Stranger Danger

Unfortunately for him, Ye Qing never intended to dodge the attack. He allowed Xiang Weilong’s palm strike to land on his chest—not budging even a little as it did—and slammed his dodged punch into Xiang Weilong’s shoulder.

Crack!

Unable to withstand the weight of Ye Qing’s attack, that entire half of Xiang Weilong’s body let out a sickening, loud crack. The man himself was nailed into the ground as his meridians and bodily points came undone.

“Cough! Cough!” Xiang Weilong spat out a mouthful of blood before pleading, “You… you can’t kill me. My dad is the Dragonmount Duke. If you kill me, then you will die as well!”

“Hah…”

Ye Qing’s only response was a cold, mirthless chuckle. He spread his fingers wide, grabbed Xiang Weilong’s shoulder, and pushed.

Boom boom boom!

Thunderclaps erupted deep below the earth, and the ground within a hundred meters of the duo split into web-like cracks. Xiang Weilong himself was pushed into the underground until only his head was visible.

In fact, all that was left of Xiang Weilong was his head. Everything below the neck had exploded into itsy bitsy pieces.

The shock and disbelief were permanently frozen on Xiang Weilong’s face. He could not believe that Ye Qing dared to kill him even until the very end.

“I don’t care who you are. Every single one of you is dying today.”

Ye Qing gave the head a cold smile before lifting his foot. One disgusting squelch later, Xiang Weilong was thoroughly dead in both body and mind.

“Now, there is only one left!”

Ye Qing looked in the direction where Sword Ghoul had escaped to and disappeared in a flash.

……

How is this possible? How is he so strong?

Sword Ghoul thought incredulously and fearfully to himself as he ran through the rain and soppy ground like a blade of invisible sword qi.

Did he underestimate Ye Qing? Not at all. Ye Qing’s strength had simply exceeded his expectations.

Sword Ghoul first saw Ye Qing at the Goddess City. Naturally, he had witnessed his battle against the three goddesses as well. Although he had no idea how the young man had become so powerful in just a matter of years, it did not quell his intent to kill Ye Qing one bit.

It wasn’t just for his younger brother, but also himself. It was Ye Qing who embarrassed him and stripped him of his dignity at Luo Shui. It was Ye Qing who forced him to leave his home and become what he became today.

He, Sword Ghoul, hated Ye Qing. From the moment he saw Ye Qing in Goddess City, he only wished he could rip and tear his nemesis into a million pieces.

But as great as his hatred was, it wasn’t greater than his fear or his good sense.

Although he was a Trueman now, he was certain he wasn’t strong enough to kill Ye Qing alone.

That said, he did not need to tackle Ye Qing head on to kill him. No one ever said that the only way to kill someone was to fight them fair and square.

That was why he persuaded Xiang Weilong, Nefarious Codger and Tyrant Bow to join him using Goddess City’s treasure hoard as the bait. In his opinion, no matter how strong Ye Qing was, he must have accrued some injury and fatigue after battling against the three goddesses. He and the three Truemen combined should be enough to slay Ye Qing and settle his vengeance once and for all.

Unfortunately, he was wrong. He had done his best to overestimate Ye Qing, and still the young man managed to exceed his expectations.

The outcome of his error was failure, and the outcome of his failure was the death of Xiang Weilong, Nefarious Codger, and Tyrant Bow.

But just because he failed once did not mean it was all over.

On the contrary, the show was just beginning.

Buzz!

It was at this moment Sword Ghoul was suddenly struck by a sense of unease. The next moment, the world shook once, and everything came to a standstill. Everything. Not only was he and the world around him frozen in place, even his thoughts had become slow and faltering.

The next moment, a figure dashed toward him and slammed into him like a truck.

Bang!

Sword Ghoul scattered like powder the second contact was made, leaving behind a storm of sword qi.

The sword qi eventually converged in one place and took the form of Sword Ghoul, though the man’s hood had been shredded by Ye Qing’s force. As a result, his horrendously scarred face was bared for all to see.

“It was you, Chen Cang?” Ye Qing stared at the ugly but familiar face with a look of dawning realization. “This was all designed by you?”

“Hahaha… that is correct.”

Chen Cang was also staring at Ye Qing as well. A sickening smile was plastered on his scarred face as he greeted Ye Qing, “Long time no see, old friend. Are you happy to see me?”

“I’m certainly surprised, but happy? Not in the slightest.” Ye Qing asked coldly, “Why are you doing this?”

“... Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this?”

Sword Ghoul’s face contorted into a sickening snarl as he let out a harsh laugh. He looked like a completely different person from the sword-obsessed and graceful Sword Gentleman he was a long time ago. “Are you seriously asking me that? You killed my younger brother and shamed me before the entire Luo Shui. You drove me away from my home and turned a monster, and you ask me why I would like to rip you limb from limb and destroy you where you stand?!”

Ye Qing held up a hand. “Cool your tits, Chen Cang. I admit that I’m the one who killed your brother Chen Zheng. I also admit that I stripped you of your dignity and drove you away from Luo Shui. But what the hell does your current state have anything to do with me?”

“Of course it has everything to do with you!” Chen Cang barked out another harsh laugh. “If it wasn’t for you, I would never have left Luo Shui. If it wasn’t for you, I would never have run into a member of the Swordsgrave!”

“Do you have any idea what they put me through? Do you have any idea what kind of life I was forced to lead until now? Hehe… hehehe…”

Chen Cang abruptly started chuckling like he had gone crazy. It wasn’t until a few seconds later that he snapped out of it as if awakening from a nightmare and continued, “They made me sleep on a bed of swords. If I so much as twitch a muscle, my entire body would be pierced.

They made me eat rotten, maggot-filled corpses and drink molten metal used to make swords. They made me sleep in a graveyard with only corpses as my company…”

Ye Qing exclaimed in realization, “You were captured by the Swordsgrave? Damn. I can’t believe you’re still alive.”

Now he understood why the elegant Sword Gentleman from before was no more. Now he understood how Chen Cang had become a Trueman in just a matter of years. The Swordsgrave was behind everything.

The Swordsgrave was one of the thirty-six unorthodox sects. They were notorious for being mysterious, powerful, and bat-shit insane.

The Swordsgrave was mysterious because no one knew where their sect was. They themselves only interacted with outsiders once in a blue moon.

The Swordsgrave was powerful because every single disciple roaming the jianghu was at least a Trueman. Those who weren’t Trueman weren’t allowed to leave the sect.

And finally, the Swordsgrave was bat-shit insane because they had no concept of morality whatsoever. They could do good or massacre an entire county depending on their feelings. They were also harsher toward themselves than their enemies.

A Swordsgrave disciple’s cultivation was all about rebirth through mortal danger. The Swordsgrave often subjected their disciples to inhuman treatments to refine their mental fortitude and hone their focus toward the sword. For example, they would force them live and sleep together with pigs and dogs, force feed them contaminated water and rotten flesh, force them to mutilate themselves with sword qi, force them to sit in boiling water or burn themselves on a bonfire to forge their sword heart, force them to kill their friends and family to prove themselves and so on.

Thanks to their extreme, insane cultivation methods, a disciple of the Swordsgrave usually rose through the cultivation rapidly.

Of course, those who could not were simply crippled or dead. Even those who survived were usually twisted or insane.

Few Swordsgrave disciples were able to survive the inhuman environment and treatment they were subjected to, but those who did were all exceedingly powerful warriors. How could they not when they, despite the absolutely inhuman training they were subjected to, managed to maintain their sanity and continuously devote themselves to the sword?

With one thought, you could become the Buddha or the Demon. The life of a Swordsgrave disciple was the truest reflection of that quote.

Seriously, Ye Qing was impressed that Chen Cang was able to survive the Swordsgrave’s torture and become a Trueman. Sure, he might be all twisted up both inside and outside, but that was just how Swordsgrave disciples were. It was practically their signature to be ugly and insane.