<h4>Chapter 112: Lake Bogey</h4>


    Ye Qing and Xiao Yang did not encounter any more danger after leaving the abandoned temple. They were able to make it to Jade Spring Vige before noon.


    Although Ye Qing already had an inkling of what he might discover after listening to Ling Jianqiu’s ount, the reality was still much worse than he had anticipated. The farms werepletely abandoned and overgrown with grass, the guards responsible for protecting the vige from Strangers were nowhere to be seen, and garbage and feces were everywhere.


    These were nothingpared to the horror he felt when he saw the vigers, however. Everyone, be it young or old, looked so thin and haggard he could’ve believed that they were going through a famine. However, all of them were wearing happy smiles on their faces and going about their business as if their minds were living in apletely separate entity.


    What was a poption of twelve hundred had dwindled to just three hundred, and they all said the same thing even after Ye Qing and Xiao Yang had interviewed each and everyone of them: they were perfectly healthy, no one was missing, and the vige was just fine. It was exactly as Yu Hai had reported.


    Speaking of which, no one knew where Yu Hai had gone to, or rather, they imed that they had never even met the guy before, so of course they couldn’t provide his whereabouts. Later, they searched the whole vige and even the outskirts for clues to no avail.


    That said, it wasn’t like their efforts werepletely useless. One, the reason the vigers of Jade Spring Vige looked like they had one foot in the grave wasn’t because they were starved, but because they were missing most of their vigor. Two, they couldn’t find any Stranger near Jade Spring Vige, not even themon Wind Children or Mud Dolls. As mentioned earlier, Jade Spring Vige waspletely defenseless right now. The one Patrolman who could have saved them was missing in action as well. A random Red-ss or even Mundane-ss Stranger could probably ughter them to thest, and yet they were still safe and sound—rtively speaking, of course.


    Ye Qing and Xiao Yang eventually arrived at two theories. One, an extremely powerful Stranger had appeared in Jade Spring Vige and scared away all the other Strangers. Moreover, it was keeping the vigers alive to aplish some sort of unknown objective. They had a couple of guesses—it could be raising the vigers like livestock, it could be a choosy eater etc—but no evidence to support any guess.


    Two, an Anomaly had struck Jade Spring Vige, influencing the Strangers and scaring away the other Strangers. But after a brief argument, both men agreed that the first theory was likelier. It was because they noticed various cut marks on the vigers’ chest. It was most likely the reason behind the vigers’ missing vigor. If this was an Anomaly, it could probably absorb their vigor without leaving a scratch on their body!


    Of course, this was just a theory. In the end, they needed to investigate more to find out the truth behind the incident.


    In his head, Ye Qing was praying that this wasn’t an Anomaly. If it was, he was going to run so fast that Xiao Yang could only breathe his dust, guilty conscience be damned.


    ……


    The sun set, and the moon rose. When darkness came, silence became the only theme in Jade Spring Vige.


    In fact, there was too much silence. Not a candle was lit, and not a sound could be heard throughout the whole vige. If they didn’t know better, they would’ve thought that Jade Spring Vige was an abandoned vige.


    “Heavens above. It’s like the whole ce is dead!” Xiao Yang muttered under his breath. The two men had <i>not </i>slept inside Jade Spring Vige as a matter of course. Instead, they were observing from a safe spot some distance away from the vige.


    Logically speaking, the best way to learn the truth about the vige was to remain inside the vige, but they still didn’t know if it was a Stranger or an Anomaly that had turned it to this state. A Stranger would be the best. With their strength, they should be able to escape even if they were no match for it. But if it was an Anomaly, then their recklessness could easily be the death of them.


    Had they died, they would not be able to find out the truth or report back to the Pacification Bureau. That was why they had chosen to observe Jade Spring Vige from a distance. It definitely wasn’t because they were scared for their life. Nuh uh!


    “Yeah. If the vige is barely alive during daytime, then it is as dead as a graveyard at night.”


    Ye Qing jumped down from the branch he was hanging on andy down on the ground. While staring at the ck clouds in the sky, he said, “Something should happen tonight!”


    Xiao Yang alsoy down beside him and chuckled. “I’m not sure if I want something to happen, to be honest. If it turns out to be beyond our ability to handle…”


    “Quit jinxing us!” Ye Qing rolled his eyes at Xiao Yang. “I believe in good karma. Even if the worst were toe by, I’m sure that you would be able to turn it around!”


    “Now that, is what I call apliment!” Xiao Yangughed.


    The two passed the time by making idle chit-chat and keeping an eye on Jade Spring Vige. Eventually…


    “Here ites!”


    It was past midnight when Ye Qing abruptly opened his eyes. Xiao Yang also jolted awake and climbed to his feet as well. They turned around and stared at theke next to Jade Spring Vige. An unnatural mist was spreading across its surface.


    Theke was called Jade Spring Lake because it tasted as smooth as jade and as sweet as spring. It was also how Jade Spring Vige got its name.


    The two men couldn’t help but exchange embarrassed looks with each other. They were one Vessel Augmentor and one Astral Refiner, and they had circled Jade Spring Lake at least three times during the day. However, neither of them had found a thing at the time.


    Meanwhile, the mist above Jade Spring Lake was growing thicker and thicker. Then, snow white fishes with three red whiskers hanging beside their gills jumped out of the water and floated in the air. It wasn’t long before hundreds of fat, white fishes were hanging in the sky like snow.


    <i>Tang! Tang! Tang!</i>


    Suddenly, a humanoid Stranger with two arms and legs slowly rose to the surface. It carried a turtle’s shell on his back and a pair of horns on its head. Its face was as ck as coal, and it was carrying a gong and hitting it with a mallet. The fishes responded to the gong beats and surged forward until they formed a white bridge. After a water pir lifted the humanoid Stranger onto the bridge of fishes, it strode straight toward Jade Spring Vige.


    <i>“Do you recognize that Stranger?” </i>Ye Qing asked via sound transmission.


    Xiao Yang stared at the Stranger for a bit before shaking his head. “I don’t know, but it’s probably some sort ofke bogey.”


    “Lake bogey?” Just as the mountains were alive with spirits, it was the same with the waters as well. The humanoid was probably some sort of aquatic bogey that was simr to the Mountain God of Little August Hill. This one was clearly evil though!


    Ye Qing watched on as theke bogey walked until it was right above Jade Spring Vige. Then, it smacked its gong so hard that he could see some sort of invisible energy rippling across the air. The vigers of Jade Spring Vige started stepping out of their houses and walking toward theke, each and every one of them carrying a de in their hands. Their expressions were numb, and their eyes ssy. Ye Qing could’ve been convinced that they were dead.


    When the vigers were gathered in front of theke, theke bogey walked back to Jade Spring Lake and hit its gong twice. But unlike the previous beats, this one was shrill and rapid. Even from this distance, Ye Qing and Xiao Yang felt as if something was trying to muddle their minds.


    The viger standing closest to theke immediately pulled open his shirt and revealed his bare chest. He then stabbed himself in the heart and sliced open a deep wound.


    Blood poured profusely out of the wound and into theke. The clear waters were immediately dyed in red. For a good few seconds, the viger simply stood there and let his heart’s blood flow out of his body as if he couldn’t feel the pain. When he had bled almost a full bowl of blood, one of the fishes lowered its red whiskers and pressed against the wound. The bleeding stopped immediately.


    The viger walked away, and the next viger came forward. He did the exact same thing as the first viger and bled his heart’s blood into theke. This would continue on and on until theke had turnedpletely red and sticky like blood. The blood stench was so thick that even Ye Qing and Xiao Yang could smell it from where they were.


    “What the hell is thiske bogey nning?” Ye Qing whispered.


    Xiao Yang shook his head. “I’m not sure, but it can’t be anything good. Let’s wait and see.”


    <i>Tang! Tang!</i>


    About half a teatimeter, theke bogey hit its gong again. The center of theke abruptly started spinning until it formed a whirlpool, and from the bottom rose a lotus that looked as white as jade.


    The moment the lotus had risen to the water surface, the viscous blood in theke abruptly surged into it as if pulled by a mysterious force and dyeing it blood red. It wasn’t long before theke became crystal clear once more.


    The blood red lotus looked like something out of a nightmare as it floated innocently on theke. In the sky, theke bogey was staring at the blood red lotus like it was the love of its life.


    <i>Tang!</i>


    A few secondster, theke bogey jolted out of its reverie and hurriedly hit its gong. The dozen vigers standing quietly next to theke abruptly cut open their chest, ripped out their hearts, and tossed it over to the lotus!


    The mindless vigers had acted so quickly and abruptly that there was no chance Ye Qing or Xiao Yang could have stopped them. Naturally, the vigers fell to the ground and died after losing their hearts. The white fishes in the sky immediately wrapped their whiskers around the corpses and pulled them into their mouths. Every time they chewed, blood would spurt out of their mouths and spill into the clear waters below. It was unbelievably cruel.


    Meanwhile, the blood red lotus was unfolding its thirteen petals like it was blooming. It pulled the hearts toward its stamen and ate the hearts one by one like a maw from hell. After it was done feeding, it grew even bigger and glowed brightly. It also emitted an unbelievably fragrant scent that spread all the way to Ye Qing and Xiao Yang’s location.


    “Holy shit! It smells incredible!” The two men felt incredibly invigorated after inhaling the scent.


    “What is that thing?” Ye Qing whispered.


    “I don’t know, but it clearly deserves eradication!” Xiao Yang shook his head, but there was a greedy glint in his eyes that he took care not to reveal.


    He mulled over the situation for a bit before saying, “We now know that thiske bogey is the true culprit behind the mass disappearance of Jade Spring Vige. It’s a Hatred-ss Stranger, but it doesn’t look so strong that it’s beyond our abilities, so why don’t you go save the vigers and leave it to me, brother?”


    Ye Qing thought for a few seconds before nodding. “Okay!”


    “I''ll go first!” Xiao Yang dered and soared into the sky. He then burst into mes not unlike a golden sun.