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If he took them as hostages, he would have to fight while taking their lives into consideration every step of the way.

If he took the Miracle Doctor Calabash and ran, then he would be in deep trouble as well. A severe punishment would await him for losing the Strange Artifact even if he was a Patrolman.

Worse still, Ye Qing kept having this bad feeling that the enemy’s ploy wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

In fact, he knew that using the three Artifact Wielders as hostages or stealing the Miracle Doctor Calabash were lousy plans.

Old Mud could never escape so long as he was still on his trail. At best, he would delay the inevitable until reinforcements from the Pacification Bureau showed up.

No, the only way the Stranger could get out of this situation was to kill him.

Speaking of which, Old Mud really should’ve escaped while he was busy dealing with Yin Woman. Now that Yin Woman had died, and Silver Toad was grievously injured, he had lost his best opportunity to escape Ye Qing. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he chose to rejoin the battle and attack the Artifact Wielders. Objectively speaking, it was easily the stupidest choice he could have made.

Was Old Mud stupid?

Obviously not.

When a non-stupid person willingly chose to do something stupid, it could only mean that they were plotting something big. Or in this case, something murderous.

The more Ye Qing thought about it, the more certain he grew. He might not know how his enemy was planning to kill him, but the possibility could not be ignored.

Since he had a gist of the enemy’s plan, his newest priority was to kill the danger in its infancy. Whatever it was Old Mud was going to do, he needed to stop it now.

Unfortunately, the minor delay allowed Old Mud to reach the three Artifact Wielders first. A pool of mud flowed up their legs as if it would swallow them whole.

Ye Qing smirked when he saw this. A gong and a mallet abruptly appeared in his hands, and he smacked the gong with the mallet.

Dang!

An evil, unspeakable energy washed over the street as the sound of a gong reverberated in the air. The mud that was a moment away from covering the three Artifact Wielders whole suddenly froze in its tracks.

Dang! Dang! Dang!

Seeing that the gong sound was effective, Ye Qing immediately struck the gong again while walking toward his companions. At the same time, the mud covering their bodies fell back to the ground.

After reaching the three Artifact Wielders, Ye Qing stopped beating the gong and let out a tired sigh. His face looked a little pale as well.

The gong and mallet he just used were none other than the Hatred-class Strange Artifact he had obtained from the lake bogey of Jade Spring Village, the Soul Absorbing Gong. The gong was forged from Soul Bronze and could be used to attack another person’s mind, influence their thoughts, disrupt or erase their memories, and even absorb their soul. The mallet was forged from Gloomy Wood and could be used to destroy astral qi and affect the circulation of one’s energy and force.

The Strange Artifact was as insidious as it was potent, but its flaws were pretty significant. The gong sound was an indiscriminate attack that affected Ye Qing just as much as it affected the others. If he hadn’t cultivated the “Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method” and grown a powerful spirit, he would never dare to use the Strange Artifact. Chances were, he would die before his enemy.

Even now, hitting the gong six times in a row had taken a toll on him. It took him two deep breaths before he finally managed to quell the disjointed thoughts in his head and brought his foot down on the mud on the ground.

The mud was Old Mud’s true body. He was currently unresponsive because he was still battling against the influence of the Soul Absorbing Gong.

Ye Qing was, and would always be, a believer of kicking an enemy when they were down.

Perhaps the threat of death had injected a hint of clarity back into his mind, but Old Mud just barely formed a massive hand in an attempt to block Ye Qing’s barbaric stomp.

Ye Qing paused and lifted his mallet. Then, he tapped it lightly against the huge hand.

The mud hand crumbled away like dust, and Ye Qing successfully stamped his foot on Old Mud.

Boom!

It sounded like a celestial was using the ground as a drum. The earth shook, and Old Mud scattered into bits.

Ye Qing wasn’t done though. He unleashed the Burning Wind and burned the scattering mud into dust, leaving no trace behind.

Just like that, another Stranger bit the dust.

The moment Old Mud died, the Writer’s writing disappeared one by one as if erased by some sort of invisible power, but not the three “Dies”. Instead, they flew into the Writer’s body and caused its aura to plummet. It was as if its curse had backfired on it.

Back on the streets, Ye Qing sucked in a deep breath to stabilize his energies and stomped the ground once more. No, it wasn’t because Old Mud was still alive. It was because Silver Toad was gathering its energy to break out of its earthly confinements again. Unfortunately for the poor Stranger, the force of Ye Qing’s attack and his Burning Wind knocked it right back to where it started.

Patience. Your turn will come eventually.

Without further ado, Ye Qing pulsed his spirit and searched for the fourth hidden Stranger.

The Stranger’s ability was easily one of the strangest he had ever encountered in his life. He could not rest easy until they were dead.

While he was searching for the Writer, the Writer was fuming at its failure to kill Ye Qing. Once again, it was writing up a storm,

“Ye Qing managed to find my hiding spot, but he didn’t notice that an Artifact Wielder was slowly opening the bronze box and activating the Miracle Doctor Calabash. As a result, the miracle doctor’s soul emerged and killed Ye Qing.

KILL!

KILL!

KILL!”

The last three words were as red as blood. They also gave off a frightening and murderous aura. When they landed on the invisible parchment the Writer was writing on, the walls, the rooftop, the floor and more started bleeding bright red blood like the bloody shirt Stranger had come back to life. The insane mutterings and howls of countless vengeful spirits quickly filled the room as well.

“Found you!”

There was no way Ye Qing could miss such a huge pulse of energy even if he wasn’t actively searching for it. He was just about to dash over to the Stranger when suddenly, he sensed a terrifying pulse of energy behind him. He looked behind just in time to see an Artifact Wielder activating the Miracle Doctor Calabash and summoning the miracle doctor’s soul.

When did he—?

Before Ye Qing could figure out what was going on, the miracle doctor’s soul waved a hand and showered him in a sheen of flawless light. The next second, his astral qi was fully restored, injuries disappeared like they never happened.

At the same time, the Writer’s curse vanished line by line. Then, the brush started shaking as every drop of blood and vengeful spirits in the house entered its body in an instant. It continued to shake as tiny cracks slowly formed across its body. It looked like it might shatter into pieces at any moment.

“Ahahaha! Is that Stranger an idiot?”

It didn’t take much for Ye Qing to figure out the truth. The mysterious Stranger had taken control of the Artifact Wielder in hopes of killing him with the Miracle Doctor Calabash. Unfortunately, they had no idea that the Miracle Doctor Calabash would never lose control so long as three people with medical expertise were present. That was why the miracle doctor’s soul had healed him instead.

Ye Qing was very impressed. It wasn’t everyday you encountered a Stranger who dug their own grave after all.

“Hmm? What is… oh, did the curse backfire on them?” Ye Qing exclaimed in surprise when the evil energy he sensed suddenly fell into disarray.

It made sense. Its power to manipulate events was extremely uncanny. Of course it would have some sort of limitation.

If this isn’t my cue to end the bastard’s sorry life, I don’t know what is.

Ye Qing was about to take off when suddenly, he recalled something and turned around. Then, he put the Miracle Doctor Calabash back into the bronze box and carried it on his back. It was only then he made his way toward the Writer.

He was so close to achieving a total victory. The last thing he wanted was some random thief to steal the Miracle Doctor Calabash at the last moment and ruin everything.

As Ye Qing raced toward the house, the floor tiles, the roof tiles, the debris from the surrounding ruins and more suddenly lifted into the air and shot toward Ye Qing.

“Heh… too weak.”

Ye Qing sneered and threw a punch at the incoming debris. The Burning Wind and his fist force easily vaporized it all into dust.

At the same time, a writing brush flew out of the house and dripped an unbelievable amount of ink from its brush end. The ink rippled out in a circle before they hit the ground and dyed large patches of the sky black in an instant.

The real problem, however, was that the ink seemed to possess spirit-insulating qualities. He was unable to detect the brush with his spirit.

Ye Qing frowned. It was clear that the hair brush Stranger was trying to escape, but if he could not sense where it was going, then there was a real chance he might lose it.

It was at this moment a vellum slipped out of his shirt and plunged head first into the curtain of ink.

“The Annon Sutra?!”

It took Ye Qing a full second to realize what just happened. He had imagined countless things since arriving in this world, but he never thought that the Annon Sutra would suddenly leave him one day.

He didn’t even know the Annon Sutra could move on its own. The only time the vellum showed any reaction at all was when he asked it questions. How could he not be shocked by this turn of events?

More than shocked, Ye Qing was gripped by an unprecedented level of panic, loss, and fear.

Was he afraid that the Annon Sutra would leave him forever?

Was he afraid that he would become all alone?

Was he afraid that he would no longer have anyone to rely on?

Or was it all of the above?

He felt like a kid who suddenly lost his parents. One day he was still a superhero defeating evil and saving the world, and the next it was him against the whole wide world—lonely, bewildered, and overwhelmed.

The Annon Sutra was practically a parent to him. Since the first day he came to this world, the vellum had been a big part of his life. It had kept him company, guided him, grown with him, walked with him through thick and thin…

He might have been suspicious of the Strange Artifact before—and he still was, if he were to be completely honest with himself—but there was no doubt in his mind that it was his protector, his friend, and his family.

So what if he was an Astral Refiner now? So what if he wasn’t so weak that a stiff breeze could blow him over anymore?

He could be the strongest man in the entire world, and losing the Annon Sutra would still hurt him deeply.

A loss was a loss. [1]

“W-Where are you going, Annon Sutra? Big brother! C-Come back!” Ye Qing shouted as he gave chase, voice shaky and fearful. He felt as if his soul had been emptied.

Right before Ye Qing would plunge into the curtain of ink, the ink was suddenly pulled toward a certain direction as if drawn by an invisible power. It was gone in just the blink of an eye.

Ye Qing immediately saw the Annon Sutra and the writing brush floating in the air. The writing brush was leaking ink from its brush onto the Annon Sutra—or rather, the Annon Sutra was absorbing its ink.

The ink disappeared as soon as it hit the vellum. It was way faster than when it had absorbed Ye Qing’s blood. The Writer shook and struggled to break free from the Annon Sutra’s invisible hold, but it was futile.

At some point, the Writer stopped struggling completely. Then, as if it had lost its final sliver of life, its wooden body rotted, and its brush wilted like grass. Finally, it shattered completely and crumbled into dust.

The Annon Sutra… killed a Stranger on its own? I wonder if it would give dragon-serpent runes this way? Ye Qing thought distractedly.

With that done, the Annon Sutra flew back into Ye Qing’s hands.

1. Personally, I think this is one of the best scenes of the story. ☜