Stranger Danger

Chapter 279: Void Fly

Chapter 279: Void Fly

Every one of the gravestones was imbued with the deceased’s extraordinary martial spirit and intent. Curious, Ye Qing decided to probe a blank, seemingly ordinary gravestone with his spirit.

What happened next was decidedly not ordinary. A pitch black saber force suddenly appeared inside his mental space, and everything it touched turned black and deathly as well. It was going to disintegrate his mind and spirit!

Shocked, Ye Qing hurriedly visualized the “Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method”. It wasn’t until the last moment that he barely blocked the surprise attack.

“That was too close, too close...”

After the ominous saber force was gone, a pale-faced Ye Qing staggered away from the blank gravestone and wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead.

If he hadn’t received all those boons in the past, if his spirit wasn’t so strong that it rivaled some late-stage Spirit Purifiers, that one attack could’ve annihilated his mind just like that. This was after he examined the gravestones carefully and selected the most ordinary-looking one of them all. What kind of stupid place is this?

Oh right, it’s the graveyard of demons and champions. Fuck my life.

No wonder Hong Jianglong told him not to “strong-arm” an opportunity into his lap. It would just be suicide.

Gao Ningan—one of the five people Hong Jianglong had brought with him—noticed his situation and advised him kindly, “Friend, try to avoid probing anything in the graveyard with your spirit. Otherwise, there’s a chance you might trigger its martial intent. Weak and eroded by time they may be, they were left behind by powers we can scarcely imagine. Best case scenario, you might get away with some minor injuries. Worst case scenario, your mental space and mind might be shattered into pieces.”

“Thanks for the advice, Brother Gao,” Ye Qing said before taking the opportunity to ask, “If I can’t probe anything with my spirit, then how might I locate my so-called opportunity?”

Gao Ningan was obviously a chatty person as he answered Ye Qing’s question without any hint of impatience, “If you sense something, then it’s probably your opportunity. If not, that is fine too. Your opportunity may lie elsewhere.”

“So, you’re saying it’s all up to luck?” Ye Qing chuckled amiably.

“That is exactly correct, my friend! If you think about it, all opportunities have some element of luck in it, isn’t it?” Gao Ningan laughed.

It was at this moment Ge Xin interrupted with a displeased look, “Stop wasting time, Ningan. We only have one night.”

“We’re all fishes in the same pond. There’s no need to be so heartless, is there?” Gan Ningan said uncaringly, “Plus, it doesn’t matter if I hurry or not. Opportunities are luck-based. If I’m destined for one, then it’ll come to me eventually. If not, I could search the whole world for it and end up with nothing, no?”

“Hmph! Do as you please.” Ge Xin shook his head.

The deeper they went, the heavier and darker the air became. Even with their eyesight, they were unable to see anything farther than six to ten meters clearly.

“Gao Ningan, what are you—”

Ge Xin was walking past the gravestones when suddenly, he felt someone patting him on the shoulder. He was about to rebuke his compatriot for making unnecessary contact in such a place when suddenly, he recalled that they had split up a while ago.

The graveyard was ridiculously big, and the graves were put down haphazardly. There were hundreds and hundreds of small paths that could all be leading somewhere, which made it nigh impossible to explore the graveyard in an orderly fashion. That was why the group had eventually decided to split up and go their own ways.

But of course, they weren’t that stupid as to split up completely. They all agreed to maintain a certain distance with each other so they could come to each other’s aid should the need arose.

“What’s wrong?” Gao Ningan called out from nearby when he heard Ge Xin’s voice.

“No, it’s nothing.” Ge Xin shook his head thinking that he was hallucinating because of the ominous environment. Not even warriors were immune to self-doubts and delusions after all. He resumed his stride.

Tap.

It wasn’t a hallucination, however. He had only taken a few steps when he felt someone tapping him on the shoulder a second time. This time, he could feel it as clear as day.

“Who is it?!” Ge Xin spun around and yelled, but he couldn’t find anyone. Forget a person, he couldn’t even spot a ghost.

Ge Xin’s expression turned ugly and worried. He was absolutely certain that someone had tapped him on the shoulder just now, and yet he couldn’t see anything. It’s not an actual ghost, is it?

Ge Xin frowned. Despite finding nothing at all, he instinctively knew that he might be in trouble. He channeled his energies and concentrated fully on his surroundings.

That said, he wasn’t planning on giving up just because something was off. It hadn’t been easy making it to the Demon’s Tomb and the Graveyard of Demons even with Hong Jianglong’s protection, and he still hadn’t found anything. He couldn’t possibly leave empty-handed, could he?

Ge Xin spread out his spirit and kept a close eye on his surroundings. Then, he continued forward once more.

Tap.

A short while later, he felt something tapping him on the shoulder once more, but this time the “hand” didn’t move away. Instead, it clung to his shoulder like it would squeeze it into ribbons, and a deep, penetrating chill seeped all the way to his core.

A terrible chill gripped Ge Xin then. Every hair on his body stood on end, and large beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead. Even scarier was the fact that he had lost control over his true qi. He had no idea when it happened, only that he was almost fully paralyzed from the neck down.

Teeth chattering, Ge Xin slowly and painfully turned his head around. When he finally saw the thing that was pinning him down, his eyes bulged, his face turned as white as a sheet, and his mouth opened to let out a terrified scream.

“Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

......

Buzz buzz...

On the other side of the Demon’s Tomb, Ye Qing was wearing a deep frown on his face. He couldn’t see anything, but he could clearly hear an incessant buzzing in his ears. It was like a swarm of flies were flying round and round his ears.

When the buzzing grew closer and closer, his heart skipped a bit, and his sixth sense warned him of danger. He immediately let loose a burst of invisible flames that temporarily dispelled the buzzing noise.

It was only temporary though. His spirit was telling him that the invisible flames conjured by the Burning Wind dealt no real damage to whatever the hell was causing that buzzing.

As expected, the buzzing noise began once more, and it was definitely louder than before. His head pounded, and he was gripped by a kind of frustration and anger that he couldn’t fully dispel even with the “Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method”. He felt like grabbing someone and battling them to the death.

The buzzing noise had appeared not long after he split up with the group, and at first, he paid it no attention. But over time, it kept growing closer and louder until he grew certain that he was in danger.

The problem was that everything he tried to stop the buzzing—or more accurately, the Strangers that were causing the noise—such as sealing his hearing, using a Strange Artifact and more didn’t work. He was certain that the noise was caused by a Stranger, he just couldn’t see them for some reason.

“This is beyond annoying!”

As the buzzing noise continued to come closer, Ye Qing opened his mouth and spat out Lightning Bolt. Pure white lightning lit up the gloomy graveyard for a moment, and the buzzing noise disappeared like it never was. But as soon as he withdrew his Strange Artifact, the noise resumed once more.

“What the hell is this thing?” Ye Qing growled as he struggled increasingly hard to restrain his irritation and desire to inflict violence upon someone.

It was at this moment the mist surrounding him wobbled a little, and the Fog Demon spoke up, “Quit wasting your energy, boy. You’re being harassed by the Void Flies, and as far as I’m aware, there is nothing you have that can kill them!”

“Void Flies? That’s it!” Ye Qing exclaimed in realization.

“You know about the Void Flies?” The Fog Demon sounded surprised.

“Are you looking down on me?” Ye Qing recalled what he knew about the Void Fly and recited, “The Void Fly is a void born Stranger that normally exists in a state of nothingness. Despite being formless, intangible and invisible, it makes a buzzing noise when it flies.”

“As the Void Fly is a creature of the void, it can pass through any tangible or intangible objects. Impervious to the elements and conventional weapons, it enjoys infesting a flesh-and-blood creature’s head and feeding on their brains.”

“You’re surprisingly knowledgeable, aren’t you?” The Fog Demon voiced its amazement.

“I’m a scholar,” Ye Qing said smugly.

The Fog Demon let out a demonic cackle. “What are you going to do then, scholar?”

As Ye Qing had said himself, the Void Flies were creatures of the void. Trying to attack them with weapons or elements was like trying to attack air. Forget killing them, he couldn’t even deal any damage to them. That was why the Void Flies were extremely dangerous.

“It’s simple.”

Ye Qing smiled confidently and examined his surroundings for a bit. Then, he bent down before a small shoot of grass.

The grass was light blue in color and had two leaves, two flowers, and two fruits. The two leaves were elongated like a human’s arm, and the fruits were hanging below them like a pair of mini lanterns.

Ye Qing gently pushed the grass with a finger. The fruits immediately lit up and illuminated the surroundings with dark blue light.

At first, the Void Flies were circling around him like bees who had caught the scent of honey. But when the blue light shone, they suddenly left his side and flew toward the grass. Ye Qing clearly saw five—no, six flies the size of a fingernail slowly manifesting into existence. They were none other than the Void Flies.

A Void Fly shared more or less the same shape and size as a normal fly. It just looked semi-transparent as if it didn’t exist.

“Got you.”

Ye Qing smirked cruelly and snapped his finger. Everything within ten meters of him suddenly turned as hot as a volcano. The Void Flies caught on fire and disintegrated into ash in just the blink of an eye. In fact, even the ash disintegrated into nothing before it could hit the ground.

The grass remained untouched though. He wasn’t going to hurt the plant that just saved his life.

“And that’s a wrap.”

Ye Qing pushed the grass again, and the two fruits dimmed immediately almost as if he had flipped their off button.

“Hmph. I suppose I underestimated you,” The Fog Demon remarked.

“Heh, no need to sing my praises. A man’s gotta be humble and all that,” said Ye Qing with a smirk.

All things in life were born with an antithesis, and the seemingly ordinary grass was the bane of the Void Flies.

A kind of grass called the Darklight Grass normally grew where the Void Flies could be found. In the morning, it was as ordinary as any other grass. But at night, touching them would cause its two fruits to emit a dark blue light that was fatally attractive to the void Flies because it accelerated their growth. However, they were unable to maintain their intangible form until the light was gone.

When a Void Fly was tangible, it was as fragile as an ordinary fly. Naturally, killing it only took a single thought.

“Say, how did you know about the Void Flies?” Ye Qing asked the Fog Demon curiously.

The stranger answered, “Oh, I know a lot of things. All kinds of Strangers are born in the Nine Nethers, and the Void Fly is one of its most common Strangers. In fact, I’ve witnessed many, many more Strangers than all of you humans combined.”

“Really?” Ye Qing didn’t believe it.

The Fog Demon didn’t care that Ye Qing didn’t believe it. “You can pretend I haven’t said anything if you think I’m lying.”

“Heh. My apologies. I’ll be counting on you to enrich my knowledge from now on,” Ye Qing said with a smirk.

The Fog Demon harrumphed. “Sorry, but I don’t go on dates with people I’m not familiar with.”

Ye Qing was going to harass the Stranger some more when suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream pierced through the darkness.

“That’s Ge Xin’s voice. Did something happen?” Ye Qing looked up and gazed to the distance. “I better go check it out.”

He didn’t want to get involved when he had just escaped his own predicament, but Ge Xin’s voice wasn’t far away from his location. In the end, he couldn’t suppress his curiosity and broke off into a run. Hopefully, he wasn’t too late.