Stranger Danger

Chapter 276: Lu You

Chapter 276: Lu You

“Lu You...”

Ye Qing felt like his blood had turned into ice as he stared at the old man.

The Lu You was an unclassified Stranger. Appearance wise, he looked like an old man with white hair and a white beard. He wielded a Soul Mirror and rode a white deer whose horns carried a pair of children carrying white lanterns.

Nothing was known about the Lu You’s origin, only that he was often sighted at the graves of champions. He lived in a small hut of his own making and acted as a gravekeeper. He didn’t harm innocents, and he didn’t involve himself with the secular world. If he ran into malicious people or Strangers, he would shine his Soul Mirror on them and annihilate them in both body and soul.

The Lu You only guarded graves of champions, and there was more than one Lu You in the world. Generally speaking, the stronger the deceased, the greater the Lu You who would be guarding that grave. The deceased must be a Grandmaster or above to attract a Lu You’s attention, and the Stranger was at least as strong as the deceased. This meant that even the weakest Lu You in the world was still a Disaster-class Stranger.

The fact that a Lu You was guarding this place proved that this was definitely the fabled burial ground of champions. Not only that, Ye Qing counted hundreds of gravestones at first glance, meaning that at least hundreds of champions were buried in this place.

With that in mind, just how strong was this Lu You?

That warrior from before was at least a Spirit Master, but they had died so easily you would think that the Lu You was just squishing an ant. He never even managed to react, much less resist.

The Lu You paid no attention to the warrior he just killed. He simply resumed his stride toward Ye Qing.

Ye Qing stiffened and subconsciously took a step backward. Then, he took two steps to the left and hid behind the Spirit Ape of Dao.

You’re the one who brought me here, so it’s your responsibility to keep me safe, right?

The Spirit Ape of Dao turned around and placed a furry hand on Ye Qing’s shoulder. Then, it cracked a grin at him.

Ye Qing blinked in confusion and puzzlement. What is this bad feeling I’m getting?

His fear was proven true just a second later. The Spirit Ape of Dao dropped to its knees and gave the Lu You a solemn bow. Then, it leaped over the edge and disappeared into the sea of clouds below, leaving a sad, sad boy behind.

“You’re leaving me!? At least take me with you!”

Ye Qing wanted to cry, really. Instead, he dashed toward the edge and attempted to jump down the mountain as well.

You’re not the only one who can run, bastard! I’m way too young to be talking about the meaning of life with the Lu You!

Like a phantom, Ye Qing reached the edge in just a breath. He had never been so thankful that he had learned the Astral Refinement stage movement art, Illusionist’s Grace. Just one more step, and he’d be able to leave the peak and return to safety. Hopefully. Surely the Lu You had no interest in a weakling who had zero interest in the graveyard, right?

But right before he would take that final step, a furry fist abruptly entered his view. Caught off guard, Ye Qing split into multiple images in an attempt to dodge the attack. But no matter how fast he moved, he just couldn’t get away from the fist no matter what. In his eyes, it kept growing bigger and closer.

As Ye Qing despaired about the hopelessness of his situation, the fist abruptly extended a middle finger and flicked him on his forehead.

“You motherf—”

The world spun round and round as a massive force sent him flying all the way back to where he started. An instant before that, he caught the glimpse of a furry face staring at him with a shit eating grin.

Ye Qing was so pissed he couldn’t speak. Did I steal your food or rob your ancestor’s grave or something? Why are you doing this to me?!

Bang!

The second Ye Qing’s back hit the ground, he immediately pushed himself off and took off in a different direction.

I’m going in a different direction. Surely that fucking ape isn’t going to stop me a second time, right?

Unfortunately, he was too late. The Lu You abruptly raised his Soul Mirror and fired a beam of light at him.

“FUCK!”

The beam of light moved faster than he expected, so fast that it felt like it had teleported in front of him. As if that wasn’t enough, Ye Qing felt that the light would’ve hit him even if that fucking ape hadn’t bonked him back to where he started. It was absolutely undodgeable.

Knowing that it was do or die, Ye Qing arrested his momentum and gathered his strength. A solemn-looking Buddha that was wrapped in chains immediately appeared in front of him.

Clatter clatter clatter...

The Moko Boundless Chains fell off, and what felt like an infinite amount of demonic qi gushed out of the Buddha’s body. The cloud of energy literally blotted out the sky itself.

The Buddha wore a merciful smile on his face. He was holding a swastika mudra with his left hand, and an exorcism mudra on his right. However, the energy surrounding him was a mixture of the Buddha’s light and demonic qi. While a million Buddhas were praying to the sky and chanting Buddhist mantras in the light, a sea of flesh, blood and bones were peeking through the demonic qi. It was like a glimpse of the Kingdom of Buddha and hell itself. At the same time, a grandiose and formless voice filled the air,

“MARA BUDDHA”

“MARA BUDDHA”

“MARA BUDDHA”

“Kekeke! You finally let me out for fresh air, boy! By the way, didn’t you promise me that you would treat me to delicious meals and run to the brothel three times per day? Instead, I’ve been cooped up since the day you received me, you liar!”

An evil voice came from within the demonic qi. It sounded so loud and obnoxious it was almost like it was trying to overwhelm its wielder, Ye Qing himself. But before it could do anything, a wisp of clear light began disintegrating the sea of demonic qi rapidly.

“What is—the Lu You!? What the fuck did you do? Why did you provoke the Lu You!?”

All the jolly in the voice transformed into fear and anger as the Buddha lowered his palm. The swastika mudra in his hand inverted, and the light of the Buddha and the demonic qi joined into one.

As soon as the swastika mudra was inverted, the Kingdom of Buddha transformed into the Kingdom of Mara. All of the Buddhas turned into demons, and they served the Mara now. That wasn’t the end though. The palm continued to descend as if it would transform all of humanity into the Kingdom of Mara as well.

Ye Qing let out a small sigh of relief when he sensed the godly power contained with that palm. The Buddha floating in the air was of course the Boundless Mara Buddha, and the voice was the Fog Demon.

The Fog Demon was now the Boundless Mara Buddha’s Artifact Spirit or Anima, and this allowed the Stranger to use the Boundless Mara Buddha on Ye Qing’s behalf. This insulated Ye Qing from its side effects and allowed him to unleash the Boundless Mara Buddha’s maximum power without repercussions. To put it in simpler words, Ye Qing no longer had to worry for his life every time he used the Strange Artifact.

However, the Fog Demon wasn’t the Boundless Mara Buddha’s natural Artifact Spirit. He was Nine Nethers Demon who was absolutely going to exploit every loophole available to screw Ye Qing over if given the opportunity. Unwilling to watch his back all the time, Ye Qing went with the obvious solution and signed a Oath of Burden with the Fog Demon.

That’s right, it was the same master-servant contract he had signed with Faceless, but with some added details considering the elusive nature of a Nine Nethers Demon. With this arrangement, the Fog Demon could be the most cunning Stranger in the world, and there was still no way it would be able to squirm its way out of this. Since then, it had become Ye Qing’s faithful servant.

If Ye Qing wanted the Fog Demon dead, a single thought was all he needed to kill it no matter where he was. Unwilling to die, the Fog Demon could only allow Ye Qing to use him as he pleased.

Having witnessed the power of the Soul Mirror just now, Ye Qing harbored no illusions that he would be able to block the attack without going all out. That was why he commanded the Fog Demon to unleash the Boundless Mara Buddha’s full power from the get go. Not only that, he himself sucked in a deep breath and circulated his energies until they were exactly where he wanted to be. When his presence had become as thick and solid as a mountain, he punched the ground diagonally like he would sever a river.

“Divide”

The fist force transformed into a wall—well, more like a tidal wave really—as soon as it struck the floor. Divide was a powerful technique that could operate both offensively and defensively. The intercepted “river” could both be used to attack the enemy or defend oneself.

Ye Qing waited after that. He had erected the greatest defense he could put up with his current abilities. If this still wasn’t enough to block the incoming light, then... he supposed he was going to die.

The Boundless Mara Buddha’s palm strike was as strong as a late-stage Spirit Purifier’s full-powered attack, but like snow basking under a blazing sun, it melted into nothing almost all too quickly. It showed just how powerful the beam of light was.

That said, the palm strike wasn’t useless. Ye Qing could clearly sense the light’s power weakening as it ate through the Boundless Mara Buddha’s palm.

By the time it finally disintegrated the entire palm and reached Ye Qing’s Divide, it had already dimmed down considerably.

Unfortunately, Ye Qing’s Divide was nowhere as strong as the Boundless Mara Buddha’s palm. The beam of light chewed through his fist force almost as easily as before.

Realizing that he was at a pivotal moment, Ye Qing stepped forward instead of retreating and threw a one-inch punch. The dense wall of fist force abruptly broke like a dam and crashed down on the beam of light.

BOOOOOOOM!

The earth shook, and the howling wind seemed like it would never end. In the end, Ye Qing was able to dispel the Soul Mirror’s light a third of a meter before it would hit his fist.

Ye Qing was only gripped by even greater fear and despair, however. It had taken him everything he got to block just a single beam of light. If the Lu You were to attack him again...

But to his pleasant surprise, the Lu You didn’t follow up the attack after the beam of light disappeared. Instead, he put away the Soul Mirror and shot him a warm smile. A kind and benevolent voice rang inside his mind, “You may enter.”

The voice clearly belonged to the Lu You, and Ye Qing wasn’t surprised to hear it. It would be Stranger if such a powerful Stranger couldn’t master something as simple as human language.

What did he mean by “enter” though?

Is he talking about the graveyard?!

That was most likely the truth. As far as he could tell, the graveyard was the only notable site on the mountain peak, and the Lu You was only concerned with the graveyard.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the Spirit Ape of Dao’s reward for him was most likely the right to enter the graveyard. It would certainly explain its strange actions. As for the Lu You’s earlier attack, that was most likely a test. Only those who overcame his test were allowed to enter the graveyard.

Those who failed would just die, of course.

“Should I go in? Or should I not?”

Ye Qing was feeling very conflicted right now. It was obvious that the graveyard contained all sorts of opportunities and valuables. After all, this was the graveyard of many titans of the Dark Ways after all. Possessions and inheritances were just the start. He imagined that even a fingernail would be enough to make him happy for a long time to come.

However, risk and reward were two sides of the same coin. He had no doubt that grave dangers and monsters resided within this graveyard as well. He simply needed to look at Lu “Da Boss” You to know that.

Even if there were, for whatever reason, no Strangers in the graveyard, he mustn’t forget that the people buried here were monsters or greater monsters. He couldn’t claim that every single one of them was an inhuman scum who deserved the worst punishments hell could offer to them, but they had to be ruthless, wanton motherfuckers who acted as they lived at the very least. Would someone like that prepare a death trap for their would-be grave robbers? Most likely. One small mistake, and his life would go poof just like that. It was scary to even think about.

But I’m already here, and this feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. Am I really going to give up without even trying?

Ye Qing wouldn’t be able to arrive at a decision until a voice interrupted him, “What are you waiting for, boy? Let’s leave already! This place is too dangerous!”

A mist suddenly appeared around Ye Qing, and it said, “That Lu You is way too powerful for us to handle, and something about this place gives me the creeps. It’s terrifying.”

The speaker was the Fog Demon, of course.

Ye Qing retrieved the Boundless Mara Buddha and wrapped it in the Moko Boundless Chains once more, returning it to its usual appearance. He taunted the Fog Demon, “You’re scared? I thought there’s nothing in the world you’re afraid of?”

“Tsk! There is nothing in the world that I’m afraid of. But if you die, then I die as well! Do you know how weak you are, you weakling?” The Fog Demon scoffed disdainfully.

Ye Qing ignored its provocations and asked, “By the way, when you said that something about this place gives me the creeps, were you talking about the graveyard?”

“Of course I’m talking about the graveyard!” The Fog Demon rolled its eyes. “Everyone buried in that graveyard is a powerful warrior. They were at least as powerful as I was in my prime. If you wanna survive, then listen to me and get the fuck out of this place already!”

Ye Qing rolled his eyes right back. As powerful as I was in my prime, my butt!

He agreed with the Fog Demon’s assessment though. This place really was exceedingly dangerous.