Chapter 17: What Are You?
Perhaps because of the Singing, the cries of the mutant beasts never returned. That song seemed to be the sovereign of the jungle; even after it left, everything stayed completely silent.
Sergeant Thunder sat there quietly, staring off into the darkness.
Mixed emotions could be seen on Xu Qing’s face. After a while, he shifted his attention to Savage Ghost’s wolf tooth club and shattered shield. Like the other corpses, Savage Ghost’s body had turned into dust because of the Singing. He no longer existed. Most scavengers didn’t have family, so when they disappeared, few people cared. And even if they did have family, as the years passed, they would gradually be forgotten.
Xu Qing thought back to the slums, and one of the scholars that had treated him well. Before wasting away and dying of illness, that scholar had said something to the class.
“True suffering is when you can’t forget about someone you miss. True happiness is when someone else can’t forget about you.”
Back then, Xu Qing didn't really understand what he meant. But now, as he looked at Sergeant Thunder, he understood it completely. Instead of bothering the sergeant, he went over to the spot where Savage Ghost’s corpse had lain earlier. Taking out his dagger, he dug a hole in the dirt.
He hadn’t known Savage Ghost very well, nor had he spoken much to him. But Savage Ghost had taught him about the jungle, and they had fought together in the battle against the wolves. Xu Qing had also used Savage Ghost’s shield to protect himself from that black blood. So Xu Qing felt like he should do something. It was similar to how he’d cremated the corpses back in the city ruins. It took some effort, but he managed to dig a sizable hole. Inside of it, he buried Savage Ghost’s wolf tooth club and the remnants of his shield. Xu Qing’s expression was completely focused as he worked.
Unbeknownst to him, Sergeant Thunder eventually turned his attention from the depths of the forest to Xu Qing. He had the same surprised expression on his face as when he’d first laid eyes on Xu Qing in the city ruins. After watching him bury Savage Ghost’s equipment, he realized Xu Qing was looking for something to act as a gravestone.
“Scavengers don’t need gravestones,” Sergeant Thunder said quietly. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. That’s the life of a scavenger. We struggle in life, so in death… there’s no reason for a ceremony. Being able to rest in peace is more than enough.”
Sergeant Thunder was getting weaker. His injuries were very serious, and he had a lot of mutagen in him. Only moments after speaking, he closed his eyes and lapsed into unconsciousness.
Xu Qing walked over, pulled out some seven-leaf clover, and shoved it into the old sergeant’s mouth. He wasn’t sure if it would do anything, but he knew that it was an ingredient in the white boluses. Even if it dispelled a tiny bit of mutagen, it might help.
Having accomplished that, he managed to get Sergeant Thunder onto his back and tie him in place with some strips of torn cloth. Taking a deep breath, he started running through the jungle.
Upon passing the spot where Captain Bloodshadow had died, he noticed an animal hide sack, which he grabbed. Unfortunately, it contained random items and no medicinal pills.
About an hour later, Sergeant Thunder regained consciousness. It took him a moment to realize he was on Xu Qing’s scrawny back, and that they were running. With his eyes open, he could only see the side of Xu Qing's face.
He said nothing.
However, Xu Qing could sense that he was awake.
“Feeling better?” he asked. “You can keep sleeping. It’ll be a few more hours. I think we can get out of the forbidden region by daybreak.”
Sergeant Thunder didn’t respond immediately. He was old, and it was getting harder to hide how weak he was. With some effort he looked up at the dark sky, but it was hard to see. He could tell that he would pass out again soon.
“Kid,” he murmured, “do you know why I took you with me when we left that city?”
Continuing to run, Xu Qing shook his head.
Voice even fainter, Sergeant Thunder asked, “Remember what you were doing when we met?”
“I remember.” Xu Qing ran up a fallen log, then jabbed his hand out to grab a mutant lizard hiding in the shadows. Continuing to move, he threw it out in front of him. As soon as the lizard smacked into the ground, a host of writhing vines reached out and wrapped around it. The vines stabbed into the lizard’s armor-like scales and began sucking out its flesh and blood.
Taking advantage of the situation, Xu Qing leaped over the vines and continued on his way.
Sergeant Thunder continued talking, but his voice was getting so faint it was hard to hear him.
“When I saw you cremating all those bodies, with the fire shining on you, it seemed like… you had brought a bit of warmth and kindness into this brutal world.”
Xu Qing stopped running for a moment. Sergeant Thunder again fell into unconsciousness.
After taking a few deep breaths, Xu Qing once again ran through the depths of the jungle.
Time passed. Before long, two hours had gone by.
Xu Qing managed to avoid all dangers, and continued onward to the periphery of the jungle.
When the night sky was at its darkest, the cold in the forbidden region reached its peak. Thankfully, Xu Qing was constantly on the move, which kept his body warm, and fought back against the iciness.
And yet… the coldness grew more intense. After enough time had passed for an incense stick to burn, Xu Qing felt like the encroaching cold was overpowering the heat within him. Expression grim, he looked at the road ahead.
In front of him was a wall of thick fog. It was different from the blood fog that had come with the Singing, and didn’t seem oppressive and dangerous. However, he could tell that once he got into that fog, it would be impossible to see anything clearly.
The darkness of night made it even worse. Xu Qing wished he could avoid it, but even after running parallel to it for quite some time, he saw no end to it.
He knew what this fog was.
When he first entered the forbidden region, Crucifix and Graceful Raptor had spoken of the dangers here, and one was called the Fog of Confusion. Anyone who entered that fog would end up lost inside of it. Once it formed, it would take a long time for it to dispel naturally.
Xu Qing had the feeling that he could just wait out the fog, since the mutagen in him wouldn’t cause a problem. But Sergeant Thunder was getting weaker and weaker. If the sergeant got stuck because of the fog, it was possible he could experience mutation and die.
As a result, Xu Qing had no choice but to back up and keep trying to find a way around.
However… the fog was just too all-encompassing. Despite moving as quickly as possible, he eventually reached a point where he couldn’t get out of the way of the expanding fog, and it swept over him. Yet, before long, the fog in the area immediately surrounding him grew thin, until he was left standing there looking confused.
He looked down at his feet.
He couldn’t have a shadow in the middle of the dark night, but he could sense that the surrounding fog was being sucked into the area beneath his feet.
It was as though he had an invisible shadow that was now a vortex, pulling in everything around it.
The speed involved wasn't incredible, and after a short time, his shadow seemed to get full. At that point, the fog around Xu Qing grew dense once again.
However… after his shadow was finished absorbing the fog, power rebounded through Xu Qing, traveling to his eyes. After that, the fog became transparent to him. Or maybe it wasn’t that he could see what was around him, but rather, could sense it!
The fog was still there, and it was incomparably dense, but his senses had reached a level that he didn’t feel lost within it.
He looked at his feet again, yet still didn't see any shadow.
“What… are you?” he murmured.
After a moment, he looked around for a moment, then started moving again, trying to maintain top speed as he slipped through the fog like a specter.
Before long, he saw other living people in the fog. They were two scavengers that he remembered seeing back in the basecamp. They were clasping hands as they moved like blind people through the fog, slowly but surely feeling their way ahead.
However, Xu Qing could tell that what they thought was forward movement was actually leading them in a circle. Perhaps they knew that, too, as they were sweating profusely and seemed to be in the midst of despair.
After glancing at them, Xu Qing looked away and prepared to move on. He was not the kind of person who overflowed with sympathy. He lived in a brutal world, and wouldn’t save people unless there was a reason. He had seen many situations in the slums in which the person being saved turned around and harmed their rescuer.
However, though the fog blocked sight, it didn’t block sound, and the two scavengers detected the sound of Xu Qing's footsteps as he passed.
Nervous expressions overtook their face, as they couldn’t tell if the footsteps belonged to a human or an animal. One of them suddenly released a ferocious howl, apparently hoping to frighten away the newcomer.
In contrast, the other scavenger cried out for help. And in a show of good faith, he pulled out a white bolus and some spirit coins from his sack, offering them as payment to be led to safety.
Xu Qing stopped moving and looked at the white bolus. Sergeant Thunder seemed very weak laying there on his back.
After some thought, he reached to his own sack and pulled out a candle. When he lit it, the flame was weak, but it was enough to push away the fog.
Putting the candle on the ground, he backed up a bit and then looked back toward the two scavengers.
“Walk seven paces to your left,” he said, “then ten paces to your right.”
Upon hearing his voice, the two scavengers trembled. Looks of wild hope appeared on their faces as they immediately followed Xu Qing’s instructions.
Thanks to Xu Qing, the two men threaded their way past some dangerous areas, and were soon in the area where the flame of his candle had dispersed the fog in the immediate area.
Upon entering that area and seeing the candle, they rushed over excitedly to stand next to it.
Xu Qing was a few paces off, still visible, but deep enough in the foggy darkness that the two scavengers couldn't make him out clearly.
“Give me that white bolus,” he said coolly.
The one with the bolus shivered. Given that he’d just been given a new lease on life, he took out the bag of spirit coins and white bolus and tossed them to Xu Qing, offering his thanks along with it.
The other man also seemed about ready to pull out a medicinal pill. But then he looked at Xu Qing and suddenly seemed to change his mind. Although he couldn’t see Xu Qing clearly, there was enough of him visible to make it obvious he was a scrawny young man with an unconscious person on his back.
The scavenger’s eyes glittered, and he smiled. “I already consumed all my white boluses, young friend. But don’t worry. Once the fog is gone, or if you have a way to get us out of here, I’ll make sure to repay you.”
His eyes flashed as he looked at Xu Qing, as if he was thinking about making a move.
His companion was also seeming to have second thoughts at having handed over his pills and coins so quickly.
Xu Qing looked at the white bolus, and then the scavengers. He didn’t say anything. Instead, he waved his hand, causing a wind to blow out and extinguish the candle. Instantly, darkness and fog returned to the area.
Approaching the man who’d just spoken, Xu Qing grabbed his sack away from him.
“Never mind,” Xu Qing said. “You can just stay here.”
“Wait. Wait! I’m sorry. It was a mistake. You can have my white boluses. I….”
He reached out as if to grab his sack back, but his foot caught on a protruding root, and he fell to the ground. Climbing back to his feet, he panted and looked around with regret in his eyes. “Let me explain, young friend! I….”
Xu Qing ignored him and walked in the direction of the man who’d given him the white boluses, who looked alarmed at being thrust back into the fog.
As Xu Qing passed him, he coolly said, “Follow the sound of my footsteps.”
Without another word, and without looking back, he continued on his way. Behind him, the man followed, now rejoicing that he’d been so quick to hand over the requested items.
That was especially true when he heard the mournful cries of the other man, and how they soon turned into wild curses. No matter what that man said, he couldn’t remove the despair from his voice. As the follower continued after Xu Qing, he trembled, and felt deep respect growing within him.
Deathblade's Thoughts
Many thanks to SquidDragon, Asura_va, Kaining, mlavarius, Zero Life Night Vision, and EvilFruitz for the reviews! It's very much appreciated! Seriously, y'all are amazing, and have blown me away with the reviews. Thank you!