Chapter 17

Chapter 17: What Exactly Are You?

When the singing voice appeared, the roars of the mutated beasts in this area of the jungle were all silenced, and now that it left, they remained silent.

It was as if the singing voice was the master of this forbidden area, and nothing dared to roar without its permission.

Captain Thunder sat there silently, still looking into the distance where the boots had disappeared. It was already pitch-black, and there was nothing there.

Xu Qing had a complex look in his eyes. After a while, he looked around at the surroundings, and his gaze finally landed on Barbarian’s mace and broken shield fragments.

Like the other corpses here, Barbarian’s corpse had turned to dust when the singing voice brought the mist and left. The place it used to be was utterly clean, as if it had never been tainted with a corpse in the first place.

Scavengers usually didn’t have any relatives, so there may not be many who cared about their disappearance.

Even if there was someone, everything faded with the passage of time. After an unknown number of years… perhaps there might not even be one person who remembered.

Xu Qing suddenly thought back to his years in the slums. Back then, there was a certain person who always taught the children and treated him rather well. That person had said something at the end of his life, before he died from illness.

“To have someone you can’t forget is a kind of suffering, but to be remembered by someone else is a type of blessing.”

Xu Qing didn’t understand this sentence back then, but now, as he looked at Captain Thunder, he felt that he somewhat understood. Not bothering the grieving Captain Thunder, Xu Qing silently walked to the place where Barbarian’s body had been, pulled out his dagger, and began digging into the ground.

Although he wasn’t close to Barbarian, only sharing a few words over the past several days, the burly man had still taught Xu Qing about his experiences in the jungle. Furthermore, they had gone through life and death together against the wolf pack, and Barbarian’s steel shield saved Xu Qing’s life by blocking Fire Crow’s black blood ball.

Because of all this, Xu Qing felt that he should do something, just like when he cremated the corpses before leaving the city ruins.

He diligently worked at the soil and eventually dug a small pit, then buried Barbarian’s mace and shield fragments inside.

During this process, Xu Qing focused seriously. He didn’t notice that Captain Thunder had withdrawn his gaze from the jungle and was now looking at him.

Captain Thunder’s expression seemed to be the same as when he met Xu Qing for the first time in those city ruins. When he saw that Xu Qing had finished burying the weapons and was about to make a tombstone, Captain Thunder spoke softly.

“For scavengers, tombstones are unnecessary."

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Before death, a scavenger struggles to eke out a living in this cruel world, and after death… we don’t need any offerings, just let us rest in peace.”

As he said this, Captain Thunder’s breath weakened. With his serious injuries, accumulation of heterogeneity, and mental exhaustion, he was already unable to hold on any longer. His vision slowly blurred, and he closed his eyes and passed out.

Xu Qing hurried over and stuffed some seven-leaf grass into the old man's mouth.

He didn’t know if it would be useful, but since seven-leaf grass was an essential ingredient for making White Pills, it most likely would have some effect of alleviating heterogeneity.

After that, he lifted Captain Thunder onto his back and tied him there tightly. Taking a deep breath, he ran through the dark jungle at full speed.

When he passed by the place where the Blood Shadow Team Leader turned into dust, Xu Qing saw a leather bag. Quickly picking it up and opening it, he saw that there were no medicinal pills, only some random junk items. He put it away and continued to run.

An hour later, the feeble Captain Thunder woke up.

He vaguely felt that he was being carried by a thin body. As he was rocked up and down by his carrier’s running and jumping, Captain Thunder opened his eyes and saw the profile of that boy carrying him.

He was silent.

Xu Qing noticed that Captain Thunder had awakened and spoke softly.

“Are you feeling better? You can continue to sleep for a few hours. We should be able to leave the forbidden area before dawn.”

Captain Thunder didn’t speak. His old age was even more apparent with his body’s current condition, and when he looked up into the dark sky, his vision was still blurry. Sensing that he was about to pass out again, he muttered.

“Kid, do you know why I asked you twice if you wanted to leave the ruined city with me?”

Xu Qing continued to move along as he shook his head.

"Then, do you remember when we first met?" Captain Thunder's voice was weak.

"I remember." Xu Qing suddenly jumped up on a big tree. He swung his right hand and grabbed a mutated lizard that was hiding in ambush, then threw it at the ground up ahead.

As soon as the lizard fell, a large number of vines on the ground quickly wrapped around it. The lizard struggled hard but couldn’t prevent the vines from piercing its hide and devouring its flesh and blood.

Xu Qing took advantage of this opportunity to jump over, avoiding any danger and continuing on his way.

Just then, weak mutters came from Captain Thunder on his back. His voice was faint, and if he wasn’t so close, Xu Qing might not have been able to hear him.

"I saw your figure cremating the corpses. At that time, the glow of the flames illuminated your silhouette. It seemed as if you had fused with the flames, and it made me feel that I had seen… a ray of warmth in this cruel world.”

Xu Qing’s footsteps slowed to a stop and he fell silent. On his back, Captain Thunder passed out once again.

A few breaths later, Xu Qing silently lifted his feet and continued to run through the jungle, rapidly jumping past trees.

Soon, two hours had passed.

Xu Qing continued to avoid danger as he got closer and closer to the edge of the jungle.

Right now, the night sky was at its darkest. The entire forbidden area was suffused with a gloomy chill. Fortunately, Xu Qing had been running constantly, so his body continued to generate heat that was able to slightly resist the pervasive cold.

However… as he continued to move forward, the air became colder and colder. After a stick of incense’s worth of time, Xu Qing suddenly stopped moving and looked up ahead with a gloomy expression.

A heavy fog had appeared in the jungle in front of him.

This fog was extremely dense and reached into the distance. However, unlike the previous blood mist with its uncanny singing, the fog this time didn’t have that strong sense of oppression.

Nevertheless, anything that was shrouded by the fog became impossible to see clearly. Even with his vision, Xu Qing couldn’t make out anything beyond blurry shapes.

And right now, the darkness of the night compounded with the fog to make visibility even worse. Xu Qing tried to avoid it, but even after running for a long time, the fog still closed in on him.

He knew what this fog was.

When the Thunder Team had just entered the restricted area, Cross and Luan Ya talked about the three great dangers. One of them was called the bewilderment fog.

People who were enveloped by this fog would lose their way inside and eventually become completely disoriented.

And once the bewilderment fog appeared, it often wouldn’t dissipate for a long time.

If Xu Qing was alone, he could just wait for the fog to disappear. Even if he stayed in the forbidden area a little longer, the heterogeneity in his body wouldn't rise to an unacceptable degree.

However, Captain Thunder definitely couldn't wait. If the elderly man was stuck in the bewilderment fog for a long time, the only thing awaiting him would be death by mutation.

Therefore, Xu Qing had no choice but to retreat, trying to leave the range of the fog and circle around.

Unfortunately… the fog was too thick. No matter how fast he ran, Xu Qing still fell into a situation where he was surrounded by fog on all sides. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and he was quickly submerged in the bewilderment fog.

But soon, the fog that swamped Xu Qing’s location gradually became thinner, and Xu Qing reappeared with a surprised expression on his face.

He lowered his head and looked at his feet.

Under the dark night sky, he couldn’t see his shadow, but Xu Qing could feel that the fog around him was rapidly draining into the ground at the soles of his feet.

It was as if that invisible shadow had turned into a vortex that was devouring the surrounding fog.

The speed of its devouring wasn’t very fast, and after a short time, the shadow seemed to be full. It no longer absorbed any fog, causing Xu Qing’s figure to be submerged once again.

However… after the shadow had its fill, a strange force poured into Xu Qing’s body and gathered in his eyes. Suddenly, in his vision, the dense fog had become transparent.

Or perhaps it shouldn’t be described as vision, but perception!

The bewilderment fog still existed, and it was obviously extremely dense, but in Xu Qing’s perception, he could still “see” his surroundings. His perception was still a bit blurry, but it was far from the level of completely blocking his vision and making him lose his way.

Xu Qing’s breathing quickened. He looked down at his feet, as if staring at the invisible shadow hiding under them.

"You, what exactly are you..." Xu Qing whispered.

After a long time, he lifted his head to perceive his surroundings, then resumed running silently without slowing down. He was like a ghost drifting through the dense fog.

Soon, Xu Qing saw living people caught in the fog.

They were a pair of scavengers.

Xu Qing vaguely remembered seeing them before in the camp. Right now, the two were holding hands as they fumbled around like blind men, trying to find a way out of the dense fog.

But Xu Qing perceived that they were just moving in circles, and the pair of scavengers had also noticed this. Sweat collected on their foreheads and their breathing was heavy, clearly revealing their anxiety.

After taking a glance at them, Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and was about to leave.

He didn’t have any overwhelming sympathy for them. In this cruel world, it was common that those who saved others unconditionally would quickly find a dagger in their backs. Xu Qing had seen far too many examples of this back in the slums.

But when a person lost their vision, their other sense would improve in turn, particularly their hearing. As Xu Qing left, the two scavengers immediately heard his footsteps.

The pair’s expressions immediately tensed. These two were unable to distinguish between the footsteps of a human and a beast, so they immediately went on guard. One of them growled and roared ferociously, as if trying to scare a beast away.

The other begged for help, and to show his sincerity, he even pulled all the White Pills and spirit coins out of his leather bag, promising to hand them over in exchange for a chance to survive.

Xu Qing stopped for a moment and looked at the White Pills in the scavenger’s hands as he thought about the weak Captain Thunder on his back.

After thinking for a moment, he rummaged through his leather bag and found a candle. Once he lit it, there was finally a flame in the bewildering fog. However, the flame was weak and seemed to be slowly fading under the suppression of the fog.

Before the flame went out, Xu Qing stepped back a little and looked at the two scavengers not far away. He opened his mouth and spoke slowly.

“Turn right and walk straight for seven steps, then go ten steps to the left…”

When they heard Xu Qing’s voice, the two scavengers trembled. Their faces showed ecstasy and their breathing hastened as they immediately followed Xu Qing’s instructions.

Under Xu Qing’s careful instructions, they circled left and right and managed to avoid the dangerous areas. Soon, the fog in front of them thinned as they approached the place where Xu Qing had lit the candle.

Once they walked into the range of the dimming candle light, seeing the flames light up the surroundings, they felt like blind men who had regained their sight. The two scavengers instantly ran over to the candle, joy and excitement bubbling up from within them.

Xu Qing was hiding at the very edge of the candle’s range. Although the light shone on him slightly, his figure was still blurred and his face couldn’t be seen. Impassively looking at the two people in front of him, he opened his mouth and spoke lightly.

"Give me White Pills."

One of them trembled. Having survived the disaster, he didn’t hesitate and immediately threw over the leather bag containing his spirit coins and White Pills, repeatedly thanking Xu Qing.

The other one was also about to bring out his pills, but his rush of excitement suddenly subsided when he took a second look at Xu Qing.

Since Xu Qing was at the very edge of the candle’s light, there was still some fog around him. This scavenger couldn’t see Xu Qing’s face, only his thin body and what seemed to be an unconscious person behind him.

A glimmer of light flashed through his eyes, but a smile appeared on his face and he spoke with a very sincere manner.

“Little brother, I have already eaten all the White Pills on my person. But don’t worry, when the fog clears, or if you can get me out of here, I will definitely repay you twofold.”

After he finished speaking, his eyes flickered and he looked towards Xu Qing’s location, eager to test him out.

Hearing these words, his companion grew a little annoyed and felt that he had handed over his bag too quickly.

Xu Qing looked deeply at the scavenger who didn’t give any White Pills, but he didn’t say anything.

Instead, he just raised his right hand and waved it. The resulting gust of wind instantly extinguished the candle, and the bewilderment fog instantly converged on them.

The two scavengers instantly screamed. Xu Qing approached in a flash and snatched the leather bag from the one who hadn’t given. Then his calm voice echoed all around them.

“No need, you can stay here.”

“Wait, I was wrong, I was really wrong, I’ll give you the White Pills, I…”

That scavenger suddenly became anxious, but when he reached out, he suddenly tripped on the tree roots underfoot and fell.

When he got up, he called out even more anxiously, and deep regret filled his body and soul.

"Little brother, listen to my explanation, I…"

Xu Qing ignored him and walked toward the scavenger who had handed over his White Pills.

This scavenger’s expression had twisted in horror after falling back into the bewilderment fog. Without him noticing, Xu Qing passed by him and spoke lightly.

"Follow my footsteps."

With that, Xu Qing continued to move forward without looking back. Upon hearing Xu Qing’s words, that scavenger breathed heavily and immediately hurried to follow. Right now, he was nothing but grateful for how fast he had handed over his bag previously.

This was even more so when he heard his companion’s anxious wails quickly turn into frenzied cursing after failing to call for help. The despair in his companion’s voice made him tremble, and he felt even more awed by the owner of the footsteps in front of him.

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