Stranger Danger

Chapter 64: Old Grass

“Is that it? I was expecting a bigger challenge!”

Ye Qing raised an eyebrow as he stared at the broken window where Faceless had escaped from.

One of the main reasons he had bested Faceless so easily was because he had entered the middle-stage of the Vessel Augmentation stage, augmenting another four Standard Meridians, two Extraordinary Meridians, and one hundred and eight points all in one day. A middle-stage Vessel Augmentor’s internal energy was much stronger than an early-stage’s, not to mention that he had reached the adept level in the “Blood Shadow Divine Art”.

Admittedly, it would’ve taken him much more effort to defeat Faceless if he hadn’t made these breakthroughs. He still would’ve won, but he certainly could not have gotten away without any injuries either. The fact that his enemy still managed to escape despite his overwhelming dominance was proof that Faceless was a formidable foe. In general, a Stranger’s resilience, abilities, talent, magic and more were just far, far greater than a human’s.

Of course, just because he failed to kill Faceless now didn’t mean he wasn’t going to kill him later. From the start, Ye Qing had never intended to let the Stranger live. A Malice-class Stranger who wanted him dead and possessed the ability to look like anyone he wanted was just too great a threat to let go. If he did not kill him as soon as possible, it was only a matter of time before he or the people he cared about fell in danger!

“I already told him this, but did he really think he could escape me?” Ye Qing sneered while sucking in a deep breath to quell his blood. As usual, it had grown a tad restless after consuming Faceless’ fresh blood. Once he was ready, he dashed out to the streets, pinpointed the direction Faceless was heading, and leaped onto the roof. Then, he chased after the Stranger as fast as the wind.

He had left a wisp of Blood Shadow in Faceless’ body earlier. That was how he knew that he was able to identify Faceless’ current location. Of course, the Blood Shadow could only last so long away from him, so he had to catch up to his quarry as soon as possible.

It didn’t take long before Ye Qing found him. However, the Stranger had taken on a new face and even changed his clothes. Wearing an ordinary-looking face and ordinary clothes, he looked no different from an ordinary pedestrian right now. He calmly walked along the street while hiding himself amidst a throng of people.

Ye Qing was impressed. If he couldn’t sense the Blood Shadow in Faceless’ body or erratic fluctuations of his aura, he would never suspect that the ordinary pedestrian was the Stranger he was looking for.

Faceless’ acting was sublime. Occasionally, he would pause in front of a stall and pretend to be interested in a certain item when he was scanning his surroundings and checking if Ye Qing had caught up to him. Once he was sure Ye Qing wasn’t around, he would leave the stall and continue to creep along the street toward somewhere. His caution was commendable, but it was pointless because he never discovered the shadow hiding in the rooftops and following closely like a ghost. Like a clown, all he achieved was to create more comedic material for Ye Qing to laugh at.

Many twists, turns, and streets later, Faceless arrived at an ordinary peasant household and leaped over the wall. This was Ye Qing’s cue to give chase, but instead he remained where he was with a smirk on his face. Ye Qing was going to lose track of the Stranger at this rate, but for some reason he didn’t seem worried in the slightest.

Five or six breaths later, Faceless leaped back onto the streets and sighed, “Good. It looks like I’ve really shaken him off!”

Then, he leaped into the tofu shop directly opposite of the peasant household.

“I knew he was trying to trick me!” Ye Qing said with a cold chuckle. No amount of precaution was too much against a foe like him, and he had to admit that Faceless would’ve gotten him if he was less smart than he was.

There was also another reason he hadn’t killed Faceless yet. For one, he looked like he was heading somewhere. The Stranger had also used the word “we” and “us” time and again during their conversation earlier, meaning that he had a group behind his back. Chances were, he was going to his companions to get help. Knowing this, why would he kill Faceless now when he could annihilate the whole group in one fell swoop? Even if the enemy turned out to be too numerous or powerful for him to destroy singlehandedly, he would still learn exactly who he was dealing with.

Ye Qing pushed off the roof and landed on a tree beside the courtyard of the tofu shop. He didn’t make the slightest noise.

As if on cue, he heard an old voice calling out from inside the house, “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Old Grass!” Faceless replied.

“Faceless? Cough cough! Come in!” Old Grass coughed once and opened the door. Faceless immediately slipped inside the house.

“Why have you come at this time, Faceless? Did you need something from me?”

It was at this moment Old Grass noticed Faceless’ injuries and exclaimed in astonishment, “You’re hurt! What happened?”

Faceless coughed a little and accidentally ripped a wound on his neck. The wound looked shallow from the outside, but in reality it had nearly beheaded him. His neck was barely kept together by a thin stretch of flesh.

A human being would’ve died a long time ago if they sustained such an injury. But for Faceless, it was just a serious injury he could recover from.

“That is no minor injury, Faceless. What on earth happened to you?” Old Grass blanched when he noticed the neck wound.

“It’s a mess is what. I almost didn’t make it back alive!” Faceless sighed. “You know I’ve been looking into the culprit who ruined our plans, right?”

“Did you find them?” Old Grass asked.

“I did. He’s the owner of a bookstore called Endless Horizons. His name is Ye Qing, and he’s a youngster around eighteen or nineteen years old.”

“Eighteen? He should be a breeze to deal with then! But how did you sustain such severe injuries?”

“The guy’s the one who did it!” Faceless uttered through gritted teeth. “He looks young, but his power is something else. Not only is he a middle-stage Vessel Augmentor, he practices a strange art that allows him to control invisible forces and absorb someone’s blood. He somehow beat my innate magic, Light of the Black Fiends, sucked my blood dry and almost beheaded me!”

“No wonder you look so weak!” Old Grass said slowly, “That youngster must be the pretigious disciple of a major clan or a sect who’s out to broaden his horizons!”

“Hmph! I don’t care who he is, I swear I will pay back everything he’s done to me ten times over and swallow him alive!” Faceless uttered with a vicious, bloodthirsty snarl. However, Old Grass disagreed.

“If the young man is as strong as you say, then it’s best if you avoid him completely. The missions Evergreen Ivy has given us should be our first priority above all else. Once Anyang is destroyed, you can toy with him however you like!”

“Unacceptable! I must rip him to shreds first before I can focus on anything else!”

Old Grass’s expression turned cold. “Do not forget why we’re here, Faceless. I will take action if you fail your mission again, understand?”

“... Fine. That lucky bastard. I suppose he can live a while longer!”

Faceless looked disgruntled, but his fear of Old Grass seemed to win out over his anger at Ye Qing. He nodded and put a lit on his emotions, but a new thought almost shattered his composure the next moment. “Shit! I’ll never hear the end of it if Dark Eye and Rotten Crown learn that I allowed the bastard who nearly killed me to go scot free, if only for a moment!”

“So? Would you rather fight that young man now and die for certain, especially since he’s aware of most of your abilities?” Old Grass shook his head. “Just treat this as a valuable lesson and learn from your mistakes. In the future, don’t let your recklessness lead you by the nose again!”

“Now then, let us see to your wounds, shall we?”

“Yeah. Sorry for the trouble, Old Grass!” Faceless apologized in a grim tone.

Old Grass plucked two strands of hair from his head. They immediately transformed into a pair of grass that he placed on Faceless’ neck. As soon as they had taken root, the grasses immediately withered at an accelerated rate while Faceless’ neck wound healed slowly. The Stranger was fully healed by the time the two grasses had decayed into dust.

“It’s done!” Old Grass declared in a slightly weary tone. “Just rest for a few days, and you should be back to full health. Do try to be more careful in the future, okay?”

“I know!” Faceless replied uncaring while twisting his neck tentatively.

Suddenly, the two Strangers grew quiet, and a gentle breeze stirred the air. The next moment, yellow grass sprouted in the courtyard, the walls, and even the tree just outside the tofu shop. They painted a cold, bleak picture in the evening as they swayed lightly in the wind.

A few seconds later, the yellow grass gradually withered and disappeared. Faceless could be heard saying,

“You’re way too cautious, Old Grass. There’s no one who can elude both of our senses.”

“Better to be safe than sorry. We cannot afford to screw up again, Faceless.”

“I get it. I promise you that everything will be smooth-sailing from here!”

……

“That was too close!” Ye Qing wiped some sweat off his forehead while hiding on the peasant household’s rooftop. A second before Old Grass had suddenly covered the courtyard with grass, he had sensed something amiss and ran away. If he was even half a second slower, the Stranger named Old Grass might have discovered him. Some Strangers’ ability and magic were just incredibly difficult to guard against!

“They said they were going to destroy Anyang. What on earth are they planning?”

Ye Qing flipped over to the other side of the roof and lay down on his back. Staring at the pitch black sky above his head, he muttered, “The group is bigger than I expected as well. Evergreen Ivy, Rotten Crown and Dark Eye? That’s at least five Strangers plotting to destroy Anyang, and who knows if there are more Strangers behind this conspiracy?”

“Should I try and thin their numbers now?” Ye Qing thought for a moment but let out a sigh in the end. “Nah, it’s too risky!”

Old Grass was obviously a Malice-class Stranger, and he was clearly much stronger than Faceless. Even with his new power, he wasn’t absolutely certain that he could defeat him for sure. Besides that, there were a lot more members in this group than he expected. If he failed to kill Old Grass and Faceless in one hit, they would almost certainly escape and know that he was onto them. That could only end poorly for him.

Thirdly, it sounded like the group of Strangers was plotting something big enough to destroy the entire county. It was one thing if he hadn’t heard about the conspiracy, but since he had, he couldn’t just do nothing and live his life as usual. Until he learned the specifics of this plan and confirmed the number of Strangers who were hiding in Anyang, it would be wise to avoid alerting the enemy prematurely.

“Should I tell Yan Yufei or the Pacification Bureau about this?” Ye Qing toyed with the idea for a bit before shaking his head. Again, he didn’t want to alert the enemy. The Pacification Bureau currently lacked the manpower to carry out any sort of operation, whereas the administrative division lacked the ability. If he informed any one of them, they would be forced to take action no matter how unprepared they were. That would lead to the Strangers being more careful with their plan and make it harder to stop them.

That was why Ye Qing thought it would be better to lie low while the advantage of surprise was still in his court. Only after he had discovered the specifics of their plan and identified every Stranger who was involved in this conspiracy could he eliminate them in one fell swoop.

“Alright then. Let’s do this!” Ye Qing declared with a smile before leaping into the air and vanishing into the night.