Stranger Danger

“Are you kidding me? Just how useless can he be?”

The entire reason Ye Qing saved Zheng Tianyuan earlier was to pit him against Prayer. The young master was a middle-stage Qi Invoker and the scion of the Zheng Clan. He might be a bonafide imbecile, but he should be able to give Prayer a run for his money. He was going to kill them both once they had sufficiently worn each other out.

In reality, Zheng Tianyuan’s combat experience was so lacking that not even the best martial arts in the world could’ve saved his life. He was so useless that Prayer had taken him out in a matter of seconds.

That said, it wasn’t completely Zheng Tianyuan’s fault. Prayer’s throwing knives had turned out to be trickier than expected. They were already fast enough to give Ye Qing a run for his money, but they could also speed up and change directions without warning. Had Prayer chosen to attack him first, he might have fallen for the trick as well, though he would survive of course.

Ye Qing didn’t slow down despite his disappointment. He immediately tossed a fire talisman at Zheng Tianyuan’s corpse.

“You dare!?” roared Prayer when he noticed what the talisman was. He crossed ten meters in an instant and made a grab for the fire talisman.

It had taken an insane amount of planning and waiting on his part to come this far. If Zheng Tianyuan’s corpse was destroyed, then all of his efforts and scheming would be for naught. Of course he wasn’t going to allow it to happen. He let out an audible sigh of relief when he caught the fire talisman and crushed it between his fingers.

Of course, Ye Qing wasn’t going to allow this golden opportunity to slip through his grasp. A blade as bright as the snow cut toward his neck like lightning.

“Petty tricks aren't going to work on me, lad!” Prayer sneered. His hand slowly turned steely gray as he curled his fingers until they resembled a claw. Then, he made a grab for the shining blade in the air.

“Iron Hand” was a martial art that hardened one’s hand until they were as tough as steel. The practitioner was required to temper and refine their hands using ironsand as often as possible. Prayer had reached the adept level of this martial art as he had been practicing for a very, very long time. His hands were as tough as an ordinary weapon, and he could easily catch a sharp blade with his bare hands. It was a potent counter against any blade wielder.

In Prayer’s opinion, Ye Qing was a low level warrior whose one niche was his extraordinarily swift blade. The only reason he managed to kill Chi Long was because the guy had completely let down his guard. A fast blade was already lacking in power, but Ye Qing was also just a journeyman Reforged. The chances that he might cut through his Iron Hand was exactly zero, which was why Prayer wanted to snatch his saber. Without it, Ye Qing was as powerless as a tiger without teeth and claws. His victory was as good as sealed then.

“Croak… croak… croak!”

It was at this moment three croaks boomed from Ye Qing’s stomach in rapid succession. They were so loud that they resounded throughout the valley.

Prayer blanched as alarm bells suddenly rang in his head. Without hesitation, he canceled his attack and tried to pull back.

Unfortunately for him, Ye Qing’s saber sang and suddenly grew a tad faster. It struck his hand right before he could move it out of the way.

“Argh!” Prayer let out a bloodcurdling scream as a metallic shriek cut through the air. Ye Qing’s saber had cut through his prized Iron Hand—severing all five fingers like a hot knife through butter—and split his arm into two, baring muscles and bones!

“You’re not a journeyman Reforged! You’re… a late-stage Qi Invoker!” Prayer cried out even as he clutched his broken arm. Every time he said a word, blood mixed with tiny chunks of flesh would spill out of his mouth.

Ye Qing’s attack hadn’t just rendered Prayer’s arm useless, its potent force had severely damaged Prayer internal organs as well. The pain was excruciating, but it was nothing compared to the shock and disbelief the oldman was feeling right now!

In fact, Prayer had long since realized that Ye Qing was no ordinary warrior. It was because Uncle Fu had given him a Chang bone, a special favor that not even he, the owner of the Incense of Worship, enjoyed. Since then, he was sure that Ye Qing was hiding some sort of powerful secret.

It was one of the reasons he made sure that no harm would come to Ye Qing until they entered the valley. Sure, he needed Ye Qing to stay alive until he could sacrifice him to the Dead Man’s Tree, but he also wanted to claim whatever it was that made Ye Qing so special in the eyes of Uncle Fu for himself.

Until just now, he was certain that Ye Qing’s blade was that secret. It was the only explanation as to how he managed to kill Chi Long earlier. It took more than just surprise to overcome the tyranny of cultivation levels after all. But now, he realized it was because Ye Qing was also a late-stage Qi Invoker. Not only that, he had the skill, the experience, and even the cultivation art to match his cultivation level!

But how was that possible? He had briefly looked into Ye Qing’s background when Granny Xia had mentioned him. He would need to tweak his plans a little if the young man turned out to be stronger than expected after all. However, his investigation revealed that Ye Qing was just an unassuming watchman with an equally unassuming background. His parents had died not too long ago, and he had only begun cultivating and practicing martial arts for less than a month. It was literally impossible for him to be a late-stage Qi Invoker, and yet…

Ye Qing admitted, “You’re definitely a lot more perceptive than the others, Prayer. That’s right. I’m not a journeyman Reforged!”

Ye Qing was a little disappointed, to be honest. He thought for sure he would be able to kill Prayer with the element of surprise and a triple Toad Force, but the old man still managed to dodge it in the end.

His effort wasn’t useless though. The surprise attack had severely wounded the old man. It shouldn’t take much more time and energy to kill him!

“This isn’t possible… this isn’t possible… this isn’t…” Prayer muttered again and again as if he had dropped his soul somewhere.

Ye Qing countered, “Why not? Luck and opportunity aren’t exclusive to any one person. If you can find the Fruit of Life, then why can’t I be a late-stage Qi Invoker?”

“Of course, your Fruit of Life isn’t going to be yours for much longer!”

“The Fruit of Life… you want to take my Fruit of Life?” Prayer abruptly snapped back to reality and grinned savagely at Ye Qing. “You seem to think you’ve already won. Allow me to correct that delusion!”

Before he even finished, Prayer abruptly launched three throwing knives at him in rapid succession. All three knives traveled along a straight line until the two at the back abruptly sped up and slammed into the one at the front, accelerating it several times faster than before. While the first throwing knife was speeding straight toward Ye Qing’s heart, the second throwing knife suddenly curved toward his lower abdomen, while the third shot right past Ye Qing before curving around to hit his scruff.

“Shooting Stars Chase The Moon”

Prayer’s throwing knives still caught Ye Qing by surprise even though he had been watching out for them since the moment he revealed them. Thankfully, they weren't so tricky that he couldn’t block them in time. After throwing up a bladestorm that protected every inch of his body and parrying all the throwing knives, he pushed off the ground and charged straight toward Prayer.

Always strike an enemy when they’re at their weakest!

To Ye Qing’s surprise, Prayer didn’t seem flustered in the slightest. Instead, he produced a grayish black, ominous-looking incense stick from his shirt, planted it on his censer, and lit it up.

“Really, Prayer? I highly doubt the gods and spirits are going to save you from me!” Ye Qing scoffed. He had never learned a movement art, but his powerful vigor still allowed him to reach Prayer in just the blink of an eye. He immediately executed a Five Tigers Door Breaking Saber technique and targeted five vital spots at the same time.

“Five Tigers Door Breaking Saber—Five Tigers Sever The Soul”

Something unexpected happened then. Right before his saber would carve into Prayer’s flesh, a thick smoke suddenly blasted into his face, choking him and watering his eyes. That unexpected distraction was enough to cause him to lose track of his target.

Swoosh swoosh!

When Ye Qing heard a series of swooshes, he did not hesitate to drop to his feet and rolled to the back. Not a moment too soon, a couple of throwing knives shot past his scalp and cut a few strands of hair.

“Heavens!”

Cold sweat covered Ye Qing’s forehead in an instant. If he was even a second slower, those throwing knives would’ve been embedded in his brain!

As soon as Ye Qing’s eyes cleared up, he immediately stopped his roll and pushed himself off the ground once more. The ground exploded with a bang as he shot toward Prayer like an arrow once more.

Ye Qing was fast, but his saber was even faster. He reached Prayer almost faster than the eyes could blink and swung his weapon once more. However, the old man jumped backward and floated away from Ye Qing like a leaf. He was able to dodge the attack by a hair’s breadth and shoot a throwing knife at Ye Qing’s throat at the same time.

Ye Qing decided to emulate his enemy’s example and twist his head to one side. He put so much force into the motion that his neck bone let out a soft crack. While the throwing knife passed by his neck with milimeters to spare, he executed a wide sweep like he would cut an entire river in half. His transitions were so smooth it was as if he had thought out his moves beforehand.

It was at this moment a wisp of smoke entered his nostrils. It was so itchy that Ye Qing couldn’t help but let out a sneeze. The sneeze slowed his movements just a tad, but it was just enough for Prayer to launch his attack first. As if his body was weightless, the old man sailed past Ye Qing in an arc and took his back, his feet never even touching the ground. Then, he launched a hail of throwing knives almost point blank at the young man! At this range, it was near impossible for Ye Qing to defend himself against it!

Ye Qing was shocked, but he didn’t succumb to panic. In fact, he realized the danger as soon as that sneeze overtook him. He imagined that his legs were the axis and forcefully twisted his waist halfway toward Prayer. At the same time, he brought his saber around and conjured a mighty wind with his impressive strength. Since he was using the flat side of the saber, he was able to block the deadliest throwing knives and blow the rest out of his way.

His woes weren’t over, however. He suddenly heard a loud crack and felt a burst of pain from his waist.

Did I just twist my back?! Ye Qing thought in disbelief. He was a late-stage Qi Invoker with an equally powerful physique. It should be damn near impossible for him to twist anything, and yet he did.

That brief distraction was enough to add a couple more wounds to his body. Thankfully, they were superficial since he had blown the worst of the throwing knives out of the way.

Is it because of that incense stick? Ye Qing glared daggers at the gray incense stick on the censer even as he channeled his vigor to heal himself.

First, the smoke had blinded him and caused him to lose track of his target. Then, it had caused him to sneeze and lose the initiative of the fight. Just now, he had suffered an unbelievable stroke of bad luck and twisted his back. If these incidents had happened on separate occasions, he would’ve chalked it off as sheer bad luck. But for it to happen three times in a row? Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action!

Every time he committed a “mistake”, it was when he was holding the upper hand and about to severely wound Prayer. Worse, his mistake always put him in a dangerous spot that could’ve cost him his life!

It has to be that incense stick! Ye Qing thought with his eyes narrowed before charging toward the censer. It would be incredibly hard for him to kill Prayer if he did not extinguish that incense stick. However, he just happened to kick a round rock as soon as he raised a leg and nearly tripped on his feet. He had just regained his balance when a blade of grass tripped him and caused him to fall flat on his back.

Of course, Prayer wasn’t just going to stand around and watch while Ye Qing was stunned. He launched dozens more throwing knives toward Ye Qing and forced him into an emergency roll. The good news was that he managed to dodge the worst of it, taking wounds only on his arms and legs. The bad news was that he kept slamming his head against not one, not two, but dozens of rocks as he rolled. By the time he finally got back to his feet, his head was full of bumps, and stars were spinning around his head.

“Hahaha! How do you like my Incense of Misfortune, lad?” Prayer could not help but guffaw in schadenfreude at the sorry sight.

“Incense of Misfortune?” Ye Qing frowned deeply.

Prayer let out another bark of laughter before answering, “That’s right! I don’t just have a bunch of Incense of Fortune, you know! I also have its antithesis! Whoever is cursed by the Incense of Misfortune will trip over their own feet, suffer nightmares in their sleep, choke on nothing and generally suffer all kinds of accidents until the Incense of Misfortune runs out, or they’re dead!”

“So? How do you like my Incense of Misfortune?”