Chapter 20: Home?
Xu Qing walked through the wind and snow back to the courtyard. Before he even entered, he heard Sergeant Thunder laughing from inside. He also heard the sound of barking. Pushing open the main gate, he saw about a dozen stray dogs in the courtyard. They froze in place, looking at him coldly, and he looked back. He didn’t do anything threatening, just look at them, yet they still growled and backed away from him, their hackles raised.
He heard talking coming from Sergeant Thunder’s cabin, then the door opened and Crucifix and Graceful Raptor walked out. Upon seeing Xu Qing, and then the stray dogs, Crucifix grinned.
Kneeling, Graceful Raptor patted the head of the nearest dog, smiled, and said, “They’re saying you have a very strong baleful aura, Kid.”
Xu Qing didn’t respond, but instead looked over at Sergeant Thunder, who was also walking out of the cabin.
The old man wore a thick leather jerkin and had a pipe in his hand. Gesturing at Graceful Raptor, he said, “My little girl Graceful Raptor said that, because of my injury, she’s worried about my safety in the camp. So she assigned these dogs to guard the courtyard.”
There was additional meaning to Sergeant Thunder’s words that Xu Qing picked up on. Because Xu Qing hadn’t told anyone about how they heard the Singing, Sergeant Thunder had returned the favor and not revealed the details of what Xu Qing had accomplished.
Xu Qing nodded, then pulled out the bag of white boluses and tossed them to Sergeant Thunder.
The old man glanced at them and smiled. “Alright, alright. I have to admit I need these things. But from now on, don’t go buying them for me. I have enough money saved up to buy them for myself. Crucifix.” He looked at the man. “Now that the Kid’s back, you can tell him.”
The smile left Crucifix’s face, to be replaced by a more somber expression. “We came for two reasons. The first was to bring that special medicine for the sarge. Graceful Raptor and I bought enough to last for a month. Once that supply is used up, we’ll get more.” At this point, Crucifix pulled a sack of animal hide out and placed it off to the side.
“The second matter,” he continued, “is this: because Squad Bloodshadow was completely eliminated, our squad brought in the biggest harvest of seven-leaf clovers. Other scavengers brought in bits and pieces, but nowhere close to us.
“Yesterday, Graceful Raptor and I went to hand our collection in to the camp owner, and we got a big reward. However… the camp owner is as stingy as ever, and instead of giving us three dustpurging pills, he only gave us one.” Crucifix looked at Graceful Raptor.
She pulled out four sacks, put one off to the side, and also took out a wooden box. Upon opening the box, Xu Qing could see a pigeon-egg-sized medicinal pill inside, cyan in color. The medicinal aroma that wafted off of it was vastly superior to that of a white bolus.
“Savage Ghost didn’t have any family, so I split his share between the rest of us. These four bags are the spirit coin reward. And as for the dustpurging pill….”
Crucifix looked at Sergeant Thunder, obviously waiting for him to make a decision about what to do with it.
“Give it to the Kid,” the old man said coolly. At that moment, there was no question that he was in charge of Squad Thunderbolt.
Crucifix nodded. Graceful Raptor looked surprised, then thoughtful. Both of them had asked Sergeant Thunder what happened in the jungle, but the sergeant never answered their questions. But given his decision regarding the loot, it was now fairly obvious.
“As for Savage Ghost’s share… you split it up right. After all, we’re his family.”
With a sigh, Sergeant Thunder picked up his share of the reward, as did Crucifix and Graceful Raptor. Xu Qing followed suit.
Then Graceful Raptor offered Xu Qing the dustpurging pill. Xu Qing glanced at Sergeant Thunder first, and from the look in his eye, realized the old man was very serious about his decision. Xu Qing took the pill.
There was some further chatting, primarily between Crucifix, Graceful Raptor, and Sergeant Thunder. Xu Qing remained silent as usual and just listened to the conversation.
That said, Crucifix and Graceful Raptor didn’t ignore him, and even asked him a few questions now and then. Time passed. Eventually, it was noontime, and the snow had stopped falling temporarily. Crucifix and Graceful Raptor bid farewell and prepared to leave.
Just before leaving through the main gate, Crucifix turned to Xu Qing and said, “Kid. Graceful Raptor and I took a mission. We’ll be gone for a while, so… you take care of the sarge while we’re away.” Then he pulled out a dagger which he handed to Xu Qing. “Your old dagger is too rusty. Use this one instead. It’s sharp.”
Next, Graceful Raptor gave Xu Qing a whistle.
“Kid, you’re strong. But you need eyes around the camp sometimes, and maybe even other help. This whistle will give you rudimentary control of the stray dogs in the camp. When you need them, blow the whistle. They’re smart, and they’ll be able to figure out what you need.”
Then the two of them offered him some more advice and warnings. Finally, they clasped hands to Xu Qing and took their leave.
Watching them leave, Xu Qing put the whistle away and tucked the new dagger into his boot. However, he didn’t throw his old dagger away.
Eventually, Crucifix and Graceful Raptor disappeared from sight, so Xu Qing turned back to look at Sergeant Thunder’s cabin. Then he made his way past all the dogs into his cabin. There, he sat down cross-legged to meditate.
The wind screamed outside, and more snow fell. The snow in the sky seemed to merge with the snow on the ground, seeping through the cracks in cabins and tents alike, startling those within.
Sergeant Thunder was resting in his cabin, but he had long since grown used to the freezing wind, and hardly noticed. However, the old man couldn’t help but recall the image of Xu Qing huddling in on himself because of the cold. He glanced over at Xu Qing’s cabin, then after some thought, put on a leather snow hat and walked out.
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.
During that entire time, the snow fell hard. Every time it seemed like it would stop, it came back with renewed vigor. The snow didn’t have time to melt, and eventually, it built up thick on the ground. It was nasty weather, but scavengers lived harsh, cold lives anyway, and it couldn’t compare to that.
The population in the camp seemed to be growing slowly. Some people visited the physician, others headed to the forbidden region.
Eventually, people noticed that Squad Bloodshadow hadn’t returned. Rumors swirled. Then, a story started to spread that the squad had been wiped out in the forbidden region. At first, few people believed that story. After all, every member of Squad Bloodshadow was formidable and well-known. That was especially true of their captain, who was one of the strongest experts in the camp. The squad had been into the forbidden region too many times to count, so it seemed unlikely that they would suffer a complete defeat.
However, after two days passed in which there wasn’t a hint of anyone from Bloodshadow coming back to the camp, people started to believe the rumors. Then people connected the fact that Sergeant Thunder had returned to the camp unconscious, and that Savage Ghost had seemingly disappeared. At that point, people started putting the puzzle pieces together.
Regardless of the truth, Bloodshadow was gone, which meant that Thunderbolt was the strongest squad around.
Because of that, whenever Xu Qing went out into the camp, he noticed the respectful looks given to him by the other scavengers.
Of course, they were giving respect to Squad Thunderbolt, not him personally. Either way, he was starting to get a bit suspicious as to why Sergeant Thunder was leaving early and coming back late every day. He seemed to be busy with some task, but Xu Qing wasn’t sure what.
Of course, Xu Qing knew that people had a right to privacy, so he didn’t ask any questions. Furthermore, he had a lot of his own goals to work on. For one thing, he spent most of his time in his cabin working on his cultivation. Due to his hard work, his cultivation base improved, slowly increasing both his strength and speed.
He also put time into studying his shadow. So far, he couldn’t identify anything different about it. However, it did absorb the mutagen, which caused the mutation blotch on his arm to fade even further. His body felt pure and clean, which in turn made his cultivation progress even more quickly than before.
Two days later in the afternoon, when he was sitting in meditation and preparing to stabilize himself after his recent progress and possibly attempt a breakthrough into the fourth level of the Sea and Mountain Incantation, he frowned, then opened his eyes.
He heard dogs barking outside, and then realized someone was knocking on the main gate of the courtyard.
Upon leaving his cabin, he checked to confirm that Sergeant Thunder wasn’t around, then looked at the gate. Standing there was a scavenger with a hesitant expression on his face.
It only took a moment for Xu Qing to realize that this was one of the handful of people he had saved from the Fog of Confusion in the forbidden region. Upon seeing Xu Qing, the scavenger clasped hands and bowed.
“Brother Kid, it’s me! Boneblade!”
“How can I help you?” Xu Qing replied in a cool tone, his face completely expressionless.
“Er…” Boneblade said. He hesitated briefly, then seemed to make up his mind. Gritting his teeth, he continued, “Brother Kid, I want to buy insurance from you. Here are five white boluses for the payment.” He tossed a sack to Xu Qing.
Xu Qing didn’t catch it. Instead, he let it fall to the ground and looked suspiciously at the man. Around them, the stray dogs stared but didn’t approach.
Sensing Xu Qing’s suspicious attitude, Boneblade launched into a further explanation. As he talked, Xu Qing gradually understood what he meant by ‘insurance.’ The man was planning a trip to the Poisonous Dragon Pond in the forbidden region. If he didn’t return in three days, he wanted Xu Qing to come rescue him.
“Brother Kid, I’m not worried about the mutant beasts in the forbidden region. If they kill me, that’s just fate. But I’m terrified of the Fog of Confusion. I really don’t want to die in that fog.”
Xu Qing had a somewhat odd expression on his face. He was really taken aback that Boneblade would ask for something like this. After some thought, he said, “What happens if you don’t run into the fog during those three days? What if you make it out fine?”
“You can keep the pills. I’ll consider them a payment for peace of mind.” Boneblade clasped hands and bowed deeply to Xu Qing, a pleading expression on his face.
Thinking about it some more, Xu Qing opened the bag with the tip of his foot and examined the contents.
There were five white boluses inside, and of course, he didn’t need them. However, they were treated as currency in the camp, so in the end, he decided that he might as well take them.
He nodded.
Upon seeing that Xu Qing was agreeing to the offer, Boneblade heaved a sigh of relief. Offering profound thanks, he bowed again and then left.
Xu Qing picked up the bag and looked at it again through narrowed eyes. He was a vigilant person by nature, and didn’t completely trust Boneblade. However, it didn’t seem like this was a trap.
If the fog didn’t arise, he wouldn’t have to do anything. And if Boneblade had the ability to predict when the fog would appear three days in advance, why would he need to hatch plots against people like Xu Qing?
That said, Xu Qing didn’t let his guard down, and would worry about dealing with the fog if and when it became an issue.
Going back into his cabin, he started meditating again. The night passed quickly.
The next morning at dawn, he finished his session of cultivation, and looked out into the courtyard. The dogs were barking again.
Heading out, he was met with a strange sight. Sergeant Thunder was packing his belongings into a number of packages and parcels, which he then tied onto the backs of the dogs. The dogs’ tongues lolled out, and some seemed about to buckle under the weight.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Sergeant Thunder said, “Finished with your cultivation? Let’s go. I want to take you somewhere.”
Smiling, he patted the head of the nearest dog, then opened the gate and beckoned for Xu Qing to follow him.
Xu Qing was confused, but went along. The dogs followed them as they headed into the central part of the basecamp.
When they passed from the middle ring to the inner ring, they walked past more shops. Most of the houses were built with tiles and brick, and seemed very sturdy.
Eventually they reached a large courtyard residence. Around the courtyard were four freestanding rooms with brick walls and tile roofs. They were much better than Xu Qing’s old cabin, being well-built against the elements.
Xu Qing looked inside, then turned to Sergeant Thunder.
“From now on, this is our home,” the sergeant said with a smile.
“Home?” Xu Qing was stunned. After all, the word ‘home’ was something that felt very unfamiliar to him.
“I worked hard my whole life to save up money. Now that my health is failing, I want to live in comfort.”
Laughing heartily, Sergeant Thunder walked into the courtyard, followed by the dogs. He immediately started taking the packages off their backs.
Xu Qing stood there for a long moment, then slowly walked inside. Even the ground was paved with blue-gray bricks. He was just staring around absent-mindedly when Sergeant Thunder called to him for help.
They worked for hours, until night fell. It was still cold and windy, but when they got a fire going in the stove in Xu Qing’s room, warmth filled the place. There were no cracks in the walls, making it impossible for the wind to shove the coldness in. Xu Qing felt himself warming up.
“Not cold, is it?” Sergeant Thunder asked with a smile.
“Nope. Not cold.” Xu Qing looked at Sergeant Thunder, his eyes shining in the light of the fire.
He really wasn’t cold. In fact, he was warm. And it caused him to tremble to the core of his being.
Some time passed, then Sergeant Thunder left for his own room, leaving Xu Qing alone in front of the stove.
“Home?” he murmured.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Thunder was in his own room, the smile still on his face. However, his face seemed flush. He coughed lightly, then swallowed to get rid of the acrid flavor it brought. Sighing, he looked out the window toward the forbidden region, reminiscence in his eyes.
“I wish… I could see her one more time.”
Deathblade's Thoughts
Hey everyone, I have a minor surgical procedure today. It's no big deal, but it will put me on bedrest for at least a day, maybe two. The chapters will keep coming, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to check comments or give shoutouts to reviews like I've been doing. Once I'm fully back online, I will definitely give shoutouts to any reviews, and also check through comments! I honestly don't know how painful it will be post-op. Maybe I'll be able to use my laptop to check things out while in bed. Or maybe I'll just watch movies all day. We'll see!