Stranger Danger

Chapter 171: I Have A Sword

“One hundred silvers?” The stall owner exclaimed in surprise.

Ye Qing frowned and turned around. He immediately saw a man in a white cloak staring at his Warding Pendant with fervent eyes.

Ye Qing shook his head. “My apologies, but I’ve already bought this pendant.”

The cloaked man replied in an icy voice, “Sell it to me for a hundred silvers.”

Ye Qing had a feeling that this was going nowhere, so he rejected the man directly, “Sorry, but no.”

Unfortunately, the cloaked man ignored his response. “Two hundred silvers?”

Ye Qing kept his answer succinct. “No.”

The cloaked man doubled his offer immediately. “Five hundred then.” It was like five hundred silvers was nothing to him.

But what a coincidence! Five hundred silvers is nothing to me either!

Plus, this was the Warding Pendant they were talking about. Highly prized for its ability to “see evil” and “purge evil”, it was a natural treasure that was as rare as it was priceless.

Its ability to “see evil” referred to its extreme sensitivity toward evil energies, strange auras, curses and the like. If any such entities or objects were to enter its range, then the Warding Pendant would detect it and warn its user no matter how hidden, insignificant, or unusual it was.

Its ability to “purge evil” was exactly as it sounded, though it could protect others to a certain extent, repel misfortune and garner good luck as well.

Of course, as with all things in this world, its effects were exaggerated to a certain extent. If it really could “purge any evil”, then there would be no need for warriors. The Pacification Bureau could simply toss it at a Disaster-level Stranger and call it a day. In fact, the Warding Pendant was only effective against ordinary evil and Strangers. A Hatred-class Stranger or higher could most likely overcome it with a bit of effort.

What Ye Qing really valued was its ability to sense evil. As he had come to realize as of late, his spirit couldn’t detect everything. There were Strangers who could elude his senses and catch him off guard. However, the Warding Pendant was a potent detector that could supposedly detect any evil, strange or curses within its range. Of course, he wasn’t going to trust its abilities blindly, but the extra insurance it provided was almost as valuable as a life-saving Strange Artifact.

The Warding Pendant was considered to be priceless because it could make the difference between life and death, so the idea that this guy was trying to buy it for merely five hundred silvers was positively laughable.

Oh? He had bought the Warding Pendant for a mere ten silvers? That was different. He had scammed it from a scam artist. He’d more than earned the right to claim the pendant.

Seeing that silver wouldn’t move Ye Qing, the cloaked man decided to change his condition. “So long as you don’t ask for the moon, I can give you anything you want. Do you need a Strange Artifact? A martial arts manual? A medicine? Or something else?”

Ye Qing squinted. It was clear that this guy knew that the jade pendant was a Warding Pendant, and to be fair, his latest offer sounded pretty attractive. But after Ye Qing carefully mulled over his financial condition, he discovered that… he wasn’t lacking in anything at all! He had all the money, martial arts, Strange Artifacts and even medicine he might want at this stage of his cultivation. In other words, there was literally nothing the man could give him!

In the end, Ye Qing had no choice but to say, “Sorry. I just want you to leave me alone.”

The cloaked man: “...” That’s an answer I’ve never heard before.

The cloaked man finally ran out of patience after hearing Ye Qing’s latest answer. He began emitting blood red energy and pressure as he said, “I must have the Warding Pendant. Please don’t test my patience, fellow warrior.”

I’m a simple man. I kill when I run out of patience.

Before Ye Qing could react, the stall owner suddenly shouted and tried to snatch the jade pendant off his hands, “That pendant is mine! I’m not selling it anymore!”

The stall owner hadn’t planned on interfering with this matter, but the moment he heard the words “Warding Pendant”, his greed immediately overtook his good sense.

One must be strong to set up a stall in the Strange Market. If not, anyone could just take what you have and not pay a coin. The stall owner was a late-stage Vessel Augmentor, so he definitely wasn’t a weakling. However, he had only made it halfway to Ye Qing when a hand grabbed his throat and silenced him like a duck, leaving only deathly silence.

“What a coincidence. My patience is limited as well!”

His own thirst for violence stirred when he sensed the cloaked man’s undisguised hostility.

“The Warding Pendant is very important to me. I’m sorry.” The cloaked man was more stubborn than expected though. Although Ye Qing had captured the stall owner in a single move, he wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. He assumed a stance and attacked Ye Qing with his palms.

“Impressive saber technique!” Ye Qing’s eyes lit up with excitement. The cloaked man was using his palms and executing what seemed to be a basic horizontal cut, but in reality it was an exquisite saber technique that was as fast as it was variable.

It was too bad that the cloaked man had met his match. Speed was Ye Qing’s forte!

Ye Qing lifted his own palms and used them like a saber as well. With casual ease, he executed a diagonal cut aimed at his opponent’s wrist.

The cloaked man’s hand shifted a little. It was just a tiny movement, but it would allow him to dodge Ye Qing’s attack by millimeters—or at least, it should have. The moment he made a move, Ye Qing changed his cut into a sweep almost as if he had anticipated his reaction. At this rate, Ye Qing’s hand was still going to hit his wrist.

Was it a coincidence? Doubt flickered in the cloaked man’s mind, though his reaction wasn’t slow in the slightest. He made another change, but once again Ye Qing pre-empted his movement and neutralized his counter before it could come to fruition.

How is this possible? How can he predict my moves like he could read my mind? The cloaked man thought in shock. He tried switching up his attack a couple more times, but each time Ye Qing was there to cut off his attacks. Not only that, he proceeded to kill off any follow-up moves he might have come up with.

In the end, nothing came out of his attack, and his energies screeched inside his body like pent-up anger. He felt like his secrets were completely dragged out into the open. He felt like there was absolutely nothing he could do or think that the young man couldn’t predict. It was one of the worst things he had ever felt in his life.

Realizing that Ye Qing was an insurmountable wall, he didn’t hesitate to withdraw his hand and attempt to escape. However, he had just withdrawn his arm halfway when Ye Qing’s hand abruptly sped up and reached his chest in an instant. There was just nothing he could possibly do to stop this.

Bang!

A muffled groan escaped the cloaked man’s lips as he felt an unstoppable force pouring into his body. It easily broke his bones and caved his chest in. At the same time, an unbelievably hot astral qi invaded his internal organs, boiled his blood, and dimmed his mind.

Wisps of dark red flames began seeping out of his body, and not even the mist cloak could cover up its presence. In fact, the cloak was slowly crumbling as time passed.

While his opponent was groggy and unable to react, Ye Qing struck his chest again with a “Flowing Cloud, Flying Sleeve” technique.

“Get lost!”

The cloaked man groaned again as Ye Qing’s sleeves sent him stumbling at least thirty meters across the street. The streets were hardly empty,so of course he bowled over many pedestrians who were unfortunate enough to be in his way.

Everyone looked angry, but no one dared to raise their voice against the culprit. Why? Because they couldn’t beat him, of course.

After the cloaked man rose to his feet and spat out some fresh blood, he saluted Ye Qing and said, “Thank you for showing mercy, senior.”

He knew he was still alive not because he was strong, but because his opponent had shown mercy.

Seeing that Ye Qing was silent, the cloaked man did not hesitate to turn around and leave. He was already lucky that his opponent was a merciful person, it would be beyond foolish to linger any longer.

After the cloaked man was gone, Ye Qing finally looked at the stall owner he was still gripping with one hand and sneered, “Still want your Warding Pendant, vendor?”

The one reason he didn’t kill the cloaked man was because he couldn’t sense any killing intent from him. If he had, he wouldn’t mind delivering him to kingdom come for free. There was no rule forbidding people from causing a fuss or killing anyway.

“I… I…” The stall owner stammered. Before he could finish though, Ye Qing opened his mouth and unleashed a devastating lightning bolt. Three different stall owners in three different directions lost their heads instantly, but Lightning Bolt wasn’t done yet. It raced toward another stall owner at the far end of the street.

The fourth stall owner was prepared, however. When Lightning Bolt annihilated his head, he slowly vanished and left behind a headless paper doll.

A few breaths later, a silhouette appeared on the street and whistled at Ye Qing, “It was just a joke, brother! Why so murderous?”

“A joke?” Ye Qing let out a cold, ridiculing chuckle. “Is that what my life is to you people? A joke?”

“If life is a joke, then that guy over there died because he played a joke on me using poison; that guy on the opposite side died because he played a joke using a gu insect[1], and the one to my left died because he played a joke using a yin spirit.”

“As for you, you played a joke on me using a curse. I’m a fair and impartial man, so I gotta send you to the other side as well. The four of you can be mahjong buddies.” [2]

Lightning Bolt dashed toward the stall owner once more.

“Calm down, brother. Let’s talk this out!”

The stall owner snapped his fingers, and dozens of masks at his stall suddenly floated into the air. They danced left and right and made this cackling noise that was positively eerie. Lightning Bolt easily destroyed them all with its lightning, but it was a trap. The masks were overflowing with tainted energy, and it greatly diminished Lightning Bolt’s speed and strength.

“I’m sorry for my fellows on the other side, but I’m not done living yet. They’ll just have to wait for another mahjong buddy.”

The stall owner chuckled and made a grab for Lightning Bolt. “By the way, this mini sword of yours looks fantastic. I’ll take it as compensation for my injuries.”

Lightning Bolt was famed for its uncanny speed and devastating power. The tainted energies might have slowed it down considerably, but the idea that someone could just grab it out of the air was laughable.

And yet, the stall owner was no ordinary person. His hand had suddenly appeared on top of Lightning Bolt as if it could pass through spacetime and caught Lightning Bolt in a firm grip.

Bzz bzz!

Lightning Bolt shook violently and discharged a great amount of lightning, but it was unable to break free from the enemy’s grasp.

“Heavens, this Strange Artifact is even better than I thought! Thank you so much, brother!” The stall owner exclaimed with undisguised glee as he stared at Lightning Bolt.

“I know it’s awesome. You don’t deserve it though!” Ye Qing responded with dripping scorn. As soon as he said the word “deserve”, Lightning Bolt abruptly froze as if it was gathering its strength. The next moment, it unleashed with an unthinkable amount of lightning and sword qi.

Lightning blazes the nine heavens,

A sword freezes the Nether.

Dare you test my wrath,

When I have a sword that can pierce the moon and the sun?

“ARGH!” The stall owner let out a bloodcurdling scream as his right hand was turned into a pincushion. Naturally, it was impossible for him to hold onto Lightning Bolt. The mini sword immediately took aim at his forehead and shot forward.

1. Venomous insects that normally appear in poison and curses. ☜

2. A mahjong game can be played with three players, but four is the standard. ☜