Stranger Danger

Shangguan Hongjin took one step forward with her hands wrapped firmly around her sabers.

Her right hand was holding a saber in a forward grip, and her left hand was holding another saber in a reverse grip.

She took another step forward, and both sabers exited their sheaths at the same time.

Her right saber swung from up to down, and her left saber swung from down to up.

A pair of snow white saber beams shot toward the Ghost Shrine. They ripped the earth like serpents and roared like dragons.

Shangguan Hongjin might be a woman, but the twin strike was powerful, vigorous, and magnificent. It was not inferior to any man’s strike.

The pair of saber beams threatened to catch the Ghost Shrine in a deadly pincer attack.

As if realizing the danger it posed, the Ghost Shrine’s invisible tentacles immediately repositioned to block the attack.

The silhouettes also stopped harassing Ye Qing and formed rings around the Ghost Shrine. They were going to block the attack with their own bodies.

An invisible explosion took place as the saber beam from above severed countless tentacles. However, the resistance diminished its power just enough that it disappeared as it neared the Ghost Shrine’s roof.

The saber beam from below also ripped countless silhouettes to shreds, but just the same, it ran out of power and faded right before it would hit the Ghost Shrine’s door.

It would seem that Shangguan Hongjin’s twin strike—as impressive as it was—had failed to do anything.

The woman wasn’t disappointed, however. On the contrary, she withdrew her sabers and started guffawing. “Hahahaha! We’ve got you now.”

Yes, the Ghost Shrine had fallen for her trap hook, line and sinker.

While the Ghost Shrine was busy defending itself against her attack, one man had slipped through the cracks and arrived at its front door.

That man was Ye Qing, of course.

Shangguan Hongjin’s twin strike was just a bait to draw the Ghost Shrine’s attention away and create an opening for Ye Qing.

Ye Qing was the true blade that would deal the killing blow, not her.

Although Shangguan Hongjin hadn’t communicated this with Ye Qing beforehand, he figured out what she was planning the second he saw her move. He did not disappoint her.

Ye Qing’s appearance angered the Ghost Shrine as a matter of course. It also felt true danger from his presence.

Countless ghosts tried to squeeze their way out of the door and stop Ye Qing, so much so that the many ghosts were crushed or fused with another ghost. From his perspective, it looked like a giant ball of flesh was blocking the entrance. It was a horrifying sight to say the least.

Ye Qing paid it no attention, however. He simply raised his hand, made a fist, and thrust his fist forward.

What would you do if your path was blocked by an army?

He knew the perfect technique for this situation.

“Break Through”

The fist force punched through the ball of ghosts like paper, its power not diminished in the slightest.

Then, it slammed against the Ghost Shrine’s door frame.

The world grew silent for a moment. Then, the Ghost Shrine twisted and spasmed like a living being, leaving many ripples behind. The invisible tentacles broke into pieces at the same time, and countless ghosts let out a painful wail before disappearing in a flash.

Countless cracks spread across the Ghost Shrine’s surface. At the same time, bright red blood seeped out of the cracks.

“Hahaha! Well done!”

Shangguan Hongjin smiled like a blooming flower when she saw this. “Continue!”

“As you wish, my lady.”

Ye Qing was no saint. The dog was down, and he was going to kick the absolute shit out of it. While the Ghost Shrine was recovering, he drew back his fist about a sixth of a meter and threw another punch.

Thunder roared, and the earth trembled. Both the door frame and one part of the wall shattered from the attack.

Not done yet, Ye Qing withdrew his fist and threw his arm around like a whip. He landed a powerful strike on one of the pillars and snapped it in half like a twig.

The Ghost Shrine was barely hanging on at this point. Twisted, ghastly faces appeared on the crumbled pieces of the wall, screaming.

“Hahaha! Well done! It’s my turn now!”

Shangguan Hongjin had been waiting for this moment. She leaped into the air and fired a cross slash straight at the Ghost Shrine.

This time, the Ghost Shrine didn’t put up any resistance. It couldn’t. Its rooftop was cut into four pieces as easily as tofu.

“Hell yeah!”

Shangguan Hongjin didn’t stop attacking there. As she fell, her sabers whirled round and round like a hurricane, and her saber beams manifested everywhere like snowfall. The Ghost Shrine was grievously injured to begin with, and the relentless assault destroyed whatever hope it had at a second wind.

“Hahaha! Revenge is best served hot!”

After the Ghost Shrine had collapsed entirely, Shangguan Hongjin finally landed on the ground, sheathed her sabers, and laughed boisterously.

She was still in the middle of laughing when Ye Qing—the young man was currently standing at the center of the ruins—raised his foot and stomped down hard.

Boom!

A powerful force washed out of Ye Qing and into the surroundings. Every brick and tile in the vicinity dissolved into dust as a result.

“What are you doing?” Shangguan Hongjin cut her laughter short and shot Ye Qing a strange look.

“I’m just making sure it’s dead,” Ye Qing explained smilingly.

Looking at the pile of rubble that used to be the Ghost Shrine, anyone would think that it was dead. However, Ye Qing knew it was still alive because he hadn’t earned a dragon-serpent rune. That was why he followed up with one final strike and earned himself a gold dragon-serpent rune for his efforts.

“Huh. I didn’t know this thing is this tenacious. Is it dead now?” Shangguan Hongjin scratched her head.

“Yeah,” Ye Qing confirmed before thanking both Shangguan Hongjin and Pedant Earth, “Thank you for your aid, Miss Shangguan, senior Pedant. Things would not have turned out nearly as well otherwise.”

Shangguan Hongjin waved him off. “I didn’t do much. Pedant Earth’s the one who deserves both our thanks. If he hadn’t known what the hell this thing was, there is a good chance all of us would have died here.”

Pedant Earth replied in a hurry, “Ahem… you flatter me, warrior Ye, Miss Shangguan. All I did was move my mouth. You two are the ones who did the heavy lifting.”

He was speaking from the heart. If Ye Qing wasn’t able to see the ghosts, he would have died a long time ago. He would never have gotten the opportunity to identify the Ghost Shrine.

“You’re too humble, senior.” Ye Qing chuckled. “Anyway, let’s not waste any more time. The Ghost Shrine is dead, and this village is probably safe for the moment. Let’s search the area and collect the treasures before more scavengers show up, yeah?”

“Makes sense.”

“You’re totally right!”

Both Shangguan Hongjin and Pedant Earth’s eyes lit up. Earlier, a ton of warriors had entered the village before they were able to scour the whole place. Later, they were drawn toward the commotion happening at the memorial hall and dragged into a fairly difficult fight. As a result, they weren’t able to obtain much loot.

But now, most of the warriors who entered the village were killed by the Ghost Shrine, and whoever was left were probably no match for the three of them. They were free to scavenge the village as they pleased. The Ghost Shrine itself contained a mountain of fortune as well.

On top of that, anyone strong enough to enter this place must own a lot of good stuff as well. That was yet another major source of income.

And so the trio began dividing the loot. Shangguan Hongjin and Pedant Earth wisely left the bodies close to Ye Qing alone and began looting those farther away from him. Shangguan Hongjin in particular was going through the bodies at a prodigious rate. Judging from her practiced movements, it was clear that she had done this many times before.

Of course, Pedant Earth himself was a tomb raider. He was slower than Shangguan Hongjin, but it was just a small difference.

After the duo were done looting, they gathered the bodies and burned it all into ash. No sense in leaving clues for the latecomers to find. Then, they went back to the village to scour the rest of the houses.

After the duo were gone, Ye Qing too looted the bodies close to him and burned them using the Netherflame. Then, he conducted a search around the area.

No, he wasn’t searching for Strange Artifacts or treasures. He wanted to learn more about this place and check if they were related to the Dark Overlord’s inheritance. If they were, he wanted to find clues that might point him toward its exact location.

After all, the main reasons he came here was one, to break through his limits and become a Grandmaster; and two, to obtain the Dark Overlord’s inheritance.

Those were his two primary objectives. Everything else was secondary.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to find anything despite going through the entire village.