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Fresh blood splashed here and there as Xu Qing walked forward like a specter. His dagger gleamed in the darkness as it slashed through one criminal after another. The evil in that blood did not qualify to melt the coldness, nor was it capable of warming the snowy wind. Even the red grass seemed to despise it, bending over so the blood dropped to the ground.

One corpse after another fell within the cold wind.

Xu Qing’s dagger became the last light they would ever see. With every step, he killed. When his dagger slashed through the neck of the final scavenger, the terror in the man’s eyes faded into darkness. Then Xu Qing stood there surrounded by the fallen corpses.

Every person died from a single slash.

Every wound was in the throat.

Slitting the throat was the most convenient and quickest way to kill someone. That said, it involved a lot of blood, and Xu Qing frowned at how much had splashed on his clothes. But the killing intent in his eyes was not reduced by the blood on his clothing. When he attacked, he cut the weeds and eliminated the roots. It didn’t matter that these criminals were likely powerless to seek revenge if he let them live.

Xu Qing didn’t like carelessness, and he didn’t like potential calamities.

Besides, he was on his way to deal with a thorn in his side. As a result, he couldn’t afford for anyone to start talking about him.

Looking up, Xu Qing gripped his dagger and started walking toward the sound of an uproar.

Up ahead was where the cooking was going on. Surrounding the pot were eight criminals who had previously been partaking in the soup. But after the slaughter that had just been carried out, they were now looking in terror at Xu Qing.

He looked back at them.

On the ground between the two parties were the tracks left by corpses that had been dragged across the ground. Except... no corpses were visible. Only torn clothing.

The corpses... well, Xu Qing knew exactly where they were.

The smell of meat in the air was not unfamiliar to him. He had smelled the same thing back when he lived in the slums. After all, the first person he had ever killed had been someone trying to eat him. [1]

As he walked forward, Xu Qing kept his eyes on the eight people around the pot. Their faces fell as they stumbled backward to flee. But even the fastest among them only got a few steps away before a black iron skewer flew through the air like lightning, stabbing into his head and piercing out the other side.

Xu Qing started walking faster. His dagger flashed in the moonlight, even colder than the surrounding snow as he slashed the throat of the second scavenger.

“Friend, don’t be so—”

A head flew!

“We’re sorry! We didn’t realize who you are!! We can give gifts—”

Blood spilled from a slashed neck.

“You’re dead, fool!!”

A head exploded.

The slaughter lasted for five breaths of time. After that, everything went quiet. The lonely moon shone down, and snow drifted in the wind. The corpses bled, turning the soil red. It really was the Crimson Wilds.

Looking around at the bodies, Xu Qing cleaned his blade and took out his Corpse-Ravaging Powder. Before long, the corpses had been melted into blood. He looked at the big pot, then extinguished the fire beneath it.

He was suddenly struck with a better understanding of why endless numbers of people struggled to live in the Seven Blood Eyes capital city, despite the exorbitant living fee that had to be paid on a daily basis.

In this chaotic world, human life wasn’t worth much.

Turning, he continued on his way.

As the night went on, the wind grew stronger, and more snow fell. As the snowflakes drifted down around him, the wind lifted his long hair behind him, and tried to burrow into his clothing. Frowning, he tightened his clothes, spit some snow out of his mouth, and kept walking.

The night passed.

The next morning at daybreak, he saw a mountain off in the distance.

The Crimson Wilds were mostly plains, without many mountains. And the few mountains present were usually more like hills than mountains. But this was a true mountain, though it wasn’t quite on the same level as the original headquarters of the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect. Whether in terms of extravagance or intimidation factor, it just didn’t measure up.

Xu Qing could see some buildings on the mountain, but overall, the place looked a bit bare. There didn’t seem to be very many disciples either.

“This is the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect?” he murmured.

According to the information he’d dug up, this mountain was indeed the new headquarters of the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect. Obviously, not everyone in the sect had been willing to acclimate to a new environment. That was more the case considering that the Crimson Wilds were so nasty and desolate.

And given that they had only been here a short time, the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect currently seemed quite sad.

However, Xu Qing kept his guard up. Just because the sect didn’t look to be doing well didn’t mean he could relax. He had no idea what things were like inside the sect, nor would he know until he took a look himself. Therefore, instead of doing anything specific, he would take some time to observe.

Like a hunter, he would remain patient.

Turning away from the sect, he left the area and found the nearest scavenger basecamp, which was about 50 kilometers away. It was a lot livelier than the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect, and even from a distance, Xu Qing could hear the raucous sounds of life. Before getting too close, he took out his old fur overcoat and put it on. He also took some mud from the ground and smudged up his face. Given his vigilant eyes and his physical appearance, he looked very much like an ordinary scavenger.

After making sure his disguise was perfect, he headed into the camp. There were guards outside, but they did nothing more than glance at him as he passed. It almost didn’t make sense to say that Xu Qing had disguised himself as a scavenger. The reality was that he was a scavenger. He had the same air. The same eyes. The same ferocity.

After entering the camp, he looked around at the tents, and then focused his attention on a spot up ahead where about a hundred scavengers were gathered. They were all cheering spiritedly, and were the source of the noise he had detected further out.

What had them all excited was a brutal scene playing out in front of them. It was some sort of competition, almost like a dog race. There were eight emaciated people in tattered clothing, running as fast as they could. All eight people had strong mutagen, and their skin was mostly greenish-black. Obviously, they were very close to mutating. They looked both maddened and in despair as they ran along a course full of sharp rocks and broken blades. Every step they took caused more blood to flow, and drove them into further madness. Their goal was visible at the end of the racetrack: a blotchy white bolus.

To someone close to mutation, a white bolus could literally save their life, if only for a time. For this group, this was their chance to get such a pill.

To them, it didn’t matter if they bled a bit. They would still run with madness to get that pill.

Considering how raucous the crowd was, it was obvious many people had placed bets on the outcome.

As Xu Qing watched, one of the runners reached the end of the track, grabbed the white bolus, and consumed it. The other contestants stopped in despair and were dragged back to the starting line. Meanwhile, another white bolus was put up at the end of the track, and another race began.

Some of the scavengers in the audience howled with delight, others cursed endlessly. But now that a new race was starting, new bets could be placed.

Turning away from the spectacle, Xu Qing looked in the direction of the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect.

***

50 kilometers away from the basecamp in that very sect, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior sat in the grand hall atop the mountain, looking angrily at the sect leader, who seemed to be hesitating to speak.

“You think I wanted to come to this dump?” the patriarch grumbled. “Obviously not! But do you know what would have happened if I didn’t? That damn shrew from the Seventh Peak is just outright evil! That ‘gift of apology’ drained me of half my life savings!!

“And then there’s the Kid, who’s rapidly rising to prominence in Seven Blood Eyes. What do you expect me to do, sit around until he reaches Foundation Establishment and then comes to slap me to death? Based on all the ancient records I’ve read, I’m in a no-win situation....”

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was truly angry at how badly everything had gone in such a short time. The ramifications of moving the sect had been dramatic. Not everyone wanted to come along, and many of the disciples secretly fled. He had killed some for betraying the sect, but he couldn’t kill them all.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. My medicinal pill is going to be done soon. Once I consume that pill, I’ll be able to open my 30th dharma aperture and ignite my first life flame. Once my life flame is lit, then I can enter the profound radiance state.

“In the profound radiance state, my battle prowess will increase dramatically, and then I won’t have anything to fear from the Kid....” This thought caused the patriarch’s expression to brighten a bit. “Wait, no. According to the ancient records I read, it’s usually at an important juncture like this that something unexpected happens....”

Having reached this point in his train of thought, the patriarch’s face fell, and he pulled out an identity medallion. Flipping it over and over in his hand, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“There’s no way that the Kid reached the breakthrough point yet. Besides, now that I’ve joined the Church of Departure, I count as an adherent. The Church is just as powerful as Seven Blood Eyes, and therefore, I’ve got some good protection. I’m safe for the time being. Also, Fellow Daoist Cardfortune is still here as a guest....”

He looked down at the identity medallion that he had spent so much to acquire, and felt a bit better. However, the medallion alone wasn’t enough, so after moving his sect here, he’d taken to inviting friends to come stay in the sect for a while as guests. Of course, every guest that came needed to be given gifts.

Up to this point, he had extended invitations to everyone he knew, even if he’d barely done more than make their acquaintance.

“One mistake will ruin everything....” Sighing, he looked listlessly off into the distance.

As the sun hit him, he looked older than ever.

1. The story about the first person he killed was mentioned in chapter 53. ☜