Stranger Danger

Chapter 1082: The Cloud Mother of Nothingness

The thing wrapped around his body was completely transparent. It was also slimy like some sort of tentacle.

The moment the tentacle caught him, some sort of evil, anomalous energy of nothingness was injected into his body.

His body immediately grew transparent and intangible as well as if he was being assimilated or departing this world.

Not only that, his strength and mind were instantly shackled as well. All that was left was his consciousness.

As he was slowly lifted into the air, Ye Qing’s eyes grew wider and wider.

It was because he saw countless tentacles where there was nothing before.

The tentacles were transparent and colorless. Each tentacle was as thick as a tree trunk requiring several people to embrace completely, and they were covered in suction discs from head to toe. They descended from the sky like roots and covered the entire Kunlun City.

Before Ye Qing could make sense of what he was seeing, an even greater horror entered his vision.

There were countless humans in the sky. Male, female, old and young. There had to be at least a hundred thousand of them. It looked as if they were standing in the air.

These people were all dead as a matter of course, and yet their bodies didn’t rot even though thousands and thousands of years had passed. Looking at their appearance alone, one might think that they were still alive.

Not only that, Ye Qing could sense their souls, even though all he felt from their souls were pain, fear, and despair.

He could even hear them sobbing and wailing. The screams, cries, and sobs of a hundred thousand souls were so hellish, so unholy, that even Ye Qing almost broke under the pressure and succumbed.

Their bodies were intact, and their souls were still present. Some people might think that they could still be saved.

In reality, they were as dead as they could be. It was because their souls had been completely transformed into pain, fear, and despair. Not a sliver of thought of consciousness remained in their souls. Their mind[1] was long gone.

Ye Qing had no doubt that these people were the missing citizens of Kunlun City.

As it turned out, they weren’t missing after all. They had just been kidnapped into the sky and converted into a form that could not be seen or perceived by the tentacles.

The tentacle lifted him up some more, and Ye Qing finally saw that everyone’s head was pierced by a tentacle.

That was how they were suspended in mid-air. The invisible tentacle of nothing had pierced through their heads and buried deep into their body and soul.

That was why it looked from the bottom like they were standing in the sky.

Not only that, Ye Qing could clearly sense the tentacles absorbing the souls’ pain, fear and despair.

Suddenly, Ye Qing felt something and looked up.

He immediately saw a transparent, shapeless tentacle descending toward his head and sinking into his headspace.

A series of strange noises popped in the air. The next moment, Ye Qing found the invisible energy restricting his body disappearing without a trace.

Not only that, the tentacles piercing everyone else’s heads abruptly broke at the center and released the bodies, causing them to fall like the rain.

For a time, Kunlun City was struck by a downpour of dead bodies.

“Time to run!”

As soon as he broke free from tentacles, Ye Qing immediately dashed toward the exit while carrying the Earthly Sovereign Bell on top of his head[2].

Seemingly angered by Ye Qing’s resistance, the Cloud Mother of Nothingness floating high above the nine heavens shook its umbrella-like body and blasted countless beams of fear and despair toward the ground. For a time, both heaven and earth were dyed by all sorts of colors.

Not only that, the broken tentacles rapidly regrew themselves before flailing wildly like weeds at the bottom of the river. They then attacked Ye Qing from all sides.

Ye Qing did not bother dodging. With the Earthly Sovereign Bell covering him in an unbreakable shell of profound light, nothing could harm even a hair on his body.

That said, the tremendous strength behind each impact made it very difficult for him to make any progress.

“Hah...”

Ye Qing sucked in a deep breath and abruptly removed the Earthly Sovereign Bell from his head. It slowly grew bigger when he tossed it into the air.

Activating the Earthly Sovereign True Body, Ye Qing punched the Earthly Sovereign Bell.

The Earthly Sovereign Bell abruptly shone brightly. The mountains, the rivers, the sun, the moon, the celestial birds, and the strange beasts all emerged to suppress anything and everything.

The countless tentacles broke at once, and the endless fear and despair were scattered instantly.

Ye Qing seized the opportunity to break through space and reappeared dozens of kilometers away.

The second he was out of Kunlun City, Ye Qing immediately put away the Earthly Sovereign Bell, concealed his life force, and covered up his energies with his demonic thought to avoid detection.

It might look like he was one-sidedly kicking the Cloud Mother of Nothingness’ shapeless butt—shattering countless tentacles and suppressings its endless waves of fear and despair like nothing—but he really failed to inflict even a single wound on the Stranger.

At his current strength, he might be able to injure the Cloud Mother of Nothingness with the Earthly Sovereign Bell, but there was zero chance he could kill it. He did not dare to say he could pull it off even after he became a Sage.

That was why he never planned to clash against the Cloud Mother of Nothingness head on from the start until the end.

1. This is why I specifically translated 神魂 as mind, at least for this novel. There is a huge difference. ☜

2. Actual tinfoil hat moment. ☜