Stranger Danger

Chapter 358: Don’t Look Back

Chapter 358: Don’t Look Back

After putting away the yin gold, Ye Qing once again surprised everyone by walking toward the ferryman. A salute later, he handed half of the yin gold he received to the Stranger.

Didn’t he want to keep the five hundred yin gold to himself? Of course he did. But objectively speaking, the ferryman was the one who did all of the work. More importantly, he was still on the boat and the River of Forgettance right now. Dare he risk the ferryman’s ire in his territory? Not at all.

This was why he decided to give up half of the yin gold. It was still a massive profit all things considered.

The ferryman looked at the bag of yin gold in silence. In the end, he decided not to assassinate Ye Qing and take all of the yin gold for himself. Ye Qing’s worries had been spot on.

He’s a good guy, and I did all the hard work. I definitely deserve this yin gold. The ferryman accepted his pay with a clear conscience.

At the same time, another idea entered the ferryman’s mind. This feels like a long-term strategy to make money. Should I discuss this with the other ferrymen? Yes, I think I should.

Ye Qing had no idea that he had unwittingly inspired the ferryman, of course. All he knew was that the unsettling feeling that had been plaguing him since receiving the five hundred yin gold was gone, and that was all he wanted.

When he returned to his seat, he was met with Song Qingyu and Lu Hui’s impressed faces, and Fu Hengcong and Jing Xin’s confused looks.

“What was that about?” Fu Hengcong frowned deeply.

“Paying the ferryman his due,” Ye Qing answered matter-of-factly. “I asked him to do me a favor, and he did. Shouldn’t I thank him for his troubles?”

At this point, Fu Hengcong figured out that he had been scammed by Ye Qing. However, it was far too late to get back his money, not to mention that he couldn’t possibly bring himself to do such a shameful thing.

So, Fu Hengcong could only glare impotently at Ye Qing to convey his dissatisfaction.

“Hehe...” Ye Qing could sense Fu Hengcong’s dissatisfaction and malice, of course. A devious idea suddenly occurred to him, and he didn’t hesitate to set it in motion immediately. “Say, Scion Fu. The ferryman is the one who really saved your life. Shouldn’t you show him your sincerity?”

Ye Qing glanced at the ferryman and winked. Here comes money, brother.

The ferryman was so stunned that his movements paused for a brief moment. You can do that? He’s a fucking genius!

The ferryman then realized that Ye Qing was hinting at him to take action and stared straight at Fu Hengcong.

“You...!”

Fu Hengcong wanted to rip Ye Qing to shreds. This was a level of shamelessness beyond anything he had ever experienced. But when he sensed the ferryman’s death stare, he had no choice but to swallow his words. He had witnessed time and again just how powerful the ferryman was. He might be arrogant and stupid, but he wasn’t so stupid that he couldn’t recognize the folly of antagonizing someone way stronger than him.

“Of course, of course,” Fu Hengcong forced himself to spit out while enduring anger and the pain of loss in his heart.

As he walked up to the ferryman and produced him a yin gold, Ye Qing’s voice came again like a curse. “Best not be stingy, Scion Fu. I’m just the lackey, but the ferryman is the one who did all of the hard work.”

“You mother—” Fu Hengcong stumbled on his feet. He was this close from bursting into a loud, angry tirade. He was going to pay only three or five yin gold since he already forked five hundred, but now he had to pay at least a hundred yin gold to thank the ferryman. Otherwise, he would lose face and offend the ferryman.

“Thank you so much for the reminder,” Fu Hengcong uttered through gritted teeth.

“You’re welcome. We cultivate one hundred years of good karma to share a boat journey with someone[1], don’t we? It’s all destiny.” Ye Qing chuckled. I scammed him in his face and even made him thank me for it. Good karma indeed!

Song Qingyu and the others barely suppressed a shiver. Destiny? I would rather be single forever if this is the kind of destiny I get!

Fu Hengcong sucked in a deep breath to suppress the urge to vomit blood on the spot. Then, he reluctantly produced one hundred yin gold from his Nature’s Shell and handed it to the ferryman.

The ferryman didn’t accept the yin gold or say anything, however. He simply watched Fu Hengcong in silence. It was because Ye Qing had shown him the light.

You gave him five hundred yin gold just because he flapped his mouth, while I’m the one who actually saved your life. Aren’t you embarrassed with yourself? Or do you think I’m a beggar?

Truly, the ferryman had been enlightened. If you wanna make money, then you gotta be shameless. That was a universal truth.

Fu Hengcong felt a shiver as the wordless stare bore into his body and soul. Realizing what the ferryman wanted, he shakily produced another four hundred yin gold from his Nature’s Shell and practically sobbed, “T-Thank you very much f-for saving my life, senior.”

Please, senior, please! I only have so much money!

Thankfully, the ferryman didn’t press further. He accepted the yin gold and nodded at Ye Qing. He never even looked at Fu Hengcong.

Fu Hengcong felt like tearing his hair out. The money you received was all mine, but you’re thanking the bastard who scammed me? Are you even human?

Fuck, he isn’t human.

Jing Xin scratched his bald head as Fu Hengcong stomped his way back to his seat. “The ferryman also saved me. Should I pay him as a show of thanks? But I’m a monk. I have no money.”

“Oh right! Benefactor Fu, you seem like a wealthy man. Can you give me a couple hundred yin gold so I can thank my savior properly?”

“Get lost!” Fu Hengcong screamed. Does he think I'm a pushover? And where the fuck am I going to get you that money when I have nothing myself?

“Amitabha, you don’t need to get that angry. Just say you don’t want to help me.”

Jing Xin rubbed his head in confusion. “Also, I technically count as your savior as well. Sure, I failed to save you, but the Buddha said that as long as you’ve tried, then it’s fine. I don’t mind that you don’t want to help me, but why did you scream at me? The word ingrate suits you perfectly. I knew you weren’t a good person from the start.”

Fu Hengcong narrowed his eyes at Ye Qing and Jing Xin. Very good. You both think I’m easy to bully, is that it? Just you wait.

“He has a screw loose in his head, doesn’t he?” Jing Xin complained to Ye Qing when he saw that Fu Hengcong wasn’t answering.

“The better question is, why split hairs over a sick man? Just leave him to his misery,” Ye Qing advised.

“Yes, you are absolutely right. Amitabha...”

Fu Hengcong: “...” I feel like murdering someone. What should I do?

Maybe it was because the ferryman earned a lot of money today, but the next part of the journey was perfectly smooth and without trouble. It wasn’t long before they passed through the fog and saw the distant shore and a small city. It had to be the inner market.

“We’re here.”

“We’re finally here.”

Everyone rejoiced when they saw the city. After all, it meant that they no longer had to be on their toes anymore.

After the ferryman parked the boat at the ferry point, he waved a wooden plank that connected the railing and the shore into existence. Then, he waved again to motion for his passengers to get off the boat.

Suddenly Ye Qing warned, “Don’t look back when you get off the boat, people.”

“Why?” Someone asked in confusion.

“Don’t ask. Just do as I say.” Ye Qing didn’t explain himself.

“Heh. And why should we listen to your words?” Fu Hengcong glared at him.

“You don’t have to listen to me. You’re free to do whatever you want. Goodbye.” Ye Qing smirked before getting off the boat with Greenlake.

Everyone still on the boat thought to themselves, Hmph. What a pretentious man.

Ding ding!

Dong dong!

Chiang chiang!

As it turned out, their tribulation wasn’t over yet. The moment they set foot on the wooden plank, the group suddenly heard a bunch of drumming, ringing and gong noises from behind. At the same time, their surroundings suddenly became impossibly dark, and the wooden plank beneath their feet became impossibly long. The shore was still in front of them, but it felt like they would never reach it.

Ye Qing swore inside his head, I fucking knew there was going to be one last bullshit. I really shouldn’t have come here.

After he made the ferryman a lot of money, he could feel the Stranger sneaking glances at him from time to time. It didn’t feel normal or altruistic either.

His senses told him that the ferryman was plotting to entrap him somehow and turn him into his money tree. That was why he was in such a hurry to leave the boat. Unfortunately, he wasn’t fast enough.

Ding ding dong dong qiang qiang bam!

The instrumental sound grew louder and louder, but strangely, it wasn’t annoying. On the contrary, it possessed some sort of strange quality that made them want to look back and check out what was going on.

“Don’t look back!”

Ye Qing forced down the unnatural desire and growled another warning. He didn’t know if the others had heard him, but he was hardly going to look back and check. He continued forward.

Strangely, the instrumental sound actually grew louder, clearer, and more tempting the further he progressed along the plank.

“Ye Qing...”

“Joyless...”

“Ye Qing...”

“Joyless...”

At the same time, he heard people whispering his name repeatedly in order to draw his attention, and the voices traveled into his ears and all the way into his heart. It was as if someone was tickling the insides of his heart with a feather. The desire to respond or look back grew bigger and bigger as time passed.

Wait, this is a form of desire... which is good for me, isn’t it?

Suddenly, Ye Qing’s eyes lit up. As if on cue, the demonic lotus in his headspace stirred to life like a butterfly who caught the scent of honey. Excited beyond words, it quickly absorbed the impulse and desire entangling around his heart.

Give me more! More!

Suddenly, Ye Qing wasn’t in such a hurry to leave anymore. He was forced to miss the Sinner of Ten Lifetimes earlier, and there was nothing he could do about it. This time though, he wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip through his grasp.

But as soon as he stopped in his tracks, Fu Hengcong’s voice came urgent and shivering, “Hey you... why are you stopping? Keep going! Are you trying to kill us?!”

“Benefactor, why are you stopping?” Even Jing Xin was urging him.

Ye Qing: “...” Fuck my life. I just want a moment to cultivate is all. Is that too much to ask for?

He couldn’t help but resent his past self. You idiot! Why did you leave the boat first? Why? It’s all the ferryman’s fault. If he isn’t lusting after me, I would not have gotten off the boat first, would I?

Also, you couldn’t make your walking plank a little wider? There’s barely enough for a single person to walk through!

“Come on, man! Go!” Fu Hengcong urged again. He was deathly afraid for his life as a matter of course. The whispers in his ears felt like they possessed a tangible form. They kept muddying his mind and tempting him to look behind him. If it wasn’t for Ye Qing’s earlier warning and the mental protection his father left inside his head, he would’ve lost control a long time ago.

“Brother... stay... stay away... I didn't want to kill you... I had no choice!”

Lu Hui was the last person in the line. He suddenly closed his ears and screamed like he had gone insane, “Hahaha! It was your fault! All your fault! Why must the good things all go to you? Why must you be smarter and more capable than I am in every way? Why must father and mother favor you? Even Rou’er, the love of my life chose you over me! If I must live in your shadow my whole life, then I would rather you die!”

“Father... mother... I didn’t kill you on purpose... I swear I didn’t...”

“No... No... It’s not my fault... It’s your fault, you hear me? All your fault! We are both your children, so why did big brother always get the best gifts? Why did he get to wear new clothes, while I can only wear his leftovers? Why did he get to eat meat, while I can only eat buns? Why is he always right, and why am I always wrong? Why is there nothing I can do to please you? Why can you never say anything good about me?!”

“Don’t blame me for killing you... You deserve to die, you all deserve to die...”

1. Meaning that one should cherish the opportunity to build relationships. ?