Stranger Danger

Chapter 924: Blood-drenched Sea

“What is that?”

Ye Qing had wrapped the Wave Breaking Golden Carp Boat in the Profound Yellow Mother Qi. Therefore, the vessel was cutting through the waves as steady as a rock.

However, right before they would approach White Fish Island, a gigantic eye suddenly appeared on the distant sea surface.

The eye seemed to be made up of clouds. Churning and rotating slowly, the surrounding clouds seemed to be drawing the dead wind and rain in the area toward the pupil. Then, the pupil itself began rotating itself.

A tornado took form on the sea in just the blink of an eye. Not only that, the tornado was rapidly growing in size and drawing water from the sea as well. In just a dozen of breaths or so, the tornado had grown into a titanic waterspout that seemed to connect heaven and earth together.

“That’s the Sea Dragon Eye, a Disaster-class Stranger,” Feng Qingyou answered.

“I see! No wonder it created such a massive waterspout,” Ye Qing remarked while admiring the curious phenomenon.

The Sea Dragon Eye was a Disaster-class Stranger. Shaped like a cloudy eye, it existed in the sea and generally appeared during stormy weather. After it made its appearance, it would absorb the surrounding gale, downpour, and sea water and form a titanic waterspout that connected heaven and earth. Wherever the waterspout traveled, that part of the sea was turned upside down, and all life was extinguished without mercy. It was much scarier than your ordinary waterspout.

In fact, there were multiple times in the history of Qi where the water spouts created by the Sea Dragon Eye had destroyed countless coastal cities.

That said, all Strangers were killable, and the Sea Dragon Eye was no exception. But of course, it wasn’t an easy feat.

First, one must destroy the waterspout before they could attack the Sea Dragon Eye. It was because the Sea Dragon Eye was hiding at the center of the waterspout. Only by destroying the waterspout could the Sea Dragon Eye be killed. Second, the Sea Dragon Eye was composed of cloud and air, meaning that it did not have a physical or fixed form. It was difficult for normal attacks to find purchase, and one mistake was all the Sea Dragon Eye needed to escape.

Logically speaking, the best time to kill the Sea Dragon Eye was before it created its waterspout. However, the Stranger normally hid itself in the deep sea and did not reveal itself easily, meaning that it was very difficult to detect. Once it made its appearance, it would take but a moment for the Sea Dragon Eye to form a waterspout.

In conclusion, the Sea Dragon Eye was a highly difficult and troublesome Stranger.

Ye Qing wasn’t afraid of the Sea Dragon Eye, but there was no reason for him to waste his stamina to defeat it either. He decided to stay out of its way and wait out the storm before continuing toward White Fish Island. This was because the Sea Dragon Eye would leave, and the waterspout it created would disappear after the storm had settled.

But right before Ye Qing could move the Wave Breaking Golden Carp Boat away from the Sea Dragon Eye, Feng Qingyou suddenly curled a finger and wrapped the entire boat in a strange energy. To Ye Qing’s senses, it felt as if the space they were occupying was isolated from the real world.

“What’s wrong?” Ye Qing stopped whatever he was doing and asked softly.

“Something is coming,” Feng Qingyou answered.

As if on cue, a blood red color suddenly appeared from the distant sea and spread toward their direction. He saw the fishes, prawns, crabs, Strangers and more swimming away from the encroaching red as if their lives depended on it. In fact, that was the case. Every animal or Stranger who failed to get away in time immediately dissolved into a pool of red liquid and became one with the spreading red.

Not even the titanic waterspout that connected heaven and earth was an exception. As soon as the red came close, it immediately turned tail and swam in the opposite direction like a mouse who saw a cat.

Unfortunately, the encroaching red was even faster than the waterspout. It was dyed in red in almost no time at all.

For a time, both the sky and the sea shared the same color. It felt as if everything in the world had been dyed blood red in color.

The next moment, the waterspout fell apart as if whatever was maintaining its form had disappeared all of a sudden. Massive chunks of red sea water crashed into the sea and kicked up waves spanning tens of thousands of meters in height. At the same time, the sea region in a three-hundred-meter radius turned blood red all of a sudden, melting and killing all nearby aquatic animals and Strangers in just the blink of an eye.

“You have arrived, Blood Sovereign. My apologies for not welcoming you in person. I hope you will forgive this crown prince for his poor etiquette.”

It was at this moment a dignified voice boomed from the sky. It seemed to possess some sort of great power as it pushed back all the black clouds in the surroundings, killed the howling winds, and stilled the sea.

The sky was clear, and the sun was bright. The storm was pacified just like that. If the sea still wasn’t blood red in color, one could almost fool themselves into thinking that this was all just a dream.

The voice was still reverberating in the air when a ray of rainbow light appeared from the horizon and paved what looked like a road of pure rainbow across the sea surface.

The melody of bamboo instruments and drums followed, and many shrimp soldiers and crab generals clad in golden armor and wielding sabers or axes marched over following the rainbow road.

Following right behind the shrimp soldiers and crab generals were many women wearing obscenely thin dresses. They looked human, but some of them had scales growing out of their forehead, clam shells on their backs, fish tail for legs, or azure blue hair. Regardless, they were all gorgeous, and they were carrying various items such as corals, precious stones, tortoise shells, pearls and more. As they walked, their ornaments clinked together like music.

At the center of the parade of women were eight tall and muscular Yaksha patrols. They were about ten meters tall with sharp fangs hanging in front of their mouths.

The eight Yaksha patrols were also carrying a phoenix carriage[1] on their shoulders. Luxuriously built, the phoenix carriage was embedded with all sorts of precious stones and engraved with all kinds of auspicious beasts. It looked both noble and dignified.

A young man wearing a dragon robe was sitting in the phoenix carriage. He looked to be in his twenties, and he possessed a handsome countenance and a noble bearing. He also had a pair of glowing horns that looked like they were forged from lapis lazuli, exquisite and mysterious, luxurious and imposing.

When the group finally arrived at the edge of the bloody sea, the eight Yaksha patrols slowly dropped to their knees and lowered the phoenix carriage. The women, shrimp soldiers and crab generals also prostrated themselves on both sides of the rainbow road, showing absolute deference.

After the phoenix carriage was lowered to the floor, the man rose to his feet and stepped off his phoenix carriage. He walked to the edge of the bloody sea and clasped his hands in salute, greeting, “This crown prince is honored that you have chosen to show up in person, Blood Sovereign.”

As soon as the man finished, the bloody sea water abruptly withdrew unto itself, returning most of the sea water to normal. A short while later, it took on a humanoid form.

Although the thing looked humanoid with a head, a torso, and four limbs, it did not have any facial features such as eyes or nose. It also lacked any orifices and did not look male or female. Blood was dripping all over its body and spreading a thick, violent stench of blood throughout the air. It looked horrifying to say the least.

“Why have you called me here, Long Ao?”

A low, chilly, genderless voice rang.

“Because I have business to discuss with you, of course.”

The man named Long Ao replied smilingly, “This is no place to have that discussion though. The drinks are already prepared, so let us head to the hall together.”

The Blood Sovereign uttered coldly, “I don’t drink wine. I only drink fresh blood.”

Long Ao laughed loudly. “I know. I’ve already prepared your favorite, the fresh blood of children. You may drink to your heart’s content.”

“Excellent. I love drinking the fresh blood of children.”

The blood on the Blood Sovereign’s body stirred visibly as he said this. It was worth noting that the blood dripping into the sea would always circulate back to his body. It was quite unusual.

“I hope this isn’t a trick though, Long Ao. Otherwise, I don’t mind devouring you.”

“I am a prince of my word, Blood Sovereign. I wouldn’t dare.”

There was a glimmer of disdain in Long Ao’s eyes as he responded, though he made sure to suppress it fast enough that the Blood Sovereign noticed nothing. He gestured, “This way please.”

The Blood Sovereign stepped onto the rainbow road and trod forward with Long Ao following closely behind. It wasn’t long before they were gone, and the rainbow road slowly disappeared behind them.

1. Meaning VIP carriage. ☜