Chapter 1305: Strange Lullaby

“Mid-April, the rain falls slowly. The stars shine bright and clear.”

“Celestials come, deities go. The Mad Lord panics deep and unsettling.”

“Mid-April, the clouds pass calmly. The sun and moon worries about nothing.”

“The rain comes, the wind goes. The Mad Lord looks back and loses the way home...”

It was at this moment a weird-sounding lullaby came from the far end of the street.

Five children carrying a pinwheel in one hand and a baked sesame-seed cake on the other were hopping, skipping, and jumping down this way while singing a lullaby.

Obviously, Ye Qing did not pay attention to it at first. When the name “Mad Lord” was mentioned though, he subconsciously paid attention and was immediately struck by a wave of dizziness and unease.

It wasn’t because the lullaby was inauspicious, nor was it because the tune was off. It was because of that sense of inauspiciousness and terror that suddenly flooded into his heart like a tangible thing. It was worrying for more reasons than one.

The next moment, Ye Qing appeared in front of the children. No one noticed his sudden appearance.

“Can you tell me who taught you this song, boys and girls?”

Ye Qing probed the children first but found no disturbing aura or presence on their person. It was only then he bent down and asked them the question.

“Mid-April, the rain falls slowly. The stars shine bright and clear.”

“Celestials come, deities go. The Mad Lord panics deep and unsettling.”

“Mid-April, the clouds pass calmly. The sun and moon worries about nothing.”

“The rain comes, the wind goes. The Mad Lord looks back and loses the way home...”

The five children did not seem to hear his question though. Instead, they recited the lullaby again with a weirder tone, expression, and tune than before. It was eerie to say the least.

“Who is it is pretending to play a Stranger?”

Furious, Ye Qing unleashed his demonic thought and enveloped everything within fifty kilometers of him in an instant. Not a single person, animal, or even blade of grass could escape his senses.

Still, he couldn’t spot anything unusual.

The lullaby seemed to possess an infectious quality. The nearest merchants and travelers began reciting it, followed by the customers eating or sleeping at the inns, the civilians living in the area, the bailiffs patrolling the streets, and even the soldiers guarding the gates and walls.

Everyone began singing the unusual lullaby.

“Mid-April, the rain falls slowly. The stars shine bright and clear.”

“Celestials come, deities go. The Mad Lord panics deep and unsettling.”

“Mid-April, the clouds pass calmly. The sun and moon worries about nothing.”

“The rain comes, the wind goes. The Mad Lord looks back and loses the way home...”

In just the span of a few breaths, the tens of thousands of citizens living at Dragon Gate Pass were singing the lullaby. Not only that, their expression, tone, and gesture were exactly the same as the five children. Their eyes were blank, they looked like they were about to burst into laughter or tears at any moment, and their voices were eerie and so quiet they were almost whispers.

Once again, the quiet, eerie song flooded into Ye Qing’s heart like a tidal wave. It dizzied him and made him shiver with fear.

The only thing that terrified him more was the fact that he could not find the source of the corruption or the culprit anywhere.

“Hmph!”

Ye Qing grunted, and infinite light overflowing with evil piercing, dark suppressing, malice uprooting aura burst into the sky. It engulfed the entire Dragon Gate Pass in an instant.

The anomalous lullaby finally came to a stop. The weird expression on their faces also vanished into nothing. Literally, nothing. They were all wearing a blank, numb look like they were soulless.

When Ye Qing withdrew his light, the people immediately returned to their previous state and sang the anomalous lullaby again.

For a few seconds, Ye Qing racked his head for a solution. Then, he disappeared and reappeared outside Dragon Gate Pass.

The instant he left Dragon Pass Gate—he couldn’t be sure even with his senses—he felt as if something had suddenly vanished into nothing. The next moment, the lullaby affecting the entire city suddenly ceased to exist, and everyone was back to normal. The merchants were calling for customers, the diners were dining, the drinkers were drinking, so on and so forth.

If he didn’t know better, he would think that everything that happened before was just a dream.

“Heh... interesting!”

Ye Qing remained silent for a few seconds before letting out a cold chuckle. Instead of returning to the city, he dashed off toward the horizon instead.

Ye Qing ran for over two hours until he was several hundred kilometers away from Dragon Gate Pass. It was only then he let out a sigh of relief.

“It should be fine now, right?”

Ye Qing stopped beneath a pine tree and produced a jar of wine. He had just taken a sip when he suddenly heard someone crying out in a loud, gravelly voice:

“Martial Might!”

“Martial Might!”

Ye Qing looked. It was a group of armed escorts. Numbering several hundred people, they were guarding their carts and yelling their slogans loudly.

The armed escorts had a pair of bright eyes and wore a fierce expression. It was also obvious at first glance that they were strong. It was rare for a group like this to make so much noise almost as if they were challenging everyone and everything to a fight. This meant that they were confident that their flamboyance was more effective than caution, and they were strong enough to make anyone foolish enough to challenge them pay. Generally speaking, only a powerful escort agency or personnel would dare to do such a thing.

Of course, none of this had anything to do with Ye Qing. He simply shot them a glance and got ready to leave.

It was at this moment the loud, noble cry suddenly turned into that quiet, eerie lullaby again.

“Mid-April, the sky is cloudy. The travelers walk slowly on the road.”

“The horses run, the dust flies. The Mad Lord’s soul is soon to scatter.”

“Mid-April, the moon is dim. The cats cry cheerfully in the night.”

“The dark clouds flee, the mad gale chases. The Mad Lord’s soul breaks every night.”

As the lullaby continued, the inauspicious feeling and terror that had already faded away from Ye Qing’s heart surfaced again. Worse, it was clearer and greater than before.

Ye Qing took a moment to carefully sense his surroundings, but he found nothing just like the last time. He did not find any signs of tampering from the armed escorts either.

“What a pain in the ass...”

Ye Qing cursed under his breath and went east. He did not bother the armed escorts, nor did he try to eliminate the anomaly affecting him.

After he left, the strange lullaby suddenly came to a stop, and the armed escorts returned to normal. Loud cries of “Martial might!” filled the land once more.

......

“It should be fine now, right?”

At the foot of an uninhabited mountain, Ye Qing stopped in his tracks and let out a murky breath.

Unfortunately, he had just finished speaking when he heard a song from somewhere in the mountain.

“Mid-April, the grass covers the mountain. The cattles, goats, and rabbits run everywhere.”

“The trees are tall, the flowers are fragrant. The Mad Lord’s corpse is left beside the road.”

“Mid-April, the wind makes noise. The clouds float across the sky.”

“The birds fly, the dogs bark. The Mad Lord’s rotting flesh is loathed by all.”

......

In Ye Qing’s spiritual senses, the singer was a woodcutter. The woodcutter was chopping wood until he twisted his body at an odd angle and looked at his direction. His eyes were unfocused, and he looked like he was about to burst into laughter or tears. He looked exactly the same as the civilians from before.

Not only that, the inauspicious feeling and terror in Ye Qing’s heart strengthened again after he listened to the lullaby. His destiny was fading as well.

At that moment, he could clearly sense death’s footsteps. It was walking straight toward him.