Stranger Danger

Chapter 421: The Lightless Silverfish

It was even smellier on the second level than it was on the first level. Not only that, the air felt humid and slimy, and every corner of the place—the stairs, the handrails, the walls and more—were covered in some sort of slimy liquid. It was beyond disgusting.

When Ye Qing reached the second level, he was flabbergasted to find that the place was flooded. No, it wasn’t an illusion. The level really was flooded with some sort of smelly, murky, and acidic water. Bubbles were popping on the water’s surface, and his exposed skin was stinging and festering just being close to the water.

Ye Qing’s brows were tightly knitted. If the “theme” of the first level was corruption, then the “theme” of the second level was corrosion.

“What a pain,” Ye Qing muttered in annoyance while rubbing his nose habitually. According to the layout the girls showed him, the entrance to the third and final level was situated at the lower right hand corner of the chamber. It was also directly opposite the staircase he was at. In other words, he must cross the pool of acidic water if he wished to make it to his destination, the orlop deck.

Honestly, Ye Qing wanted nothing more than to punch a hole in the floor and forge his own path, but that was impossible. It was because every part of the ship had become unnaturally tough since becoming a part of an Anomaly. The gigantic spiderman he killed earlier was incredibly strong, but even its attacks failed to leave a single scratch on the floor. As much as he wanted to take a shortcut, it just couldn’t be done.

Ye Qing thought on how he should advance for a moment before tossing out a yellow talisman. It transformed into a small boat and landed snugly on the waters. The plan was to cross the waters on the boat, but the acidic water easily ate through the hull and caused it to turn back into a paper talisman. It dissolved into nothing almost all too quickly.

“I guess an ordinary talisman wouldn’t be able to withstand it,” Ye Qing sighed. To be honest, the quality of his talismans weren’t at fault here. The acidic water was just too corrosive.

“If a talisman won’t work, then what about a Strange Artifact?”

This time, Ye Qing produced an emerald green bamboo raft from Nine Heavens. It was emerald green like it was made from young bamboo. There were also green shoots and leaves growing out of its joints.

The bamboo raft was called the Blue Wave Green Bamboo Raft. It was a Malice-class Strange Artifact made from the Blue Wave Green Bamboo. As the Blue Wave Green Bamboo was born in water, it was naturally buoyant and an excellent material for making vessel-type Strange Artifacts.

Besides that, the Blue Wave Green Bamboo possessed a powerful life force. It wouldn’t die even after it was chopped and made into a vessel. So long as there was water, it could theoretically live forever.

Ye Qing gingerly placed the Blue Wave Green Bamboo Raft into the acidic water. It quickly grew until it could fit one or two passengers. Ye Qing’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the bamboos slowly turning grayish and spotty like it was dying. Its branches and leaves also withered and fell off its body.

Luckily, that was the end of its degradation. It didn’t dissolve into nothing and sink like the yellow talisman did. Ye Qing allowed himself to let out a small sigh of relief.

After boarding the raft and confirming that it wouldn’t sink, Ye Qing used his astral qi to push the raft toward the entrance to the third floor.

At first, everything was normal. He was about halfway there when his surroundings gradually turned dark like something was devouring the light. Then, darkness.

It was nighttime, it was foggy, and he was deep within the belly of the Boat of Longing. He had expected his surroundings to be pitch black. With his eyesight, he could see six to ten meters in front of him even in this pitch black darkness.

But now? He couldn’t see anything. The darkness was so absolute he literally couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. Not only that, his demonic thought was blind as well. For some reason, he could sense darkness and only darkness.

Snap!

Ye Qing snapped his fingers and produced a small flame on his fingertip. However, he could neither see its light nor perceive it with his demonic thought. If not for the hot temperature on his fingertip, he would’ve thought he had failed to ignite the flame at all.

“What’s going on?”

“Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul”

Ye Qing tapped the space in front of him and produced a wave of demonic thought. However, his surroundings remained exactly the same.

“What?”

Perhaps the illusion was too strong for the “Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul” to pierce. Ye Qing made a hand knife with his left hand and swung it diagonally in front of him.

Demonic red lotuses fell all around him, but still the blanket of darkness was unbreachable.

“It’s... not an illusion?”

Ye Qing frowned deeply. This was the first time both the “Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul” and the “Hellfire Red Lotus Saber Art” had failed him.

“I should turn back.”

Unsure what was going on here, Ye Qing decided that the best course of action for now was to return to the staircase and figure out the situation. So, he channeled his astral qi and pushed the bamboo raft back to where it started.

But there was nothing. It was the same situation as when he first stumbled upon the fog at Yonghe Lake. No matter which direction he sailed, he was unable to return to the staircase or touch the walls of a chamber. It was like he was stranded in the middle of an ocean.

Worse still, he was far more bewildered than when he was stranded in the fog. At least he could still see things at the time. But right here and now, it was like he had gone completely blind in every way. He could see and feel nothing but pitch black darkness.

The darkness didn’t just herald loneliness and the unknown. It was heralded fear.

Unwilling to give up, Ye Qing made several more attempts to break out of this black hell using his spiritual power, pure astral qi, and even his physical strength. Unfortunately, it all ended up being futile.

“Am I going to die here?” A moment of doubt gripped Ye Qing as he whispered.

“No. I refuse to give up! Fog Demon!” Determination flashed in Ye Qing’s eyes as he produced the Boundless Mara Buddha and loosened the Moko Boundless Chains. A demonic Buddha immediately appeared in the air.

“Kekeke... finally willing to let me out, boy?” The Fog Demon let out its signature cackle before realizing something was amiss. “Huh? Where is this place? Why can’t I see anything?”

“I don’t know either. Anyway, I want you to unleash your full strength,” Ye Qing ordered icily.

“Okay. Against what?” The Fog Demon was confused.

“Anything is fine! Just trash the place!” Ye Qing yelled.

“Okay!” Another cackle later, the demonic Buddha mustered its demonic energies and let loose an evil and anomalous noise. Then, he launched a palm strike against the acidic waters while mountains of corpses, sea of blood, and the eternal kingdom of demons appeared behind his back.

Boom!

The palm strike caused a massive wave that threw the bamboo raft high, high into the air. It was a long time before it finally landed back in the water.

Some of the water splashed onto the bamboo raft and Ye Qing and caused a sizzling noise. Ye Qing could clearly feel his skin and astral qi being eroded by the acidic water.

He didn’t look like he felt the pain though. In fact, he was smiling widely like he finally figured out something.

Boom!

The Boundless Mara Buddha hit the acidic waters again, kicking up a gigantic wave that surged toward Ye Qing and the bamboo raft like a waterfall.

Right before the wave would engulf Ye Qing and the bamboo raft, he suddenly threw a punch and destroyed it in the blink of an eye. Then, he yelled, “Fog Demon, stop!”

The Boundless Mara Buddha halted its third attack midway, and the Fog Demon grumbled with displeasure, “What the hell do you want, kid? Do you want me to trash up the place or not[1]?”

“I think I know where we are now!” Ye Qing exclaimed with delight.

The Fog Demon was still grumbling, “Where, what? What the hell are you talking about, boy?”

Ye Qing ignored it and said, “I believe we are inside the stomach of the Lightless Silverfish.”

“The Lightless Silverfish? What’s that?” The Fog Demon asked.

Ye Qing answered, “According to the ‘Records of the Mountains and the Sea’, there exists a fish in the eastern sea that is shaped like a waterskin and has black scales. Its mouth is as big as a mountain, its body is perfectly black and reflects no light. That is why it cannot be seen or perceived by the spirit, and why it is named the Lightless Silverfish.”

“Usually, the Lightless Silverfish feeds by opening its mouth at a river mouth and swallowing any and all living prey that flows into its mouth. Any creature no matter what size would shrink to the size of a grain of sand and fall into a world of eternal darkness. Tormented by helplessness, despair and fear, most of them are fated to be corroded by its stomach acid and consumed.”

“The Lightless Silverfish, you say? But how can you be sure that we are inside its belly?” The Fog Demon asked.

Ye Qing explained, “For one, it’s perfectly lightless inside the Lightless Silverfish. It’s impossible to see with your eyes or perceive your surroundings with your spirit. That is exactly what we’re experiencing, isn’t it?”

“Next, any living beings that fall into the Lightless Silverfish’s stomach would unknowingly shrink down to the size of a grain of sand. Since it’s impossible to perceive the Lightless Silverfish from the outside, there’s almost no way to avoid this fate until it’s too late.”

“This explains why I can’t leave this place even though I know I’m not trapped in an illusion. It would also explain why a pool of water could produce a massive wave almost like we are trapped in the sea. It’s because we have shrunk down to the size of a grain of sand.”

“At our current size, nearly any body of water would appear like a sea to us.”

He only realized this when the Fog Demon hit the water so hard that it kicked up a wave that was at least a hundred meters tall. Although he hadn’t measured the depth of the acidic pool in the chamber, there was no way it contained enough water to kick up a wave that was over a hundred meters tall. Heck, the ship itself wasn’t that tall.

When the clues finally came together inside his head, Ye Qing suddenly recalled a small story regarding the Lightless Silverfish he read in the ‘Records of the Mountains and the Sea’.

The story spoke of a warrior who accidentally entered the belly of the Lightless Silverfish while he was sailing. Having no idea that his body had shrunk, the warrior simply thought that he had accidentally strayed into a bizarre part of the ocean and struggled with all his might to survive. Without divine intervention, it was likely that he would never leave the place alive.

Luckily for him, a champion who happened to be passing through the area noticed something amiss and killed the Lightless Silverfish. That was how the warrior was rescued, and just in time as well. It was because his whole body had eroded to the point where some of his bones were showing. Later, the warrior would learn that the bizarre sea that he struggled to survive was just the stomach acid of the Lightless Silverfish.

That was how Ye Qing was able to put two and two together. But of course, it was just a theory. He wouldn’t know if it was right until tested it.

“Alright. Let’s assume that you’re right. How are we going to escape this place?” The Fog Demon asked.

Ye Qing smirked. “You.”

“Me?” The Fog Demon sounded confused.

Ye Qing explained, “The reason the Lightless Silverfish had the word ‘lightless’ in its name isn’t just because it’s perfectly black, but also because it loathes light.”

“Therefore, I need you to reseal the Boundless Mara Buddha and unleash its Buddha light as much as you can. This would annoy the Lightless Silverfish enough to spit us out of its stomach.”

1. If you can’t tell, the Fog Demon just tried to indirectly kill Ye Qing lol. ☜