Stranger Danger

Chapter 468: The Soul Lamp Burns No More

“Zhou Hengshan, you’re really starting to piss me off.” A storm came over Hong Jianglong’s face. “Do you actually think I won’t beat the shit out of you?”

“Of course you would,” Zhou Hengshan replied neutrally, but it was clear from the fact that he was still holding the Slaughterer of Ten Thousand that he had no intentions of moving out of the way. “But please wait.”

“Fatty, oh fatty...” Hong Jianglong dragged out his voice like someone dragging a sword across the floor. It was chilling to say the least.

Clop clop clop!

It was at this moment the sound of hooves came from the distance. Soon, the Hengshan Army appeared from the horizon with swords and sabers, grim-faced and just about ready for anything.

Two people were leading the army. The one to the left was a stern, gritty-looking man wearing a set of white tiger armor. He was the battalion commander of the Tiger Battalion, Zhao Peihu. The one to the right was a harsh, cruel-looking man wearing a set of blue wolf armor. He was the battalion commander of the Wolf Battalion, Fei Chuan.

This also meant that the army following behind them was the Tiger Battalion and the Wolf Battalion.

When Zhang Peihu and Fei Chuan came to a stop in front of Zhou Hengshan, Hong Jianglong and Chu Qingge, the army behind them came to a stop as well. The two battalion commanders dismounted and saluted their general respectfully, “General.” The rest of the troops also dropped to one knee without saying anything. The sounds of their armor pieces clanging against one another resonated throughout the whole plains.

Zhou Hengshan paid them no heed, however. He simply stared at Hong Jianglong and repeated his words, “Please wait here, Hong Jianglong.”

“Hmph. You think you can intimidate me?” Hong Jianglong narrowed his eyes slightly while sneering. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re worried that I would try and mess with Ye Qing’s Soul Lamp, right? Fine then! I’ll wait. I have done nothing wrong, and I have nothing to be afraid of.”

To be honest, Hong Jianglong wasn’t sure if Ye Qing was alive or dead either. That was why he wanted to rush back to the Pacification Bureau and notify Fang Xiaoman or Gu Suitang to check up on Ye Qing’s Soul Lamp. If it was extinguished, then Ye Qing was dead. Everything would be over, and there would be nothing to worry about. If it was lit, then he would order them to extinguish the lamp. After all, Ye Qing was far better off “dead” than alive right now. Assuming he was still alive, his only chance of escaping his pursuers’ attention was to fake his death.

It was why he repeatedly emphasized that Ye Qing was dead. It was also why he wanted to head back and tamper with Ye Qing’s Soul Lamp as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Zhou Hengshan saw through his ploy and stopped him, and now it was too late. Knowing Chu Hao’s abilities, it would take the man less than half a teatime to gain the information. Even if he managed to force his way out—and that was a big if considering that he would have to fight the Hengshan Army as well—it was impossible to do so without harming the Hengshan Army. His enemies would have the perfect excuse to accuse the Pacification Bureau of corruption and drag them into a right mess then.

If he was just Hong Jianglong, a Grandmaster with no ties to anything whatsoever, then he wouldn’t hesitate even a second to do what was necessary to protect those he cared about. However, he was the Pacification Commissioner of the Pacification Bureau. Everything he did represented the will of the Pacification Bureau, and he couldn’t act without considering the ramifications and consequences to his faction first.

Furthermore, he would be wasting Ye Qing’s efforts to draw a line between himself and the Pacification Bureau. It was a lose-lose scenario no matter how he looked at it. So, he had no choice but to wait as per Zhou Hengshan’s demand.

About half a teatime later, a shadow guard belonging to the Harmony King showed up. After saluting Hong Jianglong, Zhou Hengshan and Chu Qingge, he reported, “The commander ordered me to inform you that Ye Qing’s Soul Lamp went out exactly half a teatime ago.”

Zhou Hengshan narrowed his eyes. That was the moment he used the Slaughterer of Ten Thousand and split open the Yong River. Was Ye Qing truly dead then?

Hong Jianglong’s hand trembled a little when he heard this, but he maintained his composure and looked at Zhou Hengshan. “Hmph. Can I leave now, fatty?”

“Do as you please.” Zhou Hengshan stepped out of the way.

It looked like the matter was finally over, but Zhou Hengshan suddenly spoke up again after Hong Jianglong had taken a few steps. “You know, you don’t look saddened at all.”

Anyone with eyes could tell that Hong Jianglong cared deeply for Ye Qing. Just now, he was going to fight the entire world to defend him. However, he neither reacted nor pressed the shadow guard for answers after hearing that Ye Qing’s Soul Lamp was extinguished. Was it because he knew that Ye Qing was still alive?

Right after Zhou Hengshan said that, he suddenly raised his saber as if sensing danger. However, a hand grabbed the hilt of the weapon and forced it down before he could react, and Zhou Hengshan himself stumbled backward. Each time he planted his foot on the ground, the earth would shake. Nine steps later, he finally caught himself and stood still at the rivershore. Behind him, a massive wave suddenly surged from the dead waters of Yong River and rolled toward the opposite shore.

“General!” “General!”

Zhang Peihu and Fei Chuan hurriedly charged Hong Jianglong when they saw this, but they slammed into some sort of invisible wall and were flung back even faster.

Still grabbing the Slaughterer of Ten Thousand and standing right in front of Zhou Hengshan, Hong Jianglong stared into the general’s eyes and said coldly, “Don’t mistake my tolerance for fear, Zhou Hengshan. I told you that Ye Qing is no longer a member of the Pacification Bureau. Provoke me and the Pacification Bureau again, and I will kill you. Understand?”

Hong Jianglong let go of the saber and turned away. When he saw that the Hengshan Army was blocking his way, a hint of disdain flickered in his eyes. “Are you going to stop me?”

He infused his power into the last word, and every Hengshan soldier trembled like they were facing down a demon god.

“Enough!” Zhou Hengshan grunted and broke Hong Jianglong’s spell over his soldiers with a shout. “Let him go.”

When the Hengshan soldiers came to, they realized that their undershirt was soaked through, and their armor felt cold because of their sweat. No one dared to say a thing. They meekly opened up a way and allowed Hong Jianglong to leave the scene with Chu Qingge. He never even favored them a single glance.

“Pwack!”

After Hong Jianglong was gone, Zhou Hengshan abruptly spat out a glob of blood. The bony white Slaughterer of Ten Thousand suddenly turned a shade of bright red, and blood began pouring profusely down its edges. The saber also emitted a strange buzz that sounded like a ghastly wail.

“General! Are you... alright?”

Zhang Peihu and Fei Chuan hurried forward, but they turned as white as a sheet when they got too close to Zhou Hengshan. They felt like Zhou Hengshan had suddenly turned into an avatar of hell itself, brutal and terrifying.

“Bring them,” Zhou Hengshan uttered shakingly. His eyes were bloodshot, his whole body was shaking, and it strained him greatly just to say a single word.

“Bring me the death row prisoners.”

Zhang Peihu looked at a deputy general, and the man waved over a troop of Hengshan soldiers escorting a group of death row prisoners. They numbered at least several hundred.

As soon as he laid his eyes on the death row prisoners, Zhou Hengshan immediately rushed forward like a thirsty man who found an oasis in the desert. As soon as he reached the nearest prisoner, he raised the Slaughterer of Ten Thousand and cut them in half.

Crimson blood splattered across Zhou Hengshan’s face, but not only did he not feel disgusted by it, he actually licked them off his lips with a satisfied, intoxicated look on his face. He immediately moved onto the next prisoner and beheaded them, cut off the limbs of the third, eviscerated the fourth...

Just a moment later, every death row prisoner on the scene was killed. Their heads littered the floor like trinkets at a market stall, and their blood ran freely like a river.

It was only then the unnatural redness covering Zhou Hengshan’s eyes faded. The Slaughterer of Ten Thousand also stopped shaking and returned to normal.

“Are you okay, general?” Zhang Peihu asked.

“I’m fine.” Zhou Hengshan put away the weapon and shook his head.

Just now, he was suffering from the Slaughterer of Ten Thousand’s rebound. As an infamous, deadly tool of slaughter, the Slaughterer of Ten Thousand was as powerful as it was cursed. For starters, the wielder was constantly beset by bloodthirst and the desire to kill for as long as they wielded the weapon. Second, it must slay a certain number of people after unleashing its power to quench its bloodthirst. If not, the consequences were severe.

Usually, Zhou Hengshan could wield the Slaughterer of Ten Thousand without paying any price. His power was enough to keep him in check. However, Ye Qing’s trap had injured him somewhat, and his attempt to kill Ye Qing using the Slaughterer of Ten Thousand had further depleted his energies. The hit from Hong Jianglong was the final straw. Unable to suppress the saber’s rebound anymore, he had no choice but to kill a couple hundred death row prisoners to finally vent both his and the saber’s bloodthirst.

Zhou Hengshan then looked at Zhang Peihu and ordered in a harsh voice, “Peihu, message Wugou and have him return to Tian Yong this instant. I want him to mobilize the Black Dog Brigade and search along the Yong River until Ye Qing and the Corpse Ship are found. I will have that bastard’s corpse if it’s the last thing I do.”