Stranger Danger

Chapter 686: Smiling Death

The Death Sea was floating in the sky. It might look close, but it was actually quite far away from the ground.

Therefore, anyone without a good movement art or a flying Strange Artifact would not be able to enter the Death Sea.

Ye Qing’s movement art wasn’t his best, but it wasn’t his worst either. Combined with the fact that he had a vast reservoir of true qi, flying into the Death Sea was no problem for him.

The closer he got to the Death Sea, the thicker the death qi in the air became. They felt like greedy leeches that continuously drained away his vitality and vigor.

If the death qi everyone felt on the ground was a spring rain, then the death qi when he was about halfway to the Death Sea was akin to a rainstorm, and the death qi when he was less than fifty meters away was practically a raging river. Such was its strength and flow that even he with his level of body felt extremely uncomfortable.

If even he was feeling like this, those weaker than him in terms of cultivation stage, true qi, body, or all of the above could only fare worse. He did not doubt for a second that the weaklings would be sucked dry as soon as they got close.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, this was just the second step to enter the Death Sea.

There was the massive sea wave as well.

Ye Qing was about thirty meters away from the sea surface when the Death Sea suddenly started churning violently, and a massive wave abruptly poured down from the sky.

It was truly a spectacle.

Ye Qing looked up, lifted his hand, and clenched his fist. He launched a diagonal punch toward the sea wave that was moments away from sweeping him away.

His energies instantly formed a wave breaker above his head.

Divide the flow, and the current would surely lose its power. Hence, “Divide”.

The sea wave crashed against Divide with a loud boom. Sea water scattered everywhere, and mist permeated the air.

There was nothing except air below Ye Qing. As a result of the crash, he fell about one-sixth of a meter before ripples appeared underneath his feet.

Ye Qing remained calm, however. He simply pushed his fist forward another inch.

One inch was enough to generate wind and thunder.

One inch was enough to push the rolling sea wave back into the Death Sea.

From the ground, he looked like a god pushing back the raging tide with one punch. It was both incredible and awe-inspiring.

For a time, the people still on the ground could only stare at his back, awestruck.

Right before Ye Qing would enter the Death Sea, a gigantic, blood red hand appeared out of seemingly nowhere and made a grab for Ye Qing.

Its timing was perfect. It was right at the point where Ye Qing had spent his strength, and new strength wasn’t generated yet.

“Stay with me.”

A gentle, seductive voice said as a terrifying aura enveloped him from all sides, and the gigantic hand closed in on him.

The danger had come out of nowhere, but Ye Qing did not panic in the slightest. In response to the grab, he let out a small grunt and mustered in vigor.

The bloody hand in the air abruptly froze for seemingly no reason whatsoever. It lasted no more than a fraction of a second, but it was enough for Ye Qing to break free and disappear into the Death Sea, all the while leaving many afterimages that made him difficult to track.

It was only after Ye Qing was completely gone that the bloody fingers finally clenched into a fist. It elicited such a sound that some of the warriors on the ground had to cover their faces from a sudden, powerful gale.

“Huh? Interesting...”

The voice rang again, and it was tinged with surprise and curiosity. The owner wasn’t expecting that Ye Qing would be able to break free from her grasp.

It was at this moment an extraordinarily beautiful woman appeared from the horizon. She had red hair and wore a red dress. Her snow white skin made her look like a fairy shrouded by fire or a demoness who was covered in blood—demonic, bewitching, and intoxicating.

“Can someone please tell me what is inside the Death Sea? Why are you all gathered here?”

It didn’t look like the woman was moving quickly, but in reality, she had appeared in front of the group in just the blink of an eye.

There were some who were entranced by the woman’s beauty, but there were also some who noticed the danger they were in and turned as pale as a sheet. One of them—did he recognize the woman?—immediately turned tail and tried to escape.

Unfortunately, he began deflating as soon as he started moving. It was almost as if he wasn’t human, but a leaky waterskin. It wasn’t long before all that was left of him was his skin.

The man did not seem to notice his state, however. He continued to run even after he had transformed into a human skin.

A hundred meters later, the human skin finally collapsed on the ground, unmoving. He would never stand again.

Those who were running or those who were planning to run away subconsciously stopped in their tracks. The death was so horrifying that their self-preservation instincts took over before they knew it.

Cold sweat began pouring down everyone’s head. Even the slow ones were staring at the woman with their mouths agape, afraid.

“It looks like you do know something. Would someone please tell me what’s inside the Death Sea?”

The woman’s smile resembled a blooming flower. One that only grew in the darkest depths of hell.

Her voice was still ringing in the air when she crossed what looked like sixty meters of distance in an instant and appeared behind a man who was trying to run away earlier.

“Can you tell me what I want to know?” The woman whispered beside the man’s ear with a smile as beautiful as a flower.

The man stiffened. They were so close that he could feel her warm breath tickling his ear and smell the quiet fragrance that was her scent, but temptation was the absolutely last thing on his mind right now. Not only that, he felt so cold he was surprised he hadn’t turned into ice yet.

“It’s... it’s nothing,” the man replied stiffly.

“If it’s nothing, then why did you run away just now?” the woman asked gently. “Is it really nothing, or did you just not want to tell me?”

“It’s not like that... I—” The man was still trying to swindle[1] his way out of this situation when suddenly, he stopped talking altogether.

It was because the woman was now grabbing his skull.

“I see you don’t wish to tell me,” she said smilingly.

Great terror suddenly burst inside his chest. “Mer—”

His head exploded like an overripe melon before he could finish, tainting the ground in red and white matter. Strangely, the gore did not touch the woman at all.

“He didn’t want to tell me the truth. That’s fine. Is there anyone here who’s willing to enlighten me?”

Still smiling, the woman slowly scanned the rest of the group. Just looking at her bright smile, you would not think that she just murdered a man a moment ago.

No one said a thing for a time. They were so silent it was as if they were already dead.

Suddenly, five warriors attacked the woman at the same time. Someone shouted, “She’s only one person! We need to attack her together, or we’re all going to die!”

The five warriors just so happened to surround the woman from all sides. When they attacked, they did not hold back.

While they were no match for the likes of Chu Wangsun or Yun Qingxiao, anyone who dared to show their face here was at least a middle-stage Spirit Master. Naturally, their full-powered attacks were nothing to scoff at.

For an instant, the rest of the group looked sorely tempted. Then, reality poured down their heads like a bucket of cold water and chilled them to the core.

The five warriors abruptly deflated as if an invisible hand was crushing their bodies. They started spraying blood out of every orifice for seemingly no reason whatsoever.

The blood did not fall to the ground. Instead, they flew up into the air and floated for a moment.

Smiling, the woman snapped her fingers and caused the blood to shoot toward the five warriors like powerful arrows.

Pssh pssh pssh!

The five warriors were grievously wounded to begin with. They all died after the blood arrows skewered them like pincushions.

“Sigh. Why won’t you just answer my question?”

The woman brushed her silky black hair with one hand while staring at the five corpses on the ground. Her smile was only growing brighter by the second.

“Would someone just please answer my question already? Otherwise, I’m not going to hold back anymore.”

Everyone turned as pale as death when they heard this.

“A cup of wine floating underneath the white clouds, a free soul wandering heaven and earth...”

It was at this moment a lazy, unfettered voice cut through the razor sharp tension.

The voice had reverberated as if it came from a far distance, but by the time it faded, the owner of the voice was already standing before them.

“Why all the blood and violence when there are good mountains, waters, wine and scenery to enjoy? Let’s talk it out, shall we?”

1. Frankly what else can he do? Death is better than eternity on a tortoise’s back. ☜