Stranger Danger

“Besides that the Dragonmount Order is a powerful Strange Artifact. For starters, it can change its size at will and become as big as the sky, or as small as a seed. It can also be used to transmit information across large distances in an instant like what we saw earlier. Finally, it can be used to seal off an entire space and make it impossible to traverse by land and water. It is quite powerful.”

“If they’re going so far as to unleash the Dragonmount Order, I wonder if the Dragonmount Duke himself would take action.” Ye Qing rubbed his nose expectantly.

“It is unlikely. The Dragonmount Duke is the leader of the entire alliance. He wouldn’t move unless he had to,” Feng Qingyou replied smilingly. “In this case, he would only take action if the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance is unable to capture Chen Cang for an extended period of time.”

“Really now? I guess I have to lend Chen Cang a hand then.” Ye Qing snickered and rubbed his nose again.

“What are you plotting?” Feng Qingyou asked. One look at his eyes, and she knew that Ye Qing was plotting something again. She wasn’t ashamed to admit that she looked forward to hearing his thoughts.

Ye Qing smirked. “What else? I’m gonna sprinkle a truth here, a lie there, and maybe a spoonful of half-truths and half-lies as well.”

“Ah! That would certainly cause the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance quite a bit of trouble.”

Feng Qingyou immediately understood Ye Qing’s meaning as if she and him shared one heart. The corners of her lips curled into a half-smile as she remarked, “You’re starting to resemble the courtiers who can flip the world upside down with just words and gestures more and more, Joyless.”

“Hahaha… I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Ye Qing let out an uncaring chuckle before declaring, “It’s Chen Cang’s move now. Let us wait and see what he’s going to do.”

……

“Hah… hah… they shouldn’t be able to catch up to me this time, right?”

A man suddenly burst out of a dark and rapid river and climbed with a gasp before swimming toward the rivershore. The bank was dirty and covered in smelly mud, but the man was so exhausted that he couldn’t care less about hygiene right now. He just collapsed on his back and lay there for a long time, panting.

The man was one other than Chen Cang.

Right now, Chen Cang was deathly pale and wounded from head to toe. Some of his wounds were festering and swelling terribly as well. As if that wasn’t enough, countless tiny Strangers with long mouths were crawling all over them his wounds and consuming the rotten flesh. They were as tiny as bugs, but they were numerous.

Chen Cang did not stop them though. In fact, he looked relieved even though he was technically being eaten alive right now.

The Strangers were called the Bug Fishes. A Malice-class Stranger, it was a type of bug that was shaped like a fish. A Bug Fish was usually found in damp, lightless underground rivers like the one next to Chen Cang, and it fed on mud and rotten food.

So, why didn’t Chen Cang stop them from eating him alive? It was because he was using them to treat his festering wounds. Besides that, the Bug Fish was coated in some sort of slime that acted as an effective anesthesia and blood coagulator. In times of crisis, a Bug Fish could be used to treat one’s wound and stop the pain and the bleeding. They were exactly what Chen Cang needed right now.

But of course, this method should only be employed as a last resort. The Bug Fish could swim into one’s internal organs, lay eggs, and rapidly grow its numbers in just a short time. If they weren’t dealt with in a timely manner, the victim would meet a gruesome end for sure.

The most troublesome thing about the Bug Fish was that they were stupidly tenacious despite possessing pathetic offensive capabilities. This was doubly true after they invaded the human body. One mistake, and they would do far more harm than good.

Chen Cang was well aware of the risks of treating himself using the Bug Fishes, but he had no choice. It had been five days since he escaped from Dragonmount City, and he had used every method he could think of to escape the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance’s pursuit. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was a miracle he managed to come this far, and he had long since run out of supplies. That was why he had no choice but to resort to such a treatment.

After lying down for a bit and regaining a bit of strength, Chen Cang finally climbed to his feet and walked to a nearby crevice. Then, he fished out a Nature’s Shell from the crevice, produced some rations, and gobbled them down like his life depended on it. It wasn’t until he was done eating that he finally let out a sigh of relief and felt like he had truly returned to the living.

It had been two days and night since he ate anything. He was so hungry that it felt like his chest and his back were sticking together. Normally, a Trueman could go months without eating or drinking, but he had been hunted almost non-stop by the elites of the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance for the past couple days. Naturally, he was exhausted both in mind and body.

The food, clothes, pills and other supplies stored within the Nature’s Shell was an emergency supply kit he had prepared for himself beforehand. In fact, this underground river was one of his hideouts.

No, it wasn’t something he had prepared just in case his plan ended in failure. It was a refuge he had prepared for himself a long, long time ago.

Everyone in Swordsgrave was a madman or a madwoman, but they were also audacious, ruthless, and fearless. Most of all, they were outstanding survivors.

Swordsgrave’s training was cruel beyond imagination, and they couldn’t care less about in-fighting. Combined with the fact that Swordsgrave warriors were audacious, anarchic, and prone to making trouble, they were chased by pursuers almost every day. That was why they were always prepared for the worst, and why they possessed a stupid amount of lifesaving measures.

Since the day he saw Ye Qing at Goddess City, he had done an obscene amount of preparation. For example, he had prepared a Strange Artifact that could conceal him from divination, talismans that allowed him to travel an ungodly amount of distance in an instant, Magia that would block a fatal strike or two in his place, hideouts where he could rest and hide from pursuers and so on.

It was only thanks to his preparations that he was able to survive the hunt of the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance for five days straight. This underground river was one of the measures he prepared and his greatest trump card.

The entrance of this underground river was located at the bottom of a lake. It was extremely well hidden and resistant to detection.

The underground river easily stretched over tens of kilometers, and it had countless branches that led to heavens-know-where. It was also incredibly dangerous and rapid, which deterred even the most determined pursuers from exploring. While he couldn’t claim that it was absolutely safe in the long term, the chances that someone could locate him in this underground river in the short term was next to nil.

Chen Cang had discovered this underground river by complete accident. When he realized just how excellent a hiding place and refuge it was, he spared no effort to turn it into his greatest trump card. For example, he had hidden supplies in every safe sport of every branch of this underground river. If he ever ran out of supplies, he could simply swim over and retrieve them. Assuming that his hideout wasn’t discovered, he could hide months or even years if necessary.

He hadn’t chosen a specific branch to follow after diving into the underground river. He had allowed the current to carry him to wherever it was going, so even he did not know exactly where he was right now. That was why he was certain that he was safe. There was no way the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance could track him to this location.

“I should hide here for a couple days at least.”

After sating his hunger and thirst, Chen Cang proceeded to treat his wounds. Once done, he closed his eyes and fell into meditation.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Finally, Chen Cang snapped out of his trance with renewed vigor in his eyes.

After two whole days of rest, he had regained most of his spirit and stamina. Although his injuries weren’t healed yet, he wasn’t worried in the slightest. It was because there was no chance the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance could track him down in the short term. For now, he had the leeway to recuperate while his pursuers wear themselves out trying to suss him out.

After withdrawing his energies, Chen Cang climbed to his feet and stretched a little. Then, he took a moment to examine his surroundings.

Although the river was located underground, it wasn’t dark in here at all. It was because the walls and the ceilings were covered in glowing moss and crystals that illuminated the entire cavern. The environment looked positively fantastical because of this.