Chapter 9

"Finally broke through."

Xu Qing stood up and punched out; a crisp sound actually echoed in the air, and the wind it stirred even made the door of the house shake.

This scene made Xu Qing's eyes widen; he could feel that he was much stronger than yesterday at this moment.

If he were to face that Giant Horn Python now, Xu Qing believed he could directly blast the scales on its abdomen with one punch.

Not only that, his senses were also much sharper than before; not only could he see more clearly, but his hearing was also extremely sensitive, and the knocking sound outside the courtyard also drifted into Xu Qing's ears at this moment.

Xu Qing was startled, walked to the side of the house door, and through the slit, he saw the little girl's figure standing at the bamboo gate outside the courtyard under the moonlight.

The other party seemed to have injuries, and her body was trembling somewhat.

Xu Qing's brows furrowed; he didn't intend to pay attention, but the little girl was still persisting, knocking on the door lightly.

So after a while, Xu Qing pushed open the house door and walked out.

After seeing Xu Qing's figure, the little girl was clearly nervous, enduring not to retreat, looking at Xu Qing through the bamboo gate.

"Something up?" Xu Qing spoke.

"I... I also obtained the camp's residency right, and... and found a job in the camp." The little girl transmitted words somewhat stutteringly.

"Got it." Xu Qing nodded and was about to turn back.

"Wait a moment... thank you; I came here to thank you." The little girl said hurriedly.

"No need to thank me; it's because I wanted to eat it, it has nothing to do with you." Xu Qing said, turning to walk toward the house.

Looking at Xu Qing's back, the little girl pursed her lips and suddenly spoke loudly.

"Regardless, I still thank you; this favor... I will repay it later." After speaking, her figure stumbled and disappeared into the dark night.

Xu Qing turned his head to look, didn't take it to heart, and returned to the house; he took a deep breath, felt the changes in himself, and had more confidence in his thought of living better.

It was just the faint stinging sensation from his left arm that made him guess that the alien quality in his body should be very concentrated; even the snake gallbladder didn't resolve much of it.

At this moment, the night was deep and quiet, and there were no roars of fierce beasts outside; Xu Qing walked to the bed, looked at the clean bedding, and then looked at the clothes on his body that were full of filth.

He thought for a moment, rolled up the clean bedding, placed it aside, and lay on the bed frame with his clothes on.

In his hand, he instinctively drew the pitch-black iron spike, gripping it tightly, brewing sleepiness.

This iron spike was his most trusted partner.

Since he found it in a trash heap many years ago, because he noticed its sharpness and hardness, he had always carried it with him, using it as his own weapon.

"Tomorrow, look for a place in the camp that sells White Elixirs."

Xu Qing muttered in his heart, touching his leather pouch, which contained some of his savings over the years, as well as a few gemstones with value found in the city.

He didn't dare to take too many gemstones; he had seen the principle of "a man's wealth is his own ruin" when he was young.

Amid these thoughts, sleepiness slowly attacked, and Xu Qing's eyes gradually closed.

It was just that the iron spike he held in his hand was still gripped very tightly, never loosening in the slightest.

A calm night passed, and with the spilling of sunlight, it flowed away.

The next morning, Xu Qing, who got up early, left the small house.

Before leaving, he looked at Lei Dui's room; the other party didn't seem to be inside, perhaps out, so Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and walked in the camp.

Perhaps because of the shock of him taking the snake gallbladder alive yesterday, Xu Qing, walking in the camp, clearly felt the difference in the gazes of the scavengers looking at him.

No longer bullying him because of his youthful figure, they didn't brew the evil of human nature.

Instead, there was more recognition and more vigilance; at the same time, those youths of the same age as him hiding in corners, when seeing him, also had envy appear in their blank eyes.

Dignity is fought for by oneself.

Xu Qing muttered in his heart.

While looking for a shop in the camp, Xu Qing was also familiarizing himself with the environment.

He found that there were many wild dogs in the camp, roaring and snatching food from each other; although most were thin, some were stronger than some people.

After paying attention to these wild dogs, Xu Qing continued to observe the camp.

Until he had depicted the entire camp in his mind, he followed the map in his mind and found a shop in the inner ring area.

The shop was not small, and it was very lively with people coming and going, seeming to sell everything.

Xu Qing observed outside for a while and noticed the little girl from yesterday in the shop, dressed as a shop assistant. The other party was clearly doing chores in the shop, busy back and forth, with sweat on her forehead.

Until Xu Qing walked into the shop, she noticed him; she was just about to speak, but was called by a scavenger to ask about items.

Xu Qing didn't pay attention to the items in the shop immediately, but first looked at the other people who came to buy items like him.

There were seven people in total; some were scanning items, some were bowing their heads in thought, some were bargaining; among them were two, one fat and one thin, who seemed to be a group.

The fat one was round, the thin one had a horse face, clearly tough in posture, and possessed not weak spiritual energy fluctuations on his body; at this moment, one of them was scolding the little girl, seeming somewhat dissatisfied with her answer.

Amid the anxious apology of the little girl, Xu Qing looked at the items in the shop.

It was about the same as his judgment; this was a grocery store, with elixirs, weapons, clothes, food, etc., all available.

So he withdrew his gaze, walked to the counter, looked at the shopkeeper who was smoking a pipe inside with an indifferent look, and spoke calmly.

"How much for White Elixirs?"

"White Elixirs are limited; only five are sold each day; there are two left for today's quota, ten spirit coins each."

The shopkeeper raised his eyelids and swept a glance at Xu Qing; perhaps recognizing that he was the beast-fighting youth from yesterday, his attitude was better.

But hearing this price, even if he had preparation in his heart, Xu Qing still furrowed his brows.

His savings over these years were only twenty-three spirit coins, but the stinging sensation of the alienation point on his arm made him not hesitate, carefully taking out twenty spirit coins from his leather pouch and handing them to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper waved his right hand and collected the spirit coins, rummaged through the cabinet, and threw a cloth bag to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing took it and opened it, seeing two white elixirs in the cloth bag, and his brows furrowed again.

The surface of these two elixirs had turned green in some places; clearly, the quality had changed, and there was no medicinal fragrance, looking very inferior.

"White Elixirs in the camp are all like this; we don't have good quality ones here. This stuff, even if it rots, has an effect; just eat it with peace of mind."

Seeing Xu Qing's doubt, the shopkeeper said with a fake smile.

Xu Qing was very cautious and didn't eat it immediately; he planned to ask Lei Dui when he went back, so he put it away and was about to leave.

But just at this moment, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and his body swayed to the side suddenly.

Almost at the same time he dodged, a hand fell on the position he had just been in, grabbing empty air.

Xu Qing looked coldly, seeing the horse-faced scavenger who had scolded the little girl in the shop earlier, now withdrawing his hand, looking at him with surprise.

At the same time, his companion, with a round body, also stood at the entrance, blocking the road, staring at Xu Qing and grinning, revealing yellow teeth.

"It's Fat Mountain and Ma Si from the Blood Shadow Team!"

"This kid was brought back by Lei Dui; Thunder and Blood Shadow have always been at odds, so I won't interfere in your business, but don't waste too much time; I still have business to do."

Other people in the shop were also attracted by the two's actions, and after looking, they spoke in low voices.

And the last sentence was said by the cold shopkeeper.

At this moment, pedestrians outside the shop also noticed this, stopping one after another with interest.

The little girl was full of anxiety, not knowing how to help.

"Don't worry, it won't be too long." Ma Si smiled, looking at Xu Qing, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Kid, I've killed many Giant Horn Pythons; I won't make things difficult for you. Give me your two White Elixirs, and I'll let you leave safely; otherwise, I'll cut your throat and take the White Elixirs from your corpse."

These words made Xu Qing's gaze even colder; he looked at the other party's neck, then looked at the fat man blocking the door, noticing that there were many people outside, and weighed it in his heart.

Either of these two, even if the spiritual energy fluctuation was not weak, had the appearance of the second layer; he was confident that he could kill either one alone within ten breaths.

Even if it were both, he could kill them, but it would take longer.

But this was a busy market; once a fight started, the other party was a team member, so there would definitely be reinforcements.

He didn't want to pin all his hopes on Lei Dui being able to arrive in time; this was not his character, and he didn't like putting his hopes on others; mastering it himself was the best.

So Xu Qing looked at the horse-faced scavenger's neck expressionlessly again, took out the Bai Dan cloth bag with his right hand, and without any hesitation, threw it over; the other party grabbed it and looked at it, laughing triumphantly.

His companion, Fat Mountain, also let go of the position amid laughter; Xu Qing didn't look back, walking out.

The crowd around, whether inside or outside the shop, reacted normally; under the law of survival of the fittest, the weak should be sensible; this was the way to survive.

The little girl also breathed a sigh of relief; she had also broken into a cold sweat just now, and seeing the crisis resolved, she continued to be busy.

As for Fat Mountain and Ma Si, they walked out of the shop swaggeringly, talking and laughing as they walked away.

It was just... no one noticed that behind Fat Mountain and Ma Si, there was a figure that seemed to have disappeared, following like a shadow with enough patience, without exposing himself.

His eyes were like a wolf staring at prey, watching the two of them.

This figure was Xu Qing.

Time passed, and the sky grew late.

Fat Mountain and Ma Si wandered around many places in the camp for a whole day, and they didn't notice the figure following behind them at all.

Until the moon hung high, the two finally separated.

Fat Mountain went to a place with a bonfire, while Ma Si carried lewd intent, walking toward the dark area on the outer edge of the camp, toward the tent group hanging with feathers.

And just as he was about to reach it, about to walk out of the dark area in the camp, suddenly there was a wind sound behind him.

Ma Si was alert and turned his head immediately, but there was nothing behind him; he was startled, his expression changed, and he was just about to take action, but it was too late.

In an instant, a small hand stretched out from beside him, pressing firmly on his mouth, and at the same time, a sharp dagger was on his neck, without any pause or hesitation, slashing forcefully.

*Whoosh*, fresh blood erupted suddenly; Ma Si's eyes widened, wanting to struggle.

But the small hand covering his mouth had great strength, dragging his body backward, and no matter how he struggled, it was futile.

His feet could only struggle and kick helplessly, unable to stop being dragged into the darkness.

Finally, like a chick, he was dragged into a corner.

But until this moment, the small hand pressing on his mouth still didn't loosen, instead waiting for a long while, confirming he had lost resistance, was suffocating, and had lost too much blood to struggle, only then loosening it, putting his trembling, weak body down on the ground.

It was also at this time that Ma Si, amid extreme terror, saw clearly the cold-faced youth figure in front of him under the dim moonlight.

"Wuwu..."

Ma Si had disbelief in his eyes; he never imagined that the youth who obediently handed over the White Elixirs during the day would act so decisively and ruthlessly.

He seemed very eager to tell the youth that his threat of cutting his throat was just a threat, not to the point of killing...

But the blood in his throat made him unable to speak, and he could only look at the youth bending down and searching his pockets expressionlessly amid the weak wuwu sounds.

Until he finished searching everything, Xu Qing found his White Elixirs, and five more, and besides that, there were some spirit coins and miscellaneous items from the other party.

After putting them away, amid Ma Si's extreme terror, Xu Qing carefully took out the linen wrapped around the snake head, opened it cautiously, and used the snake fangs to skillfully prick the Ma Si.

Ma Si's body twitched again instantly, and from the wound position, he began to melt slowly; this feeling and pain of being corroded alive made him collapse completely.

Until Xu Qing raised his hand and covered his eyes, Ma Si's world had no more light from then on.

His whole body melted, becoming blood water, seeping into the mud.

Xu Qing learned from his previous negligence, took out a prepared bag from his body, collected Ma Si's clothes and miscellaneous items, and only then turned to leave.

And after he left, two figures walked out of the darkness where Ma Si died.

They were the extraordinary old man wearing a purple robe and his servant who no one could see in the beast-fighting arena yesterday.

The old man looked down at the ground where Ma Si melted, then looked up at Xu Qing's figure walking away, revealing a touch of appreciation in his eyes.

"He is a seedling; he can endure, and he is decisive in killing; the rarest thing is that while being ruthless, he can also handle things cleanly. Not bad."

The servant on the side looked somewhat surprised.

He had followed the old man for many years and rarely heard the other party say someone was not bad, and this youth had been focused on by him twice, so he also looked up at the direction where Xu Qing disappeared.

"Interesting little guy." The old man smiled and asked casually.

"How much longer until Master Bai arrives?"

"Seven Master, according to Master Bai's itinerary, he should arrive here within these last two days." The servant withdrew his gaze and spoke respectfully.

"Finally coming. This time I must persuade him well; that broken place of Purple Earth is all rules, what is there to be nostalgic about? Better to come to my Qixuetong and be carefree."

The old man laughed, seeming very happy, and looked at where Xu Qing walked away again.

"Let's go, let's go see what this little wolf cub is going to do next."

Very happy, very happy; these days I saw many old friends return; thank you for your support and thank you for your trust!

I won't say anything sentimental; I'll just say one sentence: In this book, I found my original intention.

Thank you everyone; "Beyond the Light," I won't let you down.

Don't keep your various tickets; give them to me.