Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Threats and Consequences

"I finally broke through."

Xu Qing stood up and punched the air. A sharp whistle rang out, and the resulting wind even caused the door to shake.

This scene made Xu Qing's eyes widen. He could feel that he was much stronger than he was yesterday.

If he were to face the giant horned python now, Xu Qing believed that he could smash through its abdomen’s scales with a single punch.

His senses were also sharper than before. Not only could he see more clearly, his hearing had also become extremely sensitive. At this moment, he noticed that someone was knocking on the courtyard gate.

Xu Qing was startled and walked to the door of his hut. With the help of the moonlight outside, he looked through the gap and saw the little girl standing outside the gate.

She seemed to be injured and her body was trembling.

Xu Qing frowned. He didn’t intend to pay her any attention, but the little girl continued to knock gently on the gate.

After a while, Xu Qing finally walked out of the hut.

When she saw Xu Qing's figure, the little girl was obviously nervous, but she managed to stand her ground. She looked at Xu Qing through the courtyard gate.

"Do you need me for something?" Xu Qing asked.

"I... I also obtained the right to live in the camp, and... I also found a job in the camp." The little girl stammered out the words.

"Understood." Xu Qing nodded and was about to go back inside.

"Wait a minute... Thank you, I'm here to thank you." The little girl said quickly.

"No need for thanks. I wanted to eat snake, it had nothing to do with you." Xu Qing said, turning around and walking towards the side hut.

Looking at Xu Qing's back, the little girl pursed her lips and suddenly spoke loudly.

"In any case, I still want to thank you. I will repay this kindness in the future." After speaking, she ran away and disappeared into the dark night.

Xu Qing turned his head and looked at her departing figure, but he didn't take it to heart. After returning to the house, he took a deep breath and felt the change in himself. In his heart, he felt more confident about his ideal of living a better life.

But the dull tingling pain in his left arm made him realize that his body must have gathered a lot of heterogeneity, and even the snake gallbladder hadn’t helped much.

The night was quiet and there were no beasts roaring outside. Xu Qing walked to the bed and looked at the clean bedding before taking a glance at his dirty clothes.

After thinking for a while, he rolled up the clean bedding and put it aside. Then he laid down on the bare mattress.

Instinctively, he pulled out the black iron skewer and held it tightly in his hand as he started nodding off.

This iron skewer was his most trusted partner.

Ever since he found it in the garbage heap many years ago, he had always carried it with him. He used it as a weapon because of its impressive sharpness and toughness.

"I’ll look for a place in the camp that sells White Pills tomorrow."

Xu Qing muttered inwardly and touched the leather bag. This leather bag contained some of his savings over the years and a few treasures he’d picked up in the city.

When he was a child, he’d already seen through human nature, so he didn’t dare to keep too many treasures.

As lost himself in his thoughts, Xu Qing's eyes gradually closed and he fell asleep.

But he continued to hold the iron skewer tightly, never loosening his grip.

The night passed peacefully and the sun of the next day rose. Xu Qing got up early and left the house.

Before leaving, he looked at Captain Thunder's hut, which was seemingly empty. Thinking that the old man had probably already left, Xu Qing retracted his gaze and walked out into the camp.

As Xu Qing walked around in the camp, he clearly felt the difference in the eyes of the surrounding scavengers when they looked at him.

After he had ripped the gallbladder out of a living python, they didn’t look at him like easy prey anymore.

Instead, their gazes held recognition and vigilance. Youths the same age as him also had envy as they looked at him with soulless eyes, hiding in the corners.

In his heart, Xu Qing thought that dignity really was something that has to be earned.

While looking for shops in the camp, Xu Qing also familiarized himself with the environment.

He found that there were quite a few wild dogs in the camp, barking at each other and fighting for food. Although most of them were skinny and malnourished, some seemed to be stronger than some people.

After noting down these wild dogs, Xu Qing continued to observe the camp.

Soon, he had a map of the entire camp in his mind, and he found a shop in the inner ring.

This shop wasn’t small, and it seemed very lively. Many people could be seen coming and going, and it seemed that the shop sold everything.

Xu Qing observed outside for a while, and noticed that inside the shop, the little girl from yesterday was dressed as an employee. Her forehead was sweaty from running around and taking orders.

When Xu Qing entered the shop, she noticed him and was about to call out, but a customer called her over to ask about some item.

Rather than immediately look at the items in the shop, Xu Qing first looked around at the people who came to buy things.

There were seven people in the shop at the moment. Some were scanning the items, some had their heads bowed in contemplation, some were bargaining, and two of them, one fat and one thin, seemed to be together.

The fat person was round like a ball, the thin person had a horse-like face. Their postures revealed their confidence, and their bodies gave off spiritual energy fluctuations. One of them was berating the little girl, seeming to be somewhat dissatisfied with her answer to his question.

While the little girl apologized anxiously, Xu Qing looked over the items in the store.

Similar to what he judged, this store sold everything, from medicinal pills to weapons, clothes, food, etc.

So he retracted his gaze and walked to the counter. He looked at the indifferent shopkeeper smoking a cigarette and spoke calmly.

"How much for White Pills?"

"White Pills are limited, we only sell five a day. There are two left today, 10 spirit coins each.”

The shopkeeper raised his eyelids and glanced at Xu Qing. Perhaps because he recognized Xu Qing from the arena, his attitude was a little better.

Hearing this price, Xu Qing frowned slightly even though he was already prepared.

His savings over the years were only 23 spirit coins, but the stinging pain coming from the mutation points on his arm made him not hesitate. He took out 20 spirit coins from the leather bag and handed them to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper put away the spirit coins. With a wave of his right hand, he took out a cloth bag from the cabinet and tossed it to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing took it and opened it. Seeing the two White Pills inside, he frowned.

The surface of the pills wasn’t smooth, and there were blue blotches in some places. They were clearly not fresh and lacked the slightest bit of medicinal aura. Xu Qing even suspected he was being given inferior products.

"All the White Pills in the camp are like this. Even if they look rotten, they still work. You can eat them without worrying."

Seeing Xu Qing's doubts, the shopkeeper spoke with a fake smile.

Xu Qing was very cautious and didn't eat them right away. He planned to go back and ask Captain Thunder, so he put the bag away and went to leave.

But at that moment, his eyes flashed brightly, and his body dodged to the side.

Almost at the same time as he moved, a hand landed on the position where he was just now, grabbing onto empty air.

Xu Qing looked back coldly and saw the horse-faced scavenger in the shop who was scolding the little girl before withdrawing his hand. The horse-faced man was looking at Xu Qing with a somewhat surprised expression.

At the same time, his companion's round body also stood at the door, blocking the way. The fat man stared at Xu Qing with a grin, showing off his yellowed teeth.

"It's Fat Mountain and Horse Four from the Blood Shadow Team!"

"This kid was brought back by Captain Thunder. I know Thunder Team and Blood Shadow Team have always been at odds with each other, so I won’t interfere, but don't waste too much time. I still have to do business, you know."

The others in the store were attracted by the ruckus, and they whispered words to each other after checking out the situation.

And the last sentence was said by the indifferent shopkeeper.

At that moment, the pedestrians outside the shop also noticed this place and stopped to look at it with interest.

The little girl looked anxious and didn't know how to help.

"Don't worry, I won't be long." The horse-faced man smiled and looked at Xu Qing with a gloomy flash in his eyes.

"Kid, I’ve killed a lot of giant horned pythons myself. I won’t be hard on you. I need White Pills, so give me those two and I’ll let you leave safely. If you refuse, I’ll just cut your neck and take the White Pills off your corpse.”

These words made Xu Qing's eyes grow cold. He looked at the horse-faced man’s neck, and then at the fatty who was blocking the door. Noticing the people outside, he weighed the matter in his heart.

Although these two weren’t weak, they only gave off the spiritual fluctuations of second-level Qi Condensation. If either of them were alone, Xu Qing was confident he could kill them in ten breaths.

Even if they came at him together, he could win, it would just take longer.

But this was a busy camp, and the opponents were part of a team. Once the fight began, they’d surely be able to get help.

Xu Qing didn’t want to bet that Captain Thunder would arrive on time. His personality meant that he didn’t want to rely on others, preferring to have control over the situation himself.

So Xu Qing indifferently glanced at the horse-faced scavenger’s neck again before taking out the cloth bag with the White Pills and throwing it over.

Fat Mountain stepped aside while laughing, and Xu Qing left without looking back.

The surrounding crowd, whether inside or outside the store, felt that this was a very normal response. Under the law of the jungle, the weak had to know when to give in if they wanted to survive.

The little girl also breathed a sigh of relief. She was sweating just now, but now that the crisis was resolved, she continued to busy herself with work.

As for Fat Mountain and Horse Four, they swaggered out of the shop and laughed with each other while walking away.

However... No one noticed that behind Fat Mountain and Horse Four, the figure that had seemingly walked away had vanished. Without exposing itself, the figure followed them silently like a shadow.

Wolf-like eyes stared at the pair as if they were nothing but prey.

This figure was Xu Qing.

Time passed, and night was falling.

Fat Mountain and Horse Four went to many places in the camp, wandering around for the whole day, but they never noticed the figure that was constantly following behind them.

When the moon was high in the sky, the pair finally split up.

Fat Mountain headed toward a bonfire, and Horse Four had a lewd expression as he walked towards the area of the camp with the feather tents.

But just as he passed through a dimly lit area of the camp on the way, the sound of wind suddenly came from behind him.

Horse Four immediately turned his head back, but there was nothing behind him. His expression changed, and he was about to make a move, but it was already too late.

In an instant, a small hand stretched out from behind him, firmly covering his mouth, and at the same time, a sharp dagger slid across his neck without hesitation.

Blood erupted from the wound, and Horse Four’s eyes widened as he tried to struggle.

But the small hand covering his mouth was extremely powerful. As it dragged his body backwards, no matter how much he struggled, it was all futile.

He could only flail his feet helplessly, unable to prevent himself from being dragged into the darkness.

In the end, he was dragged into a dark corner like a chicken.

Up until now, the small hand that was holding his mouth still didn't let go. It was only after it was certain that Horse Four was unable to fight back that it let go, allowing him to fall weakly to the ground.

Horse Four desperately used the dim moonlight to see the indifferent young figure in front of him.

"You..."

Horse Four's eyes were full of disbelief. He could never have imagined that the boy who obediently handed over the White Pills during the day would be so decisive and ruthless.

He seemed to want to tell the boy that the neck cutting he mentioned during the day was just a threat, not something you’d kill someone over...

But the blood in his throat prevented him from opening his mouth, so he could only watch with despair as the boy crouched down and rummaged through his pockets expressionlessly.

After finishing his search, Xu Qing found his own White Pills, and there were even five more. He also found some spirit stones and other junk.

After putting away his loot, Xu Qing carefully took out the snake head wrapped in sackcloth. Under Horse Four’s terrified gaze, he cautiously used the snake's teeth to pierce the horse-faced man’s body.

Horse Four's body began twitching in an instant, and it slowly melted. The pain of being corroded alive made his mind collapse.

By the time Xu Qing raised his hand and covered his eyes, Horse Four's world had lost its light forever.

His whole body melted, turning into blood and seeping into the soil.

Learning from his previous negligence, Xu Qing pulled out a pre-prepared bag and put Horse Four’s clothes and belongings in it before turning to leave.

After he left, two figures appeared in the place where Horse Four died.

It was the pair from the arena that no one had been able to see, the extraordinary old man in purple robes and his servant.

The old man looked down at the ground where Horse Four had melted, then raised his head to look at Xu Qing's distant figure with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

"It's a good seedling. He can be patient, and he can kill decisively. The rarest part is that he can not only attack ruthlessly, but also knows how to clean up after himself. Good.”

The servant on the side looked a little surprised.

He had followed the old man for many years, and he rarely heard him give such praise. This was already the second time the kid had been praised, so he also raised his head to look at the direction where Xu Qing had left in.

"Interesting little guy." The old man smiled and asked casually.

"How long until Grandmaster Bai gets here?"

"Seventh Master, according to Grandmaster Bai's itinerary, he should be here within the next couple of days." The servant retracted his gaze and spoke respectfully.

"When he finally gets here, this old man has to persuade him properly this time. What’s so good about Purple Earth, that damn place with so many rules? He should come to my Seven Blood Pupils and be free and unrestrained."

The old man laughed, seemingly very happy, and looked at the place where Xu Qing had gone.

"Let's go, let's see what this little wolf cub is going to do next."

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