Chapter 316: Xu Qing’s Background
He inscribed the words onto his bamboo slip with extreme care, as well as a lot of force. Each stroke of each character contained boundless killing intent. Blood dripped from his palm, down the length of the iron skewer, and onto the bamboo, filling the name with blood. Perhaps it was the blood that caused Xu Qing to think about events from the past.
Thirteen years ago.
Back then, he had a home, but it all came crashing to an end on one fateful day.
The eyes of the broken god face opened, high in the dome of heaven. That gaze landed on the city where Xu Qing lived, and in an instant... heaven and earth blurred, all living things twisted and distorted, and the city disappeared.
The only thing left behind were ruins and a blood rain falling from the sky. He was the only survivor, and at first, all he could do was wallow in the blood-soaked mire, weeping.
He was only six or seven years old at that time, but even after all the years that had passed, he had never forgotten how he managed to escape that city. He had not forgotten the bitter struggle to survive, and how many things he had stuffed into his mouth that weren’t really food. Back then, he had lived on the razor’s edge between life and death. [1]
He ended up as a street urchin, covered in grime. Living that way, he saw the worst humanity had to offer. Over and over again. He learned to fight over food like a wild dog. He learned to bare his teeth. He learned how to be patient and vigilant. And he became accustomed to sticking to the shadows.
Eventually, he learned to kill. One winter in the slums, a burly man tried to kill him and eat him. Instead, he killed that man and stuck his head outside to mark his territory. [2]
He started to envy the people who lived in the city, with their clean clothes. He longed to be a cultivator, knowing that it would make his life better. In the end, the only thing he thought about on a daily basis was how to survive and keep on living. That was why he was so ruthless and brutal to his enemies. That was why he would seek revenge over the smallest grievance. That was also why he was so grateful when people helped him.
That was also why, when the eyes of the god opened again and looked down on the slums and the city he lived in, he wasn’t afraid. For one thing, his life was already so rough that he didn’t fear dying. What about it was worth being scared of?
Another thing related to... his previous experience.
After everything he had been through, he was no longer a sniveling child. That said, he had always clung to the hope that his dad and mom weren’t dead. That they were looking for him.
That story was Xu Qing’s secret, and it was something he had never revealed to anyone.
Thunder crashed and lightning streaked across the sky, casting Xu Qing’s shadow onto the road. Xu Qing looked down at the four blood-soaked characters on his bamboo slip.
A moment later he added ‘Master Shengyun’s father’ and ‘Night Dove.’
“They all must die!” he murmured as he stood in the rain.
The extreme bitterness he had endured over the years had ended up forging an invulnerable core within him. There was nothing that could truly break him. Even the worst tragedies would just stoke his killing intent. He knew of only one way to offer sacrifices to his dead loved ones. And that was spilling blood for blood. That was what he had done for both Sergeant Thunder and Grandmaster Bai.
Looking off into the distance, he started walking. He looked incredibly fierce, like a lone wolf. But at the same time, his experiences had matured him.
He didn’t look back.
It was cold and windy, but he didn’t fear those things anymore.
He suddenly thought back to something Sergeant Thunder had told him. “When a person buries enough sadness in their heart, that’s when they grow up.”
Xu Qing felt that, as of this moment, he had grown up.
His plan was to go back to the sect and get stronger. Then he would leave Emperor-Receiving Prefecture and go find Mount Daybreak. Along the way, he would kill everyone whose name he had just carved. And not just them. He would eradicate the entire Torchlight organization.
“Every member of Torchlight must die!” he growled hoarsely. Taking out his dharmaship, he stepped aboard and became a bright beam of light that shot through the thunder and lightning toward the Eight Sect Coalition.
In the cabin, he sat down cross-legged to meditate.
Time passed slowly but surely.
Three days later, he opened his eyes.
Face completely expressionless, he looked down at his bag of holding for a moment before taking a flagon of alcohol out of it. Putting it to his lips, he drank. As the hot liquid entered his stomach, he thought back to the first time he had tasted alcohol. [3]
Sergeant Thunder had laughed at his reaction and said, “You’re too young to appreciate the flavor of liquor. You’ll like it when you’re older.”
It was in Seven Blood Eyes that he learned to appreciate that flavor. And right now, he felt like the alcohol wasn’t strong enough. Taking another big drink, he walked out onto the deck and looked up at the night sky. He felt the wind on his face. He looked away from the sky and out at the lands around him.
Then he took out a flute and put it to his lips.
Eventually... a bleak and desolate song echoed out from the dharmaship.
The song drifted out unhurriedly, recounting stories of the past.
The name of the song was Parting with Sorrow. [4]
***
Meanwhile, out in the wilderness of Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, the Torchlight procession proceeded along silently. The young man in the lead seemed indifferent to those behind him.
Eventually, Night Dove looked up and hesitantly said, “Lord, that young man....”
“He’s my younger brother in this life.”
Night Dove inhaled, then hesitated again. “Sir, is he like you? Does he have a past life?”
The young man shook his head. “Xu Qing has no past life. He’s just an ordinary kid from an ordinary family. That said, the brotherly affection I experienced before awakening the memories of my previous life... became a hindrance.”
Night Dove thought for a bit more, then asked, “Lord, what would have happened back in Seven Blood Eyes if... I accidentally killed him?”
“You’d be dead.” the young man replied calmly without looking back.
Night Dove thought some more before coming to an understanding. His lord didn’t actually care if Xu Qing lived or died. Running into him on this occasion had been pure chance. Back when Night Dove attacked him, his lord didn’t interfere. That was because he really didn’t care if he died. It didn’t matter who tried to kill Xu Qing, he would just look on. But because of the hindrance created by brotherly affection, anyone who killed Xu Qing would also have to die. It was just a matter of course.
In the final analysis, his lord wasn’t really Xu Qing’s older brother. From beginning to end, he was the stunning individual who even people from the holy land had repeatedly tried to recruit, the person who, before he had died, pledged himself to the living god and was thus granted a second life. He was the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan.
Bowing his head, Night Dove said, “Lord, if cutting down your hindrance will further perfect your dao heart, then I, Night Dove, will accept the responsibility!”
“I don’t cultivate the dao, so I don’t need a dao heart. What I cultivate is... godliness.” Eyes tranquil, the young man continued off into the distance.
1. Believe it or not, Xu Qing’s backstory was actually foreshadowed over 300 chapters ago. Don’t believe me? Go back to and read the last few paragraphs of chapter 4, and you’ll see what I mean. ☜
2. The incident of killing someone who was trying to eat him was mentioned previously in chapters 53 and 100. ☜
3. Xu Qing first drank alcohol in chapter 19. ☜
4. He learned Parting with Sorrow in chapter 299. Well, that chapter was when he learned the name of the song. He had been practicing in the chapters before that. ☜
Deathblade's Thoughts
This unusually short. Instead of the usual 3,000 Chinese characters it was actually a bit less than 2,000 characters long. The last chapter and this chapter are outliers. Starting with the next chapter, the length goes back to normal (and will actually start creeping up, with the chapters getting longer and longer especially once we get into the 400s.)