Stranger Danger

“Who am I? Hahaha… I’m~ not~ telling~”

Zui Yun giggled. “It wouldn’t be fun if you died without regrets, right?”

As soon as she finished, Zui Yun’s hair began flying without wind. The next moment, it transformed into nine massive snake heads. Jin Wei screamed in pain and horror as he was split into nine pieces and devoured by them.

After the nine snake heads were done feeding, they shrank down to the size of a normal snake and circled around Zui Yun’s head, hissing.

Her body was human, but her hair was snake. It was an indescribably demonic yet charming appearance.

“It’s you! The Nine-headed Snake Demon!”

It was only now Qu Yanniang finally realized her true identity. She wasn’t slow, things were happening too rapidly for her to process it all, not to mention that she was currently shackled by the Lampfire Palace’s power.

“Aw, you found out?” Zui Yun, or rather, the Nine-headed Snake Demon responded with a giggle. Before she could say anything though, she abruptly turned to look at a pavilion. As if on cue, the pavilion suddenly turned transparent and revealed the old man who resided within.

The old man’s hair and beard were fully white, and he had what people would describe as a thief’s eyebrows and a mouse’s eyes. He was holding his Lampfire Token as if he was trying to activate it and leave the venue.

The Lampfire Token was the object used to enter or exit the Lampfire Palace. While the auction was still ongoing, one simply needed to activate it to enter or exit the premises as they pleased.

Unfortunately, his efforts were completely futile. The Lampfire Token did not respond to his command. He tried a couple more times as if he could not believe what was happening, but eventually, he arrived at the conclusion that something was terribly wrong.

Next, he produced a talisman from his sleeves and crushed it in his palm. A flash of light immediately enveloped the old man. It was a World Transference Talisman.

The World Transference Talisman possessed the power to pierce restrictions and travel through space. It was an invaluable, priceless item that could be used to escape a life-threatening situation and save one’s life.

Unfortunately, the old man was still inside the pavilion after the talisman’s light had faded. It was as if he hadn’t activated the talisman at all.

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The old man’s eyes widened in disbelief. He kept muttering underneath his breath with a stunned expression as if he could not believe what was happening.

It was at this moment the Nine-headed Snake Demon made a grabbing motion. The pavilion and the old man within began shrinking rapidly while flying toward the woman. No matter how hard the old man struggled, he was unable to break free or stop the process. In the end, both the pavilion and the old man landed in the Nine-headed Snake Demon’s palm.

The Nine-headed Snake Demon said while toying with the miniature pavilion, “I forgot to mention this, but the Lampfire Palace is under my full control, so cease your futile attempts to escape and stay where you are.”

Suddenly, she clenched her fingers and crushed both the pavilion and the old man within. A cruel smile spread across her face as she added, “Otherwise, you will be joining him in the afterlife.”

Everyone’s heart sank when they saw this. The old man wasn’t an unfamiliar face. He was a wanderer and a Trueman named Azure Mouse.

Azure Mouse’s power placed him at the bottom rung of the ladder of Trueman, but he excelled at hiding and escaping due to his timid and cautious nature. If even he could not escape the Lampfire Palace, then the rest of them could only fare worse.

“Impossible! How can an outsider control the Lampfire Palace?” Qu Yanniang exclaimed with disbelief as the blood drained away from her face. Lampfire Palace possessed excellent offensive and defensive capabilities and could be deployed as a fortress. Not only was it untouchable by the power of a Trueman, it could restrict and suppress enemies within its belly as well. Even a Grandmaster would find it difficult to shake off its power.

If the Nine-headed Snake Demon wasn’t exaggerating, and she truly had assumed full control of the Lampfire Palace, then she could kill anyone or everyone with a single thought.

“Why not?” The Nine-headed Snake Demon giggled and curled her finger at Qu Yanniang. The woman let out a muffled groan and began flying toward the Nine-headed Snake Demon despite her struggles. She stopped only after she had arrived at the snake woman’s feet.

The Nine-headed Snake Demon bent down and caressed Qu Yanniang’s face. At the same time, the nine snakes on her skull swam beside her ears and hissed from time to time, painting her head with saliva. Qu Yanniang was chilled to the core to put it mildly.

“What on earth are you planning?”

“Haha… no need to be scared,” the Nine-headed Snake Demon replied with a giggle, “We bear no ill will toward you. In fact, we are here to help you!”

“Help what?” Qu Yanniang asked with a tremor in her voice.

“To help alleviate your burden!”

The Nine-headed Snake Demon continued to toy with Qu Yanniang’s hair while looking left and right. “You carry all that money and treasures in your Nature’s Shells, and yet you have nowhere to spend it or use it. That is why I have come to alleviate your burden and spend it on your behalf. Aren’t I a good girl?”

Qu Yanniang: “...”

Everyone: “...”

Inside the pavilion, Ye Qing was scratching his nose. That was certainly a novel way of saying, “It’s a robbery, bitches!”

“Who is the Powerful Bull Demon and Nine-headed Snake Demon, Qingyou? What gives them the confidence to rob from the Dragonmount Meet?” Ye Qing asked using his demonic thought to avoid being detected by the Nine-headed Snake Demon.

“They belong to a group called the Seven Demons of Yandang. The Seven Demons of Yandang are seven infamous Dark Way warriors of the jianghu, and they are the White Ape Sword Demon, Howling Heaven Tiger Demon, River Swallowing Toad Demon, Bull Demon of Strength, Eight Armed Spider Demon, Shadowless Leopard Demon, and Nine-headed Snake Demon.”

Feng Qingyou replied using her spirit, “Everyone in the Seven Demons of Yandang is a Trueman and a Strangerkin, and they have all given up part of their human bodies and become half-Stranger in pursuit of greater power. Their monikers directly reference the Stranger bloodline they bear, and they are all quite powerful. Of the seven, the White Ape Sword Demon is the leader and strongest of them all.”

“The Seven Demons of Yandang have abused their strength to commit every crime under their sun. Fearing nothing and no one, they have killed, burned, robbed, and plundered countless people and organizations. This isn’t the first time they have attacked an auction, though I must admit that even I wasn’t expecting them to target the Dragonmount Meet.”

“The Seven Demons of Yandang? This isn’t good.” Ye Qing frowned deeply after listening until the end. Now that Feng Qingyou mentioned it, he was starting to remember some of the rumors he heard about them. The Seven Demons of Yandang weren’t just cruel and violent, they were all named on the Earth Champions Ranking and stupidly strong.

“What should we do?” Ye Qing asked. If he was alone, then he would have made a call already. But Feng Qingyou was accompanying him, and she was injured.

“There is still time. Let us wait and see what happens next,” Feng Qingyou answered calmly. “Unless I’m mistaken, all Seven Demons of Yandang are present. It would not be wise to show ourselves prematurely, so let us wait.”

Ye Qing nodded and fell silent.

Back on the Lampfire Tower, Qu Yanniang raged at the Nine-headed Snake Demon, “How dare you! You are in the Dragonmount City right now! Do you really think you can rob the Dragonmount Meet without consequences? That you can escape the wrath of the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance and Dragonmount Duke?”

“Hahaha… in fact, we can! If even a nobody from Swordsgrave can turn your so-called Seventy Two Water Land Alliance upside down and drag your reputation through the mud, then why wouldn’t we be able to do better?”

The Powerful Bull Demon laughed so loudly that the surrounding flames were quivering slightly. “I gotta thank that Sword Ghoul though. If he hadn’t drawn away most of your elite warriors, I admit that we would have conducted our business with a bit more caution. But now, you small fries are the only ones left in this city. Why would we fear someone like you, pray tell?”

Inside the pavilion, Feng Qingyou threw Ye Qing a sideway glance. His only response was to look away and rub his nose awkwardly. Who would have thought that he was partially responsible for today’s robbery?