing exclaimed in pleasant surprise and saluted his savior in a hurry.

The man was none other than Hong Jianglong.

“It’s no problem. Like I would ever allow the Intelligence Bureau to bully the Pacification Bureau!” Hong Jianglong declared fearlessly before looking in a certain direction and yelling, “Show your face, Lei Xiaodan!”

Hong Jianglong’s voice was so loud it was comparable to that of Gu Suitang’s. Ye Qing’s eardrums were ringing a little from how loud it was. Despite this, no one showed up.

“Not gonna show up, are you? Okay! I dare you to hide in your shell your whole life.” Hong Jianglong sneered and tossed the ball of lightning in Chu Renhe’s direction. The condensed lightning was as harmless as an actual ball in Hong Jianglong’s hand, but as soon as it left his palm, it immediately returned to its violent, destructive self. The five lightning roared like they would smite anything and everything in their way. Chu Renhe turned as pale as a sheet when he realized what was happening.

A gentle, amiable voice rang right before the lightning bolts would kill Chu Renhe. “You couldn’t wait a moment? And why are you taking out your frustration on a child?”

The lightning bolts abruptly froze in mid-air. At the same time, a man in his forties stepped out into the open. He was an ordinary-looking old man with yellowish, sparse hair and a crooked back. He was also wearing a set of white, starched clothes. He looked no different from an ordinary citizen whose individuality and backbone had been completely crushed by the hardships of life.

There was one thing about him that stood out, however. He had six fingers on both hands. That definitely wasn’t a characteristic that you saw everyday.

His hands were hanging beside his waist, and he was wearing a genial smile as he stepped out of the corner of a street.

The man looked like he was moving slowly, but in reality he reached Chu Renhe in just a few steps. The five lightning bolts danced around him as soon as he got close, and Ye Qing actually picked up a hint of joy from the lightning bolts.

The man raised his hand, and the lightning bolts slithered into his sleeve. They were gone just like that.

“You sure took your time, Lei Xiaodan! And here I thought you care nothing for your disciple’s life!” Hong Jianglong taunted.

Lei Xiaodan seemed to care nothing for Hong Jianglong’s sass, however. Still wearing an honest smile on his face, he asked, “What are you doing, Brother Hong? Why possessed you to attack a junior? Even if my junior is foolish, you could’ve just taught him a lesson! There is no need to kill him, is there?”

Hong Jianglong sneered, “You’re just as shameless as ever, Lei Xiaodan. It is your men who attacked my men first. I’m just retaliating appropriately.”

“Your men? Are you talking about these two?” Lei Xiaodan exclaimed in astonishment before looking at Ye Qing and Chen Wuxin. “What an unfortunate coincidence! I thought you were just villains who were trying to take out my men! That was why I acted in haste.”

“But now, I see that it’s all a misunderstanding. Please accept my apologies, you two. If I wasn’t so old and blind, I would not have committed such a rookie mistake! So sorry.”

Lei Xiaodan was acting surprisingly humble considering that he was a Grandmaster.

“My name is Lei Xiaodan. I am the Judicial Commissioner of the Tian Yong Intelligence Department. May I know your names, please?”

“Well met, Lord Lei,” Ye Qing replied with a hint of surprise. A Judicial Commissioner was an upper rank official and on the same level as the Chief of Bureau. He was a rank higher than even Hong Jianglong, a Pacification Commissioner.

Ye Qing didn’t believe Lei Xiaodan’s claim that it was an unfortunate mistake in the slightest, but he didn’t dare to say it. The guy was a Grandmaster after all.

Hong Jianglong might have dared to insult the guy despite being a rank lower, but that was because he was a Grandmaster himself. As a puny Spirit Purifier and Peacemaker, Ye Qing had no intentions of making an enemy out of Lei Xiaodan if possible. “I am Ye Qing, and this over here is my friend, Chen Wuxin.”

“Oh, you’re the famous Qing Emperor Junior?” Lei Xiaodan wore a smile of pure surprise and delight when he heard this. “Your reputation is like thunder piercing the ear, and now that I’ve met you in person, I can tell that you definitely deserve it! It is the imperial court, Chu and the people’s fortune for the Pacification Bureau to obtain a dragon-in-human-skin like you!”

“You flatter me, my lord.” Ye Qing replied with a salute, but he didn’t let down his guard. There was no way that a Grandmaster and an upper third rank Judicial Commissioner of the Intelligence Department would lick his boots for no reason. Frankly, he was feeling quite worried and anxious here.

“My Intelligence Department came here today to capture some rebels. How did they clash with you, Qing Emperor Junior?” Lei Xiaodan asked concernedly.

“It’s like this, master—” Chu Renhe tried to pre-empt Ye Qing and get his version of the story out in the open first, but Lei Xiaodan interrupted him before he could say anything. “I’m asking Qing Emperor Junior right now. Stop interrupting, you rude child!”

Chu Renhe seemed to be very afraid of his own master because he fell silent immediately. He was still glaring coldly at Ye Qing though.

“Speak, Qing Emperor Junior!”

“You don’t need to address me by my title, my lord. Just address me directly,” Ye Qing said. He literally hadn’t heard of the nickname until today, and while he found it to be a rather cool nickname, he didn’t really need to hear it from the mouth of the Judicial Commissioner himself.

“Sure. Humility is a good thing. I shall address you as Young Ye instead.” Lei Xiaodan continued smilingly, “Speak, Young Ye.”

“Very well. It’s like this.” Ye Qing got ready to retell the story. He wasn’t in the wrong anyway, so he wasn’t afraid of telling the truth as it was.

But right before he could tell his story, Lei Xiaodan looked at Chen Wuxin and said, “Can you put Brother Tong down first, Brother Chen? He looks like he’s about to run out of breath.”

Chen Wuxin did as he said. The big boss had arrived, so there was no chance he could kill Tong Zhen if he wanted to. More importantly, Lei Xiaodan made him feel like a chick before a cat. He saw no reason to offend someone who was way stronger than him.

“Thank you, Brother Chen.” Lei Xiaodan thanked him before continuing, “You are a powerful body-tempering warrior whose fist art is peerless, Brother Chen. I am sure that you have a great future ahead of you if you manage to become a Grandmaster.”

“If I’m not mistaken, you cultivate the Chaos Demon Tempering Sect’s ‘Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra’, right? It so happens that their sect master and I are acquaintances. From what I know, there are only a handful of people who managed to practice the ‘Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra’ to the extent you did.”

“Now that I think about it, didn’t Chen Ah Sheng, the leader of the Chaos Heaven Brigands, practice the ‘Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra’ as well? I heard that his attainment in the cultivation art was pretty advanced too. You know, your surname is Chen, and your appearance resembles his. I even heard that Chen Ah Sheng recently escaped to Tian Yong to escape his pursuers. It’s a mighty coincidence, don’t you agree?”

“Haha, it is pretty coincidental,” Chen Wuxin’s eyelids twitched as he replied.

Hong Jianglong realized something and rebuked Lei Xiaodan, “We’re supposed to be talking about what happened between your disciple and Joyless, Lei Xiaodan! Stop getting off topic!”

“Hahaha! You’re just as hasty as ever, Brother Hong! I was just about to get right into it!” Lei Xiaodan replied amiably and looked at Ye Qing. “I’m just saying that a notorious, wicked evildoer like Chen Ah Sheng could not possibly appear at West Yong, right Young Ye?”

Ye Qing stared into Lei Xiaodan’s eyes for a long time before smiling as well. “You’re absolutely right, Lord Lei.”

“Hehehe. Where were we? Oh right! How did you and Renhe clash against each other? If Renhe is in the wrong, then I’ll have him offer you a sincere apology!”

Lei Xiaodan beamed at Ye Qing as he said, “Don’t be afraid, Young Ye. Tell me the truth and only the truth!”