Stranger Danger

Chapter 414: Fog

Ye Qing could feel his heart straining to maintain the breakneck pace. It was bearable at the beginning, but it eventually grew to the point where his heart was starting to hurt a little.

Luckily for Ye Qing, his body was powerful, and he had long since reached the point where he could control his body down to the finest detail. For now, he could still endure the pressure.

The same couldnt be said for the rest of the crowd, however. Ye Qing saw with his own eyes some peoples chest heaving up and down like there was something trying to push its way out before their heart literally burst out of their chest. Even more peoples hearts exploded inside their chest and caused blood to shoot out of their orifices like a fountain.

Despite the horrifying phenomenon, no one moved a muscle. They were still wearing enraptured smiles on their faces.

An indefinite amount of time later, when Ye Qing was starting to lose control, the music finally hit a diminuendo and slowed down.

By now, Ye Qings heart was covered in cracks. Had the tune continued for another minute or so, it wouldve exploded just like the others.

The heart wasnt the intestines. He could heal his intestines as many times as was necessary, but he would be lucky to survive an exploding heart.

Knowing that he had no time to waste, Ye Qing sucked in a deep breath and hurriedly channeled his enormous vitality to heal his damaged heart. At the same time, he paid close attention to the pipa player with his demonic thought.

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On the stage, the pipa tune abruptly took a nosedive toward absolute silence. It was like falling from the sky all the way to the ground. It was such a dive that everyone felt weak and sleepy all of a sudden.

Then, the pipa player stretched the strings to the absolute limits before letting go.

Twang!

A loud, shrill, high-pitched noise stunned the world. It was like a thunderclap that jolted the dreamers back to reality.

Blood jetted out of Ye Qings orifices instantly, and his head hurt like it would split apart at any second.

In fact, some peoples heads did explode into a shower of red and white like overripe melons.

It took Ye Qing a good while to recover his wits, and when he did, he was terrified by what couldve been. If he hadnt been on his guard this whole time, it couldve been him who lost his head and mind.

The pipa player wasnt done, however. Oh no, she wasnt even halfway through her performance. She would continue to play through multiple tunes of different styles and subject her audience to many, many different kinds of torture.

Sometimes, her tune was as fiery as fire.

Sometimes, it was as cold as ice.

Sometimes, it was as intense as a war.

Sometimes, it was as forlorn as the rain.

Sometimes, it was as hushed as a whisper.

Sometimes, it was as noisy as a downpour

Each tune came with its own unique effects. Some people suddenly combusted into flames even though there was no fire around, and some people became encased in ice even though there was no ice. Some people exploded into a million pieces, some people were sliced and diced into a million cubes, and some people took thousands and thousands of arrows in the heart.

It was like a showcase of the one million ways to die. Some time later, the only one who was still sitting on his chair and still looked like a human was Ye Qing.

More time passedwas it an instant, or was it an eternity?and the pipa sound suddenly vanished. Ye Qing didnt notice it at first because he was in a daze. There was a quiet sigh, and he heard someone whispering beside his ear almost like they were standing right next to him,

Watch out for the fog. Go the second floor and hide

Ye Qing jolted awake and looked left and right. He couldnt find the speaker, however. Not only that, the pipa player was gone, and the seats were completely empty. The ship had also returned to silence. It was like everything that just happened was a dream.

Was it a dream?

Ye Qing didnt know. The pain and injuries he suffered were very real, however. Had he failed to endure until the end, Ye Qing was certain that he wouldve died.

Sucking in a deep breath, Ye Qing cycled his astral qi and executed the Paranirmitavaavartin Heavenly Demon Sutra to repair his tattered body and spirit. Everything was fine for a dozen or so breaths when suddenly, he felt a bone-chilling iciness pressing him from all sides. When he opened his eyes, he saw that a thick fog had spilled into the interior of the ship from all sides. He could also see indistinct shadow pacing here and there in the fog.

His senses told him that the fog was extremely dangerous. It was at least as dangerous as the pipa player that put him through hell earlier. He was certain that his fate would be a grim one if it caught up to him.

It was then Ye Qing recalled the whisper he heard earlier. Watch out for the fog. Go to the second floor and hide

It wasnt just my imagination? If so, who was the one who warned me? Was it her? Ye Qings eyes narrowed. Watch out for the fog, she said. Is it because of the strange silhouettes lurking within the fog? She also told me to go to the second floor and hide. Hide from the fog? Its possible.

But what if it was a ploy? What if the fog is actually where the exit is? What if

There was no time. The fog was almost upon him already. Despite how close they were, he still couldnt identify or even sense the silhouettes lurking within the fog. One thing for certain, his instincts were screaming louder and louder for him to run.

Lets hope I didnt make the wrong choice.

In the end, Ye Qing chose to trust the pipa player. If he entered the fog, there was a huge chance he might die. If he listened to the pipa players advice, he might yet survive this.

His mind made up, Ye Qing blurred and reappeared on the stage. He was about to leap to the second floor when suddenly, he discovered a pipa set on a table on the stage. It was none other than the pipa the pipa player was using earlier.

There was no time to think. He grabbed the pipa and leaped up the second floor.

As soon as he landed on the second floor, the fog engulfed the central hall completely. Not only that, it was rapidly surging up the second floor as well.

Not about to wait for the fog to catch up to him, Ye Qing immediately ran up to the nearest room. On the way, he noticed that the door was locked by a rusted bronze luck. It looked so frail that even an ordinary person could probably rip it apart without too much trouble.

Ye Qing didnt hesitate to grab the bronze lock and rip it apart.

The next moment, every hair on Ye Qings body stood on end. It was because a pair of arms had reached out from the gap and grabbed his wrist in the blink of an eye.

The hands were thin and slender. There was no doubt they belonged to a woman. However, the hands were also ghastly white and as cold as ice.

The next moment, the hands pulled Ye Qing toward the entrance with unbelievable strength. Even with his body, he staggered and accidentally placed half a foot into the room.

As soon as his foot passed the threshold, something black rose from the floor and wrapped around his ankle. Then, it pulled him toward the room as well.

Boom!

Ye Qings muscles bulged as he pulled back with titanic strength. Caught off guard, the thing grabbing his wrist and his ankle were dragged out partially.

As expected, the person was a woman. She had a gorgeous face with a shapely nose, slender eyebrows, round eyes, perky lips, and smooth white skin.

She only had a face. Everything below her chin was a black mass of hair. In fact, it looked like the entire room was filled with hair. It was what was clinging to his ankle right now.

After Ye Qing dragged the woman out of the room, a vicious snarl overcame her beautiful features. More hair crawled out of the room and wrapped around his arms, legs and torso, pulling him toward the room with all their might.

This time, Ye Qing pulled with all his might and unleashed his Burning Wind to destroy the hair, but to his shock, it failed. Not only that, his seven dragon elephant strength was more or less equal to the womans. As a result, they became locked in a temporary stalemate.

How troublesome! Ye Qing spat. He could see out of the corner of his eyes that the fog had already surged up the second floor.

Some quick thinking later, Ye Qing condensed his demonic thought into a saber and slashed out using the Hellfire Red Lotus Saber Art. As soon as the hair that resisted even the Burning Wind made contact with the red lotuses created from the saber art, they immediately burst into flames and spread out at an incredible rate.

As the hair disintegrated, the womans face became contorted in pain. It would appear that the hellfire had successfully dealt some damage. She instinctively let go and withdrew back into the room.

The Red Lotus Hellfire extinguished bit by bit after the woman returned to the room. She glared at Ye Qing with hatred and fury amidst a sea of hair.

The next moment, countless hair burst out of the entrance and surged toward Ye Qing.

Ye Qing wasnt going to wait, of course. He didnt have the time to fight against the woman. As soon as he severed the hair binding him, he immediately dashed down the corridor at top speed.

Ye Qing looked left and right for a room he could enter and hide, but so far every room he saw was locked. He didnt dare to force his way through just in case they were hiding a terrifying Stranger like the one encountered earlier. He couldnt afford to get entangled with another Stranger at this juncture.

But if I cant enter these rooms, then how the fuck am I going to avoid the fog? Ye Qing frowned deeply. Its not a trick, is it? Is she trying to trick me into opening these rooms and releasing the Strangers for whatever reason? Cant say thats not a possibility

ARGH!

It was at this moment a bloodcurdling scream interrupted his train of thought. When he looked behind his back, he saw that the screamer was none other than the female Stranger he fought earlier.

The female Stranger had been chasing him. Maybe it was her size, but the fog caught up to her before she could enact her revenge. Her black hair flailed all over the place as she struggled to escape with all her might, but the silhouettes in the fog were keeping her pinned.

The silhouettes were just pacing back and forth around the woman. They werent doing anything at all. Despite this, the woman was screaming in pain and horror as if she was subjected to some sort of unimaginable horror. Eventually, her voice grew weaker, and her silhouette grew blurrier. Then, she abruptly vanished into the fog as if something had dragged her away.

I need to find a room now!

Ye Qing made up his mind after witnessing the female Strangers downfall. Whatever the pipa player was planning, it was better than being caught by this strange fog. Worst case scenario, he would just drag one of the Strangers out into the open, kill them, and take their room via brute force.

There was still time though. Ye Qing kept running forward in hopes of finding something that might help with his predicament.

Theres exactly one room that isnt locked!

After circling around the second floor once, Ye Qing found exactly one unlocked room. Every other room was locked tight.

Is this the room she wanted me to hide inside?

Ye Qing hesitated for a moment before giving the door a push. He tensed up as the door swung open, but to his surprise, nothing attacked him. His demonic thought told him that everything inside the room looked normal as well. This is it! He exclaimed with relief before stepping inside.

He didnt have a choice anyway. The fog was less than a meter away from him now. At this range, he could even feel its coldness and anomalous energy. He would die if he didnt enter the room.

Creak

As soon as he stepped inside, the door behind him closed shut of its own accord.