Chapter 16

Chapter 16: You ask when I will return, but I do not know

Fire Crow’s heart trembled as he looked at the figure of the boy under the setting sun.

If the person in his position was not a veteran scavenger but rather a rookie, they might be shocked even if their cultivation base far surpassed the boy.

Even Fire Crow felt his heart shake, but he quickly suppressed any hesitation. Being injured had provoked his fury and viciousness, and he now revealed a strong killing intent as he glared at Xu Qing.

"Little wolf cub, I’m going to rip out your teeth one by one as my spoils of war.”

As Fire Crow spoke in a low voice, he tore off his shirt, revealing a withered upper body.

He ignored the loss of his ear and the wound on his chest, face flushing red as he formed hand seals and summoned forth an even bigger fireball than before.

Xu Qing's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly sprinted forward.

"Scatter!" Fire Crow growled, and the big fireball in his hand suddenly separated into five smaller fireballs that charged directly toward Xu Qing.

Explosions echoed out in an instant, covering the ground in flames. But Xu Qing rushed out of the flames once again, and he delivered two more heavy punches at Fire Crow’s barrier to break it once more.

Although the explosion of the barrier would inevitably force him back, and the heat of the flames continued to burn him, Xu Qing’s speed did not decrease at all, and his killing intent remained unabated.

Just like that, without worrying about his own injuries, Xu Qing began a fierce battle with the anxious Fire Crow in the jungle.

The battle continued to intensify.

Xu Qing was indeed no match for Fire Crow.

Whether it was the spiritual energy barrier or the fireballs, the situation was very unfavorable for him. The barrier made it difficult for him to land killing blows in close range, and the fireballs were a potent threat to him.

But thanks to Xu Qing’s incredible recovery power, he could continue to fight after being injured without losing any combat prowess.

His stamina also remained at its peak condition. Although the pain from his injuries was like torture for the mind, he had already developed extraordinary tolerance while growing up in the slums.

And the most important thing was that… the spiritual energy of the forbidden area, rich with heterogeneity, had no negative effects on Xu Qing. But for Fire Crow, things were completely different.

His slashed ear was fine, but the wound on his chest continued to worsen. And the most important thing was… his spiritual energy.

Even though his cultivation base was at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation, the fireballs and barriers consumed too much spiritual energy. He could only absorb the surrounding spiritual energy to replenish himself.

And Xu Qing fought far too fiercely, constantly pressuring him to the point that he had no breathing room. The heterogeneity in his body accumulated more and more.

In the beginning, Fire Crow was furious, but his anger soon turned into a bit of nervousness, then anxiety, until finally there was a hint of panic in his expression.

He detected the problems in his body, and he also realized that there was something wrong with the boy in front of him!

If it were any other third level, no, even if it weren’t a third level but another fifth level like him, they shouldn’t be able to withstand his constant bombardment of fireballs. The boy had been hit so many times that he should have turned into a dried-up corpse a long time ago.

Fire Crow asked himself, if he was the one on the receiving end of the fireballs, how long could he survive? His answer – definitely not this long!

But the boy in front of him, despite seeming seriously injured and continuing to accumulate injuries, had not slowed down or weakened in the slightest from the beginning of the fight to now.

This realization made Fire Crow grow even more anxious.

And because of his constant absorption of heterogeneity-filled spiritual energy, he had almost reached the point of mutation, causing his breathing to become hurried.

"Fire Crow, you piece of trash, hurry up and finish him off!!"

The Blood Shadow Team Leader, fighting with Captain Thunder in the distance, had no choice but to divert a bit of his attention to Xu Qing’s battle. Seeing this scene, he roared out in fury.

He wanted to help, but Captain Thunder suddenly seemed to be invigorated, blocking the Blood Shadow Team Leader from leaving. He could only continue fighting Captain Thunder while stewing in anxiety.

Captain Thunder had already realized that Xu Qing’s plan was to exhaust Fire Crow until the point of mutation.

Although he didn’t know why the boy was so confident and how he continued to fight with a plain expression on his face despite his grievous injuries, Captain Thunder understood that everyone had their own secrets. He, too, was keeping some secrets.

Therefore, he had no intention of asking. What he could do right now was prevent the Blood Shadow Team Leader in front of him from going to help.

The battle raged on.

After being cursed out by the Blood Shadow Team Leader, Fire Crow shot three more fireballs but was still unable to kill Xu Qing. Panic overflowed in his heart, throwing him into a frenzy.

He suddenly raised his right hand and smashed it directly on his chest, coughing up a large mouthful of blood. Before it fell to the ground, he quickly swept his left hand out to catch some.

He chanted an incantation, and the blood in his hand quickly turned black.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes as he suddenly felt a powerful sense of crisis. He rushed forward in a flash and was about to strike to stop Fire Crow from casting his spell.

But Fire Crow’s spell this time was too fast. At the moment Xu Qing moved, the middle-aged man raised his head abruptly. His eye was filled with savagery and his expression was distorted in hatred as he fiercely waved his right hand.

Immediately, the black blood in his hand swelled up, forming a ball of blood the size of a human head.

The ball of blood bubbled and boiled, and it charged towards Xu Qing with astonishing power.

"Die for me!" Fire Crow growled fiercely.

Perhaps the exhaustion from casting that spell compounded with the surging heterogeneity in his body, because Fire Crow’s legs suddenly seemed to tremble in weakness.

The killing intent in Xu Qing’s eyes suddenly surged. Like Captain Thunder had judged, he was indeed planning to drag out the battle until Fire Crow mutated. However, there was one difference in what Captain Thunder thought and what Xu Qing was planning.

That was the fact that Xu Qing had never given up on killing Fire Crow directly.

Although he no longer had his dagger or iron skewer, he had been waiting for a chance to kill all along.

And now, with Fire Crow’s sudden exhaustion, his opportunity finally came.

Just as the black blood ball roared forth, Xu Qing suddenly accelerated.

But he didn’t rush straight towards Fire Crow. Instead, his path veered slightly to the location of Barbarian’s corpse.

Fire Crow’s previous fireballs had left a wide area of destruction, and Barbarian’s corpse was already covered with burn marks. But aside from the corpse, there were also… Barbarian’s weapons!

His mace was there, as well as his steel shield that had been chopped in two.

Xu Qing’s goal was the larger half of that shield.

He instantly approached and snatched up the heavy steel shield. Covering himself with the shield, he rushed out instantly and charged toward Fire Crow, who was behind the black blood ball.

A loud bang rang out as Fire Crow’s blood ball made contact with Xu Qing’s shield, instantly turning into countless jets of black blood that struck the shield like arrows.

The steel shield couldn’t take it and collapsed almost instantly, but it still offset the majority of the attack’s power.

So although Xu Qing was struck here and there by the black blood, it didn’t land any fatal blows. He clenched his teeth and didn’t slow down in the slightest as he shot towards Fire Crow like an arrow, leaving afterimages in the air.

Fire Crow’s eye showed a mocking gaze, and he didn’t move to dodge at all. The black blood that had scattered behind Xu Qing suddenly rose from the ground, and it looked like it wouldn’t be long before all the blood rose up into the air and formed blood arrows.

There was nowhere for Xu Qing to run. But he never intended to run.

As he approached, he clenched his left hand into a fist. But suddenly, his right hand struck out with a punch.

Boom!

Cracks appeared in the spiritual energy barrier outside Fire Crow's body, but Xu Qing’s right fist also became bloodied. It seemed like some scale-covered flesh fell out of it at this moment.

But before Fire Crow could look carefully, Xu Qing’s eyes turned red and he punched out again.

With a loud bang, the barrier collapsed into pieces. Like before, an impact spread out from its destruction, about to push Xu Qing’s body away like every previous time.

Fire Crow's gaze showed even more mockery, but suddenly!

Xu Qing seemed to gain additional strength for no reason.

This time, as the barrier exploded, he wasn’t pushed back like before.

Instead, he rushed forward, withstanding the impact, and stretched out his right hand. He didn’t punch, but reached out to grasp at Fire Crow’s wounded chest, where the iron skewer had previously pierced.

It seemed like that extra strength only allowed Xu Qing to make this grasping motion. Although he grabbed Fire Crow’s wound, he couldn’t deal a fatal blow.

Fire Crow’s expression changed and his body staggered backwards.

Realizing that Xu Qing’s grasping motion didn’t pose a threat, Fire Crow sneered and was just about to cast a spell to attack with the black blood.

But in the next moment, his complexion changed again, and he suddenly looked down.

On the wounded part of his chest, there... were some fragments of broken fangs and flesh covered with scaly skin.

The flesh at the wound was corroding, and venomous blood poured out from within. Wherever the blood passed, his skin rotted rapidly.

He suddenly felt unbearable pain, causing Fire Crow to let out a shrill scream. His expression now revealed unprecedented panic.

As he staggered backwards, he saw Xu Qing squatting down in the distance. The boy opened his right palm and threw out scaly flesh and fang fragments that looked exactly like those in Fire Crow’s wound.

If everything was put together, the flesh and blood and fang fragments would piece together a snake’s head.

It was the venomous snake head that Xu Qing used to use to dispose of corpses.

The boy’s left hand trembled slightly at this moment, and he slowly unclenched his fist. Pieces of amber fell out, revealing the tail of a ghost-faced scorpion piercing deeply into the palm of his hand!

The crushed snake skull made his right hand hold a poisonous killing move, and the crushed amber gave him the extra bit of strength he needed to attack through the barrier’s impact!

"You..." Fire Crow trembled and howled. He was too panicked to even say anything at this point, let alone cast any spells.

His eye revealed a strong fear of death, and he struggled to wipe off the venomous blood spreading over his body. But there was too much of it, and his stamina and vitality were draining rapidly.

Xu Qing took a deep breath. Thanks to the previous battle with Fat Mountain, he knew that the purple crystal could help resolve poison.

Even now, his right hand that had been poisoned by the snake fangs wasn’t corroding.

This was the certain-kill attack he had prepared for Fire Crow.

And now, Xu Qing stood up and walked over to his defeated opponent.

As Xu Qing approached, the panic in Fire Crow’s eyes turned into despair. Struggling to step backwards, he cried out in agony.

"Team leader, save me!!"

This tragic scene made the Blood Shadow Team Leader’s eyes widen. He wanted to go and help Fire Crow, but Captain Thunder continued to attack and prevented him from going over.

He could only watch helplessly as Xu Qing rapidly closed in on Fire Crow.

As the boy approached him, Fire Crow’s mind broke down. Coupled with his physical injuries, he could no longer suppress his surging heterogeneity.

Before Xu Qing could get close, Fire Crow froze in despair. Heterogeneity erupted from all over his body, and with a bang… he turned into a bloody mist.

When people mutated, some would leave behind blue-black corpses, while others simply exploded into blood mist.

Xu Qing paused and looked at the place where Fire Crow met his demise. Turning his head, he looked coldly at the place where the Blood Shadow Team Leader was fighting Captain Thunder.

Right now, the sun was setting, but the dusk in the sky was a bit different from before. The dark night didn’t descend; instead, the whole sky was glowing with an odd shade of red.

Under this red glow, Xu Qing’s figure seemed to be magnified. As he stood there with wounds all over his body, his cold eyes gave off a strong pressure.

This pressure dealt a strong mental blow to the Blood Shadow Team Leader, whose cultivation base surpassed Xu Qing’s by countless folds.

Fire Crow’s extremely tragic death had a great impact on the Blood Shadow Team Leader’s mental state.

He had fought Captain Thunder for a long time without a winner, and this kid was too strange. This made the Blood Shadow Team Leader uneasy, and after a moment, his eyes flashed. As Xu Qing watched, he punched Captain Thunder away and quickly retreated without hesitation.

He didn’t want to fight anymore.

Captain Thunder wanted to chase, but then he looked up and noticed the strange red glow in the sky. His complexion suddenly changed, and it seemed like his emotions were fluctuating. Suddenly, he spat out blood, and his body started to darken like he was about to mutate. It was clear he was on the verge of collapsing.

Xu Qing quickly came over and helped him stand.

As Captain Thunder panted, Xu Qing moved him under a big tree nearby. Looking up at the Blood Shadow Team Leader fleeing in the distance, his eyes flashed with murderous intent.

“Don’t chase after him by yourself. With the Blood Shadow Team gone, he isn’t worth much. Moreover, this redness in the sky… I seem to have seen it before…”

Captain Thunder grabbed Xu Qing as he stubbornly gazed up into the sky.

"He is a hidden danger." Xu Qing spoke slowly.

He didn't like leaving behind any hidden dangers, and in this jungle forbidden area, Xu Qing was sure that he could drag the Blood Shadow Team Leader to death just like Fire Crow. However, Captain Thunder's words made him instinctively raise his head and look up at the sky.

Just at that moment…

A faint and ethereal singing voice drifted over from within the jungle.

All the roaring mutated beasts suddenly fell silent.

In the silent jungle, the song became even clearer.

It was like the voice of a woman bitter about her husband’s death. As it echoed, bursts of reddish mist rolled in from the distance where the Blood Shadow Team Leader was running.

It swept up everything in the surroundings and filled the air.

Xu Qing's body shuddered violently. Captain Thunder, who was sitting beside the tree, also trembled at that moment. Both of them looked at the place where the singing was coming from.

But while Xu Qing was extremely vigilant, Captain Thunder seemed… a little dazed.

The song continuously drifted into Xu Qing’s ears, giving him an indescribably cold and eerie feeling, as if he was back in the blood rain in those city ruins.

Despite being in the third level of body refining, he couldn’t bear it. His teeth started to chatter, and he started to lose the ability to move.

Xu Qing felt a roar in his mind, and he involuntarily remembered the taboos Cross mentioned when entering the forbidden area.

In the distance, the Blood Shadow Team Leader’s body also stopped moving, and he shivered uncontrollably.

It was as if there was something invisible approaching him that was stopping him from escaping.

As Xu Qing watched, wisps of white gas floated out of the trembling Blood Shadow Team Leader’s seven orifices[2] and merged into the red mist.

During this process, the body of the Blood Shadow Team Leader rapidly decayed and withered, until he turned into a desiccated corpse. Then he crumbled into dust, and there was nothing more.

The mist then spread towards Xu Qing and Captain Thunder.

As the mist approached, Xu Qing trembled and finally saw what had caused the Blood Shadow Team Leader’s death. It was… a pair of worn and tattered bright red women’s boots.

"This is..." Xu Qing panted heavily, and his eyes widened. He saw the pair of boots come out in front of the mist, and they stepped on the soil all on their own, walking towards Xu Qing’s duo step by step.

The boots were empty… There was only that bitter singing voice, coming closer and closer.

It was as if there was some invisible woman wearing these boots, singing as she walked over.

The singing became clearer and clearer, and the blood-colored boots continued to step toward Xu Qing.

This bizarre scene made Xu Qing’s pupils contract. He wanted to move his body, but somehow, he couldn’t.

It was as if the icy cold had frozen everything about him, making his teeth shatter as he stared at the pair of blood-colored boots. They closed in step by step, and they were soon just over a meter away…

The threat of death blotted out all Xu Qing’s other thoughts. He wanted to step back, but there was nothing he could do. The only thing that showed his intense struggle was his pair of bloodshot eyes.

Just when that pair of blood-colored shoes was about to take another step towards him... a trembling voice came from Xu Qing's side. It was Captain Thunder.

"Red Peach... is that you..." Captain Thunder’s voice was hoarse and trembling, filled with uncertainty.

The moment he spoke these words, the strange singing immediately stopped.

The boots that had been about to step forward paused for a while, then changed direction. It was as if the woman standing there had turned around to look at Captain Thunder.

Upon seeing this scene, Captain Thunder’s body trembled, and his breathing grew rapid. His tired body was suddenly bursting with energy, and his eyes showed an unprecedented light as he stared at the space above the boots.

It was as if in his eyes, he was seeing a woman standing there. A woman who was even more important to him than his own life.

Separated by the void, the world, and life and death, they stared at each other.

Tears flowed uncontrollably from the strong and stoic Captain Thunder’s eyes at this moment.

“Are you… back…” He reached up with trembling hands, as if trying to grab something. The pair of red boots slowly stepped forward and walked in front of Captain Thunder, then curved slightly.

It was as if the invisible woman was gently bending down to allow Captain Thunder’s trembling hands to touch her face.

But Captain Thunder’s hands only touched the empty void. They fell down futilely, and even more tears streamed down his face.

For a while, only the sound of his desolate and miserable mutters could be heard.

After a long time, there seemed to be the sound of a woman’s sigh coming from the void, and the pair of red boots straightened themselves and gradually stepped backwards.

When they were ten meters away, the boots turned around, no longer facing Captain Thunder. They stepped past Xu Qing and walked into the distance, carrying that red mist behind them.

“You ask when I will return, but I do not know.

Affection veiled in mist, only an ethereal song in the distance.”

The singing continued. There seemed to be more bitterness and melancholy than before as it traveled farther and farther.

The blood-colored mist followed it into the distance, flowing past Xu Qing and Captain Thunder harmlessly as if it was ordinary mist.

Soon, the singing grew ever fainter, until… the mist completely disappeared, and the song was slowly replaced with silence.

At this moment, Xu Qing's body finally recovered the ability to move. He panted heavily and his eyes were filled with terror. He immediately turned around to look at Captain Thunder, who was sitting down against the tree.

Captain Thunder was staring into the distance in a daze. His eyes looked like he had lost his soul as tears continued to flow silently from them.

Xu Qing was silent. He had things he wanted to ask, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak.

After a long time, Captain Thunder murmured softly.

"Don’t you find it strange?"

Xu Qing nodded silently.

"Before, Cross told you that I’m one of the few who have heard the singing." Captain Thunder looked into the distance and whispered slowly.

"You know, the singing in this forbidden area is very strange. Most people who hear it die, and only very few are able to survive."

"But those who survive will get a 'gift' from this forbidden area. The next time they hear the singing... they will see the person they want to see the most."

"I thought it was just a legend. Because of this legend, I waited silently in the camp for decades, until my hair turned white..."

"And today, I finally saw her.”

When Captain Thunder spoke to this point, his whole body suddenly seemed to age all at once. Wrinkles piled high on his face, and he seemed to give off a sense of weakness and frailty.

“Do you also have someone you want to meet, separated by life and death… If you do, don’t be like me, don’t wait here…"

“I saw her, but it was all nothing in the end...” Captain Thunder muttered bitterly. He closed his eyes, but he couldn’t stop the tears running down his face.

Xu Qing was silent. As he lifted his head and looked at the place where the singing disappeared, a memory gradually appeared in the depths of his mind.

He also had people he wanted to see.

People he missed very much.

[1] – This is a line from the poem 夜雨寄北 by Li Shangyin: “君问归期未有期”.

[2] Both eyes, both ears, both nostrils, and the mouth.

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