Stranger Danger

Chapter 402: Give Your All, And Earth Might Turn Into Gold

Chapter 402: Give Your All, And Earth Might Turn Into Gold

“Fine, fine.”

Zhang Huai’en began, “First things first, the Qing Emperor Junior isn’t the Qing Emperor’s disciple. He is the Patrolman of the Luo Shui Pacification Bureau, Ye Qing.”

“What? That doesn’t sound very... reliable. Are you sure you’re not playing me for a fool?” Yang Shixiu said skeptically.

“You’ll know once I tell you Ye Qing’s deeds.” Zhang Huai’en proceeded to tell Yang Shixiu all of Ye Qing’s achievements. “The Qing Emperor began from humble beginnings. After he joined the Pacification Bureau, he accomplished many legendary feats and eventually became one of the strongest warriors in the entire world. Ye Qing’s rise is pretty similar to the Qing Emperor’s, hence the nickname.”

“I see. He is quite the upstart,” Yang Shixiu exclaimed in realization before voicing his doubts, “But the Qing Emperor is the Qing Emperor. It’s been centuries, but he is the one and only to this day. It sounds like someone wants to elevate Ye Qing to a height he cannot survive before dropping him. Do you know who’s the one behind his nickname?”

“Of course not. Ye Qing offended too many people, you see.” Zhang Huai’en shook his head smilingly. “However, it is inevitable that a person who fights to improve will make a name for themselves. If he cannot survive even a nickname like this, then he is no more than a fake who rose too quickly to fame for his own good.”

“That’s true.” Yang Shixiu smiled. “The jianghu is never lacking in genius, but only a genius who survived can truly be called a genius.”

It was at this moment the Harmony King pointed at a cold-looking youngster wearing layers and layers of cloth around his arms and asked, “Xiaodan, Xiaodan! Who is that guy?”

The youngster was currently surrounded by a dozen or so Mud Bulls. A Mud Bull was a Hatred-class Stranger. Created from mud and shaped like a bull, it enjoyed suffocating a human to death with mud.

Individually, a Mud Bull was pretty weak. But because it was a social Stranger, it often appeared in a group of ten upward to a group of a hundred. Even a Spirit Purifier would want to stay out of its way.

In fact, the best way to deal with the Mud Bull was to run away from it. It was because the Stranger’s speed was quite poor. Any warrior who wasn’t crippled below the waist should be able to escape it without trouble.

The youngster on the screen did the opposite thing, however. Instead of avoiding the Mud Bull, he threw a punch when the first bull was almost on top of him.

The Mud Bull’s head exploded like it was made of paper, but the fist force wasn’t spent after the first attack. It pierced through the second Mud Bull, the third Mud Bull, the fourth...

The youngster’s fist force was like an arrow. Once it was released, it didn’t look back. The punch eventually pierced through the entire herd and allowed him to leave unimpeded.

“Your Highness, This youngster is probably Fu Chaogang of the Little Fist Sect. He’s a middle-stage Spirit Purifier who practices the fist art called the Unwavering Fist. The key to the Unwavering Fist is to throw a punch with all one’s heart, and to have no regrets no matter what the outcome might be. In less metaphorical terms, it means throwing a penetrating, all-crushing punch with a single breath of qi.”

Lei Xiaodan answered, “Despite his young age, Fu Chaogang has already reached the adept level. He has a bright future ahead of him.”

“Interesting, interesting.”

The Harmony King nodded and glanced at the large brazier at the center of the platform. There was a name list floating above it, and the name “Jian Wusheng” was the highest of them all. He was currently the first place holder of this stage. “Who is this Jian Wusheng?”

Once again, Lei Xiaodan launched into a detailed explanation, “Jian Wusheng was originally called Jian Wusheng (Sound). A late-stage Spirit Purifier, he was a Purity Sword disciple until he was expelled for breaking a sect law. Luckily for him, he obtained Gentleman Wusheng’s (Life) inheritance and learned the sword art called ‘No Life, No I’. That was why he changed the word ‘Sheng (Sound)’ in his name to ‘Sheng (Life)’ to symbolize rebirth. He is famous throughout Guang Ping and Qing He.”

“Not only that, Jian Wusheng is ranked ninety-eightieth on the Human Champions Ranking. They call him ‘Wusheng Swordsman’ Jian Wusheng.”

“He’s ranked? No wonder he’s so strong,” the Harmony King exclaimed in shock while watching the young man slaughtering his way through all obstacles with his sword.

However, the old man quickly lost interest and looked at the second place holder, Luo Zhan. “Jianglong, Luo Zhan is one of yours, right? The one called the ‘Tyrant Blade’. Judging from the tyranny of his saber art, he deserves his name.”

Hong Jianglong watched Luo Zhan cutting down all the trees and rocks within a hundred of meters of him in one strike before shaking his head. “Nah, he still has a long way to go. He has tyranny, but not the indomitable spirit of a tyrant. It will be some time before he grasps the essence of the Tyrant Blade.”

Lei Xiaodan chuckled. “You ask too much, Brother Hong. Luo Zhan is still very young. If anything, it is impressive he managed to come so far in so short a time.”

“Yeah, yeah! You can’t ask too much from youngsters,” the Harmony King echoed in agreement.

When the Harmony King saw that the third place holder was none other than his daughter, Chu Qingge, he immediately bragged loudly and radiantly to his son, “You see that, brat? Your sister’s at third place! Never mind, there’s no point talking to you. If you have even a sliver of your sister’s abilities, I would be able to rest in peace, you useless, incompetent prodigal.”

Chu Qingli: “...” Did I say anything? Why am I getting attacked for no reason?

Chu Renhe was the fourth place holder, and the names following Chu Renhe were all unfamiliar names. The Harmony King asked about them all.

As expected of the Judicial Commissioner, Lei Xiaodan was able to answer all of his questions. He knew everyone and everything like they were his juniors.

Time passed slowly, and soon it was afternoon. Over six hours had passed, and fewer and fewer people were still climbing the mountain.

Some people forfeited believing that they could climb no further.

Some people suffered serious injuries and had no choice but to give up.

And some died in the middle of climbing.

Less than one-third of the original participants were left, but everyone who was still climbing was an elite.

The ranking had also undergone a massive change as a matter of course. For starters, the first place holder was no longer Jian Wusheng. It was a strange man called Tou Jiao[1].

Despite the rarity of his name, that wasn’t what the spectators found strange. No, it was appearance and fighting style.

Tou Jiao was a late-stage Spirit Purifier in his thirties. He had a baby fist-sized wart on his forehead that gave him a savage, monstrous look. His weapon was a three-pronged fork, and his martial arts looked ruthless and brutal. He seemed to be incredibly strong.

The second place holder was a man who was older than he looked. His name was Wei Bulao, and he too was a late-stage Spirit Purifier. He used a palm art that wasn’t really all that impressive, but had the strange effect of aging whatever it hit slowly.

The third place holder was Chu Qingge, and the fourth place holder was Jian Wusheng. The fifth place holder was a woman nicknamed “Flower Butterfly”, and just like her moniker, she was accompanied by a swarm of colorful butterflies at all times. Wherever she went, Strangers dropped dead without warning. The sixth place holder was Qi Xuanyun.

Luo Zhan and Chu Renhe might have fallen off their original ranking, but they were still on the ranking list. The warriors Hong Jianglong mentioned earlier such as Chen Shaoyu,

Zhao Lan, the four brothers Wine, Sex, Wealth and Popularity, and the strange quartet Eat, Drink, Fuck and Gamble were also ranked.

Lin Yuhuai, Chu Nianjiu, Gao Ningan and more were still on the mountain, but they were more or less sitting at the bottom of the list.

It was worth noting that the first place holder, Tou Jiao, had already completed two-thirds of the journey. The second to fifth place holders weren’t too far behind him either. One could say that they were one step away from completing their journey.

This one step was like the chasm between heaven and earth, however. Why? Because almost everyone had run into a major obstacle.

Tou Jiao’s obstacle was a grave. Ghosts were flying out of the grave to impede him, and every time he slew them, the grave would spawn new ghosts. Their numbers might as well be infinite.

Tou Jiao wasn’t stupid, of course. He knew that destroying the grave was the only way to stop the endless tide of ghosts and so charged toward it.

There was just one problem. As soon as he made his intentions clear, the grave suddenly grew a pair of legs and took off into a run. It was ridiculously fast too.

Tou Jiao was stunned to say the least, but that wasn’t the end of it. When he gave up chasing the grave and tried to change course, it would return and harass him with its ghosts again. It was miserable. It would be a while yet before Tou Jiao finally escaped from the grave.

Wei Bulao ran into a waterfall, one that flowed upward instead of downward. Realizing that something was amiss, he turned away and attempted to leave and find another way. But before he could do so, the waterfall opened its mouth and spat a mouthful of water at Wei Bulao, pushing him far, far away from the waterfall. Before he could seize the opportunity to escape, the water reversed and brought him all the way back to the waterfall. Then, the harassment began anew.

Wei Bulao’s palm art was incredible for many things, but water? For a time, he was stuck trying to break free from the waterfall’s saliva.

The Stranger Chu Qingge ran into was also plenty strange. It was a skinless man who looked like he had been skinned alive. Red muscles fully exposed and bleeding all over the place, he was easily one of the most horrifying Strangers the young woman had ever faced.

Its ability was even more anomalous. As soon as she entered a certain range, she must stare into his eyes without blinking. She couldn’t look away, and she definitely couldn’t close her eyes. If she closed her eyes or looked away from the skinned man’s eyes for a moment, her skin would rip as if some sort of energy was trying to skin her alive.

Worse still, getting close to her opponent would result in the same thing. And so she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Luo Zhan, Chu Renhe and everyone else had encountered a different, but equally troublesome obstacle as well. Their climb speed suffered greatly as a result.

“Come, come, it’s time to gamble! Who will get the first place? The odds of Tou Jiao winning is one-to-one, the odds of Wei Bulao winning is one point two-to-one, the odds of Chu Qingge winning is two-to-one, the odds of Jian Wusheng winning is three-to-one...”

A ranking list was also displayed at the foot of Flying Dragon Mount. Although they couldn’t see the participants competing live like those at the peak, they could see their ranking. It was why there was a huge crowd sitting around the ranking list. Naturally, there was a makeshift gambling den as well.

This happened all the time, so no one gave two shits about it. The house was a man named Black Tai Sui [2] and the owner of the famous gambling house, Tai Sui Gambling House. As the gambling den was well-reputed and never reneged on their customers’ winnings, a lot of people were participating in the gamble.

Someone yelled, “One hundred silver on Tou Jiao! Tou Jiao used to be the right hand man of the Eighteen Chain Docks and nicknamed the Three-Headed Hydra! His Eighteen Forms of Mad Hydra is incredibly powerful, and his jianghu experience is top-notch! There is no way the rest of the inexperienced fools could best him!”

“What use is jianghu experience? At most, he ate a couple more bowls of rice than us! I think Wei Bulao can make it to the top, so three hundred silvers on Wei Bulao!”

“You’re the ones who are inexperienced. Flying Dragon Mount is littered with Strangers, and who knows Strangers best? The Pacification Bureau, of course! Two hundred silvers on Chu Qingge!”

Someone jeered, “What’s the point of betting on these people? Even if you win, your winnings will be insignificant. Work hard enough, and a cart may turn into a carriage. Give your all, and earth may turn into gold. That’s why I’m going to bet... one hundred silver on Luo Zhan!”

“Tsk!”

Everyone who heard the guy clicked their tongues at the same time. Luo Zhan was also one of the hot contenders to reach the peak of Flying Dragon Mount first. The pot calling the kettle black much?

It was at this moment a loud voice cut through the commotion like a hot knife through butter. “Well said, brother! Work hard enough, and a cart may turn into a carriage. Give your all, and earth may turn into gold! I bet ten thousand silver that Ye Qing will win!”

A huge man that dropped an entire sack of silvers in Black Tai Sui’s hands.

1. ?? ?

2. Tai Sui, God of the year; archaic name for the planet Jupiter ?