Stranger Danger

Leya Point was a ferry point located near the end of Fury Wind River and near the estuary. If the upstream of Fury Wind River was overflowing with rapid waters, deadly winds, and even deadlier Strangers that made it completely unnavigable in most times, then the downstream of Fury Wind River had wide open lands and mostly stable waters. As a result, there were plenty of excellent harbors and ferry points in this area, and Leya Point was the biggest and most prosperous of them all. Merchants and travelers flowed in from every direction, and its numerous lamps remained lit throughout the night, giving it the impression of a ferry point that never slept. It was also said that its vessels resemble schools of fishes, and its people the myriad threads of fabric.

Leya Point was the greatest ferry point of northern Qi. That was why it was brightly lit like daytime and full of noise and activity even though it was already midnight.

Despite the ceaseless boats and ships coming to and fro Leya Point, Ye Qing wasn’t worried about being discovered. After all, the whale tomb was extraordinary and concealed behind a thick fog. He could look outside, but those outside could not look inward and find them.

The reason they were parked here was because they were planning to land on Leya Point and travel south straight to Four Seas.

“Hmm? There’s something under the water!”

Suddenly, Ye Qing sensed something and frowned. His demonic thought was telling him that a massive group of unusually-shaped serpents were swimming swiftly toward Leya Point. The creatures were around three meters long, pitch black, and had a pair of wings.

At first glance, there were at least a couple thousand of them. They looked like a swarm of black tentacles swimming swiftly toward the ferry point without a sound.

“It’s the Black-winged Water Snake!” Feng Qingyou answered.

“I bet they’re targeting the people on the ferry point,” Ye Qing said with a frown.

The Black-winged Water Snake was a Hatred-class Stranger. Shaped like a snake with a pair of wings, it could swim underwater and fly in the sky. It was carnivorous and usually operated in groups. It was very common for a school of Black-winged Water Snakes to assault a coastal village or town.

Clearly, that was exactly what these Black-winged Water Snakes were intending to do.

Ye Qing was about to warn the unaware merchants, travelers, and workers on the ferry point when Feng Qingyou stopped him. “Patience. Let’s wait and see what happens.”

Ye Qing did not understand why, but he trusted that Feng Qingyou would not say or do something she wasn’t sure about. So, he waited.

Meanwhile, the underwater Black-winged Water Snakes were starting to flap their wings rapidly. It was one thing if it was just one Black-winged Water Snake, but a thousand? Several thousands?

The water level began rising slowly. The closer it got to Leya Point, the higher the river climbed. It took only a couple breaths for a gigantic wave over a hundred meters tall to take form.

Ye Qing had no doubt that the ferry point would be destroyed if the massive wave managed to land on its target, and the people in the ferry point would not likely survive.

“Oh, it’s a Stranger attack.”

The commotion drew the people’s attention as a matter of course, but for whatever reason, they weren’t panicking or running for the closest shelters like they should. In fact, Ye Qing could not sense a hint of fear or panic on their faces, only anticipation. Many people were crossing their arms and watching the incoming wave with wide smiles as well.

The wave was seconds away from landing when suddenly, Ye Qing felt a tremendous power gushing out from underneath the river.

His demonic thought told him that some of the mud at the bottom of the river had faded away to reveal a monument.

The monument was one meter wide and three meters tall. One side was engraved with the word, “Greater Riverguard”, and the other the picture of a circling dragon. Řἁ𐌽ՕʙƐṠ

“Roar…”

The flood dragon on the monument came to life then. It flew out of the stone and let out an angry roar.

The giant wave threatening to engulf Leya Point abruptly shattered into bits, and the school of Black-winged Water Snakes fell helplessly from the sky as if stunned by the draconic roar.

The next moment, the flood dragon swallowed every single one of the Strangers. There was an audible crunch before blood dripped down its mouth.

That wasn’t the end of it, however. The flood dragon seemingly sensed something and suddenly turned toward the whale tomb. Then, it let out another roar and charged toward them.

“Did it discover us?”

Ye Qing lifted an eyebrow before letting out a hmph. “Get lost!”

His words erupted like a pair of world-ending thunderclaps, deafening heaven and earth. The next moment, the flood dragon exploded and disappeared.

Strangely, not a single person on the ferry point heard anything at all. They thought the flood dragon had taken their leave and gossiped amongst themselves:

“What? That’s it?”

“I know. How useless are these Strangers? They couldn’t even take a hit from the Greater Riverguard Monument.”

“Oh well, show’s over. Time to get back to work!”

“You over there! I didn’t pay you to laze around and do nothing! Get back to your post, now!”

The people in the ferry point seemed completely used to such happenings. It wasn’t long before they busied themselves with work once more.

None of them realized that a crack had appeared on the monument lying at the bottom of the river. It also looked much dimmer than before.

Feng Qingyou suddenly chuckled. “I am impressed, Joyless. It hasn’t even been a day since you entered Qi, and you’ve already broken their Greater Riverguard Monument.”

“What? That’s the Greater Riverguard Monument?” Ye Qing exclaimed in surprise.

“What do you think?” Feng Qingyou replied.

The Greater Riverguard Monument was a Strange Artifact the Qi court specifically created to guard a river, a lake, or a sea region.

Qi bordered the sea and had many rivers flowing through its realm. Therefore, it was quite common for floods or Stranger attacks to occur in these areas. In order to guard the rivers and protect the realm and its people from danger, Qi sealed the soul of a dragon or serpent into a monument and conferred it with the Will of the Empire and the Will Of The Dragon. That was how it gained the power to quell floods and suppress Strangers.

The monuments were categorized as Riverguard, Greater Riverguard, and Seaguard. Generally speaking, a Riverguard Monument contained a snake Stranger’s soul, a Greater Riverguard Monument contained a flood dragon’s soul, and a Seaguard Monument contained a dragon’s soul. In descending order, the Seaguard Monument was the most powerful, the Greater Riverguard Monument was the second most powerful, and the Riverguard Monument was the least powerful.

This section of the Wind Fury River was protected by a Greater Riverguard Monument; a flood dragon’s soul.

To put it bluntly, the Greater Riverguard Monument was similar to a River God, Water God and the like in terms of function. In fact, Qi often conferred Mountain Gods, River Gods, City Gods and other gods to manage the realm and protect the people.

Of course, these so-called gods were really just a bunch of Strangers. They were simply Strangers acknowledged by the imperial court and protected by the country.

It was said that the Qi Emperor owned an extraordinary treasure known as the Mountain River God Conferral Painting. It allowed him to make a Stranger a god and trap a wisp of their Anima inside the painting. While the Strangers were forced to obey the Mountain River God Conferral Painting, becoming a god meant that they could receive the offerings of the people and grow their strength. Given enough time, they could forge a true body and become eternal.

It was a symbiotic relationship that killed multiple birds with one stone. The Stranger would protect the people and manage the realm, and the people would give them offerings and wishes in return. That was why there were a lot of shrines and gods in Qi.

“Ahem… I didn’t know, did I?” Ye Qing rubbed his nose. “Will we be fine?”

“We will,” Feng Qingyou answered. “It’s just a little troublesome.”

“How so?” Ye Qing asked.

“The Greater Riverguard Monument contains a nation’s Will of the Empire and Will of the Empire and is controlled by the local authorities. They will surely sense that you have shattered the Greater Riverguard Monument and dispatch someone to investigate the matter.”

Feng Qingyou looked up all of a sudden. “Speak of the devil.”

As if on cue, an angry roar erupted from the distance.

“Who dares to damage the Greater Riverguard Monument?”

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