Stranger Danger

Su Xiu, Greenlake Bai and Ah Su were currently retracing their route back to where they came from—or so they thought. No one noticed that they were actually straying off the path and moving farther and farther away from the exit.

Thud.

Suddenly, they heard a thud from somewhere behind the fog. Su Xiu wasn’t sure why, but he subconsciously looked in the direction of the noise and saw what looked like a bronze door.

A pair of snakes were wrapped around the door. One of them was white, and the other black. The way their necks were intertwined above the door gave them a mysterious, profound appearance and made it clear that the door was no ordinary object.

Su Xiu made a grabbing motion, and the bronze door flew into his hand.

“What is that, first senior brother?” the woman in red asked curiously.

“I don’t know.” Su Xiu shook his head while examining the bronze door.

It was at this moment the two snakes on the door abruptly opened their eyes and moved about.

“Foolish mortals who can’t even see Mount Tai. If your eyes are just decorations, then you might as well do yourself a favor and remove them,” the white snake taunted.

“You’re artifact spirits?!” Su Xiu’s shock quickly morphed into wild joy when he realized that the Strange Artifact was sentient.

“Of course we’re artifact spirits. What else could we be?” The white snake scoffed.

“Waste of breath,” the black snake added ruthlessly.

“If I may ask, who are you?” Su Xiu asked carefully. The snakes were so intelligent they might as well be human. It was obvious that this was no ordinary Strange Artifact.

“Listen well…” the white snake cleared its throat.

“Harden your knees…” the black snake added.

“When Nanke dreams, the world ages…” the white snake began.

“Infinite time in a snap of a finger…” the black snake ended.

Right after that, both snakes declared at the same time, “We are the artifact spirits of Nanke, White Lord and Black Lord!”

“Nanke?” Before Su Xiu could even react, Greenlake Bai let out a cry of surprise, “Are you the legendary Nanke, the one that can create cultivation dreams for your wielder?”

“Ah! I guess not all of you are blind,” White Lord declared proudly.

“Nanke? You’re really Nanke?!”

Even with Su Xiu’s mental fortitude, he couldn’t help but blank out a little. Nanke was named in the Strange Artifact Register. Of course he had heard of it. He just couldn’t quite believe that the legendary Strange Artifact was currently within his grasp.

“Tsk tsk. You’re kinda dumb, aren’t you boy?” White Lord complained when he saw Su Xiu’s reaction. “I’m starting to regret choosing you to be our master.”

“You… You want me to be your master?” Su Xiu asked in disbelief.

“You found us, so you’re our master. What’s so hard to understand?” White Lord replied matter-of-factly.

“Congratulations, first senior brother. One hundred years, a Nanke dream. With Nanke by your side, it is only a matter of time before you go down in history as the strongest warrior of this era.”

“I will go down in history… as the strongest warrior of this era?” Su Xiu murmured. Was he a so-called Chosen One? Someone who was so lucky he could randomly pick up a legendary Strange Artifact on the side of the road?

No one would believe him if he told them about this encounter. He couldn’t quite believe it himself even though he was living the cliche right now.

“That Strange Artifact does not belong to you, friend.”

Suddenly, a voice came from within the fog.

“Who are you?”

Su Xiu immediately slipped Nanke into his sleeve before looking in the direction where the voice came from.

A man and a woman stepped out of the fog. The man wore a snow-white outfit and looked impossibly handsome. It was as if he was a celestial who descended from the heavens.

The woman was petite, but had an hourglass figure many women would kill to have. She wore a long dress with colorful ribbons floating around her. She too looked like a heavenly celestial.

“Please give us the item, friend,” the man in white said with a smile on his face.

The man’s voice was just as sweet and divine as his appearance, but his authoritative tone was unmistakable. This was a man who did not take rejection kindly.

“Why should I?” Su Xiu countered.

“Because that item is originally ours,” the man in white answered.

“Is that so? On what basis do you claim ownership over the item?” Su Xiu asked unhurriedly.

“It originally belongs to the Eight Legions of Devas and Nagas,” the man in white—or rather Dream Master—answered.

Earlier, they were tracking Nanke using the Edict of Divine Thought and pursuing it as quickly as they were able, but the Strange Artifact proved to be quite elusive. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Nanke’s presence suddenly disappeared again somewhere in the middle and worried them greatly.

Luckily, Nanke’s presence reappeared soon after, and the duo immediately gave chase like their life depended on it. When they finally managed to catch up to Strange Artifact, they immediately saw Su Xiu holding it in his hand.

Dream Master did not know how Nanke fell into the trio’s hands—did the thief run into the trio and got himself killed or something?—but ultimately, it did not matter. He couldn’t care less about the truth so long as he retrieved Nanke.

“You’re one of the Eight Legions?” Su Xiu’s eyebrows knitted a little. Of course he had heard of the Eight Legions. In fact, he knew them better than most jianghu warriors due to his background.

“That is correct.” Dream Master saluted him politely. “I am Dream Master of the Devas, and the item you’re holding is an important Strange Artifact that’s been passed down within the Devas for countless generations. My lord, Di Shitian, has charged me with the duty of bringing it home, so I hope that you will oblige this request.”

“The Devas? Di Shitian?” Su Xiu stopped tapping his wheelchair. He was surprised to hear that the strangers before him hailed from the Eight Legions, but the mention of the Devas and Di Shitian shocked him greatly.

As was evident in their full title, the Devas and the Nagas were the most venerated legions of the Eight Legions. As for Di Shitian. he was both the head of the Devas and the Eight Legions of Devas and Nagas. His strength was unfathomable, and he was a named warrior on the Heaven Champions Ranking.

If Nanke really was the Devas’ Strange Artifact, and if Dream Master really was carrying out Di Shitian’s order, then it would probably be a bad idea to hold onto Nanke.

However, he was reluctant to surrender the Strange Artifact. After all, it was Nanke, the seventy-eighth Strange Artifact on the Strange Artifact Register.

He was still hesitating when a pair of snake heads crawled out of his sleeves and yelled at Dream Master, “Go fuck yourself you fart of a bitch! What Devas? What Di Shitian? We’ve never even heard of you, so how could we possibly be your inheritance? Stop plastering your face with gold[1] you liar!”

“We don’t know you. We’re not familiar with you. We have no idea what you are,” Black Lord fired a triple denial.

Dream Master flinched. He never expected White Lord and Black Lord to reject him. “Black Lord, White Lord, you…”

“It looks like this item isn’t yours after all.” Su Xiu suddenly broke into a smile.

“What are you trying to say, friend?” Dream Master asked.

“It’s very simple. If this isn’t your item, then why should I give it to you?” A hint of determination flashed in Su Xiu’s eyes.

It was said that rejecting the heavens’ gift was akin to courting divine judgment. Nanke had literally delivered itself to his doorstep, so how could he give it up without a fight? How could a warrior who didn’t strive to be better possibly become stronger?

Besides, this was Nanke, a top one hundred Strange Artifact in the Strange Artifact Register. There were millions and millions of Strange Artifacts throughout the world, and Nanke was better than most of them. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it was a unique Strange Artifact that possessed the power to change one’s fate—the same could be said for any Strange Artifact in the top one hundred as well. While it was ultimately up to the person to change their own fate, that did not change the fact that Nanke represented an opportunity; a path to ascension.

Countless people failed to reach greater heights not because they were lazy or untalented, but because they never had the opportunity.

That was why Su Xiu couldn’t let it go. He was confident in his natural talent and the amount of work he put in to grow stronger. If he could obtain Nanke, he was sure he could rise to greater heights and become a noteworthy person. And if he could become a noteworthy person, he might just be able to treat Ah Su and mend the eternal regret and sorrow in his heart.

Love and pain flickered in Su Xiu’s eyes as he watched Ah Su.

1. Meaning to praise oneself. ☜