Stranger Danger

Chapter 767: The Six Ghosts and Gods

“Ahhhhh!”

It was at this moment Mistress Yu Hua screamed again. A massive head began squeezing itself out of her stomach.

The head was as big as a house and had two curved horns growing out of its forehead. One horn was burning with black flames where millions of ghosts wailed within, whereas the other was surrounded by streams of water bearing countless dead bodies.

Strangest of all, the head had two faces. The face on the front was male, handsome and elegant, and the one on the back was female, contorting and horrifying.

The man’s face invoked a sense of reverence and untouchability. It looked like the face of a god. On the other hand, the woman’s face invoked fear and loathing. It looked like the face of a ghost.

The being was literally two-faced, wearing both the face of a god and a ghost. There was only one entity that fit its description: a Ghost and God of Fengdu. And since this one was the master of the Grand Fiend Abode of Forgiveness, he could only be the one they called Zongtian.

After the head emerged fully, Zongtian casually turned their head and looked around. No one save for Murong Xianxian dared to look at them directly.

Clearly, this Ghost and God of Fengdu was an Ancient-class Stranger.

An Ancient-class Stranger was a being who unfettered themselves from the eternal cycle of life and death and became eternal themselves. They were on the same level as a Sage.

After their head emerged, Zongtian began climbing out of Mistress Yu Hua’s stomach at an accelerated rate. Just a few seconds later, they had fully extricated themselves from the confines that was Mistress Yu Hua’s flesh.

The group finally saw the Ghost and God in their entirety. They were over a hundred meters tall and wearing a set of armor. Black flames seeped out between the gaps of their armor, and they were constantly surrounded by a cloud of yin qi that conjured images of the Eighteen Hells, mountain of corpses and sea of bones.

They weren’t doing anything, but the sky shook, the earth cracked, and the space groaned audibly as if they could not withstand Zongtian’s power. Just looking at them was enough to turn one’s limbs ice cold and induce a flood of tears.

Whenever Zongtian looked at a certain direction, everything in that direction fell completely silent. By the time they were done scanning their surroundings, the entire world had fallen as silent as death.

“Master… Master… please save me… please save your beloved consort…”

It was at this moment a shrill cry broke the silence. As it turned out, Mistress Yu Hua wasn’t dead yet, though she looked like she was half a foot away from passing onto the other side completely. Her guts were bare for all to see, and she had returned to her ancient, rotting appearance after the “Great Ghost God Reincarnation Spell” had come to an end. She was currently squirming about like a worm and grabbing onto the Ghost and God’s ankle like he was her one and only lifeline.

Zongtian bent down and pinched Mistress Yu Hua’s head between a pair of fingers. Then, they lifted her to eye level.

Mistress Yu Hua was barely bigger than an ant from this perspective.

“Master… please save me…” Mistress Yu Hua begged.

The Ghost and God examined her for a moment before letting out a cold, deafening chuckle.

“Not only did you fail such a simple task, you even damaged my precious artifact. Why should I keep a useless piece of garbage like you alive?”

“I know I didn’t meet your expectations… mercy, master! Mercy!”

Seemingly realizing something, Mistress Yu Hua began struggling and begging with all her might. It was futile though. Zongtian tossed her into their mouth and chewed her up like candy.

Everyone felt chilled to the core at the sight of this. Mistress Yu Hua was their consort, and they had eaten her without any hesitation whatsoever, the monster!

Wait, they are a monster. Never mind then.

After Zongtian was done eating his own consort, they shot Sun Sovereign and the others a disdainful look before locking their gaze onto Murong Xianxian.

“It seems there is a valid reason they called you the most beautiful woman of the wulin eight hundred years ago. Very good.”

Zongtian barked out a laugh before ordering in a dignified voice that wouldn’t accept no as an answer, “I had just lost a consort, and I need someone to fill her place. I will let you live, and I shan’t punish you for your earlier sins if you agree to become my consort.”

Murong Xianxian couldn’t seem to feel the pressure everyone was feeling, however. She asked smilingly, “What do I get for becoming your consort?”

Zongtian bowed their head slightly. “Hahaha… it is your honor to be able to become my consort. What else would you need besides this?” Their eyes shone like the sun, and their mere radiance evoked unquestionable authority.

If a god’s favor was as deep as the sea, then a god’s ire was as bottomless as the abyss itself.

Maintaining her smile, Murong Xianxian pretended to think for a moment before answering, “That makes sense, but there’s a problem. You… are one of the ugliest bastards I’ve ever seen.”

“Hmm?”

Zongtian blinked. Everyone else blinked as well. No one was expecting to hear such an answer from Murong Xianxian.

The sky rumbled, and the Ghost and God bent down a little. The air before him immediately groaned as if it could not bear their weight. “Hahaha… What a bold woman you are. You are already on your last legs, and yet you still dare to speak to me like this. Very good, woman. You have drawn my interest.”

“I will have you one way or another.”

With that said, Zongtian reached out to grab Murong Xianxian. The sky immediately turned pitch black, and the surrounding space collapsed as if an invisible hand had dug them out of the fabric that was reality.

Despite his fear and trepidation, Ye Qing resolutely stepped in front of Murong Xianxian and assumed a stance, channeling his fist intent until it filled his chest.

Looking at Murong Xianxian’s expression alone, you would think that she had the Ghost and God right where she wanted them to be. But he wasn’t Murong Xianxian, so he wasn’t confident in their chances one bit.

He also knew that he was at best an egg compared to the mountain in front of him, and that his chances of defeating the monstrosity was less than zero. But sometimes, it wasn’t a matter of whether you can. You simply must.

He had never been the type to wait to die anyway.

And finally, assuming that Murong Xianxian did have a trump card up her sleeve, then his action would surely earn her good will. He would be killing two birds with one stone.

When the Ghost and God’s sky-blotting hand was ten meters away from their heads, Ye Qing pushed off the ground and shot toward it like an arrow. His fist intent instantly reached peak levels.

Not only that, he was able to mold some of the concepts he grasped from witnessing “Suppression hammer” into his fist intent.

Obviously, his version of “Suppression Hammer” was like a firefly compared to the moon that was the original, but like a fire that was inflamed by the wind, his punch was at least one-third stronger than normal.

BANG

Unfortunately, his punch shattered against the giant hand like a sea wave against a shoal. Blood spurted out of his eyes and nose as he crashed into the ground even faster than he flew upward.

Worse, his full-powered attack failed to affect the hand even a little. It continued to reach down for Murong Xianxian.

Will you show up?

Murong Xianxian’s smile remained unchanged as the giant hand came closer and closer. However, a hint of emotions had seeped into her eyes. It looked like a mixture of hopefulness, worry, and fear.

The giant hand was three inches away from Murong Xianxian when suddenly, it came to a stop.

It wasn’t because Zongtiansuddenly had a change of mind. It was because a finger had appeared between the hand and the woman.

The finger was infinitely small compared to the hand. It seemed as puny and powerless as an ant trying to topple a tree. And yet, it did. The finger had actually stopped Zongtian’s hand dead in its tracks.

No matter how hard the Ghost and God pushed, it could not move an inch further.

Everyone noticed a second later that the finger had appeared from the rock beside Murong Xianxian.

“Sigh…”

It was at this moment a sigh brushed against everyone’s ears.

It was a low, weary sigh. It was thick like it had been continuously fortified by the endless march of time, forlorn like it could not bear the neverending changes of the world, lonely like it missed the time when the red dust still mattered to it, and helpless like an ordinary person trying to change the shape of the clouds.

It was a voice that was overflowing with untold stories and charm.

The rock slowly peeled away and shook itself loose to reveal a man.