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Chapter 152: Black Pot

Unfortunately, they had only gotten halfway when they suddenly froze up and shivered like they were fighting some sort of invisible power. The next moment, they exploded in rapid succession until not a single one was left.

The mist of blood left behind the explosions writhed as if it was trying to retake its previous form, but when Ye Qing made a grabbing motion, they flew uncontrollably into his palm and formed a thick ball of blood.

“You thought you could use blood to defeat me? That’s like trying to beat Guan Yu with a guandao [1]!”

While Ye Qing was tossing the ball of blood up and down, countless Blood Shadows rose into the air. He had spread them out to the point where they looked like tiny specks of dust.

“Blood Shadow Magic”

Ye Qing dropped his hand, and the Blood Shadows sliced the bloody house into countless uniform pieces like tofu. Not only that, they ripped the blood right out of whatever surface they were clinging to and brought it back to Ye Qing.

The bloody shirt’s aura grew weaker and weaker as Ye Qing continued to devour its blood like a ravenous beast. When the time was right, he abruptly disappeared from view, reappeared next to the Stranger, and struck it with his left hand.

“Boundless Lightning Palm”

“Blue Demon Hand”

The all-consuming Netherflame combined with the brutal power of Boundless Lightning Palm poured down on the bloody shirt like a heavenly waterfall. Since Ye Qing had locked the space around it with his power, it couldn’t even dodge out of the way.

Bang!

There was a loud bang as the bloody shirt exploded into countless pieces. The Netherflame burned it all into ash.

“And that’s that!” Ye Qing landed back on the floor and dusted off his hands. He smiled a little as the ashes scattered into nothing.

Ye Qing had made it look oh-so-easy when he defeated the Hatred-class Stranger, but in fact it wasn’t weak at all. It just so happened that its power was completely countered by his blood’s ability to devour other blood. Another warrior would have had a lot more trouble to defeat it.

“My lord!”

“Lord Ye!”

It was at this moment Xu Banren and the Pacification Sentinels ran up to him. The bloody shirt had completely isolated the interior of the house earlier, so they hadn’t heard or felt anything amiss until the house collapsed. After that, they rushed over as quickly as they could.

“Lord Ye, what…” Xu Banren looked at the pile of rubble behind Ye Qing and felt the residue of energies around the area. “Did you find that Stranger after all, Lord Ye?”

Ye Qing nodded. “I did. It was a Hatred-class Stranger!”

“A Hatred-class Stranger?” Everyone except Xu Banren blanched at the revelation. “Where is it? Did it run away?”

Ye Qing shrugged and answered in a casual tone, “It’s dead. It’s just a Hatred-class Stranger. It doesn’t take much to kill one.”

The group had to resist the urge to roll their eyes. At most, ten breaths had passed since they heard the commotion. They could have killed a Hatred-class Stranger, sure, but to do it in the span of ten breaths?

No wonder he’s the boss. I wonder if he’s taking disciples?

“Can you message Zhou Xi and ask him if the bloodstains on the victims’ clothes have disappeared?” Ye Qing asked Xu Banren.

The Lieutenant took out a talisman and activated it. A few breaths later, Zhou Xi’s voice came from the talisman, “Lieutenant Xu, the bloodstains on the seventeen civilians and our two brothers have completely disappeared. I believe that the danger is over.”

The talisman burned into ash as soon as Zhou Xi was done speaking. The talisman was a single-use sound transmission talisman that only worked if the target was close by, and only for a very short while. Even so, its usefulness should be self-evident.

“I believe it’s a job well done, Lord Ye!” Xu Banren reported.

“Good!” Ye Qing let out a sigh of relief and ordered, “Good job, everyone. Let us return.”

Ye Qing waved, and everyone followed him out of the residence. It wasn’t long before the place returned to calm once more.

Or did it?

Whoosh…

A cool breeze blew up the ashes on the ground and did a little twirl in the air. Then, it entered a nearby well and rippled its waters.

“They’re gone!”

A dull, heavy, echoing voice that sounded like the speaker was speaking from inside a large jar or something came from inside the well. More accurately, it was coming from the bottom of the well.

A three-inch tall clay pot suddenly appeared on the water surface. It looked a little like a fermentation pot. A pair of eyes were peeking out from inside the pot, blinking.

“Don’t you think the hiding place you chose is a little too risky, Bronze Toad?” The clay pot wobbled twice as another voice resounded from the pot. The next moment, it sank all the way to the bottom of the well.

The bottom was not the end, however. The pot continued to sink through the silty soil as if it was an illusion. Very soon, the clay pot had completely vanished from view.

The space underneath the soil was surprisingly clean. Not only that, it was glowing brightly as the walls were embedded with countless night pearls. It illuminated the underground space so much that it looked like daytime.

A golden yellow toad that was as large as a millstone was sitting on a chair. Its whole body was embedded in bronze coins. After shifting into a more comfortable position, it answered, “You don’t understand, Black Pot. There is a human saying that goes something like this: ‘the most dangerous place is also the safest place’.”

“Safe my ass! The entire reason we almost got caught is because that mindless shirt of yours can only act on instinct! At this rate, the Pacification Bureau will find us and kill us all!” The clay pot Stranger called Black Pot complained while jumping over to a chair. The poor furniture creaked loudly as it landed like a rock.

Bronze Toad shifted its stout body again, and the bronze coins smashed into each other hard enough to cause sparks. “And this is why I call you stupid. When the Blood Shirt is still alive, it could conceal our auras and act as our meatshield. Even after it’s dead, it can act as our scapegoat and divert the humans’ attention away.”

“After all, all Strangers are territorial, and non-sentient Strangers like Blood Shirt are especially territorial. Normally, they would battle any Stranger who intruded into their territory to the death.”

“The Pacification Bureau is aware of this pattern as well, which is why they could never imagine that there are more Strangers hiding in this residence. In fact, they would be inclined to relax when they patrol this area from now on. I don’t need to explain to you why this is advantageous for us, do I?”

Black Pot chuckled. “Yes, yes. You have a big head, so whatever you say.”

“If you guys are done talking, I’m going to head up and check if the humans are truly gone,” A shadow on the ground suddenly stood up and said.

“Be careful, Shadow!” Bronze Toad advised.

Black Pot leaped off its chair and chirped, “I’ll go with Shadow! If anything happens to it, I can act as backup! Sha—”

Black Pot was going to address Shadow, but when it looked back it discovered that the Stranger was already gone.

“You’d think he’s rushing to enter a new womb!” Black Pot said sarcastically before floating back to the surface once more.

On the well, Black Pot looked around for a bit but could not find anyone. Sighing in relief, it muttered, “They really are gone!” before dropping to its side and rolling toward the exit.

However, Black Pot had just reached the entrance when a foot suddenly appeared from outside the door and stepped on it. Stunned, Black Pot tried to struggle only for a tremendous force to push it into the underground. What was strange was that it made no sound whatsoever.

“Tsk. You’re tougher than I expected!”

Ye Qing stepped out from his hiding spot and crouched lower. While staring at the clay pot beneath his foot, he said with a devious smile on his face, “You better not move a clay though. I swear I will crush you like a watermelon if you so much as shiver.”

While saying this, Ye Qing condensed his force until it was practically solid. The container immediately started creaking ominously.

Black Pot possessed a very strong will to live. Despite its fear, it managed to rein in its natural reaction and stopped shivering.

The Pacification Sentinel standing behind Ye Qing looked incredibly impressed. “Incredible intuition, my lord! I can hardly believe there are more Strangers hiding in this place!”

Earlier, no one really believed Ye Qing when he claimed that there were more Strangers in the residence. After all, they were taught that Strangers rarely shared territories unless they were kin or the same type of Strangers. But now that the evidence was right in front of their eyes, it was impossible not to be impressed with the young Patrolman.

“I just got lucky,” Ye Qing replied with a smile.

Xu Banren shook his head. “You’re too modest, Lord Ye!”

“Ahaha…” I wasn’t being modest though.

He had, in fact, gotten lucky. When he was using the Burning Wind to drive the bloody shirt out of its hiding spot, he had sensed a flash of energy from the well. His astral qi must have caught whatever Stranger was hiding inside the well by surprise. However, he could not be sure how many Strangers were hiding inside the well or how strong they were, which was why he pretended not to notice and focused on killing the shirt Stranger first.

After the blood shirt was dead, he led his men out of the residence and told him about his discovery. They then hid themselves and waited for the Strangers to show.

He was pretty sure that the Stranger or Strangers hiding inside the well would send someone to check if the coast was clear. Therefore, all they needed to do was to capture one of them and interrogate them. If the Strangers inside the well were weak, then he and his men would take them out right now. If they were stronger than expected, then he would call for reinforcements.

What? This was his life that was on the line here. Of course it was better to be safe than sorry.

So far, everything had gone exactly as he predicted. Now, it was time to interrogate this Stranger.

“Tell me, pot, how many Strangers are there in the well? How strong are they?” Ye Qing asked in a low tone.

The black pot played dead and said nothing at all, so Ye Qing chuckled and put more strength into his right foot. More cracks immediately started spreading across its surface like a spider web. “Stop playing dead, and don’t try to play dumb. I heard you loud and clear when you were standing on the well earlier. You better tell me what I want to know, or I will literally stomp you to the underworld.”

“M-My name is Black Pot, and I’m one hundred fifty six years old. I’m single and unmarried, but I have a son and a daughter with Yellow Pot’s wife, White Pot next door…”

Black Pot was seriously frightened. Although its body was molded from clay, it was tough enough to withstand blades, blunt weapons, water, fire, wind and even lightning. It was easily his proudest ability.

However, the human had easily broken through its defense. He definitely possessed the power to crush it like a watermelon. Faced with the threat of death, Black Pot did not hesitate to divulge everything that was on his mind right now.

“That… is not what I asked!” Ye Qing rubbed his nose with a strange expression, “And what did you expect me to do with this information? I’m not a matchmaker!”

“Speak human—I mean, get to the point. If you spout anymore bullshit, I will split you like a stick up a human’s ass.”

The Black Pot abruptly stopped its babble and laughed drily, “S-Sorry, I was so scared I reverted to my default state for a moment.”

“That’s your default state?” Ye Qing hmphed. “Anyway, get to the point!”

Black Pot shuddered and started talking, “There are…”

1. Guan Yu is a famous general in the Three Kingdoms, and his signature weapon is the guandao. After Lu Bu died, no one is a greater warrior than Guan Yu. It was his own hubris who had defeated him in the end.