Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Kid

The South Phoenix Continent was enormous.

If you looked at it from a high altitude, you could see an irregular oval shape surrounded by the vast sea.

Although it was like a small island compared to the Ancient Hope Mainland far away across the sea, it was still vast enough that a person couldn’t finish walking across it in a lifetime.

However, most of South Phoenix was difficult for the human race to step into, blocked off by the Truth Mountain Range that ran through the entire continent.

To the southwest of the Truth Mountain Range was an extremely large forbidden area.

This forbidden area occupied nearly 70% of the South Phoenix Continent. Only the region northeast of the Truth Mountain Range was where humanity could live.

Even there, humans weren’t very numerous.

In this northeastern region, there were many large and small cities. Some were like fortresses, and some were more simple.

However, the builders of these cities all avoided those small forbidden areas in the northeast region.

If there was a choice, no one wanted to live near a forbidden area. In such a place where danger could appear at any moment, only desperate outlaws would be forced to gather with no other choice, living on the edge of a blade with reddened eyes and struggling to survive.

Therefore, scavenger camps were born, and almost every forbidden area was surrounded by such camps. They were scattered across the whole territory of the human race.

It was exactly such a camp that fell into Xu Qing’s eyes as he stood atop the mountain.

Looking from a distance, the camp wasn’t very big, and there appeared to be only several hundred people inside.

Perhaps because it was early morning, smoke curled up from kitchen chimneys. Although not as bustling as a city, it was still relatively lively.

Faint sounds of shouting and swearing, the street vendors’ hawking, and unbridled laughter all mixed together and spread into the distance.

But the houses, which Captain Thunder spoke of as being so valuable, became simpler and simpler from the inner to outer areas of the camp. The outermost houses were no better than tents.

Not far behind the camp, fog swirled around a dark jungle, as if there was some terrifying existence hiding inside.

Even if the sky was full of sunlight, the light wouldn’t reach it. The dark jungle stood indifferent to the world, as if hiding monsters within.

It was similar to the mutation point on a human’s body. Both contrasted sharply with the outside world, as if they didn’t belong.

"How do you feel after seeing it?" On the top of the mountain, Captain Thunder asked.

"It's almost like a slum." Xu Qing thought about it and answered truthfully.

Captain Thunder smiled. Not replying, he walked forward.

Xu Qing retracted his gaze and followed behind Captain Thunder. The two of them descended the mountain, getting closer and closer to the camp.

On the way, they encountered people who were coming back from outings in twos and threes, and all of them were dressed in similar clothes, mostly dark gray coats of animal hide.

Xu Qing noticed that when these people saw Captain Thunder, they all showed awe in their expressions, and most of them glanced towards Xu Qing with curiosity.

This allowed Xu Qing to guess some things about Captain Thunder’s identity.

Late in the morning, Xu Qing followed Captain Thunder and walked into the plain below the mountain, walking a distance further before they stepped into the scavenger camp.

The camp had no city walls, and the ground was very messy. It was dusty, with dead leaves and garbage everywhere, giving off a chaotic feeling.

Once they arrived, the sounds he heard on the mountain earlier came into Xu Qing's ears more clearly.

In addition to the simple buildings, there were also many scavengers.

Some were as tall and burly as Savage Ox, and some were skinny and sinister. Some were so old that they seemed to be unable to open their eyes, but no one dared to provoke them.

There were also some youths like him, huddled in a corner, staring at the sky.

Some of them were crippled.

There were also many people giving off fluctuations of spiritual energy, making Xu Qing’s eyes narrow slightly.

There were all kinds of people, some buying and selling, some fighting with each other, and some lying on rocks and basking in the sun.

Others walked out of tents that had brightly-colored feathers, pulling their pants up with lewd expressions on their faces.

As Xu Qing walked into the camp with Captain Thunder, people looked at him as if saying, welcome to hell.

But apart from his inner vigilance, Xu Qing didn’t feel anything unusual, and there was even a sense of familiarity.

"It's really similar to the slums." Xu Qing muttered inwardly. He glanced at the tents with feathers and saw white figures inside.

There was even one tent where a half-naked young woman walked out and waved at Xu Qing with a lazy smile.

"Don't look over there." Captain Thunder glanced at Xu Qing.

"I know what that is." Xu Qing looked back and replied.

The wrinkles on Captain Thunder’s face piled up in a speechless smile, and without saying anything more, he brought Xu Qing to walk through the camp until they reached his destination.

This place was a huge wooden building in the center of the camp. It was in the shape of a ring, and it seemed to be an arena for fighting beasts.

Xu Qing had been observing carefully the whole, and a map of the camp had already appeared in his mind.

This was his habit. In many cases, being familiar with the environment could save his life in a moment of crisis.

Now, he looked up at the arena-like building in front of him and noticed that in addition to the huge field, there were many simple benches inside.

In addition, roars belonging to fierce beasts were coming from inside the building.

There was also a wooden row house nearby, and there were a few scavengers dressed in clean clothes talking and laughing outside the row house.

With the arrival of Captain Thunder, a thin middle-aged man soon walked out of the arena.

Unlike the scavengers, this person was wearing a long robe. His beard was split into three prongs, and he gave off fluctuations of spiritual energy. When he walked over, he tugged at his beard out of habit, glanced at Xu Qing, and then looked at Captain Thunder.

"Newbie?"

"He already knows the rules." Captain Thunder spoke slowly.

"What's your name?" Trident-beard asked casually.

"What name, he’s just a kid, so just call him Kid." Captain Thunder said lightly.

"Then come with me, Kid. You’re lucky, there are already a few in front of you, so you can start tomorrow."

Trident-beard laughed, turning and walking towards the row house.

Xu Qing glanced at Captain Thunder.

"Go, I'll pick you up tomorrow." Captain Thunder looked at Xu Qing with some expectations in his eyes.

Xu Qing gave Captain Thunder a deep look. He nodded and walked behind trident-beard without saying a word.

Once they got to the row house, trident-beard said a few words to the scavenger at the side and turned to leave.

That scavenger made the arrangements for Xu Qing in the row house and told him not to leave without permission.

The moment he stepped into this row house, Xu Qing felt four pairs of eyes converge on him from different directions.

There were three kids of his age and a young man, three men and one woman.

The two male teenagers seemed to be a few years older than him.

As for the girl, she was a little younger than Xu Qing, and there was a huge scar on her face. She huddled in a corner.

She watched everything around her nervously and vigilantly, including the original three and the new Xu Qing.

As for the eldest young man here, it seemed that he was originally a scavenger already and had just changed to a new camp.

Thus, after seeing Xu Qing, the corner of his mouth twitched disapprovingly. He turned his eyes away and aggressively stared at the girl in the corner, licking his lips.

But he still hadn’t officially obtained this camp’s residence qualification, so he didn’t dare to be too presumptuous.

Xu Qing ignored them and found a spot by the door. He crossed his legs and closed his eyes, meditating silently.

Time passed slowly. Perhaps because Xu Qing was too quiet, the other three people in the row house, excluding the girl, ignored him and started talking with each other.

The words of the two teenagers made it obvious that they were trying to please the young man.

Most of the discussion was centered around the contents of the trial.

Through their conversations, Xu Qing knew that the camp would hold a trial every once in a while once there were enough people who wanted to gain residence qualifications.

The rules of the trial were simple.

Because the owner of this camp kept many fierce mutated beasts in captivity, the trial to obtain residence qualifications was to draw lots in public and fight against the chosen beasts.

The trial-goers and beasts were both each other’s prey.

The survivors could take away the spoils and obtain a residence qualification.

The losers would die and become food for the beasts.

And every trial would be held in the beast-fighting arena.

At that time, the scavengers in the camp would buy tickets to enjoy watching the bloody scene, and the camp owner would also open betting pools to make a profit.

In this cruel world, human life was worthless.

But if you were not qualified to enter a city, and you could not enter the camp, you could only live alone in the wilderness, where the risk of death was even greater.

Of course, there were also slums, but obviously those who decided to enter the scavenger camp had their own stories behind their choice.

Xu Qing listened while meditating.

Soon, the group’s discussion turned to the opening of God’s eyes several days ago, and the young man suddenly opened his mouth.

"When I came, I heard that you were a survivor of that catastrophe?"

As soon as these words came out, Xu Qing slowly opened his eyes.

When he looked, he noticed that the young man wasn’t talking to him, but the girl in the corner.

The little girl trembled and nodded silently.

Xu Qing's eyes fell on the little girl.

Others had only heard about it, but he experienced it personally, so he knew deeply that people who could survive the catastrophe and come here might not be as fragile and simple as they looked.

Seemingly noticing Xu Qing's gaze, the little girl raised her head to look at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing closed his eyes again and continued to meditate. He wanted to use all his time to cultivate. That was the basis for him to live a better life.

Just like that, the night passed.

The next morning, along with the chaos and clamor of the outside world, the door of the row house was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

Rays of sunlight shone in, causing the body of the scavenger standing at the door to cast a deep shadow. When this shadow reached the little girl in the corner, a cold voice rang out.

"Pack up and follow me, it's time for your good show."

"Finally, I’ve been waiting."

The young man who seemed to be a scavenger was the first to get up. He walked over with a smile and greeted the person at the door.

The two male teenagers also followed quickly. Xu Qing was the fourth to walk out, and the little girl was the last.

The scavenger at the door seemed to know the young man. After laughing with him, he ignored the others and walked towards the arena with the young man.

As they approached, the clamor and shouting grew louder and louder.

After the group stepped into the arena, the world around them seemed to explode with noise.

There were more than 100 people on the benches around the arena, both men and women. They were like a crowd of demons waiting to watch a good show together.

Their voices were loud, causing the little girl to tremble and the two teenagers to turn pale.

Only the young man looked at the audience with excitement in his eyes.

As for Xu Qing, his expression didn’t change much. He began to analyze the surroundings of the arena.

“It’s not very large, so I can’t exhaust them to death. There isn’t any cover, so dodging will also be difficult.”

"The surrounding wooden walls are too high, so I won’t be able to draw danger to the spectators, but there are several door marks that seem to lead to other passages.”

"So… I can use the shouts of the spectating scavengers to scare the beast and find an opportunity to attack. But the beast might become enraged instead, so the battle will have to be quick."

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