Stranger Danger

The Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent added, “I think you have thirty years, but it is ultimately an estimate. The longer you delay, the higher the chances the Four Evils would break free, and the stronger they would become. Therefore, the sooner you can eliminate them, the better.”

“I understand and will remember this.”

Ye Qing saluted the spiritual intent before asking, “So, what is your second request?”

“My second request is for you to travel to Earthly Sovereign’s Coffin and offer your prayer to the Earthly Sovereign,” the Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent replied.

“Naturally. I would have done so eventually even if you haven’t said anything, senior,” Ye Qing replied respectfully.

“I’m glad to hear that.” The Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent nodded. “In that case, I pray that you will attain your Dao and slay the Four Evils as soon as possible, young friend. May you safeguard the peace and prosperity of humanity.”

Ye Qing saluted him. “As the inheritor of the Earthly Sovereign’s will, I promise that I will do my best. I will not let you down or disappoint the Earthly Sovereign.”

“Very good. This is it then. I bid you farewell, young friend.”

Having said that, the Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent disappeared. At the same time, the “Earthly Sovereign Scripture” transformed into a ball of light and vanished into Ye Qing’s mind.

The Earthly Sovereign Bell remained suspended on Ye Qing’s Yin God, however. It was wobbling a little and emitting tiny ripples of dark yellow light.

……

“Joyless!”

“Warrior Ye!”

Ye Qing did not know how it happened, but he was in a daze until he heard someone calling out his name repeatedly. When he came to, he realized that Feng Qingyou, Wen Anran, and Leng Tianjue’s group were standing beside him with nervous expressions.

“I’m… I’m fine.”

Ye Qing gave his head a strong shake. He did not say anything about the “Earthly Sovereign Scripture” or the Earthly Sovereign Bell despite remembering every detail. Some things should be kept a secret even from your closest allies. “I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

“Are you sure?” Wen Anran pointed at their surroundings. Everything within tens of meters of him had disintegrated into powder so fine it was as if the objects had been grinded inside a mill a hundred times. “What on earth happened here?”

Earlier, she and Feng Qingyou had sought out Leng Tianjue and his group to confirm their safety. They were just coming up with a plan to rescue the Goddess City citizens who got caught up in the mess when suddenly, they felt an unbelievably powerful shockwave coming from the inner city. They immediately rushed over to check out what happened.

However, the shockwave disappeared as quickly as it came. By the time they reached the origin of the outburst, all they saw was Ye Qing standing amidst a sea of powder with his hand extended and his eyes devoid of focus. It looked like someone had whisked away his soul and left only the shell behind, eerie and disturbing.

“R-right. You see…”

Glancing left and right, Ye Qing kickstarted his bullshit engine and began lying through his teeth, “I was er, I was searching for Goddess City’s treasures, right? This was where they stored everything, the Dragon Radiance Pavilion. I thought it would be easy peasy, but I underestimated the lengths Duanmu Longhua would go to protect her treasure. I was looting the place when I accidentally triggered some sort of restriction that annihilated absolutely everything within the building, that petty bitch.”

The truth was that the Earthly Sovereign Bell had dunnit, but of course he couldn’t say that. Sorry not sorry, Duanmu Longhua.

Of course, he was well aware that his lie had more holes in it than a swiss cheese. But so what? It wasn’t like Duanmu Longhua could come back to life and clear her name. So long as there was no witness or evidence, then his crime would never be exposed!

“I see. At least you’re safe.” Feng Qingyou nodded smilingly. She knew that Ye Qing was hiding something, of course. One glance was all she needed to see to know that some sort of unimaginable power had disintegrated into the surroundings into dust. If what Ye Qing said was true, and the disintegration really was caused by a restriction Duanmu Longhua had set up, there was no way that Ye Qing, the victim standing in the middle of the explosion, would be perfectly fine. Something else must have happened.

However, Ye Qing wasn’t willing to speak about it, so she didn’t press him. She even helped him by diverting everyone else’s attention, “Does this mean you got nothing at all, Joyless?”

“Thankfully, no. I did loot some stuff before I accidentally triggered the restriction.” Ye Qing shot Feng Qingyou a grateful look before beckoning everyone to come closer. “Come, come! Check out my wares! Don’t hesitate to take whatever you like!”

Ye Qing waved his hand, and a gigantic pile of items appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Wen Anran was a member of the True Martial Sect, and the stuff she got from her seniors were probably leagues better than whatever Goddess City had. Naturally, she did not react much.

The same could not be said for Leng Tianjue, Cang Qingmei, Fei Fei and more though. Although they were true disciples of their sect and so enjoyed a fair bit of luxury as well, their background could not compare to Wen Anran’s at all. Naturally, they went goggle-eyed as soon as they saw the treasure hoard.

Young’uns these days. Ye Qing mentally smirked to himself. They would probably faint if they knew exactly how much treasure I managed to loot before the Earthly Sovereign Bell destroyed it all.

Right after that, he clutched his heart in pain recalling all the treasures the Earthly Sovereign Bell destroyed before he could loot them. This sinful, wasteful bell! Surely it could’ve expressed its joy without destroying everything around it!

“We can’t accept this, warrior Ye.” A moment later, Cang Qingmei withdrew her gaze from the treasure hoard and spoke in a calm voice. “We haven’t done anything to help in any way. We don’t deserve to partake in your loot.”

“Qingmei is right,” Leng Tianjue agreed.

Gu Mingfei, Tan Tao and Fei Fei were too underripe to possess Cang Qingmei and Leng Tuanjue’s mindset, but they weren’t foolish enough to act without their leader’s permission either.

Ye Qing nodded mentally to himself. Their juniors aside, anyone could tell that Cang Qingmei and Leng Tianjue were sorely tempted by the treasure hoard. Despite this, they managed to master themselves and reject temptation. That was deserving of praise.

“No need to be reserved. We’re all friends here, aren’t we? Besides, these are all ill-gotten wealth, so it won’t hurt me one bit to give it away.”

“Still, we did nothing to deserve this, so—”

Leng Tianjue still wanted to turn Ye Qing down, but Feng Qingyou interjected, “Ye Qing is giving these treasures to you willingly, so there is no need for you to turn it down. Besides, haven’t you heard that those who reject the heavens’ gift shall be punished for it[1]? Please, help yourselves.”

“Qingyou is right. Are you jianghu sons and daughters or not? Stop fussing about it and get choosing already,” Ye Qing added smilingly.

Cang Qingmei and Leng Tianjue exchanged a glance with each other before nodding. “In that case… thank you very much for your kindness, warrior Ye.”

Then, they looked at their overjoyed juniors and added, “Remember. You can only pick one.”

“We understand!” The trio replied immediately. They would be lying if they say they weren’t disappointed, but they knew the folly of pushing their luck either.

Ye Qing did not try to change their minds. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to give up the treasures, but just like Cang Qingmei and Leng Tianjue, he knew very well too much of anything was a bad thing. If he gave them the treasures wantonly, he would be ruining them, not helping them.

Cang Qingmei and Leng Tianjue knew that as well. At their current level of strength, receiving one or two treasures per person was their absolute limit. Any more than that, and they might draw the attention of people they couldn’t contend against and potentially die because of their greed.

“I’m done choosing.”

“Me too.”

A moment later, everyone had made their decision. Cang Qingmei selected a Trueman martial art, Leng Tianjue chose a pill that could suppress his heart demon and increase his chances of entering the Trueman stage, Gu Mingfei and Tan Tao chose a Phenomenon-class Strange Artifact each, and Fei Fei chose a spirit fruit that could increase her cultivation.

Ye Qing smiled. They might not have selected the most valuable treasure from the pile, but they had definitely chosen the item that suited them the most at this time.

After the five warriors were done choosing their treasure, Ye Qing looked at Wen Anran and asked, “Is there anything you want, Miss Wen?”

“I’d like these two items, please.”

Wen Anran picked a Phenomenon-class Strange Artifact hairpin and a bottle of pills. Ye Qing was sure that she didn’t need them, she just didn’t want to spurn his good will.

“What about you, Qingyou?” Ye Qing looked at Feng Qingyou next.

“I’ll take these.”

Feng Qingyou did not choose a martial arts manual or pill. Instead, she picked books relating to medicine, arrays, divination and more and some rare spirit materials and herbs.

Ye Qing did not try to push Wen Anran or Feng Qingyou to take more loot despite them being the major contributors in the previous battle. After all, unlike Leng Tianjue’s group, both women were filthy rich. Hell, they were probably richer than him. There was no need for him to be courteous with them.

After the women were done choosing, Ye Qing put the items back into his Nine Heavens.

“Alright, we’re done here. What are your plans for the future, everyone?” Ye Qing asked after splitting the loot.

“We’re going to head back to our sect first thing in the morning,” Leng Tianjue replied.

Wen Anran answered honestly, “I’m planning to stay here for a bit. Although our efforts successfully freed the people of Goddess City from their sorrowful fate, it has unfortunately resulted in some casualties as well. I’d like to lend the victims a hand wherever possible.”

“I see. If you don’t mind, we would like to assist you with your efforts!” Ye Qing answered before looking at Feng Qingyou. “What do you think, Qingyou?”

“It will be my pleasure.” Feng Qingyou smiled at him.

1. Meaning you’re gonna be sorry if you turn away a god given gift for no good reason. ☜