Stranger Danger

Chapter 300: Cocoon Tree

Chapter 300: Cocoon Tree

“You can try, but I highly doubt it’ll go the way you think it would!” Xue Beikun sneered. When the five men rushed him once more, he thrust his spear seven times in a row and summoned a howling gale and a bloody rain. The next moment, a giant blood wolf riding on a star emerged from the sky.

“Seven Killing Spears of Greedy Wolf”

“Yin God—Greedy Wolf”

The moment the Greedy Wolf appeared, a seemingly infinite amount of killing intent poured into the battlefield. All five men felt their mind and spirit quaking from the sheer pressure and bloodthirst the Greedy Wolf was exuding. Then—

“Roar!”

A mighty roar deafened their ears and battered against their mental defenses like a windstorm blowing against a wooden hut. They survived the mental attack, but their guard was also wide open as a result.

Before neither man could recover, the blood rain—or more accurately, a rain of spear qi—skewered their bodies and killed them all. Unfortunately for the men, they were ultimately unable to enact their vengeance.

Standing behind Xue Beikun, Xue Shiwu’s fear and worry evaporated into nothing as he let out a mad laugh, “Hahaha! You should’ve known better than to challenge us!”

“Pwack!”

Xue Beikun didn’t look happy in the slightest, however. In fact, the blood abruptly drained away from his face, and a mouthful of fresh blood burst out of his lips. His Yin God also crumbled into nothing.

“Dad!? Are you alright?” Xue Shiwu hurriedly rushed over and supported his father.

“I’m fine. It’s just a rebound,” Xue Beikun answered weakly, “Cough! if it wasn’t for Feng Liunian, these walking pieces of garbage wouldn’t even be able to scratch me—cough cough!”

“You should rest, dad. We can think about that later. When we get out, we’ll make Feng Liunian and Ye Qing pay the price of blood,” consoled Xue Shiwu.

“But of course,” Xue Beikun replied succinctly. His eyes were dark and cruel like that of a wolf on the hunt.

“Yeah! But remember to give me Ye Qing, okay? I must slice and dice him to ribbons to vent my hatred!” Xue Shiwu chirped with excitement and bloodthirst.

However, Xue Beikun shot him a cold look before giving into his temper. “Hmph! If you were strong enough to kill Ye Qing, then none of this would’ve happened! Trash!”

“Worse, Gu Suitang found out who I was. He’s absolutely going to give me hell when we get out of the Demon’s Tomb. You’ve singlehandedly ruined my plans for Luo Shui, you know that?”

“If you’re not my son, I would tear you to a million pieces myself! Trash!”

“I’m sorry.” Xue Shiwu flinched visibly. He was like a meek, defenseless child before his father. “Anyway, try catching some rest, dad. I’m going to forage for food.”

Xue Beikun didn’t say anything, so Xue Shiwu took it as a yes. After setting his father down underneath a tree, the Little Commander rose to his feet and walked away.

......

“Even now, the bastards are plotting to kill me. Hmph! Should I make the first move and kill them first?”

At his hiding spot, Ye Qing was weighing his chances of sneaking up to Xue Beikun and killing him before he could react.

Not only did Xue Beikun tolerate his son’s action, he had stopped Gu Suitang from coming to his aid earlier. If he hadn’t sought out Feng Liunian and obtained his cooperation beforehand, he would be long dead by now.

Worse still, Xue Beikun wasn’t afraid of the Pacification Bureau like Wang Luori was. Wang Luori couldn’t attack him directly and could only pull some petty little tricks from behind the scene, but Xue Beikun was the commander of the Black Feather Guards. He would and could use every dirty trick in the book to kill him.

If Xue Beikun lived to escape the Demon’s Tomb, he was certain that he would woe the days that would come. That was why killing him here and now would be the optimal outcome.

The Demon’s Tomb was the absolute best place to kill Xue Beikun. The Demon’s Tomb was a highly dangerous place where even a Grandmaster wasn’t safe. No one would suspect a thing, and the Demon’s Tomb itself would disappear in another two days.

Besides that, Xue Beikun was severely injured and didn’t seem to possess even a tenth of his usual strength. Normally, not even two of him could give Xue Beikun a run for his money. But now? There really was no better chance for him to kill the man.

If I miss this opportunity, I’m probably not going to get a better one. Let’s do this!

Ye Qing made up his mind to kill Xue Beikun, but he didn’t take action immediately. The commander was a veteran Spirit Master with a Yin God after all. He might be severely injured right now, but that was exactly what made him dangerous. One should never underestimate a cornered animal, not to mention that it was entirely possible that he might have one last trick or two up his sleeves. He would if he was in Xue Beikun’s situation. If he rushed in blindly, chances were he was going to lose his life.

Some people might think that he was just being paranoid, but the five warriors who attacked Xue Beikun earlier were proof that his worries weren’t unfounded. The five warriors had had the upper hand the whole time, and they were absolutely certain that today was the day they avenged their dead brethren. But then, Xue Beikun suddenly turned the tables on them and killed them before they could react.

No, it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Hmm, wait. There is Xue Shiwu.”

Suddenly, Ye Qing recalled Xue Beikun’s worthless son. Despite his terrible vices, Xue Beikun was ironically a good father. Perhaps Xue Shiwu would give him a better vector of attack?

His mind made up, Ye Qing stealthily left his hiding spot and chased after Xue Shiwu. It wasn’t long before he found the guy picking fruits while mumbling something angrily under his breath. Ye Qing listened in for a bit before his lips pressed into a tight line.

The bitch! Even now, he’s cussing me out!

“You’re dead as soon as I’ve no more use for you.” Ye Qing grunted and made a mental command. A wisp of mist entered Xue Shiwu and clouded his eyes immediately.

It only lasted for a fraction of a second, however. Xue Shiwu might not be a Spirit Purifier, but he was a late-stage Astral Refiner and apparently carrying a Strange Artifact that protected his mind. That was why the Fog Demon wasn’t able to control him immediately.

Realizing the danger, Xue Shiwu opened his mouth to scream for help. He might not be the smartest cookie in the world, but he wasn’t that stupid that he didn’t recognize what a dangerous place the Demon’s Tomb was. As a late-stage Astral Refiner, a bloody gust of wind could mean the end of him, which was why he made sure not to move out of earshot. One cry was all he needed to grab Xue Beikun’s attention.

Ye Qing knew exactly what Xue Shiwu was planning, of course. Right before the Little Commander could make a sound, Ye Qing tapped the space in front of him with his finger and triggered a flash of invisible power.

The next moment, Xue Shiwu abruptly blanked out and froze in place. His eyes looked dull and lightless.

“Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul”

At the same time, Ye Qing appeared beside Xue Shiwu and chopped him in the neck, causing him to turn limp. Ye Qing caught him before he could fall downward and gently set him down on the ground.

“Phew... it’s done.”

It was only now Ye Qing let out a sigh of relief, and a smile flickered across his face.

“Why didn’t you just kill him, boy?” The Fog Demon asked mentally.

Ye Qing explained, “He can’t die yet. He’s Xue Beikun’s son, and it’s not impossible that Xue Beikun might have put some sort of detection spell on his son. If Xue Shiwu dies, there’s a huge chance Xue Beikun might sense it and rush over. That’ll ruin my plan.”

He wasn’t going to make the same mistake he did with Chen Zheng.

“Second, I can use Xue Shiwu as my hostage if my plan fails, and Xue Beikun survives.”

His plan was to capture Xue Shiwu and assume control of his body, and while the “Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul” was meant to do exactly that, he wasn’t nearly familiar enough with the technique to guarantee success considering the circumstances.

If he used too much strength, Xue Shiwu would die. If he used too little strength, Xue Shiwu might be able to warn his father. And just a couple of hours ago, he had accidentally killed a bunch of Spirit Purifiers when unleashing the “Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul”.

That was why he commanded the Fog Demon to possess Xue Shiwu first so that he would have enough time to take control over the Little Commander. As for the “Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul” earlier, that was only to temporarily incapacitate Xue Shiwu so he could carry out the actual control part without issues.

So far, everything was proceeding as planned.

“What are you going to do now?” Fog Demon asked. Honestly, it was feeling quite curious right now.

“You will know in a moment.” Ye Qing shot the Stranger an enigmatic smile before he began stripping Xue Shiwu.

“By the Nether, you’re gay? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Tsk tsk...” Fog Demon let out a dubious cackle when it saw this.

“The hell are you talking about?” Ye Qing shot it an unfriendly look. I suppose I should’ve expected this from a Nine Nethers Demon, but seriously?

After Ye Qing had stripped Xue Shiwu, he put on his clothes and began modifying his body. A series of pops and cracks later, his physical body looked no different from Xue Shiwu’s. Then, he tweaked his aura to be identical to Xue Shiwu’s as well.

“I see!” Fog Demon let out another cackle after exclaiming in realization. “I knew you were plotting something devious.”

“You didn’t have to do this though. I could’ve disguised your appearance myself!”

Ye Qing smirked. “This is safer.”

While Fog Demon could disguise him much quicker, it was just an illusion. On the other hand, Xue Beikun was a veteran Spirit Master. It was quite possible that he might notice that the Fog Demon’s illusion was just that, an illusion.

But if he changed his body and aura to resemble Xue Shiwu and put on his clothes, then it would be far more difficult for Xue Beikun to see through his disguise.

Things were simple after that. He carried Xue Shiwu and hid him in a safe, secluded spot.

“What’s this? A cocoon tree?”

Ye Qing was on his way back to Xue Beikun when suddenly, he noticed a curious-looking tree. It was a massive tree with a wide trunk that would take several humans to hug. But instead of fruits, huge, white cocoons were hanging off its branches. Even the smallest cocoon was at least as big as a human adult.

“What are you cooking now, schemer?” Fog Demon asked again.

“You of all people have no right to call me that!” Ye Qing rolled his eyes at Fog Demon and ignored it. He circled around the Cocoon Tree twice before a devious smirk crossed his lips.

Ye Qing abruptly bit on his tongue and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. Thick blood stench immediately permeated the air.

The next moment, the cocoons started shaking as if they were agitated by something. Then, malformed humanoids began tearing their way out of the cocoons.

They looked human, but that was only if you ignored the colorful wings growing out of their backs. They looked just like a butterfly’s wings, big and colorful. When they flapped, they released glittering powders that sparkled beautifully in the sunlight.

Although their wings were beautiful, the humanoid’s faces were anything but. It was rotten, ugly and dry like that of a dried corpse. Some had eyeballs that were hanging off their eye sockets, and their mouths were covered in small but sharp teeth. They also made these throaty noises that sounded like the wails of a beast.