Stranger Danger

Chapter 563: Blissful Peak Bleeds

There was a saying called, “Three men make a tiger.” If one person lied, then it was just a lie. If two people lied, then it was an elaborate lie. But if three people lied, then someone might believe it to be the truth—even if it was still objectively a lie.

That was what was happening to the crowd right now. At first, no one believed that the Blissful Spring was poisoned. But as more and more people started yelling and showing symptoms, their doubt inevitably began to sprout like a seed. As if on cue, a dark and evil energy burst out of their heart and flooded their entire body in an instant.

“I’ve been poisoned!”

“The Blissful Spring really has been poisoned!”

“What the hell is this poison? Why is my Blue Dragon Pill not working against it?”

“My... My Poison Removing Golden Cicada isn’t working either.”

“Heavens! This poison spreads insanely fast!”

It was like a plague. It wasn’t long before everyone noticed that something wrong with their body, and they were unable to remove the anomalous energy no matter what they tried. As fear, suspicion, anger and more negative emotions sprouted like weeds inside their heart, so did the anomalous energy. Chaos rippled throughout the entire Blissful Peak.

Ye Qing let out a sigh as he observed the panicking crowd. To be honest, Xiong Kuohai’s method wasn’t all that impressive. All he did was get a few shills to pretend that they were poison and sow the seeds of doubt in the people’s heart. When doubt arose, the Burning Heart would activate. After that, he didn’t need to do anything else. The situation would snowball out of control itself.

Of course, it was partially thanks to the fact that the shills were professionals. They really were infected by the Burning Heart.

In fact, Xiong Kuohai’s tactic was pretty stupid. Yes, it would seem that they really were poisoned, but how did the shills know that it was the Blissful Spring that was poisoned and not the food? For that matter, how did they discover the poison sooner than the Grandmasters residing on the sixth floor? So on and so forth.

It was absolutely possible to poke holes in Xiong Kuohai’s tactic. However, one did not need a perfect or intelligent tactic to get their way. Right now, almost everyone was panicking and freaking out after discovering that they were poisoned. Chaos was everywhere and growing worse by the second. Just who in the world would have the presence of mind to care about the contradictions at this moment?

Long story short, Xiong Kuohai’s tactic was simple, old-fashioned, and full of holes, but it was effective, and that was enough.

Not wanting to stand out, Ye Qing emulated his fellow guests’ behavior and sat down on the floor. It looked like he was meditating and attempting to expel the poison inside his body when he was really observing the sixth floor.

It was absolute havoc in the lower floors, but the guests on the fifth and sixth floor were still calm. It was the calm before the storm, however.

“What is the meaning of this, Bodhisattva?”

The Sword Executor Elder of Sword King City, Ji Donglei [1] Like a thundersnow, he was glaring at Joy Bodhisattva while attempting to suppress the Burning Heart.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, Elder Ji,” Joy Bodhisattva replied.

“You don’t? Is there really any point in pretending at this point, Bodhisattva?” The Vermillion Bird Envoy of Earthfire Palace of Demons, Huo Ruyi pressed while burning like a literal vermillion bird who just rose from the ashes. “Why did you poison us?”

“I did not.” Joy Bodhisattva attempted to explain, “Just think. What reason do I have to poison any of you?”

“If it wasn’t you, then why are we afflicted, while you and your people are perfectly fine?” barked Huo Ruyi while shooting glances at Joy Bodhisattva and the rest of the disciples. It was clear that they were fine.

“Someone must have poisoned the Blissful Spring. Due to our limited reserves, my disciples and I drank only ordinary water to ensure that every guest in our halls could enjoy our finest. That is why we weren’t poisoned.”

Joy Bodhisattva declared with conviction, “Someone must have done this to frame me!”

On the fifth floor, Wei Changhe, the man they called the Sunset Swordsman questioned, “Really? The Blissful Spring is one of the most heavily guarded places in the Buddhist Hall of Joy, is it not? How could any outsider have slipped in without you noticing?”

“The Blissful Spring is guarded, but warriors from all walks of the jianghu are gathered today. It is perfectly natural for a champion to slip past the guards and poison my Blissful Spring.”

Joy Bodhisattva suddenly turned in Xiong Kuohai’s direction and declared, “It’s you. You’ve been scheming to kill me for the longest time, Xiong Kuohai. It has to be you.”

“How could you accuse me, Joy Bodhisattva?! What did I ever do to you?” Xiong Kuohai hurriedly denied the accusation.

“Have some shame, Joy Bodhisattva! Leader Xiong just gave you a massive gift yesterday, and now you’re slandering him? Do you think we’re stupid?!”

A brawny man wearing a bronze half-mask that covered the right side of his face roared, “Cut the bullshit and give us the antidote already! Otherwise, you know what’s going to happen next!”

The speaker was known as Punisher Tang, and just like his name implied, there was nothing he loathed more than evil, and nothing he loved more than punishing evil. He was a famous wanderer of Northern Xinjiang and a half-step Grandmaster.

“Yeah. Give us the antidote!”

“Give us the antidote!”

“Give us the antidote!”

Punisher Tang’s words immediately triggered the crowd and caused them to charge the peak. The disciples of the Buddhist Hall of Joy hurriedly barred their way.

“Calm down. Please think about this. The Buddhist Hall of Joy does not share a hostile relationship with anyone here. What reason is there for us to poison you?” argued Worriless while standing protectively in front of Joy Bodhisattva.

Beside Punisher Tang, a woman wearing a bronze half-mask covering the left side of her face said harshly, “Reason? Is it not obvious? Everyone here knows that the Buddhist Hall of Joy is a group of vile, murderous heretics who would do anything under the sun to achieve their goals. It’s obvious that you’re trying to kill us all in one fell swoop!”

The woman was Punisher Tang’s younger sister. Her name was Slayer Tang, and she was a late-stage Spirit Master. They were known as the Punisher and the Slayer in Bei You.

Once again, her inflammatory words triggered the anger of the crowd.

“Yes, that has to be it.”

“They’re plotting to kill us so they can take Bei You for themselves!”

“I should’ve known better than to believe that a bunch of heretics would uphold the tradition of guest right! “

“I... I don’t want to die...”

“Ahhhhh!!!”

As suspicion, anger and fear continued to grow in the people’s heart, the Burning Heart fully activated and scorched their minds with all sorts of negative emotions. Unable to hold onto their rationality any longer, one man swung their saber and cut a disciple of the Buddhist Hall of Joy in half. Blood splattered against his clothes and dyed everyone’s eyes red.

“If the Buddhist Hall of Joy isn’t going to let us live, then we’re not going to let them live either. Let us fight, my brothers and sisters!”

“Let us fight!”

“Kill! Kill the heretics! Kill them all!”

“If you don’t want to die, then follow me! We’re going to kill these heretics to the last! One of them has to have the antidote!”

“Kill them all!”

The disciples of the Buddhist Hall of Joy weren’t just going to stand there and die, of course. They immediately got into position and engaged the crazed people in combat.

The fight quickly spread like a spark that consumed the inferno. It only took a couple of breaths for the entire Blissful Peak to be embroiled in battle.

Although the Blissful Mountain was the Buddhist Hall of Joy’s home territory, everyone participating in the Trueman feast was a powerful warrior in their own right. As if that wasn’t enough, they had the numbers advantage as well. As a result, dozens of disciples were killed in just a dozen or so breaths or so.

That said, many of these warriors possessed a weak will as well. It wasn’t long before the raging emotions exceeded their limits, causing them to burst into flames and die.

The terrible deaths were the last straw that unleashed the guests’ fear and fury in full. Combined with the Burning Heart’s influence, and they all charged toward the disciples with suicidal abandon.

“I don’t know what you’re planning, and I don’t care. Give us the antidote now or suffer the consequences, Joy Bodhisattva,” Ji Donglei glared at Joy Bodhisattva while clutching his sword tightly.

If someone were to look closely, they would notice that a bit of crimson was slowly but surely leaking out from the corner of his eyes. Ji Donglei discovered that even he, a Grandmaster, was unable to expel the anomalous energy growing inside his body. Worse, he couldn’t even put a name to the poison. One thing for certain, it was evil, potent, and beyond terrifying. If it wasn’t cured as quickly as possible, then today could very well be the day he died. Those poor people who burned to death just a while ago were the perfect example of that.

“Elder Ji, I—”

Joy Bodhisattva was about to defend herself further when Punisher Tang interrupted with a rude shout, “Is this the time to be talking right now?! Let’s capture this bastard first!”

Punisher Tang roared and pounced toward Joy Bodhisattva. Moving even faster than him was a meteor descending from the sky and heading straight for Joy Bodhisattva.

The meteor wasn’t a real meteor, of course. It was a meteor hammer[2] and Punisher Tang’s main weapon. That said, the power behind the attack was so great that it really felt like a meteor was falling toward Joy Bodhisattva.

Joy Bodhisattva remained calm, however. She pointed her right hand upward and her left hand downward. There existed only her between the gap that was heaven and earth.

The descending meteor abruptly shattered into smithereens, and Punisher Tang flew backward as if he was struck by a heavy blow. Half of his body exploded into a shower of blood and gore just like that.

1. Could I have done you all a favor and shortened this to just Ji Donglei? Sure. But knowing the number of names that will be showing up—and disappearing—in the next couple chapters, trust me when I say that the author and I are doing the readers a favor. ☜

2. The meteor hammer, often referred to simply as meteor, is an ancient Chinese weapon, consisting at its most basic level of two weights connected by a rope or chain. ☜