Chapter 8: Three Sets of Bowls and Chopsticks

Inside the scavenger camp, Lei Ting led the way with Xu Qing following behind, the intense sunlight pouring down upon the earth and falling upon them.

Seen from afar, one tall and one short, one old and one young, there was even a faint sense of harmony between them.

It seemed that in this cruel world, such harmony was rare.

Or perhaps it was the python carcass in Lei Ting’s hand that served as a deterrent, so that the passersby who were not heading to the arena mostly did not disturb them upon seeing it.

Xu Qing liked this feeling very much; whether it was the snake meat to come or the sunlight brushing against his face at this moment, it all made him feel warm.

Very comfortable, very expectant.

And every time his gaze fell upon the python carcass Lei Ting was gripping, more saliva would secrete in his mouth.

He also liked eating snake.

Lei Ting’s home was in the middle ring of this camp.

Compared to the brick and tile houses of the inner ring and the simple tents of the outer ring, the dwellings in the middle ring were mostly stone and wood structures, with three small rooms arranged together.

Although none of them were very large, they looked far better than where Xu Qing had stayed in the slums.

Especially Lei Ting’s residence, which even had a small courtyard, making it even more rare.

Pushing open the bamboo gate of the courtyard, under Xu Qing’s observation and scrutiny, Lei Ting carried the python carcass toward the end room and pointed casually at the second small room.

"Kid, you’ll live there from now on. Familiarize yourself with it; I’ll call you when the food is ready in a moment."

Saying this, Lei Ting entered the side room, and before long, the sound of meat being chopped drifted out.

Xu Qing swallowed, first carefully observing the small courtyard, then walking into the second small room, which contained a bed, a set of bedding, a table and chairs, and nothing else.

The floor was tidy, the table and chairs were free of dust, clearly wiped often, and the bedding was obviously washed very clean, still carrying the scent of having been dried in the sun.

All of this made Xu Qing very satisfied.

He did not like large houses; he liked small rooms where he could see everything at a glance, as if he could reflect everything in his mind.

This made him feel safer.

So, after checking everything thoroughly, Xu Qing looked at the clean bed, thought for a moment, and did not go over, instead sitting directly on the floor.

Crossing his legs and closing his eyes, he began today’s cultivation.

During this cultivation, as spiritual energy surged in, he could also hear the crackling sound of boiling oil from the end room next door.

Soon, waves of fragrance drifted in through the gaps in the stone and wood walls, permeating the small room while also drawing out rumbling sounds of emptiness from Xu Qing’s stomach.

It smelled delicious.

Xu Qing’s throat moved involuntarily, and he opened his eyes to look toward the end room.

After years of life in the slums, he could no longer remember the last time he had smelled such a fragrance.

So, he suppressed the craving coming from his stomach, closed his eyes, let himself calm down, and continued his cultivation.

Thus, time slowly passed, and soon dusk arrived.

When the sound of Lei Ting calling for dinner came from outside the room, Xu Qing, who had just finished his day’s cultivation, opened his eyes rapidly.

He stood up and walked quickly out of the room, seeing Lei Ting standing at the door of the side room, waving at him.

Following the empty space beside Lei Ting, Xu Qing could already see that seven or eight different types of snake dishes had been laid out on the dining table inside, including deep-fried, braised, steamed, and snake soup.

Clearly, Lei Ting possessed excellent culinary skills; the dishes were appealing in color, aroma, and taste.

Xu Qing took a look, his gaze becoming somewhat fixed, and Lei Ting smiled, turning to go in and set out the bowls and chopsticks.

Xu Qing also approached immediately. As he walked into the end room, the fragrance became even stronger, but he did not sit down immediately; instead, after Lei Ting finished setting the bowls and chopsticks, his eyes suddenly narrowed.

There were three sets of bowls and chopsticks.

"Are there others?" No matter how tempting the fragrance was, the moment the three sets of bowls and chopsticks appeared, they were instantly isolated outside of Xu Qing’s body.

He looked at Lei Ting cautiously and asked softly.

"Don't be nervous, it's my habit. That is a person... who will never come."

Lei Ting spoke calmly, a glimmer of reminiscence appearing deep in his eyes before quickly vanishing, and he sat down on a chair.

Xu Qing nodded, and as he sat down, he could no longer resist grabbing a piece of deep-fried snake meat and tearing into it with big bites.

It was very hot, but he ate with great satisfaction, his mouth full of oil.

Just after finishing one piece, he licked the grease from his lips and was about to grab the braised snake meat when Lei Ting coughed lightly.

"Use your chopsticks."

"Oh." Xu Qing clumsily picked up the chopsticks, and after adapting for a moment, he skewered a piece of braised snake meat and swallowed it in big gulps.

The two of them did not speak throughout the entire meal, but their eating styles were very discordant.

Lei Ting chewed slowly and carefully, not like a scavenger, eating only two or three bites of each dish, while Xu Qing wolfed his food down, his appetite far exceeding Lei Ting’s.

Watching Xu Qing eat like this, Lei Ting couldn't help but speak.

"Why aren't you eating in small bites like when I gave you the steamed bun earlier?"

Xu Qing forced himself to swallow the snake meat in his mouth, looked up at Lei Ting, and answered very seriously.

"The steamed bun was yours; the snake meat is mine."

One was someone else's food offered to him, the other was his own food offered to someone else.

In the boy's simple thinking, items that belonged to him were naturally more justified to eat.

Lei Ting was left between laughter and tears at these words, watching Xu Qing constantly poking at the snake meat with his chopsticks and drinking the snake soup, but he also noticed that the boy did not touch the parts of each dish closest to him, and he drank the snake soup with restraint.

He simply ate his own portion with righteous confidence.

"That python of yours has plenty of meat; it should be enough to last half a month, and the snake skin and bones also have significant value, so..." Lei Ting said casually.

"I will pay the rent; there is no need to deduct it from this," Xu Qing said suddenly.

The snake meat was to repay the steamed buns and sleeping bag from the journey, and the value of the snake skin and bones was to repay the other party for covering up the matter of the broken cow tent.

As for the other party bringing him away from the ruins and into the camp, that was a favor, a debt of gratitude.

Xu Qing felt it was inappropriate to offset it with material goods, so he kept it in his heart.

Lei Ting looked at Xu Qing deeply, seeing the seriousness in his eyes and that sense of clear distinction between gratitude and grudges, so he nodded, and after thinking, spoke again.

"Kid, I suppose you’ve had many guesses about me along the way."

Xu Qing didn't speak, but his chewing slowed slightly.

"Others call me Lei Ting. As for my name, it’s not important; in the scavenger camp, no one uses their real name."

Lei Ting picked up a piece of steamed snake meat and chewed it slowly in his mouth.

"The reason I have this title is because I have a few friends in this scavenger camp to whom I can entrust my life."

"We formed our own squad; the squad's name is quite common—it's called Thunder."

"Usually, everyone takes jobs individually, and if we encounter something difficult, the whole squad gathers to complete it. Including me, there are four of us, and currently, the other three are out and haven't returned yet."

"When they return, I will introduce them to you one by one. In the future, you will follow us as a new member of the squad to take jobs and earn resources for survival and cultivation."

Lei Ting seemed somewhat full, put down his chopsticks, and looked at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing was not surprised by the last five words of his sentence.

Xu Qing felt that if he could perceive that Lei Ting was a rogue cultivator, then after being in contact for so long, even if he himself was a body refiner, the other party would naturally be able to perceive his own background upon observation.

"Okay." Xu Qing did not hesitate and nodded.

This also made him feel relieved in his heart; having grown up in the slums, he knew deeply that there was no such thing as selfless dedication or help in this world—everything must have a reason.

"Keep eating; I'm old, and I can't digest much if I eat too much."

Lei Ting coughed a few times, his face somewhat flushed, but he quickly recovered, stood up, and walked outside, his voice drifting back.

"The spiritual energy in this world is like poison. The kind of arduous cultivation you did along the way is very likely to lead to you being alienated by the heterogenous energy before you’ve gone very far. Cultivation must be steady and solid; you cannot be radical."

Xu Qing was silent and did not speak.

The old man, who had walked to the door, turned to look at Xu Qing and shook his head.

"However, it is also right for you to cultivate this way."

"The scavenger camp and the forbidden zone next to it are different from where you were before. Because of the produce in the forbidden zone, this place is more of a gathering place for low-level rogue cultivators and outlaws."

"Since you live here, you will definitely have to go to the forbidden zone, so it is good to cultivate more."

Lei Ting left.

Xu Qing sat there alone until he had finished all the snake meat. He did not leave immediately. Instead, he tidied up the bowls and chopsticks, washed them clean, and put them away before returning to his own small room.

Sitting cross-legged, he continued his cultivation.

Xu Qing knew very well that if he did not want to linger on in a precarious state, bowing his head to survive and having the power of life and death held in the hands of others, then his own strength was the foundation of everything.

Especially in this scavenger camp, there were many rogue cultivators—more than he had seen in the past six years combined—and none of them were easy to deal with.

If the slums were a dog kennel, this place was a wolf den.

If he didn't work hard, then before he was alienated, he would die without a burial place due to some conflict or dispute.

As for the heterogenous energy, Xu Qing knew from the Sea Mountain Manual bamboo slips that there were elixirs that could neutralize it.

Although it treated the symptoms and not the root cause, it could still cope with it, and the name of this elixir was something he had learned from the conversations of those scavengers along the way: it was called White Pill.

The nearby forbidden zone was rich in the important herbs needed to make White Pills, so there must be White Pills for sale in this camp.

Thinking of this, Xu Qing touched the spot on his chest where the purple crystal was embedded.

He had clearly felt during this period that, besides his recovery ability, both his speed and strength had improved significantly.

It was related to reaching the first level of the Sea Mountain Manual, but Xu Qing felt that his first level seemed a bit different from the "strength of one tiger" described in the Sea Mountain Manual.

"I can beat many tigers to death."

Xu Qing muttered, feeling the spiritual energy within his body; under his arduous cultivation along the way, it seemed he was about to reach the second level.

"Tonight, I will break through to the second level." Xu Qing’s eyes showed determination as he closed them and began to breathe.

Soon, spiritual energy surged in from all directions. The spiritual energy outside the forbidden zone had much less heterogenous energy compared to inside, which relatively increased his cultivation speed quite a bit.

Xu Qing had already noticed this yesterday in the arena’s row houses.

At this moment, he relaxed his body, breathing in and out with great effort, while a faint purple light flashed on and off beneath the fur coat covering his chest.

As time passed, a faint thumping sound gradually emanated from within Xu Qing's body, and black impurities were once again expelled through his pores.

His flesh and blood, nourished, seemed to grow increasingly resilient, with stronger power gradually bursting forth from within.

Meanwhile, in the night outside, the little girl who had swapped bamboo slips with Xu Qing during the day approached the courtyard where Xu Qing resided.

She stood there hesitating, as if wanting to knock on the door, yet feeling somewhat apprehensive.

After a long while, she seemed to summon her courage and lightly tapped on the bamboo gate of the courtyard, but the sound was too faint to be heard inside at all.

And at the moment the little girl tapped on the bamboo gate, the thumping sound inside Xu Qing's body reached its peak.

Following a roar in his mind, Xu Qing opened his eyes, purple light shining in them once more; a look of joy appeared on his face as he looked down at his arm, where a second point of mutation had appeared.

Qi Condensation, second layer.