Chapter 17

Perhaps because of the singing, the roars of strange beasts never appeared in the jungle within this range, as if the source of that singing was the master of this forbidden zone.

Once it appeared, all things had to fall silent.

Lei Ting sat there silently, still looking into the distance, where it was pitch black, with nothing there.

Xu Qing's expression was somewhat complex; after a long while, his gaze swept across the surroundings, finally landing on the spiked club of the Savage Ghost and the shattered fragments of the shield.

The Savage Ghost's corpse, like all the corpses here, had turned to dust when the mist of the singing departed, as if it had never existed in the world.

And scavengers often have no relatives, so their disappearance perhaps does not concern many people.

Even if there are, they will eventually be slowly forgotten in the passage of time, until years later, no one knows, no one remembers.

Xu Qing suddenly thought of the teacher in the slums who had been quite kind to him, and a sentence he had said to their group of children before dying of illness in his twilight years.

"Having someone in your heart you cannot forget is a kind of pain, while being kept in someone's heart is a kind of happiness."

At the time, Xu Qing did not quite understand this sentence, but at this moment, looking at Lei Ting, he understood the meaning of this sentence to some extent, so he did not disturb him, but instead walked silently to the place where the Savage Ghost's corpse had been, took out his dagger, and began to dig in the ground.

Although his interaction with the Savage Ghost was not deep—to be precise, it was only a few days, and there hadn't been many words spoken—the other party had taught him jungle experience, they had walked out of the life-and-death wolf tribulation together, and in the end, he himself had used the other party's item to block the black blood.

So Xu Qing felt he should do something.

Just like when he left the city and cremated all the corpses in the city, he dug hard into the soil, gradually digging a pit.

He buried the Savage Ghost's spiked club and the shield fragments.

During this process, Xu Qing was very serious and did not notice Lei Ting behind him, who had long since withdrawn his gaze from the jungle and was watching him.

Within his expression was a trace of the strangeness from when he first looked at Xu Qing in the ruins of the city; upon seeing Xu Qing bury the Savage Ghost's weapon and seemingly wanting to make a tombstone, Lei Ting spoke softly.

"Scavengers don't need tombstones."

"Dust to dust, earth to earth. This is the life of a scavenger; struggling in the world while alive, and after death… there is no need for worship, quiet is enough."

Saying this, Lei Ting's aura became increasingly weak; the severity of his injuries, the accumulation of alien substances, and the exhaustion of his spirit made him unable to hold on, the world slowly blurred, and he closed his eyes and fell into a coma.

Xu Qing walked over, took some Seven-Leaf Grass from his pocket, and stuffed it into Lei Ting's mouth.

He didn't know if it would be useful, but thinking that this item was a necessity for making White Elixirs, it should at least have the effect of alleviating alien substances.

After doing this, he carried Lei Ting on his back, tied him tightly with his clothes, and only then took a deep breath, galloping through the jungle in the dark night.

Passing by the place where the Blood Shadow Captain had turned to dust, Xu Qing saw a leather bag, picked it up, and opened it; there were no elixirs inside, only some miscellaneous items.

So he put it away and flashed away.

When Lei Ting's consciousness weakly recovered, it was already half an hour later.

He felt vaguely that he was being carried on the back of a thin, small body, rising and falling with its jumps; he slowly opened his eyes and saw the side profile of the boy in front of him.

He was silent.

Xu Qing also noticed Lei Ting's awakening and spoke in a low voice.

"Are you feeling better? You can continue to sleep for a while; in a few more hours, before dawn, we should be able to walk out of the forbidden zone."

Lei Ting did not speak; his weak body could no longer hide his old age. He tried hard to look up at the pitch-black sky, his vision slowly blurring, and as his consciousness was about to fall into a coma again, he murmured in a low voice.

"Kid, do you know why I twice proposed to take you away in the ruined city?"

Xu Qing's figure did not pause, and he shook his head.

"Then do you remember the scene when we first met?" Lei Ting's voice was weak.

"I remember." Xu Qing's body moved, leaping onto a large tree, his right hand raising to grab at the side, catching an alienated lizard hiding there and rushing over, throwing it toward the ground in front.

With a bang, as the lizard fell, a large number of vines on the ground twisted, rushing over to entangle it, piercing its skin and armor amidst the lizard's struggle, devouring its flesh and blood.

Xu Qing used this opportunity to jump up, avoiding the danger and continuing to move away.

At this moment, Lei Ting's powerless murmurs came from behind, the voice sickly; if it weren't very close, it would be extremely difficult to hear.

"I saw your figure cremating the corpses; at that time, you beside the flames, illuminated by the firelight, seemed to merge with the fire, making me feel as if I saw… a glimmer of warmth in this cruel world."

Xu Qing's footsteps paused, and he was silent; the Lei Ting behind him also fell into a coma again.

After a few breaths, Xu Qing lifted his feet silently, continuing to gallop through the jungle, weaving through the trees, and flashing away at high speed.

Time passed, and soon an hour went by.

Xu Qing avoided the dangers, his figure getting closer and closer to the edge of the jungle.

At this moment, the sky was at its darkest; the cold from the forbidden zone at night invaded the surroundings. Fortunately, Xu Qing had been moving rapidly, and the heat naturally generated by his body resisted the cold slightly.

It was just that… as he moved forward, this chill became increasingly intense. After a stick of incense's time, Xu Qing's figure stopped abruptly, looking at the front with a gloomy expression.

In front of him, a thick fog appeared in the jungle.

This fog was extremely dense, spreading out from the distance, but unlike the singing blood mist Xu Qing had seen before, it seemed not to have a very strong sense of oppression.

It was just that as far as the eye could see, the places covered by the fog were all blurred, and it was impossible to see everything around clearly at all.

Especially in the dark night at this moment, the concealment of the fog was even stronger. Xu Qing wanted to avoid it, but he had been running for a long time, and what he saw was still the fog approaching.

He knew what this was.

When he first entered the forbidden zone, Zhang San and Luan Ya had said that among the dangers in the forbidden zone, there was something called fog.

If covered by this fog, people inside would lose their direction and eventually get lost.

And once this fog formed, it often took a long time to dissipate naturally.

Xu Qing felt that although he could hold out until the fog dissipated and the alien substances in his body would not surge, the weak Lei Ting could not; if trapped within it, he would definitely alienate and die before long.

This forced Xu Qing to retreat, attempting to bypass the fog with a wider range.

But… the fog was too large; even if his speed was faster, he still fell into a situation where there was fog in front, behind, left, and right. With nowhere to hide, he was submerged in the fog.

But soon, the fog that had submerged Xu Qing's location gradually became thinner, and finally, it revealed Xu Qing's surprised figure once again.

He lowered his head, looking at his own feet.

There was no shadow in the dark night, but Xu Qing could feel the fog around him, which was currently rushing rapidly into the soles of his feet.

It was as if that invisible shadow had formed a vortex, devouring the surroundings.

This devouring speed was not fast, and it seemed full before long, no longer absorbing, causing the fog to submerge Xu Qing's figure again.

But… as the shadow's devouring ended, a feedback force surged into Xu Qing's body, gathering in his eyes; as far as his eyes could see, the dense fog actually became transparent.

Or perhaps it couldn't be described as seeing, but rather sensing!

Clearly the fog still existed, clearly it was incomparably dense, but in his perception, it was only slightly blurred, far from the point of blocking his sight and making people lost.

This made Xu Qing's breathing quicken slightly, and he looked down at the invisible shadow at his feet.

"You, what exactly are you…" Xu Qing whispered.

After a long while, he raised his head to sense the surroundings, was silent for a moment, and then his body moved immediately, his speed undiminished, flashing past in the thick fog like a ghost.

Until not long after, Xu Qing, who was flying through this dense fog, saw living people.

Those were two scavengers.

Xu Qing vaguely remembered seeing them in the camp; these two were currently holding hands, exploring and moving forward slowly in the thick fog like blind men.

But in Xu Qing's perception, their moving forward was actually going in circles. Clearly, they had already noticed this themselves; the sweat on their foreheads and their heavy breathing revealed their nervousness and despair for the future.

Glancing at these two, Xu Qing withdrew his gaze, his body flashing as he was about to leave.

He did not have overflowing sympathy; living in this cruel world, he had seen too many examples in the slums of saving people without purpose, only to be backlashed himself.

But for those whose vision was obscured, their hearing would be extremely sharp at this time, so the sound of Xu Qing's footsteps when he left was still noticed by them.

The two immediately looked nervous; they could not distinguish whether the sound was human or beast, so one of them roared to show cruelty, as if to use this to intimidate.

And the other called out for help, and even to show sincerity, actually took out White Elixirs and spirit coins from his leather bag, promising in his words to give them away, just for a glimmer of survival.

Xu Qing's footsteps paused for a moment, and he looked back at the White Elixirs in that person's hand, then felt Lei Ting's weakness behind him.

So after thinking, he rummaged through his leather bag, found a candle, and lit it, making the place have firelight; it was just that this firelight was weak, and the fog suppressed it, making it slowly dim.

Taking advantage of the firelight, Xu Qing retreated some distance, looked at the two people not far away, and spoke slowly.

"Go straight for seven steps to the right, then ten steps to the left…"

As Xu Qing's voice entered, both scavengers trembled, ecstasy appearing on their faces, and with rapid breathing, they immediately followed Xu Qing's instructions.

Soon, under Xu Qing's successive instructions, they circled left and right, avoiding dangerous places, and the fog in front of them gradually became thinner as they approached the location of the candle.

Until they walked into the range of the candle that was about to go out, illuminated by the firelight, like blind men regaining sight, they instantly threw themselves beside the candle, their hearts excited and boiling intensely.

As for Xu Qing, he was currently hiding in the dark at the edge; even if the firelight illuminated him slightly, his figure was still blurred, and he looked at the excited appearance of these two people expressionlessly, speaking indifferently.

"Give me the White Elixirs."

One of them trembled; having survived a disaster, he did not hesitate, immediately throwing the leather bag containing spirit coins and White Elixirs to Xu Qing, thanking him repeatedly.

And the other was just about to take elixirs from his body, but after his gaze swept over Xu Qing's figure, his excitement subsided.

Because Xu Qing was in the dark, and the fog was thin and lingering, in this person's eyes, he could not see Xu Qing's face clearly, only the thinness of his body and the fact that he seemed to be carrying a comatose person on his back.

So a cold glint flashed in his eyes, but he put on a smile, posing with a sincere appearance as he spoke.

"Little brother, I've eaten all the White Elixirs on me, but don't worry, once the fog dissipates, or if you have a way to take me out, I will definitely repay you doubly."

After speaking, his eyes flickered slightly, looking toward where Xu Qing was, with a hint of eagerness.

His companion beside him also felt regret in his heart at this moment, feeling that he seemed to have given them too quickly before.

Xu Qing looked deeply at the scavenger who hadn't given the White Elixirs and said nothing.

He just raised his right hand and waved it; a wind blew, and the candle flame extinguished in an instant, and the surroundings fell into darkness and fog again.

When an exclamation came from the mouth of the person just now, Xu Qing flashed closer, tore the leather bag from his body, and then a calm voice echoed in the surroundings.

"No need, you can stay inside."

"Wait, I was wrong, I was really wrong, I'll give you the White Elixirs, I…"

This person was immediately anxious, wanting to grab something, but his body was blocked by the trees at his feet and he fell directly.

When he got up, his calls were even more anxious, and a strong sense of regret permeated his body and mind.

"Little brother, listen to my explanation, I…"

Xu Qing did not pay attention to the other party's calls and walked toward the other person who had given him the White Elixirs.

This person was now looking shocked, full of panic as he fell into the fog again; without him noticing at all, Xu Qing passed by his side and spoke indifferently.

"Follow the sound of my footsteps."

After speaking, Xu Qing did not look back and continued to move forward, and that person, upon hearing Xu Qing's words, breathed rapidly and immediately followed the sound, feeling unprecedentedly fortunate in his heart for the speed at which he had given the reward just now.

Especially hearing the anxious wails behind him quickly turn into crazy curses after failing to call for help, the despair in that tone made his heart tremble, and he had a stronger sense of awe for the owner of the footsteps in front.

Woke up late… the weather is too hot, I want to go to the forbidden zone jungle for a while…