Stranger Danger-Chapter 1221: Sacred True Lord Erlang

Rocky Wasteland was vast. Six hours had already passed by the time the bronze carriage left it behind.

It was like Ye Qing had passed through some sort of boundary. Cyan mountains, green waters, lush plants and lively beasts abruptly sprung into view as soon as he left Rocky Wasteland behind. It was quite the contrast.

At the center of this beautiful scenery was a small town, making it even more picturesque than it already was.

Ye Qing had spent several days traveling through the middle of nowhere after leaving Snowview City, so the sight of a human town was quite inviting to him.

It so happened that it was evening already, so Ye Qing decided to spend the night in the town before departing the next morning.

The town wasn’t huge, but it was exceptionally lively. Lights and colorful banners were everywhere, and everyone was wearing red and green. Big red lanterns were hanging at the streets, the alleys, and the houses, and the sound of fireworks entered the ears from time to time. It was as lively and noisy as New Year.

Of course, New Year was quite a few months back, so this wasn’t a New Year celebration.

After asking around for a bit, Ye Qing learned that today was the day of the Blessings Festival, an annual celebration in the Myriad Blessings Town. On this day, everyone in Myriad Blessings Town donned new outfits with celebratory colors, traveled to the Blessings God Temple, and prayed to the God of Blessings. They prayed for blessings, protection from all illnesses and disasters, and good health.

The God of Blessings was a deity worshiped by the ordinary citizens of Wei. Nearly every household held a figurine of it. However, it was unknown whether the deity was real.

The festival had taken place during daytime, and it was already evening by the time Ye Qing reached the Myriad Blessings Town. In other words, the festival had ended a long time ago.

That said, just because the festival was over didn’t mean that all of the activities had ended. In fact, the nighttime was the liveliest time of the day.

The Blessings God Feast was held at the first quarter of the Geng Hour [2]. The Blessings God Feast was an event where every household produced their best dishes and placed them in the same location so that everyone could enjoy them.

After the Blessings God Feast was over, the townsmen would then gather together and watch a series of performances and opera.

In fact, the performances and opera were the townsmen’s most anticipated event of the day. Poor, hard-working people like them barely got to enjoy any entertainment at all throughout the year. Naturally, they were brimming with anticipation and excitement.

Not only that, they heard that the troupe that was hired this year, the Alarmist Troupe, was quite the massive and famous troupe. Many of them were stars who were as talented as they were famous.

For obvious reasons, it wasn’t everyday that a famous troupe like Alarmist Troupe to perform for a small town like Myriad Blessings Town. It was a mix of kindness and coincidence. When Alarmist Troupe was passing through the town several days ago, they heard that Myriad Blessings Town would be holding the Myriad Blessings Festival. So, they decided to perform on the day of the festival as thanks for the people who had welcomed them with open arms.

That was why the people of Myriad Blessings Town were bubbling with excitement even though the sky wasn’t dark yet. It was to the point where most of them looked distracted or bored during the Blessings God Feast.

Unlike the townspeople, Ye Qing’s attention was more on the feast than the Alarmist Troupe.

Although the dishes on display were mostly vegetables and games, and he couldn’t say that they were exceptionally cooked, what the feast lacked in quality, it made up for with sheer quantity. There were all kinds of vegetables and games were served, and they were all fresh and tasty.

Besides that, the townspeople of Myriad Blessings Town were quite welcoming toward outsiders. Although Ye Qing was just a traveler who would be departing the next morning, they treated him with care and respect. They toasted him again and again and did not hesitate to share their food with him. Thanks to this, Ye Qing was able to enjoy a warm dinner to his heart’s content.

The Blessings God Feast lasted a little over two hours. When the Hai Hour arrived[1], the opera performance everyone had been anticipating finally began. As a guest, Ye Qing was one of the lucky few who were invited to sit on the front row and admire Alarmist Troupe’s performance upclose.

Alarmist Troupe’s chosen performance for the night was called, “Erlang Subjugates The Demons”. It was a story about the Heavens dispatching the Sacred True Lord Erlang to descend to the mortal realm and subjugate a demonic threat.

The story was simple, but the Alarmist Troupe’s performance was incredible. The actors sang and performed with outstanding passion, and the townspeople absolutely loved it. For a time, the cheers and excited cries seemed like it would never end.

It was late at night when the performance was finally over. Still, the townspeople refused to leave. They would stay behind to discuss the opera for several more hours.

Alas, all things must come to an end. As reluctant as they were feeling, the townspeople had no choice but to return to their homes.

It had been a terribly busy day, but they stayed up until past midnight as well. Naturally, the townspeople were quite tired. It didn’t take long for all of them to fall asleep.

In just the blink of an eye, the lively, vibrant Myriad Blessings Town fell silent just like that. It was almost completely dark as well.

As a guest, Ye Qing was lucky enough to get a single bedroom. When everyone had fallen asleep, he sat down and began meditating.

At his level, sleep no longer made much of a difference to him. In fact, meditating was more restful to him than sleep. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Thump thump thump!

Thump thump thump!

Thump thump thump!

An indefinite amount of time later, a series of drum beats suddenly intruded Ye Qing’s ears.

The drumbeats were vague and distant at first, but it became deafening like spring thunder in just the blink of an eye.

Such a loud, high-pitched drumbeat shattered the silence of the night and awoken the slumbering townspeople as well.

When they stepped out of their houses, disgruntled and angry, to check out what was going on, their voices abruptly died inside their throats.

Everyone was looking up into the sky with a half-open mouth and astonished eyes.

It was because they saw an army of gods.

That’s right. There was an army of gods in the sky.

There were auspicious clouds and golden-armored heavenly soldiers in the sky. They wielded sabers and looked mighty impressive.

There were three-headed, six-armed giants who were as big as a mountain. When they struck a gong, the noise pierced through the nine firmaments.

Golden banners were flapping gently to the wind. They were blotting out the stars and the moon and casting countless rays of divine light to the ground.

And standing at the center of the army of heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals, his back straight as a spear underneath the blazing banners, was a handsome, heroic-looking man wearing a suit of black-and-silver armor. He wielded a three-pronged fork, and he had a vertical eye at the center of his forehead.

“That’s... That’s the Sacred True Lord Erlang!”

“It’s the real Sacred True Lord Erlang...”

“The Sacred True Lord Erlang has manifested himself!”

“Elder Erlang manifested!”

“We... we need to kneel! Quickly! We offer you our greetings, Elder Erlang!”

“We offer you our greetings, Elder Erlang!”

We offer you our greetings, Elder Erlang!”

......

The divine general in the sky looked exactly the same as the Sacred True Lord Erlang that the Alarmist Troupe played during the opera performance. Because of this, there was no man, woman or child in town who didn’t recognize him. They hurriedly dropped to their knees and offered him their kowtows.

All of them, except Ye Qing.

Right now, Ye Qing was hugging his arms and observing the heavenly army and the Sacred True Lord Erlang with a thoughtful expression.

“The Heavenly Emperor has commanded me to capture a demon today.”

The Sacred True Lord Erlang declared in a loud, booming voice that sounded like thunder. Then, he looked at Ye Qing and pointed a finger at him, declaring, “And you are that demon. Surrender now!”

The surrounding townspeople immediately panicked. They ran or climbed away from Ye Qing as if he was a real man-eating demon.

“I knew it. You’re here for me.”

Ye Qing remained unmoved, however. A look of disdain crept onto his face. Not long ago, he had just watched an opera performance about Erlang subjugating a demon. Not even an hour after that, and the god himself had shown himself? Such a coincidence could not possibly exist in this world.

Besides, the ancient Heavens had perished, and the gods had hidden themselves a long time ago. Therefore, the Sacred True Lord Erlang simply did not exist in this day and age.

1. 9-11 pm. ☜

2. Around 7.30 pm. ☜