Stranger Danger

“What… What is that?”

“Could it be… the Lord of Mirror Lake?”

“It is the Lord of Mirror Lake!”

……

The five men were beside themselves when they recognized the strange beast. Legend had it that a god lived in Mirror Lake, and its name was the Lord of Mirror Lake. The Lord of Mirror Lake was said to possess a tiger’s head and a horse’s body. A silver horn was growing out of its head, and its body was covered in scales. Capable of riding the wind and waves and soaring in the sky, it was said to possess infinite power.

There was no doubt about it. The strange beast in the sky had to be the legendary Lord of Mirror Lake.

But of course, they weren’t children. They knew full well that gods did not exist in this world, only Strangers. Naturally, the so-called Lord of Mirror Lake was just a powerful Stranger.

That said, the Lord of Mirror Lake never took a human life despite being a Stranger. It did not stop the humans from harvesting Snow Ginseng from Mirror Lake Peak or procuring water from the Mirror Lake either.

Not only that, the existence of the Lord of Mirror Lake prevented other Strangers from taking root in the mountain. In fact, countless ginseng harvesters had witnessed the Lord of Mirror Lake repelling or exterminating those Strangers who dared to invade its territory. This was why they never had to worry about Stranger threats while climbing Mirror Lake Peak. For a ginseng harvester, the Lord of Mirror Lake was their guardian; their protector god.

The ginseng harvesters were simple people. Anyone who afforded them protection was their god no matter their race. The Lord of Mirror Lake gave them its protection, so it was their god.

This was the main reason the five men were beyond excited.

“We greet the Lord of Mirror Lake! Bless us, o lord!”

“We greet the Lord of Mirror Lake! Bless us, o lord!”

“We greet the Lord of Mirror Lake! Bless us, o lord!”

The five men dropped to their knees and started kowtowing to the Lord of Mirror Lake.

“There’s someone up there! Uncles, look! There’s a man in the sky!”

It was at this moment Li’l Ah Man cried out in surprise. The five men looked up just in time to see a man descending from the sky on an auspicious cloud.

He was a young man riding the wind and clouds. He wore a set of blue clothes and looked as elegant as a celestial.

The Lord of Mirror Lake roared like a tiger when it saw the young man. The streams of water surrounding it immediately merged into a river and surged toward him.

The young man responded by throwing a punch. Like a sword that could split open the heavenly gates, the punch easily split the river in half.

After defeating the river in one punch, the young man took one step forward and appeared before the Lord of Mirror Lake in the blink of an eye. He grabbed the beast’s silver horn and chuckled softly. “Come now, I only took a bit of stuff. Do you really need to be so angry?”

The young man’s gesture seemed to rile up the Lord of Mirror Lake completely. Every scale on its body lit up, and the entire sky was dyed a deep, clear blue. For a moment, it looked as if the sky had turned into a sea.

“Blue light… no… no…!”

“The Lord of Mirror Lake is enraged! The Lord of Mirror Lake is enraged!”

“Get down! Get down! Crawl into the snow and close your eyes!”

Ah Yi screamed in fear and panic when he saw the blue light in the sky. His four companions immediately jolted out of their reverie and started crawling into the snow as if their lives depended on it.

Ah Yi himself ran toward Li’l Ah Man and threw her to the ground. While catching her in a tight embrace, he said urgently, “Stay down and do not look up. Do not look at the blue light, understand?”

Legend had it that the Lord of Mirror Lake would emit blue light and dye both heaven and earth in azure blue when it was enraged. Everything caught within the light would dissolve into nothingness.

A long time ago, a ginseng harvester who were harvesting Snow Ginseng with his companions had had the misfortune of witnessing the Lord of Mirror Lake fighting against dozens of bird Strangers with human faces. Enraged, the Lord of Mirror Lake had unleashed a blast of blue light that dyed the world in blue and dissolved the bird Strangers into nothing. Not only that, the ginseng harvesters who were standing too close to the battle instantly dissolved into nothing as well.

The others were lucky enough to avoid death, but a good number of them became blind because they saw the blue light in the sky, and their eyeballs dissolved into nothing.

The ginseng harvester who brought back the story looked terrified at the mere remembrance of that memory.

This was why the five men had reacted with such fear after seeing the blue light. They were afraid that they would dissolve into nothing or turn blind just like their unfortunate colleagues.

The five men were well aware that their emergency measures—hiding inside the snow and closing their eyes—still might not be enough to save their lives, but it was better than doing nothing. All they could do now was to lie down, bury themselves in as much snow as possible, and pray for the best.

As they worked frantically, the azure light in the sky began spreading outward.

The blue light that resembled flowing water was flawless and perfect, and everything it touched dissolved into nothing. The wind, the snow, the clouds, nothing was spared from its wrath.

In just an instant, this corner of the world had turned completely pure and clean. Everything that existed in the blue light’s path had dissolved into nothing, leaving behind only a massive shard of void, perfect and unblemished.

The blue light was seconds away from reaching the five men and Li’l Ah Man when suddenly, a taunting voice came from above, “Hey yo! It’s not good to vent your anger on innocents, you know?”

The young man in the sky flicked the Lord of Mirror Lake in the head, and—

BANG!

A world may reside within a finger. A finger may suppress a world as well.

The Lord of Mirror Lake sailed backward like a meteor. It slammed into a cliffside so hard that a massive hole appeared on the wall.

Before the Lord of Mirror Lake could break free, the young man flew over to the Lord of Mirror Lake and grabbed its head with his right hand, forcing the Stranger back into the hole in the wall. It sank deeper and deeper into the cliffside no matter how hard it roared or struggled.

In just the blink of an eye, only its head was still poking out of the cliffside. The rest of its body was embedded inside the wall, trapped and helpless.

“Can you listen to me now?”

Still keeping a firm grip on the Lord of Mirror Lake’s head, the young man said unhurriedly, “The reason I’m willing to speak with you isn’t because I’m afraid of you, nor is it because I can’t kill you. If I want to, you would be dead by the time I flip over my palm.”

“The reason I didn’t kill you is because you have never committed an evil deed, nor have you wilfully endangered a human’s life. But if you test my patience any further, then I wouldn’t mind turning you to dust this instant.”

The Lord of Mirror Lake clearly possessed great intelligence because it stopped struggling as soon as it finished listening to the young man’s words. It knew that the human before him did possess the power to kill it.

“Do you understand me?” The young man’s tone suddenly grew harsh and murderous. “If you understand, then nod your head!”

“Whine…”

The Lord of Mirror Lake let out an aggrieved whine and nodded its head.

It’s bad enough that you robbed me, you’re going to threaten me as well? How is this fair? How is this lawful?

Oh wait, I’m a Stranger, and Strangers have no human rights. Never mind then.

“Good!”

The young man smiled and withdrew his killing intent. “Make sure you don’t harm innocents in the future. If I ever learn that you are abusing your power or making trouble for others, I will return to punish you. Understand?”

“Whine…”

Again, the Lord of Mirror Lake nodded aggrievedly.

“You’re surprisingly cute for one so fiery. Oh well. You may go now.”

The young man released the Lord of Mirror Lake and took a few step backward, indicating that it could leave now.

The Lord of Mirror Lake tentatively struggled for a bit. Once it confirmed that the young man wasn’t going to stop it, it crawled out of the hole, flew into the sky, and let out a long, relieved howl.

Maybe it was because it was going to live to see another day. Maybe it was because the bloody bandit was finally about to leave. Maybe it was both.

In any case, the Lord of Mirror Lake shot the young man one last look before disappearing into the clouds.

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