Stranger Danger

Chapter 258: Intimidation Tactic 101

Chapter 258: Intimidation Tactic 101

“Why are you getting in my way, Song Xilai[1]? What did I ever do to you?” Demon of Unliving raged after his attack was crushed.

“Hmph! You were going to slaughter hundreds of thousands of people, and you’re asking me why I stopped you?”

A handsome man with a sharp, imposing aura appeared in the sky. He had white hair and wore a white outfit. Before Demon of Unliving could react, Song Suyu unleashed a sword thrust and left a thin crack on the coffin. The next moment, an unbelievable amount of sword intent erupted from inside the coffin.

Boom!

After the coffin was destroyed, a scrawny, bony and freaky-looking man tumbled into view. He looked ragged and blackened probably because the explosion had done a number on him.

“Song Xilai, you piece of—”

“You-you-you-you-you what, you ugly sonuvabitch? No wonder you always hide yourself in a coffin. If I was you, I would’ve hanged myself a long time ago!”

A different voice interrupted Demon of Unliving before he could finish. The next moment, a sloppily-dressed Taoist appeared behind him and unleashed a palm strike.

An image of Yin and Yang appeared in the sky and rotated slowly. Everything within the image such as Demon of Unliving and the surrounding space were immediately crushed like grains in a millstone. His body was twisted like a rope, and blood spurted from multiple parts of his body. It looked like the invisible force might crush Demon of Unliving into powder at any moment.

“Your Yin Yang Millstone Hand deserves its reputation, Yellow Dragon Trueman!”

Suddenly, a giant sun that shouldn’t exist in this world of darkness rose into the sky. At the same time, a crescent moon fell into the horizon. There was a blur as if the corner of space where Demon of Unliving was was being distorted, and the warrior abruptly vanished into thin air.

Some distance away, the artificial sun and moon abruptly extinguished as if it was crushed by some sort of invisible force.

“The Heavenly Body Switching Art? I didn’t think you would come, Old Ding!” Yellow Dragon Trueman withdrew his right hand and looked at the spot where Demon of Unliving was transferred to.

There was a short, thin man standing next to Demon of Unliving. His eyes looked like soybeans, and a pair of buck teeth were sticking out of his mouth. He also had a goat beard. The guy looked just like a rat.

While stroking his beard, Old Ding greeted Song Xilai and Yellow Dragon Trueman, “Hail, Brother Song. Hail, Yellow Dragon Trueman.”

“Are you going to fight us, Ding Qiu?” Sword intent billowed like the autumn wind as Song Xilai side-eyed Old Ding.

Ding Qiu’s beady eyes narrowed into lines as he denied the accusation in a hurry, “Of course not! It’s just that we’re all compatriots here. Why fight among ourselves when cooperation would benefit us more?”

“Benefactor Ding is right. There’s no need to sour the peace over a small issue.”

A bald, fat monk with his stomach exposed like Budai[2] and shrouded in golden light floated over on a golden lotus. Despite his appearance, he was actually quite young.

“A small issue? You call the attempted slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people a small issue, Laughing Buddha?” Song Xilai said coldly. He looked like he might cut the monk down to size if he so much as breathed another word.

It was at this moment a feminine giggle interrupted their spat. “Guys, the Demon’s Tomb is only going to appear for three days. Are you sure you want to waste your time on pointless arguments? Wouldn’t it be better to murder each other after you’ve left the Demon’s Tomb?”

The giggle sounded like it came from a few kilometers, but less than a second later, a litter appeared right before their eyes.

No one was carrying the litter, but it didn’t need a carrier because it had four human legs. It also had a giant mouth and a tongue that was hanging outside the lips. For whatever reason, it was panting like a dog.

A woman sat inside the litter, and her face was completely masked from view. However, the curtains covering the litter were just transparent enough to reveal an hourglass figure.

The woman inside the litter suddenly looked and Song Xilai and asked, “Why aren’t you greeting your ex-lover, Xilai?”

“Hmph.” Song Xilai grunted but didn’t say anything[3].

The woman suddenly let out a mournful sigh that drew everyone’s sympathy even though they had no idea what was the story between her and Song Xilai. “How heartless. Back then… Actually, I’d prefer not to recall those woeful days, and you probably don’t want to see me anyway. See you later, everyone.”

The next moment, the litter ran into the void leading to the Demon’s Tomb and disappeared.

Yellow Dragon Trueman couldn’t help but move closer to Song Xilai and asked, “Ahem… Xilai? Did you… actually have an affair with the Saintess of Yin Mountain?”

“Fuck off!” Song Xilai’s face darkened as he unsheathed his sword half an inch. An incredible amount of sword qi immediately filled the sky.

“Ahem. The saintess is right. The Demon’s Tomb is only going to appear for three days, so… goodbye, y’all!” Ding Qiu flinched at the display of power and slipped into the void with Demon of Unliving just like that.

Song Xilai harrumphed, but he didn’t try to stop them. Ding Qiu was a Thief’s Sect elite, and no sect was better than the Thief’s Sect when it came to making a run for it. Like a rat, it was impossible to stop Ding Qiu from escaping even if he wanted to.

“Amitabha. This poor monk shall be taking his leave as well,” Laughing Buddha said with a smile before entering the void on his golden lotus.

“Ahem… Let’s go, Xilai.”

After Laughing Buddha and the others were gone, Yellow Dragon Trueman beckoned Song Xilai to him and put some of his disciples into his sleeves[4]. “Xilai, I don’t want to reprimand you for your habits, but you already have Junior Sister Bai, you know? When will you learn to appreciate what you have and stop womanizing… ahem. Looks like Junior Sister Bai is here. Good luck, brother!”

Song Xilai subconsciously looked in the direction where he sensed a pocket of auras. He saw a flying boat that seemed to be made from white jade flying toward him, and standing on the bow was a woman with a chilling expression and presence. She was like a winter plum who stood proudly in the winter.

Song Xilai immediately pulled a handful of Purity Sword disciples into his sleeves as well. Then, he put a hole in the void and slipped inside faster than one could blink.

A few breaths later, when the boat finally arrived at the scene, a woman walked over to the cold woman and asked, “Was that Senior Brother Song, senior sister? Why didn’t he wait for us?”

The woman replied coldly, “He’s just a coward, that’s all.”

“Let’s go!”

The boat dove into the void and disappeared as well.

More and more people showed up. Some of them were alone, and some of them brought disciples with them. Regardless of their company or lack thereof, they were all here to enter the Demon’s Tomb.

“I had no idea that Song Xilai had a fling with the girl from Yin Mountain Palace. That gossip alone is worth the trip.”

Inside a tower overseeing the phenomenon that had taken over an entire chunk of land, a man was lying in his chair and enjoying some melon seeds. He was wearing a lazy smile on his face.

Fang Xiaoman, the Chief of Bureau, and Gu Suitang, the Deputy Chief of Bureau, were standing on his left and right side. Gu Suitang looked worried, while Fang Xiaoman was shoving one shaobing[5]

“Hmm? A Stranger is coming,” Fang Xiaoman mumbled suddenly. As if on cue, a Stranger bearing a coffin and surrounded by crows slowly appeared from the horizon[6].

“That’s the Pallbearer!”

Gu Suitang looked at the Stranger walking toward the Demon’s Tomb and asked, “Should we kill him?”

The man on the chair cracked open a melon seed and replied, “Nah, he’s too weak. It wouldn’t achieve the intended effect.”

“What about that one?”

A few breaths later, a Stranger with a tiger’s head and an ox’s body showed up. Over six meters in height, it had four hooves that were literally on fire, three eyes, and a pair of long, sharp horns that looked as crooked as the Yellow River itself. The horns were pitch black and emanated some sort of eerie light. For some reason, the gap between the horns almost looked like a gateway that was connected to another world. There were also children running back and forth through the gap repeatedly[7].

The man took one look and said, “That one’s definitely not weak. I’ll leave it to you!”

Gu Suitang answered honestly, “I’m too weak.”

The man abruptly threw the melon seeds on the ground and swore, “Then what the fuck makes you think I can beat it? That’s fucking Tubo, man, Tubo! I don’t think even two of me can kick its ass, much less kill it!”

“Besides, Tubo is no irredeemably evil Stranger. Why the fuck would I provoke such a Stranger? It’s just unnecessary!”

While the man was swearing up and down, a couple more Strangers and jianghu warriors entered the Demon’s Tomb. Usually, they would be murdering the hell out of each other, but this time everyone shared an unspoken agreement. There would be no fighting until they had entered the Strange Realm.

“Finally! A suitable prey arrives!”

Suddenly, the man leaped into the sky and pushed his hands in front of him. A draconic roar shook the world, and a golden dragon at least three hundred meters long burst into existence. It flew straight toward a mountain that was hundreds of meters tall.

The mountain was no normal mountain. For one, it was floating in the air. Second, it was covered in all kinds of bones from head to toe. In fact, it looked like the entire mountain was made of bones.

It was the Bone Mountain, a Disaster-class Stranger[8]

Clatter clatter clatter…

As if sensing the danger, the bones on the mountain came together to form a pain of massive hands. It grabbed toward the golden dragon like it was catching a worm, but the dragon easily shattered the hands into pieces with the flick of a tail.

The next moment, the golden dragon swooped down and let out another roar. The massive Bone Mountain was shattered just like that.

“The Dragon Wars In the Wilderness”

Not done yet, the man roared and unleashed another three golden dragons. They trapped the rain of bones before they could hit the ground and crushed them over and over like a grinder. They didn’t stop until every single bone that made up the Bone Mountain was fine powder.

After the Bone Mountain was killed, the man clasped his hands behind his back and declared with a booming voice, “Just because the Pacification Bureau didn’t take action doesn’t mean that we’re sick kittens, you walking pieces of garbage!”

“I am Hong Jianglong, a member of the Pacification Bureau. You are free to enter the Demon’s Tomb, but anyone who damages the land or the people of Luo Shui will share Bone Mountain’s fate.”

“Just try me if you dare. I promise it’ll be the last thing you ever do in your life!”

For a time, everyone hiding in the shadows be it those who were planning to enter the Demon’s Tomb or exploit this opportunity to cause trouble was speechless with shock. Hong Jianglong was formally titled the “Revered Dragonbane”, and he was one of the four champions of the Tian Yong Pacification Bureau. A Grandmaster who was famous for his brutality, there were few warriors or even Strangers who hadn’t heard of his name.

Hong Jianglong was here obviously to support the Luo Shui Pacification Bureau and warn those humans or Strangers who harbored malicious designs for Luo Shui.

The reason he killed Bone Mountain was to make a show of force. It didn’t necessarily have to be Bone Mountain, it just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. The poor thing.

“Fuck, that damn mountain is harder than I thought.”

A while later, Hong Jianglong returned to the city and shook his sore hands. Then, he looked at Gu Suitang and Fang Xiaoman and said, “I’ve scared the chickenshits for you. There shouldn’t be anyone who’s dumb or ballsy enough to attack Luo Shui in the next three days.”

But Gu Suitang shook his head and said, “You should’ve discussed your plan with us, my lord. I would have asked you to hide yourself until we’ve baited all of our would-be-attackers into showing themselves. That would’ve earned us months, maybe even years of peace for Luo Shui instead of days.”

Hong Jianglong looked at Gu Suitang in surprise. “It’s only been a few months since we met. When did you become such a bad boy, Old Gu?”

As far as he remembered, Gu Suitang was an honest, straightforward man. He was smart, but he never thought that the deputy chief had it in him to come up with such a devious—but admittedly great—plan. He was basically suggesting to use everyone in Luo Shui as bait to take out all of their enemies in one go.

“Ahem…” Gu Suitang felt a little embarrassed. “I learned it from a brat who has more courage than sense.”

“Well, that brat has a bright future ahead of him,” Hong Jianglong praised him before sighing. “It’s too late though. Also, I’m going to enter the Demon’s Tomb with a couple of hopefuls myself, so I wouldn’t have been able to stay in Luo Shui for long anyway.”

“Still, Luo Shui should be safe for the next few days, so rest easy. I’m going to sneak away now. I trust the two of you to keep the peace while I’m gone!”

“Wait! If you run into a young man named Ye Qing during your exploration, please keep him safe. He’s our Patrolman,” Gu Suitang said suddenly.

“Ye Qing? Got it,” Hong Jianglong responded before vanishing into thin air.

“I hope everything will turn out fine.” Gu Suitang looked at the black sky above his head and sighed.

“Me too,” Fang Xiaoman replied.

May Luo Shui, its people, and even that brat be safe!

1. I don’t remember the chapter number, but “Sword From The West” Song Xilai was mentioned before. He was the one who massacred Amorous Nun’s sect for sucking his disciple to death. ?

2. Also known as the Laughing Buddha or the Fat Buddha. ?

3. Okay, I’m starting to think that this guy is Batman, but he kills. ?

4. No, this isn’t a mistranslation. In fact, you’ve seen Uncle Feng do this on a much bigger scale. I wish there’s a better way to describe this, but I can’t think of any. ?

5. Also called huoshao, is a type of baked, unleavened, layered flatbread in northern Chinese cuisine. ?

6. Say hello to an old friend. ?

7. A lot of old friends are showing up today. ?

8. First debut of Disaster-class Strangers! ?