Stranger Danger

Chapter 549: Sixth Mouse

There was a famous town named Joy Town about fifteen kilometers to the south of Bei You City, and next to the town was a mountain named Blissful Mountain. The Buddhist Hall of Joy was located at its peak.

A mountain was just a mountain until someone noteworthy and decided to give it a name. That was the case for Blissful Mountain. Blissful Mountain used to be an ordinary, nameless mountain, and Joy Town used to be called something else until Joy Bodhisattva founded the Buddhist Hall of Joy.

When Ye Qing arrived at Joy Town, the place was already overflowing with people. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the shirts blotted out the ground, and sweat fell like a rain.

Most of them weren’t here to attend Joy Bodhisattva’s Trueman feast though. They were just here to partake in the festivities.

Did they not want to attend Joy Bodhisattva’s Trueman feast? Of course they did. They just weren’t qualified. Those who did had either received an invitation letter from Joy Bodhisattva, or were big shots in their own right. No one else had the right to ascend Blissful Mountain at this time.

Even so, countless jianghu warriors came to Joy Town to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event. It wasn’t every day a Trueman feast was held, and a Grandmaster offered to share their insight after all. Even if they couldn’t attend the feast itself, there was no harm in witnessing a Trueman’s power and broadening one’s horizon.

Most importantly, the world itself changed when a Grandmaster decided to share their knowledge in public. It was also highly probable that Joy Town would be caught up in whatever phenomenon the sermon created. If they could gain something from this, then it would be worth it.

But of course, most of them were really hoping to sneak up Blissful Mountain and slip into the Buddhist Hall of Joy in secret. If they succeeded, and they were spotted by a senior or a powerful faction, then their lives would be changed forever.

There were even some people who were looking to duel with a famous warrior in hopes of becoming famous overnight.

Ye Qing himself saw many unfortunate bastards trying to sneak up Blissful Mountain only to have their asses kicked by the disciples of the Buddhist Hall of Joy and thrown out.

It was a shameful experience as a matter of course, but since this was a celebration day for the Buddhist Hall of Joy, the disciples did not take anyone’s life. As a result, a lot of people were emboldened to try again and again.

Ye Qing did not linger overly long because he had departed from the Temple of Divination a little later than expected. There was only a day left before the Trueman feast was held, so he made his way to the mountain pass as quickly as he was able.

He had just arrived at the mountain pass when two Buddhist Hall of Joy disciples stopped him in his tracks. He was just about to hand his invitation letter to the disciples when suddenly, it curled up like a snake, slipped out of his hand, hit the ground with a plop, and vanished into the crowd just like that.

“Huh?”

Ye Qing blinked and glanced at the two disciples.

The female disciple noted his confusion and reminded, “Benefactor, we cannot allow you to enter the mountain if you do not have an invitation letter.”

Ye Qing blinked again and finally snapped back to reality. “Someone stole my invitation letter right in front of your eyes. Aren’t you going to do anything about this?”

The male disciple explained, “Our job is to collect the invitation letters only. We do not take responsibility for anything else.”

“Besides, if you can’t even protect your own invitation letter, then you prove that you have no right to attend our Trueman feast in the first place.”

Ye Qing: “...” That’s very jianghu.

There were many others who had witnessed the theft, and they were all wearing looks of schadenfreude on their faces. No one was surprised, however. This clearly wasn’t the first time such a thing had happened.

“My name is Joyless Ye. Can I go in?” Ye Qing asked. He did not have an invitation letter at the moment, but perhaps Joy Bodhisattva had informed her disciples about him?

“My apologies, but we have never heard your name before. What sect do you belong to? Do you have proof?”

“Hahahaha!” The crowd burst into laughter upon hearing this. Who did he think he was? Did he think he could get inside with his looks or something?

Ye Qing sighed. “Fine. Give me a moment. I’ll be back with my invitation letter very soon.”

Plan B was a dud as well. Clearly, Joy Bodhisattva had not informed her disciples about him. In that case, he had no choice but to get his invitation letter back.

Of course, he could say that he knew Joy Bodhisattva and the Worriless Protector, but even if the disciples believed him, everyone would think that he was a useless person who got in purely because of his connections, and that was more than his pride could accept.

“I just want to keep a low profile. Why is it so difficult?” Ye Qing massaged his forehead and turned around.

The crowd burst into laughter again when they heard Ye Qing’s words. No one believed that he could actually get back his invitation letter. If this was somewhere else and some other time, then sure. However, Joy Town was currently drowning in a sea of limbs right now. The thief only needed to bend their waist and duck into the nearest group to vanish like a mud statue that fell into the sea. It was near impossible to track down anyone like this.

Even if he could track down the thief, how was he going to catch up to them? Again, the place was absolutely jam-packed with people. Even walking had become a task that demanded one’s full attention, much less pursuing someone. And if he was too rough when he was shoving someone out of his way, then he would be making enemies for himself.

Right now, nearly everyone walking the streets of Joy Town was a jianghu warrior, and mild-natured was no one’s middle name. If he enraged someone, then the game of pursuit would suddenly turn into a game of survival—for Ye Qing.

In fact, a lot of people had lost their invitation letters for all kinds of reasons, and a good number of them were pretty strong. They had caused quite the commotion in their attempt to reclaim their invitation letter, but not a single one of them had succeeded. In fact, some had even died for their rash decision.

If even those powerful warriors could not succeed, what could a weakling like Ye Qing possibly do? His aura was weaker than most of them!

That wasn’t all. There were a good number of malicious or petty-minded people who purposely moved into Ye Qing’s way and blocked his path. It was to delay the young man and make it even more impossible for him to reclaim his invitation letter, of course.

Jianghu warriors were only all too happy to start trouble. We’re so much better than you, and yet we never even got an invitation letter. Why does a weak nobody like you get to have an invitation letter?

If we can’t have it, then no one can!

People with such a mentality would never be in the minority. Even as Ye Qing took another step, the throng of people blocking his way grew a little thicker. Their malice was more than palpable.

Ye Qing paid them no heed, however. He continued to walk forward like they didn’t exist.

It was at this moment the crowd’s malicious grins suddenly stiffened on their faces. When Ye Qing reached them, they abruptly parted as if a massive, invisible hand was parting them into two. What was strange was that not a single person seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary at all. Their expressions were slackened, and their eyes unfocused as they dumbly moved out of Ye Qing’s way.

Naturally, Ye Qing’s departure didn’t cause any commotion whatsoever.

Ye Qing continued to stride forward with confidence and leisure. Wherever he went, people automatically stepped out of the way as if he was Joy Bodhisattva herself. Just a few breaths later, Ye Qing saw the back of the thief who stole his invitation letter.

The thief was an old man with a goatee. He had a slim figure, beady eyes, and splayed incisors that gave him the appearance of a mouse.

Right now, the old man was weaving between the crowd and escaping from the crime scene as quickly as possible. There should be barely any space between the people to move at all, and yet the old man’s movement art was quite impressive. No matter how little space there was, he could always spot a hole and slip through with milimeters to spare. He seriously resembled a mouse.

The old man’s name was Shu Jianyun (Growing Clouds). Despite having a poetic, elegant name, he neither looked nor acted like such a person. In fact, he was a kleptomaniac and a pervert who stuck to the shadows far more than he ever did in the light. Because he was the sixth child of his family, the jianghu eventually gave him a fitting moniker, Sixth Mouse.

Despite his terrible moniker and reputation, Shu Jianyun hadn’t lived until old age because he was dogshit lucky. His thieving skills and movement art were so outstanding that he managed to garner some small amount of reputation in Northern Xinjiang. A lot of people even called him, “Senior Mouse” when they saw him.

But of course, Shu Jianyun was nothing before a giant like the Buddhist Hall of Joy. The fact that he didn’t receive an invitation letter was all the proof one needed to see to know what they thought of him.

Sixth Mouse came to Joy Town today to attend the Trueman feast, of course. Specifically, he was here for the knowledge sharing. He was only one small step away from manifesting his Yin God and entering the Spirit Master stage, and Joy Bodhisattva’s knowledge might just be what he needed to achieve a breakthrough.

Of course, he had to enter the Buddhist Hall of Joy first, but he did not have an invitation letter, and he wasn’t famous enough to get in with just his face either. What should he do?