Stranger Danger

“It’s okay,” Devi Ruyi said smilingly.

“You are too good and innocent for this world, Ruyi. You should always beware of people with ulterior motives.”

Jinpeng Moyun said with clear hostility, “Starting now, you will direct all your questions at me.”

“Sure.”

Ye Qing did not wait for Devi Ruyi to react and look at Jinpeng Moyun with a sunny grin. “Please tell me more about your kingdom, Prince Moyun!”

Jinpeng Moyun was speechless for a moment. He did not expect Ye Qing to actually stop “harassing” Devi Ruyi. He thought that the young man was asking the questions to get close to her and to advance his hidden motives, so the fact that he gave up so easily caught him completely off guard.

“What’s wrong? Do you not want to tell me for some reason?” Ye Qing smirked. “If you have nothing to say, then I’m going to ask Devi Ruyi again. That okay with you?”

“Hmph!”

Jinpeng Moyun grunted. He really did not want to interact with Ye Qing, but he was also afraid that the young man would resume his “harassment” of Devi Ruyi. So, he ultimately answered Ye Qing’s questions.

To put it simply, the Great Peng Kingdom was an up-and-coming country of the Western Regions with acceptably strong nation power. A union of religion and politics, the Mara Sect was the state religion of the Great Peng Kingdom. Everyone from the highest ruler to the lowest slave worshiped the Mara Sect. Those who did not were labeled a heretic and burned on a stake.

Not only that, religious authority was greater than royal authority in the Great Peng Kingdom. The coronation of a new king, the enthronement of a royal authority and so on must all go through the Mara Sect.

A Devi was, barring the Hierarch, Buddha Lord, and a handful others, the noblest being in the Mara Sect. A symbol of purity, perfection, and luck as one wants, there was only one Devi per generation. A Devi was reelected and replaced only when the existing Devi had passed away from old age or an accident. That was why a Devi enjoyed an esteemed status.

Of course, this was the conclusion Ye Qing had drawn himself. Jinpeng Moyun was the prince of the Great Peng Kingdom and the elected Venerable Defender of the Faith of the Mara Sect. Because of this, the guy exaggerated the absolute crap of the Great Peng Kingdom and the Mara Sect. If Ye Qing didn’t know better, he would believe that both the kingdom and the religion stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the sun itself.

There were two reasons why Ye Qing was asking about all this. One, he was curious. From what Yi Pin told him, the Mara Sect had suffered a near fatal blow during the battle several thousand years ago and was this close from going extinct. But now, the religion had returned. Naturally, he was very curious as to why and how it resurrected.

And two, there was no way out of the Myriad Buddha Plains right now. Worst case scenario, he might be stuck in this god forsaken place for a minimum of two weeks. With so much time in his hands, he needed to do something to pass the time.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, Ye Qing felt something and looked away from Jinpeng Moyun.

“What’s wrong?” Jinpeng Moyun noticed his reaction and followed his gaze. He saw and felt nothing though.

“Scree!”

It was at this moment the Golden-winged Aquila suddenly let out a shrill cry and puffed up its feathers. Hovering in place, it refused to take another step forward no matter what.

The old woman spoke up, “I believe there is something dangerous upfront, Devi. We should change directions.”

The Golden-winged Aquila was a protector beast raised by the Mara Sect, and the old woman was the one holding its reins right now. Because of this, she could clearly sense its fear and unease.

“Very well.” Devi Ruyi nodded.

“Come on. Go! I thought you didn’t want to stay?”

Strangely, no matter how hard the old woman tried to spur the Golden-winged Aquila to fly off into another direction, the creature refused to turn around and leave no matter what.

“Something’s wrong, Devi. The Golden-winged Aquila is refusing to leave for some reason!” The old woman said with a deep frown.

“Argh!”

It was at this moment dozens of golden warriors suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream. Their screams were still reverberating in the air when their eyes bulged, and they ceased moving forever.

The golden warriors’ deaths were as abrupt as they were anomalous. Some of them died with their heads being twisted ninety degrees to the side, and some one hundred and eighty degrees to the back. It was worth noting that they had all died from broken necks.

The dead warriors’ body was facing toward the back or the side, but their heads were firmly affixed to the front. Not only that, their eyes were bulging, and their mouths were agape. Every single one of them wore the same expression. It was spine-chilling to say the least.

Ye Qing was standing a little further back than the dead warriors, so he saw how they died from the start until the end.

The dead warriors were guards responsible for watching the sides and the back of the Golden-winged Aquila. That was why they were facing sideways or backward until that point. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, an invisible force had suddenly grabbed their heads and twisted it all the way to the front. Strangely, their bodies did not budge even an inch.

Of course, the golden warriors were pretty strong. Their vigor was vast, and their vitality was strong. Forget a mere ninety degree neck twist, even a one hundred and eighty degree neck twist should seriously injure them at most. They should not have died no matter what.

Ye Qing’s senses told him that their necks weren’t the only things that were broken when the twisting happened, however. Both their mind and their vitality had instantly disappeared into nothing. This was the true reason the golden warriors were dead.

It was quite anomalous to put it mildly.

“Don’t look back! In fact, don’t turn your body at all!”

It was at this moment Devi Ruyi cried out, “Look straight ahead and only ahead!”

Her warning was unnecessary. Just now, many people subconsciously wanted to turn their heads and look back when they heard their compatriots’ bloodcurdling scream. However, right before they could do so, a strange instinct suddenly froze them in their tracks. It warned them that something terrible, maybe even fatal would happen if they dared to do so.

Naturally, not a single soul dared to turn their heads.

“Copy me.”

Devi Ruyi declared before biting open a finger and painting her eyelids with blood. Everyone else obeyed her command without question.

Ye Qing was facing a minor problem though. He tried several times to bite open his finger to no avail. His skin was just too thick.

“Lend me your blood, Prince Moyun!”

Before Prince Moyun could react, Ye Qing grabbed his hand, bit open his finger, and began painting his eyelids with blood.

“What are you doing?!”

It was only after the fact that Jinpeng Moyun realized what just happened and raged at him.

“Don’t be so petty-minded. It’s just a few drops of blood!”

Ye Qing smirked at the man, but something suddenly caused him to turn serious. “Prince Moyun, look!”

As angry as Jinpeng Moyun was, he knew that now wasn’t the time to lose his cool. He forced down his anger, squeezed out some blood from his fingertip, and painted his eyelids.

As soon as he did this, a woman appeared in front of him.

The woman had a human’s head but a bird’s body. A thousand arms were spread out behind her back like a lotus flower. She was also wearing a benevolent expression.

That wasn’t all. A pair of hands was wrapped around each and everyone’s head.

Now, they knew exactly what happened just now. It was these arms that had twisted the golden warriors’ necks and killed them.

It was at this moment Jinpeng Moyun saw out of the corner of his eye that Ye Qing was trying to remove the arms around his neck. Strangely, his hands passed right through the arms almost as if they did not exist. Naturally, he could not remove them.

The next moment, Jinpeng Moyun’s eyes widened in utter shock.

It was because Ye Qing, the madman, actually turned his neck sideways.

“Is he suicidal?!”

Suddenly, the slender, intangible arms grew solid. Then, they tightened around Ye Qing’s head and tried to twist it.

That was a mistake. When Ye Qing felt his hands touching the arms, his lips immediately spread into a devilish grin.

“Got you.”