Stranger Danger

"I can let you live, but let me ask you one thing: Have you allowed even one of those innocent people you have killed to live?"

Ye Qing said in an indifferent voice, "Why don't you head down there and ask them if they're willing to forgive you yourself?"

From the moment Ye Qing saw that the Willow God's victims included pregnant women, old people, children, and even babies, he had already sentenced the deity to death.

Besides, he was well aware of the little schemes the Willow God was entertaining in his mind.

Of course, he cared nothing for that. Why would he care about the schemes of a soon dead person?

"You—!"

When Ye Qing raised his foot once more, the Willow God finally realized that it had made a mistake. His enemy had never intended to let him live to begin with.

He hurriedly tried to dive into the underground again, but it was far too late. Ye Qing's foot landed squarely on his person.

BOOOOOOM!!!

The terrifying boom mixed with unbelievable amounts of energies and strength sundered both heaven and earth. Compared to it, the Willow God's mental wisp might as well be an ant. It was instantly overwhelmed and destroyed by the power.

The power continued forward and penetrated all the way to the bottom of the island, crushing and grinding the spreading roots to dust.

Deep under the ground, the Willow God's screams and curses were unending. Countless roots were spreading deeper into the underground in every direction in hopes of avoiding the horrifying power spreading down from above.

It was futile though. How could a moth or an ant hope to resist the full force of the storm?

Right now, the Willow God's roots were the insects, and Ye Qing's power was the storm.

The storm was everywhere and omnipresent. It gave the Willow God's roots no room to dodge or hide!

"Ahhh! The Rakshasa King will kill you for this..."

When Ye Qing stomped his foot one last time, a despairing, hateful, angry scream erupted from the underground. However, it was quickly overwhelmed by the roars of crumbling earth.

When the Willow God's final root crumbled into dust, the deity was finally dead.

"Since the Willow God is dead, you don't need to exist either."

Ye Qing looked at the tattered, broken island beneath him and bent his knees slightly. As if it could not bear its weight, the island shuddered violently, and waves formed all across the sea within a ten-kilometer radius.

Ye Qing leaped into the sky all of the sudden. When he landed back on the Cloud Boat, the entire island shattered and crumbled into many tiny pieces. It took just a few breaths for it to sink completely into the sea.

The island had been invaded and robbed by the Willow God for countless years. It had long since turned into a barren, tainted wasteland where not a speck of foreign life could survive. There was no point in keeping it around, which was why Ye Qing did it a mercy and destroyed it.

"Have you heard of the Rakshasa King before, Qingyou?" Back on the Cloud Boat, Ye Qing asked while staring at the sunken hole where an island used to be.

"I have not."

Feng Qingyou asked, "Why are you asking?"

Ye Qing answered, "The Willow God mentioned it while I was kicking his butt. He claimed that he was a subordinate of the Rakshasa King. I was hoping you might know something."

He was asking just to satisfy his curiosity. He did not think the Rakshasa King was an enemy to be feared.

"I see." Feng Qingyou thought for a moment. "Perhaps the people you saved would know the answer."

She waved her hand, and the kidnapped humans who vanished from the island earlier reappeared on the Cloud Boat.

Earlier, it was Feng Qingyou who teleported them to the Cloud Boat. In fact, they had watched the battle from the start until the end.

"Thank you for saving us, seniors!"

"Thank you, thank you..."

"Thank you so much for saving our lives, seniors!"

......

The people tried to drop to their knees and thank Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou for saving them, but Ye Qing said indifferently, "There is no need."

They discovered that an invisible force was preventing them from kneeling.

"We are all humans here. It is only natural that we watch out for each other."

Ye Qing's tone was matter-of-fact, but the people burst into tears and gratitude again.

That said, Ye Qing's voice possessed a special power that could soothe one's emotions. It wasn't long before the trepidation, agitation, relief, and all other emotions they were contending subsided into tranquility.

"Who are you people?" Ye Qing asked after the group had calmed down.

"We're denizens of the Flying Stream Islands, senior," A man in his fifties answered respectfully. "This junior is Hai Feng."

Physically, the man was tall and muscular. He seemed to have a mature, steady personality, and he was a fairly capable warrior too. He was a Half-Step Trueman to be exact.

In fact, most of the group knew martial arts.

"The Flying Stream Islands..."

Ye Qing had never heard of such a place, nor did he know where it might be located at. He did not reveal his ignorance though. He simply asked another question, "How did those willow people capture you?"

"You do not know, senior, but those willow people are cunning, despicable, and shameless."

Hai Feng explained, "They used to be humans just like us, but they transformed into half-Strangers because they worshiped the Willow God and became corrupted by its power. Cunning, brutal and strong, they can even change their appearances and look like a human on the outside. It is difficult for the common people to identify them."

"They often use this ability of theirs to mingle among humans. They use all sorts of despicable and lowly methods to kidnap sacrifices for the Willow God. Unfortunately, we fell for their ruse this time."

Hai Feng gritted his teeth when he recounted what happened to them. "These bastards pretended to be seafarers who were stranded on the sea after losing their ship to an accident. We decided to do them a kindness and save them. Instead, they drugged our food and kidnapped us to this heaven forsaken place."

"Hmph. If they haven't used such despicable means to disable us, we might have turned the tables against them instead."

Hai Feng added indignantly in the end.

Ye Qing did not remark on that. He already noticed that the Willowa were humans who were corrupted by the Willow God, not natural Strangers.

"What can you tell us about Willow God?" Feng Qingyou asked.

"We don't know where the Willow God came from. One day, he appeared at our Flying Stream Islands and began slaughtering us using the willow people."

Hai Feng looked angry and resentful when he spoke of the Willow God, "Although the island lords and the elites of the Profound Alliance repeatedly tried to eliminate the Willow God once and for all, he proved to be too tenacious. Not only was he powerful and strange, he was exceedingly cautious and difficult to remove. It's not like our warriors haven't killed it before either. In fact, we've killed it multiple times in the past. However, it only took a while to come back to life and harass us once more. Left with no choice, the Profound Alliance was forced to leave it alone and ignore it."

"Luckily for us, the Willow God lives somewhat far away from the Flying Stream Islands. So long as you steer clear of its domain, he would not massacre humans of his own accord. He generally uses the willow people to do his bidding, and the willow people are fairly easy to handle so long as you are careful."

That was what he said, but Ye Qing could still hear a clear tint of helplessness, resentment, and fear in his voice.

"Hmph! I don't know what the higher-ups of the Profound Alliance are thinking. It's bad enough that they allowed the Willow God to do whatever he pleased, but they do not care for our survival as well." Someone mumbled, "Freeloaders, all of them."

"Do not disrespect the lords of the Profound Alliance!"

Hai Feng immediately turned to glare at the speaker. "If it wasn't for their protection, we would have been massacred by the Strangers of the Rakshasa Kingdom a long time ago."

"My friend is still recovering from his shock and did not think before he spoke. I hope you will forgive his impudence, seniors."

He snuck a look at Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou when he said this. He sighed in relief only when he was sure they weren't angry.

The reason he said this was because one, the Profound Alliance was highly respected for their merits and contribution; and two, he was worried that the two strangers might be higher-ups of the Profound Alliance. If that was true, then the guy's thoughtless complaint could land them in serious trouble.

The rest of the group realized this and grew nervous as well.