Stranger Danger

Chapter 410: Midnight Hunt

Suddenly a cold voice came from behind a group of gossipers, “Backbiting is something only a coward would do. Defeat Ye Qing fair and square, or you’re no more but the useless trash he claims you to be.”

“The fuck? Who the fuck are you to—” One guy turned around to yell at the owner of the voice, but his words died in his throat when a pair of crimson eyes stabbed into his vision. He suddenly felt as if he was drowning in a sea of blood and corpses.

By the time he snapped out of the illusion, his whole body was drenched in cold sweat. The rest of his companions were white-faced and shaking in fear as well.

“Xu... Xu Rulin...” One man gulped as he recognized the speaker.

Xu Rulin stared at the group for a moment. His eyes were cold and emotionless like he was staring at a bunch of corpses.

“Come now, Brother Xu. We are all jianghu brethren here.”

Right as the group felt like they were sinking into the abyss, a warm voice reached them and melted the unnatural chill gripping their body and limbs. When they looked up, they saw Yang Zhao, Zhang Tian, and a dozen other warriors walking toward them. They were all participants who had qualified for the second round of the Hidden Dragon Meet.

“I am Yang Zhao. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Brother Xu!” Yang Zhao greeted.

Xu Rulin paid him no attention though. He simply turned around and walked toward the exit.

As he was passing by Ye Qing, Xu Rulin uttered, “I will defeat you.” He was gone before Ye Qing could react to the statement of challenge.

“Phew... what terrific bloodthirst. I can hardly believe that his bloodthirst is stronger than someone who fights Strangers all year long like us,” mused Chu Nianjiu stared at Xu Rulin’s back thoughtfully. “Do you know who Xu Rulin is, Ningan?”

Gao Ningan shook his head. “I only know that he’s part of the border troops.”

“The border troops? That explains a lot!” Cu Nianjiu exclaimed in realization before looking at Ye Qing. “Joyless, you’re a late-stage Spirit Purifier now. Do you think you can beat him?”

Ye Qing shook his head. “I won’t know until we fight.”

Yes, Ye Qing was a late-stage Spirit Purifier now. He had made the breakthrough while he was training in the Martial Tower. Honestly, he wasn’t expecting to enter the late stage of the Spirit Purification stage so soon, but the Martial Tower of Tian Yong turned out to be better than expected. The power imbued in it was greater than the one in the Luo Shui Pacification Bureau, so his training speed was faster as well. Before he knew it, he had achieved a breakthrough.

He couldn’t help that he was so gifted.

“Yang Zhao is coming our way!” Lin Yuhuai warned suddenly.

As if on cue, Yang Zhao appeared and greeted them with a smile, “I am Yang Zhao. A pleasure to meet you, Brother Ye.”

Yang Zhao was wearing a scholar’s robe and a scholar’s hat. A silver flute was hanging on his waist. He looked cultured, refined, and friendly.

“Your name precedes you, Brother Ye, and I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for the longest time. I am very happy to learn that you are even greater than what your name suggests.”

“You flatter me, Brother Yang. The rumors are just rumors, and I hardly think that my reputation is greater than yours, the Silver Flute Scholar,” Ye Qing replied and saluted Yang Zhao politely.

“No need to be humble, Brother Ye. There is only one other person in the past century who has scaled the Flying Dragon Mount in six hours, and that person isn’t me. Believe me when I say that you have my deepest admiration,” Yang Zhao sighed. He looked so sincere that one couldn’t help but believe that his admiration was true.

Ye Qing chuckled. “I was just lucky. As a member of the Pacification Bureau, it is my bread and butter to deal with Strangers. Because of that, I recognized almost every Stranger I ran into during the climb. That is why I was able to do the almost impossible.”

“To tell you the truth, I have no confidence that I’ll be able to achieve the same feat if we were to ascend the mountain again. In fact, I’d be very lucky to reach the peak on time again.”

“Hahaha... You’re quite the joker, Brother Ye,” Yang Zhao remarked before turning to face Ye Qing’s companions. “The three of you must be Reverend Qi, Brother Chu and Brother Lin, right?”

“You are correct,” all three men responded.

“It is an honor to be able to meet you all. I’d like to treat you all to a drink at Beauty Pageant Palace after the meet is over. I hope you won’t spurn my invitation?” Yang Zhao asked.

“Of course not. We will be there,” the whole group saluted the man.

“Good, good! I look forward to it!” Yang Zhao returned the salute with a bright smile. “I shan’t take up your time any longer. See you later, everyone!”

Yang Zhao left with his men after saying that. It looked like he really just came to greet them.

“Yang Zhao is not someone to be underestimated!” Chu Nianjiu sighed after Yang Zhao was gone.

“He’s a named champion on the Human Champions Ranking. Of course he cannot be underestimated,” Lin Yuhuai replied.

The group continued to make conversation as more and more people ascended the Flying Dragon Mount. There were Chen Shaoyu, the two Zhao brothers, Jian Wusheng, Wei Bulao and more. Without exception, every single one of them afforded Ye Qing at least a glance of scorn, gravity, disgust, anger, hostility, cordiality and more.

Not only that, there were people who wished to make the acquaintance of Ye Qing or even recruit them into their faction. Ye Qing had no choice but to deal with them all.

Of course, no one tried to give him trouble. No one who made it into the second round was an idiot after all. No matter how displeased they were with Ye Qing, it was pure folly to harass him at this point of time. Best case scenario, they might expose Ye Qing for the braggart he really was, but worst case scenario, they could humiliate themselves and even disqualify themselves from the competition. The risk just wasn’t worth the reward.

A while later, Hong Jianglong, Lei Xiaodan, Fang Muyun, Chu Wangsun, Song Xilai and more ascended the mountain as well. The peak instantly fell quiet, and everyone saluted the bigshots.

After the bigshots had taken their seats, Hong Jianglong swept his gaze across the crowd and nodded. “It looks like all sixty five of you are present, and none of you are late. Very good.”

Ye Qing raised an eyebrow. Why did he feel like the remark was directed at him?

“Now then. Let’s get the show going!” Hong Jianglong declared before lifting his hand. The mountain shook, and rumbling noises blared for a moment. The commotion was such that the great array encompassing the entire peak flickered on and off. As the golden light glowed brightly, eight platforms were slowly raised from the ground.

After the platforms were fully raised, Hong Jianglong declared, “The rules are simple. Two of you will be duking it out on each platform until someone surrenders or dies. All methods are permitted, and the winner will advance to the next match.”

A low murmur broke out among the participants when Hong Jianglong finished his statement. A no-holds-barred tournament where it was acceptable to win a fight by killing their opponent? This was a little too much, wasn’t it?

“What if someone cheats, my lord?” Someone asked.

“Cheating is also a form of skill. If you can do it, then feel free,” Hong Jianglong answered indifferently.

“What if someone intentionally fights with the intention of maiming or killing their opponent?” another participant asked.

“This is the Hidden Dragon Meet, not a children’s playground where we hold your hands and make sure that you don’t catch a scratch in the wrong places. From the moment you set foot on this platform, death becomes a very real possibility. If you’re afraid, then you shouldn’t be participating in the Hidden Dragon Meet in the first place. Chu does not need a bunch of cowards who can’t put their life on the line when it matters.”

No one could say a word for a time.

“Are there any questions?” Hong Jianglong asked loudly. His eyes were glaring like a tiger’s and full of pressure.

After waiting for a few seconds and receiving no reply, Hong Jianglong nodded in satisfaction and continued, “Good. I like that no one here is a fool. I was going to throw out the next person who asked me a stupid question.”

“Without further ado, let’s draw the lots.”

Hong Jianglong slapped the large brazier beside him and caused a loud, resonant ringing that felt like it would last until eternity. Then, the brazier spat out a bunch of lights that flew into the participants’ hands.

Ye Qing looked down on the glob of light in his palm. It was a draconic token made of golden light with the number “3” on it. Unless he was gravely mistaken, it meant that he was the number 3 participant.

“Have you all gotten your tokens? Good. The one who shares your number is your opponent,” Hong Jianglong declared.

Suddenly, Chu Qingge asked, “Why is my token blank, my lord?”

Hong Jianglong smiled. “There are a total of sixty five participants this time, so one person is allowed to advance immediately to the next match. Congratulations, you are that lucky winner.”

“Many thanks, my lord.” Chu Qingge saluted him, though her expression was indifferent. She looked less affected than many participants who were shooting her envious looks. Good luck was enviable after all.

The Harmony King in particular was brimming with excitement and joy for his daughter.

“The preliminaries will begin now. Contestants number one to number eight, please step onto your platforms!” Hong Jianglong declared.

As soon as Hong Jianglong finished, Ye Qing’s token shone brightly and enveloped him in a sheen of golden light. When it disappeared, Ye Qing found himself standing atop a small rooftop with a dark sky looming ominously over his head.

A rooftop? What’s this, a duel atop the Forbidden City[1]? Ye Qing snickered at his private joke.

In fact, the so-called “platform” wasn’t really a platform, but a small, isolated space where the battleground could be anything and everything. Some participants found themselves standing on opposite sides of a river. Some found themselves standing in the middle of a street. One pair found themselves baking in the middle of a desert, and another found themselves surrounded by a forest of lush, green trees.

Some environments were extremely advantageous to certain participants, but the opposite was equally true. It was completely up to fate whether the participant would get lucky or not. But then again, luck was also a kind of strength.

This was no secret. In fact, almost everyone participating in the Hidden Dragon Meet was aware of this.

Ye Qing’s participant muttered, “How unlucky!” when he saw who his opponent was. Thanks to Ye Qing’s screw up, there was no one on this peak who hadn’t heard of his name.

“I am Han Zhou. It’s an honor, Brother Ye,” Han Zhou raised a hand and greeted him.

It was a ruse. As soon as he raised his hand, something dark flew out of his sleeve straight toward Ye Qing.

The pitch black object was as fast as it was soundless. It was nighttime on this platform as well, so the hidden weapon was anything but conspicuous. It was one of Han Zhou’s killer move, Midnight Hunt.

Midnight Hunt was a hidden weapon and a Strange Artifact that was shaped like a dart. At night, it was perfectly invisible and untraceable. That was why the technique was named the Midnight Hunt.

Hao Zhou was well aware that he was no match for Ye Qing in a straight fight. That was why he distracted him with a greeting and used the cover of the night to unleash Midnight Hunt.

The good news was that Ye Qing caught the dart right before it would hit him in the forehead. The bad news was Han Zhou smiling as if he got Ye Qing right where he wanted him. The dart abruptly bloomed like a lotus and fired countless ox hair-sized needles straight at Ye Qing.

As it turned out, the dart was also a ruse. The needles concealed within the dart were the real trap. That was why the dart was named “Midnight”, and the needles were named “Hunt”. Together, they were undodgeable and indefensible.

Excitement flashed across Han Zhou’s face when he thought that Ye Qing was going to perish under his Midnight Hunt.

1. This is a reference to the movie “Top on the Forbidden City”. ?