Chapter 65: Gurgle Gurgle (Third Update)

Gazing at Xu Qing’s retreating figure, the old man in the inn had a murderous glint in his eyes, yet even until Xu Qing vanished from the street, he chose not to strike.

Instead, in the silence, the murderous intent in his eyes slowly faded away.

A massive python head hung down from the rafters above him, landing beside the old man, emitting a series of gurgling sounds from its mouth as if it were speaking.

"Why didn't I kill him?" the old man rolled his eyes.

"This kid is a bit eerie; he gives me a very dangerous feeling. Unless I use my trump card..."

"Gurgle, gurgle."

"You're the useless one, your whole family is useless! Eat, eat, eat, all you know how to do is eat. Fine, go ahead and eat." The old man muttered a few words, and the python beside him suddenly lunged out, bit down on the corpse of the Rat Daoist, swallowed it in one gulp, and then slowly returned to the rafters.

At this moment, Xu Qing was rushing toward the Criminal Capture Department in the night. After familiarizing himself with the process and submitting the report, he received fifteen spirit stones and arrived at a small breakfast shop run by commoners in the early morning.

After drinking a bowl of hot soy milk and eating a few pancakes, he hesitated under the shopkeeper's enthusiastic recommendation before luxuriously ordering three eggs. He finished them all, then carefully returned to his magic boat at the berth.

The harvest from this trip was more than just the fifteen spirit stones on the surface; in the Rat Daoist’s leather bag, there was another spirit stone and some miscellaneous items. Xu Qing calculated based on the port's prices and found they could also sell for about two or three spirit stones.

"This method is still the most profitable," Xu Qing murmured, and began to cultivate.

Soon, a day passed. When night fell, Xu Qing opened his eyes. It was not his turn to stand guard tonight, but Xu Qing still walked out of the magic boat in the moonlight, heading all the way toward Banquan Road.

Since waiting for a rabbit to hit a tree could make money, Xu Qing planned to pull off a few more jobs.

Just like that, at midnight, Xu Qing’s figure appeared on Banquan Road once again. After walking a circle, he did not stop at yesterday's location but changed to a different spot, gazing at the inn, motionless.

But this time, not long after, he did not wait for a wanted criminal, but he did wait for the old man from the inn.

The old man walked out of the inn and stopped until he was ten feet away from Xu Qing, his expression gloomy as he stared at him.

"Kid, you keep provoking me again and again. Do you really think I won't strike?"

"No," Xu Qing said calmly.

"You..." Seeing Xu Qing's demeanor, the old man didn't know what to say for a moment. After a long while, he gritted his teeth and spoke.

"What exactly are you trying to do? Squatting here every single day?"

Xu Qing was silent. After a few breaths, he glanced at the old man and said in a deep voice.

"I want to make money."

"I want to make money too!" Tentacles began to emerge from the old man's eyes, and a slit cracked open in the center of his brow again, an icy aura instantly spreading.

"If you keep going like this, no one will dare to come to my inn. You are already affecting my business." Amidst the spreading aura, the old man stared at Xu Qing, speaking word by word.

"Now, leave this place!"

Xu Qing was thoughtful. He felt that what the other party said made sense; if this continued, indeed no one would dare to come. So, he nodded, left his position, and went to the other side of the street.

That place was more hidden.

He had thought Xu Qing was leaving, but seeing the other party actually switch to an even more hidden position, this scene made the old man's veins bulge. He laughed in extreme anger and simply stopped speaking. With a wave of his hand, the center of his brow split open completely, and his head divided into two, tilting to the sides.

In the place where his original head had been, a red light appeared. This red light exuded a bloody intent, and within it, it clearly encased a mass of flesh and blood covered in tentacles.

Shockingly, those tentacles spread continuously as the old man walked toward Xu Qing with a ferocious expression.

As waves of dangerous fluctuations spread, the giant python in the inn also revealed its head. Ropes materialized out of thin air all around, hanging down from many spots on the street, shrouding Xu Qing within.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, looked at the approaching old man, and spoke slowly.

"This is a street, not your inn. I respect your rules and don't move inside the inn, but if you domineeringly demand that they cannot move even after leaving, that is being unreasonable."

"Does the room rate for staying at your place also include protection while outside?" After saying this, Xu Qing looked at the old man; he felt that the other party was a reasonable person.

The old man’s footsteps faltered.

"And what if it does!"

Xu Qing pondered, took a bag of spirit coins from his leather bag—about two hundred or so—and threw it over.

The old man was stunned.

"Since it includes protection while outside, I will pay for two days of room and board. Now you can protect me," Xu Qing said earnestly.

The old man held the spirit coins, dazed for a long time. He looked at the coins, then looked up at Xu Qing. After a long while, he let out a frustrated sigh, his split head closed back up, and he revealed a helpless expression.

"Gurgle, gurgle..." Not far away in the inn, the revealed python head made a sound.

"Shut up, I know what he said makes sense!" the old man glared at the python.

He was indeed a reasonable person, but it just so happened... everything Xu Qing said was very reasonable, and he couldn't find a point to refute.

The other party had indeed not broken his rules and had given him spirit coins. If he insisted on his previous statement, then according to logic, he would have to go and protect the other party now...

All of this made the feeling of helplessness in the innkeeper's heart very strong. Standing there, he looked at Xu Qing, and Xu Qing looked at him.

The two stared at each other for a long time, and finally, the old man sighed.

"I'll give you the clues for two wanted criminals. Go catch them according to the clues and stop coming here."

After speaking, the old man took out a jade slip, imprinted some information, and threw it to Xu Qing. He didn't return the spirit coins and walked toward the inn without looking back.

As he left, the ropes around them dissipated. The python in the inn raised its head, nodded at Xu Qing from afar as if greeting him, and then vanished as well.

Xu Qing glanced at the jade slip in his hand, which provided two locations and the names of the wanted criminals. After putting it away, he lowered his head and retrieved some hard-to-notice powder from the walls around his location, and sprinkled some neutralizer on the ground to make it non-toxic.

Afterward, he walked across the street toward the place where he had previously hidden. Along the way, his right hand waved slightly, ensuring all the poison powder on the ground and in the air along the path was neutralized, and he treated his original location in the same way.

Finally, he dug up the seven or eight green plants nearby as well.

Those green plants could no longer survive; they were infused with five types of poison.

The change in his position just now was a preparation he had made beforehand. Whether it was his original spot or the more hidden corner across the street, he had laid down poison powder in advance.

"Hit with thirty-seven of my poisons, and it still hasn't taken effect immediately..." After dealing with the poison, Xu Qing looked back at the inn, narrowed his eyes, and turned to leave at high speed.

And after he left, the calm expression on the old man in the inn vanished instantly. Breathing rapidly, he immediately rummaged for elixirs, swallowed more than ten types of detox pills, and then quickly formed seals to incinerate the leather bag Xu Qing had given him.

The spirit coins inside also dissipated under his flames.

"This kid is too sinister and poisonous. The whole way was covered in poison, and even these spirit coins he gave me were coated in it!" The old man gritted his teeth. In reality, the reason he had compromised earlier was partly because Xu Qing’s words made sense, and partly because... at that time, he was already struggling to control the toxins about to erupt in his body.

The latter accounted for the majority of the reason.

"At such a young age, to act like this... when he grows up, he will be a living, breathing human scourge." The old man caught his breath, and amidst his muttering, a gurgling sound came from the rafters.

"You like him?"

"He likes you too, didn't you notice? When you first appeared, the place he was looking at was where your gallbladder is located," the old man sneered.

The gurgling sound stopped abruptly.

At this moment, the night outside was deep. Xu Qing was speeding through the streets. He naturally wouldn't fully trust the locations given by the old man, so after thinking about it, he took out his identity token to send a message, then put the token away. He pondered for a moment before continuing on his way.

The first location was somewhat remote. After Xu Qing went there and squatted for a long time, observing very carefully, he finally determined that although someone had lived here before, it seemed they hadn't returned for a long time.

So he gave it up and went to the second location.

This second location was a gambling den. There were many people here, and all kinds of sounds filled the air. Xu Qing squatted on a house not far away, observing with cold eyes.

According to the old man's jade slip, a wanted criminal named Sun Dewang had recently come ashore and gambled here every day.

This person was not human, but an alien race, with a decent cultivation base at the ninth level of Qi Condensation. He was usually active on the Forbidden Sea, working as a pirate, and had quite a reputation. The wanted jade slip pointed out that he belonged to an organization called the Sea Ghosts.

This organization was one of the several active pirate forces on the Forbidden Sea.

As for Sun Dewang, the bounty on him was extremely high, reaching forty spirit stones, and the sources of the bounty were numerous, accumulated from over a dozen merchant ships.

This showed how ferocious this person was on the sea.

Therefore, Xu Qing did not act rashly. He observed for over an hour, watching the various gamblers coming and going, listening to their talk about gambling—some were distressed, some were bold, some were high-spirited, and some were bitter and lost.

After confirming there were no high spiritual energy fluctuations nearby, Xu Qing thought for a moment and chose not to enter to check, continuing to wait outside.

Just like that, time passed bit by bit. Two hours later, when the sky was about to brighten, Xu Qing finally waited for his target.

It was a big fat man wearing a brocade robe, looking like a wealthy squire, walking out of the casino. But after walking only a few steps, he looked up alertly, his gaze actually landing on the place where Xu Qing was hiding. His eyes narrowed instantly, revealing a dangerous glint.

"Today is really eerie. I lost the haul I made a few days ago, and now that I'm out, I run into someone wanting to hunt me. A mere seventh level of Qi Condensation dares to learn how to hunt people? Tired of living? Just right to help me recover my losses!" Saying this, the big fat man took a step and charged toward where Xu Qing was.

At this moment, it was not long until dawn. A cold glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes, and he also charged out.

Any surprises? Any unexpected turns~~~

Nearly twelve thousand words of updates today~~

I sincerely apply to enter this chapter into the fan fiction contest, hoping all you handsome guys and beautiful ladies, as well as the administrators, will approve...

I want a title from Beyond the Time...