Stranger Danger

“A goatherd?” Ye Qing lifted his eyebrows with a smirk. “A Trueman goatherd? I suppose that’s acceptable considering the location.”

The man who pinned down the unknown man was none other than Ye Qing. He had sensed the man’s presence as soon as he arrived at the edge of the Sun Swamp. The reason he hadn’t confronted him immediately was to see what he was plotting. It didn’t take long for him to arrive at the conclusion that it was nothing good.

“Haha… just making a living. A man’s gotta eat, right?” The man let out a simple laugh. He did not seem to mind the fact that Ye Qing had seen right through his cultivation.

“What is your name?” Ye Qing asked.

“Tao Goatherd, senior. Well met,” the man answered.

“Tao Goatherd? You have quite the fitting name.” Ye Qing let out a noncommittal chuckle. “Anyway, you don’t mind hanging out with me for a bit, right?”

“Of course, senior. I will do as you say,” Tao Goatherd said fearfully and respectfully, playing the role of simple and honest man to the letter.

While the two men spoke, Feng Qingyou’s cultivation had reached a critical moment. Yin and yang circulated, and origin qi flowed in from every direction. At the same time, all sorts of phenomena were taking place.

About a teatime later, the phenomena abruptly disappeared into nothingness. Thick dark clouds that seemed to be hiding countless celestials, Buddhas, gods and demons followed immediately after.

Ye Qing’s expression did not change, but he was stunned on the inside. Feng Qingyou was just recovering her wounds. How the hell did she trigger a tribulation? This was ridiculous!

Luckily, the Celestial Buddha Demonic Cloud Tribulation wasn’t a particularly dangerous tribulation. It wasn’t even named among the Seventy Two Earthly Fiends Tribulations. Therefore, he wasn’t too worried for her safety.

As expected, Feng Qingyou’s response toward the descending celestials and Buddhas—all manifestations of the demonic clouds—was to raise a hand and make a stroking motion like she was caressing a qin or se.

The heavens created strings to make way for the qin and se, and the goddess stroked them to quell celestials and Buddhas.

With just one gesture, the surrounding space shook without a trace, and heaven and earth vibrated as if humming a magical tune. Shocked and furious, the celestials and Buddhas in the sky abruptly scattered into nothing.

As Ye Qing was paying most of his attention on Feng Qingyou’s tribulation, he did not notice the hidden glint flashing in the eyes of the seemingly honest and meek Tao Goatherd. The goatherd’s whip was sneakily and soundlessly moving toward Ye Qing’s neck even though his hand was perfectly still. It was almost as if the whip had a mind of its own.

Sensing no reaction from Ye Qing whatsoever, Tao Goatherd’s eyes crinkled just a bit into the beginnings of a savage smile.

He was aware that Ye Qing was strong. Very, very strong. He was sure he would lose in a fair fight, which was why he waited patiently for an opportunity instead of attacking immediately. He waited for his opponent to relax his guard so he could end his life in one strike.

As expected, that opportunity came very quickly. If he could wrap his opponent with his Mind Sealing Whip, his mind would be sealed, and he would be able to do whatever he wanted with him.

But right before the Mind Sealing Whip would wrap around his opponent’s neck, the Strange Artifact suddenly encountered absolute resistance and was unable to push even an inch further.

Not only that, he could sense waves of shock and terror from his Mind Sealing Whip.

His Strange Artifact was warning him of danger!

Realizing that his ploy had failed, Tao Goatherd did not hesitate to pull back his Mind Sealing Whip and prepared to leave—or at least, he tried to. The Mind Sealing Whip resisted his pull completely, and when he looked, he realized that the young man had somehow caught his whip between his fingers.

The pair of fingers might as well be a pair of mountains. No matter how hard he pulled, he was unable to budge his whip even a little.

Tao Goatherd was a decisive man. Realizing that he could not have his cake and eat it, he immediately relinquished his whip and jumped away. At the same time, he made a hand seal in an attempt to detonate the Mind Sealing Whip.

The next moment, his eyes widened in shock. Right before he could detonate his Strange Artifact, he saw the young man pulling it into his palm with the twist of his wrist and clenching tightly. There was a dull rumble, and the Mind Sealing Whip was crushed into fine powder just like that. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought that the Strange Artifact was made up of dead branches and rotten leaves!

“Pwack!”

With this, Tao Goatherd’s plan to detonate his Strange Artifact and buy time for his retreat failed. Not only that, he suffered tremendous damage because the Mind Sealing Whip was a bonded Anima Strange Artifact.

Despite having witnessed its destruction with his own eyes, Tao Goatherd still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The Mind Sealing Whip was a Disaster-class Strange Artifact forged from the tendons of the Disaster-class Stranger, the Soul Devouring Flood Dragon. Incredibly tough and tenacious, it was impervious to conventional weapons and immune to the elements. How was it possible for someone to crush it into powder with their bare hands?

There was no denying the reality in front of him though. Worse, his nightmare was just beginning. Every cell in his body screamed for him to escape when Ye Qing started running toward him.

“Save me, honey!”

Tao Goatherd roared, and the loose, long hair behind his head abruptly split apart to reveal the gorgeous, seductive face of a woman. An eerie smile appeared on her face, and her eyes shone with anomalous, scarlet light that could pollute one’s mind.

At the same time, the ghastly silhouette of a woman took form in the light. Her fingers bent like talons and her face contorted like a ghoul’s, she ran toward Ye Qing without making a sound.

Ye Qing did not slow down, however. Dark yellow light gathered and spread out around him with the weight of a mountain and the thickness of the earth. The scarlet light crumbled the second it made contact with the dark yellow light, and the transparent silhouette was no exception.

Ye Qing reached Tao Goatherd in just the blink of an eye. He landed a palm strike on his shoulder.

Bang!

There was a loud bang, and Tao Goatherd was nailed into the ground like a wooden stake. His muscles and bones creaked ominously as blood poured profusely out of his orifices.

The woman at the back of Tao Goatherd’s head also let out a bloodcurdling scream and grew transparent.

“Hmm? Human skin?”

It was only now Ye Qing realized that the face behind the back of Tao Goatherd’s head was a human skin. Specifically, it was a human face that had been sewn to the back of his head. It looked exactly like a real woman’s face, lifelike and vibrant.

What piqued Ye Qing’s curiosity even more was the fact that the human face was intelligent and conscious. When it noticed Ye Qing’s gaze, it shuddered once before breaking into tears, “This humble commoner Qiao Cuihua greets senior.”

“Senior, it is all this man’s fault. He is the one who plotted against the senior in the Sun Swamp, and it is he who tried to attack you by surprise. This humble commoner is but a helpless victim who has no choice but to obey his whims. Please have mercy!”

Tao Goatherd was still dizzy after taking such a heavy blow from Ye Qing. He never expected his wife to stab him in the back.

“Hehe… wanna guess if I believe your story or not?” Ye Qing chuckled ominously while rubbing his nose. Though, if he were to be completely honest, he could have believed her story if he hadn’t overheard their earlier conversation.

“Please open your eyes to the truth, senior! Please save me from this vile monster!” The human skin face started appealing from an emotional standpoint instead after seeing that her pleading wasn’t working.

“Oh? What do you mean?” Ye Qing asked curiously.

“Woo… this humble commoner was a common wife until she had the misfortune of being spotted by this villain. Not only did he kill my whole family, he stripped off my face, sewed it to the back of my head, and trapped my soul in it. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he tortured me day and night. I beg you, senior, please rescue me from this sea of bitterness!”

Tears streamed down the human skin face’s profusely. “If you rescue me, this humble commoner swears to serve you for eternity to repay your kindness!”

Although it was just a face, it was quite the beautiful and pity-inducing face. This was doubly true when it was crying.

“Haha… it sure is a touching story.” Ye Qing chuckled. “What do you think, Tao Goatherd?”

By now, Tao Goatherd had finally regained his consciousness. He answered meekly, “This one doesn’t dare to dictate your actions, senior. Your wisdom knows no bounds, so I am sure you can make the best decision for yourself.”

“You’re certainly many times more intelligent than her.”

Ye Qing let out a thunderous grunt, and the human skin face suddenly let out a yelp of pain. “You’re at my mercy, and you dare to try and catch me in a charm spell? Just how foolish can you be?”