Chapter 277: A Young Man with a Mask
The construction was finished on the new Seven Blood Eyes capital city. After numerous teleportations, the population hadn’t reached the same level as back on the continent of South Phoenix. Of course, the coalition was made up of a total of 137 sects, so there was no shortage of other people interested in the new city. Visitors came to do business, go shopping, or sometimes just make friends. Regardless, the new city bustled with noise and excitement.
Adjustments had to be made to the various official departments of the sect, as well as the people that made them up. As before, Huang Yan was in Pilot Assistance. His beloved Second Elder Sister was the deputy commander of the Department of Patrol and Investigation, which fit her personality perfectly. Her mere presence struck fear into the hearts of petty criminals.
New departments were created, including ones to handle relations with other sects in the coalition. For example, there was the Department of Commerce. When it came to determining if an organization was strong or weak, there was more to it than just high-level cultivators and taboo treasures. Another very important factor was wealth. That was a universal truth that applied to any location where people gathered in large numbers. It was only to be expected that a Department of Commerce was required. It oversaw all Seven Blood Eyes commercial interests, whether externally or internally. The deputy commander of that department was selected directly by Master Seventh, and it was none other than Third Elder Brother.
Master Seventh knew that Xu Qing and the Captain got along well, so he arranged for them to work together in the most important department.
The Special Security Division.
The name of the division didn’t fit the style of South Phoenix. But it sounded appropriate for a government department in a big coalition. It was tasked with special operations relating to safety and security. Seven Blood Eyes wasn’t the only place to have a Special Security Division. All seven of the major sects had one. They were really a unified body overseen by a central command, and they had authority both internally and externally.
The director of the division was Master Sixth.
There were two deputy directors: the Captain and Xu Qing.
Master Sixth didn’t intend to watch over daily operations, so he delegated authority to the Captain and Xu Qing to handle most affairs.
The locations of the various departments were adjusted. Offices were built near the eight bridges that led to the main part of the megacity. It was roughly triangular in layout, with over a hundred structures, each of which had its own courtyard. Though the structures were all standalone, together, they created one unified area.
There were a host of smaller departments. Over 3,000 disciples from the various mountain peaks were assigned to positions, with about half of them being former constables from the Violent Crimes Division. One of them was the Mute.
After Xu Qing received his assignment and was heading over to check in for the first time, he thought about how he would be working in the same division as the Captain again, and decided to pick up some apples from a cart along the way. After purchasing the apples, he walked a bit further and noticed a newly opened immortal hot spring, where he saw a familiar face.
It was none other than Xu Xiaohui. [1]
When Xu Xiaohui caught sight of him, she called out a greeting and then held out a jade slip for him to take. “Elder Brother Xu, a girlfriend of mine and I started this new immortal hot spring. If you have time, come try it out. With that jade slip you can get in for free.” [2]
Xu Qing nodded, then noticed a young woman standing behind Xu Xiaohui. It was his informant. As it turned out, Xu Xiaohui had started a new business with Xu Qing’s informant.
As far as Xu Qing was concerned, there weren’t enough people in this world like Xu Xiaohui, who knew how to repay kindnesses. She didn’t have a very amazing cultivation base, but she was a good person. Therefore, he would do his best to help her. After taking the jade slip, he continued on his way to the main entrance of the Special Security Division.
“Well met, Director!” said the officer on duty, offering a respectful salute. From the passionate look in his eyes, he had obviously been a constable in the Violent Crimes Division.
Xu Qing nodded and went inside. He recognized almost everyone present, including Ding Xiaohai. He was the same one who had worked so hard to become a conclave disciple. After his gains in the Merfolk Isles, he reached Foundation Establishment. But now, he looked at Xu Qing with a complicated expression.
Averting his gaze, he clasped hands and bowed deeply. “Well met, Director.”
Xu Qing took a look at him and saw that he did have extraordinary aptitude. He already had a life flame, and had opened about 40 dharma apertures. For most people, achieving that in only a few years wasn’t easy.
Xu Qing didn’t like him, as the mere sight of him brought up thoughts of Zhou Qingpeng. That said, everyone had their own way of living, and thus, he looked away and continued walking.
Ding Xiaohai watched him go and sighed deeply. He knew that Xu Qing still remembered the Zhou Qingpeng incident, and yet Ding Xiaohai still didn’t think he had done anything wrong. In a chaotic world, everyone had to think about themselves before anyone else. [3]
When Xu Qing reached the heart of the Special Security Division, he finally found the Captain.
The Captain was studying a heap of files and occasionally issuing new orders to consolidate the various branches of the division. He looked like he was very busy.
Seeing that, Xu Qing mused that the Captain really was suited to work like this. Taking out one of the apples he’d bought along the way, he placed it on the Captain’s desk, then sat down off to the side and closed his eyes to meditate.
Shortly after, the Captain looked up, grabbed the apple, and took a bite. Then he noticed Xu Qing meditating off to the side and instantly felt a bit irritated. In fact, he decided that the best thing would be for Xu Qing to take over the most difficult assignments. He cleared his throat.
“Deputy Director Xu!”
Xu Qing opened his eyes. “Hey, Eldest Brother. Want more apples?”
Xu Qing took out two more apples and placed them on the desk.
The Captain looked at the apples, then back at Xu Qing. His expression became very grave. “Cut it with this malarkey. You’ve picked up some very bad habits, little Ah Qing!”
Xu Qing considered his words for a moment, then took out a jade slip and put it on the desk.
“What’s this?” the Captain asked, sounding surprised.
Looking the Captain straight in the eyes, Xu Qing said, “Along the way here I noticed a new immortal hot spring that opened around the corner. I figured you might like the place, so I arranged for this jade slip that can get you in for twenty percent off.”
Hearing this, the Captain immediately smiled, and his irritation from before vanished. Though he still felt that Xu Qing had some bad habits, at least he had a sense of propriety, and knew how to suck up to his Elder Brother. Realizing that he shouldn’t be petty, the Captain changed his mind and decided not to hand over the most difficult responsibilities to Xu Qing.
“Ah, whatever,” he said. “The old man gave me too many things to handle in this new Special Security Division. I was thinking of assigning you the job of smoothing out all the problems with the other coalition sects. But given your personality, you’d probably think it was too much trouble to talk things out, and would just start killing people. So I’ll handle it. How about instead, you take care of something related to the splitting of profits and privileges between our sect and the coalition. That’ll be a breeze.”
The Captain flipped through the files until he found one in particular that he handed to Xu Qing.
“Specifically,” the Captain continued, “the coalition’s Spell Formation Department has been dragging their feet on finalizing the transfer papers for our Seven Blood Eyes Formation.”
Xu Qing took the file. The truth was that he really didn’t want to waste time on something like this. He had been preparing to clear his schedule to research some poisons and work on his cultivation. Apparently, he had no choice, though. Taking the file, he turned to leave.
“Also,” the Captain said, “the coalition headquarters notified us that we’ll be in the rotation to do river inspection tours. The eight sects take turns handling that. When the time comes, the two of us can go do some sightseeing, assuming you have nothing better to do.”
Xu Qing nodded and left. He headed toward the Spell Formation Division’s headquarters in the Lunisolar Dao Palace district, taking with him about a hundred disciples from the Third Peak who specialized in spell formations. Along the way, he asked them why they thought the headquarters seemed to be dragging their feet.
The Third Peak disciple in charge of the group sighed and answered, “Elder Brother Xu, the higher-ups have already negotiated the business side of things. It’s the underlings that are causing problems. Especially the people from the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect. Every time we have a meeting to handle something, they don’t show up. It makes it impossible to get anything done.”
“Soaring Cloud Sword Sect?” Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. Not saying anything further, he hurried along to the Spell Formation Division.
Upon arriving, he delivered the file. After waiting for some time, the people in charge of the project showed up. As they neared, and realized it was Xu Qing that was waiting for them, they hurried over.
“Well met, Elder Brother Xu Qing!”
“Elder Brother Xu Qing, we’re so sorry to keep you waiting. If we’d known it was you that was coming, we would have come over at once.”
People throughout the Eight Sect Coalition were already intimidated by Xu Qing’s name. That said, he didn’t do anything to amplify the effect. Looking over the disciples that had come, he didn’t notice anyone from the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect. Transferring control of the spell formation required people from all seven of the other sects to be present. If even one was missing, it wouldn’t work.
Because the patriarch and matriarch of Spiritgloam Valley and the Heavenmirror Treasure Sect were already friends with Sir Bloodsmelter, the three sects got along well.
As it happened, the person in charge of this project was a female disciple from Spiritgloam Valley. Eyes glittering, she softly said, “Elder Brother Xu, if the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect doesn’t come, then I’m afraid we won’t be able to transfer the spell formation....”
Xu Qing nodded. Then he handed a jade slip to one of the other disciples. “Take this to Chu Yunfeng in the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect. Tell him to handle the matter immediately. If it’s not done today, I’ll go over there to settle accounts with him personally.”
Chu Yunfeng was the disciple Xu Qing had crushed in Seven Blood Eyes who had identified himself as a Junior Brother of Master Shengyun. [4]
Xu Qing sat down cross-legged to wait. Everyone else exchanged glances and stood by. It didn’t take long for the jade slip to reach the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect. Chu Yunfeng was himself sitting cross-legged in meditation when it arrived. After reading it, his eyes turned bloodshot.
“Poison Demon Xu Qing! This guy is such a bully! He thinks an IOU jade slip will get me to help him out? Quit dreaming, buddy!”
Snorting coldly, he tossed the jade slip off to the side. A few hours later, he opened his eyes and looked out at the sky and realized... the day was almost over. Grumbling the entire time, he sent a message to the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect’s Spell Formation Department and angrily barked some orders. As a chosen of the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect, his words carried some weight, and it didn’t take long before the Spell Formation Department disciples returned, dejected and depressed. The spell formation transfer was complete.
By the time the work was done, it was evening. This evening was different from most other evenings. The sky was as crimson as fire, very beautiful, but at the same time, reminiscent of blood. It was almost like someone had used blood to paint the sky for the benefit of the god above.
As Xu Qing walked back toward the Seven Blood Eyes capital city, he looked up at the red glow and thought back to what he had dreamed just before coming to the Revered Ancient mainland. [5]
***
In a location in the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture a great distance away from the Eight Sect Coalition, close to the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar, there was swampland. It wasn’t a forbidden region, but the mutagen levels were high, and it was a deadly place. The swamp was located in a low-lying section of land where water gathered easily. There was also a forest of jagged, black boulders that jutted up out of the water.
As the crimson light of evening spread out over the water of the swamp, it made it look like blood.
Within that bloody glow were two figures.
One of them was prostrated in worship. The other sat atop one of those large boulders, one foot resting on the rock, the other leg hanging free, leaning back on one arm as he looked up into the crimson sky.
Both of these figures wore masks. Shockingly, the masks were decorated to look like the half-face of a god up in the sky. The only difference was that the eyes of the mask were open, not closed. And those opened eyes revealed the eyes of the people who wore the masks.
The prostrating individual said, “Lord, the Night Dove operatives in the continent of South Phoenix have been abandoned, as per your instructions. I sent them to Seven Blood Eyes, and used that sect to get rid of most of them. Bai Li is dead, also at the hands of Seven Blood Eyes. He was killed by the peaklord of their Sixth Peak.”
His voice was respectful and his eyes were full of fanaticism. He was the leader of Night Dove, and bore the same name as the organization he led. But one word from the person on the boulder, and he would forsake all Night Dove operatives and Night Dove interests. In short, he would go so far as to die for this other person.
Continuing, he said, “There were two other people of little note that participated in Bai Li’s death. I mentioned them in the official report. Seven Blood Eyes joined the coalition, which changed its name to the Eight Sect Coalition. I have a contact there who wishes to join Torchlight. He invited us to observe his upcoming Blood-Soaked Performance. He said that we would very much enjoy it.” [6]
His words were met with silence.
After some time passed, the person looking at the sky turned to gaze in the direction of the Forbidden Sea. Then he laughed enigmatically. “Let’s go watch. While we’re there, I can give Seven Blood Eyes a blood-soaked gift.”
Based on this person’s voice, he was a young man.
“Yes, sir!” Night Dove said, and then faded from existence.
Sometime after Night Dove left, the crimson color in the sky faded, and the moon appeared. The young man, who was still looking up into the sky, gazed at the moon and whispered, “The sect my lil’ bro is in... I haven’t seen it for eleven years. Another hindrance in this particular life of mine.” [7][8]
The young man smiled in a very meaningful way.
1. Xu Xiaohui joined the sect at the same time as Xu Qing back in?👈
2. I feel like I probably don’t need to include this footnote, but I’m going to just in case. In both Chinese and English, when she says ‘girlfriend,’ it doesn’t imply a romantic relationship. It doesn’t preclude it either. It just means ‘close female friend.’ 👈
3. Ding Xiaohai won the Grand Competition in?👈
4. Chu Yunfeng appeared in?👈
5. Xu Qing’s dream was the final scene at the end of Volume 2, back in?👈
6. Bai Li, Torchlight, and the Blood-Soaked Performance were all mentioned in?👈
7. The “lil’ bro” here is a form of address for a younger blood brother. It’s not very common in North China, but is very common in Southern parts, especially places where Wu, Southern Min, and Cantonese dialects are spoken. Fujian and Taiwan would be key locations like this, as well as Guangdong. The point is that the use of this specific terms makes it seem like the person speaking has some sort of accent. It would be like if a character in an English novel said “g’day mate.” Of course, using a dialect word doesn’t guarantee that the person has an accent. I’m American and I can go around saying “g’day mate” in an American accent if I feel like it. So there’s no guarantee this character is supposed to have an accent. That’s just my impression. 👈
8. When the character says “this particular life,” he’s using a word that heavily hints/implies that he’s been reincarnated or reborn. 👈