Chapter 280: The Misery of the World
Xu Qing was still suspicious about Master Seventh’s response, and felt that there was something very odd about it. However, he had no idea what the truth of the matter was. That said, he got the feeling that he should keep his distance from Arch-Immortal Plumdark from the Dark Serenity Sect. In fact, he had already decided not to go anywhere near that sect in the future.
With such thoughts on his mind, he closed his eyes and started meditating. Unfortunately, he couldn’t maintain concentration. Eventually, he opened his eyes and took out the medicinal codex Grandmaster Bai had given him. After reading through it for about an hour, he felt a lot calmer.
It was in similar fashion that day after day passed, until half a month had gone by.
During that half-month, Xu Qing worked on cultivation. Also, he got some of the water of the Everlasting Immortal Profundity River and used it to wash the fragment of the taboo treasure that he’d acquired from Sima Ling. Unfortunately, the taboo treasure fragment exuded a lot of mutagen, so the effects of the water were minimal.
After some thought, Xu Qing decided that he still had too many reservations about his shadow. Therefore, he just kept using the river water. Even though the results weren’t very spectacular, they were better than nothing.
Things in the new capital city had fallen into a new rhythm. It was at this point that the Special Security Division finally got assigned a mission outside the sect. It was an inspection tour of the tributary of the Everlasting Immortal Profundity River that ran from the former Young Arbiter Sect all the way to the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. The long, winding course of the tributary took it through nearly half of the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture.
The inspection team would travel upriver, checking on mutagen levels, intimidating small-time criminals, and getting rid of any diversion channels created to illegally tap into the river water. Given how long the tributary was, they would be passing numerous sects and small nations. If such places weren’t inspected, and were simply allowed to siphon away the water, then by the time it reached the Eight Sect Coalition, there wouldn’t be much left.
That was the entire purpose of the inspection tour, and was one of the primary responsibilities of the eight Special Security Divisions in the eight sects of the coalition. There was a rotating schedule for the inspections, and the time had come for Seven Blood Eyes to take the lead.
Xu Qing wanted to see more of the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, although being as cautious as he was, he didn’t immediately make the decision. Instead, he consulted Master Seventh.
Master Seventh agreed that he should go on the mission, and gave Xu Qing a special jade slip to hide his identity.
With that jade slip, Xu Qing felt a lot less nervous. He changed his appearance, put on new clothing, and then used a magical device to alter his aura. Then, when the morning came to set out, he and the Captain led a group of seven or eight hundred disciples onto twenty huge ships.
They left the Eight Sect Coalition with great fanfare, then headed up the river.
The tributary was huge, and it only got bigger the further upriver you went. Out in front of Xu Qing stretched a massive body of water, the water bubbling and frothing as it flowed rapidly downstream. The immortal energy was strong. Given how early it was in the morning, immortal mist covered the surface of the river, and even a single breath of it would expand one’s mind. The tributary was about 30,000 meters wide, making it seem almost like a sea. The ten huge boats traveled single file, keeping a distance of about 3,000 meters between each of them, allowing all the boats to have a clear view of each side of the river.
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was very pleased about the circumstances, and after expressing his desire to Xu Qing, received approval to fly out in black skewer form and work on his cultivation, which proceeded much more smoothly given the surroundings.
There were no negative influences on Xu Qing’s gruish shadow. In fact, given how stark the shadows were because of the sun overhead, it sent part of itself stretching down into the water. Occasionally, spirit fish would swim by the shadow, and it would absorb them in the blink of an eye. Before long, the shadow was sending fluctuations of contentment back to Xu Qing.
It can absorb immortal energy? Xu Qing realized. This Everlasting Immortal Profundity River is amazing!
Meanwhile, the Captain looked off into the distance. Sighing ruefully, he said, “It’s no wonder the Eight Sect Coalition went to great lengths to destroy the Young Arbiter Sect and their dam. They even risked provoking the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society. All to get this river flowing into the sect. It makes you wonder how amazing the source of the river is. Cultivators like us should make it a point of visiting that source at least once in our life. The scenery must be amazing. If I ever become a swordsage, I’ll finally be able to enjoy life to the fullest. Everything will be worth it.”
The Captain stood there, hands clasped behind his back, his hair streaming in the wind.
Xu Qing looked quizzically at the Captain. He had just realized that, despite being on the river for about half a day already, he hadn’t seen the Captain eat a single apple. Beyond that, the words he had just spoken seemed a bit unusual. The Captain normally didn’t go on in such a way.
Xu Qing produced an apple, took a bite, and nodded. Now that Xu Qing thought about it, the incident at the Dark Serenity Sect had seemed to light a fire under the Captain. Whenever the two of them met up after that, the Captain had reminded Xu Qing a lot of Wu Jianwu. Except for the poetry-reciting thing. This morning, the effect seemed even more obvious than before.
“Want an apple, Eldest Brother?” Xu Qing asked.
As the breeze blew, the Captain looked over his shoulder piercingly. “Is that what you think of your Eldest Brother? That all he cares about is eating things?”
Hearing that, Xu Qing produced another apple and tossed it to the Captain.
The Captain instinctively caught it.
Xu Qing didn’t say anything.
The Captain stood there silently.
A moment later, the two were squatting together on the prow eating.
After taking several bites, the Captain sighed. “Why do you think Arch-Immortal Plumdark is so interested in you? What’s so wrong with me? I’m pretty much the same as you.... You know, after that incident I did some research. When Arch-Immortal Plumdark was young, she was famous throughout all of the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. She was more glamorous than you can describe with words. The only bad things said about her were rumors spread by the people who wooed her unsuccessfully.”
Xu Qing didn’t say anything. Looking at the two banks of the river, he thought back to the files he had read in the sect about the Everlasting Immortal Profundity River.
On one side were the hundreds of thousands of mountains that made up the Supreme Arbiter Salvation Mountains, as dark as night, like the spine of some immense beast that went on without end. There were demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters there, as well as grues, rogue cultivators, and countless sects. It was a place where you could find both good people and villains, but overall, it was a brutal hell on earth.
On the other side of the river was a vast wasteland with strong mutagen and forests of dead trees. There were also innumerable small nations, most of whom only survived because they were run by cultivators.
As Xu Qing thought about the contents of the files, the Captain finished his apple, then took out another and started eating. Just as it looked like he was about to say something, he suddenly looked off into the distance. Xu Qing also looked in the same direction.
At the same time, a voice message came in from the disciples on one of the ships ahead.
“Mortals spotted ahead, on the bank of the river.”
It was far enough away that the disciples on the boats further back couldn’t see. However, Xu Qing and the Captain had a perfect view. Upon seeing the nation mentioned in the message, both Xu Qing and the Captain reacted with mixed emotions.
Xu Qing saw a large number of mortal citizens, some old, some young. There were both men and women, and all of them had greenish-black coloration on their skin from mutagen. In fact, many were getting very close to mutation. Most were emaciated, their eyes listless, and many had trouble walking and had to be supported by relatives as they slowly made their way along.
There were a few hundred of them, and they were stretched out on the shore, washing themselves with the river water. Thanks to the immortal energy in the river, they were able to provide a bit of stability to their rapidly deteriorating bodies. Some who were in especially bad condition lay on the bank and used stone bowls to gather water to drink. There were some children in the group, wailing loudly. Apparently, being bathed in the river caused them intense pain.
In the end, this miserable scene was only a tiny fraction of what happened in the world on a daily basis.
As the coalition ships neared, the mortals trembled and gazed at them with terror in their eyes.
Seeing that, Xu Qing quietly said, “Give them some medicinal pills.”
“Yes, sir!”
Some of the nearby Special Security Division officers took out some very low-level medicinal pills that had been prepared in advance and sent them to the miserable mortals.
The Captain sighed. “There’s not much we can do. That’s just how the world works. Besides, we humans are always fighting amongst ourselves, as disunited as a dish of loose sand.”
“I know.” Xu Qing looked away from the riverbank. “If we can help, we help. That’s all.”
The Captain looked deeply at Xu Qing for a moment. Then he waved his hand, which caused a few dozen spirit fish to fly out of the water and land on the shore. Spirit fish were like medicinal pills; they could cleanse mutagen. In fact, they were a lot more effective than the water.
The Captain patted Xu Qing’s shoulder. “I think this is why the old man likes you, little Ah Qing. It’s also why I like being around you.”
Xu Qing didn’t respond.
Time passed. In a flash, a month of travel went by.
During that time, they saw miserable scenes on the river banks over and over again. Xu Qing saw mortals, rogue cultivators, and even entire nations. Such groups gathered at the river to cleanse themselves of mutagen. They were bitter and miserable, and most were in such bad shape they were virtually crippled. Many hovered right on the brink of mutation.
Although opening up this tributary had provided immense benefit to the Eight Sect Coalition, it also brought relief to the countless nations and peoples who suffered in the area. It gave them a little hope. The Eight Sect Coalition allowed it to happen. As long as no one tried to redirect the flow of the water, they wouldn’t interfere. As a result, the suffering populace had a slightly better chance of surviving.
Along the way, Xu Qing and others in the inspection team would hand out low-level medicinal pills. It was something other sects didn’t do, and had been encouraged by Master Seventh.
Given how long the journey was, Xu Qing spent time working on his cultivation. The Captain, on the other hand, couldn’t sit still, and would often go fishing, or even go ashore to hunt for animals.
One day, the ship in the lead position sent a message indicating they’d encountered a situation they didn’t know how to deal with.
Xu Qing emerged from his session of cultivation and walked out of the cabin to find the Captain at the prow of the ship, staring off into the distance.
“It’s our first time encountering something like this,” the Captain said. “If they were cultivators, we could just slaughter them. But they’re not. There’s a small nation up ahead with a population of about 40,000-50,000. They’re taking away the river water... and they’re trying to build a canal....”
Hearing the Captain’s words, Xu Qing stepped to the prow and looked off into the distance.
He saw several thousand people pushing wooden carts filled with buckets of water. The people doing the actual work were emaciated and malnourished. Overseeing the operation were mortal warriors who shouted at the ordinary citizens and used whips to keep them moving. There were also some citizens digging into the soil to try to divert the river water. The carts were trundling in the direction of a small nation some distance away.
Seeing this, Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. Then he looked at the emaciated and malnourished citizens. Their shadows stretched long and far underneath the setting sun. Though the shadows looked ordinary, when Xu Qing studied them, he realized... they were all missing an ear.
The left ear.
Xu Qing’s pupils constricted.