“Pallbearer?” Ye Qing frowned.
“I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never seen one until now.” Faceless said seriously, “Legend says that the Pallbearer is a unique Stranger who possesses unfathomable strength, but he will not harm you unless you provoke him first. Generally speaking, the Pallbearer only shows up in places where a powerful warrior or Stranger has perished, or is expected to perish very soon. Once they’re dead, he would store their corpse in the coffin he’s carrying.”
“He sounds almost identical to Tubo!” Ye Qing wondered out loud. The two Strangers were identical in the sense that they usually showed up when one or many people had died or were expected to die. However, Tubo only wanted the souls of the dead, whereas the Pallbearer was interested in the bodies. Also, Tubo took any soul he could find, but the Pallbearer only claimed the bodies of the strong!
It was at this moment the Pallbearer stopped in his tracks and stared fixatedly at Ye Qing. At first glance, the Pallbearer looked no different from a normal human, but now Ye Qing realized that he had no pupils at all. His eyes were a pair of perfectly black swirls that seemed to contain nothing at all. Ye Qing could not help but break out in cold sweat as he wondered what the hell the Pallbearer wanted with him.
A few seconds later, the Pallbearer abruptly waved his hand and sent a crow flying toward him. Ye Qing tried to dodge out of the way, but he suddenly found himself unable to move when the Stranger’s eyes flashed something dark. Forget taking a step, he was unable to move even a muscle.
The crow landed on Ye Qing’s left arm and cawed once. Then, it transformed into a puff of black smoke and circled the back of his left hand before vanishing. It wasn’t gone, however. It had simply transformed into a small motif on the back of his hand.
It was only then the Pallbearer looked away from Ye Qing and slowly walked past him. With his back against the sun, he stepped into the mountains and left behind a series of caws that seemed like it would never end.
Ye Qing did not dare to relax until he was sure that the Pallbearer was well and truly gone. Even now, his spine was tingling with lingering fear and trepidation.
“Are you okay, young master?” Faceless asked in concern. The Stranger had done his best to pretend he didn’t exist until the Pallbearer was completely out of sight.
“I’m fine.” Ye Qing shook his head before looking down on the crow motif at the back of his head. “Do you know what this is?”
He had already inspected himself internally just now but couldn’t find anything amiss. As far as he could tell, it was just a harmless picture.
Faceless answered, “Don’t worry, young master. It’s just the mark of the Pallbearer. It is, for all intents and purposes, harmless.”
“A mark? What is it for?”
“According to the legends, the Pallbearer grants a crow mark only to those whose strength he acknowledges. Unless the mark is removed, the Pallbearer would be able to sense the death of a marked one no matter where they are. He would then make haste to their location to pick up the body.”
“So, you’re saying that he acknowledges my strength?” Ye Qing rubbed his nose and let out a bitter chuckle. “But I’m just a Vessel Augmentor. What on earth made him think that I’m ‘worthy’ of his attention?”
“How can you denigrate yourself , young master!” Faceless exclaimed in a horrified tone, “You’re not just any Vessel Augmentor, you’re one who isn’t even twenty years old yet! If even you are not worthy of the Pallbearer’s attention, then who is?”
“In fact, I would’ve thought so much less of the Pallbearer if he thought that you weren’t worthy of its mark! Anyone can tell that you have a bright, unlimited future ahead of you, young master!”
“Hardy har har.” Ye Qing laughed sarcastically. He made it sound like it was a good thing that he was marked for death!
Faceless insisted, “Seriously, you don’t need to worry about this. There are many people out there who actually consider it a mark of honor and a status symbol; one that most of them would never get in a lifetime!”
“Heh. Let’s just say that I prefer the more traditional kind of honor and status symbol, okay?” Ye Qing shook his head disbelievingly before sighing, “Well, I suppose it’s not completely a bad thing. If one day this world proved too much for me to handle, at least there’s someone out there who’ll collect my body instead of leaving it to rot.”
Faceless chuckled. “No worries, young master. You will live a long life.” And this time, he truly meant his words. After all, Ye Qing’s life was his life. If Ye Qing died, then he would die as well.
“Alright. We should head back now!” Ye Qing smiled and looked in the directions of Anyang. “It won’t be long before the show begins!”
It was a moonless, windless night. Somewhere in the outskirts of Anyang, a massive Stranger with a human’s body but a bear’s head asked in a low voice, “You’re not trying to trick me, are you Dark Eye? Will Anyang’s gates really open tonight?”
“I wouldn’t lie to you, Bear King. Just watch!” Dark Eye replied with a bright smile on his face.
“Good, good. It’s been a long time since I tasted human flesh. I'm going to gorge myself on humans tonight!” The Bear King laughed, but it didn’t sound like the laughter of a bear. It was gloomy and piercing like that of an owl.
“You’re early, big guy!” A childish voice suddenly drew their attention. They immediately saw a child with a pair of twintails skipping out of the darkness. Every time he skipped, rainbow powder would fall out of his body almost like he was a cartoon character. It gave him a dreamlike and colorful appearance.
Dark Eye and Bear King took a few steps away from the child like he was the plague, however. Bear King asked, “What are you doing here, Rainbow Child? I thought you don’t eat humans?”
Rainbow Child continued to skip rhythmically while responding in a childish voice, “To collect your body when you’re dead, of course!”
“Hmph! Dream on! I will never die before you!” Bear King harrumphed, but it was just a reflex. He was clearly wary of the child Stranger.
Suddenly, the solid ground before the three Strangers rapidly softened into a pool of mud. Then, it started bubbling incessantly. Faces of men, women; the old, the young; the joyful, the weeping and more could be seen within the bubbles. A long time later, an old woman’s face finally rose to the surface and said in a kind, grandmotherly voice, “I’m not late, am I?”
Rainbow Child answered cheerfully, “Not at all! You’re actually early, Granny Mud!”
“As long as I’m not late!” Granny Mud said before asking, “This isn’t everyone, is it?”
“No, we’re still waiting for—” Dark Eye was just about to answer when a series of strange cackles interrupted him. Everyone turned and saw a big tree with human legs slowly walking toward them. It had a massive trunk and a canopy that was full of black leaves, or so it seemed. It wasn’t until the tree was almost upon them when they finally realized that the leaves weren’t leaves at all. They were black butterflies, and they were the source of the strange cackling.
“This here is Grandpa Tree…” A young girl wearing a red dress jumped out from behind the tree. She was none other than Rotten Crown. The Strangers briefly greeted the tree before falling silent.
They didn’t have to wait long before a silhouette covered in mist slowly appeared in the distance. It was a humanoid Stranger who was half-man and half-woman, literally. Half of his face was that of an extraordinarily handsome man, whereas the other half was that of an unbelievably gorgeous woman. Had the two faces been separate, they could have charmed any soul even with just half a face, but together the overall effect could only be described as bizarre.
Even stranger was the fact that their body was overflowing with disgusting warts and tentacles. As if that wasn’t enough, each wart and tentacle was covered in eyeballs. The Strangers couldn’t help but feel terrified when they saw the eyeballs.
Everyone exchanged glances with one another and fell silent. Even Rainbow Child and Rotten Crown, the two chattier Strangers of the group were consciously restraining himself before the Stranger.
More and more Strangers arrived at the gathering location as time passed. There was a woman who looked every bit a human except the fact that her hair was covered in peach blossom, a mouse with a human’s face, a yin spirit that was covered from head to toe in hair, an exceptionally disciplined group of one-eye bandits riding white horses, a floating shirt that was covered in bloodstains, a floating wedding carriage and more. They all seemed to be waiting for something. Then…
When the night gong struck thrice to signal that it was midnight, the shut gates of Anyang abruptly flashed with mysterious runes. Then, the thick metal slowly swung inward.
“It’s opening! It’s actually opening!” Bear King couldn’t help a mad cackle when he saw this. The rest of the Strangers, intelligent or not, were cackling strangely as well.
“You were telling the truth after all, Dark Eye, Rotten Crown!” Rainbow Child chirped excitedly, “I’m going in! See you all in a bit!”
A pair of rainbow wings appeared behind his back. He then flew straight toward the open gates.
“Hahaha! I’m going in as well! Don’t fall behind, my children!” Bear King laughed savagely before letting out a mighty roar. The Strangers behind him cried out in unison and followed him into Anyang as well.
“Let’s go!” Dark Eye and Rotten Crown exchanged a joyful glance with one another before trailing behind the horde.
Right now, Anyang was like a tiger without teeth and claws. It might look impassable from the outside, but they didn’t need to overcome its sheer walls and vigilant guards as the gates were wide open. The horde of Strangers quickly entered the county without encountering any resistance whatsoever.
“Hahaha! I’m in! Now, where are the humans? I’m not leaving until I’ve absolutely filled my tummy with human flesh today!”
The Strangers could hardly wait to start their bloody feast.
Suddenly, Dark Eye said in a puzzled voice, “Is it just me, or is something wrong, Rotten Crown?”
“What do you mean?” Rotten Crown asked confusedly.
He answered, “Anyang is severely undermanned right now, but we should’ve encountered at least one or two guards by now, right? There’s no way they’re that undermanned!”
Rotten Crown started looking left and right. “Now that you mention it…”
Before the two Strangers could puzzle out the problem, the gate behind them abruptly slammed shut. Then, torches were lit on the walls and the buildings until the entire place looked as bright as the day. The soldiers who had been lying in wait all this time stepped out of their hiding spots and aimed their arrows at the horde of Strangers below, scale armor glinting brightly against the flames.
Dark Eye’s pupil contracted in shock before he shouted, “The Shenwu Defense Force? Shit! It’s an ambush!”
On the walls, a cold sneer crossed You Da’s lips as he waved his hand. “Loose!”
Bow twangs deafened the ears, and arrows rained down from the sky like a downpour.
The bow and arrows the soldiers were wielding were no ordinary weapons. The bow was called the Starbreaker Bow, and the arrows the Starbreaker Arrows. They were weapons researched and produced by the Divine Defense Department of Chu itself.
Powerful and deadly, they were the perfect weapons to use against the resilient Strangers. The horde immediately fell row by row like bundles of wheat.
“Quick! We need to get deeper into the county before it’s too late!” A wise Stranger roared and ran down the street. The rest followed right behind them.