Stranger Danger

Chapter 935: Purple Ink of Beneficence

This was no ordinary ink. Called the Purple Ink of Beneficence, it was a karmic reward to a Confucian Sage who had successfully enlightened tens of thousands of people. The wielder of the Purple Ink of Beneficence enjoyed boosted literary fate and was immune to all evils and arts. At a critical moment, it could even protect its wielder’s mind from annihilation. Its power could not be stopped by anyone except an item or people with great destiny and karma.

Besides that, the Purple Ink of Beneficence was a karmic spiritual item of the world. If even one wisp of the wielder’s mind was intact, the wielder would be able to reforge their body and mind and regain their strength in a short time. Their cultivation level would not be affected in the slightest.

Obviously, the Purple Ink of Beneficence did not belong to Fang Muyun. It was bestowed to him by the Art Buddha to aid in his cultivation and protect him.

It was thanks to the Purple Ink of Beneficence that Fang Muyun dared to invest all of his yang god’s power to manifest the Painting of Humanity and detonate it with his yang god, launching a suicide attack against the Strangers.

Of course, it wasn’t really a suicide attack. It was a feint.

Fang Muyun knew that the only way he might survive was to remove the Myriad Dragons Palace’s seal. Otherwise, he would never be able to escape.

The bad news was that he was nowhere strong enough to break the Myriad Dragons Palace’s seal by force. The good news was that its master, Long Ao, was much more vulnerable.

But how could he force Long Ao into removing the seal of his own accord? Via the threat of death, of course. Only the threat of death could force Long Ao to summon the Myriad Dragons Palace back to his side and unwittingly cancel the seal.

However, he was outnumbered and not at his peak strength. There was no way he could corner Long Ao without putting his life on the line. So he did.

Earlier, he had detached a wisp of his yang god and stored it inside the Purple Ink of Beneficence. Then, he manifested the Painting of Humanity and detonated it and his yang god. It was literally the strongest attack he could muster, and it successfully forced Long Ao into summoning the Myriad Dragon Palace back to his side and canceling the seal. Not only that, Long Ao would never suspect that he was still alive, meaning that he could escape without being pursued.

Ultimately, everything went exactly as he planned. Once he returned to the Four Seas, then it would be as if none of this had ever happened.

Something had happened though. Now, he held a grudge against the Four Seas Dragon Palace. He was going to pay it back a hundredfold when he returned to the Four Seas.

Long Ao, the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, the Four Seas Dragon Palace. They would all pay.

“Tsk tsk... is that Mister Farseeing I see? What happened to you?”

Just when Fang Muyun thought he was safe, a ridiculing voice suddenly came from somewhere. “My oh my, you sure look terrible. It reminds me of a beaten dog!”

Before Fang Muyun could react, a dark yellow hand appeared out of nowhere and made a grab for him.

Fang Muyun was astonished. He wasn’t expecting to run into anyone up here, and an enemy no less. He was only astonished, however.

As mentioned earlier, the Purple Ink of Beneficence was a karmic spiritual item. Beloved by the world and empowered by fate, it was immune to all evils and arts. The only thing that coud stop it was another karmic item or a person of great destiny.

For obvious reasons, both item and person were incredibly rare in this world. What were the chances this foe was a person of great destiny? Next to nothing was the answer. So, he wasn’t afraid.

Waves of karmic light began rippling out of the ink person and shielding Fang Muyun’s mind from all harm. But then, Fang Muyun’s eyes widened. It was because the dark yellow hand passed right through the karmic light and caught him directly.

“Impossible!”

Fang Muyun struggled with all his might. The karmic light flashed rapidly and emitted purple qi as well. However, it could not threaten the dark yellow hand even a little.

“There’s no point in struggling, Mister Farseeing. You cannot escape.”

The ridiculing voice from before rang right next to his ears.

“The Profound Yellow Mother Qi!”

Fang Muyun finally recognized the dark yellow energy surrounding the hand. He exclaimed with unbridled astonishment, “Who on earth are you?”

“Have you forgotten me already, Mister Farseeing? Well, they do say that eminent people have short memories.”

A gigantic face shifted into Fang Muyun’s view. The scholar knew it wasn’t because his foe had an unusually large face, of course. He was the one who was too small.

“Here, have a good look. Can you recognize me now?”

“It’s you!”

After observing for a few seconds, something finally clicked in Fang Muyun’s mind. For the first time in a long time, a hint of disbelief disrupted the calm that seemed to be a permanent trait of the scholar’s voice. “Ye Qing?! You’re still alive?!”

“So sorry to disappoint you, Mister Farseeing, but yes.”

Fang Muyun’s captor was Ye Qing, of course. “Thanks to you, not only am I alive, I am doing very well right now.”

Despite what he said, Ye Qing had to admit that Fang Muyun’s escape plan was sublime. If he and Feng Qingyou hadn’t been watching him this whole time, the scholar really would have escaped successfully.

A dozen or so breaths later, Fang Muyun finally said, “If you’re still alive, then Fugong must have lied to me. And if Fugong is yours, then all this... is your conspiracy!”

Fang Muyun was the opposite of an idiot. It only took him a bit of thinking to figure out more or less the entire truth.

He did not ask why Ye Qing was scheming against him. If Fugong had betrayed him, then Ye Qing had surely figured out that he was the one who plotted against him back at Tian Yong. It was a completely pointless question.

“Just giving you a taste of your own medicine. So? How does it taste?” Ye Qing grinned so wide that his eyes were barely discernible slits.

Fang Muyun had set him up and tried to kill him back then. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

“It’s wonderfully done!” Fang Muyun praised. It was the honest truth. If Ye Qing hadn’t shown himself, he would never think that this was anything but an unfortunate accident. Never once did it cross his mind that it was a conspiracy against him from the start until now.

This was the first time since he was a child that he fell hook, line and sinker so thoroughly by another person. He had been manipulated step by step into his enemy’s death trap like a puppet, and he hadn’t even felt the strings.

He had always thought himself to be exceptionally intelligent and astute, but he never noticed a thing from the start until the very end.

It is the strong swimmers who drown; the cunning courtiers who fell to schemes. How lamentable and ironic it was!

“I am beyond honored to receive your praise, Mister Farseeing.” Ye Qing smirked.

“I am not flattering you. I am truly impressed.”

Fang Muyun began, “Back then, you were able to grasp that ray of hope from what should have been an impossible situation and escape Tian Yong alive. Today, you were able to trap me without me noticing a thing from start until the end.”

“I admit that I am inferior to you; that I have lost to a superior opponent.”

He was speaking from the bottom of his heart. At the same time, he felt a twinge of regret. No, he didn’t regret plotting to kill Ye Qing. He regretted that he did not complete the final step personally. If he had, Ye Qing would be dead, and none of this would have happened.

Sometimes, one moment of carelessness was all it took to lose everything. By then, it was far too late for regrets.

“Everyone says nice things when they are about to die. I see no reason not to take you at your word,” Ye Qing replied, the scorn in his tone evident.

Fang Muyun could hear his scorn, of course. A few breaths of silence later, he asked, “Must you kill me, Brother Ye?”

“Heh. What do you think, Mister Farseeing?” Ye Qing retorted.

“I see. I understand.” Fang Muyun sighed. He was hoping to check if he could buy his way out of this predicament, but that was plainly impossible judging from the disdain and determination in the young man’s voice.

So, he gave up.