Chapter 302: The Patriarch Earns Credit
“An item?” As Xu Qing thought about the situation, the shadow sent some more specific fluctuations.
“Milord... wait... earn credit....”
There was no need for Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior to translate. Xu Qing knew what the shadow meant. It was telling him to wait, that it could handle the situation and earn some credit for itself.
Xu Qing nodded.
The patriarch immediately felt a sense of crisis filling him, so he anxiously said, “Milord, the shadow is young and naive. I should probably go along to keep an eye on things.”
Xu Qing agreed with his assessment. A moment later, his shadow vanished into the ground, and the patriarch sent the black skewer flying off out of sight.
Xu Qing sat down cross-legged on the roof of the building and waited. Ding Xue blinked a few times. She couldn’t see his shadow, and the skewer could move at speeds comparable to the two-flame level, so she couldn’t see it either. However, given that Xu Qing was sitting down, she sat down next to him and took out a box of pastries. [1]
Xu Qing looked at her.
“Big Bro Xu Qing, I made all these snacks personally. I’m not sure how good they are. I probably need some practice. Before I make them for my aunt, uncle, and grandpa, do you mind helping me try them? Maybe you can give me some advice to make them better.” [2]
Out of habit, Ding Xue produced a spirit note.
After a moment of thought, Xu Qing sent his senses out into the area. Though he couldn’t find any trace of his Master, he had the sense that his Master was watching him. Declining to accept the spirit note, he tried one of the pastries.
“Not bad.”
Ding Xue seemed happy to hear that. Sitting there, she looked around, lowered her voice, and said, “Big Bro Xu Qing, when are we going to go capture that grue? Based on the file I read, it’s going to kill more people soon....”
“It’s being captured right now,” Xu Qing replied, looking off into the distance.
In another part of the city, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior had been following the shadow. However, the shadow obviously didn’t like the patriarch, and had hidden itself from him.
“You crappy shadow! Do you really think I’m going to let you get any more credit? You just watch and see how awesome I am!” Snorting coldly in his heart, the patriarch changed directions, then took human form. He changed his clothing, though, making him look exactly like the local commoners. Then he disappeared into the crowd.
Time passed. The shadow moved quickly, uncovering one grue after another. Every one it found, it quickly devoured. However, for every grue that died, a new one popped up. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the way they appeared. They came out of nowhere, and seemed impossible to get rid of.
However, there was an upside to it all. By the time evening came, the slaughter which had been expected didn’t come to pass.
As the moon rose, more and more grues appeared. It almost seemed as if they wouldn’t rest until the slaughter had been accomplished. Eventually, Xu Qing, who still sat on the roof of the building, had a very serious look in his eyes. Now that it was nighttime, the city around him seemed increasingly sinister. The shadow was busier than ever, zipping around devouring grues left and right.
My interference has caused a change in the grues’ behavior....
Next to him, Ding Xue could sense a change in the atmosphere, and felt nervous.
Suddenly, a black light shot out of nowhere and came to hover in front of Xu Qing. It was a black iron skewer. A stream of divine will emerged from it to transmit speech to Xu Qing.
“Milord, I found the source. As expected, the immature Little Shadow only understands violence and extermination. It doesn’t realize that these grue simulacre only get more worked up when they’re stimulated. If you really want to destroy them, you have to find their source.
“That source is extremely mysterious and strange. The clues don't have anything to do with what’s going on right now. You have to go back to a few random incidents in the past to figure out the truth.
“Your humble servant took human form and did some investigating in the city. I changed identities and forms a few times to find the information I needed. Two years ago, a very skilled traveling physician passed through. His treatment method was very unique. He would give a mirror to the patient and have them place it on their nightstand.”
Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. “How long was he here, and how many people did he treat with the mirror?”
“Milord, your humble servant investigated everything very thoroughly. The physician was here for three months. At that time, Seven Blood Eyes had not yet joined the coalition, so the coalition disciples stationed here had no idea what was going on.
“Your humble servant went to a few of the houses where the mirror was used in treatment. Believe it or not, even a cultivator who looks at one of those mirrors wouldn’t notice anything unusual about it. But for you, milord, it would be a very different story.
“And being at your side for so many years, I’ve also learned a thing or two. Therefore, I noticed the evidence of a spirit automaton.”
Xu Qing looked at him.
“Your humble servant knows exactly what you mean. Following the evidence, I eventually found a mirror hanging from the eaves in the mansion of a local noble. That’s the source of the problem.
“If I’m correct, that physician was actually an evil cultivator, and he chose this place to feed and grow his mirror. Given that the mirror is here, he has to be close by in hiding. That way he’ll be able to react if anyone tries to take away his treasure.”
Hearing all this, Xu Qing opened his mouth to speak.
Before he could say anything, the patriarch quickly said, “Your humble servant knows exactly what you mean. I went out of the city to look for possible hiding spots, and found a low-lying mountain that has a perfect view of the city. I detected cultivation base fluctuations coming from that mountain, which indicates there’s a cultivator present there. However, he’s in a state of slumber, probably because of the side effects of the technique he practices. Not wanting to beat the grass and startle the snake, your humble servant didn’t get too close.”
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior didn’t make any mention of earning credit for what he had done. As a result, Xu Qing was very pleased with everything he had done. He didn’t let one drop of water leak out. At the same time, though the shadow was indeed working hard, its actions had thrown the city into chaos with grues.
“You’ve earned credit!” Xu Qing transmitted.
The patriarch was so excited the iron skewer trembled. For a long time now, he hadn’t dared to say a thing. The shadow had very unique capabilities which had allowed it to shine, and slowly but surely became a rising star with his lord and master. He had worried that, if he said the wrong thing, the Fiendish Xu wouldn’t hesitate to turn him into cannon fodder. Now that he had earned some credit for his work, he felt a bit more at ease.
“Lead the way,” Xu Qing transmitted. The iron skewer thrummed as it shot off in one particular direction.
Xu Qing immediately followed, and though Ding Xue had no idea what was going on, she could see how serious he looked, so she quickly packed up the box of pastries and hurried after him.
Xu Qing soon arrived at the noble’s mansion. Sending out his senses, he found no fluctuations to indicate a cultivator was present. Making sure not to disturb anyone present, he quickly located the mirror. At a glance, he could tell it was very unique.
It didn’t have any mutagen on it. But when the wind blew, it swayed slightly, Xu Qing found his eyes hurting. He tapped into his life lamps, and the umbrellas provided protection. His eyes returned to normal.
Xu Qing was surprised that, given his battle prowess and the level of his fleshly body, he still felt pain from the mirror. It made it obvious that the thing was very extraordinary. He reached out and grabbed the mirror. But then the mirror suddenly fought back violently, slipping out of Xu Qing’s grasp, and then flying up into the air.
A moment later, Xu Qing appeared in midair, his four life flames burning, his two life lamps active, and his imperial-class technique ready. He had the battle prowess of seven life flames as he reached out toward the flying mirror.
Given that level of battle prowess, the mirror couldn’t fight back. Xu Qing grabbed it, then sent his divine will inside to seal it. At exactly the same moment, in the houses of hundreds of families in the city, mirrors on their nightstands shattered.
As for all of the random grues in the city, they shivered and vanished into nothing.
Meanwhile, in the low-lying mountain outside the city, a beam of light shot out of a hidden mansion grotto. Within that light was a white-haired old man, his expression vicious. Strangely, his skin seemed to be flaking off, as if he were in the middle of molting.
He radiated the powerful fluctuations of a Gold Core cultivation base with one heavenly palace. Looking over at the city, he roared, “What good-for-nothing fool dared to meddle with my affairs?”
As his voice echoed like thunder, causing the entire city to shake, Xu Qing appeared. After eyeing the old man coldly, he shot in the direction of the mountain. He moved so quickly that the Gold Core old man’s face flickered, and his heart started pounding.
Xu Qing arrived, slamming into him with a land-shaking, mountain-rocking force. Blood sprayed out of the old man’s mouth as he was flung backward to smash into the low-lying mountain. As the mountain collapsed, rock and debris crumbled everywhere, the old man’s face filled with shock and disbelief.
“This battle prowess....”
Xu Qing’s expression was placid, but his eyes were as cold as ice. Only a cultivator with two heavenly palaces could possibly be a match for him. Given that he had seven-flame battle prowess, defeating someone with only one heavenly palace would be as easy as turning over his hand.
The old man could sense that. Still coughing up blood, he unhesitatingly fled, tapping into an evil technique to become a blood-colored shadow that accelerated dramatically.
However, that was when the golden crow manifested behind Xu Qing. Its piercing cry caused the old man’s pupils to constrict as Xu Qing closed in on him.
“You’re Xu Qing from the Eight Sect Coalition!!”
The old man’s scalp tingled when he saw the golden crow and realized who Xu Qing was. It was too late for him to escape. Xu Qing caught up and unleashed a fist strike, and the old man had no choice but to block it with his heavenly palace.
The palace shattered, revealing a shriveled gold core. Letting lose a piercing cry, the golden crow devoured it. The old man screamed as he coughed up blood like mad. Xu Qing’s hand, wreathed in balefire, latched onto the top of his head. And then balefire spread out to cover his entire body. His screams echoed high into the sky!
Rogue cultivators simply couldn’t compare to cultivators from a powerful sect. And that wasn’t to mention that the old man only had three life flames when he stepped into Gold Core. From his foundation to his aptitude to his techniques, he simply didn’t exist on the same level as Xu Qing. As balefire consumed him, his soul was extracted and sucked into Xu Qing, where Xu Qing imprisoned it in his first dharma aperture.
However, as Xu Qing did that, his expression flickered. Thunderous rumbling suddenly filled the area as seven figures descended from the clouds above. All of them had greedy expressions on their faces as they closed in on Xu Qing.
Another majestic figure appeared, behind whom glittered three heavenly palaces, surrounding their face with a bright, holy aura.
“Xu Qing, I’ve been waiting for you to leave the Eight Sect Coalition.”
1. The word ‘pastries’ here is “dim2 sam1” in Cantonese. In other words, it’s the same word for “dim sum.” However, the dim sum that most Westerners know is not really a thing in the northern parts of China, where the author is from. In the city where the Deathblade Clan hails from in North China, when you go to get ‘dim sum,’ the restaurant doesn’t use that word. It’s just called “Cantonese cuisine.” In fact, in the North “dim sum” generally just means snacks, usually some kind of pastry or dessert-like item . ☜
2. Ding Xue specifically mentions her maternal grandfather. Remember, she’s not blood-related to Master Seventh. So the grandfather she’s mentioning is Sir Bloodsmelter. ☜