Stranger Danger

When they got closer, Ye Qing finally saw an island. The willow tree was growing from the island.

The island was massive, but it was overgrown with willow tree roots that were as thick as serpents and undulating like mountain ranges.

There were no other plants on the island. Literally, none. The willow tree had dominated it all.

That didn't mean that there was no life on the island though. Case in point: The foot of the willow tree was crowded with people right now.

The people looked a little different from your average humans though. Their skin was faint green in color, and willow branches were growing out of their heads.

That's right, the people had planted willow branches into their hair. The willow branches were literally growing out of their heads. They looked lush and vibrant.

"Are those... Willowa?"

Ye Qing immediately recalled a passage from Li Xian's "A Record of Strange and Miraculous Things". There existed an island in the sea that was overgrown with a gigantic willow tree. The willow tree was sentient and extremely powerful, and the natives on the island worshiped it as their god. However, the natives were green-skinned and had willow branches growing out of their heads. Therefore, Li Xian decided to name them, "Willowa".

Unless his eyes were playing tricks on him, this scene before him was exactly what Li Xian was describing.

"Are those Willowa?"

Feng Qingyou had walked up to Ye Qing's side and gazed at the distant willow tree and Willowa as well. "What are they doing?"

"Celebrating something, I guess?"

The Willowa on the island were striking gongs, playing drums, and cheering at the top of their lungs. It looked like they were holding some sort of festival.

Ye Qing parked the Cloud Boat several kilometers away from the island. He did not go closer.

As Li Xian mentioned earlier, "A Record of Strange and Miraculous Things" was just some notes about his sightings. As the Sunchasing Dragon Whale never lingered at one place for long, it was impossible for Li Xian to perform an in-depth observation and study. So, his descriptions were generally brief and simple.

Because of this, Ye Qing had no idea if the Willowa were good-natured or evil-natured, hostile or friendly toward foreigners, or if they were even capable of speech. It would be bad if he went over thoughtlessly and accidentally disrupted their festival or something.

Besides that, the willow tree was giving him a dangerous feeling. It was definitely a powerful Stranger in its own right.

That was why Ye Qing was planning to wait until they were done holding their festival and see what happens. If they were friendly and speech capable, then he did not mind interacting with them for a bit. If not, then whatever. He felt no desire to force something to happen.

"Wait a second... This isn't a festival. It's a ritual sacrifice."

It was at this moment the drum and gong beats grew frantic. At the same time, a group of people were carried out of a cave made from tree roots.

The group of people were normal human beings. They numbered around twenty, and many of them were female and children.

They were bound by willow branches and prevented from screaming with a rag in their mouths. Even so, it was clear from their expressions that they were terrified.

After the group of twenty was carried out, an older Willowa with yellowish branches on his head and wearing a sumptuous outfit stepped out and performed a strange, twisted dance. Then, he stepped in front of the Willowa and led by example, kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times to the willow tree with zeal and fervor clearly etched on his face.

After the ceremony was done, a massive, twisted mind awakened from the willow tree. Immediately, the tree branches started flailing even though there was no wind.

As the willow branches continued to flail, Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou were treated to a shocking sight.

As it turned out, countless dead bodies were hanging on the inner, younger branches of the willow tree. They just couldn't see it earlier because the outer branches were blocking them.

The dead bodies looked like fruits as they swayed to the wind. There weren't just human corpses. There were carcasses of all kinds of beasts as well. Still, human corpses made up the large majority of the dead bodies. There were at least tens of thousands of them.

"Ohhhhhhh!!!"

Despite the shocking scene, the Willowa weren't perturbed in the slightest. They cheered at the top of their lungs and raised their hands high up in the sky in worship.

On the other hand, the humans that were soon to be sacrificed looked numb and shell-shocked. They could not even react anymore.

It was at this moment many thin, young willow branches descended from above and wrapped around the sacrifices, dragging them into the air.

"Mm! Mmmm!!!"

The sacrifices were gagged, so they couldn't cry for help. They could only struggle with all their might. However, the more they struggled, the tighter the willow branches became. Some had already sunk into the sacrifices' flesh and were devouring their blood eagerly.

Gradually, their struggles grew weaker. Maybe it was because they were weakened, or maybe it was because they had given up on struggling. The only emotion left on their faces was despair.

"Hmph!"

It was at this moment a harrumph echoed throughout the island like a spring thunderclap. It dizzied every Willowa on the island and made them bleed from all orifices. The young, tender willow branches instantly withered and snapped, causing the sacrifices to plummet toward the earth.

Halfway through their descent, dense ripples suddenly appeared in space like those that appeared when a rock was chucked into a pond. The next moment, the sacrifices were gone.

Buzz...

The moment the sacrifices disappeared, the willow tree flew into a rage. Invisible shockwaves washed out of the island and toward the surrounding sea. The clouds surrounding the Cloud Boat disappeared, and both the vessel and its passengers were exposed.

"Blasphemers of the Willow God! Kill them!"

"Kill them and offer their bodies to the Willow God!"

On the island, the Willowa screamed like banshees as willow branches began growing out of their heads and faces as well. Their torsos became bark-like, and their feet were covered in roots as well.

If the Willowa looked two-third human and one-third willow earlier, now it was reversed. They looked more plant than human right now.

The transformation wasn't just for show though. Their auras became a lot stronger than before. The weakest of them were Spirit Masters, and a good number were Truemen. As for the old Willowa priest who helmed the ritual, his aura had reached that of a Great Trueman.

The next moment, the Willowa charged toward Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou. They seemed to be empowered by some sort of Magia as they were able to run across the water surface like it was flat land. The priest in particular threw his hands up into the sky and summoned a tidal wave that was over hundreds of meters tall. It moved straight toward Ye Qing.

Ye Qing's response was to smile, lift his hand, and wave his sleeve slightly.

As if he was a celestial who could move the sky with his sleeve, he easily pushed the tidal wave away from him and into the charging horde of Willowa. They were helplessly ripped to shreds by their own attack.

Ye Qing felt no good will toward the Willowa after witnessing what they were doing earlier. Naturally, he did not hold back.

The tidal wave did not disappear after he annihilated the main bulk of the Willowa. In fact, it grew bigger and bigger with every inch it crept. It quickly grew into an epic tsunami over tens of thousands of meters tall, and it was headed straight for the massive willow tree.

The willow tree was enraged as a matter of course, though it was unclear if it was angry for its slaughtered people or because of Ye qing's defiance. Countless willow branches glowed bright and interweaved with each other before slamming into the incoming wave.

There was a deafening boom, and the epic tsunami was pierced and crushed by the willow branches. Ranging over hundreds of meters, the willow branches would continue toward Ye Qing on the Cloud Boat with every intent to kill him.

Ye Qing narrowed his eyes slightly. He lifted a hand and clenched his fist.

The Cloud Boat abruptly sank a meter or two, and Ye Qing thrust his fist forward just a couple of inches.