Stranger Danger

“Hmph! For someone who’s about to die, you sure have a lot of things to say. Unfortunately for you, we don’t.” The man wielding twin hooks ordered impatiently, “Get him!”

Was the man really not a chatterbox? Of course he was. Otherwise, he would not have bothered speaking to Chen Cang at all and just attacked him. The problem was that he himself could not answer Chen Cang’s question.

This morning, he woke up and found the items placed at the head side of his bed. He was Ding Shengshui, Hallmaster of the Myriad Horse Hall, an outstanding Trueman of the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance, and the one they called the “Hooks That Part” in the jianghu, and someone had somehow dropped a pile of items right next to his head without him noticing. It had been a frightening experience to say the least.

All that fear melted to excitement when he saw the scene captured by the Flower Moon Reflection Talisman and read the letter that detailed exactly where Sword Ghoul was hiding, however. He immediately set out to capture the man.

Did he ever suspect that Joyless Ye was the one behind the items and thought of capturing the man? Of course he did. The problem was that the man had proven himself strong enough to appear right next to his bed without triggering his senses. If Joyless Ye wanted to kill him, he could have done it as easily as snapping his fingers. With that in mind, how would he even begin to capture such a man?

Rather than chasing after an unfathomably strong warrior whose hideout was still completely unknown to him, it seemed easier to just follow the instructions he was given and capture Sword Ghoul instead. Besides, assuming that the scene captured by the Flower Moon Reflection Talisman was real, Sword Ghoul was the true mastermind behind it all. Not only did he dare to trick Xiang Weilong, they were going to use the Dragonmount Duke and the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance as his butcher’s knife. If this incident was leaked, everyone would know that Sword Ghoul had played them like a fiddle. Both the Dragonmount Duke and the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance would suffer a massive blow to their reputation.

No matter how he looked at it, capturing Sword Ghoul, the mastermind behind it all, would earn him far more merit than capturing Ye Qing. Assuming he succeeded, he would surely be able to show his face before Dragonmount Duke and obtain his recognition. He would surely soar to the peak of his life from then on.

In summary, was Ye Qing anywhere near as valuable as the Sword Ghoul?

Not even a little!

So he came, and it turned out that the Sword Ghoul really was hiding at the exact spot that was mentioned in the letter.

If this wasn’t a free lunch, what was?

If he did not seize his heaven-given-opportunity by the throat now, when was he ever going to do so?

So, he gave the order. Everyone he brought immediately pounced toward Chen Cang like hungry beasts.

“Hmph… you think the likes of you can capture me?” Chen Cang hmphed imperiously and unleashed a vast amount of sword qi from his pores and bodily points.

The letter might have mentioned Chen Cang’s location, but it did not mention his skill and techniques at all. Caught completely off guard, several people were killed on the spot, while Ding Shengshui himself was driven back in an unsightly fashion. By the time he recovered, Chen Cang had transformed into a beam of light and burst out of the window.

As soon as Chen Cang burst out of the window, countless arrows and hidden weapons shot toward him from every direction.

A cyclone of sword qi danced around Chen Cang and blocked all the projectiles. Once the first wave was repelled, he moved his fingers like he was stroking a qin and retaliated with a shower of sword qi. Dozens of Myriad Horse Hall disciples failed to dodge out of harm’s way and were skewered by the sword qi in no time. Cries of pain immediately filled the air.

This was just the beginning though. More Myriad Horse Hall disciples were filing out of the streets and rooftops and forming an encirclement. Not only that, Ding Shengshui had burst out of the Jade Pendant Restaurant and swung his twin hooks at Chen Cang, severing space and breaking hearts.

“Heartbreaking Hook”

Chen Cang did not attempt to dodge the attack, however. He allowed “Heartbreaking Hook” to pierce through his sword qi and leave a bone-deep wound behind his back. He used it to push himself faster into the crowd of Myriad Horse Hall disciples rushing toward him.

What happened next could only be described as a massacre. Like a tiger loose in a pen of sheeps, he slew over half of the incoming warriors and wet the streets red with their blood in just the blink of an eye. Not only that, he purposely escaped to locations with the most number of people, and wherever he traveled, walls crumbled, houses collapsed, and cries of pain broke out like a neverending symphony.

Chen Cang’s goal was very simple. He wanted to create as much chaos as possible. It was the only way he could shake off Ding Shengshui and escape Dragonmount City before the true elites of the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance showed up.

There would be consequences for such wanton destruction, but so what? His plan was exposed, and he was now the sworn enemy of the Dragonmount Duke and the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance. It wasn’t like they would let him live if he minimized the amount of damage dealt as he made his escape, so why would he give a shit about preserving lives? If anything, the more damage he caused, the harder it would be for the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance to hunt him down.

So, he let loose. If a human stood in his way, he slew the human. If a Buddha blocked his path, he slew them as well!

When a Trueman stopped holding back, the amount of death and destruction they caused could only be described as catastrophic. Depending on the settlement’s defense, they could level an entire county or even commandery if they wanted to. Since Chen Cang was holding nothing back, scores of streets and countless more buildings were turned into rubble in an instant. Countless people were caught up in his rampage and killed.

Naturally, Dragonmount City was in havoc right now.

Chen Cang could afford to go on a rampage, but Ding Shengshui couldn’t. Not only that, he had to make sure he didn’t accidentally damage a property or kill one of his own. Because he could not go all out, he eventually lost track of Chen Cang. Some time after that, the swordsman broke out of Dragonmount City.

“This is your win, Ye Qing.”

Beyond the city, Chen Cang wiped away the blood on the corner of his lips and cast a glance at the screeching, wailing city behind him. A snarl flashed across his features for an instant before he turned away. His voice would linger in the air for a very long time.

“But I haven’t lost yet. Just you wait, Ye Qing.”

……

Inside the Jade Pendant Restaurant, Feng Qingyou looked out of the window at the ruined city and asked, “Is this the show you wanted to show me, Joyless?”

“Yep.”

Ye Qing nodded before asking, “Do you think I was too cruel, Qingyou?”

Chen Cang’s rampage had surely cost Dragonmount City an unthinkable number of lives. As for the property and financial damage? He didn’t even want to think about it.

“Of course not.”

Feng Qingyou gave him a small but pure smile. “The jianghu is cruel, and you and I are but fishes in the jianghu. Naturally, we must adapt to its ways to survive.”

“Besides, Dragonmount City is the central headquarters of the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance. It is also where most of their factions both major and minor reside. The large majority of these people are villains whose presence is nothing but harmful to the world, so why would I mourn their deaths? Why would you mourn them?”

“Right. Right.”

A smile of relief peeked out of Ye Qing’s features. He wasn’t sure what he was worried or afraid of, but Feng Qingyou’s words were exactly what he needed to hear.

“By the way, you knew that Chen Cang was hiding in this restaurant from the start, didn’t you?” Feng Qingyou asked. She just could not believe that it was a coincidence no matter what.

“But of course!” Ye Qing replied with a proud grin.

No matter how smart Chen Cang was, he could not possibly know that something as OP as the Annon Sutra existed. He could not know that he would never be able to escape even if he ran to the ends of the world, and he definitely could not know that the man of his dreams had been hiding just one literal floorboard away from him.

“When you went out last night, you were paying the Hallmaster of Myriad Horse Hall a visit, weren’t you?”

Feng Qingyou did not ask how Ye Qing was able to locate Chen Cang. Instead, she asked something else she was curious about, “From what I know, Ding Shengshui is a cunning, paranoid, and greedy man. How on earth did you manage to convince him that Chen Cang was the true culprit behind all this?”

“With this.”

Ye Qing produced a Flower Moon Reflection Talisman from his Nature’s Shell and handed it to Feng Qingyou. When she activated it and watched the scene until the end, she couldn’t help but ask another question, “When did you make this?”

“I activated it while I was conversing with Chen Cang.” Ye Qing snickered. “I knew something wasn’t quite right the second he opened his mouth. So, I activated the talisman just in case. The results were far better than I could have possibly hoped for.”

This was a habit he picked up while he was still working at the Pacification Bureau. When a Pacification Sentinel was out patrolling or investigating a case, it was common for them to run into all sorts of Strangers or other dangers. Since there was no guarantee that they would survive, it was drilled into everyone to keep a handful of image or voice recording talismans, Strange Artifacts etc on their person at all times. If they were killed in action, at least they could leave behind clues that would be useful in tracking down the murderer, continuing the investigation, and more.

That said, he hadn’t used the Flower Moon Reflection Talisman when recording Chen Cang. It was because the activation of the talisman was pretty “loud” per se and would almost certainly be detected by the swordsman. Instead, he used a Magia in the Magia Tree called the “Lingering Honks of A Goose”.