Stranger Danger

Chapter 445: Life and Death Struggle

Ye Qing kicked off the ground and pushed “Illusionist’s Grace” to the maximum, crossing sixty meters in an instant. But as he reached the end of his spurt, a roaring Zhao Lan rushed out of the sea of flames and reached him in the blink of an eye. He punched him before he could do anything.

Like a rock, Ye Qing punched through dozens of burning buildings before he finally slammed into a cliffside. Cracks spread out all around him like a spider web.

“Pwack!”

Ye Qing spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, but it evaporated into nothing before it even hit the ground. His whole body was burning and in pain, his blood was boiling like oil, and his headspace was overflowing with filthy aura. His head felt like a lead weight, and it was pounding like a jackhammer.

“The Hanba...”

Ye Qing’s pupils contracted as a scorching aura of death, epidemic, drought and filth burned all around him. Zhao Lan’s appearance and aura now resembled the legendary Stranger perfectly.

The Hanba was synonymous to drought, famine, epidemic and death. Just by existing, it could turn every square inch of land within hundreds of kilometers into a barren wasteland. It was a Disaster-class Stranger through and through.

“A Disaster-class Stranger, huh...?”

Powerlessness welled inside Ye Qing as the horrifying aura pressed against his skin from every direction, but he quickly pushed the feeling away. If he had the time to be afraid, then he had time to find a way to survive this.

Surrender was impossible not because he didn’t want to, but because it couldn’t be done. The teleportation that occurred after someone called for surrender wasn’t instantaneous. There was a lull before the participant was teleported away. If the participant attacked or was attacked during that time, then the teleportation would be canceled.

Death was a shadow that accompanied every duel. In fact, many people had used duels as a justification to kill their opponents for whatever reason. It wasn’t explicitly mentioned, but this was permitted in the Hidden Dragon Meet as well.

In other words, the only way he might survive this was to kill Zhao Lan.

The reason Zhao Lan turned into the Hanba could only be because he had consumed its blood essence. It was commonly known that consuming the blood essence of a powerful Stranger could grant a warrior a tremendous boost in power. However, doing this greatly taxed the body, and the boost was only temporary. Moreover, the more potent the blood essence, the greater the warrior’s physique and cultivation level must be to endure its power. The amount of time the boost would last was dependent on the same factors as well.

Zhao Lan had consumed the blood essence of a Hanba, a monstrous existence that sat on the top rung even among Disaster-class Strangers. He had no idea how Zhao Lan, a mere middle-stage Spirit Purifier, managed to consume the blood essence without exploding or losing his mind in an instant, but there was no way he could maintain this transformation for long.

This meant that he could endure until the Hanba’s blood essence had run its course, or until Zhao Lan’s body broke down from the pressure.

Ye Qing came up with a plan very quickly. As the cliff walls shook ominously around him, he leaned forward and kicked off the ground like a bolt of lightning. The second he was gone, Zhao lan appeared from above and punched the spot where Ye Qing was a while ago. The cliff wall exploded and scattered rocks everywhere.

This time though, Zhao Lan was ready. As soon as his punch missed, Zhao Lan twisted around and kicked off the cliff walls with both legs. His speed was such that he split apart the sea of fire with a deafening sonic boom.

Ye Qing had just picked up Zhao Lan with his demonic thought when the Hanba incarnate reached him and slapped him in the back. His protective yin and yang energy crumbled into pieces as he skipped across the ground like a skipping rock. Every time he hit the ground, a deep pit would be left behind.

After rolling uncontrollably for about fifty meters or so, Ye Qing abruptly kicked off the ground and shot toward a different direction. However, Zhao Lan immediately appeared beside him and punched him into the ground with his millstone-sized fists.

Before Ye Qing could resist, Zhao Lan stepped on his back and pushed him further into the pit. The ground ten meters around him crumbled and turned into molten lava.

“You have a good movement art, don’t you? You like to run, don’t you? Keep running then!”

Zhao Lan rotated his foot left and right, and the ground crumbled a couple more meters deeper.

“Run!”

“Run!”

After grinding Ye Qing several times with his soles, Zhao Lan raised his foot and stomped on Ye Qing again, and again, and again. Every time he did this, Zhao Lan would let out an exultant, violent roar. Heaven and earth shook as molten lava continuously poured into the deep pit.

“Ru—”

Zhao Lan was about to bring his foot down again when a fist thrust out of the pool of lava and smashed into his calf, causing him to stagger backward. At the same time, a giant ape burst out into the open, caught Zhao Lan by the waist, and slammed his back into a protruding rock.

The rock shattered, and the two men collapsed on the ground. A vicious snarl escaping his throat, the Chaos Demon Ape Ye Qing had transformed into sat on top of Zhao Lan’s body and punched him in the head again and again.

He wasn’t going to stop until the sonuvabitch was dead.

Every punch pushed Zhao Lan’s head deeper into the ground. The Hanba was as fast as the wind, so Zhao Lan was much faster than before even though he was originally a slowpoke. Moreover, the “Illusionist’s Grace” was really an evasion art that functioned best within a certain range, not a long-distance movement art. If he stuck to his previous course of action, forget getting away from Zhao Lan, he would be lucky to last even thirty seconds.

Since running away wasn’t an option, then he would fight Zhao Lan head on. The bastard wasn’t the only one who could transform!

Ye Qing threw at least thirty punches in just the span of a few breaths. It was like he was playing the drum, not fighting for his life.

Suddenly, Zhao Lan caught Ye Qing’s fists with both hands and slowly pulled them away from his face. In response, Ye Qing snarled and did everything he could to resist the unnatural strength. The contest of strength was such that the ground beneath them cracked everywhere like a giant spider web.

The next moment, Zhao Lan lifted his head and smashed his skull into Ye Qing’s face. Caught completely off guard, Ye Qing felt like a meteor just punched him in the face. It damned near knocked the lights out of his head and made him see stars.

Before Ye Qing could recover his wits, Zhao Lan roared and smashed his head into Ye Qing’s face again. And again. And again. Several hits later, the young man’s face was barely recognizable. A final, deafening hit sent him crashing into the ground and leaving behind a long, deep trail.

Freed from his bindings, Zhao Lan immediately leaped to his feet and stepped on Ye Qing’s chest with his right foot. A crazed laugh escaped his chest as he said, “I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me! Keep it up, Ye Qing! The more you struggle, the happier you’ll make me! Hahahahaha!”

As he laughed, Zhao Lan grabbed Ye Qing’s left arm with both hands and pulled with all his might.

“AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGHHHHHHHH!!!”

Ye Qing let out a bloodcurdling scream as his entire arm was ripped free from its sockets. As he was in his giant form, the amount of blood he spilled seemed great enough to fill a lake.

“No!”

“Joyless!”

“Brother Ye!”

Everyone outside the platform blanched when they saw this. Lin Yuhuai, Chu Nianjiu and Qi Xuanyun could stand this no longer and charged toward the platform.

“Tsk tsk, how cruel.” Zhou Hengshan clicked his tongue without bothering to hide his evil grin at all. “But cruelty is my rice and soup[1], so it’s perfect.”

“Oh right. Interfering with the Hidden Dragon Meet is a serious crime, Lord Hong. Are you sure you don’t want to stop your subordinates before it’s too late?”

“Back off! Anyone who interferes with the Hidden Dragon Meet will be punished by the law!” a grim-faced Hong Jianglong growled at Chu Nianjiu and Qi Xuanyun.

“But my lord! Joyless is—” Lin Yuhuai tried to argue.

“I said, back off!” A terrific aura abruptly burst out of Hong Jianglong’s body. His energies were such that the peak was covered in black clouds and white lightning in just the blink of an eye.

“Remember. This is a no-holds-barred tournament where killing is permitted.”

Left with no choice, the trio reluctantly returned to their original spots.

“Hahaha, well said, Lord Hong! You truly are a fair and righteous official! Hahaha...” Zhou Hengshan laughed loudly and tauntingly.

Hong Jianglong didn’t say anything.

Some people looked worried, some people looked delighted, some people were uncaring, and some people looked sympathetic. For a time, all sorts of expressions could be found on everyone’s face.

“I told you I’m going to cripple you, and this is just the beginning! Hahahahaha!”

Back on the platform, Zhao Lan was grabbing Ye Qing’s ripped arm and laughing crazily.

“Fog Demon!”

On the ground, Ye Qing’s complexion was pallid and dull, but his eyes looked as calm as ever. A gigantic demonic Buddha abruptly appeared in the sky with one hand pointed toward the sky, and the other pointed toward the earth. It was a silent yet arrogant declaration that the demon stood above both heaven and earth.

By the time Zhao Lan saw it, it was already too late. The demonic Buddha sent him flying with a single punch.

“Hahaha! Good, good! Keep struggling! It wouldn’t be fun otherwise!”

However, Zhao Lan returned even faster and returned the gesture with a punch of his own, and unlike Zhao Lan, the demonic Buddha was much, much frailer. One punch was all the Hanba incarnate needed to dissolve it into a cloud of demonic qi.

This was just the beginning though. The Buddhist chanting in the air grew louder as the thick cloud of demonic qi surrounded Zhao Lan from all sides. At the same time, the Moko Boundless Chains wrapped around his body and attempted to pin him in place.

“Hahaha! You think you can stop me with just this?”

Zhao Lan laughed again and unleashed a terrible shockwave. The earth was baked, cracked, and melted instantly like nine suns had suddenly appeared in the sky.

The chains were snapped like twigs, and so much of demonic qi was blown away that the Boundless Mara Buddha was exposed.

Bang!

Not one to let go of an opportunity, Zhao Lan appeared in front of the Boundless Mara Buddha and threw a devastating punch.

The Boundless Mara Buddha shook violently as its chains clattered, and its demonic qi scattered everywhere. Despite the terrible blow, it valiantly manifested the Kingdom of Buddha and Hell and attempted to exorcise Zhao Lan with darkness.

The Boundless Mara Buddha was forged from Jing Hui’s corpse, and Jing Hui was a Grandmaster. Therefore, Zhao Lan wasn’t able to shatter it in a single hit.

However, the Boundless Mara Buddha was also just a Soustealer-class Strange Artifact. It was nowhere as powerful as Zhao Lan in his current form. Just a few breaths later, Zhao Lan was able to dismantle both its offense and defense and land another devastating punch.

The Boundless Mara Buddha fell like a meteor, but the Fog Demon quickly regained control and blocked Zhao Lan’s way yet again.

Maybe it was because he was getting impatient with the Boundless Mara Buddha’s incessant harassment, but Zhao Lan decided that enough was enough. Roaring, he charged toward Ye Qing as soon as he sent it flying for a third time.

Now is the time!

Ye Qing’s eyes glittered like the stars as Zhao Lan closed the distance between them. At the same time, a thick fog gushed out of his body and enveloped both him and Zhao Lan.

“Huh? What’s with that fog? I can’t see anything!”

“How strange. I can’t pierce through the fog even with my spirit!”

The people outside the platform lost sight of Ye Qing and Zhao Lan as soon as the fog spread. Not only that, their spirit was unable to pierce the fog and see what was happening as well.

The next moment, a series of terrible shockwaves and waves of fire burst out of the center of the battlefield. It was accompanied by a series of angry roars and bloodcurdling screams.

“Sigh, what a shame...”

“Indeed, it is a terrible loss for Chu.”

“The Qing Emperor Junior is destined for greatness. It’s too bad that his luck ran out too soon.”

“Of all the people the Qing Emperor Junior could fight, it just had to be Zhao Lan. But then again, who would’ve thought that Zhao Lan would obtain the blood essence of a Hanba?”

“There is something seriously wrong with Zhao Lan’s head. Who in their right mind would go to such lengths over a petty grudge?”

As the shockwaves washing out of the fog grew weaker and weaker, everyone thought that the battle was approaching its end. Not a single person on the peak thought well of Ye Qing’s chances.

But when the fog faded away, and a single silhouette came into view, their eyes and their mouths slowly widened into huge Os. For a few seconds, no one could say anything. Then, explosive cries of astonishment and disbelief broke out at the same time.

“Impossible! Impossible!”

“My eyes must be playing tricks on me!”

“What the hell happened?”

“How is Ye Qing still alive?”

1. My made-up equivalent for bread and butter ☜