Stranger Danger

“It’s you!”

Lady Hundred Flowers’ voice grew a hint of unnoticeable wariness and killing intent. “I don’t remember any grudge between Hundred Flowers Island and Blue Wave Island, so what is the meaning of this, Green Daylily[1]?”

“Green Daylily?”

It’s Green Daylily? This can’t be good!”

If Green Daylily is here, then what about those two? They couldn’t have shown up as well, could they?”

“Those two in particular are monsters who can kill without batting an eyelid. What possessed Lady Hundred Flowers to provoke them?”

“Heh… it isn’t necessarily Lady Hundred Flowers’ fault. You’ve heard of the idiom, ‘treasuring a jade ring may be a crime’, right?”

“Jade ring? What jade ring?”

“Hehe… Lady Hundred Flowers herself is a ‘jade ring’, don’t you agree?”

“Seriously, is this the time to be talking about such things? If those crazies from Blue Wave Island seriously went crazy, we’re all going to get caught in this mess, you know that right?”

“Ah shit, you’re right. Couldn’t they show up when I wasn’t around? What shitty timing…”

……

“Green Daylily, Blue Wave Island…”

Ye Qing raised his eyebrows as he listened to the surrounding gossip. As it turned out, he recognized the place called Blue Wave Island.

Blue Wave Island was a famous island in the Eastern Sea and much greater than Hundred Flowers Island be it in terms of size, numbers, strength, renown and more.

The island itself, while certainly impressive, wasn’t particularly noteworthy. It was their three island lords that really made them famous. They were called the Three Sages of Blue Wave.

The Three Sages of Blue Wave were the “Mountain Splitting Great Sage” Yuan Xiang, the “Hundred-formed Great Sage” Wan Bo, and the “Blue Wave Great Sage” Green Daylily.

Since the trio dared to call themselves great sages, they were pretty strong as a matter of course. Two of them were Truemen, and Yuan Xiang in particular was a body-tempering Grandmaster.

Their strength was just a portion of their fame, however. What really made them famous—or rather, infamous—in the Eastern Sea was their ruthlessness. They were the masters of a band of equally ruthless criminals and would abuse their power to do whatever the hell they wanted.

While they weren’t so villainous that one could say that they had committed every crime under the sun, it was perfectly normal for them to rob a merchant ship, bully the weak and meek, and more. Because of this, they enjoyed a fairly bad reputation in the Eastern Sea.

Long story short, the Three Sages of Blue Wave could not have shown up at Hundred Flowers Island for a benign reason.

“Why are we here? I should be the one asking that, sister!”

As expected, Green Daylily kicked off the conversation with a most heinous accusation. “We have reason to believe that the Hundred Flowers Island is colluding with the traitorous dragons. Do you admit to your crimes, sister?”

Lady Hundred Flowers hurriedly denied it, “Pure slander! My Hundred Flowers Island has always maintained a sterling reputation! There is no way I would collude with the dragons!”

Even if she or Hundred Flowers Island wasn’t as clean as she claimed, there was no way in hell she was going to admit it. After all, it would just be suicide considering the current climate, not to mention that she literally hadn’t done such a thing.

“Your hands may be clean, sister, but dare you say that every Stranger on your island is equally clean?” Green Daylily countered.

“The Strangers of Hundred Flowers Island are all benevolent and human friendly. They would never do such a disgraceful thing!” Lady Hundred Flowers retorted.

“Human friendly? You’re not a young woman anymore, sister. How can you still be so naive?” Green Daylily said disdainfully, “‘If he be not of our kin, he is sure to have a different mind.’ Surely you understand something so simple?”

“Hmph. Of course I understand what it means. I also understand that even brothers who share the same blood don’t always stand on the same side, much less a fellow human.”

Lady Hundred Flowers uttered coldly, “You claim that my Hundred Flowers Island are colluding with the dragons. What is your proof?”

“The proof is inside your island. We received a tip that claimed that someone on your island is hiding the traitorous dragons,” Green Daylily answered. “You will learn the truth if you deactivate the array and allow us to perform a search.”

“A tip? Who told you such a thing?” Lady Hundred Flowers demanded.

“That, you don’t need to know, sister,” Green Daylily replied.

“What a load of rubbish. You know what I think?” Lady Hundred Flowers’ voice was ice cold. “I think you’re just talking pure nonsense and trying to get me to deactivate the array for you. Do you really think such a childish trick would work on me?”

“If you and your people really are so innocent, why don’t you deactivate the array and let us search the place?” Green Daylily countered.

“You want to search my island? Fine. Show me the evidence first.” Lady Hundred Flowers did not give an inch.

“Why are you wasting your breath on her, li’l sis? From what I can see, she’s guilty and trying to hide it.”

A loud, boorish voice followed right after she said that. “Anyone who colludes with the traitorous dragons must die. Let’s just kill her and be done with it.”

“Patience, elder brother. I’m sure Lady Hundred Flowers is just tricked by the Strangers. Give me a chance to persuade her to return to the light, won’t you?”

Green Daylily’s smirk turned a tad ominous. “You should know that my elder brother has a bad temper, sister. Deactivate the array and let us in if you know what’s good for you. Otherwise, I won’t be held responsible for what comes next!”

“Hmph! Anyone can slap a false charge on someone before hanging them. You want to come in? You’re going to have to do this the hard way!”

Lady Hundred Flowers bent her hand downward, and the semi-transparent silhouette of the green banyan immediately turned solid. Its branches shook and caused ripples in the air.

“Stubborn woman! Die!”

Yuan Xiang let out an angry roar, and what looked like a gigantic elephant’s leg descended from above. It looked thick enough to rival the broad side of a hill. Even before it made contact with the barrier, everyone felt suffocated like the leg might flatten them like a pancake.

Rumble!

There was a deafening rumble, and the green banyan shook together with the island. The elephant leg failed to break through the barrier.

This was just the beginning, however. The elephant leg quickly rose and stomped on the barrier again, and again, and again. It looked like its stamina was inexhaustible.

That wasn’t all. A massive tidal wave rose from beyond the island and crashed into the barrier as well.

For a time, it felt like the apocalypse was upon Hundred Flowers Island.

The large majority of the visitors could only stare at their surroundings in horror. They were terrified that the elephant leg in the sky would flatten them like pancakes, or the titanic tidal waves would kill them and bury their remains at the bottom of the sea.

In fact, they would have escaped long ago if the Hundred Flowers Island wasn’t locked down by the Great Green Banyan Array right now.

Did they not enjoy a good show? Of course they did. However, some shows were off limits to put it mildly. Those who ignored the warnings might very well lose their lives to the very show they were watching.

Escape was not an option, however, so they had no choice but to stay and watch.

The good news was that the Great Green Banyan Array seemed to be holding strong. Despite being attacked by the elephant leg and the tidal waves repeatedly, it showed no signs of faltering or weakening whatsoever, which made them feel a lot more at ease.

In fact, this was why Lady Hundred Flowers dared to give the Three Sages of Blue Wave the proverbial middle finger.

Although Lady Hundred Flowers was a Trueman herself, her expertise lay at growing plants and refining pills. She wasn’t a good fighter. On top of that, she was the only Trueman on the island. There was just no way she could fight against the Three Sages of Blue Wave.

This was why she refused to let the trio in no matter what. It was partially to defend her honor knowing that if she gave in even once, then she would become the laughingstock of the jianghu.

Sometimes, face was everything to a fish of the jianghu.

It was also because she knew that the Three Sages of Blue Wave were pieces of shit. There was no way they were here to slay a traitor of the four seas or something. No, they were here for her. If she was stupid enough to let them in, she was certain that she would pay for it. The biggest possibility was them attacking her immediately after the array was deactivated. She would have nowhere to run. That was why she couldn’t allow them to get in no matter what.

So long as the Great Green Banyan Array was active, it would not be easy for the Three Sages of Blue Wave to harm her. The array was connected to the entire island’s earthly qi. With her controlling the array, so long as the Hundred Flowers Island did not run out of earthly qi, the array would never be broken. At the very least, it would be difficult for the likes of them to break through within a reasonable timeframe.

And time was on her side. Yes, she was a poor fighter, but her outstanding appearance and skill in nurturing plants and refining pills gained her a lot of powerful connections. She had already notified them in secret. She just needed to hold out until her friends showed up.

Alas, Lady Hundred Flowers was naive. A woman standing behind her suddenly produced a black short sword and stabbed her in the back.

1. If someone told me she’s related to Evergreen Ivy I would probably believe it. ☜