Chapter 99

Chapter 99: Going to the Red Plains

Atop the Seventh Peak, the Seventh Master stared coldly in the direction of the sea. He only retracted his gaze after a long time had passed.

“Come on, let’s continue.”

The servant nodded in assent and set up the Go board again. He hesitated for a moment and spoke in a low voice.

“Seventh Master, the third highness and Kid[1]...”

The Seventh Master glanced at the servant and spoke lightly.

"You pay a lot of attention to Kid."

The servant bowed his head and fell silent.

“The third child is unscrupulous by nature. He usually has a gentle expression on his face, but in reality, his heart is completely lacking emotion. This is how he managed to walk out from the crowd and appear before me, and it’s also what I like about him.”

“As for Kid, whether or not he can see through the third child’s thoughts and figure something out will depend on his own wisdom. In this chaotic world, a fool won’t be able to survive for long.”

After the Seventh Master finished speaking, he looked up at the sky. It was almost dawn.

Beneath that same sky, Xu Qing sat on the deck of his magic boat in Dock 79 with a pondering expression. Soon, the sun rose and the first rays of morning light soared across the sky, wiping away the dark night. As the morning light fell on him, a profound light flashed through Xu Qing’s eyes.

“First, the great competition 30 years ago was held in the merfolk race’s island, and after that, the merfolk race became an ally of Seven Blood Pupils. Naturally, the relationship between the two sides is strained. Moreover, when the merfolk youth saw the second highness in that Sixth Peak shop back then, his expression was full of fear. Most likely, in the great competition 30 years ago, the second highness slaughtered a huge number of merfolk.”

“Second, the attitudes of the highnesses shouldn’t contradict the attitude of the Seventh Peak’s Peak Lord. Judging by the second highness’ attitude toward the merfolk race back then, the third highness’ actions of killing the merfolk aren’t impossible to understand!”

“If that’s the case, then why did the third highness invite the merfolk to Seven Blood Pupils? After bringing them here, he killed them… and in front of me?”

“The third highness must have his own reasons. If I were the third highness, why would I do this? And why would I kill them in front of someone else?”

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. After a while, he arrived at an answer in his mind.

“There’s only one reason to invite them over – if I wanted to obtain evidence to blackmail the merfolk race. And if I didn’t find any evidence, I would just create some evidence! At the same time, the reason for killing them in front of someone else is to reap a bigger profit from killing them. Not only would I be able to extort the merfolk race, I could even sell a favor to that person.”

“The premise for that is… the person I kill them in front of is valuable themselves.”

Xu Qing recalled the captain telling him about Sea Lizard Island with a spurious smile. The captain obviously had some unknown channels to obtain information from.

Since the captain could have such channels, the third highness could also have them.

Moreover, Xu Qing recalled that back when he had escaped from Sea Lizard Island, his aura had been locked on to from the surface of the sea. At that time, he was hiding himself in the depths of the sea and naturally couldn’t see who was there. Now, his eyes glowed, and many guesses appeared in his heart.

"The fact that Seven Blood Pupils allowed this to happen can only mean that... they’re about to go to war with the merfolk!”

“I have to leave for a while!”

Xu Qing wasn’t sure whether or not his analysis was completely correct, so he planned to leave the sect for a while. If nothing came from this matter in the end, it wouldn’t be too late for him to return then.

After all, he was only one step away from reaching the tenth level of Qi Condensation. If he broke through to Foundation Establishment after that, he would be qualified to go up the mountain and receive a share of the Seven Blood Pupils’ income.

This share was at least 5,000 spirit stones a month, and he would continue to receive it for as long as Seven Blood Pupils existed. Xu Qing had looked forward to this for a long time. Of course, in comparison, his own survival was still more important.

Thus, Xu Qing didn’t hesitate. He chose to leave first and bide his time.

Moreover, he could take advantage of this trip outside to finish off a major problem that had been buried in his heart for a long time.

A cold light flashed in Xu Qing’s eyes. After such a long time, he was finally going to remove one of the thorns in his heart.

That thorn was… the Vajra Sect ancestor.

If he didn’t kill the Vajra Sect ancestor, Xu Qing would have trouble sleeping peacefully at night.

After making his decision, Xu Qing didn’t waste any time. Under the morning light, he put away his magic boat and headed straight to the Homicide Department.

“The Vajra Sect is still a sect, after all. Although they’re relatively small and weak, it’s difficult to completely hide any traces of their migration, especially since they had to move through the territory of Seven Blood Pupils.”

As a member of the Homicide Department, Xu Qing had the right to look through the department’s records. He knew that a large portion of the records contained information on what was happening in Seven Blood Pupils’ territory.

Although the information wasn’t as detailed as that of the Intelligence Department, it was easier for Xu Qing to check since he was a Homicide Department member.

Thus, after he arrived at the Homicide Department, he went straight to the records room.

His reputation in the Homicide Department was much higher than in the outside world. He was mostly famous outside for his showing during the operation against Night Dove, but here, his reputation mostly came from how many heads of wanted criminals he handed in.

Thus, the disciples at the records room were very respectful and allowed Xu Qing to check the records alone. After a while, Xu Qing finally found the clues he was looking for in some random files that weren’t taken seriously by Seven Blood Pupils.

“They joined the Departurists?”

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes as he looked at the file in front of him. The people of the Departurist Church were all lunatics, so the other forces usually preferred not to have too much contact with them.

“They shouldn’t have fled because of me, but rather because the price they paid to appease the second highness was too high. The Vajra Sect was heavily weakened after paying, so they didn’t dare to remain in the Seven Blood Pupils’ territory and fled in a panic.”

Xu Qing rubbed his chin and memorized the new location of the Vajra Sect before leaving the Homicide Department.

As he walked through the streets in the port area, Xu Qing was lost in thought. He went to several shops and sold some of his loot from Sea Lizard Island, including a few remaining sea lizard skins. He also purchased some necessities for his trip and bought a lot of poisonous plants.

Finally, he stood outside a shop that specialized in talisman treasures. After hesitating for a while, he suppressed his heartache and stepped in, ready to spend his spirit stones.

When he walked out a moment later, there was a special talisman treasure on his body. This talisman treasure had the power to change a person’s aura and appearance. Although it wasn’t perfect, it was enough for Xu Qing’s purposes.

By now, it was already noon. Although winter was nearing, the location of the Seven Blood Pupils main city meant that even the winter was generally mild, and the sun was still strong, scattering down dazzling light.

Xu Qing’s figure ducked into a dark alley for a moment, and when he appeared on the other side, his appearance was completely different. He was no longer that extremely beautiful youth, but a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion and horse-like face. The gray Daoist robe on his body had also been replaced with an ordinary one.

Even the fluctuations of his cultivation base had changed. They were no longer at the ninth level of Qi Condensation, but merely the third.

Xu Qing was well aware of the state of the outside world. Most ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivators were distinguished figures and attracted attention wherever they went. For scavengers, a cultivation base at the third level of Qi Condensation was just enough to deter enemies but also not attract any attention.

After sensing the transformation power of the talisman treasure, Xu Qing glanced at the surroundings with vigilance in his heart. However, his face was completely expressionless as he walked toward the teleportation array.

Rather than taking out his identity token, he paid for the teleportation with spirit stones. Soon, Xu Qing stood in the middle of the teleportation array, looking around vigilantly. As a bright light shone from the array, his figure was swallowed up by the sea of light and disappeared.

In the eastern part of South Phoenix, tens of thousands of kilometers away from the Vajra Sect’s former location, there was a sparsely populated wilderness.

This wilderness was called the Red Plains because the pointy, tooth-like grass that grew there was completely red.

Looking from a distance, the whole wilderness seemed to be stained with blood. Moreover, aside from its shocking appearance, the heterogeneity permeating these plains was also stronger than other locations on the South Phoenix Continent. Of course, this meant that the beasts here were also more ferocious.

In this harsh environment, there naturally weren’t many cities. Within a range of hundreds of kilometers, there might not even be one. Moreover, the buildings were crude and primitive. There were also some slums, which were mostly inhabited by scavengers.

Whether it was the local geography or the people who inhabited it, the Red Plains couldn’t be said to be anything good. Thus, the Purple Earth clans looked down on it, and Seven Blood Pupils didn’t care about it. Only the Departurist Church with its fanatical doctrine preferred to recruit and develop believers in harsh areas like this.

Thus, the Red Plains was considered the territory of the Departurist Church.

At that moment, in the center of a crude city at the outskirts of the Red Plains, a teleportation array shone brightly. This array was the only one in the entire Red Plains that connected to Seven Blood Pupils and Purple Earth territory.

A sallow middle-aged cultivator in a black robe appeared inside the teleportation array.

This was none other than Xu Qing, who had changed his appearance with the help of the talisman treasure.

As soon as he appeared, even before the light of teleportation faded, a foul, rotting stench blew over on the wind. If it was someone who hadn’t gone through much hardship, they might have felt a little uncomfortable when they smelled it.

But for Xu Qing, this sort of stench was very familiar, albeit a little stronger than he was used to.

Xu Qing’s expression remained calm as he walked out of the teleportation array. The lazy guards in the surroundings glanced at him indifferently before looking away.

The crude and shabby city fell into Xu Qing’s eyes. All the buildings were gray or black, and most of them were in a dilapidated state. The ground was covered in garbage and feces.

There were very few people in the city, and most of them were extremely vigilant toward the others.

In particular, there were extremely few women. All the women there had fierce expressions on their faces.

At the same time, there were some children hiding in the corners of some alleys. Their eyes weren’t filled with the innocence and naivety of a child, but lifelessness and indifference.

From time to time, screams and curses could be heard.

“It’s similar to a scavenger camp.”

Xu Qing glanced around and walked forward calmly.

As he walked, he ignored the vigilant and ingratiating gazes that looked upon him. Soon, he left the city, and his body accelerated rapidly as he entered the wilderness.

The Vajra Sect had migrated to the Red Plains, but their exact location was still a certain distance away from this city.

Previously, Xu Qing had memorized the location back in the Homicide Department. Now that he was in the Red Plains, he locked on to a certain direction and sped through the wilderness.

He was extremely fast, and the wind striking his face was bitingly cold. There seemed to be some snowflakes blowing in the wind, and a few small mountains in the distance were even covered with caps of white snow.

In Seven Blood Pupils, the winter was mild. But here, it brought a severe cold.

This cold caused Xu Qing to recall many memories. As he sped through the wilderness, he also saw many fierce beasts as well as human bones.

“This chaotic world…” Xu Qing’s expression remained calm, but he sped up even more.

Just like that, the rest of the day passed by, and night soon arrived. The air grew colder, the howling wind grew stronger, and more and more snow began to fall. Xu Qing suddenly stopped and looked up into the distance.

The wind blowing from that direction seemed to carry sinister cackles and the smell of blood.

Through the wind and snow, Xu Qing could faintly see a field of corpses in the distance. There were some guards among the corpses, as well as scattered goods and broken carriages.

It was obviously a convoy that had been traveling to a city.

Beside the corpses, there were more than a dozen bandits in ragged clothes. Their hair was disheveled, and their expressions were savage and bloodthirsty. Most of them were in the second or third level of Qi Condensation.

Some of them were polishing their knives, some were rummaging through the goods, some were dragging the corpses away, and there were even a few of them who were venting their bestial nature on naked female corpses.

Further away, there was the bright light of a campfire. Some of its residual heat was also carried by the wind.

Clearly, the convoy had encountered this group of bandits and all of its members died miserably.

Xu Qing’s arrival immediately caused the bandits to raise their heads and stare at him viciously.

After noticing the fluctuations of the third level of Qi Condensation coming from Xu Qing’s body, the bandits laughed darkly. Killing intent rose from their bodies as they charged toward Xu Qing without saying a word.

They felt that Xu Qing was easy prey.

Xu Qing looked coldly at the incoming bandits. Ever since he was a child, he had already seen too much of this sort of massacre.

His experience as a scavenger taught him that these so-called convoys that dared to trek through the wilderness usually had very few good people. If they encountered someone weaker, they might turn into bandits themselves on the spot.

In this chaotic world, killing and being killed was very common. Xu Qing didn’t care to figure out who was right and who was wrong.

But… since these people wanted to attack him, he wouldn’t stay still.

[1] – “Kid” is Xu Qing’s nickname from the scavenger camp, in case you forgot.

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