Chapter 9 Consequences of Threat

“Finally broke through.” Xu Qing stood up, throwing a punch that created a crisp sound echoing through the air, even the wind it generated caused the doors of the house to shake slightly. 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 that giant horned python now, Xu Qing was confident that a single punch could directly shatter its abdominal scales. Not only that, but his senses were also sharper than before. He could see more clearly and hear much more sensitively. The sound of knocking from outside the courtyard drifted into Xu Qing's ears at that moment. Xu Qing was taken aback and walked to the door of the house. Using the moonlight outside, he peered through a gap and saw the silhouette of a little girl standing outside the bamboo gate in the courtyard. She seemed to be injured, her body trembling slightly. Xu Qing frowned. He had not intended to pay attention, but the little girl continued to insist, softly knocking on the door. After a moment, Xu Qing pushed open the door of the house and stepped outside. Upon seeing Xu Qing's figure, the little girl clearly became nervous, forcing herself not to step back, staring at Xu Qing through the bamboo gate. “Is there something you need?” Xu Qing asked. “I... I also obtained residence rights in the camp, and... I found a job in the camp,” the little girl stammered out her words. “Got it.” Xu Qing nodded and was about to turn back inside. “Wait... Thank you, I came here to thank you,” the little girl hurriedly said. “No need to thank me. I wanted to eat it; it has nothing to do with you,” Xu Qing replied, turning to walk back to the house. Watching Xu Qing's back, the little girl bit her lip and suddenly spoke loudly. “Regardless, I still want to thank you. I will repay this kindness in the future.” After saying that, she staggered away, disappearing into the darkness. Xu Qing turned to glance at her, not paying it much mind. Back in the house, he took a deep breath and felt the changes within him, becoming more assured of his desire to live a better life. However, the faint pain from his left arm made him guess that the anomaly within him must be at a high concentration; even the serpent's gallbladder had not resolved much of it. At this moment, the night was quiet, and there were no beast roars outside. Xu Qing walked to his bedside, looking at the clean bedding, then glancing at his dirty clothes. After a moment's thought, he rolled up the clean bedding and set it aside, lying down on the wooden bed in his clothes. Instinctively, he drew out a black iron stick, gripping it in his hand, and began to drift into sleep. This iron stick was his most trusted companion. Ever since he found it in a garbage pile many years ago, sensing its sharpness and hardness, he had carried it with him at all times as his weapon. “Tomorrow, I should look for a place in the camp that sells white pills.” Xu Qing murmured to himself, feeling the leather pouch, which contained some of his savings from these years, along with a few valuable gems he had found in the city. He did not dare to take many gems, having seen the principle of 'having jade brings trouble' when he was young. As these thoughts lingered, sleepiness slowly overtook him, and Xu Qing's eyes gradually closed. However, the iron stick he was holding was still gripped tightly, not loosening even a little. A peaceful night passed by as the sunlight streamed in. The next morning, Xu Qing, who had risen early, left the small house. Before leaving, he glanced at Lei's room, finding it empty, perhaps he was out, so Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and walked through the camp. Perhaps due to the shock from yesterday's extraction of the serpent's gallbladder, Xu Qing clearly felt the different gazes from the scavengers around him. They no longer regarded him as a boy who looked easy to bully due to his youthful stature, thus brewing malice within. Instead, there was more recognition and vigilance in their eyes. Meanwhile, the boys of his age hiding in corners also looked at him with envious expressions. Dignity is something one must fight for. Xu Qing silently thought to himself. While searching for shops in the camp, Xu Qing also familiarized himself with the surroundings. He noticed that there were quite a few wild dogs in the camp, growling and fighting over food, although most were thin, some were sturdier than certain people. After observing these wild dogs, Xu Qing continued to scan the camp. Until he had mentally mapped the entire camp, he found a shop in the inner ring area according to his mental image. The shop was not small, bustling with people, seemingly selling everything. Xu Qing observed from outside for a while and noticed the little girl from yesterday inside, dressed like a helper. She was clearly busy here, running about, her forehead covered in sweat. Only when Xu Qing entered the shop did she notice him. She was about to speak but was called over by a scavenger asking about items. Xu Qing did not immediately focus on the items inside the shop but first looked at the people around him who were there to buy items like him. There were a total of seven people; some were scanning the items, some were deep in thought, and some were bargaining. Among them, two, one fat and one thin, seemed to be a group. The fat one was round, while the thin one had a horse-like face, clearly imposing, with a notable fluctuation of spiritual energy. At this moment, one of them was reprimanding the little girl, seemingly dissatisfied with her response. In the midst of the little girl's anxious apologies, Xu Qing turned his attention to the shop's items. As he had guessed, this was a grocery store, with pills, weapons, clothes, food, etc., all available. Thus, he withdrew his gaze and approached the counter, looking at the indifferent shopkeeper inside, who was smoking a pipe, and spoke calmly. “How much are the white pills?” “The white pills are limited; we only sell five each day. There are two left for today, ten spirit coins each.” The shopkeeper raised his eyelids, glancing at Xu Qing. Perhaps recognizing him as the beast-fighting boy from yesterday, his attitude was a bit better. However, upon hearing this price, even though Xu Qing was somewhat prepared, he still frowned slightly. His savings over the years amounted to only twenty-three spirit coins, but the pain from the anomaly on his arm made him hesitate not at all. He carefully took out twenty spirit coins from the pouch and handed them to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper waved his right hand, accepting the spirit coins, and rummaging through the cabinet, tossed a cloth bag to Xu Qing. Xu Qing caught it and opened it, seeing two white pills inside, his brow furrowed again. The surface of these two pills had turned green in some places, clearly indicating they were of poor quality, not fresh at all, and no medicinal fragrance emanated from them; they looked rather inferior. “All the white pills in the camp are like this. We don't have any with better appearances here. Even if these are rotten, they still have effects, so don’t worry about eating them.” Noticing Xu Qing's doubts, the shopkeeper said with a forced smile. Xu Qing was very cautious and did not immediately consume them. He planned to go back and ask Lei, so he collected them and was about to leave. But at that moment, a flash of light sparkled in his eyes, and his body suddenly swayed to the side. Almost simultaneously as he avoided, a hand landed where he had just been standing, grasping at empty air. Xu Qing looked over coldly, seeing the horse-faced scavenger who had reprimanded the little girl earlier, now retracting his hand, looking somewhat surprised at Xu Qing. At the same time, his companion, the round one, stood at the door, blocking the way, staring at Xu Qing with a grin, revealing yellowed teeth. “It’s Fat Shan and Ma Si from the Blood Shadow team!” “This kid was brought back by Lei. Thunder and Blood Shadow have never gotten along, so I won’t interfere with your matters, but don’t waste too much time; I still have business to attend to.” The other people in the shop were also drawn to the actions of the two and whispered among themselves after looking over. And the last sentence came from the indifferent shopkeeper. At this moment, the passersby outside the shop also noticed the situation, stopping with interest to watch. The little girl, on the other hand, looked anxious, not knowing how to help. “Don’t worry, it won’t take long.” Ma Si smiled, looking at Xu Qing, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. “Kid, I’ve killed plenty of giant horned pythons. I won’t make it hard for you. I need the white pills; give me your two white pills, and I’ll let you leave safely. Otherwise, I’ll cut your throat and take the white pills from your corpse.” This statement made Xu Qing's gaze turn colder. He looked at the scavenger’s neck, then at the fat man blocking the door, noticing the crowd outside was quite large, weighing his options in his mind. Either of these two, even though their spiritual energy fluctuations were not weak, seemed to be at the second level. He was confident he could take down one of them within ten breaths. Even if he had to face both together, he could still kill them, but it would take a bit longer. But this was a bustling area; once a fight broke out, as squad members, they would surely have reinforcements. He did not want to place all his hopes on Lei's timely arrival; that was not his character. He preferred to keep his fate in his own hands. Thus, Xu Qing expressionlessly swept his gaze over Ma Si's neck again, took out the bag of white pills with his right hand, not hesitating, and directly threw it over. The other party caught it in one hand and looked inside, bursting into a triumphant laugh. His companion, Fat Shan, also cleared a path amidst their laughter. Xu Qing did not look back, stepping outside. The crowd around, whether inside or outside the shop, all perceived the incident as normal. Under the rule of the jungle, the weak must recognize the times; this is the way of survival. The little girl also breathed a sigh of relief. She had been holding her breath earlier, and now seeing the crisis resolved, she continued with her busy work. As for Fat Shan and Ma Si, they swaggered out of the shop, chatting and laughing as they walked away. However... no one noticed that behind Fat Shan and Ma Si, a shadow that seemed to have disappeared into the distance was following them with enough patience, concealed from view, like a shadow. Eyes like a wolf watching its prey, gazing at the two of them. This shadow was Xu Qing. Time passed, and the sky gradually darkened. Fat Shan and Ma Si wandered around multiple locations within the camp, spending the whole day without noticing the shadow that followed them. Until the moon hung high in the sky, the two finally separated. Fat Shan went to a place with a bonfire, while Ma Si, with a lascivious intent, headed towards the dark area on the outskirts of the camp, towards a group of tents adorned with feathers. Just as he was about to reach the dark corner of the camp, suddenly a gust of wind came from behind. Ma Si, on high alert, immediately turned around, but there was nothing behind him. He was momentarily stunned, his expression changing; just as he was about to act, it was too late. In an instant, a small hand reached out from beside him, firmly covering his mouth, while a sharp dagger pressed against his neck, without a moment's pause or hesitation, it cut through with force. With a whoosh, blood spurted out suddenly, Ma Si's eyes widened as he struggled. But the hand covering his mouth was incredibly strong, dragging his body backward, no matter how he struggled, it was to no avail. His feet could only helplessly kick and stomp, unable to stop being pulled into the darkness. In the end, he was dragged into a corner like a chick. But even at this moment, the hand covering his mouth did not loosen but waited for a while, confirming he had lost his strength to resist, suffocated and bled too much to struggle, before finally releasing him, allowing his trembling, weakened body to collapse onto the ground. Only at this moment did Ma Si, in despair, see clearly in the dim moonlight the expressionless silhouette of the boy before him. “Wuwu...” The disbelief in Ma Si's eyes was evident. He never thought 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 his earlier threat to cut throats was just a bluff, not to the point of murder... But the blood in his throat prevented him from speaking, only able to look at the boy in despair as he bent down, expressionless, rummaging through his pockets. After finishing his search, Xu Qing found his white pills and even five more; in addition, there were some of the other’s spirit coins and miscellaneous items. After securing them, as Ma Si was filled with ultimate terror, Xu Qing carefully took out a prepared bag wrapped with the serpent's head, cautiously opened it, and used the serpent's fangs to puncture Ma Si. Ma Si's body instantly convulsed again, starting to melt from the wound; this live corrosion sensation and pain caused his entire being to break down. Until Xu Qing raised his hand, covering Ma Si's eyes, at that moment, Ma Si's world was devoid of light. His whole body melted, turning into blood, seeping into the soil. Xu Qing, learning from past negligence, pulled out a prepared pouch from his body, collecting Ma Si's clothes and miscellaneous items before turning to leave. After his departure, two figures emerged from the dark place where Ma Si had died. They were the extraordinary elder in a purple robe and his servant, who no one could see in the beast-fighting arena yesterday. The elder looked down at the melted ground, then lifted his gaze towards Xu Qing's departing silhouette, a hint of appreciation in his eyes. “An outstanding seed, able to endure and decisive in killing. Most rare is that while being ruthless, he can handle everything cleanly. Not bad.” His servant looked somewhat surprised. He had followed the elder for many years and rarely heard him praise someone, and this boy had caught his attention twice, so he also looked up toward where Xu Qing had disappeared. “A fascinating little fellow,” the elder chuckled, casually asking, “How long until Master Bai arrives?” “Master Qi, according to Master Bai's schedule, should arrive within the next couple of days,” the servant respectfully replied, retracting his gaze. “Finally coming. This time, I must have a good talk with him. The rules in that broken place of Purple Soil are nothing to be attached to; it’s better to come to my Qixuetong and enjoy freedom.” The elder laughed heartily, seeming very pleased, then looked in the direction Xu Qing had gone. “Let’s go, let’s see what this little wolf cub will do next.” —— I am very happy, extremely happy. Seeing many old friends returning these days, thank you for your support and trust! No more sentimental words. I will just say this: I have found my original intention with this book. Thank you everyone. Beyond the passage of time, I will not disappoint you. Do not hold back on various votes; give them to me. (This chapter ends here)