Stranger Danger-Chapter 1786: Someone Behind Me

“Do what you want.”

Elder Furnace did not say anything else after that. To be honest, he wished that Ye Qing would screw up and die. After all, that meant that he would be free to leave with the Earthly Sovereign Bell. How wonderful would that be?

Should I try to ‘help’ him on his way?

Elder Furnace was just pondering a way to screw Ye Qing over when the young man said in a joking tone, “By the way, don’t play around, okay Elder Furnace? You and I are grasshoppers on the same rope right now. If I die, you’re coming to the grave with me. That means you won’t get to see the Earthly Sovereign Bell regain its former glory. Understand?”

“Hmph! I’m not that kind of person!”

Although Ye Qing’s tone was casual, Elder Furnace wasn’t a fool. He could hear the threat loud and clear.

“To tell you the truth, I do not know how one can harvest the immortal peach. After all, the Shennong Dao Lord never relied on others to perform the harvest. He always did it himself.”

Elder Furnace stopped plotting and explained honestly, “That said, I know of some taboos one must avoid while harvesting the immortal peaches. For example, one must not pluck an immortal peach directly with their hand. Instead, they must tap the peach tree’s branches three times using an object that is not of the Five Phases.”

“For example, one will be assaulted by various illusions while attempting to pluck the immortal peach, so they must possess a strong and unbending will.”

“For example, each person only has one chance to pluck an immortal peach. If they give up halfway, then they would forever lose the opportunity and fortune. Even if someone managed to pluck the immortal peach and gave it to you afterward, eating it would not benefit you one bit. Heavens give, and heavens take. If you give up, then the heavens will give up on you as well.”

“Oh right, there is one more rule you must abide by while plucking the immortal peach: never look behind you.”

“Never look behind me?” Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou exchanged glances with each other. They were both recalling how Indulgence Monk had lost his head after looking behind himself.

“Is there a story behind this strange rule?”

Elder Furnace shook his head. “I don’t know. All I know is that such a taboo exists. You’ve seen what happened to the monk.”

“By the way, you must not turn around even after you have plucked the immortal peach. You must face the peach tree and walk back to us in reverse.”

“What a strange taboo!” Ye Qing mumbled. “Is there anything else?”

“There must be, but these are all I know.” Elder Furnace advised, “Therefore, my suggestion to you is to not take the risk at all!”

Ye Qing brushed off the warning. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

Seeing that there was no changing Ye Qing’s mind, Elder Furnace grunted. “Hmph. You best pray that is the case.”

“Don’t worry,” Ye Qing said smilingly, “if I die, I will make sure to drag you to the grave with me.”

Having successfully provoked Elder Furnace into a jumping rage, Ye Qing began walking toward the peach tree.

At first, Ye Qing did not sense any danger or anomaly. All he could sense was the growing aroma of the immortal peach.

He began experiencing hallucinations when he was about halfway to the peach tree. He saw water flooding over him, and fire burning his body. He saw wind and lightning ripping his soul asunder. He saw stars and the moon falling from the sky. He saw the sky and earth breaking like it was the apocalypse. They were all incredibly realistic.

Although they were all illusions, they could be real if someone’s willpower was weak, and they felt even the slightest bit of fear and subconsciously treated it as reality. They could be injured by the illusions.

But of course, the illusions could not affect Ye Qing in the slightest. After all, the real thing could not have scared him, much less a fake one.

Seeing that the power of the elements could not threaten Ye Qing, the illusions changed tactics and took the form of his friends and family, goddesses and succubuses, deities and ghosts, and more. They tried to seduce him with bonds or sin, seven emotions or six desires...

However, Ye Qing was a Sage who had overcome the barrier of seven emotions and six desires, life and death a long time ago. Again, he wasn’t afraid of these petty tricks.

When Ye Qing was right in front of the peach tree, the illusions became even more realistic and terrifying. Gods and demons began challenging his Way, celestials and Buddhas began teaching the arts, and Colossi began speaking of the profound. The greater one’s martial cultivation and knowledge was, the easier it was for them to become immersed in the illusions.

Ironically, a low level warrior would not be affected by these illusions as they could not even comprehend it in the first place.

Frankly speaking, Ye Qing was a fine line away from succumbing to the illusions. He had no idea how Indulgence Monk had managed to weather it without trouble.

After serious consideration, Ye Qing could only arrive at one possibility: Indulgence Monk’s martial cultivation and knowledge were trash!

Of course, this wasn’t important. The important thing was that Ye Qing had safely made it to the peach tree.

This was just the first step though. It might even be the easiest step.

The second step was plucking the fruit, and it wasn’t easy. For one, he could not just grab it with his hand. He must use an object that did not belong to the Five Phases. However, everything in the world originated from yin and yang, and all living creatures belonged to the Five Phases. Therefore, objects that did not belong to the Five Phases were few and far between.

This wasn’t a problem for Ye Qing though. He wouldn’t take on this challenge in the first place if it was.

Ye Qing extended his hand and circulated the Innate Yin Yang Qi in his palm. They promoted and restrained each other to create boundlessness.

When yin and yang promoted one another, they created the Five Phases. When the restrained each other, they created boundlessness instead. Boundlessness was the origin of everything and the beginning of the universe. Forget the Five Phases, it did not even belong to the Three Realms. That was why he created the qi of boundlessness using the Innate Yin Yang Qi. It fit the requirement to pluck the immortal peach.

A hand made of qi of boundlessness began moving toward the immortal peach. It was at this moment he felt a terrifying presence behind him.

The aura was terrible like a god, demon, and celestial.

The presence was so heavy that one could not help but feel alarmed and afraid.

As powerful as Ye Qing was, even he felt as puny as an ant before the presence. He could not feel even the slightest will to resist.

Even scarier, the instant fear appeared in his heart, he felt as if every ounce of strength had suddenly left his body. Like a god who fell to the mortal coil, he felt as if he had truly transformed into an insignificant speck of dust or ant.

At that moment, Ye Qing felt terribly afraid.

Tap.

Misfortune never showed up alone. Ye Qing was still wrangling with this new state when he heard footsteps behind him.

Tap... tap... tap...

Slowly, the footsteps grew clearer. It sounded like someone was walking toward him. The terrible presence was coming closer as well. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

“Gulp...”

Ye Qing gulped and instinctively wanted to look back. He wanted to know who the hell was the terrible presence behind him.

However, Elder Furnace’s warning abruptly flashed through his mind. He also recalled Indulgence Monk’s death.

Indulgence Monk must have sensed the same terror as he was sensing and succumbed to temptation.

It made perfect sense. If someone didn’t know about the taboo, why wouldn’t they look behind their back, break the taboo, and lose their head as a result?